Albums with weird placement of songs in the tracklist

by **Noahh** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 5:32 pm

Which albums do you feel have a weird placement of songs in the tracklist? And why?

last.fm/hugom2c · by **hugo** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 7:44 pm

Beyoncé - 4

"I Was Here" between "End Of Time" and "Run The World"... it doesn't make sense, I already got used to it though.

by **NoAngel** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 11:01 pm

Jennifer Lopez - Love?

Track 4: What Is Love? (she's lonely and asks for love)
Track 5: Run the World (she's happy and in love that can run the world)

Website · by **Shorty** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 11:03 pm

I always thought that Girls Aloud's Tangled Up album tracklisting was messed up cos Sexy! No No No... clearly should have been the opener to the album what with that amazing intro, but they made it track 3 and put Call The Shots as the opener, which is midtempo! It totally ruined the excitement :lol:

by **pomporella** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 11:09 pm

Obviously Cockiness - Birthday Cake - We All Want Love fiasco. You don't need to be genius to comprehend that after hearing "cake cake cake cake cake cake cake cake cake cake cake cake" the next thing you should hear is "I love it I love it I love ot how you it eat" #DUH

hugom2c wrote:Beyoncé - 4

"I Was Here" between "End Of Time" and "Run The World"... it doesn't make sense, I already got used to it though.

Aww, you don't like how Bey sings she wants to left something she will be remembered for then follows with girl anthem? :lol:

Let's be honest RTW is so different from the rest of the album that I feel it only fits as the last song. If it was opener track it wouldn't set the mood right for the rest of the album.

by **UKMusicLova** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 11:10 pm

hugom2c wrote:Beyoncé - 4

"I Was Here" between "End Of Time" and "Run The World"... it doesn't make sense, I already got used to it though.

I agree. 'Run The World' was totally the wrong choice for closing track anyway. Should have opened the album.

'I Was Here' would have been a perfect closing track, it just sticks with you!

by **Noahh** » Sat Dec 03, 2011 10:54 pm

Britney Spears - Circus

Kill The Lights is placed after Out From Under, however Kill The Lights has an intro with: "Ladies and Gentlemen, we interrupt our program of dance music to bring you..."

It makes no sense to have that after an ballad. She should've placed it after a track like Womanizer, Shattered Glass, If U Seek Amy, Mannequin etc.. :wink:

by **ShayLaB** » Sat Dec 03, 2011 11:02 pm

1. Bad
2. The Way You Make Me Feel
3. Speed Demon
4. Liberian Girl
5. Just Good Friends
6. Another Part Of Me
7. Man In The Mirror
8. I Just Can't Stop Loving You
9. Dirty Diana
10. Smooth Criminal (Radio Edit)
11. Leave Me Alone

The worst tracks are normally at then end of an album...these three just create a dead-spot.

by **NothingFails** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 5:32 am

ShayLaB wrote:1. Bad
2. The Way You Make Me Feel
3. Speed Demon
4. Liberian Girl
5. Just Good Friends
6. Another Part Of Me
7. Man In The Mirror
8. I Just Can't Stop Loving You
9. Dirty Diana
10. Smooth Criminal (Radio Edit)
11. Leave Me Alone

The worst tracks are normally at then end of an album...these three just create a dead-spot.

Same thing with Thriller, Baby Be Mine (which I do like but it is the closest thing the album has to filler) and The Girl Is Mine are tracks 2 and 3 and then the remainder of the album is classic after classic.

by **RaFanatic** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 10:17 am

ShayLaB wrote:1. Bad
2. The Way You Make Me Feel
3. Speed Demon
4. Liberian Girl
5. Just Good Friends
6. Another Part Of Me
7. Man In The Mirror
8. I Just Can't Stop Loving You
9. Dirty Diana
10. Smooth Criminal (Radio Edit)
11. Leave Me Alone

The worst tracks are normally at then end of an album...these three just create a dead-spot.

Liberian Girl worst track?! Whaaaaat

by **jio** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 10:33 am

Actually only "Just Good Friends" is a bad song from those three lol. Plus you have to remember that "Bad" was released at the time of the vinyl/cassette. Then, the good songs were the openers of each side separately and the duds were the closing tracks of each side separately. That's why many bad songs find themselves at positions #4 or 5 in 80s/early 90s cds. Examples: Like A Virgin (Love Don't Live Here Anymore is track #5), Parade (Life Can Be So Nice and Venus De Milo are tracks #6 & 7 in a 12-songs album) and Rhythm Nation having "Livin' In A World" as track #7 of a 14-songs long album. At the age of vinyl/cassette having the middle song as the dud (last songs on side a) followed by a banger (first song on side b) was pretty common

by **sambo9** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 10:38 am

This topic is perfect for me - I spend ages thinking about how well albums flow, and what I'd do to change them. :lol:

I agree completely with the comments on "4". "I Was Here" is such a commanding, striking moment, and it would have been so effective to have silence following that last drum beat. I also think "Love On Top" is partially weakened by its fade out at the end. I'd love to have it finish the way it did at the VMA Awards.

"Cockiness" was just a product of a rushed album, and it's glaringly obvious how terrible the transition is between that and "We All Want Love".

by **Chun** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 12:02 pm

jio wrote:Then, the good songs were the openers of each side separately and the duds were the closing tracks of each side separately.

jio, that's very interesting!

I just had a look and found another pattern from 1984, where the singles material was all on the A side and the rest on the B side:

A1 Two Divided By Zero
A2 West End Girls
A3 Opportunities
A4 Love Comes Quickly
A5 Suburbia
B1 Tonight Is Forever
B2 Violence
B3 I Want A Lover
B4 Later Tonight
B5 Why Don't We Live Together

by **Frederic** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 12:12 pm

UKMusicLova wrote:'Run The World' was totally the wrong choice for closing track anyway. Should have opened the album.

'I Was Here' would have been a perfect closing track, it just sticks with you!

I agree! I always think it's weird when artists put the lead single somewhere in the back of the album. I don't want a lead single to be track #1 all the time either though. :lol:

by **VoReason** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 12:23 pm

Erm, Celine Dion, Falling into You.

River Deep, Mountain High.. Declaration of Love..

Still can't work out what the hell they're doing on that album haha! Great songs but soooo out of place!

by **CrazyCrazy** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 1:04 pm

ShayLaB wrote:1. Bad
2. The Way You Make Me Feel
3. Speed Demon
4. Liberian Girl
5. Just Good Friends
6. Another Part Of Me
7. Man In The Mirror
8. I Just Can't Stop Loving You
9. Dirty Diana
10. Smooth Criminal (Radio Edit)
11. Leave Me Alone

The worst tracks are normally at then end of an album...these three just create a dead-spot.

I must be the only person who loves Speed Demon, it's just a weird track! :wink:

by **BlueScorpion** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 1:06 pm

Pretty much all albums whose lead single is placed at the end of the tracklist. For some reason I always hate when singles are behind album tracks.

by **ShayLaB** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 1:16 pm

jio wrote:Actually only "Just Good Friends" is a bad song from those three lol. Plus you have to remember that "Bad" was released at the time of the vinyl/cassette. Then, the good songs were the openers of each side separately and the duds were the closing tracks of each side separately. That's why many bad songs find themselves at positions #4 or 5 in 80s/early 90s cds. Examples: Like A Virgin (Love Don't Live Here Anymore is track #5), Parade (Life Can Be So Nice and Venus De Milo are tracks #6 & 7 in a 12-songs album) and Rhythm Nation having "Livin' In A World" as track #7 of a 14-songs long album. At the age of vinyl/cassette having the middle song as the dud (last songs on side a) followed by a banger (first song on side b) was pretty common

...except it was about the time of Bad that CD became the dominant format. Leave Me Alone was only available on the CD as an extra track. You may not regard those three tracks as poor but they are easily the weakest on the album. The penultimate track is most often the weakest on the album.

by **biscuits** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 3:54 pm

Many people complain about:

1. Interlude
2. You Ain't Right
3. All For You
4. Interlude
5. Come On Get Up
6. When We Oooo
7. China Love
8. Love Scene (Ooh Baby)
9. Would You Mind
10. Interlude
11. Trust a Try
12. Interlude
13. Son of a Gun
14. Truth
15. Interlude
16. Someone To Call My Lover
17. Feels So Right
18. Doesn't Really Matter
19. Better Days
20. Interlude

A lot of people don't like that there are 4 ballads / baby making songs in the first half/middle of the tracklisting. They usually come at the end and there are usually not so many. Lots of people thought this really ruined the pace of album (they come straight after AFY and COGU - 2 uptempos) and it becomes boring.

However, I have no problem with the tracklisting and think it works quite well. And if you really want to be creative, the tracklisting could tell a story.

Chapter 1 - All For You & Come On Get Up - Janet is single and meets someone

Chapter 2 - When We Oooo - Would You Mind - Janet is in love and making love to her guy

Chapter 3 - Trust a Try & Son of a Gun - Things have gone wrong and these are the angry, revenge songs

Chapter 4 - Truth - the emotional song, accepting the end of the relationship.

Chapter 5 - Someone To Call My Lover & Better Days - moving on and putting the past behind you.

by **ludichris** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 4:06 pm

I've noticed that most albums don't have much thought process behind them when it comes to the tracklist, so I don't really feel the need to listen to them in sequence unless they are real concept albums which are very rare anyway. Your everyday commercial album is just a random collection of songs, nothing more nothing less. More often then not the record label likes to put faster tempo at the beginning and ballads towards the end, or the stronger single potential songs to start and weaker songs at the end. Usually I find it weird when they go against those rules but the order really doesn't bother me as I prefer to listen to albums in "shuffle" order anyway. Keeps it fresh.

by **crazycool** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 4:21 pm

biscuits wrote:A lot of people don't like that there are 4 ballads / baby making songs in the first half/middle of the tracklisting. They usually come at the end and there are usually not so many. Lots of people thought this really ruined the pace of album (they come straight after AFY and COGU - 2 uptempos) and it becomes boring.

I think the album's tracklist works really well on "All For You" - but I definately think it could've been tweeked a little because the middle section of that album does drag a bit.

I think "When We Oooo" sounds awesome after "Come On Get Up" - which is odd considering how remarkably different those two songs are.

by **crazycool** » Sun Dec 04, 2011 4:25 pm

It's not really wrong, but the sequencing in Gwen Stefani's "Love Angel Music Baby" is a little odd. It's one of my favourite albums ever and part of it's beauty is that it encompasses different genres.

But the first 4 tracks just sound a little disjointed next to each other.

1. "What You Waiting For" - perfect album opener, electronic.

2. "Rich Girl" - R&B/Hip-Hop number that sounds a bit wierd after a huge electronic intro.

3. "Hollaback Girl" - doesn't sound too wierd after "Rich Girl" (it's an unique track that probably wouldn't fit in well anywhere)

4. "Cool" - an electro ballad after a huge hip-hop track?

The album is perfectly fine, but I think it could've been sequenced better - not just the first 4 singles, then the rest of the album.

by **ANH** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 1:09 am

"Charmbracelet" has weird placement....

in Mariah's discography. It belongs in the recycle bin.

by **GUS** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 1:28 am

hugom2c wrote:Beyoncé - 4

"I Was Here" between "End Of Time" and "Run The World"... it doesn't make sense, I already got used to it though.

I would have place them like this:

1 RTW (girls)
2 End of time
3 Countdown
4 Schoolin' life
5 Lay up under me
6 Love on top
7 Party
8 Best thing I never had
9 Dance for you
10 I care
10 I miss you
12 Start over
13 1 + 1
14 I was here

+
RTW remixes

by **Titan3510** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 3:28 am

ShayLaB wrote:1. Bad
2. The Way You Make Me Feel
3. Speed Demon
4. Liberian Girl
5. Just Good Friends
6. Another Part Of Me
7. Man In The Mirror
8. I Just Can't Stop Loving You
9. Dirty Diana
10. Smooth Criminal (Radio Edit)
11. Leave Me Alone

The worst tracks are normally at then end of an album...these three just create a dead-spot.

Liberian Girl is a nice, breezy R&B slow jam but it is one of the album's weaker tracks. However, Michael's voice on that song >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I would say I Just Can't Stop Loving You is tied with Just Good Friends as the album's weakest track with Speed Demon as a close second.

ANH wrote:"Charmbracelet" has weird placement....

I like Charmbracelet just the way it is. Thank you much...

But anyways, on Bruno Mars' Doo Wops and Hooligans.

1. Grenade
2. Just The Way You Are
3. Our First Time
4. Runaway Baby
5. The Lazy Song
6. Marry You
7. Talking To The Moon
8. Liquor Store Blues
9. Count On Me
10. The Other Side

It's a very good pop album (combining modern reggae-infused pop with classic pop)...

But it's extremely awkward to put the album's weakest tracks first.

If you start an album off with a ballad, that ballad needs to be pretty epic...or it falls really flat. Grenade is a good song but it's not a strong enough ballad.

How well you recieve Just the Way You Are depends on your mood (it can range anywhere from annoyingly cheesy to mediocre to incredible with multiple listens) and Our First Time is horrifically lackluster.

The album doesn't actually kick off until Runaway Baby (and with the exception of the samey Count On Me) goes from strong track to strong track until the very end.

The first three should've been nestled deeper within the album or just flat-out on the album's B-side.