The long (and ever growing) list of contenders for the best album opening tracks ever.
Some of these aren’t even the best songs on the same album, much less of an artist’s entire discography.
What I am talking about here are opening tracks that perfectly set the stage and tone, introduce the album (what it is and, perhaps, what it became), that made me sit straight up and pay attention…
| Song | Album | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| Excursions | The Low End Theory | A Tribe Called Quest |
| Welcome to the Jungle | Appetite for Destruction | Guns N' Roses |
| Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Pts. 1-5 | Wish You Were Here | Pink Floyd |
| Tennis Court | Pure Heroine | Lorde |
| The Start of Your Ending (41st Side) | The Infamous | Mobb Deep |
| Say Hello 2 Heaven | Temple of the Dog | Temple of the Dog |
| Politik | A Rush of Blood to the Head | Coldplay |
| Prologue | Time | E. L. O. |
| Random Rules | American Water | Silver Jews |
| Them Bones | Dirt | Alice in Chains |
| Somebody's Gotta Die | Life After Death | The Notorious B.I.G. |
| Cult of Personality | Vivid | Living Colour |
| Cherub Rock | Siamese Dream | The Smashing Pumpkins |
| State of Mind | Illmatic | Nas |
| So What | Kind of Blue | Miles Davis |
| Folsom River Blues | At Folsom Prison | Johnny Cash |
| Fade Into You | So That Tonight I Might See | Mazzy Star |
| Wesley's Theory | To Pimp a Butterfly | Kendrick Lamar, George Clinton, Thundercat |
| Either Way | Sky Blue Sky | Wilco |
| About a Girl (Live) | MTV Unplugged in New York | Nirvana |
| Smells Like Teen Spirit | Nevermind | Nirvana |
| Pretty Noose | Down on the Upside | Soundgarden |
| Once | Ten | Pearl Jam |
| Moanin' | Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers | Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers |
| Stolen Moments | The Blues and the Abstract Truth | Oliver Nelson |
| My Favorite Things | My Favorite Things | John Coltrane |
| Blue Train | Blue Train | John Coltrane |
| Misterioso | The Trombone Master | J. J. Johnson |
| Red Clay | Red Clay | Freddie Hubbard |
| Norman Fucking Rockwell | Norman Fucking Rockwell | Lana Del Rey |
| Welcome to My Island | Desire, I Want to Turn Into You | Caroline Polachek |
| Sunday, Bloody Sunday | War | U2 |
| Where the Streets Have No Name | The Joshua Tree | U2 |
| Shout | Songs from the Big Chair | Tears for Fears |