Great album openers get the listeners to keep on listening. They can do this in any number of ways. Some openers set the tone by easing us in. Others jump right in and blow our minds from the very beginning. A great album opener isn’t an easy thing to create. More than a great song, it’s all about the sequence. Track 1 has to be the perfect starter. This month, I’m highlighting my favorites. #AlbumOpeningSongs
Interpol’s debut album Turn On the Bright Lights is hailed as one of the greatest albums of the 2000s. It’s an album that encapsulated the times. It is a masterpiece. But I think Antics is better. It was a different type of statement for the band. It was less of a sign of the times, and more a sign of a band completely in the zone. This was Interpol playing with an incredible level of confidence. The album flows so naturally and almost effortlessly. More cohesive than even Turn On The Bright Lights, Antics is the Interpol album I still turn to again and again. And it all starts with the prelude, “Next Exit”.
“Next Exit” is a teaser. It’s a track that eggs you on, and hints at something extraordinary to follow. The song is drawn out like it’s played in slo-mo. Kessler’s signature guitar riff soars while Fogarino’s drum part descends. Carlos D.’s bass line lurks with subtlety, saving its glory for the killer opening riff on “Evil”. And Paul Banks’ haunting baritone feels a bit like Ian Curtis reincarnated. “Next Exit” doesn’t contain the bravado of songs like “Slow Hands”, “C’mere”, “Narc” and “Not Even Jail”, but it’s the track that sets up all of these great songs so marvelously.
“We ain't goin' to the town. We're goin' to the city.”