The first day of May reminds me of one of my favorite albums, Matthew Ryan’s May Day
If I think of albums with great opening tracks, one of the first ones I think of is May Day, with its powerful rocking opener, “Guilty.” I love the guitars, the drums, the voice, and the lyrics.
‘Cause lately I’ve been dreaming of angels and cranes,
In some kind of purgatory dodging the CIA,
With a head full of soot, waving black flags,
Throwing off the bodies just to cut down on the drag;
Take ’em to the desert or take ’em to a dried up well;
Tell ’em they’re in heaven and mutter, “welcome to hell;”
I’ve been guilty of all these things.
Matthew Ryan has recorded several excellent albums, but has yet to become the big star that he should be. I prefer the rocking sound in some of his earlier work to the softer songs that predominate several of his albums. As a recent USA Today review noted in a positive review of his album Dear Lover
But I like it when he raises his voice, as he does on the outstanding 2014 album Boxers. And for me, he may never surpass the opening song “Guilty” on his debut album, although he has come close. But that is not a bad thing, because very few artists have set such a high threshold with their first song.
Ryan also recorded an excellent acoustic version of the song in 2010.
What is your favorite opening track on an album? What is your favorite Matthew Ryan song? Leave a comment.
(Some Related Chimesfreedom Posts)
I think there’s been some discussion about the death of the album. . . two of my favorites are from the ’80’s, probably because we were more album-oriented then–though they are extremely different things. The first is The Wall, which starts with “In the Flesh” and I don’t think it’s because the song itself is so good, but because it is the beginning of what I think is the best concept album ever.
The other is Alphaville’s second album Afternoons in Utopia. It’s totally synth-pop and the first song is actually the last word of the last song so essentially is cycles from the end back to the beginning. I guess that it worked best on cassette than on an album, if your player had the function to play side A, then side B and then start at side A again.
Both of my favorite firsts are kind of different than yours I guess, since it’s more about the whole than standing alone on it’s own.
And by the way, I hope you have an excellent day today, over all the other days in the year.
Very interesting choices. I am only vaguely familiar with Alphaville, so will give more of that album a listen. And, “The Wall” is certainly a classic and one of the best concept albums. I should note that I very much like Matthew Ryan’s entire “May Day” album, and what makes “Guilty” so special for me, at least, is that it is the opening of his debut album.
For non-debut albums like “The Wall” and “Afternoons in Utopia,” I’d have to add Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run,” with that great harmonica opening of “Thunder Road.” His debut album, though, opened with “Blinded by the Light,” which ain’t bad either.
I like the idea you mention on Alphaville’s album of connecting the first and last song. I believe that you hear that on Paul McCartney’s “Band on the Run” too.
Thanks for the comment!
Hey there, Chimes–you commented on my post on Blogness on the Edge of Town…did you happen to click on the link about my Asbury Park serenade? (about 6 paragraphs down?).
I’m a huge Matthew Ryan fan! I tweeted this a couple of days ago: “Do I have a twisted mind if a deep, dark song makes me happy? Yup, just heard Matthew Ryan’s Guilty and smiled. http://youtu.be/EzIm9a9n3Ec”
I love Guilty, I love Chrome, Irrelevant, May Day in general. Apparently, we have some similar tastes!!
Thanks for the comment on Blogness, btw.
~Sue
That’s an excellent live version of “Guilty” at your link, and I agree that “Chrome” and “Irrelevant” are great songs too (on an excellent album).
I liked your story on Blogness about some of “The Promise” material:
http://blogs.wickedlocal.com/springsteen/2011/05/24/promises-to-keep-flynn-mclean-guest-dj-spot-on-e-street-radio/#more-16028
And I did see the link about the Matthew Ryan serenade with his cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Something in the Night.” Good story:
http://blogs.wickedlocal.com/springsteen/2011/03/28/springsteen-spends-friday-night-in-asbury-park/#axzz1NDFdSzrE
Thanks for the comment!
It’s always a nice surprise to encounter someone else who appreciates Matthew Ryan’s music. I was so touched that he played that for me…I wasn’t sure if it was a tacky request, but I think his cover of it is great, and thought it would be cool to hear it so close to Kingsley.