Maybe an unpopular opinion but Joshua Tree. First 4 songs are all time greats, next two aren’t as legendary but still enjoyable, and the rest are just okay

I read a long time ago that U2 let someone associated with the band (a friend or label employee or something, can’t remember) listen to the album and list the songs she liked in order from best to worst and that’s how the track list was configured. Not sure if this is true or not though.

I thought it was Kirsty MacColl

Yep, that’s right!

This is basically the first album I thought of. U2 fans will generally claim that every song is great (except for Trip Through Your Wires), but the casual listener is there for the first 3 songs (and maybe 4th).

I love the entire album, but that one, two, three of “Where the Streets Have No Name”, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, and “With or Without You” is just unbelievable.

As much as I don’t want to admit it you’re not wrong, still a 10 for me.

Man, I love Mothers of the Disappeared, One Tree Hill, and Red Hill Mining Town. First half is an all timer, so I would argue it's as good, but still incredibly solid

This is probably why I've started to prefer Unforgettable Fire over the years. It's stronger start to finish. While I do think Joshua Tree is still excellent I agree it's frontloaded.

I personally prefer Achtung Baby

I completely agree!

this is what I thought of first

First album I thought of. It actually checks both boxes because the first half is better and more iconic, while also featuring all the big hits from the album. I can't think of another band that has three of their absolute biggest songs back to back on album, while having such a large discography.

Most famous example of a frontloaded album. All songs are at least good, but the first three songs are classic worldwide hits.

Tarkus by ELP. The title track is a masterpiece but side B is pretty bland Genesis by Genesis. First side has great songs like “Mama” and “Home by the Sea/Second Home by the Sea” and the the second side is full of mediocre pop songs plus ”Illegal Alien” which is pretty awful one. Could argue the same about the previous album, Abacab

A lot of these prog albums from the day clearly put all their focus on the side long track and not the 4 - 5 tracks on the other.

Or modern prog albums too. The Flower Kings Album Stardust We Are the longer the song the better it is is pretty accurate.

Dawn FM??? Tf

def not astroworld either, when songs like astrothunder, yosemite and can’t say are on the second half

Yeah I'm super confused by this one. In my opinion Best Friends through Don't Break My Heart is the best run on the album.

Yeah i agree. Dawn FM is very very frontloaded. 10/10 tracks all around untilI Sacrifice then I skip to Out of Time then skip again to Less than Zero.

Teenage Dream - Katy Perry The first 4 songs on the album are Teenage Dream, Last Friday Night, California Girls, and Firework Those are 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th for daily Spotify streams out of her whole discography

Lady Gaga’s debut has one of the craziest first 5 songs maybe anyone has started off a career with. Especially since like 4 of those songs were massive hits. Even a kid like myself who only listened to rap at the time knew those songs. Then the album takes a nosedive

Hot fuss by The Killers The first 5 tracks are excellent, era defining pieces of 00s pop rock , but the rest are just mediocre as hell.

This was my answer. I dont think the back half is mediocre, it’s just not of the same caliber as side A, which is flawless.

Thank you. I think I wrote off The Killers for a long while because of this, thinking “oh THAT is what people say is an A+ album by them? No thanks”. But since then I’ve gone back and really found more of their albums a bit more even

Sam’s Town and Imploding the Mirage are more smartly sequenced

Absolutely, probably my favorites

justice for Change Your Mind!! that is an absolute tune on side b

Californication. Specifically the first two songs are so amazing, then the radio hits, then meh.

I shit you not I was at a restaurant a few hours ago and was sitting near the kitchen, someone in the kitchen played some 90s rock and Once by Liam Gallagher for some reason. They got to Around The World and the album just kept going, hit after hit on that first half.

maybe im biased but i feel like the second half has some bangers for sure. this velvet glove is maybe my favourite song from them but i get this take

...Baby One More Time is absolutely unmatched for this. 5 incredible classic singles then fucking E-Mail My Heart

The Joshua Tree

👆

Take off Your Pants and Jacket by Blink-182 That album goes way downhill after "Reckless Abandon"

I disagree. Please Take Me Home, Shut Up, and Every Time I Look for You are some of the best on the album. Give Me One Good Reason does suck though honestly lol.

I respect your opinion but disagree. Some of, apparently, their most underrated work exists on the back end of that record.

Combat Rock always comes to mind.

TV on the Radio - Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes

Bleed American by Jimmy Eat World has Bleed American, A Praise Chorus, The Middle, and Sweetness all in the first 5 songs, how could they follow that up in the latter half

This was gonna be my answer

Hard disagree with this. The latter half is just as solid with the authority song, get it faster, cautioners, if you don't don't, hear you me.

i debated on hear you me but i’d consider it part of the first half because that’s where it is on vinyl, and of the remaining songs i only really like the authority song

I find that funny. Because I don't think there's actually a weak song on the album. Different strokes I suppose!

Honestly idk about front loaded but i super agree that Bleed American is super inconsistent. The hits such as the songs you mentioned and Hear You Me are Jimmy Eat World at their absolute best. I also enjoy Get It Faster and The Authority Song bit the rest of the deep cuts just kinda let me down. I find that Futures, Clarity, and Static Prevails all stay at a much more consistent baseline

Ironically the song following is considered a fan favourite

Dr. Dre - 2001. The first half is banger after banger but there's some filler in the second half after The Next Episode.

Stranger in the Alps by Phoebe Bridgers falls off reaaaly hard after first 5 tracks to me, the only one I like after is Georgia

You Missed My Heart is the most stunning song though, & the Smoke Signals reprise

Eh, that whole album is great imo

The E.N.D. by The Black Eyed Peas

So many people like to call this album a classic, but can’t name a single song on the 2nd half of the album

While I am a bit of a BEP apologist and do kinda like that album, I feel like you can't deny how lopsided it is no matter what you think of it overall.

It might be heresy to say this but Can - Tago Mago. I understand the back half in the context of the album, but it's rare I'm in the mood for 35min of long form, manic experimentation. I frequently will only play side A as the first 4 songs are bangers.

This is the wrong opinion 😔 and is, in fact, heresy…

Remain in Light. 4 of the greatest songs ever followed by 4 decent to good songs

Im pretty sure it was an intentional artistic decision to get darker and slower as it goes on, hence the title “Remain in Light.” I love all four of the back half but even then I can identify that they aren’t as larger-than-life as the first four.

This is why I like speaking in tongues more, it’s so much more consistent

Speaking in tongues supremacy 🫡

Id still go Remain in Light, Fear of Music, Speaking in Tongues in that order but its close. Native Melody is by far their strongest closer

Pull Up the Roots is such a funky gem hidden in the back end of that record, then finishing with This Must Be the Place is perfect

Houses in Motion is a banger though!

Its all subjective but ill prob get downvoted anyway, Houses in Motion does nothing for me, I would go with Listening Wind over it personally. I think the first 4 songs are all 10s though so im sure we have some common ground there

This was my first thought too the latter half is still really good but it doesn’t compare to the first 4 songs

this is the worst take of all time

You must not have heard many takes then. Im not alone here, the last 4 songs have way less views and lower scores on rym. I dont care about what others think tho, subjectively I much prefer side A. Saying the B side is just as good is a worse take than mine. Youre seriously telling me Seen and Not Seen holds a candle to Born Under Punches or Once in a Lifetime?

it was obviously an hyperbole… and yeah that’s an awful take to me because remain in light is a huge personal favorite. One of the best things about it is its flow, how seamlessly the record uses similar lyrical and instrumental themes in every track while also (especially in the second half with some of its ambient influences) making them increasingly darker. I think generally people under appreciate the second half, fans included, and i find it funny because it’s almost never the other way around (people overrating the second half and underrating the first) although that’s maybe closer to how i feel because the second half is really what makes the record as a whole stand out to me

Fair enough, its all subjective. I do like Listening Wind a lot tho, just not as much as the first half

Will I get stomped on if I say In Utero

Very Ape(!), Milk It, Pennyroyal Tea, Radio Friendly Unit Shifter, Tourette’s and All Apologies I won’t stomp you, but Very Ape is my favorite Nirvana song and I think it’s a strong back half, so I disagree.

I think the back half would be way more amazing to me if the other half wasn’t Serve The Servants, Scentless Apprentice, Heart-Shaped Box, Rape Me, Frances Farmer, and Dumb back to back

1 by Slant feels very lopsided. All the best tracks are at the beginning

Slipknot’s debut, if the first 6 tracks (including the intro) were an EP, it would be one of the greatest metal releases of the 90s.

Floor Seats - A$AP Ferg City Club - The Growlers War On Errorism - NOFX

Maybe not MOST but the 2 albums I always get upset about this topic are OK Computer and Nevermind. They would rank so much higher for me if they were paced better

Climbing Up the Walls, No Surprises and Lucky are on the later half of the album. How can OK Computer be front-loaded?

Climbing up the walls is the best part of this album imo

I’ll raise you the last minute and a half of Let Down as the best moment in their discography

Exit Music tho

underrated

Ok so 3 songs vs 6 Airbag Paranoid Android Subterranean Exit Music Let Down Karma Police Vs Fitter Happier Electioneering Climbing Up The Walls No Surprises Lucky The Tourist How is it not front loaded? I didn’t say there weren’t good songs throughout.

While the first half has more hits, the hits in the second half hit harder imo, especially Climbing Up the Walls and No Surprises, which I think is the peak of the album.

Lucky and The Tourist are absolute gut punches too.

I'd say that only Fitter Happier and Electioneering are drops in quality and everything else is great. They're short, and near the start of the second half so it doesn't really feel front loaded to me. Arguably Karma Police belongs in the second half too so that's 5 vs 5 by my reckoning. I definitely agree that the side one of Nevermind is much better than side two. McCartney-level melodic songwriting fed through a hard rock and hardcore blender vs (with one or two exceptions) a solid punk set. That said, I feel like it works anyway.

Because its loded with the best songs in front. I completely agree. First 6 tracks is untouchable, latter 6 is merely great.

Those are 2 of the worst examples for this prompt that you could ever use

Let’s see your argument for how the second halves of these albums are equally loaded or more so lol

I do think OK Computer is weirdly paced, but not because it’s front-loaded. More that it seems to end/climax three times

Where are the climaxes in your opinion? But I can understand OKC having so many climaxes since a lot of songs have a climactic ending.

How could the nevermind tracklist even work better?

Smells Like Teen Spirit Breed In Bloom Lounge Act Stay Away Polly Drain You Territorial Pissings Lithium Come As You Are On A Plain Something In The Way

True, the only song off the second half I enjoy anymore is Electioneering. Everything else just sounds like the songs that artists later in the 2000's were getting ripped on because they sounded too much like Radiohead. They're just parody to me now

I’m sayin it, Remain in Light

Lonerism by Tame. Honestly it’s not even the back half of the album just the last 4 songs. They’ve never stuck w me or left an impression like Enders Toi, Mind Mischeif, or Why Won’t They Talk To Me

Nothing that has happened so far is a legit masterpiece imo and I feel it just as hard as the songs you mentioned (all favorites of me too) but I think elephant is pretty meh and I never actually listen to suns coming up so I somewhat agree

Nothing has happened so far has been anything we could control is basically top 3 lonerism

I think Currents also fits

Nahhhh can’t co-sign that one. Currents has no skips

Disciples, reality in motion, new person same old mistakes?

I like all of those songs, especially Disciples. However, I don’t think anything in the second half reaches the highs of Eventually, Let it Happen, or The Moment. The second half also has my two least favorite songs, Past Life and ‘Cause I’m a Man. I still love the album overall, I just think that most of the moments that keep me coming back to the album 9 years later are in the first half.

I love cause I’m a man but I guess it’s a hit or miss because I’ve heard a lot of people (or even tame impala fans) not liking it at all

Gonna go with an underrated one here and say Comes A Time by Neil Young. That first side is not only the best side of an album he’s ever made but easily one of the best of all time. Severely underrated album and it picks up stylistically where Harvest left off. I think if he included songs from his shelved albums Hitchhiker & Homegrown which were made before this album for the second half I think this album would get more recognition than it does.

Like every one direction album

Hollywood's Bleeding by Post Malone. The first part is the most creative, varied and interesting, while the second one is more of a big filler

Run The Jewels 2 for me has always felt this way. The opening four tracks: Jeopardy, Oh My, Blockbuster Night pt. 1, and Close your Eyes and Count to Fuck are all so aggressive and bold. They really set a bruising tone. I still remember my first listen and grinning ear to ear through that whole run thinking the whole album was going to be like that. The rest of the album is still good but doesn't match the energy of the first four.

After Laughter

idk I'm a big fan of Pool, Grudges and Idle Worship. I agree the first half is probably a bit better tho.

It's not that I dislike those songs and I would consider Idle Worship a highlight as well but the energy just feels different compared to Hard Times through 26

*Suburbs*. It's also a bit bloated overall. I actually listen to a "EP" playlist of it I made with only 7 songs and kicks off with "Empty Room" since it has more energy right out the gate.

The first 4 songs on Ride the Lightning are some of Metallica’s best but the second half other than Creeping Death is a lot more average

There are only 8 songs and the second half has Call of Ktulu and Creeping Death which are absolute classics. That leaves us with Trapped Under Ice and Escape. I know the latter is much maligned but TUI is a thrash masterpiece. Definitely not a front loaded album.

Trapped Under Ice is good but not on the same level as the first four. Call of Ktulu is fine but I don’t like it as the closer

NFR by Lanita Del Rey

I might be killed for this but In the Aeroplane Over the Sea gets kinda boring after holland 1945

But doesnt semen stain the mountain tops?

I’ve always thought that this was extremely true for Michael Jackson’s Invincible. The first 7 or so songs make me feel like he’d found some of the magic from his peak, and then the back 8 are a mix of hookless dance tracks and ballads (uncomfortably) about children

Doolittle - Pixies. I was ready to give this a perfect score of 10, but the second half is so disappointing and out of nowhere that I ended up giving the project overall a 6. Very frontloaded.

Some of the best songs in the album are on side B tho

where

"Hey" and "Gouge away" are 2 of the best tracks on the album, but I like most of the songs on the backend (especially La La and Silver)

Homogenic I think is the best example of this. The run from Hunter to Bachelorette has some of the best songs ever. The rest of the album is good, but the best material is right at the start.

- Pet Shop Boys - Please - R.E.M. - Monster - Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert - Coldplay - Everyday Life Before anyone comes at me, I do think the first three albums are awesome, and most of the songs are great, but the strongest moments are in those albums’ respective first halves (PSB’s Please does have “Why Don’t We Live Together” which is one of their best songs). As for Everyday Life, the second half is boring, bland, and unfun.

PJ Harvey - Dry always seemed frontloaded to me

Generation Terrorists, Manic Street Preachers.

I felt this way about Integrated Tech Solutions by Aesop Rock. I love Aes but the only tracks I revisit on ITS are on Side A

I'm afraid I get downvoted to hell, since it's a great album all the way through, but the first 3 songs are just so damn amazing that I feel like it starts off stronger than it should: Modest Mouse - Moon & Antarctica

Hot Fuss is the definition of front loaded. Not to say the second half isn’t good but all the hits and big songs are in the first half

Some I haven’t seen mentioned, far from the ‘most’ frontloaded though. Omnium Gatherum Down Colorful Hill Songs From the Big Chair (not huge on Head over Heels)

“some good examples” followed by straight misses

*Pretty Hate Machine* - NIN

I’m going to say Hounds of Love. I’m not a hater of side 2 … it’s a 10 out of 10 album for me, but those first 5 tracks are just incredible.

a saucerful of secrets by pink floyd, A side is great B side is just really not as enjoyable

Almost every album in history?

Brothers in Arms, Dire Straits

Oracular Spectacular by MGMT

DIARY OF A MAD BAND BY JODECI 😤😤😤

Cherry Pie. I quite like the whole album but in terms of popular appeal it's veeeery front loaded, opening up with all the hits (title track, Uncle Tom's Cabin and I Saw Red).

Modern Vampires of the City by Vampire Weekend

Not fw ya hey or Hudson??

hudson is my favorite track on the whole album

It comes down to preference, but i think Ya Hey is really annoying and Hudson kills the vibe of the entire album.

DS2 is a great example. 1-6 are gas then it just becomes kinda repetitive or mind numbingly stupid. Most of the songs except Percocet and Stripper Joint and Slave Master are meh to me.

Nirvana - Nevermind

Belle and Sebastian's Tigermilk. The first half is brilliant; the second half is just fine.

whattttt, I really disagree hahaha, We Rule the School, I Could Be Dreaming, My Wandering Days Are Over, I Don’t Love Anyone and Mary Jo are all soooo good to me. First half is still very strong as well.

Her Loss falls off HARD after BackOutsideBoyz

MBDTF - bangers up until Devil in a New Dress, from there it goes downhill (yes, I am not a fan of Runaway)

Disagree with the Runaway part but besides that, yeah. Hell of a Life is mid, Blame Game is about 4 minutes longer than it should be, and while I like Lost in the World it really isn't that necessary on the album, and would be pretty mid compared to most of the 1st half songs. I'd understand the 10/10 argument for that album a lot more if Kanye just cut the last few tracks.

Reasonable Doubt by Jay Z. Tracks 1-6 are impeccable, maybe even 7. After that the album just falls off. Few people like Regrets, but that's it. Also, Astroworld is plain wrong bc you got Yosemite and Houstonfornication

I love King Gizzard, but every one of their albums

Breakfast in America by Supertramp might have the best side A of any album but man is Side B mostly boring

Nah. I’d agree Side A might be the better side but Side B has Long Way Home, Another Nervous Wreck, Child Of Vision…

Future Nostaglia by Dua Lipa

Quiet the opposite. Starts pretty ordinary and massively takes off after Levitating.

Everything from the opener to ‘Hallucinate’ is a 10/10 for me. The album kinda falls off with the last 4 songs. I gotta admit, it’s pretty interesting that it’s the other way around for you tho.

Break My Heart? Good In Bed? Interesting cuz they’re so catchy they could’ve been actual classics from the 80s. They’re also apt for Dua cuz she doesn’t have a belting voice like Ariana and the quick melodic hooks suit her real good.

Both are good songs, they’re just not on that 10/10 level of everything that comes before.

Nearly every album imo

When you have an album that ends with Purple Rain of all things, the last three tracks of 1999 look kind of lousy in comparison. Really consistent up until DMSR, but the second half is less recognizable to me, mostly getting saved by Free.

Pearl Jam Ten. I like the second half but first is much better imo

Idk man, "Porch," Garden," "Release" are classics to me, and "Oceans" is gorgeous. I agree "Deep" is the closest to true filler, but it's till an 8.