The 22 Album Openers That Ripped Your Face Off Right From The Start

I mean, they didn't even buy us dinner first... How rude...

Posted on January 13, 2022 by Si in Features

15 : Atheist – Mother Man

From : Unquestionable Presence, 1991

Jazz! Metal! Riffs! Bass! Screams! Leads! Yay! Honestly Mother Man just takes you away from the first chaos to the soulful final beat in only 4 minutes 33 seconds. No one opens up a record like that outside Fusion. But this IS fusion. Kinda. It’s just Dum Dum….. AND GO! Within 15 seconds you had to stop and go “Wait… What the absolute balls was that fuckery?” In fact I’m surprised most people even know there IS an album after track 1. Honestly it took me over a week to want to play anything past the opener. I figured it would take a year to properly digest the full album. I had patience.

14 : Faith No More – From Out Of Nowhere

From : The Real Thing, 1989

Sorry, what was that again? Nah, this shit will never take off…. [Watches MTV two days later] Ah…. Maybe I need to rethink. Literally From Out of Nowhere came upon us ( 1989 – fuck!! ) and everyone in the community looked around with nervous eyes going “Well, I like it… Does anyone else…” as if they were waiting for someone else to step up first. But pretty soon you couldn’t move for people wanking over how good Faith No More were. In fact I think Hipsters probably started in 1989 as I heard a lot of “Well I was listening to them BEFORE they were cool” back then. Just a lot less moustaches and bicycles. While Epic was their radio hit, I always wondered why this one wasn’t as to me it’s far superior.

13 : Carcass – Buried Dreams

From : Heartwork, 1993

Exactly what you knew they were gonna do. Necroticism had been universally etched into the metal hearts, so Carcass had to step their game up for Heartwork. Job done. When those first chugs lay down the pulse and the melody works it’s way into your soul, then those HUGE drums come crashing in to remind you that they might have a few quid now so this is gonna sound a LOT better than Necroticism. One of the best metal riffs of all time, not just an opener.

12 : Napalm Death – Breed to Breathe

From : Breed to Breathe, 1997

The second EP on this list took place in what I call the metal dead zone. It was a pretty shit time. Everything seemed to be post grunge or dumbed down (Slayer I’m looking at you) and while the Swedes were keeping it going the 1996-7 period wasn’t the best. The clubs were full of Iron Monkey and Sisters of Mercy and the dance floor for heavy music dwindling under the weight of Marilyn fucking rapist dickhead. So when Breed to Breathe first came on with the bass that says “Yeah whatever. Just fucking SLAM!” we knew we were saved. By brummies. Who’da thunk it ?

11 : Senser – States of Mind

From : Stacked Up, 1994

I still think Senser is one of the most unique bands in history. That blend of crusty, agit-punk, metal and electronica is almost unrepeatable as two of those genres have faded into almost oblivion. But in 1992 it was all brought together on this magnificent CD that started as it meant to continue – with originality and purpose. And it sounded so, so good. That bass just cut through everything perfectly, you could hear ever ghost on the kit and every synth layer sat just right next to the guitars so nothing ever felt overpowering. That was left to the songs and States of Mind, with it opening groove and decimating first guitar riff could fill a dancefloor faster than you could say “Knitted jumpers, Doc Martens and combat pants.”