Pop album intro tracks

June 18, 2022 3:59 PM

Looking for albums where the first track is a shorter, mostly-instrumental intro. Bonus points if it the track is actually called "Intro". The two albums that come to mind for this are alt-J's An Awesome Wave and The xx's xx. What else do you know of?
posted by curious nu to Media & Arts (52 answers total)

Panic! at the Disco’s A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out starts with the instrumental “Introduction.”
posted by brook horse at 4:02 PM on June 18, 2022 [1 favorite]

Janelle Monae's got a bunch of these, as I recall. I want to say each *side* of ArchAndroid started with an instrumental track.
posted by potrzebie at 4:16 PM on June 18, 2022

Phoebe Bridgers' album Punisher does this but she got cute about it and called it DVD Menu.
posted by urbanlenny at 4:22 PM on June 18, 2022

"Queen II" starts with Procession. The Prodigy's "Music for the Jilted Generation" has an Intro track, although it's more soundscape than instrumental.
posted by offog at 4:23 PM on June 18, 2022 [1 favorite]

Good News for People Who Love Bad News, by Modest Mouse, starts with a nine-second "Horn Intro".
posted by likedoomsday at 4:26 PM on June 18, 2022 [1 favorite]

Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road begins with Funeral for a Friend, a weird, pop-gothic, synthesizer-y number that almost sounds like something from Phantom of the Paradise, and then it segues into the much more Elton John-ish Love Lies Bleeding. They're often regarded as a medley but apparently they were meant to be seen as distinct.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:32 PM on June 18, 2022

Demon Days by Gorillaz starts with "Intro"

I could've sworn The Lexicon of Love by ABC had an intro but I'm probably thinking of either the orchestral opening of the first track or the interlude/ a remix of "Look of Love"...
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 4:34 PM on June 18, 2022 [2 favorites]

The first track on "It's Album Time" by Todd Terje is "Intro (It's Album Time)."
posted by ludwig_van at 4:39 PM on June 18, 2022 [2 favorites]

Stone Temple Pilots "Tiny Music...Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop" starts off with an instrumental called Press Play.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 4:39 PM on June 18, 2022

Spotify threw out a few...

Ants From Up There - Black Country, New Road
Californian Soil - London Grammar
Free Spirit - Khalid (has vocals)
Hurry up, We're Dreaming - M83
posted by pipeski at 4:43 PM on June 18, 2022 [2 favorites]

Erykah Badu’s 1997 “Baduizm” has a first track called Rimshot (intro).
posted by MelanieL at 5:04 PM on June 18, 2022

Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (the track is titled ‘Intro’)
posted by theory at 5:07 PM on June 18, 2022 [1 favorite]

The Chameleons' What Does Anything Mean? Basically begins with the instrumental "Silence, Sea and Sky."

Bob Mould's Workbook begins with the instrumental "Sunspots."
posted by kite at 5:40 PM on June 18, 2022 [3 favorites]

A Giant Dog - Intro (1:04) (Pile)
Alexander Robotnick - Intro (0:31) (The Disco-Tech of Alexander Robotnick)
Alpha - Intro Theme (0:56) (Lost in a Garden of Clouds 1)
Annie - Intro (0:54) (Anniemal)
Basement Jaxx - Intro (0:37) (Crazy Itch Radio)
Broadcast & the Focus Group - Intro/Magnetic Tales (0:38) (Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age)
Broken Social Scene - Intro (0:37) (Bee Hives)
Camera Obscura - Intro (0:29) (Desire Lines)
Crudo Pimento - Intro (0:13) (Pantame)
Fugazi - Intro (0:52) (The Argument)
Here We Go Magic - Intro (0:51) (A Different Ship)
Here We Go Magic - Intro (0:29) (Be Small)
The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience - Intro (0:28) (Bleeding Star)
Kurt Vile - Intro in Z (0:29) (Constant Hitmaker)
Los Amigos Invisibles - Intro (0:35) (Arepa 3000: A Venezuelan Journey Into Space)
Metro Area - Intro (0:32) (Metro Area)
The Mountain Movers - Intro (0:19) (Mountain Movers)
Nightmares on Wax - Intro (0:38) (Thought So...)
Seely - Intro (0:39) (Seconds)
Texas Pandaa - Intro (0:36) (Days)
Underworld - Intro (BYTWB) (0:29) (DRIFT 1 'Dust')
posted by mookieproof at 5:48 PM on June 18, 2022 [4 favorites]

Michael Kiwanuka's opening track on Love & Hate, Cold Little Heart, is 10 minutes long. The first 4:30 is purely instrumental and abstract vocalization, and is basically a different version of the rest of the song.
posted by pjenks at 6:07 PM on June 18, 2022 [1 favorite]

The first track of Anberlin's Cities is "(Début)".
The first track of Broken Social Scene's You Forgot It in People is "Capture the Flag".
posted by invokeuse at 6:36 PM on June 18, 2022

Smashing Pukpkins: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
posted by oneirodynia at 7:18 PM on June 18, 2022

Pixies- Bossanova "Cecelia Ann"

The Olivia Tremor Control- Black Foliage: Animation Music Volume One "Opening"

T Rex- A Beard of Stars "Prelude"

Paul McCartney and Wings- Back to the Egg "Reception" (there is recorded speaking)

Ultravox- Vienna "Astradyne"

The Cure- Seventeen Seconds "A Reflection"
posted by oneirodynia at 7:32 PM on June 18, 2022 [1 favorite]

I don't know how far back you want to go but The Steve Miller Band's album Fly Like An Eagle begins with Space Intro before the title track. Their next album, Book of Dreams, does the same thing with Threshold before Jet Airliner.
posted by bondcliff at 7:34 PM on June 18, 2022 [1 favorite]

Electric Light Orchestra did this on two different albums: Eldorado and Time. The intro tracks, "Eldorado Overture" and "Prologue", are mostly instrumentals with a deep voice speaking big portentious words. Then they segue into the next song ("Can't Get It Out Of My Head" and "Twilight", respectively).

JOURNEY! TO THE DEAD OF NIGHT! HIGH ON A HILL IN ELDORADO... DORADO... DORADO .... !
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 7:50 PM on June 18, 2022

Devo’s Duty Now for the Future opens with the just-over-one-minute Devo Corporate Anthem.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:04 PM on June 18, 2022 [2 favorites]

Well, it’s certainly not instrumental, but the first thing your question brought to my mind was TMBG’s Theme from Flood.
posted by sesquipedalia at 8:21 PM on June 18, 2022 [4 favorites]

After that “brand new record for 1990”, a couple from the 80s by Game Theory. Both start with the same effect (which also shows up on an intro track by the successor band The Loud Family a few years later) but then diverge completely, showing how much the band’s style opened up in just two years. Both give a very good idea of what to expect from the rest of the album.

The chiming, querulously pretty Here Comes Everybody leads off 1985’s “Real Nighttime” and blends right into the opening song (“24”).

Then the clanging, collagey, postmodern, heavily processed Kenneth—What’s the Frequency? (note: not related to the REM song) opens 1987’s “Lolita Nation” and hard-cuts to the equally clanging, galloping track “Not Because You Can”.
posted by sesquipedalia at 8:52 PM on June 18, 2022 [1 favorite]

"Mad Dogs and Englishmen" (Joe Cocker et al) has four sides and five intros from live shows

Introduction - into Honky Tonk Women
Introduction - into Sticks and Stones
Introduction - into Let's Go Get Stoned
Introduction - into Girl From The North Country
Introduction - into She Came In Through The Bathroom Window
posted by TimHare at 8:53 PM on June 18, 2022

Bookends by Simon and Garfunkel.

They did it with side 1, thus the instrumental "Bookends" introduces the whole album. But if we're just checking sides, my nomination would be Genesis' Foxtrot, where the side 2 opening instrumental Horizons introduces their longest song, the 23-minute "Supper's Ready."
posted by Rash at 8:54 PM on June 18, 2022

Deerhunter's first track on the album Cryptograms is Intro.
And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead's first track on the album Source Tags and Codes is Invocation.
Califone's first track on the album Quicksand/Cradlesnakes is One.
posted by otolith at 9:26 PM on June 18, 2022

Drake's new album
posted by yellowcandy at 9:30 PM on June 18, 2022

The Associates, Arrogance Gave Him Up, off Sulk
posted by cotton dress sock at 10:06 PM on June 18, 2022

Linkin Park - Meteora ("foreword")
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 1:11 AM on June 19, 2022

ELO’ “Prelude” from Time - notable for a great segue into the next track.
Intro to Sgurr Ross’ Ágætis byrjun
posted by rongorongo at 3:30 AM on June 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

My Chemical Romance - “Romance” intro track to “I Brought you My Bullets You Brought Me Your Love”
posted by Balthamos at 4:31 AM on June 19, 2022

Two adolescent favorites:
Intro on Pop Goes the World by Men Without Hats
Perhaps a little too much vocal, but Deee-Lite Theme from World Clique by Deee-Lite.
posted by jocelmeow at 6:16 AM on June 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Good Charlotte - Good morning revival from that album (may not be "mostly instrumental" enough) and A new beginning from the young and the hopeless.
posted by pianissimo at 7:12 AM on June 19, 2022

M83's Hurry Up, We're Dreaming which has both an Intro and (perhaps more famously) an Outro.
posted by lhauser at 8:12 AM on June 19, 2022

Gorillaz album Plastic Beach starts with “Orchestral Intro”. Also ends with an orchestral track (two on the deluxe album)
posted by plasticbugs at 8:51 AM on June 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Came here to mention Black Country, New Road's "Intro," from their "Ants From Up Here" record. But since that's already been mentioned, I'll add "Instrumental," from "For the First Time" (same band).
posted by baseballpajamas at 8:52 AM on June 19, 2022

Amy Winehouse, Frank
posted by luckynerd at 10:19 AM on June 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Two more from checking my library:
Introduction from Bryter Later by Nick Drake
Intro from School of Fish by the band of the same name.
posted by jocelmeow at 10:32 AM on June 19, 2022

Hold Your Horse Is by Hella does this.
posted by saladin at 11:43 AM on June 19, 2022

Sirius from "Eye in the Sky" by The Alan Parson Project - maybe - instrumental info with gradual build into the title track.
posted by rongorongo at 11:57 AM on June 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

TMBG also has an short tune called Drinkin' that starts off the Long Tall Weekend.
posted by credulous at 11:58 AM on June 19, 2022

Opening Theme by Camper Van Beethoven, the first track on Key Lime Pie.
posted by xil at 12:10 PM on June 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

"1984" an instrumental track on Van Halen's "1984"
posted by evilmonk at 1:21 PM on June 19, 2022

Echo Image – Compuphonic has an intro track.
posted by evilmonk at 1:22 PM on June 19, 2022

Cyndi Lauper's "A night to remember" album has an intro and an outro:
From my memory, the intro is shorter, fully instrumental, and leads in to the next song. The outro track has a name, and reprises the intro.
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 3:18 PM on June 19, 2022

School of Fish - Intro has lyrics at the end, but mostly instrumental

Crunt - Theme from Crunt 1st track, instrumental
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:25 PM on June 19, 2022

Morphine's Cure for Pain, 1993, first track "Dawna" 0:43
posted by hovey at 9:36 PM on June 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

The 1st track of Chicago's first album, Chicago Transit Authority, is Introduction but it isn't short @ 6 minutes+
posted by Carbolic at 9:43 PM on June 19, 2022

Chet Faker - Oh Me Oh My
posted by taz at 4:06 AM on June 20, 2022

BBC Radiophonic Workshop from Holiday by the Magnetic Fields
posted by Chenko at 11:01 AM on June 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

Fun.’s Some Nights album has “Some Nights (intro)” as the first track; “Some Nights” is the second.
posted by librarylis at 10:34 AM on June 26, 2022

Tove Lo's Lady Wood album has two instrumental tracks, as though there's a side a and b, but they're not called intros.
posted by blueberry monster at 5:13 PM on July 30, 2022