Oddball Tracks

Ambient Hurricanes wrote: Every band has a few of those songs that sound out of place on an album...I'm thinking of things like Dream Theater's "Space Dye Vest"...

Ambient Hurricanes wrote: Thought of another one: "Cat Food" by King Crimson.  It's not even that complex, it's just flat out bizarre, but bizarre in the kind of way that KC never really did.

Agreed, but if you  consider the fact that Keith Tippett is playing on that track I think it makes perfect sense

Triceratopsoil wrote: Ambient Hurricanes wrote: Thought of another one: "Cat Food" by King Crimson.  It's not even that complex, it's just flat out bizarre, but bizarre in the kind of way that KC never really did. Agreed, but if you  consider the fact that Keith Tippett is playing on that track I think it makes perfect sense

Then again, Tippett played on Islands as well, which is definitely on the other side of the spectrum compared to Cat Food.

Tom Ozric wrote: stegor wrote: Prelude: Song of the Gulls. Hard to believe it's King Crimson. Beautiful though. Well, technically speaking, it's not 'King Crimson' per se, just an orchestral interlude penned by Fripp, and performed by the string section at the time.  Still, oddball for sure, and leads into one of the most beautiful Crimso pieces ever - and to this day, I couldn't picture anybody doing the song justice, bar dear Boz.

^Yeah, I can agree with that - it's one of the least "rushy" Rush songs I've ever heard, and yet given the flow of the MP album it makes perfect sense.  But if you just played it for someone out of the context of the album it would be hard to tell what band it was if it weren't for Geddy's voice.

Aphrodite's Child song 'Break from their album 666. Admittedly the whole album is littered with oddball tracks including the notorious  track featuring Irene Papas which might be a better pick.

I was just remembering how "Relics" was my introduction to Syd era Floyd. As you know, it has a couple of Syd's singles, some songs with the Gilmour band, and then ends with "Bike". In this context, I found "Bike" to be a totally oddball track out of nowhere. Now of course it seems more natural, but its def an oddball on Relics.

Tears is another Rush song that seems rather out of place in their catalog; Rush with mellotron is just weird.  I still love it, though .

Also Time and Motion from T4E; almost sounds like a different band, except, as is typical, that Geddy's voice is unmistakable.  I guess this one might seem a little more normal in light of the material Rush released in the 2000s, but at the time it was quite odd for them.  It's probably my favorite track from T4E.

As said earlier, '39 sounded quite out of place on A Night At The Opera but in my opinion it's one of the best tracks.

A few ELP's songs such as Benny The Bouncer on Brain Salad Surgery spring to mind and Sound Chaser on Yes' Relayer was a little strange but I do love it

I found "More Fool Me" on Selling England a little bit of a shock but it's actually probably one of my top 5 songs on the album. Staying with Genesis, "The Knife" on Trespass was a bit off with the whole prog folky set up. I do love the song but I think it didn't really fit in, although I can't imagine the album without it, as it wraps it all up well... Maybe I was hoping for something more symphonic but still folky, like something off of "Si On Avait - Harmonium".

Rush songs include "Halo Effect" on Clockwork Angels, "Tears" on 2112 (as already mentioned ),"Rivendell" on Fly By Night, "Vital Signs" on Moving Pictures and "I Think I'm Going Bald" on Caress Of Steel. Once again, I couldn't picture the albums without these...

Overall, nothing really bad and shocking that I can think of at the moment I'll try and think of some though

Edited by Xonty - August 31 2013 at 17:01

One more from Steve Hackett: Hercules Unchained. Originally a b-side, now a bonus track on the “Defector” remaster. A surprisingly straight-ahead rocking number.

Not necessarily prog but still interesting: The Lemon Pipers, whose big hit was Green Tambourine, on the Buddah label, which got them unfairly maligned as just another part of the Kasenatz-Katz bubblegum machine. But their first album had one stand-out track, Through With You, that features some pretty astonishing guitar work from Bill Bartlett. A true Get Out of Here song.