Double Albums Made Single

This was a project I did after reading a lot about other people complaining that some double albums would have been better off as single albums, thus tightening up the album and leaving out the filler. Of course, there are those who will complain about favorite songs left off or songs they think are less worthy than I've included. Hey, start your own blog! :)

Fleetwood Mac – Tusk

SIDE A

1. Think About Me                   

2. The Ledge                          

3. Sisters of the Moon        

4. I Know I'm Not Wrong   

5. Brown Eyes                     

6. Sara                                    

SIDE B

1. Angel                                   

2. Not That Funny                 

3. Honey Hi                            

4. Storms                                 

5. Never Forget                   

6. Tusk   

NOTE: Each songwriter gets four songs. 

The Rolling Stones – Exile on Main St.

SIDE A

1. Rocks Off                       

2. Rip This Joint                                

3. Tumbling Dice                              

4. Torn and Frayed         

5. Sweet Black Angel     

6. Loving Cup                    

SIDE B

1. Happy                                             

2. Ventilator Blues                          

3. All Down the Line       

4. Stop Breaking Down 

5. Shine the Light                            

6. Soul Survivor 
NOTE: A lot of people consider this album to be the Stones' best. I rank it second behind Sticky Fingers because I think Exile contains a lot of filler.    

Guns ‘N Roses – Use Your Illusion

1. Right Next Door to Hell

2. Dust N Bones

3. Don’t Cry

4. You Ain’t the First

5. Bad Obsession

6. November Rain

7. Garden of Eden

8. Don’t Damn Me

9. Civil War

10. 14 Years

11. Yesterdays

12. Pretty Tied Up

13. Locomotive

14. So Fine

15. You Could Be Mine   

NOTE: CD era so in this case we're combining two discs.

Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

SIDE A

1. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding

2. Candle in the Wind

3. Bennie and the Jets

SIDE B

1. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

2. Grey Seal

3. All the Young Girls Love Alice

4. Saturday Night’s Alright (for Fighting)

5. Harmony 
NOTE: I've read posts by several people in the past who stated "It can't be done!" Well....      

Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland

SIDE A

1. …And the Gods Made Love

2. Have You Ever Been to Electric Ladyland

3. Crosstown Traffic

4. Long Hot Summer Night

5. Come On, Pt. 1

6. Gypsy Eyes

7. My Friend

SIDE B

1. Rainy Day, Dream Away

2. Still Raining, Still Dreaming

3. House Burning Down

4. All Along the Watchtower

5. Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)     

NOTE: I recreated the cover that Jimi wanted.

Pink Floyd – The Wall

SIDE A

1. In the Flesh?

2. The Thin Ice

3. Another Brick in the Wall

4. Mother           

5. Goodbye Blue Sky

6. Young Lust

7. One of My Turns

SIDE B

1. Hey You

2. Comfortably Numb

3. The Show Must Go On

4. In the Flesh

5. Run Like Hell

6. The Trial

7. Outside the Wall

NOTE: To make these all fit, I used the shorter single versions of “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2,” “Comfortably Numb” and “Run Like Hell.”

The Who – Tommy

SIDE A

1. It's a Boy                                        

2. Amazing Journey                        

3. Christmas                                      

4. Cousin Kevin                                                

5. The Acid Queen                          

6. Do You Think It's Alright           

7. Fiddle About                                                

SIDE B

1. Pinball Wizard                                              

2. Go to the Mirror                         

3. Tommy Can You Hear Me       

4. Sensation                                      

5. I'm Free                                          

6. Tommy's Holiday Camp           

7. We're Not Gonna Take It 
NOTE: I thought this was surprisingly easy, and I don't think it really loses much for the storyline.

The Who – Quadrophenia

SIDE A

1. The Real Me

2. The Punk and the Godfather

3. I’m One (At Least)

4. Helpless Dancer (Roger's Theme)

5. I’ve Had Enough

SIDE B

1. 5:15

2. Bell Boy (Keith's Theme)

3. Doctor Jimmy (John's Theme)

4. Love Reign O’er Me (Pete's Theme)
NOTE: I took my cue from the movie soundtrack version to determine what to cut. Also, I used the shorter single versions of "5:15" and "Love Reign O'er Me"  so all these tracks could fit on a single album.

That's all. How'd I do?
     

Jimi Hendrix -- "First Rays of the New Rising Sun"

Wow! I've now been posting these for a full year. Time flies. I wasn't even sure I'd be able to do more than a dozen, and yet here we are.

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Jimi Hendrix's First Rays of the New Rising Sun is basically one of the holy trinity of unfinished albums, along with The Beach Boys' Smile and The Who's Lifehouse. Debate rages on about what tracks Jimi would have included on the album had he lived to complete it.

What we know is that it was to be a double album and that two tracklists have surfaced, one incomplete and the other possibly without Jimi's input.

I am working with the incomplete track list (that only shows tracks for the first three sides) because I just have a feeling that it has a logical flow. 

• Side A is easy enough to put together since all five songs are shown on the list. 
• Side B lists only four songs and appears to be pretty short. Some argue that they think Jimi wanted it that way. I think he hadn't yet decided on the final song for that side. 
• Side C shows "Night Bird Flying" as the opening track, but the title had also been written in darker pencil as the second track on Side A. And obviously the song wasn't going to be used twice.
• Anyone familiar with this tracklist knows that the final side was left blank. So what to do?

SIDE A
1. Dolly Dagger
2. Night Bird Flying
3. Room Full of Mirrors
4. Belly Button Window
5. Freedom

SIDE B
1. Ezy Rider
2. Astro Man
3. Drifting
4. Straight Ahead
5. Izabella

SIDE C
1. Earth Blues
2. Drifters Escape
3. Come Down Hard on Me
4. Beginnings
5. Angel

SIDE D
1. Stepping Stone
2. Bleeding Heart
3. Lover Man
4. Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)
5. In From the Storm

For the last song on Side B, I went with the rockin' "Izabella." To me, this mirrors the selection of "Freedom" from the first side. I chose "Earth Blues" to replace the second listing of "Night Bird Flying" as the opening track on the third side. For the final side, "Stepping Stone" seems like a natural for the opening track, and the hard-driving "In from the Storm" as a great way to end the album. "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)" seems like from the title alone it belongs somewhere, and I chose it as the second to last track. Both "Bleeding Heart" and "Lover Man" fill out the side.

Is this perfect? No. Is this the way Jimi would have done it had he lived? Most probably not. But I think it works, and works a lot better than the version that was officially released in 1997.

The album cover is from http://idesignalbumcovers.tumblr.com.