It’s a sign of a brazen artist that puts one of their best tracks last. See Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’, The Beatles’ ‘A Day In The Life’, Springsteen’s ‘Jungleland’, The Clash’s ‘Train In Vain’, Stone Roses’ ‘I Am The Resurrection’, Bowie’s ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide’, Radiohead’s ‘Motion Picture Soundtrack’… But it isn’t just closing tracks that can sew up an album perfectly. Sometimes more specifically a final lyric, solo, shift in key or hidden track drops the curtain in just the right way. Ash’s hidden track of the band vomiting, for example, was a memorable way to finish off 1977.
My favourite album ending is the final third of the closing track on Pond’s ‘Hobo Rocket’. The record is a fuzzy, heavy, rambling psych-garage jumble that’s not always easy on the ear. ‘Midnight Mass (At the Market St Payphone)’ starts similarly with squeals, head-bangingly relentless drums and caterwauling guitars. But three minutes in, the song gently transmogrifies into something completely different and seriously beautiful. Loops of feedback wheel hypnotically before a simple riff floats to the surface. And then at 3:51, the sweetest, gentlest, saddest guitar solo comes in. It’s more of a riff really – repeated as it is for the rest of the song – but it’s one of those moments when the instrument sounds human, as if it’s longing or crying or desperate for something, soaring out of this grungy farrago like a blissed-out phoenix.
What are your favourite ends to albums? Leave your suggestions in the comments below or on Twitter using #bestalbumsendings