In that entry on the Trews' listening party I mentioned that my friend and I chatted with Sean the drummer (I either have to drop the modifier or hyphenate next time) about the importance of the running order of a record. At the time I was both interested and also spinning out the conversation a little so my friend could find a spot to jump in and I think I said something about my desire, occasionally, to alter the order of some records because I was getting a different story.

Which was a psycho remark, but it's true. My first copy of Appetite For Destruction was actually a cassette a friend made for me from her vinyl. She accidentally taped the second side first, so my copy began with "My Michelle," which just felt wrong. I mean, I knew "Welcome to the Jungle" should have been the album opener even before I actually knew it. However, it also meant that my copy ended with "Paradise City," which I have always felt was a much stronger statement to end the record with. I like "Rocket Queen" fine but it feels more like a middle-of-the-record song. One of these days I'm going to make myself a new copy of that CD with my own hinky running order.

(No, I didn't tell Sean all of this!)

However, a much better example of the power of running order is my reaction when I got a CD version of Marty Robbins' Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, which remains one of my all-time favourite records. The Wikipedia entry I've linked to actually gives the running order of both the LP and the CD. While I understand putting the three additional tracks at the end of the CD, I don't understand why the other songs were resequenced, and in fact I've owned this CD for about five years now and I still haven't gotten used to the standard tracks not ending with "Utah Carol." The new order doesn't tell me the same story.

I often put CDs on shuffle in the car to keep me alert, and I have my Shuffle on... shuffle... but it's a fact that certain CDs really work best in their proper order. (A lot of the older music I have came from compilations so there's no real order anyway, so my Johnny and Kris and The Band stuff is not part of this discussion.) For instance, When the Angels Make Contact, as a "soundtrack," really does tell the story. And Matt Mays & El Torpedo has a running order that works well, particularly the leadoff track "Stand Down At Sundown." The opening chords sound like a mission statement. As an album opener, it seems to be telling you everything you need to know about the band right there in the first few bars. (It's also a great opening track for their show, because even on the CD you can imagine how they'd play that opening riff two or three extra times to increase the build and then come crashing into the first verse.)

Anyway. Running order. I just thought of the Marty Robbins thing the morning after the party and thought I'd mention it. I guess it's my Tea For the Tillerman.