Timotheus wrote:This "the singles are always the worst songs on the album" argument just doesn't work for me.
Well, now you're just putting words in my mouth. All I said is there have always been better songs on an album than the singles. Open Your Eyes is a top ODR contender though, alongside Cry of Achilles for Fortress. Part of the point is that you
generally won't see a single breaking the mold; it'll be rather formulaic, catchy, and mainstream/accessible for others to jump in. CoA though, again, goes against that notion a little bit.
As a general rule though, I prefer when bands don't release singles that also happen to be:
1) Their album opener.
2) Their album closer.
3) Their title track.
4) Their "best" song.
Sometimes, these songs all bleed in as the same (like #2-4 could all represent the same song), but in that case I'm still hoping that they really reserve that for someone to seep into as they get it and go along the journey until it blindsides them with greatness. That's just me, though.
This kind of applies to movies and their trailers, as well. I don't want the trailer to reveal the first or last scenes (clearly not the last), parts of their "best" scene/moment, or something that is a bit of a title revelation (if such thing exists). Like in Point Break, I don't want the trailer to give away the breaking point... lol.
Such a notion lets you know that there is still something for you to be hungry for as you're listening to the album/watching the movie/absorbing the medium for which it plays on, in full. Teases along the way are fine, but do enough just to attract people to keep on the keeping on. If all your best songs are revealed and they're ordered in such a way that you've heard the first and last songs, then the middle is just an obstacle of a journey to get from that excellent first track to its bookend without any such grand stoppage in between... unless you've already heard them, of course.
Anyway, I hope that makes sense.