The Greatest Opening Tracks Ever: (Deep Cut Edition)

🎨 Poster Notes

Style: Emek × Victor Moscoso × Raymond Pettibon — a molten fusion of psychedelic print chaos, symbol-laced surrealism, and back-alley prophecy. The visual tone screams “hidden banger” with electric ritual vibes. Lightning bolts, track 1 cassettes, gothic arches, and howling wolves whisper what the charts never told you.

🎤 Here’s the deal, kid

We all know “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Welcome to the Jungle” are basically the rock world’s version of a bar fight starter pack. But what about the ones you didn’t see coming? The tracks that open an album like a gut punch you didn’t expect—but needed anyway?

Here’s Damone’s essential mix of classic openers and the underrated ones that never got their due.

🔁 The Premise

Deep cuts don’t mean weak punches. These openers may not top the charts, but they hit like gospel in a basement bar with busted speakers. They didn’t ask for attention—they demanded it.

🚪 Track One, Let’s Go

• 🎯 The Replacements – “I Will Dare”
  The ultimate garage-rock handshake. Loose, jangly, and cool enough to get you in trouble.
• 🔥 MC5 – “Ramblin’ Rose”
  Everyone talks about “Kick Out the Jams,” but this is the real table-setter. Kramer sings like a possessed preacher.
• 🌫️ The Jesus and Mary Chain – “Just Like Honey”
  Sweet, reverb-soaked, and aching like a breakup you almost forgot to miss.
• 💣 Rage Against the Machine – “Bombtrack”
  That bassline hits your chest like a riot cop. Zack delivers sermons with brass knuckles.
• 🎸 The Black Crowes – “Twice As Hard”
  Southern-fried and ready to brawl. Blues riffs with a bourbon burn.
• 🌵 Queens of the Stone Age – “You Think I Ain’t Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire”
  A desert-scorched scream into the void. Nightmares never sounded so good.
• 🦊 Sleater-Kinney – “The Fox”
  Brownstein kicks the damn door off the hinges. Punk precision with witch energy.
• 🔓 Thin Lizzy – “Jailbreak”
  Yeah it’s known, but still criminally slept on as an opener. It kicks off with a jailbreak and never lets up.
• 💥 The Damned – “Neat Neat Neat”
  The snarl heard 'round the punk world. This song doesn't start—it detonates.
• ☠️ Blue Öyster Cult – “This Ain’t the Summer of Love”
  Biker gang menace with a side of prophecy. The summer is dead. Long live the riff.

✅ Damone’s Moves

• 💿 Opening tracks should hit like a wrecking ball through your speakers
• 🧨 The first note should make you sit up and spill your drink
• ⚡ A great opener makes you cancel your plans and listen to the whole damn album
• 🛑 If your opener whispers, your record better be named “Blood on the Tracks”
• 🔥 These songs don’t wait—they arrive

❌ The Attitude Rejects

• 🛋️ Slow burns with no payoff
• 🫧 Atmospheric filler that forgets to punch
• 🛑 Overproduced yawns trying to be deep
• 🧊 Intros so chill you forget you’re listening to rock

🎵 Soundtrack to This Post

🎵 “I Will Dare” – The Replacements
🎵 “Ramblin’ Rose” – MC5
🎵 “Just Like Honey” – The Jesus and Mary Chain
🎵 “Bombtrack” – Rage Against the Machine
🎵 “Twice As Hard” – The Black Crowes
🎵 “You Think I Ain’t Worth a Dollar...” – Queens of the Stone Age
🎵 “The Fox” – Sleater-Kinney
🎵 “Jailbreak” – Thin Lizzy
🎵 “Neat Neat Neat” – The Damned
🎵 “This Ain’t the Summer of Love” – Blue Öyster Cult

🕯️ Damone’s Final Word

Look—any band can drop a killer single halfway through an album. But only the real-deal motherf***ers open strong and stay dirty. These tracks don’t whisper—they scream, stomp, and make you believe track one is the whole damn gospel.

Here’s to the songs that hit first and hit hard. First impressions matter, kid. And these? These are rock’s version of a lit match in a gas station bathroom.

Still riffin’ — Damone

👤 Tell Damone What You Think

Got an underrated opener I missed? Drop it in the comments, scrawl it on a bathroom wall, or scream it from the stage. The alley’s always listening.

📌 Filed Under

Opening Tracks, Deep Cuts, The Attitude, Damone Says, First Impressions