‘La Femme D’Argent’ – Air

The opening is the sonic version of diving into the deep blue ocean, and once you do, you never want to come back up for air (sorry). Like a welcome undertow, this bassline keeps you underwater, immersed in the soundscape and so allowing for the delicate instrumental flourishes around it to make more sense. 

But it almost doesn’t care about the rest of the album. It runs at seven minutes long and in some ways, feels too short for doing so. Throughout that period, it pushes and pulls at every corner of sonic tension available and does away with any preconceptions that this purely instrumental track will fall into predictability. It’s a masterclass in immersive and atmospheric music, and sadly overshadows the following, supposed hit of ‘Sexy Boy’.

‘Like A Rolling Stone’ – Bob Dylan

The moment Dylan turned expectations on their head and went electric. That is undoubtedly the essence of a great opening track, the shock and awe of it. But, it wasn’t just a simple exercise in antagonism; no, this was a song that proved his artistic direction was deeply rooted in merit. How on earth could any critic question the brilliance of ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ after hearing the first 30 seconds of it?

Once audiences had quickly got over the change, they were welcomed once again by Dylan’s brilliance. His twisting lyricism was once again at the very front and centre of this popular rock and roll song, simply giving no room for criticism. And if it stills sounds like that in 2025, when snippets of it have been filtered in through cultural snippets, then god only knows what would have rushed over music fans upon a fresh listen in 1965. A year before The Beatles moved into experimentalism and music was awash with commercial doo-wop. In 1965, this very song would have sounded like the world was changing.

‘Gimme Shelter’ – The Rolling Stones

Sometimes, external context simply isn’t needed to create a good opening song. Sometimes the drama exists right there in the very instrument. On ‘Gimme Shelter’, a storm was brewing inside the walls of Keith Richards’ Maton EG240 Supreme, slowly swirling around the ears of the listener whose anticipation rose as it coaxed out the whistling woos of the backing vocal.

Finally, after 50 seconds of patient waiting, Mick Jagger’s voice emerges from the clouds to orate this tale of safety from danger. Though try as it may, it can’t relent from what comes when Merry Clayton astonishing vocals descend on the chorus. It’s quite simply dramatic rock and roll at its very best, unravelling excitement with every verse before leaving you wondering where to go. While the rest of the album may feel like a natural direction, the truth is backwards, to listen once more and understand what exactly just happened.

‘War Pigs’ – Black Sabbath

While many great openers collide together under the safety of one leading instrument, this song is a true masterclass in competitive tension. Every single instrument is begging for your attention in this opening minute; from the vibrating guitar line, to the rolling drum beat and the literal siren call. All of it washes over you with urgency and drama, begging you to reach for the speaker and turn it up to full volume.

This all happens before the primary guitar riff kicks in, which is hefty in its own right. But then, after all of these textural elements have washed over you with brutality, the real starring feature of the song breaks through. Ozzy Osbourne’s soaring vocal kicks in and plainly states the opening line of this new political mantra. For those 8 minutes when ‘War Pigs’ plays, nothing and certainly not the rest of the album, seems to matter.

‘Romance’ – Fontaines DC

When this album came out, there had been quiet murmurs that a new confident direction awaited the band. Clad in their new cyberpunk outfits, it was clear that the cloak of post-punk familiarity had been shed, and a new dystopic landscape of drama awaited. But for us to enter with them, we needed a soundtrack. Boy, did they give it to us in ‘Romance’.

Arguably the best song they’ve ever penned, it rolled with almost frightening drama that perfectly gave way to the tragic yet poetic voice of Grian Chatten. While it comfortably sulked through the caustic landscape of this new world they created, it needed a crescendo. It was a feeling that foreboded the entire song, and after toying with the audience for the track’s entirety, they finally gave it to us at the end in a dramatic and defiant statement fitting for the band of a generation.