[Archguy]

 
Albums or other works of music the first track or introduction of which seems designed to weed out casual listeners. 
That is, the first song is difficult, dissonant, harsh, OTT, what have you.  Here's what I have so far:


Led Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy (Culprit: "The Song Remains the Same")


Pretenders ("Precious")


Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde ("Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde")


Smiths, The Queen is Dead (Eponymous)

The Mahler was always a favorite work of my Grandparents' but when I bought it,
and played it repeatedly, I could never get past the first track. Ha!  (Now I love it)

Any more ideas?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2M4ilVaAmI

[Scott F.]

Yes - Gates of Delirium for the Relayer album

This is NOT for the casual listener.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdmUAsU2eXI

[richidoo]

Yes - Gates of Delirium for the Relayer album

Awesome!
Thanks Scott

[Scott F.]

Rich, Sound Chaser, from the same album, is pretty awesome too!

[Archguy]

Yes - Gates of Delirium for the Relayer album
 

Wow, it was the entire first side of the LP.  I'm almost afraid. 

[won ton on]

Pat Metheny...first circle.........forward march

[Wind Chaser]

Pat Metheny...

Yeah, pretty much anything and everything by PM. 

[kevin360]

Pat Metheny...first circle.........forward march

I think this is the winner - completely out of step with the rest of the album. It is so atonal that my dog looks at me as if to ask, "WTF, man?" The album then unfolds as, I think, my favorite collaboration between Pat and Lyle.

I get the Yes suggestion, but 'Gates of Delirium' is very representative of Yes.

[qdrone]

The first song on Pearl Jam's Vitology is such high energy it makes me wanna lower the volume. The album settles in after words.

[FullRangeMan]

Yes - Gates of Delirium for the Relayer album

This is NOT for the casual listener.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdmUAsU2eXI

The YES best album, unfortunately it was poor recorded in slow speed tape in by an Italian guy w/a truck mobile ''studio''.

[Larkston Zinaspic]

Albums or other works of music the first track or introduction of which seems designed to weed out casual listeners. 
That is, the first song is difficult, dissonant, harsh, OTT, what have you.  Here's what I have so far:


Led Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy (Culprit: "The Song Remains the Same")

Really? Maybe I missed the gist of what you were getting at, but I never really thought of "The Song Remains the Same" as "difficult, dissonant, harsh", etc. If anything it was arguably their most exhilarating concert opener, in my opinion.

Below is an example of that, from 6/21/77. Bonham is incredible here...will have you re-thinking the raw power of this track.

https://youtu.be/OyzHo6ziyyU

[Tyson]

Does it count if every track is difficult?  If so then I nominate TOOL!!  Haha.

[006.9]

Beethoven's late quartets. Any group. Any recording.

[Larkston Zinaspic]

I grew to be quite fond of this quirky album over time, but Fripp himself described it as "unlistenable" once.

https://youtu.be/yQ-5mngu5IM



If you can get through the first track I imagine you'd be good to go for the rest of it, but I'll bet this album 'weeded out' a lot of  In The Court fans almost immediately.

[FullRangeMan]

Beethoven's late quartets. Any group. Any recording.

Correct, also anything from Schoenberg.

[FullRangeMan]

Does it count if every track is difficult?  If so then I nominate TOOL!!  Haha.

When I was a kid I called it bad music, today things are complicated.

[Nordkapp]

Wow....Haha. Thought this thread was going to be about stoner music. "Weed'em Out"