As an aside...

"Time everlasting, time to play b-sides, time ain't on my side" sang Donald 'Buck Dharma' Roeser on Blue Öyster Cult's "Burnin' For You"...yeah, time to play b-sides, but sometimes that's harder than necessary. Technically I should probably say 'play side two's', but that doesn't sound as cool. And b-sides, whatever the preferred nomenclature, we're talking about a problem all of us music lovers know: The album that is front-charged with hit singles or its biggest, more memorable songs on side one, and then presents more or less well done filler and 'the rest' on the second side. 

Why am I thinking and now talking about this? Listening purely by accident in the last two weeks to three albums that are suffering from this problem, that's why.  The albums in question: Tracy Chapman's debut album of the same name, which has its three big and memorable singles, plus the oppressive, a cappella "Behind The Wall" and the equally memorable race fable "Across The Lines". Five great songs in a row that I can more or less sing from memory. And then? Well, then there's side two, with songs that to me are much less memorable, and sometimes with a more cluttered production. 

Next candidate: Nirvana's Nevermind, of course opening with a killer one-two-three punch in "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "In Bloom" and "Comes As You Are". Plus "Breed", "Lithium" and "Polly". There's some good stuff in the half dozen songs on side two, but there's no way it can compete with that opening salvo. And while I'm willing to hear opposing voices that defend the b-sides of those albums, I don't for Blue Öyster Cult's Agents Of Fortune, where all the memorable songs parade through the first five tracks, while the second side has unmemorable hard rock in diverse varieties. 

So, folks. These are just some examples for front-loaded albums, what are some examples that come to your mind ... ?

What are some of your favorite supercharged a-sides ?

What are some underrated b-sides ?