Wow. I can understand why. That first track is great though so I might DL the album just for that.

Black Sabbath - Changes is an obvious one.

It's truly mind boggling. I can't even begin to fathom how such a thoroughly boring band could have produced such a terrific song. It's like all the creativity they possessed was channeled into just the one track and they had no juice left for the rest of the album.

Maybe Story of my life.. :D

Aqualung might be a good example of this. It captures Jethro Tull's sound but there's no flute, one thing they're pretty notorious for.

I think steel monkey is an even more noticeable example

I'd say "handlebars" for the flobots and "paparazzi" by Xzibit both songs seem to be far away from what the rest of their songs sound like

Coming from The 80's, I will focus on that decade with a couple here.

Psychedelic Furs - Heartbreak Beat (1987)
After turning into stars with the cleaned up re-mix of "Pretty In Pink" for the film of the same name, they had their year of being MTV-ready slick Pop with the Midnight to Midnight album and this US mega-hit which is possibly the song most people connect them with - at least those who did not connect to them when they are usually a sharp, sometimes moody band who have a lot of killer hooks. Experience them best on the first three albums, "All That Money Wants" (the serious rebound single of 1988), and World Outside - the lighter delights of Mirror Moves ("The Ghost in You") should wait after hearing what made them great although it is a fine album. Save this for those moments when you think something sounds good under the influence of Aqua Net Hair Spray - the original 80's environment killing formula - and wearing a fake leather jacket while thinking wearing sunglasses at night is a good idea.

Cheap Trick - The Flame (1988)
True, this was done as an aim for a hit single after CBS noticed their slipping sales (The Doctor was not one of their best moments), but also a sad example of how a usually tight rocking band with solid Pop hooks that have made songs like "Surrender", "Dream Police", and many others too numerous to mention here played the Power Ballad game in an era that was filled with too many of them. Written by outsiders, topped with a guitar riffing that resembled Spirit's "Nature's Way", the best things about this generic US hit is that it introduced the return of the real Trick line-up with it's original Bassist and that Robin Zander can seriously sing this live, showing who can do the Power Metal croon the best. Still, get the 70's albums, their return to form of the S/T 1997 album, and 1980's All Shook Up - or even the Authorized Greatest Hits (not the Columbia short list from The 90's) - and leave this one, and their 1990 album Busted as well, to Trailer Park Memories.

Actually, my pick of Radiohead's singles would have to be "Pop Is Dead", the single that was stand-alone back in the day and almost saw their way down although the success of "Creep" and knowing that The Bends was going to be that album which would make many notice kept them going. Their big hit had a classic Thom Yorke vocal and the guitar dramatics that would develop later on - very early days, and filled with generic teen angst, but with the luck to connect to listeners in a way that would happen to their better music. "Pop Is Dead" was a simple minded whine about the record industry that showed that they were growing up, but still in that awkward phase before The Bends made many take note.

As for Yes, I would have to pick Big Generator's "Rhythm of Love". To me, "Owner of a Lonely Heart" was a slight answer to the never asked question "What if the Drama era still had Jon Anderson instead of one-album replacement Trevor Horn on vocals?" which showed the band ready to face The 80's in style, but Big Generator showed that it took too long and the inspiration was wearing thin. "Don't Kill the Whale" from the very ill-fated Tormato runs a close second - no matter how agreeable the message was, it was a bit too much of a whine with Rick Wakeman's cheese doodles ruining what's at least a punchy tune

Another Brick in the Wall. ****.