Ranking the 5 Best Album-Openers by The Band

The Band released 10 albums, seven with their so-called “classic” lineup, and then three more after they made a comeback with three original members remaining. That they were able to make such an impact despite their relatively modest output should tell you about what kind of magic is contained on those records.

They were very adept at putting their best foot forward with the first songs on those records, even as they occasionally made unorthodox choices. Here is the best of The Band when it comes to the songs in the leadoff position.

5. “Right as Rain” from Islands (1977)

The Band had already said their official goodbye with The Last Waltz by the time Islands was released in 1977. They needed to fulfill their record deal, however, so the album was cobbled together with whatever they still had lying around. Even though that was the case, there’s still something about the album that’s quite lovely. If you don’t go into it expecting anything earth-shattering, you’ll enjoy five guys with nothing to prove just relying on their chemistry. And “Right as Rain,” an unassuming love song sung beautifully by Richard Manuel, sets the relaxed tone.

4. “Life Is a Carnival” from Cahoots (1971)

Cahoots is the first Band album that sounded a bit like they were reaching for inspiration instead of having it just come to them naturally. Luckily, there are a few fantastic tracks on the album that help prop it up, and this ultra-fun opener qualifies as one of them. They employed the legendary Allen Toussaint for the horn arrangements, and he comes through in majestic fashion. (The Band would work with Toussaint again on the stellar live album Rock of Ages the following year.) In addition, Levon Helm’s herky-jerky drum beat renders the song irresistibly funky.

3. “Book Faded Brown” from Jubilation (1998)

If you didn’t follow The Band after they returned to the studio without Robbie Robertson (who had moved on) and Richard Manuel (who passed away), you missed out on some underrated stuff. Granted, they lacked Robertson’s songwriting perspective. But when the material was there, they generally knocked it out of the park. “Book Faded Brown,” the first song on their final studio album Jubilation, is a wonderful story of tradition and faith delivered by songwriter Paul Jost. Rick Danko sings it with genial wisdom, while Garth Hudson’s accordion adds all the right accents in the margins.

2. “Across the Great Divide” from The Band (1969)

As wonderful as the second album by The Band is, and it truly is an all-time great, it’s almost just as hard to categorize. There were so many genres and styles the five men had imbibed in their journey to that point, and they had taken all that and repurposed it into something unique. In “Across the Great Divide,” the horns bounce around with brassy bluster, while Helm’s drumbeat is never where you quite expect it to be. Richard Manuel sings the song with that frazzled urgency that he mustered better than anybody, and it fits well with Robertson’s somewhat wacky Wild West-flavored lyrics. This song is all over the place, and just right.

1. “Tears of Rage” from Music from Big Pink (1968)

Considering most of the world knew The Band for playing raucous music behind Bob Dylan (at least those who hadn’t heard the bootlegs of the music they’d made in Woodstock with Dylan), the natural inclination would have been to lean into that curve with a harder-edged song to start off their debut record. Instead, Robbie Robertson suggested a ballad that moved at a sloggy pace to throw people off the scent. With brilliant lyrics by Dylan, and music—as well as incredible lead vocals—by Richard Manuel, “Tears of Rage” was an ideal choice to start not just this album, but also their entire recording career.

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