The Best Album Opening Lines

1 January 2020, 12:00 | Updated: 1 January 2020, 12:01

We pick a selection of great lyrics that kicked off classic albums.

1. Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino

   Apparently, the opening line on the sixth Monkeys album, from the song Star Treatment, is: “I just wanted to be one of The Strokes, now look at the mess you made me make.” How does it fare against these classics…?

2. The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses

   "I don't have to sell my soul, he's already in me" - I Wanna Be Adored

3. The Smiths - Meat Is Murder

   "Belligerent ghouls run Manchester schools" - The Headmaster Ritual

4. Nirvana – Nevermind

   "Load up on guns, bring your friends / It's fun to lose and to pretend" - Smells Like Teen Spirit

5. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

   "I've been waiting for a guide to come and take me by the hand" - Disorder

6. Oasis - Definitely Maybe

   "I live my life in the city, there's no easy way out" - Rock 'N' Roll Star

7. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

   "Anticipation has the habit to set you up / For disappointment in evening entertainment / But tonight there'll be some love" - The View From The Afternoon

8. Queens Of The Stone Age - Rated R

   "Nicotine, valium, vicodin, marijuana, ecstasy and alcohol." - Feel Good Hit of The Summer

9. Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness

   "Time is never time at all / You can never ever leave without leaving a piece of youth." - Tonight Tonight

10. Florence And The Machine - Lungs

    “Happiness, hit her like a train on a track” - Dog Days Are Over

11. The White Stripes - Elephant

    "I'm gonna fight 'em off / A seven nation army couldn't hold me back" - Seven Nation Army

12. Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go

    "20 foot high on Blackpool promenade / Fake royalty second hand sequin facade” - Elvis Impersonator, Blackpool Pier

13. Blur - Modern Life Is Rubbish

    "He's a Twentieth Century Boy, with his hands on the rails / Trying not to be sick again and holding on for tomorrow." - For Tomorrow

14. Primal Scream – Screamadelica

    "I was blind, now I can see, you made a believer out of me." - Movin' On Up

15. The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed

    "Oh, a storm is threatening / My very life today" - Gimme Shelter