National Title Track Day

Some albums are defined by a single track, ones that tie the entire album together and will be the banner for the sound it brings, and often the best of these are the title track of the album. National Title Track Day is a day to dust off and break out those albums whose artists have nailed it, and placed the most iconic of a collections music right there on the label. Title tracks are, simply put, the song on an album that shares the name of the album itself.

Occasionally you get a brilliant trifecta that sets off a chain reaction that goes on to define a band. Black Sabbath produced an album that was self-titled, with a track of the same name that went on to define the band itself. The deep sonorous tones implemented the “diabla in musica”, or the devil’s chord, a discordant set of notes used to represent satanic influences since time immemorial in western music. The band was off to a running start in its desire to create the ‘horror movie’ equivalent of music.

Title tracks tend to be the most memorable of an albums songs, as Quiet Riots “Metal Health” album demonstrates beautifully. While not quite as popular as the second track on the album “Cum on feel the noize”, the song Metal Health makes you want to Bang Your Head within the first few bars. While they went on to produce many more albums after this, this song and the album it came from is by far one of their most memorable.

When a title track really shines and does its job, it sets the theme for an entire album, and this is the case with Metallicas “Master of Puppets”. As an album “Master of Puppets” speaks of control and abusing power, and is far and away the magnum opus of this particular band. The title track is specifically referencing the way a drug addiction can rule a person’s life, pulling their strings so that everything is about the drug, and serving the addiction.

A lesser known definition of title track is a song that shares the name with the movie it is a part of. There have been many movies which were made more memorable by a song as powerful as the movie itself. One well-known example is the movie “Never-Ending Story” and the song of the same name that was on the lips of fans even now. This song captures the spirit of the film perfectly, and draws the viewer into the magical adventure to follow.

Sometimes you see these two coming together into a glorious union, such as Princes “Purple Rain” which is the Title of an Album, the name of a movie, and the title track from that movie. This movie falls under a rare sort of film known as the “American Rock Drama”, and is the perfect example of a title track.

So on National Title Track Day, get out your movies, your old albums, and build a soundtrack for your day entirely from title tracks! If you’re feeling particularly brave, dress up as your favorite character from a film with an awesome title track and watch it with a group of friends. Or if you’d rather get out on the town, go down to a local Karaoke bar and belt out some of your favorite tunes! Whatever you do, don’t let National Title Track Day go by without enjoying some of the best music of the ages!