Track Placement is a very strategic and often overlooked skill that the best artists utilize on their albums, and great Track Placement can be what really sets apart a good album from a great album.

The obvious important ones that everyone knows are:

• The Intro: For introducing the listener to the world of the album.

• The Outro: For putting a finalizing bow on all of the sounds and themes that the listener just experienced.

Some other good ones are:

• Track 3: I’ve noticed a lot of artists use this spot to place either the lead single or the most commercially viable track. It’s not always the case, but it happens pretty often among mainstream acts.

• Penultimate Track: AKA the track before the final track. For serving as the “climax” of the album.

My personal favorite track placement, however, is Track 2. This placement always feels like the statement piece for the rest of the album. Whereas the first track in the introductory piece, the second track fully hits you in the face with what the album is going to be.

What is your favorite Track Placement and your favorite examples of it?

i love an outro.

Post your favs

Intro, outro, middle of the album if we're talking vinyl and you have to get B1 right

First full track (not a skit or instrumental) will always be the most important imo. It literally sets the tone

Track 8-10. Something about this just makes or breaks a project for me sometimes

Its really interesting listening to older albums and noticing where the side A/B split is at

i hate to be cliche but a good intro/first track really sets the tone and shows if an artist cares about the project or not

I love a track 3 homerun personally

intros are definitely the most important part of any album for me, has to set the tone

outside of that, i do find myself paying attention to the middle portions of albums for some reason, i can't articulate why but i feel like an album that has a consistent middle portion is extremely well set up quality wise

god man watching to stronger video in OP made me miss highschool so much.

that video was my whole personality in 10th grade. would walk in listening to it every morning, dressed like he did, even printed out some shutter shades online and cut them out and wore em

the intro for sure, but I'd extend that to the first 3 songs. if you can really go back to back to back, hit the ground running like that?? you might have something

when i check out an album, i immediately go to track 2 and then 3

Track 2 and whatever’s filling out the middle 20%

Feel you. I get the importance of the intro, but for me Track 2 is a little more important because I feel like it’s super easy for an artist to overload on an Intro because everyone expects the first song to be special/epic. But that second track is where you can really start to tell what the album is going to be in my opinion

Yeah this as well. The first three songs as a package have to work together and all scratch a different itch

Track 2 is most often lead single material

Track 3

I mean if the first 3 tracks ain’t hitting are you even gonna finish the album?

I find that it’s usually Track 3, but looking at a bunch of albums while making this thread I do notice a bunch of lead single Track 2s as well

This is interesting. I wonder what are the best albums of all time that started off weak

Good question feel like there def are albums I like that started off slow

Thr33 Ringz has one of the most ridiculous first few track runs. In a bad way

Brand New Show (skit)
Welcome To Thr33 Ringz Intro (a very dated rap song)
Then Ringleader Man finally, which prob could’ve just been track 1

second to last tracks be hitting

need a solid opener and closer