3 Classic Rock Album-Closing Tracks You Should Hear Now

Classic rock bands in the 1960s and 1970s began focusing on albums over singles. And with this new approach, the long-form releases invited listeners on a musical journey. Rather than the immediate payoff of a catchy radio single, the album echoes the drama of a film or a novel. And like those forms, it requires a great ending. So let’s look at three of the most iconic classic rock album-closing tracks.

“Bring It On Home” by Led Zeppelin

How does one follow “Whole Lotta Love”? When Led Zeppelin II arrived, Jimmy Page and his band proved they had only scratched the surface of heavy blues on their self-titled debut. Every track on the follow-up is a classic, and Led Zeppelin closes here with “Bring It On Home”. Aptly titled, the album-closer indeed brings it on home with a swaggering homage, reworking the Willie Dixon-penned song into rumbling British blues.

Gonna bring it on home,
Bring it on home to you.

“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by The Rolling Stones

Like Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones open their masterpiece, Let It Bleed, with one of the band’s greatest tracks. On “Gimme Shelter”, Mick Jagger and backing vocalist Merry Clayton seek refuge from an apocalyptic world. But “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” feels like the aftermath of a long journey. This is rock gospel seeking some kind of emotional peace as the 1960s wound down. The hook describes the reality of fading ideals. But the jam-band groove gives one the sense that it’s possible to overcome the many disappointments of adulthood.

And I went down to the demonstration,
To get my fair share of abuse.

“A Day In The Life” by The Beatles

Most masterpieces are masterpieces because they don’t contain many, if any, holes. On Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles continued to transform both the recording studio and rock and pop music. If you were to meet a space alien and wanted to introduce them to The Beatles, this is the one. It distills the best of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s songwriting partnership with dramatic scene changes, psychedelia, and eternal melodies.

I read the news today, oh boy,
About a lucky man who made the grade.

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