Ray in Exile

All right.
‘ere it is.
Again.
And it’s called…
12XU!

Yes! (From the Stereo Society commentary on Pink Flag:

The well-meant addition of extra tracks (typically, and in the US, the B-side for a subsequent single Options R) destroys the coherence of the album we made. The structure of the music was embedded in the LP, and the extra track after 12XU confuses what was a clear 40-minute experience. Options R is external to the context in which we sequenced the songs. Stop the clock before it, then enjoy it separately.

I have always thought that way about bonus tracks on classic albums that I know well, and on this album especially, I have always done just what he recommends: stop the CD where the original LP ended. Gang of Four’s Entertainment CD has the same problem; so does Eleventh Dream Day’s Prarie School Freakout. I know in my bones exactly where the album should end, because I lived so many defining moments of my life with that music as the soundtrack.
There is, however, one CD where I wished they had actually modified the original and dropped the last song OFF: the Dead’s American Beauty. Side 2 of that album is perfect, ascending to a glorious finale with “Attics of My Life”. The song ends and leaves you sad and ecstatic and emotionally drained all at once, and you just want to bask in the memory of it for a bit…and then this cracker-ass “Truckin’” cliche comes clunking along and completely harshes what’s left of your buzz.
The only saving grace of “Truckin’” is that without it, we would never have had Pop O’Pies. So for that I am, er, grateful.