Rypro 525

One that comes to mind is "Walking on the Sun" by Smash Mouth. The rest of the album is more fast punk/ska rock. And hell, my mom made us get the edited version of that cd, and well, there's still swearing on the album.
"Fly" from Sugar Ray as well (its a rap metal album with that one slow song)

JP5683

Extreme's Pornograffiti II is the first album that comes to mind for me.

polietilen

A lot of people were probably very surprised when they bought Motley Crue's Theater Of Pain to find out there were no more ballads a la Home Sweet Home.

wendersfan

"Girls and Boys" is the only dance song on Parklife.

Hiro11

Anyone who bought Sonic Youth's "Goo" on the basis of "Kool Thing" was in for a little surprise.
"Move Your Feet" is a poppy little dance tune, but the rest of "D-Don't Stop the Beat" by Junior Senior is trashy, coked-up party rock.
"Colony of Birchmen" sounds more like a Queens of the Stone Age song and nothing like the rest of Mastodon's "Blood Mountain"
"Time of your Life" by Green Day...obviously
"Tennessee" by Arrested Development is a driving, visionary rap tune, the rest of the album...isn't.

The Antipodean

Chumbawumba's hit "Tubthumbing" ("I get knocked down I get back up again etc.") sounds like nothing else on their albums

Joan Osborne's bit hit "One of Us" ("what if god was one of us...") is a good tune but her style is generally a lot more bluesy Janis Joplin kinda stuff.

nodeerforamonth

"Name" by the Goo Goo Dolls sounds nothing like the other songs on "A Boy Named Goo".

calhoun07

"Boyz In Da Hood" by Dynamite Hack, a brilliant cover version that makes you want to hear more...only to find the rest of the CD actually sounds nothing like that and sucks.

Arpeggi

"Maps" by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs on "Fever to Tell".

JP5683

Also forgot White Town's Women In Technology.

Aphex Twin

"Hurt" - Nine Inch Nails

milo bloom

Len's "Steal My Sunshine" is a gloriously bubble-gum pop tune but the rest of the album is quite horrible.

I've always maintained this type of "deceptive" marketing is what drives bootlegging.

nodeerforamonth

Oh, "Cold Hearted Bitch" and that other song by Jet. They're NOTHING like the rest of the album which is all piano/acoustic ballads! Very disappointing... They pretend to be a rockin' band with a couple of ballads but are nothing but a ballad band with a couple of rock songs.

Turd Ferguson

The most classic example is probably "Revolution" by the Beatles. The version on the White Album is very slow in contrast to the more widely heard single version.

Buttmunker

Creep by Radiohead was a radio-friendly pop tune, but the album was not.

The Bus

My thoughts exactly.

And also here.

Perkinsun Dzees

"Beth" by Kiss

starman9000

Love Fool by the Cardigans. It fits with the album but definately gives people the wrong impression of the band.

I also thought that Love Train (i think that's what it's called) song by Wolfmother in the Itunes ad was way different than the rest of the album.

starman9000

That album is one of my guilty pleasures, "The BIZ MARKE will always prevail......"

nothingfails

a really old example, but one I've read on message boards. "Stay The Night" by Chicago actually led a lot of people to buy the Chicago 17 album thinking the band was entering a harder rocking direction, only to have the rest of the album be loaded with ballads and midtempos.

nodeerforamonth

"Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica is another.

Rypro 525

"the unforgiven" is on that same album.

The song "Come Clarity" by In Flames comes to mind as well. XM Squizz plays this alot, but the rest of the album is more screamo/metalcore stuff.

Rocketdog2000

The only issue I have with most of the song choices being brought up, is that they are the ballads on the album - and, in most cases, were not the first song to be released off their respective album's in the first place. Generally, the ballad is almost always the second or third single released off any album - specifically because if nothing else, that is the song that will have the most chance at success. Mainstream, crossover, or otherwise. If the first song or two don't catch them, this is the last ditch effort, and easiest way to reach any audience.

While it's true that this example could be used for any "rock" band who gets recognition from a ballad by an otherwise unsuspecting, uninformed general public - it's a bit unfair to use it as an example. To the uninitiated, I could see where it might be a bit surprising, but to someone already familiar with a band's output, it is more likely the norm. I.E. - with the Goo Goo Dolls "Name" - their two proceeding albums also both had ballads on them - "We Are The Normal" on Superstar Carwash, and "Two Days In February" on Hold Me Up, respectively. And if anything, these albums were even harder (rocking) than A Boy Name Goo was. The band's early albums, were even more so.

And I don't mean to make it seem like I'm singling you out here, nodeerforamonth, but I think you need to listen to the first Jet album, Get Born, again. While it's true there are some ballads on that album, more than half of it is straight up rock songs with power chords (ala AC/DC), with the rest a few mid-tempo numbers. And as far as the ballads go, only two feature piano, and another organ. On top of that, I've seen them live, and believe me, they are a rock band. Again, I don't want it to seem as I'm trying to pick on you - it's just that you just provided two good examples for a counter point of view.

JZ1276

yeah it does, it sound like Naked

Michael Corvin

Stone Sour - "Bother"