Comments on: Phil Collins? Bollocks.

Phil Collins? Bollocks.

jon_kill — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 06:25:59 -0800

The 50 Coolest Song Parts [RetroCrush] As always, bringing up our favorites... um... song parts... will be more constructive and fun than destroying the list.

By: etc

etc — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 06:38:33 -0800

I'd go for the intro to 'Kerosene' by Big Black (strangely absent from the Retrocrush list).

By: Pretty_Generic

Pretty_Generic — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 06:42:22 -0800

I love that bit in Iste Confessor Domini when the monks are all like "Quem pie laudant populi per orbem, Hac die lætus meruit beatas, Scandere sedes" and it totally builds up and you're like "what's happening man?!" and then the other monks totally kick in with that "Cujus ob præstans meritum, frequenter, Ægra quæ passim jacuere membra" and it's WOAH Also, Kerosene. Although I prefer the bit after the gap.

By: jon_kill

jon_kill — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 06:46:44 -0800

Ooh, if we're talking about Shellac I think the intro to Watch Song kills. KILLS.

By: kenaman

kenaman — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 06:52:50 -0800

This list is an outrage, it omits a tuneful fart by Helix Poppy lead singer with the Hippotastics on their debut single Organise Your Sense of Self, in the silence just before the spoons solo, you know it.................

By: robocop is bleeding

robocop is bleeding — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 06:53:43 -0800

Set me on fire! Though the transition from "House Full of Garbage" to "Copper" on Terraform (for some later Albini) is likewise awesome.

By: bondcliff

bondcliff — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 06:57:45 -0800

Some of my favorites: U2: God Part II: The funky instrumental part right in the middle. It gave a hint of the suck that was to come in later albums, sure, but it was still pretty damn cool. Metallica: Dyer's Eve. The drum roll in the beginning. The Who: Pinball Wizard. Right in the beginning when Pete starts strumming at 900 MPH. Dire Straites: Money For Nothing. That riff. Holy shit, that riff. Anthrax: I'm The Man. "Sexual organ located in the lower abdominal area." Phish: Stash. The intro, especially live when you can tell the Phish virgins because they don't know when to clap.

By: Prospero

Prospero — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 07:00:15 -0800

Is a "coolest part" notable not because it's part of a song that's good all the way through, but because it redeems an otherwise mediocre song, or sits right in the middle of a mediocre album, forcing you to purchase it against your better judgment? For instance, The Who's It's Hard is undeniably a crap album, but the first minute of "Eminence Front" (the stock synth drum loop, followed by several looping keyboard riffs, with looping guitar riffs laid on top of that, and then a solo to finish it off) is freakin' cool, almost enough to merit having patience with the rest of the song.

By: Pretty_Generic

Pretty_Generic — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 07:00:32 -0800

I like "We're all flying down to RIO?!" from Roxy Music's Virginia Plain.

By: daHIFI

daHIFI — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 07:09:11 -0800

Ok, I'll admit that I'm still drunk after celebrating my 25th birthday last night and woke up waaaay to damn early this morning, but Goddammit if Pretty_generic didn't make me laugh my balls off. I don't know what you're talking about - all I can think of is that Enigma song - but I know I love Metafilter. Here's to wasting another year of my life here.

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 07:10:19 -0800

-The end of the Bonzo Dog Band's "My Pink Half of the Drain Pipe is fairly awesome: My pink half of the drainpipe Separates me from the incredibly fascinating story of your life and every day to day event in all it's minute and tedious attention to detail... And was it a Thursday or a Wednesday? Or, oh, no, it wasn't though. Oh, who cares anyway because I do not so Norman, if you're normal, I intend to be a freak for the rest of my life, and I shall baffle you with cabbages and rhinoceroses in the kitchen incessant quotations from "Now We Are Six" through the mouthpiece of Lord Snooty's giant poisoned electric head. So theeeeeere......... (the "there" goes on for about a minute) -Tom Verlaine's solo on Television's "Marquee Moon" -The "Lah-dah-dee-dah-dee-dah-dah-dee-dah-dah" part of P-Funk's "Flashlight" -The beginning of "Constantinople" by the Residents (stabby disjointed guitar notes with the world's most sinister bass line ever underneath) -The final chorus of Eno's "Dead Finks Don't Talk"

By: The Card Cheat

The Card Cheat — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 07:11:30 -0800

The part during Led Zeppelin's "When The Levee Breaks" when Robert Plant yells "Don't it make you feel bad..." and the whole band goes haywire. Sounds best coming out of a car stereo in the summer, but it's good any old time. Also, the start of the song, with that boom-ch-boom-boom-boom-CH! drum beat.

By: The Card Cheat

The Card Cheat — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 07:14:27 -0800

Prospero - Agreed on your review of The Who's It's Hard, but I've always had a soft spot for "Athena" off that album, in addition to the beginning of "Eminence Front".

By: bendybendy

bendybendy — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 07:23:00 -0800

By Date: King Oliver's descending riff on the bridge of "Deep Henderson." They way Milton Brown says "Dreamy, dreamy Chinatown" in his version of "Chinatown, My Chinatown". He sounds so resigned to love, yet so exhausted. The way Mingus' bassline opens on "Fleurette Africaine" on Money Jungle. It doesn't sound like a bass. It doesn't sound like anything else. When the organ comes in on the Tornado's "Telstar" The change up on the Stones "Ventilator Blues", when the slide guitar riff drops away. Also, the piano riff on "We Love You" Mick Jones chiming arpeggios in the middle of Complete Control (the "I don't trust you" part) will forever chill me. The one overdub on Zen Arcade: when the second galloping guitar comes in on the break in "Turn on the News". Also, the opening riff of Husker Du's "Eight Miles High" The first big moaning string bend in "How Soon is Now" Right now, I'm pretty obsessed with the Reigning Sound's pounding boogie riff on their cover of Sam and Dave's "You Got Me Hummin'." I'm not sure it will hold up, but when I've played it on my radio show, folks have called in to find out who's doing it, so I might not be alone.

By: shoepal

shoepal — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 07:24:47 -0800

What an odd assortment of "moments." Thanks jon_kill! I've always liked when the synthesized cacophony hits after the (minimal) intro bounces back and forth between the speakers in The Magnetic Fields' "The Desperate Things you Made Me Do."

By: grabbingsand

grabbingsand — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 07:27:25 -0800

The organ/percussion intro to Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry." "Shit, I gotta have her!" -- ZZ Top, "Legs" The vocoded intro to Tupac's "California Love." "Curve's the word, spin's the verb, Lovers it curves so freak what you heard." -- Blackstreet, "No Diggity" "Guitar! Drums! Load up!" -- Def Leppard, "Rocket" Kip Winger's screamsing at the beginning of "Seventeen."

By: jon_kill

jon_kill — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 07:32:31 -0800

-The backup harmony on Tumbling Dice by the Rolling Stones, on Exile on Main Street. -The feedback part on Frances Farmer will have her revenge on Seattle - Nirvana (it lasts about two beats, and destroys) -The end of Lateralis by Tool. -The backup singers on "The Great Curve" - Talking Heads, remain in light. More later.

By: mr.marx

mr.marx — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 07:36:50 -0800

"Raaaaape! Murder!"

By: Stan Chin

Stan Chin — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 07:39:58 -0800

I was always kind of amused by the Titanic dialogue in Britney Spears' "Oops I Did it Again". Could there ever be a worse part of a song? Does the traffic report in "We Built this City" even come close? Anyway, I've always been of the opinion that Boyd Tinsley's fiddle solo in DMB's "Ants Marching" brainwashed the entire college fraternity population of the 90s.

By: davehat

davehat — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 07:47:22 -0800

The break to chorus - River Euphrates - The Pixies The bongo solo - Apache - Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band The break (it takes two to make a thing go right) - Think - Lyn Collins The slow down - Belfast - Orbital So many, many more!

By: The Card Cheat

The Card Cheat — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 07:47:53 -0800

Man, I could do this all day...what a great link. The guitar solo in "Another Girl, Another Planet" by The Only Ones, especially near the end of the solo, where the guitar loops around itself getting higher and higher and the vocals come back in with the words "SPACE TRAVEL'S IN MY BLOOD"...

By: mrmcsurly

mrmcsurly — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 07:55:16 -0800

And to think — I was lamenting the end of the LP-sized album cover, and the 12-track album.

By: NedKoppel

NedKoppel — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 08:00:57 -0800

#35..."Fantasy?" What the hell is that? If you want to include an EW&F song part, it's gotta be the blaring trumpet riff in "Shining Star," baby. I'd add the opening horn riff in the Beatles' (what's a list with no Beatles?) "Got to Get you Into My Life." I'd add the opening guitar riff of "Smells Like Teen Spirit." I'd add the Scofflaws' couplet: "My name is Paul Getty, I've been living on spaghetti..." And ferget Berlin. Donna Summer did it first. Eh?

By: NedKoppel

NedKoppel — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 08:03:23 -0800

My bad. There is a Beatles listing. Sorry.

By: neilkod

neilkod — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 08:03:36 -0800

Anything on Paul's Boutique. And I've got more hits than Sadaharu Oh Tom Thumb Tom Cushman or Tom Foolery Date women on T.V. with the help of Chuck Woolery

By: Eekacat

Eekacat — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 08:09:28 -0800

I like it when John Coltrane plays like 3 notes at a time on the sax in the live version of "My Favorite Things", probably the greatest live jazz recording ever. There are a lot of cool moments on Howard Roberts' "Antelope Freeway". Pretty much all the moments I've seen Richard Thompson live have been cool. Since when did Phil Collins ever do anything cool?

By: KevinSkomsvold

KevinSkomsvold — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 08:16:20 -0800

"Rat Tomago" by Frank Zappa - That entire solo sounds like glass rain. "Pleideas" King's X - The sound of three musicians locked in. "How Blue Can You Get" - B.B. King (Live at Cook County Jail). The horn breaks still give me goose bumps.

By: dnash

dnash — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 08:19:52 -0800

The slow, ethereal piano solo in Simple Minds' "Alive and Kicking" that sort of brings the song to a halt before it all crescendos again to the finish. This one is gonna sound cheesy...but on Mannheim Steamroller's first Christmas CD, in the midst of their mostly synthesized "Deck the Halls" there's a little solo harpsichord riff that always cracks me up - funky harpsichord! Har. Kate Bush's "yay-yay-yay-ooh" near the end of "Cloudbusting"- also when she says "we're cloudbusting, Daddy." More Kate Bush - from "Jig of Life" on the Hounds of Love album, the drums in the fast instrumental jig in the middle of the song. Oh, and it's rarely heard, but on the full long version of "MacArthur Park" (I'm thinking of the Donna Summer version here) there's a bridge with some beautiful lyrics: There will be another song for me, and I will sing it There will be another dream for me, someone will bring it... ...And after all the loves in my life You'll still be the one.

By: grabbingsand

grabbingsand — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 08:24:17 -0800

"My name is Sue... How do you do?!?" - Johnny Cash

By: majcher

majcher — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 08:29:48 -0800

God told me to skin you alive.

By: Mooskey

Mooskey — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 08:32:40 -0800

More Beastie Boys - B-Boy Makin with the Freaky Freak - when the music stops and the Richard Pryor Sample kicks in - "Shit, if it's going to be that kind of party, I'm gonna stick my dick in the mashed potatoes" Slayer - Angel of Death - Opening guitar riff Radiohead - Paranoid Android - when the song slows to a crawl in the middle Stone Roses - I am the resurrection - John Squire's guitar work in the last third of the song. And A Tribe Called Quest - Electric Relaxation - "If my mom don't approve then I'll just elope, let me sink the little man from inside the boat, let me hit it from the back girl I won't catch a hernia, bust off on your couch now you got semens furniture" Classic.

By: turaho

turaho — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 08:34:46 -0800

Then GAHHHHHD is SEV-EN!! Then GAHHHHHHHHHHD is SEV-EN!!!! And also: right after the last solo in Zappa's "Andy" when Johnny "Guitar" Watson comes screaming in with "Oh Andy! Aaa-ann-dee!"

By: ciderwoman

ciderwoman — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 08:38:47 -0800

The tambourine in the second verse of Denis Denis by Blondie, the song just takes off at that point all thanks to those tiny little cymbals. And the middle eight in Funky Kingston by Toots and the Maytals, just awesome. And the kerosene intro of course. And the beginning of London Calling, or the drum roll intro and guitar solo in Tommy Gun - which is a good one because the rest of the song is nowhere near as good as those bits, the Clash always do it for me.

By: JeffK

JeffK — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 08:39:17 -0800

For you can't hang a man for killin' a woman, Who's tryin' to steal your horse. You gotta love Willie.

By: kindall

kindall — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 08:41:29 -0800

There are some killer bridges in some of the songs on Thomas Dolby's Astronauts and Heretics. In particular, I'm thinking of the part in "I Live in a Suitcase" where he intones, "They say travel broadens the mind..." Various parts of that album gave me shivers the first time I listened. Also, any song by virtually any artist in which the band comes to a complete halt for a moment, then comes back in at full intensity in a glorious cacaphony. One example of what I'm talking about is in Yes's "Machine Messiah" from Drama. Or any song in which you think the rhythm or melody is going one way but when another part comes in, your perspective shifts and you realize it's going another way entirely -- usually the beat you thought was the first in a pattern, isn't. The Alan Parsons Project's "I Robot" does this with the synth bass line that kicks in after the swirly introduction. When the drums fade in, the bass line somehow takes on a subtly different groove even though the notes haven't changed.

By: Pericles

Pericles — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 08:53:33 -0800

Oh Tish and Pish! The bit when Lou Reed's vocals overpower Cale's for just a couple of words in "Lady Godiva's Operation" and made me drop your spliff in my pint with surprise one night in 1987. *That's* a great musical moment. Or when Lemmy growls "And don't forget the joker!" and the solo comes in from "The Ace of Spades"....

By: neilkod

neilkod — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 08:55:41 -0800

the BOOM (WHOA?) in the middle of Enter Sandman.

By: ciderwoman

ciderwoman — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 08:56:48 -0800

Ooops, Kerosene (it's not even that funny a joke), London calling and Tommy Gun. And almost everything by the Pixies. Oo oo oo, and Burn baby burn by Ash for the bit when the guitars come in. It just makes ya want to throw things around, as all good rock should.

By: NedKoppel

NedKoppel — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 09:03:12 -0800

"Some punk tried to dunk, but he broke his neck..."

By: DBAPaul

DBAPaul — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 09:03:30 -0800

grabbingsand: "Shit, I gotta have her!" -- ZZ Top, "Legs" Thanks! Local radio stations are now bleeping "shit" and I couldn't remember what that bleep was (and too lazy to look up the lyrics).

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 09:09:23 -0800

Oh Tish and Pish! The bit when Lou Reed's vocals overpower Cale's for just a couple of words in "Lady Godiva's Operation" and made me drop your spliff in my pint with surprise one night in 1987. Ooo: the bit in "European Son" where there's a rumbling sound, a bunch of glass breaking, and then the solo.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 09:15:01 -0800

"you're so pretty when you're unfaithful to me, y'so pretty when you're unfaithful to me..." "unter glieben glouten globen..." "come on, Dave, give me a break.... one break COMMINNNG UUUP!" "come awn people now, smile on yer brother..."

By: The Card Cheat

The Card Cheat — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 09:17:47 -0800

Then GAHHHHHD is SEV-EN!! Then GAHHHHHHHHHHD is SEV-EN!!!! Ever notice that there are a couple of seconds in that song where the Pixies sound EXACTLY like AC/DC? Right when Black Francis says "Black tear falling..." Listen to his screeching, and the way the guitars crunch....

By: LinusMines

LinusMines — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 09:22:45 -0800

Talking Heads, Once In A Lifetime -- the swirling, funky intro. Tower of Power, What Is Hip? (album version) -- the closing two minutes. Flaming Lips, Race For The Prize -- the nine bars of intro, bombastic and sweet. Toto, Rosanna -- the guitar chord-to-killer-horn-riff ambush. Peter Gabriel, San Jacinto -- The entrance of the rhythm section. Beastie Boys, B-Boy Bouillabaise -- The fourth movement, A Year And A Day. Nod to neilkod. John Coltrane, Body and Soul -- The end section, so gorgeous it makes me drop anything else I'm doing at the time. Nod to Eekacat. And a relatively obscure favorite: EWF, See The Light -- the chaotic 7/4 intro, capped with a vocalized chord human males aren't supposed to be able to produce.

By: bondcliff

bondcliff — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 09:29:42 -0800

Primus: Tommy the Cat. The intro and the bass fills. That song hooked me on Les.

By: turaho

turaho — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 09:36:20 -0800

The bit when Lou Reed's vocals overpower Cale's for just a couple of words in "Lady Godiva's Operation" Oh god yes, I'd forgotten that. Sweetly pump air, indeed.

By: Quartermass

Quartermass — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 09:40:40 -0800

Have to do it. . . The fuzz bass bridge on Britney Spears last single "Toxic." Soooo good.

By: The Card Cheat

The Card Cheat — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 09:45:19 -0800

Ever notice that there are a couple of seconds in that song where the Pixies sound EXACTLY like AC/DC? Right when Black Francis says "Black tear falling..." Listen to his screeching, and the way the guitars crunch.... Oops...that would be in "No. 13, Baby".

By: Pericles

Pericles — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 09:46:08 -0800

DING! Quatermass wins the lifetime supply of Phil collins albums.

By: tommasz

tommasz — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 09:47:40 -0800

For me: The guitar in the intro to the Byrds' Eight Miles High The 12-string guitar in the very beginning of the Beach Boys' Dance, Dance, Dance Damn near every thing in Layla Linsey Buckingham's guitar on Fleetwood Mac's Rumours album

By: mr.marx

mr.marx — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 09:53:41 -0800

also the uptempo break in "say you, say me" I kid.

By: furiousthought

furiousthought — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 09:58:07 -0800

The intro to Sonic Youth's "Dirty Boots," right when it hits the low note. The initial "aaaaaahhh" - it defies transliteration, or maybe it's just me - in Pavement's "Silence Kit". The first series of scratches on "Going Back to Cali". The line in "She's Crafty" where MCA ends his list of stolen items with "my old skateboard" slays me every single time.

By: kokogiak

kokogiak — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 09:58:33 -0800

A few off the top of my head - fun stuff: Beastie Boys - Sabotage - the stop-pause-bass riff, then Whaaaa! Helmet - Unsung - first 30 seconds. (blogged about this here) Cranes - Loved - The loose, low bassy guitar that hits about 30 seconds in. Listen to it very loud. Cranes - Jewel - The crashing crescendo about 1:45 - again, volume is good. Gives me goosebumps. Rod Stewart - Maggie May - always have to wait forever to get to that Mandolin solo, but it's worth it. This one is an acquired taste: Bob Mould - Hair Stew - the shrieking feedback solo at about 1:20. Don't know why, but I love it. And along those lines, the extended shrieking yell near the end of Aphex Twin's Come to Daddy. That one was definitely enhanced by having seen the video.

By: neilkod

neilkod — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:01:58 -0800

Metallica's one, when the song speeds up and the double-bass-drum kicks in.

By: aaronetc

aaronetc — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:03:31 -0800

Radiohead, "Just" -- the bit where the guitar goes all squiggy Ben Folds Five, "Steven's Last Night in Town" -- band goes full stop and the studio phone rings Nirvana, "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" from Unplugged -- another full stop near the end, in which Kurt loudly sighs Failure, "Stuck on You" -- when the rest of the band comes in at the beginning Burning Airlines, "Outside the Aviary" -- "Where's my right mind?!," which, unfortunately, J. Robbins sings down an octave live Juliana Hatfield, "Down on Me" -- a verse ends with a number of pieces of Juliana's vocals looped over each other, unintelligbly Matthew Sweet, "Sick of Myself" -- those four muted strums

By: neilkod

neilkod — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:06:17 -0800

"Soy un perdedor I’ma loser baby, so why don’t you kill me?"

By: ahimsakid

ahimsakid — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:06:32 -0800

I've been told--on good authority--that the coolest thing in all of rock 'n roll is found in the Beatles' "Baby You Can Drive My Car" when they sing: Beep beep mm beep beep, yeah! . . .pure nonsensical exuberance.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:14:50 -0800

Gotta toss in a vote for David Gilmour's chuffing guitar intro on Learning To Fly. The bridge in the song is pretty cool too, with the pseudo air-traffic-control noises and so forth. Also the intro to Sweet Home Alabama. Everyone in the world says "Turn it up" along with Ronnie Van Zant when that song comes on the radio. You just can't help it.

By: pxe2000

pxe2000 — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:19:48 -0800

since jonmc has sworn off music threads, i must pick up his classic-rock gauntlet, if only briefly. the bassline in "up on cripple creek" by the band. also (not particularly jonmc, but it's classic rock...ish): the fiddle and guitar duel at the end of fairport convention's "matty groves". other stuff: the beatles-y solo piano and voice moment in "she's your cocaine" by tori amos. the rest of the song is incredibly annoying, but hearing all the textural crap drop out and the coo of "and is it true, the devils end up like you?" gives me goosebumps. the moment when "kenneth, what's the frequency?" segues into "not because you can" on game theory's lolita nation, with the stuttered vocal sample and the big kick-drum sound. (also on the game theory tip, the opening riff on "i've tried subtlety" is amazing.) the instrumental break on the waitresses' "go on". it sounds like gears falling into place. oh, and the segue into "palm desert" on song cycle by van dyke parks floored me. and then there's "

By: brism

brism — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:26:12 -0800

When I saw the cover to Who's Next on the list, I thought I'd see a reference to the wonderful building intro to Baba O'Riley. The guitar chords after "I don't need to be forgiven..." and "It's on-ly teenage waste-land!" never fail to make me windmill on my air guitar.

By: Mayor Curley

Mayor Curley — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:31:08 -0800

My favorite is towards the middle of VU's "Heroin" when Lou Reed let's out a dry laugh during his sing-talk: "When the heroin is (heh-heh) in my bloood...."

By: chris24

chris24 — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:32:46 -0800

Some rock classics. The opening to Aqualung by Jethro Tull. Bom bom bom ba bom bom. "Sitting on a park bench. Eyeing little girls with bad intent." The opening of Photograph by Def Leppard: the single strum then the riff.

By: jcruelty

jcruelty — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:36:02 -0800

Wow, what a great list and discussion! Since I'm home sick, got to add my 2 cents: Helmet - "In The Meantime" - agree with kokogiak that the beginning is nice, but i've always loved the moment at 2:26 where the guitar feedback starts and the drummer's doing these rolls, and it builds and builds until paige hamilton finally lets loose with a bloodcurdling incoherent SCREAM that just blows the roof off.... oh man that's good stuff. Orbital - "Out There, Somewhere (2)" - the beginning of this track, the last on "In Sides", has in 8 years never failed to send shivers down my spine when it comes on. just beautiful. Jon_kill, I also love the beginning of "Watch Song". So angular and stark!

By: neilkod

neilkod — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:46:29 -0800

What powers you ask? I dunno.. how about the power of flight, that do anything for ya? Its levitation holmes. How about the power to kill a yak, from 200 yards away, With MIND bullets Thats telekenisis Kyle ...How about the power to move *you*?

By: chris24

chris24 — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:48:39 -0800

This is more addictive than crack. The opening of Crazy Train by Ozzy: "All aboard!" Then drums and bass. Then the monster guitar riff. The opening of Ballroom Blitz by Sweet. Chica chica drums, then "Are you ready Steve...Uh huh...Andy...yeah...Mick...okay...All right fellas... Let's goooooo!" The opening of Fantasy by Aldo Nova. The sounds of screaming animals and helicopters, the pulsing keyboards into the lasers exploding right before the monster riff.

By: vbfg

vbfg — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 11:06:53 -0800

Black Francis transformed into Frank Black - basically any song where he hits the high notes. In particular the opening bars of Massife Centrale on Show Me Your Tears or the closing bars of California Bound on Black Letter Day. It sends shivers down my spine every time.

By: DevilsAdvocate

DevilsAdvocate — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 11:09:04 -0800

By: eilatan

eilatan — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 11:12:28 -0800

The Connells - "Scotty's Lament" - The song starts out soundling like generic Irish/Scottish folk music, and then just transforms into this amazing pop hook. Guadalcanal Diary - "Trail of Tears" - In the chorus, the singer is going on about Civil War widows, and he's all "one wore blue and one...[kickass drumming]...wore black" and it's perfect. And there are these church bells in John Wesley Harding's "Protest! Protest! Protest!" that I adore beyond all reason.

By: Loudmax

Loudmax — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 11:24:15 -0800

Well, here's an esoteric one: In the the song Requiem by Geinoh Yamashirogumi, when the monks are chanting "Yagadah, bojiboo, soygoh... Soygoh!" Actually, I don't know what the hell they're talking about, but it sounds very important. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's the soundrack to Akira. Also cool, the drums in the beginning of Kaneda. In the movie, it's in the beginning when Kaneda and Tetsuo go riding through Neo-Tokyo on their superbikes.

By: joaquim

joaquim — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 11:35:34 -0800

The bridge in "I Feel Fine" when Ringo brings the drums back. The voiceover in Don Henley's Garden of Allah that starts with "Nice car. I love those Bavarians. So meticulous." The speaker falls into a singsong when he hits the line, "And we sat beneath the palms in the warm afternoons and drank the wine with Fitzgerald and Huxley and they pawned a biting phrase from tongues hot with blood and drained their pens of bitter ink..." On preview from DevilsAdvocate: Mike Oldfield's Songs of Distant Earth, where the same guy who announced the instruments in Tubular Bells does a countdown, almost whispering some of it. This thread reminds me of the movie Amadeus, where Salieri is describing a piece of Mozart's music: "Extraordinary! On the page it looked nothing. The beginning simple, almost comic. Just a pulse - bassoons and basset horns - like a rusty squeezebox. Then suddenly - high above it - an oboe, a single note, hanging there unwavering, till a clarinet took over and sweetened it into a phrase of such delight! This was no composition by a performing monkey! This was a music I'd never heard. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing, it had me trembling. It seemed to me that I was hearing a voice of God."

By: dydecker

dydecker — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 11:39:36 -0800

touching you-ooh touching me-eee TOUCHING YOU COS YOU'RE TOUCHING MEEEEEEEEEE

By: John

John — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 11:51:18 -0800

Live Skynyrd: "What song is it you wanna hear?" Dire Straits: "Girl, you look so pretty to me / Like you always did / Like the Spanish city to me / When we were kids"

By: Ufez Jones

Ufez Jones — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 11:52:56 -0800

A rather obscure one that is always a favorite for me: Avail's Live from the Bottom of the Hill album, there's a song, whose name escapes me at the moment, but it's a song about not getting into fights at shows and being an asshole: The chorus goes what the hell are you fighting for/ I hope it's something you really believe/ someone's got a fist in their face cause you're feeling weak/ and you're causing all these problems that nobody needs... Anyways, they're in the middle of that song and a fight breaks out, so they stop playing and one of the guys in the band goes "Are you guys not listening to the song or what?" Priceless.

By: keswick

keswick — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 11:53:35 -0800

The part where the fiddle kicks in at the beginning of Son Volt's "Windfall" makes me feel like everything is gonna be all right.

By: kokogiak

kokogiak — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 11:53:42 -0800

What is the song - i think it's Pink Floyd, where there a few times when the lead singer's voice (Roger Waters I think) slowly trails off at the end of a verse, until it just perfectly matches a guitar note which is fading in.. Love that. Oh, and the climax of Led Zeppelin's Kashmir, lyrics unkown to me, but I believe it's like "Trying to find, trying to find where I've been" And the final "been" gets stretched out to beeeaaaaahhhhh... Oh, and (this is like crack). Pearl Jam's Black - the last line, where Vedder stretches out the line "why can't it be mine" into "why can't it be, can't it beeeee muuuh-aaaaih-ah-hah-hine". That gets me every time.

By: kokogiak

kokogiak — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 11:56:52 -0800

Oh, and vbfg - definitely agree on Black Francis. Some buddies of mine (and I) refer to Pixies music as "Righteous Noise". It just kicks all kinds of ass.

By: rusty

rusty — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 12:05:03 -0800

In the Hum song "I hate it too", The part where it goes from quiet strumming and lyrics to totally rocking. The bass drum "thump thump thumpthumpthumpthump"... always gets me. That and the fact that they do another short two verses and then just basically just let it roll for a while. Hum is definitely one of those bands that deserved to be more than one hit wonders.

By: eyeballkid

eyeballkid — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 12:14:00 -0800

The eerie minor chorus to The Beatles' "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You" has haunted me all of my life. I can't believe no one brought up Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water." That opening riff... well... smokes. Finally getting to the opening vocals in Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" "But what about the Minutemen? Flesh Eaters? DOA? The Big Boys and the Black Flag?..."That entire verse from X's "I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts." (and, for that matter, and of Billy Zoom ripping fucking guitar from their earlier stuff like the opening to "Johnny Hit and Run Pauline", "Sugarlight" and "Nausea")

By: chris24

chris24 — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 12:24:46 -0800

The high keyboard break 2:40 into Evil Woman by ELO. The opening "ah ahhh" into the guitar riff in Crimson and Clover - Joan Jett version. The horns at the opening of Desperate but not Serious by Adam Ant. The Moroccan-ish riff at the beginning of Killing Moon by Echo and the Bunnymen. The Sergio Leone-ish guitar at the beginning of Living Thing by ELO. The keyboard solo/intro of She Sheila by the Producers. Absolutely love it. The part in She Sells Sanctuary where Ian has been holding "Ahhhh" for like a minute and the drums come in with badada badada bom.

By: The Card Cheat

The Card Cheat — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 12:26:42 -0800

This may be the most (pardon the pun) harmonious MF thread ever...

By: kindall

kindall — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 12:31:08 -0800

When I saw the cover to Who's Next on the list, I thought I'd see a reference to the wonderful building intro to Baba O'Riley. And indeed, you did -- that album was on there twice, once for "Baba O'Riley" and once for "Won't Get Fooled Again."

By: chris24

chris24 — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 12:36:12 -0800

"Ahhhhhhh, wham bam, thank you maam" from Bowie's Suffragette City I gotta stop.

By: mathowie

mathowie — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 12:37:12 -0800

They overlooked an original version of Tenacious D's "greatest song in the world" to highlight the album version. The original is a joke on Zepplin's Stairway that I assume they didn't feel like paying the rights to parody on their first album.

By: gompa

gompa — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 12:38:33 -0800

The Retrocrush list acknowledged "Born to Run," but listed the beginning. The song certainly deserves to be on the list, but the best part of the song is the second instrumental bridge, leading up to "One, two, three, four, The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last-chance power drive." Damn straight. Also: finest Stones moment for my money is the explosion out of the bridge on "Rocks Off," that wicked little jazzy fill by Charlie Watts and then Mick belting out one of the finest single lines in rock history: "The sunshine bores the daylights outta me . . ." Also Charlie Watts' fantastic stumbling-drunk drum fills on "Loving Cup." In fact, everything Charlie Watts does on Exile on Main St. And the finest bit of "Sympathy for the Devil" isn't the who-killed-the-Kennedys line, dammit, it's Keith's tight snarling guitar solo. [/StonesFilter] Also: The propulsive opening loop of "Tomorrow Never Knows" by the Beatles. Came out seven years before I was born, so I can only imagine the kind of goggle-eyed "what was that?" glances traded over turntables around the world the day Revolver was released in 1966. Also: the intro to "Teenage Riot" by Sonic Youth. Kim Gordon's breathy speak-singing of lyric snippets and kids' taunts over a jangly strum, a light cymbal crash, and then the shimmering triumphal riff kicks in. And then the return to that riff 4/5ths of the way through: "And that's the hero /You paint a zero on his head." Big cymbal-crashing drum roll, and back to the intro riff, with wicked little trilly bits from the lead guitar at the end of each bar. Spine-tingling. I could go on (and on and on . . .).

By: Loudmax

Loudmax — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 12:42:01 -0800

What is the song - i think it's Pink Floyd, where there a few times when the lead singer's voice (Roger Waters I think) slowly trails off at the end of a verse, until it just perfectly matches a guitar note which is fading in.. Love that. That would be Sheep, from the Animals album (1975, iirc). Harmlessly passing your time in the grassland awayyyyy........ Only dimly aware of a certain unease in the aiiiiiiiiiirrrr..........

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 12:56:20 -0800

The Rolling Stones-inspired "Woo-hoo" and guitar in World Party's "Way Down Now." Beatles: cool little bass hook in "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey." The rain sound and intro of The Who's "Love, Reign O'er Me." The opening of AC/DC's "Back in Black." Several great hooks in OutKast's "Hey Ya." Everyone in the world says "Turn it up" Not me. I say "toin it up."

By: fuzz

fuzz — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 12:56:44 -0800

Great thread, everyone. I'd forgotten how much I used to like classic rock. I especially like it when a song that I already like suddenly shifts into another gear that I didn't expect. The Jesus and Mary Chain - "Never Understand", where the already incredible feedback suddenly doubles in size, and the screaming starts. The Staples Singers - "I'll Take You There", when one great bass riff goes into the break with another great one, and then Mavis comes back in wailing. Al Green - "Tired of Being Alone", when he sings "sometimes I fold my arms, I say wheeeeee-oooooo-o, o baby". Bill Withers - "Ain't Know Sunshine", where he sings "I know" over and over again over just the beat. Velvet Underground - "I Heard Her Call My Name", "... and then my mind split open" and the wild guitar solo. Yo La Tengo - "Pablo and Andrea", when the shimmering breaks into the fuzzed-out guitar solo. Talking Heads - "Once in a Lifetime", where Adrian Belew's guitar comes in over the outro. Prince - "Kiss", "... and your (and then the guitar riff!) kiss." and some screams I love: The Sonics - "Psycho" The Cramps - "New Kind of Kick" Stevie Wonder - "I Was Made to Love Her" The Stooges - "Search and Destroy" and every single one by James Brown. I used to love when the drums come in in "In the Air Tonight", but since I read American Psycho I'm not so sure anymore.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 13:01:06 -0800

Also the guitar riff in Rush's "Spirit of the Radio." And the drums in "In the Air Tonight" may be a cliche, but that commercial where the kid's listening to the song on his headphones and drums the pillows in time to the song is pretty funny. Which reminds me of the time I saw a Rush concert and the entire row of teenage boys in front of me perfectly air-drummed the drum solo. eilatan: "Scotty's Lament" is great. I might also suggest the openings of "Stone Cold Yesterday" or "Slackjawed."

By: tommasz

tommasz — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 13:05:29 -0800

Man, this is addictive... (now for some bass) The bass line in U2's Bullet the Blue Sky (live) on Rattle and Hum Every bass line on Quadrophenia, every aspiring rock bassist should listen to this album

By: punilux

punilux — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 14:07:19 -0800

More bass : In PIL's 'Memories', about 1:30 in. The bass just drops, your speakers turn inside out and all the air's sucked from the room. Stirring.

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 14:11:10 -0800

The middle part of Royal Trux's "Lightning Boxer": Your beautiful skin/Your beautiful spine/ You're beautiful all the time/x2 And the end of the song when they do the same refrain but with "yeah yeah yeah (yeah)" instead of the lyrics above. Wicked awesome.

By: dydecker

dydecker — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 14:20:55 -0800

Best bass sound EVER

By: Quartermass

Quartermass — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 14:56:57 -0800

Some other favorites. . . (besides the bridge on "Toxic", which is amazing) Beach Boys - The swirling vocal breakdown of "God Only Knows" (ie Mike Love's "bam ba bam ba bam - ba bam - ba bam ba bom") Right to where Brian Wilson comes in on a high "God only knows where I'd be without youu" Steely Dan - The opening guitar line on "Reeling in the Years" Jeff Buckley - The second verse on Last Goodbye - "This is our last embrace / must I dream and always see your face" chilling vocal delivery that gives me goosebumps every time Finally, Propaghandi - on "... And We Thought Nation States Were a Bad Idea" - "(We're): 1) born 2) hired 3) disposed! Where that job lands, everybody knows and you can tell by the smile on the CEO's that the environmental restraints are about to go. You can bet that laws will be set to ensure the benefit of unrestricted labor-laws (all kept in place by displaced government death squads). " Hearing those words at the tender age of 16, I was a changed individual. But it isn't only the content - it was the vile with which these words were sung. Amazing.

By: Bonzai

Bonzai — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 14:58:20 -0800

By: furiousthought

furiousthought — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 14:59:04 -0800

The Wu-Tang Clan: Tiger style....TIGER STYLE!

By: chris24

chris24 — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 15:06:29 -0800

The opening of Renegade by Styx. The harmonies, the scream, the guitars. ...must...stop...posting... /Kirk

By: DevilsAdvocate

DevilsAdvocate — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 15:07:49 -0800

Credit where credit is due: a bit of poking around and I found the guy announcing the instruments in Tubular Bells was Vivian Stanshall. Until I read joaquim's comment I had always just assumed it was Mike Oldfield himself.

By: chickygrrl

chickygrrl — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 15:16:18 -0800

Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer", in the last verse where the music just swells with the first couple of lines, peaks in the next few, and then fades out with "I am leaving, I am leaving, but the fighter still remains...."

By: bargle

bargle — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 15:20:37 -0800

"Stay (faraway so close)" by U2 - Stay with the demons you drowned Stay with the spirit I found Staaaaaaaaaaaay...and the night would be enough I just love that song and especially that part. There was a time when I listened to this song over and over and over. "The Dreaming Tree" by Dave Matthews Band - after about the 7:00 mark when Dave starts just making these wailing sounds and the song starts kinda fading out "Starseed" by Our Lady Peace - at the beginning of the song when he screams out "oh yeah yeah yeaaaaaah" and the song takes off.

By: ciderwoman

ciderwoman — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 15:40:33 -0800

...the opening line of Human Fly by the Cramps...the guitar solo on Strychnene by the Sonics (now thats rock n roll). This has been a great thread because you don't have to sign up to the whole song, just the bit that you know, deep down, rocks, but won't / can't admit because you're loathing for the artist gets in the way. There's a number of songs in this thread by bands I think SUCK but I have to admit, that as much as they suck, that one riff is most excellent. Maybe the UN should arrange meetings around "great riffs" or "great openings" debates. The whole world would come together as one, all agreeing that the bit when Karen Carpenter sings "I'm on the ....top of the world looking...down on creation" really does rule (as does the version by that Japanese band on the Wish I Was A Carpenter covers album, can't remember who they were but MeFi will I'm sure).

By: pyramid termite

pyramid termite — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 15:42:11 -0800

Just a few - how can we forget the rave-up in Led Zeppelin's Dazed and Confused? That drum beat rules. Laura Nyro screaming "no" in "Been on a Train" - gives me chills every time I hear it. The chorus to "They're coming to take me away ha-ha" Neil Young drunkenly saying "please take my advice" right before the band sings "Open up your tired eyes" in the most wasted voices i've ever heard The orchestra climax in "Day in the Life" ... how could we forget that one? And Mercury Rev's "Chasing a Bee" ... about 1 1/2 minutes into that there's this godawfully loud blast of guitar noise that i've seen make people jump, and look quickly at the stereo to make sure it wasn't blowing up.

By: Octaviuz

Octaviuz — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 16:20:22 -0800

I love intros. Foo Fighters I'll Stick Around (two guitars, bass and drums in lockstep, it helps that Dave is playing all the parts) Smashing Pumpkins Today (I can't play the guitar but figured out those nine notes, dee-dee dee-dee dee-dee dee-dee-dee) Everclear Santa Monica (Sure it's not high art but I'll bet it got stuck in your head too)

By: Octaviuz

Octaviuz — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 16:22:09 -0800

Oh and I'll second the bassline in Bullet the Blue Sky. Bush were otherwise useless but I liked the bass on Comedown.

By: elendil71

elendil71 — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 16:43:15 -0800

I'll add a recent one that will stand the test of time I reckon; Robert Fisher and Kristen Hersh duet on "The Ghost of the Girl in the Well" from Regard the End by Willard Grant Conspiracy - gives me shivers the last few stanzas. and an oldie; Henryk Gorecki (sp) Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Minor, "The Symphony of Sorrowful Songs". Ending vocals by soprano Dawn Upshaw. Unbelievable.

By: PrinceValium

PrinceValium — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 17:02:19 -0800

Best scream ever: Bon Jovi's "I'll Be There For You." "I'll be your water when you get thirsty baby. When you get drunk I'll be your wine. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 17:50:51 -0800

The bit in Motorhead's 'Ace of Spades' : '...that's the way I like it baby I don't want to live forever!' Also, way more obscure, is a bit in the middle of 'Looking for Something Clean' by Slow (little-known, much-missed early 80's Vancouver asskickers) that still makes me all tingly. Actually, there are equally amazing bits all through their first (and only) EP.

By: black8

black8 — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 19:31:13 -0800

The drum beat on 10,000 Years by High on Fire, especially when someone else in the band faintly goes "yeah!". The decending bassline on "Too Late: Frozen" when Peter screws up and shouts "Fuck You" at someone taunting him. When Black Francis growls "Everything is gonna burn/We'll all take turns/I'll get mine too" in Monkey Gone to Heaven. Ram-Bunk-Shush by the Ventures... Flaming Lips asking "Is it getting heavy?" gives me goosebumps. The part where the bass kicks in on Planet Telex by Radiohead.

By: johnny7

johnny7 — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 19:52:23 -0800

Jeff Beck "Cause we've ended as lovers". Written by Sevie Wonder and a tribute to Roy Buchanan. You want guitar you say ??

By: eddydamascene

eddydamascene — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 20:06:07 -0800

the grind in "Drunk Butterfly" by Sonic Youth the chorus of "Open House" by Lungfish the schizophrenic drumroll in "Quark Soup" by We the pause before the beat drops in "Hard Noize" by Dillinja the first two words in "Depression" by Black Flag

By: emf

emf — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 20:06:56 -0800

The CD this thread lead me to play was Anita Baker's Rapture. Ah ah ah ah ah ah Caught up in the rapture of love...

By: mrhappy

mrhappy — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 20:08:47 -0800

the piano intro on Genesis' "Firth of Fifth" Robert Fripp's insane fills on VDG's "Man-Erg" Roxy Music: "Boys will be boys will be boy-oy-oy-oys" always kills me.

By: Richat

Richat — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 20:11:36 -0800

The backing vocals (not to mention the lead vocals) on Big Star's "Thirteen" is amazing me this week. Just amazing. And a song I can't remember the title of from The Weakerthans latest...Something about hating Winnipeg. John Samson's ability to sound disinterested in his own vocals makes me happy....

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 20:23:55 -0800

"Punk rock changed our lives." And a second vote for Complete Control-- "I don't trust you-- so why trust me" and then the guitar kicks in-- damn. From Kid A: The transition from Everything in Its Right Place, where the sound completely loops and destructs and slows down, into the limpid beauty of How to Disappear Completely; also the transition between Optimistic and In Limbo Frank Black: "GOT ME A MOVIE! AH HA HA HA! SLICING UP EYEBALLS! AH HA HA HA!" Remain in Light-- the opening bass riff of the album-- Da da Dum da da.... 'And you may find yourself in a shotgun shack' That killer monster riff from Kashmir with Plant wailing away like a banshee over it-- yow-- when the ascending scale on the keyboards comes in just at the end. The first chorus of California Uber Alles. The fantastically distorted guitar in PJ Harvey's Ecstacy and the guitar riff in Water from Dry. Amazing. In Neil Young's The Needle and the Damage Done, the incredible grief and world weariness you can hear in the line 'milk blood to keep from... running out' I could be here all night.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 20:29:53 -0800

OH damn, how could I forget! Born to Run: ONE TWO THREE FOUR The end of Act One of Turandot The end of Act One of Madame Butterfly The end of Act One of La Boheme (Puccini: master of endings)

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 20:35:35 -0800

Okay, just one more. Marvin Gaye, What's Going On, where you can hear the dialogue in the background, people talking, and then those celestial strings and vocals floating on top. That song is magic, I tell you. New York, October 2001, put it on the jukebox in a busy bar in Park Slope, and by the end of it everyone was silent and listening and you could feel a sense of love and comfort just welling up all around us. The trumpet part in (crap I'm blanking on the name) the Springsteen song on, I think, Darkness on the Edge of Town-- the slow one, piano, trumpet and Bruce. Oh, and Candy's Room-- "We KISS! The blood rushes in my veins"

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 20:44:48 -0800

Okay, I promise I'll stop after this one-- The guitar intro to Anarchy in the UK "Rrrrrrrright! Now! ha ha ha ha ha ha ha" The guitar solo in God Save the Queen, too, of course More recently: when the horns enter in Elbow's Powder Blue from Asleep in the Back And from their second album, Cast of Thousands, their entire audience at Glastonbury in 2002 singing 'We still believe in love, so fuck you'

By: quonsar

quonsar — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 21:04:05 -0800

roger daltrey's scream in "won't get fooled again", and townsend's mixed-way-down-but-still-audible guitar fills between the final power chords. the part in the guitar solo on jeff beck's "goin' down" where he pulls the low e string right out of the nut and you can hear it flap against the pickup. more as they bubble slowly to the surface...

By: George_Spiggott

George_Spiggott — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 21:34:41 -0800

The intro to "Driver's Seat" from Snif 'n the Tears practically defines adolescence for me. It rolls in in these amazing, precisely paced stages: it starts with some hard solo strumming, acoustical or nearly so, then the drums hit like gunshots or bolts of lightning, then a sweet, classic electric riff tears right in, and finally that smooth keyboard rhythm that underlies the whole piece doesn't so much start as seem to rise up from underneath you, right as the vocals start: "Doing alright. ..." Perfect. Awesome when driving through a warm desert (Saturday) night on the interstate with a few friends.

By: kindall

kindall — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 22:24:33 -0800

Okay, I'm revealing way too much about myself here, but Geoff Tate's high note near the beginning of Queensryche's "Take Hold of the Flame." What can I say, I was a closet head-banger.

By: nicwolff

nicwolff — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 22:26:07 -0800

When Steve Hunter's long long guitar intro resolves into the riff of "Sweet Jane" on Rock & Roll Animal When Maggie Bell comes out of nowhere to join Rod Stewart on "I firmly believe that I / Didn't need anyone but me / I sincerely thought I was so complete... / Look how wrong you can be!" The eight-beat cesura in the percussive extro of Stone Roses' "I Am The Resurrection" Juliana Hatfield forgetting the lyrics to Weezer's "Say It Ain't So" in that live MP3 that's around and just asking the audience "What's the next verse?". The completely cheesy spoken intro to All Saints' "Never Ever". Bruce Robison saying "Pinch me" because he knows he's the luckiest man in the world singing "Angry all the Time" with his wife Kelly Willis. Robbie Fulks and Kelly Willis' spoken break in "Parallel Bars": "Yeah, I see you over there..." "I know what you're up to, you big drunken oaf" "Aww Kelly, what do you say we patch up our differences and just meet halfway?" "You're about one fifth too far gone for that" "I'm so drunk, I can't even remember why we're scrappin!" "It's 'cause you're an asshole." "But other than that." Tommy Flanagan quoting the Woody Woodpecker theme during Caravan, live at the Village Vanguard a few months before he died. Spike Jones: "Then old Pal-yat-chee finds the guy / he's seekin / cheek-to-cheekin' / with his wife / he grabs a knife / and stabs the louse / who stole his spouse / and then he stabs the lady and himself / ('Tain't very / sanitary!)" Stevie Wonder desperately hitting on a Latina at the start of "Don't You Worry 'bout A Thing": "'Cause like I been to y'know Paris, Peru, y'know, I mean, uh, Iraq, Iran, Eurasia, y'know - I speak very, very, um, fluent Spanish, uh, todo 'sta bien - chevre!" Double D and Steinski sampling "Hernando's Hideaway" in "Lesson 3". The George Jones-to-Ray Charles handoff in "We Didn't See A Thing": "Don't forget: I was down in Atlanta / And don't you forget: I was workin' late!" The piano, bass, and guitar intro to the Stone's "Monkey Man". Jeff Buckley's last two "Hallelulah"s. The Blue Hearts picking the worst possible Engrish girl's name to make the only word in the chorus of their first hit: "Rinda Rinda, Rinda Rinda Rinda-ah! Rinda Rinda, Rinda Rinda Rinda-ahoaoahhh!"

By: jjg

jjg — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 22:58:02 -0800

The Weakerthans song Richat's thinking of is called "One Great City!". But as moments from that record go, I much prefer the final vocal line and instrumental build at the tail end (get it?) of "Plea From a Cat Named Virtute".

By: Dirjy

Dirjy — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 23:06:33 -0800

Led Zeppelin -- "In the Evening" -- The opening notes of Jimmy Page's guitar solo (CHUN -- CHUNCHUNCHUNCHUNNNNN!!!!) Beastie Boys -- "It's the Joint" -- the first time that deep bass groove kicks in at the chorus. The Cult -- "Love removal machine" -- "Babybabybabybabyba-bee, I fell from the sky-yi!" The Dead Kennedys -- "California Uber Alles! California UUUUUUUUUUberalles!

By: DevilsAdvocate

DevilsAdvocate — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 23:27:36 -0800

A few additions now that I have access to my music collection: Annie Lennox's vocals in the end credits of Apollo 13 Alien Ant Farm, "Movies," after the first line or so of vocals when the bass guitar comes in with a series of rapidly descending notes Green Day, "Welcome to Paradise," the drums through the whole thing, but especially at "I want to take you through a wasteland I like to call my home [drum riff] Welcome to paradise" Harry Chapin, "Mr. Tanner," final verse Melissa Etheridge, "I'm the Only One," chorus And thanks to nicwolff for reminding me of Jeff Buckley's "Hallelujah," although I'm partial to the lines "She tied you to her kitchen chair/she broke your throne and she cut your hair/and from your lips she drew the Hallelujah"

By: synecdoche

synecdoche — Tue, 08 Jun 2004 23:53:13 -0800

And a song I can't remember the title of from The Weakerthans latest...Something about hating Winnipeg jjg's got it: that is "One Great City." I love the line "The Guess Who sucks, the Jets were lousy anyway." I had that song in my head throughout my first trip to the city just over a week ago. Everybody's mentioned so many good ones, but I'll chime in with a couple: "Immerse your soul in love" from Radiohead's "Street Spirit," as well as the little rest toward the end of "Just." Also, if we can use specific versions of songs, the "We belong together" in the version of "Black" from Pearl Jam's Unplugged session. I also love the sloooooow build into The Stone Roses' "I Wanna Be Adored," and the wicked guitar riff in Echo and the Bunnymen's "The Killing Moon" and I could go on for quite some time, without even getting back to the 60's and 70's. Great link and thread.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 00:06:49 -0800

The gospel version of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" from Rattle and Hum, when the call-and-response chorus kicks in. (I seem to recall the version in the movie was better than the version on the CD.)

By: DevilsAdvocate

DevilsAdvocate — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 00:29:37 -0800

"No! Sleep! Till Brooklyn!" "Your what?!" "Tiiin roof...rusted." "And now it's time for breakdown." (and the a capella part following) And if I may be permitted a brief excursion outside the rock era, the part of "The Stars and Stripes Forever" where the piccolos are featured playing a countermelody. This passage, I am convinced, is the sole reason marching bands have piccolos.

By: Octaviuz

Octaviuz — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 00:33:04 -0800

One more thing (this thread is going to bigger than Reagan soon) Pearl Jam's Wishlist The guitar solo should be taught in rockstar classes. The sweet melodic restraint of it(as opposed to the noodley wankfest that is the standard solo) brings tears to my eyes when I hear the song.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 01:40:14 -0800

Frank Black's laconic 'Rock me, Joe' just before the guitar break in Monkey Gone to Heaven The devastatingly beautiful vocal line of Joni Mitchell's Sweet Bird 'But not me baby, I'm too special. FUCK OFF.' The swoony 'la la la' from Cibo Matto's White Pepper Ice Cream The harp part in Bjork's Pagan Poetry, from Vespertine (and 'I love him, I love him, I love him, I love him', sung a capella "Closer.... closer"-- Low, from Things We Lost in the Fire, the vocal harmonies, gorgeous The guitar solo entwining with the vocal line in Radiohead's The Tourist-- 'Iiiiiidiot, slow down' The opening to The Psychedelic Furs' India, with the saxophone The feedback guitar solos in Gang of Four's Anthrax

By: mdn

mdn — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 09:39:13 -0800

oh, as usual I am late to the party - the choices on the link left me uninspired, so I didn't bother checking inside the thread... I'm assuming the phil collins bit is more exciting in context, but listening to the mp3 that's listed as number one just confused me. ANyway. I love the bridge in yo la tengo's shoegazer cover of "little honda". And the point where the drums kick in in the beginning of godspeed! you black emperor's first track on the first disc of "lift yr skinny fists" still kills me (also where the drum beat shifts as the climax comes up). All the pixies stuff mentioned above make me grin and feel pure rocknroll joy. There are so many parts of songs that I adore, the bits where you stop what you're doing or even tell people to be quiet, when you know it's coming up... can't think of others right now, but no one's probably reading this anymore anyway :)

By: Mach3avelli

Mach3avelli — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 10:34:10 -0800

God damnit! Too far down that too few people are going to read it.... You'll never have heard of these songs, but you'll do yourself the biggest favor by downloading them: The Appleseed Cast - Forever Longing the Golden Sunsets (last 90 seconds) This Beautiful Mess - Clean (last 40 seconds) Longwave - Exit (last 45 seconds)

By: bargle

bargle — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 10:46:11 -0800

Speaking of downloading, what ARE people using these days? The file sharing program I was using had reached the point where any file I searched for, no matter how non-mainstream it was, turned up as another song renamed or junk.

By: Dantien

Dantien — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 11:37:06 -0800

Props to the Double D and Steinski props.

By: ciderwoman

ciderwoman — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 16:16:04 -0800

New Order on Power corruption and lies, the track "leave me alone", the line " you caught me at a bad time, so why don't you piss off" Sublime. We so must overtake reagan. It won't happen, but we can dream.

By: elphTeq

elphTeq — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 17:51:25 -0800

most of the above, plus: The riff off of Fool's Gold, Stone Roses. The tribal drumming (and partnering bassline) from Fleetwood Mac's Tusk.

By: Finder

Finder — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 19:38:19 -0800

Reading through this thread gave me goosebumps... Anyway: the last minute of Panic in Detroit, (actually any part without Bowie.) One of the greatest guitar riffs, ever. Mick Ronson, the most underrated guitarist of rock'n'roll. The intro to I Fought the Law. (Not the one by Green Day..) Everything after "and the wind begins to howl" ... ZZ Top La Grange: the intro and that blues riff. Second Sufragette City . Yeah, and that Satisfaction thing by whatstheirname was pretty cool, too. OK, just one more: The Crystal Ship. My favorite Doors song.

By: Zetetics

Zetetics — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 20:00:45 -0800

The but-kickin' *ahem*, flute solo in California Dreaming The sublime chord sequence in the bridge of Talk Talk's Its My Life When the vocals and really big metallic beat kicks in after the long pause in Satoshi Tomiie"s Love in Traffic. (ok - its obscure and not rawk, but it makes me happy).

By: bargle

bargle — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 20:36:31 -0800

The very beginning of Day Tripper by the Beatles. Although I hate to admit it, when the trumpet or whatever it is kicks in during Uncle Albert & Admiral Halsey and especially the almost impossible to understand part with "the butter wouldn’t melt so I put it in the pie" just because it never fails to amuse me. Aenema where he sings "cause I'm praying for rain"

By: kindall

kindall — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 20:41:02 -0800

The part on "Good Vibrations" where the theremin kicks in, perhaps?

By: dmt

dmt — Sat, 12 Jun 2004 15:36:00 -0800

Dead thread I know but I went away to think about this one. Pavarotti’s turn in Miss Sarajevo, by Passengers still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end…

By: etc

etc — Thu, 17 Jun 2004 08:33:50 -0800