I still remember listening to a song that I really liked, so I saw the name and saved it.
Next song came on, there seemed to be a continuation between songs, I was like “damn what a nice transition”, went to save the song: “This song is already in your playlist”
Huh… Ok…
I kept listening, another transition, I was like “damn this album is so nice”, went to save the song, “This song is already in your playlist”.
Ok, what the fuck? Then I saw the full info:
The Odyssey, by Symphony X - 24 minutes
This happened to me, but in person the first time I saw Nightwish in concert. I love the band but I hadn’t had a chance to catch up on their (at the time) latest album yet. I asked “wait, is this the same song?” several times.
Song is The Greatest Show On Earth, also around 24 minutes. Incredibly good
24 min sharp in fact. Though the last bits are ambient noises. “… from so simple a beginning, endless forms most beautiful, and most wonderful, have been, and are being, evolved.” Ah, time to fast-forward to the next song.
Speaking of 24 min sharp: Octavarium by Dream Theater. I have joked at times that an Octavarium is a unit of time, equal to 24 minutes exactly.
I like the ambient sounds at the end, it gives you a moment to ponder the existential nature of the song.
And I really need to listen to more Dream Theater, I don’t know them very well. Will check this one out. Thanks!
Speaking of Nightwish - I’m wondering if they’re going to hold up post-Marko. I also wondered that post-Tarja though, so we’ll see.
I definitely miss him, and its a travesty we’ll likely never get to see Endlessness live. I will say, I have gotten a new appreciation for Troy’s vocals, and they killed Planet Hell in the virtual show they did, so I’m sure it’ll work out.
Symphony X - yes!
Well, thing is, it’s not easy to expand on a song. You can’t just reuse the same melody+rhythm without changing anything about it or it’ll likely be boring.
And especially with your darlings, it can be tricky as an artist to make such changes, because you might feel like any such change makes it less perfect.
Around the world, around the world, around the world, around the world
That whole soundtrack is amazing
Yes but this track is specifically 1:23 minutes
Joanna Newsom be like “yeah this is the best song ever made let’s make it 4 songs in one and make it 17 minutes long”
This shit stays in my driving playlist. Fuck a passenger if it comes on, I ain’t skipping it.
Some artists can condense a variety of concepts into three or four minutes, while others can make a ninety minute song about smoking dope in the desert and it’s just as compelling.
Yakety Yak. The Coasters. 1958 Spark Records. One minute and fifty seconds of sublime, in-your-face, balls-out nonsense. Everything rock and roll was meant to be.
Tristan Egolf, Skirt and the Fiddle
Grindcore has entered the chat
Does not apply to Beethoven
One of my favorite songs ever is this 16m21s masterpiece by Artcell. It sounds like 4 separate tracks with connected lyrics and smooth transitions.
Gonna save dis and listen in like two months when I randomly stumble across the comment again after I inevitably forget about it
There’s an 11-12m long Alestorm song that slaps from beginning to end, Sunset On The Golden Age I believe it’s called.
Another good long song would be Save Me by Avenged Sevenfold. I urge anyone into metal to give both a shot.
Oh boy, if you want some long metal songs… Between The Buried And Me, Dream Theater, Haken, and Tool are the bands to check out.
Between The Buried And Me - White Walls (14+ min)
BTBAM - Silent Flight Parliament (15:09)
BTBAM - Augment of Rebirth (10:19)
BTBAM - Swim To The Moon (17:53)
Dream Theater - Scene Four: Beyond This Life (11:22)
Dream Theater - Scene Six: Home (12:53)
Dream Theater - Octavarium (24:00)
Dream Theater - The Shattered Fortress (12:49)
Dream Theater - Breaking All Illusions (12:26)
Haken - Nocturnal Conspiracy (13:09)
Haken - Elephants Never Forget (11:07)
And that’s just limiting to songs that are over 10 minutes… TesseracT and Periphery also have a bunch of longer songs.
they have to compress the quality into that shorter time
Gatsbys American Dream has a song called Meet me at the Tavern in Browerstone . Absolute masterpiece in every way except that it ends in under 30 seconds and leaves you with a deceptive ending that has you craving more.
Best example I can give of this. The whole album Volcano is a masterpiece, despite being 33m and change. Their entire catalogue is a great listen and you can do it in a two-hour car ride. Definitely left me wanting more over a decade ago.
Chips and dip by Sam Greenfield
So true though. Transformer by Gnarles Barkley comes to mind for me. Banger of a track but I wish it were longer, told more of the story.
Crazy is such a good song, I’ll have to check out Transformer
Bach to the Phuture by Savant
I’ll just leave this here:
