Thursday, April 19, 2007

20 More Best Long Songs - A Response

Affected snottiness in the comments of Akshay's post below notwithstanding, he made an excellent list. But since the category of "excellent long songs" is hardly exhausted, here is a response composed entirely of ones he didn't mention. And do note the slightly different musical focuses; I lean towards art-rock and prog-rock while he knows far more about soul & R&B than I do.

Next up: 10 reasons why Scott Walker is better than you, or me.

1.) Genesis, Cinema Show - 11.06 (the second half is among the finest instrumental music I've ever heard in rock)
2.) Yes, Close To The Edge - 18.32
3.) Bruce Springsteen, Incident On 57th Street - 7.45
4.) Neil Young, Ambulance Blues - 8.56
5.) Van Morrison, Astral Weeks - 7.00
6.) Bob Dylan, Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again - 7.05
7.) The Who, Love Reign O'er Me - 6.37
8.) Fairport Convention, Percy's Song - 6.55
9.) XTC, Travels In Nihilon - 6.56
10.) Radiohead, Paranoid Android - 6.22 (Okay, not quite 6.30, but c'mon, it's close enough)
11.) Peter Gabriel, Come Talk To Me - 6.42
12.) Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Frankie - 7.20
13.) Roxy Music, Mother Of Pearl -6.52
14.) Pavement, Fillmore Jive - 6.39
15.) The Fall, Hip Priest - 7.34
16.) King Crimson, Starless - 12.17
17.) David Bowie, Teenage Wildlife - 6.56
18.) Can, Oh Yeah - 7.23 (I could've chosen any number of Can songs - Halleluwah, Future Days, Mother Sky, etc. - but this has always been my favorite)
19.) The Cure, One Hundred Years - 6.41
20.) Derek & The Dominoes, Layla - 7.02

4 comments:

Matt K said...

Also a good list -- and at least 50% '70s, no? Don't know enough about a few of the acts to be sure, but it's a trend.

Michael said...

20 Omissions:
The Who "Won't Get Fooled Again" - 8:33
The Stone Roses "I Am The Resurrection" - 8:14
Mono "Halcyon (Beautiful Days)" - 8:09
Cracker "Eurotrash Girl" - 8:04
Weezer "Only In Dreams" - 8:00
Songs: Ohia "Hold On Magnolia" - 7:51
Pink Floyd "Us And Them" - 7:39
Steely Dan "Deacon Blues" - 7:34
!!! "Hello? Is This Thing On? - 7:33
Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Modern Romance" - 7:28
Stevie Wonder "Living For The City" - 7:24
The Velvet Underground "Heroin" - 7:12
Radiohead "Motion Picture Soundtrack" - 7:01
Jeff Buckley "Hallelujah" - 6:53
Wilco "Sunken Treasure" - 6:51
Sigur Ros "Staralfur" - 6:46
Sufjian Stevens "Come On! Feel The Illinoise!" - 6:45
Led Zeppelin "Babe I'm Gonna Leave
You" - 6:41
DJ Shadow "Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt" - 6:41
Nada Surf "Paper Boats" - 6:39

Jeffrey said...

Mike -

"Motion Picture Soundtrack" is really 3.35 long, but includeds almost 3 minutes of dead silence at the end. Hence under Akshay's rules it doesn't count.

Other choices are excellent, though, especially "Deacon Blues."

K. said...

There is a sad sad lack of Meatloaf on these lists.