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What ever happened to long songs?


DMD
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King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man" gives me musical wood every time. A reviewer put it well when he said the vocal track sounds like Greg Lake is being eaten by a robot.

 

That one clocks in at 7 and a half minutes.

 

"Like a Rolling Stone" and "Day in the Life" are maybe the 2 greatest songs of the last 50 years and they're both pretty sizeable.

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King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man" gives me musical wood every time. A reviewer put it well when he said the vocal track sounds like Greg Lake is being eaten by a robot.

And off the same alum, the title track In The Court Of The Crimson King is nearly 10 minutes long.

 

Couple of Led Zeppelin toons:

 

Kashmir

In My Time Of Dying

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The length of a song ha always been driven by the music industry, specifically the radio air play portion of things, not the artists themselves. a song 3:15 would be about the perfect length because you could get three songs into a 10 minute window and then have 5 minutes left for the DJ to talk and get a solid 3 minutes of advertising in. Prior to the late 60's explosion in the music industry, almost all songs fit this criteria. However, this is just another one of the lessons learned during the social revolution of that time that has slowly but surely subsumed by the culture of money and greed.

 

You'll still find plenty of longer cuts out there but they are mostly not designed or designated as singles for airplay. These days there is a touch more flexibility but I guarantee that if a band was being signed to a contract and their biggest hit (i.e. most likely to make the music company cash) clocked in at 5:42 they would be asked to shorten it and quite possibly have a clause in their contract stating that the company has the right to edit (for time and content) for airplay.

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Virtually all of the bands I follow record long songs. Of course, with few exceptions, they get (nor appear to want) any commercial airtime. Metal/Acid Rock/Guitar/Prog pretty much all generate a lot of lengthy songs with multiple transitions, and don't rely on a catchy chorus. The perceived lack of expansive tracks is probably just a function of the type of music that is popular today.

 

My favorite "expansive" bands:

 

Tool

Zep

Fates Warning

Opeth

Rush

Yes

Queensryche (older stuff)

Frank Marino

UFO

Scorpions (early)

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Guns n Roses had a few long ones. November Rain and Locomotive were pretty long. Both have tremendous Guitar solos

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Guns n Roses had a few long ones. November Rain and Locomotive were pretty long. Both have tremendous Guitar solos

 

 

and estranged

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Songs I doubt you will hear on the radio: (not mentioned previously)

 

Whipping Post - Allman Brothers 23:04

You Don't Love Me - Allman Brothers 19:19

Sweet Home Alabama - Stevie Ray Vaughn 16.39

Help Me - TYA 16:06

I Can't Keep From Cryin' Sometimes - TYA 15.58

Do What You Like - Blind Faith 14.51

The End - The Doors 11.46

Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands - Dylan 11.25

Pot On, Gas On High - John Lee Hooker 11:23

When The Music Is Over - The Doors 11:02

Sultans Of Swing - Dire Straits 10:39

I'm Your Captain (Closer To Home) - Grand Funk Railroad 10:08

 

And that is just a smattering of cuts longer than 10 minutes. No jazz included.

 

Of intersting note...... Like A Rolling Stone was a two-sided record when first given to radio because it was too long. So they cut it in half. Only after much pressure was the song not split and the whole thing was played non-stop.

 

Commercial radio has no use for songs longer than about 3:10-3:25.

Edited by skylive5
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Oh, I thought this was just going to be a biatching thread. Some really great examples so far, like Day in the Life and Low Spark (grew up on Traffic)...

 

First, same entry as the Pink Floyd thread: Echoes

 

Allman Bros - Elizabeth Reed

 

Doors - Riders on the Storm

 

SRV - Little Wing/Third Stone From the Sun (know it's blasphemy to name Jimi covers, but he makes it his own)

Edited by delusions of granduer
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Songs I doubt you will hear on the radio: (not mentioned previously)

The End - The Doors 11.46

And thank God for that. :tup:

 

Pot On, Gas On High - John Lee Hooker 11:23
:wacko: I'm pretty sure we're just talking rock, maybe pop here. We could go on all day with blues and jazz. Is that some rock-ish song he did? Admit I'm not familiar offhand.

 

 

 

Allman Bros - Elizabeth Reed

d'oh, can't believe I forgot that one.

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