songs that get louder in interesting ways

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Rock needs more innovative approaches to dynamics, I think. The Led Zep / Pixies / Nirvana stunt of soft verse and loud chorus is obviously spent. The epic build (see Yo La Tengo, Mogwai) is getting a bit hoary as well. Can anybody point me toward songs that get loud in interesting ways? One that comes to mind is Ted Leo's "Parallel or Together?" though that doesn't get louder so much as more cluttered.

― Derek Krissoff (Derek), Friday, 23 April 2004 18:27 (twenty-two years ago)

any Feelies song

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Friday, 23 April 2004 18:29 (twenty-two years ago)

That first number on Death Cab's "We Have the Facts..." I think it is a trick with the eq, but it is very effective...

― BlastsOfStatic (BlastsofStatic), Friday, 23 April 2004 18:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Mogwai - "Like Herod". Unlike their other songs, this one doesn't build and build into a loud part. The loud part just comes suddenly out of nowhere.

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Friday, 23 April 2004 18:31 (twenty-two years ago)

It's not rock by any stretch but Terre Thaemlitz' "genrecide ('i wish tricky'd die any way i hope)" uses dynamics in a mindblowing way.

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 23 April 2004 18:33 (twenty-two years ago)

sorry to name mention ween twice in one day, but exactly where i'm at gets loud so perfectly

― cutty (mcutt), Friday, 23 April 2004 18:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Stereolab's "Metronomic Underground." And yes, the Feelies.

― mike a, Friday, 23 April 2004 18:40 (twenty-two years ago)

TMBG - "Birdhouse in Your Soul"
Kind of subtle how the first few bars hold back -- and then there's no huge shift in instrumentation, just the drums entering and everything else in the mix is brought up to match. Works well as the album-opener.

― Paul in Santa Cruz (Paul in Santa Cruz), Friday, 23 April 2004 19:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm not entirely sure if it's my ears that are bastards or not, but it seems to me like Mr Bungle's Disco Volante is mostly at a lower volume than most albums of the time... BUT... for a few particularly abrasive hops from quiet to loud'n'angular, the volume suddenly goes quite a bit up, making the effect ever so much stronger.
It's quite fun the first few times.

Of course, there's always the prog staples of constantly hopping back and forth, but eh.. Not to mention those songs where they think it's ever so clever to play loud, big riffs, then stop on the time to play some twinkly shit for half a second, only to delve back into riffdom again. Heavy metal has started using this more too in the past ten years.

Worst thing ever: When an album or song starts out with pretty scratchy sound quality, then after a couple of bars, it "breaks out" into omg-high-definition-stereo-sound! Not that this is what this thread is about, but I'm not willing to go find a thread about such things, so I'll dump it here!

Ohh! In Sparks' Fletcher Honorama, Ron plays a twinkly saloon-piano bit that starts out fairly loud, then quickly fades out, and for every new phrase he plays, it breaks out loud again, only to fade out while he's playing.

― Øystein H-O (Øystein H-O), Friday, 23 April 2004 19:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Re: "Worst thing ever: When an album or song starts out with pretty scratchy sound quality, then after a couple of bars, it "breaks out" into omg-high-definition-stereo-sound!"

I disagree. Actually I love that trick, esp. if the lo-fi part is in a slightly different key, a la GBV's "Tractor Rape Chain." Or maybe that's not precisely what you mean, as GBV hardly achieve high-definition stereo sound on that one.

― Derek Krissoff (Derek), Friday, 23 April 2004 19:39 (twenty-two years ago)

King Crimson, 'The Talking Drum'

― Autumn Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Friday, 23 April 2004 21:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Radiohead : Blow Out.

― David Nolan (David N.), Friday, 23 April 2004 23:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Not a rock song, but still - check out "Spectre" by Kronos Quartet. One. Big. Crescendo.

― Scotto, Saturday, 24 April 2004 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Man, you need to listen to some prog!

― Clarke B. (Clarke B.), Saturday, 24 April 2004 00:01 (twenty-two years ago)

OTM Donna Brown. Shut this thread down.

― dieblucasdie (dieblucasdie), Saturday, 24 April 2004 03:26 (twenty-two years ago)

"Visible Cow" by Barkmarket shits over you all.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 24 April 2004 06:11 (twenty-two years ago)

"Neanderthal Man"!

― prostpilso (nestmanso), Saturday, 24 April 2004 14:42 (twenty-two years ago)

what's that Minor Threat song that starts off lo-fi, then track by track switches to hi-fi? BY "Salad Days," MT were pretty much a prog band.
Plus, I might be dreaming this, but I swear one of the Black Sabbath records (either "Masters of Reality" or "Paranoid") gets slowly louder halfway through side 1. Again, this might be completely imagined.

― sexyDancer, Saturday, 24 April 2004 15:54 (twenty-two years ago)

the feelies thing is great...a few times I was at the Library(bar) in nyc which had Crazy Rhythms on the jukebox and I'd put on Forces at Work and ALWAYS the bartender would think it was a quiet song and she'd turn it up during the beginning part, then BAM! Shit would be LOUD.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Saturday, 24 April 2004 16:04 (twenty-two years ago)

i want to be the president - electrelane

― cutty (mcutt), Sunday, 25 April 2004 00:42 (twenty-two years ago)

OYSTEIN HOLM-OLSEN IS THE ANTICHRIST, he is the suxx mkay?

― rOB D-MEDCO, Sunday, 25 April 2004 01:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Wire's "Too Late" is a great example. As is "Mercy".

― donut bitch (donut), Sunday, 25 April 2004 01:16 (twenty-two years ago)

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