Best song intros

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  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,227
    Tangled Metal wrote:
    Out of those listed, how many are recent? At last 5 or 10 years?

    It seems to me either we're a bunch of old folk stuck in the music of our youth or there's been no good intros in recent times.

    This is a product of Spotify etc - songs now are quicker into the meat than they used to be, to grab attention. "When he analyzed how long it took for the lyrics to start, Léveillé Gauvin found that intros lasting an average of more than 20 seconds in the mid-80s have given way to intros that average 5 seconds today. And once the lyrics started, it took less time (by about 18 percent) for the first “hook,” which he defined as the song’s title."

    https://news.osu.edu/has-music-streamin ... tal-intro/
  • mamil314
    mamil314 Posts: 1,103
    Talking Heads - Psycho Killer
  • chris_bass
    chris_bass Posts: 4,913
    If anyone likes rockier drum and bass (kinda a bit prodigy-ish)

    the Qemists - Requiem

    the intro is longer than 30 seconds but really good - the band are very very good generally too!
    www.conjunctivitis.com - a site for sore eyes
  • robert88
    robert88 Posts: 2,696
    Runrig: Siol Ghoraidh

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFN7akfH3tA

    Ok, so the seconds are a bit long but who cares?
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,459
    The Beatles - All you need is love
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • Wayne Plunger
    Wayne Plunger Posts: 444
    The intro of "I'm Ready For Love" by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas must have been so good that 20 years later The Jam "borrowed" it for Town Called Malice.
  • mrfpb
    mrfpb Posts: 4,569
    Wayne Plunger wrote:
    The intro of "I'm Ready For Love" by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas must have been so good that 20 years later The Jam "borrowed" it for Town Called Malice.
    As well as borrowing "Taxman" for "Start"
  • shirley_basso
    shirley_basso Posts: 6,195
    It also depends on the genre. Rock and more instrumental music can generally be more indulgent with their intros etc whereas pop and chart music cut to the point.

    I imagine many of the above have radio edits
  • Wayne Plunger
    Wayne Plunger Posts: 444
    mrfpb wrote:
    Wayne Plunger wrote:
    The intro of "I'm Ready For Love" by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas must have been so good that 20 years later The Jam "borrowed" it for Town Called Malice.
    As well as borrowing "Taxman" for "Start"

    Good call, didn't know that song as never really listened to the Beatles.
  • mrfpb
    mrfpb Posts: 4,569
    edited May 2019
    Oops
  • mrfpb
    mrfpb Posts: 4,569
    Shirley Basso wrote:
    It also depends on the genre. Rock and more instrumental music can generally be more indulgent with their intros etc whereas pop and chart music cut to the point.

    I imagine many of the above have radio edits


    60s Motown had a set length (about 30 bars?) for intros, and they were works of art in themselves rather than just running through the chords before the vocals got going.

    The Beatles early songs were the opposite - McCartney said they liked the song to "arrive" by the end of the first bar with as little "mucking about" as possible.

    I think both choices stand up to the "Spotify effect"
  • laurentian
    laurentian Posts: 2,568
    KingstonGraham wrote:
    laurentian wrote:
    Paulie W wrote:
    The Pixies and related projects are a good source of intros:

    Pixies - Velouria: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHhox4_SeHQ

    Pixies - Debaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVyS9JwtFoQ

    Belly - Gepetto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBi676v4Gs4

    Breeders - Cannonball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxvkI9MTQw4

    Ditto Husker Du and related projects:

    Husker Du - Divide and Conquer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSqZGTNrPi8

    Husker Du - Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEVi0IxC0yM

    Sugar - The Act We Act: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MejXR48CpY

    The Who have a range of classic intros: The Who - Substitute (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eswQl-hcvU0) being my all time favourite

    Planet of Sound would be among my Pixies faves

    Is there an intro to Planet of Sound? Maybe a second of feedback.

    Bone Machine, yes. Something against you, yes. Debaser, yes. I bleed, yes. Dead, yes. Here comes your man, yes. Where is my mind... yes.

    By the way, I only recently discovered the Live from Malibu Nightclub album. It's brilliant.

    Edited to add: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0bxPbWicgc

    It kinda goes "weeeeeow bud bud bud bud" (single note on guitar then drums) then starts - I like it! I'll have a look at The Malibu Nightclub thing - thanks
    Wilier Izoard XP
  • mrfpb
    mrfpb Posts: 4,569
    The Final Countdown - Europe

    #dadrocktasticpoppickers!
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,227
    California Girls (27 seconds....)
    Wouldn't It Be Nice
    God Only Knows
  • robert88
    robert88 Posts: 2,696
    Amy Winehouse: Back to Black
  • timothyw
    timothyw Posts: 2,482
    In the air tonight... Does that count?
  • mrfpb
    mrfpb Posts: 4,569
    TimothyW wrote:
    In the air tonight... Does that count?
    #dadrocktastic

    Absolutely

    Also "Turn It On Again" by Genesis with its odd time signature.
  • slowmart
    slowmart Posts: 4,516
    J Geils Band Centrefold
    “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. Teach a man to cycle and he will realize fishing is stupid and boring”

    Desmond Tutu
  • mrfpb
    mrfpb Posts: 4,569
    70's mood:

    Superstition - Stevie Wonder
    Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder
    Grease - Frankie Valli
    Crocodile Rock - Elton John
    Bodhitsava - Steely Dan
    My Old School - Steely Dan
    Tragedy - The Bee Gees (yes really - play it loud!)
  • robert88
    robert88 Posts: 2,696
    Barry McGuire: 'Eve Of Destruction'
  • shortfall
    shortfall Posts: 3,288
    My Sharona. The Knack
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,593
    Does anyone else find that a lot of songs with great intros go on to be a little bit anti-climactic?
  • robert88
    robert88 Posts: 2,696
    Pross wrote:
    Does anyone else find that a lot of songs with great intros go on to be a little bit anti-climactic?

    Yes some don't exactly go on to Take Your Breath Away
  • shirley_basso
    shirley_basso Posts: 6,195
    I do like The Hives. Their songs and intros are brilliant.
  • webboo
    webboo Posts: 6,087
    Of a life. Echo and the Bunnymen
  • shortfall
    shortfall Posts: 3,288
    Pross wrote:
    Does anyone else find that a lot of songs with great intros go on to be a little bit anti-climactic?

    Can't think of many TBH. Give us some examples.
  • robert88
    robert88 Posts: 2,696
    Napoleon XIV: 'They're coming to take me away

    Don't click this link unless you are strong and stable
  • mrfpb
    mrfpb Posts: 4,569
    Shortfall wrote:
    Pross wrote:
    Does anyone else find that a lot of songs with great intros go on to be a little bit anti-climactic?

    Can't think of many TBH. Give us some examples.

    Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division

    great build up then a really downbeat song. It would work better without such a good intro
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,593
    Shortfall wrote:
    Pross wrote:
    Does anyone else find that a lot of songs with great intros go on to be a little bit anti-climactic?

    Can't think of many TBH. Give us some examples.

    From some of those I've picked on here:

    Come Up and See Me
    Never Tear Us Apart

    and another example off the top of my head is Welcome To The Jungle.

    They're all songs I really like but as mrfpb says they have the big intro but don't really build from it or sustain it. That's the problem with having a strong intro I suppose.
  • webboo
    webboo Posts: 6,087
    mrfpb wrote:
    Shortfall wrote:
    Pross wrote:
    Does anyone else find that a lot of songs with great intros go on to be a little bit anti-climactic?

    Can't think of many TBH. Give us some examples.

    Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division

    great build up then a really downbeat song. It would work better without such a good intro
    That was Joy Division for you. Build you up then kick you in the balls.

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