EPIC! Seven Brilliant Songs That Break The Ten Minute Barrier
There's nothing wrong with a three-minute thrash but play these beauties back to back and you've over an hour of sonic mastery...
It might be glib and dismissive to suggest that people today have no attention span, but heck. They don’t. Clicking on a song that lasts longer than a few minutes means concentrating, ignoring Angry Birds and, if it’s not in your headphones that means staying in the same room. And who can be bothered with that?
Actually, I can. I’ve knocked together a list of songs that are over ten minutes in length, but feel like three-minute ditties. Even if they’re slow to start, stick with them and the results will be immeasurably more satisfying than 180 seconds in the company of Bruno Mars. So make sure you’ve got a little while to spare, and indulge…
The Decemberists – The Island/Come and See/The Landlord’s Daughter
What this bunch of Portland folkies have done is sew four songs together in order to make a really long one. Sounds a bit like cheating, but by crikey those four songs are good. Keep an ear out for the Final Fantasy VII-style prog breakdown just after the halfway point.
Acid Mother’s Temple – Pink Lady
This one clocks in at just under an hour in total (this clip does a good job of summarising it), so make sure you’re sitting comfortably. And if you are, then prepare for a masterclass in slow-burn persistence. There are three main sections to this mammoth from Japan’s best psychedelic band, but the joy is in feeling them merge into one another. Concentration isn’t really necessary, but acceptance is.
Fela Kuti – Expensive Shit
So the story for this one starts with Fela Kuti in jail. In an attempt to not get the crap knocked out of him for marijuana possession, he eats his stash, which itself was planted on him by the police. Later, when nature takes its course, it occurs to him that this was indeed an Expensive Shit. He manages to steal someone else’s faeces and they all lived happily after. All of this is soundtracked by the most danceable Afrobeat jam imaginable. So yeah, it’s pretty good.
Godspeed You Black Emperor! – Storm
This 18-minute stonker might not sound that great on paper. A collective of Canadian musicians (they shun the term ‘activists’, but let’s just say they own their share of long jackets and heavy duty footwear), they recorded this cut alongside three others of similar length for their album entitled Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas Toward Heaven. Obviously. Still, this is perfectly crafted music, gently peaking in folk-orchestral might and languishing in its meekly sallow latter quarter. Put your serious face on and enjoy!
Elton John – Love Lies Bleeding/Funeral For A Friend
It’s not often that Elton John got to exercise his experimental side (costumes and drug-fueled romps notwithstanding), so this expansive opening to the Yellow Brick Road album is something of a novelty. Gently beginning as a Queen-esque synth-orchestral romp, it soon explodes into some surprisingly muscular boogie.
Television – Marquee Moon
This could quite easily be one of the greatest forgotten classics of the punk movement. Or the post-punk movement. Whether they were pre-empting or destroying their peers, Television still managed to create this dazzling centrepiece to the Marquee Moon album. The lyrics are barmy and dark, the guitar solos are unreal and the climax makes the previous nine minutes of toil utterly, utterly worth it.
Traditionally, the easiest way to make a long song is to just repeat the same riff and do squelchy guitar solos over the top of it. Yo La Tengo have clearly heard this maxim somewhere before, seeing as it’s very much a specialty of theirs. This pulsating pre-toilet-visit gut-rumbler is all riff, squelch and fuzz and, therefore, ace.
Click here for more Music stories
Click here to follow Sabotage Times on Twitter
Click here to follow Sabotage Times on Facebook
If you like it, Pass it on
COMMENTS
floweredup not getting a mention?
Weekender? Quality tune!
Full Metal Jack Off by Jello Biafra with DOA is a 14 minutes and 15 second monstrosity of pure epic rock with one of the greatest intros of all time. How's that for a recommendation?
The Doors. The End.
I regard The Decemberists' "Hazards of Love" album as practically one song of several parts. But for a purely single track, my favourite is Marillion's Grendel.
Or The Damned's Curtain Call. (Such a ditherer, me).
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Oh and "Mother Sky" by Can, "Maggot Brain" by Funkadelic....plus loads of others
Agree with Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding , candidate for best album opener?
Brian Jonestown Massacre. Straight up and down.
No This is what she's like by Dexy's midnight runners, their critically acclaimed but publicly ignored ablum Don't Stand Me Down carried this absolute gem and should be on this list.
Miles Davis - All Blues. Classic.
I will second "Full Metal Jackoff", although my #1 is already on this list ("Marquee Moon").
Leaving out Weekender is nothing short of sacrilege!
Three Days by Jane's Addiction off Ritual de lo Habitual. Just breaking the 10 minute barrier by 48 seconds but an epic song.
No Free Bird?
Cannot believe that Pink Floyd - Echos isn't in this list. It's the entire B-Side of an album, and it is an astonishing piece that incredibly doesn't outstay it's welcome. The high point of prog without a doubt.
Rob...I agree on Maggot Brain! My fav (currently touring) band, Widespread Panic, covers it on a regular basis. Widespread Panic has several 10 minute+ songs that have you dancing your tail off!
Cinema Show - Genesis Starless - King Crimson My two favourite songs
Great selection. "I Dream a Highway" by Gillian Welch could keep those songs company. Can you do another article rounding up some of the great sub 2 minutes songs? And if you do, can I nominate "The Pearl" by Judee Sill?
NO Rush?? 2112: Overture
Dark Star by the Grateful Dead - somebody had to say it!
Breaking into heaven, the stone roses O malleys bar, nick cave & the. Bad seeds
WHEN THE MUSIC'S OVER by the Doors
Jon salisbury, when the musics over amazing song!
Another vote for Dexys Cornershop - Spectral Mornings Neu! - Hallogallo
White Riot 6 times, beats the turd out of any of the hippy nonsense above.
I'm probably going to be pilloried for this but CCR's version of I heard it through the grapevine always made me smile
Ahem, Sister Ray?
Led Zeps "in my time of dying" does it for me.
Spiritualized "Feel So Sad."
Satan's Fall(Mercyful Fate),Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner(Maiden),Shine on you Crazy Diamond(Floyd),Get Ready(Rare Earth)....These are some I remember from the top of my head
telegraph road, dire straits, & battle of Epping forest, genesis,& im sure Dylan's Brownsville girl clocks in over the ten min mark,
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Babe, I'm On Fire.
Masterpiece by The Temptations. 13.5 minutes of pure magic. Extra long tracks don't all have to be Prog Rock though I agree with Mike about Telegraph Road.
where is Rush's 2112. that is an awesome song.
bela Lugosi's dead .. .. pissed off at not getting a mention ..
Dylan's Desolation Row has to be on there. Such great lyrics that you barely notice it's 12 mins long. Probably his best song imo.