best motherfuckin piano breaks in rock songs

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band - rag mama rag
squeeze - pulling muscles from the shell

― jake b. (cerybut), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Ben Folds Five - Song For The Dumped

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Swell Maps - Let's Build a Car (definitive piano break)

― Sean Witzman (trip maker), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:24 (twenty-one years ago)

if you're talking classic rock, you can hardly do better than billy joel in "scenes from an italian restaurant." i'm not a big fan of the song, but there's a long piano break in there that i was jealous of when i was growing up and taking piano lessons.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Rolling Stones - Salt of the Earth break

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Roxy Music - ReMake/ReModel

― briania (briania), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:32 (twenty-one years ago)

the honky-tonk piano break in Big Star's "Life is White" always knocks me out. Best drums-piano-harmonica interplay EVAH

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Sean otm.

― Douglas (Douglas), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:41 (twenty-one years ago)

grudge f***, scud mountain boys

― squirrelbait (squirrelbait), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 17:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Boston - "Smokin"

― larry marshall, Tuesday, 19 October 2004 18:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Paul McCartney & Wings, "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five"

and this thread would be incomplete without James Brown, "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine."

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 18:03 (twenty-one years ago)

I know nobody here likes them, but I remember being totally impressed watching Hot Hot Heat's keyboardist vocalist play the piano break in "Get In or Get Out" while jumping all over (then listening to the recording, where it's equally pretty impressive). Good example from a fast song, anyways...

― Clusterfuck at the Baja Fresh Salsa Bar (Ben Boyer), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 18:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Sonic's Rendezvous Band - City Slang

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 18:08 (twenty-one years ago)

"and this thread would be incomplete without James Brown, "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine."

this is true; thus, take the 'rock' in the title of the thread loosely

― jake b. (cerybut), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 18:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Nick Drake "Pink Moon"

― A Million Talking Hot Dogs (AaronHz), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 18:22 (twenty-one years ago)

George Duke in Zappa's "RDNZL." I swear I am not lying, it is the shizNITE!!!

― William Crump (Rock Hardy), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 18:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Thunderclap Newman - "Something in the Air"

― Dominique (dleone), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 18:35 (twenty-one years ago)

I like the one in Spoon's 'The Way We Get By' where it's literally a piano break (i.e. everything else but the piano drops out).

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 18:41 (twenty-one years ago)

David Bowie - Eight Line Poem
(ace flange job)

― Loose Translation: Sexy Dancer (sexyDancer), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 18:44 (twenty-one years ago)

This thread would be incomplete without Jerry Lee Lewis. Any song. And Professor Longhair's rock, no?

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 19:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Bowie - "Aladin Sane"

― nickn (nickn), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 19:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Wire - Outdoor Miner

― Michael Philip Philip Philip Philip Philip Annoyman (Ferg), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 20:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Aladin Sane OTM

+ King Crimson - CAt Food
I'm sure I'm forgetting some John Cale biz..

― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 20:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Dixie Chicken

― PDAS, Tuesday, 19 October 2004 21:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Dr. John, all of GUMBO. Ian Stewart was good with the Stones (in fact, was a Stone, but Loog didn't want him to be official, cos was old as Wyman but also looked it, and pianos were a pain live, transport and acoutics too variable) Ian McL. good with Faces and pre-VH-1 Bonnie Raitt. Bob Dylan:"Down Along The Cove," "Dear Landlord," "If Dogs Run Free," that one on PLANET WAVES ("Dirge"?); some before and after , incl one of the more recent legs of Endless Tour, I'm told. Orig. a pianist in high school combos and with Bobby Vee.

― Don, Tuesday, 19 October 2004 21:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Neil Diamand - Cherry, Cherry.

Kicks ass, holds no prisoners.

― David Allen (David Allen), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 21:44 (twenty-one years ago)

crystal closet queen. leon russell.

― dumbo, Tuesday, 19 October 2004 22:11 (twenty-one years ago)

The intro to "One Fine Day" by the Chiffons.
The outro to "Wonderwall" by Oasis.

― Burr (Burr), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 22:13 (twenty-one years ago)

'Free Bird' Live at the fox theatre

― lukey (Lukey G), Wednesday, 20 October 2004 08:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Can I throw in an organ break?

Zombies "Time of The Season"

― A Million Talking Hot Dogs (AaronHz), Wednesday, 20 October 2004 08:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Uncertain Smile - The The
Heartland - The The
Go Buddy Go - The Stranglers

― Palomino (Palomino), Wednesday, 20 October 2004 11:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Ben Folds rules this thread.

― Catty (Catty), Wednesday, 20 October 2004 12:22 (twenty-one years ago)

For an alternate intepretation of the term "piano BREAKS", I "Two Of A Kind" by the Human Beinz, in which they follow a piano solo with the elaborate and noisy destruction of the piano itself, with much sawing of the legs and snapping of the strings! A pleasant and amusing listening experience.

For a "regular" (yawn) piano break, I've always liked Rod Argent's (electric) solo in the Zombies' "She's Not There" And anything and everything Nicky Hopkins played with The Who.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Wednesday, 20 October 2004 12:28 (twenty-one years ago)

if that's game then Disco Inferno - A Crash at Every Speed features what sounds like a piano being pushed down a staircase

― jake b. (cerybut), Wednesday, 20 October 2004 14:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Pixies - Motorway to Roswell

― mattp, Wednesday, 20 October 2004 15:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Neil Young-When You Dance You Can Really Love

Long Live Jack Nitzsche!

― Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Wednesday, 20 October 2004 15:18 (twenty-one years ago)

i've always been a big fan of the beatles' one-finger piano solo in "not a second time" (played by george martin, i believe).

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Wednesday, 20 October 2004 15:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Beatles to thread.

"Party Hard."

"Bohemian Rhapsody."

"Shimmy Shimmy Ya."

― Chris O., Wednesday, 20 October 2004 17:17 (twenty-one years ago)

The Faces, "Ooh La La"
Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Sweet Home Alabama"

― My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Wednesday, 20 October 2004 18:29 (twenty-one years ago)

The Groop: Um, some song with "Women" in the title.

Wow, I'm really shit today.

― Sasha (sgh), Wednesday, 20 October 2004 23:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Don't know why exactly, but I've always thought The In Crowd by Ramsey Lewis was pretty special.

― jim wentworth (wench), Thursday, 21 October 2004 00:46 (twenty-one years ago)

The midpoint between "Funeral For a Friend" and "Love Lies Bleeding" by Sir Elton of John.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 21 October 2004 01:52 (twenty-one years ago)

"Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" - seconded!

― piers (piers), Thursday, 21 October 2004 01:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Uncertain Smile is seconded and all that!

― metfigga (metfigga), Thursday, 21 October 2004 02:48 (twenty-one years ago)

The middle-eight of "Talk Talk" by Talk Talk (..don't you ever stop to think about me? I'm not that blind to see that you've been cheating on me...."), features some righteous ivory pounding.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 21 October 2004 02:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Don sooooo otm. I love Dylan's piano playing.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Thursday, 21 October 2004 05:25 (twenty-one years ago)

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