Most drastic stylistic change in a song?

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The ones I can think of are the Chills "Pink Frost," Roxy Music "If There Is Something," and Lee Hazelwood " Some Velvet Morning."

― A Nairn, Wednesday, 4 September 2002 20:03 (twenty-three years ago)

I think Sloan's "Suppose They Close the Door" has a really cool change from slow, dark and ominous (verse) to fast, upbeat and poppy (chorus). I like this song a lot.

― Rahul Kamath (Rahul Kamath), Wednesday, 4 September 2002 20:05 (twenty-three years ago)

Bohemian whatsisface. By that band with the mustache guy.

― Nate Patrin, Wednesday, 4 September 2002 20:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Mos Def's "Rock'n'Roll" i reckon

― Slump Man (Slump Man), Wednesday, 4 September 2002 20:12 (twenty-three years ago)

The first two Mr.Bungle albums are rife with this.

― Alex in NYC, Wednesday, 4 September 2002 20:26 (twenty-three years ago)

Bohemian whatsisface. By that band with the mustache guy.

Husker Du??

― Jody Beth Rosen, Wednesday, 4 September 2002 20:36 (twenty-three years ago)

Don't know if it's all-time, but SFA's "Receptacle for the Respectable" runs quite a gamut of styles, changing about once a minute or so.

Good one re: the Du, by the way.

― wl, Wednesday, 4 September 2002 21:40 (twenty-three years ago)

pere ubu, "story of my life", the one which switches from accordian to rock

― mark s (mark s), Wednesday, 4 September 2002 22:26 (twenty-three years ago)

Roxy Music, "Still Falls the Rain"

― Joe (Joe), Wednesday, 4 September 2002 22:29 (twenty-three years ago)

I think wings would have been the best band of the seventies if mccartney would have had the good sense to turn "band on the run", "Uncle Albert..." etc into multiple songs instead of the pastiche nightmares they are....

― geeg, Wednesday, 4 September 2002 23:02 (twenty-three years ago)

Then there's that awful TMBG song, "Fingertips" -- but it's not actually one song, it's a sequence of short tracks meant to be played at random.

― Jody Beth Rosen, Wednesday, 4 September 2002 23:16 (twenty-three years ago)

There's a few hardcore songs I can think of off the top of my head that switch gears suddenly from super-sped-up speed-thrash to sludgy midtempo (or vice versa) -- Minor Threat's "In My Eyes", Bad Brains' "Banned In D.C.", Suicidal Tendencies' "Institutionalized", even the Beastie Boys' "Heart Attack Man". If you're lucky (like in Bad Brains' case) they might even throw in a snazzy guitar solo during the sludgy bits.

― Nate Patrin, Thursday, 5 September 2002 00:17 (twenty-three years ago)

able tasmans 'school is no good for you', starts off all charlatans uk and then by the end with a few freak-outs in between is all tim buckley dewey sunsets. the able tasmans were amazing.

― keith, Thursday, 5 September 2002 00:20 (twenty-three years ago)

There's that super-rad change in "California Uber Alles" where it slows down and goes into that "Nowwww it's nine-teeeeeen-eiiiighty-fourrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" bit.

― Jody Beth Rosen, Thursday, 5 September 2002 00:35 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah, "Pink Frost" is odd - not that I'm complaining, but why the random bubblegum-esque intro before the underwater glacial guitar rush? (& for that matter, the bit in the Verlaines' "Death & The Maiden" where it goes all ye-olde churchdance stylee confuses me too . . .)

― Ess Kay (esskay), Thursday, 5 September 2002 01:30 (twenty-three years ago)

Not that drastic, but I like how that Shakira song briefly turns into a B-52's jam. Oh, and let's just add a "no Zappa/Zorn inspired acts" caveat to this thread (I know it's too late for the Mr. Bungle ref) or this thread will get monotonous real quick.

― James Blount, Thursday, 5 September 2002 02:01 (twenty-three years ago)

lately I've been obsessed with "Magic" by Mick Smiley, which is that creepy synthy track that plays in Ghostbusters right after the containment unit is shut down and everything goes to shit. the thing is, the part that's in the movie is only the 2nd half of the song, but the first half is much more upbeat with cheesy love song lyrics, and then suddenly breaks into this section that since childhood I've come to know as being really creepy and foreboding (but cool-sounding), so the contrast is even more dramatic.

― Al (sitcom), Thursday, 5 September 2002 02:02 (twenty-three years ago)

My money's on Aztec Camera's cover of Van Halen's "Jump", which goes from wimpier-than-wimpy to rocking louder than the original within just a few minutes. Brilliant!

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Thursday, 5 September 2002 02:58 (twenty-three years ago)

On the SFA tip, surely it's The Man Don't Give A Fuck? busted my spine to that way too much...

― Mr Swygart (mrswygart), Thursday, 5 September 2002 05:50 (twenty-three years ago)

"Marshall's Been Done To Death" Freelance Hairdresser

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 5 September 2002 06:48 (twenty-three years ago)

Layla - when it switches to the piano bit for the last couple of minutes, by far the best part of the song

― Robin Goad, Thursday, 5 September 2002 06:50 (twenty-three years ago)

Mogwai's 'Like Herod' suddenly changes from softer than soft to louder than loud.

― Keith McD (Keith McD), Thursday, 5 September 2002 07:32 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh God - Suicide by Zan Lyons always scared the shite out of me.

― Mr Swygart (mrswygart), Thursday, 5 September 2002 07:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Echo & The Bunnymen -- The Cutter

― JM, Thursday, 5 September 2002 10:59 (twenty-three years ago)

--
Mogwai's 'Like Herod' suddenly changes from softer than soft to louder than loud
--
Surely's that's everything Mogwai does. Great review from the start of their career that there are two types of Mogwai song: those that start of quiet and end up loud enough to raze all life from the planet, and those that start loud then turn quiet and then end up loud enough to raze all life from the planet.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 5 September 2002 11:43 (twenty-three years ago)

"round round", obviously.

― michael w., Thursday, 5 September 2002 11:47 (twenty-three years ago)

george baker selection - "little green bag"

from funk-minimal bass driven pentatonics to fullblown R&B orchestal majesty between verse and chorus.

― gygax!, Thursday, 5 September 2002 12:51 (twenty-three years ago)

All I can think of at the moment is a rap song called Change of Style by someone closely tied into The Bomb Squad. Jumped from rap to other forms for the chorus, ending with a thrash metal squall. I got the video of it somewhere but no VCR at the moment.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Thursday, 5 September 2002 13:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Mr. Noodles: that was Son Of Bazerk's "Change The Style"... pretty good song. I'd love to see that video (but I don't have a VCR either).

― gygax!, Thursday, 5 September 2002 14:20 (twenty-three years ago)

The final track on 'Bad Timing' by Jim O'Rourke - after 6 plus minutes of Faheyesque noize-noodling an entire marching band bursts in from from nowhere and start whooping it up - its my fave bit of the whole alb...

― Andrew L (Andrew L), Thursday, 5 September 2002 14:40 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh, and let's just add a "no Zappa/Zorn inspired acts" caveat to this thread

Does the caveat include Zappa and Zorn themselves?

Anyway, only song I can think of off the toppa my head is Bowie's "Station to Station."

― Tad (llamasfur), Sunday, 8 September 2002 23:04 (twenty-three years ago)

Yes; no Carl Stalling or Raymond Scott either.

― James Blount, Sunday, 8 September 2002 23:53 (twenty-three years ago)

Another Jim O'Rourke track is 'Life Goes On' from Insignificance, it segues from meandering folk into a musique concrete dead-end in the last two minutes.

― nick.K (nick.K), Monday, 9 September 2002 08:32 (twenty-three years ago)

Mos Def's Rock & Roll goes for a while as laid-back downtempo almost jazzy hip hop, then goes into a thrash section almost approaching Digital Hardcore style.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Monday, 9 September 2002 18:50 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd love to see that video

Some parts are pretty good, the thrash metal ending is classic, but I recall its mostly standard rapper (or sometimes just his head) on white abstract background with Flavour Flav flying around shaking his arms. The cool part is during the choruses.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Monday, 9 September 2002 18:55 (twenty-three years ago)

one month passes...

Give a listen to Sublime's song STP on their second album Robbin'the Hood.

― Zed's Dead, Wednesday, 6 November 2002 06:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Outkast's "Mumble in the Jungle" (Dre's verse rhythm switch-up)
The Roots' "You Got Me" (the live-instrumental drum-n-bass-ish ending)
Cibo Matto's "White Pepper"
Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" (that whole psychedelic bridge part)

― nickalicious, Wednesday, 6 November 2002 17:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Respected by Dub War

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 6 November 2002 17:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Prince 'Batdance'

― blueski, Wednesday, 6 November 2002 17:37 (twenty-two years ago)

six months pass...

march of the pigs by nine inch nails.

― Ben Allen, Sunday, 18 May 2003 11:16 (twenty-two years ago)

R.E.M. - "I Believe." Goes from yee-haw bluegrass banjo to full-on kickass college rock thumper.

― Evan (Evan), Sunday, 18 May 2003 12:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Ming and FS, "Some Die (Some Come Up)," where you've just resigned yrself to the fact that it's a downtempo vocal track and them BLAM it's on, baby!

― Neudonym, Sunday, 18 May 2003 12:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Daniel Johnston "Rock and Roll/EGA"

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Sunday, 18 May 2003 13:51 (twenty-two years ago)

oh and "One" by Metallica

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Sunday, 18 May 2003 13:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Pay the Man - Offspring

― MerkinMuffley (MerkinMuffley), Sunday, 18 May 2003 14:57 (twenty-two years ago)

The Roots - "Water"
Lots of Delgados songs. Although that might be just volume change rather than style change.

― Nick H, Sunday, 18 May 2003 14:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen.

― Jeanne Fury (Jeanne Fury), Sunday, 18 May 2003 15:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Daniel Johnston - funeral girl

Goes from moaning to upbeat. Like a New Orleans funeral march. Great!

― of heaven, Sunday, 18 May 2003 20:50 (twenty-two years ago)

"How we used to live" - Saint Etienne

― Sami (Sami), Sunday, 18 May 2003 22:01 (twenty-two years ago)

The Coral - I Remember When (dreamy, slow ska-guitar verse, smug upbeat chorus, and...the bridge...).

Radiohead - Trans-atlantic Drawl (spastic, paranoid hyper music with an insane riff courtesy of senor Greenwood, and just as the noise reaches its peak, it cuts abruptly to some tranquil vinyl organ).

― Simon H., Monday, 19 May 2003 10:17 (twenty-two years ago)

The Boo Radleys - Nothing To Do But Scare Myself

― dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 19 May 2003 10:26 (twenty-two years ago)

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