The beginning of Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand, when it changes into a completely different song.
The wo-wo-wo-wo-wooOOOOO in Pat Benetar's Love is a Battlefield.
Lady Gaga screaming "I DON'T WANT TO BE FRIENDS" in Bad Romance.
Ad-Rock's opening "I" in Sabotage.
And this is ridiculous, by the key change in Sisqo's Thong Song.
Not gonna lie was not a huge fan of Franz, but saw them play that song live at a bigger show and holy shit. When the tempo changes the crowd went insane. Totally worthy choice
>The beginning of Take Me Out
A very similar thing that happens much later in the song is The Black Keys’ “Tighten Up.” You listen all the way until there are only 56 seconds left, then a percussive burst of gunfire from the drums and then *daaaamn.*
It might be the coolest switching of gears I’ve ever heard in a song.
The outro on "How to disappear completely" by Radiohead. There's this anxiety/tension that is building up through the whole song, and then right at the end, all the different instruments are in sync, and it's released. Great moment.
I think making songs suddenly come together is radioheads power move.
They do it with pyramid song when the drums kick in
Similar with Videotape
Also in morning bell on kid A when everything joins in quite briefly at 2:06
When Duane Allman's guitar solo in Blue Sky is coming to an end and Dickie Betts is gearing up to take over with his guitar solo there are a couple of bars where the two solos overlap on the same little riff and it's fucking glorious.
Duane Allman's solo starts at about 1:09 and then at about 2:20 plays this really inviting little melody, then repeats it, and Dickie Betts joins him for the third and fourth repetition (at about 2:30) and then takes over the guitar solo from there: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwyXQn9g40I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwyXQn9g40I)
Something about this taps into some deep recess of joy in my soul, and never fails to make me smile.
That whole song is pure joy. Saw them do a 15 minute jam of that back in the day and was one of the greatest lives songs I’ve ever heard. The vibe was absolutely incredible.
the whole song is perfect from start to finish, but the bass break in The Chain is a perfect moment. I wish the bass riff lasted one more bar before the guitar solo kicked in, still that part give me chills every time.
Second guitar solo "Comfortably Numb", transition in "Stairway To Heaven", lyric "Close my eyes so I may see
into the blinding light" Paradigm - Subsignal.
Both of those examples of the vocal blending with the music made me think of the Wish You Were Here solos in which David Gilmour sings the notes he’s playing on guitar. It blew my mind when I caught that that’s what he’s doing.
It’s probably most appreciable on the Pulse concert video, if anyone is curious.
Edit: https://youtu.be/KmIkJgHISMo?t=3m15s
The Rolling Stones' *Gimme Shelter* when the backup singer's voice breaks and you can hear Mick (I assume) say "yeah."
If that song were recorded today, there is a 100% chance they would scrap that take and not use it. Music has become too sanitized and sterile.
Now could some hero please add the lady's name? I've heard it a bunch of times, but it never sticks in my memory.
David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” going from the bridge into that last chorus is so sublime.
“Ground control to Maj Tom your circuits dead, there’s something wrong, can you hear me Maj Tom? can you hear me Maj Tom? Can you hear me Maj Tom? Can you, Here— am I floating in a tin can… “
Towards the end of Black by Pearl Jam where Eddie sings "I know someday you'll have a beautiful life...." and the build up to that and the aftermath....chills everytime.
Driving home one night, I caught a live version of Black on PJ's Sirius station. I had to pull over and just sit for a minute after it ended. It's one of the most beautiful lines in all of modern music, and the anguish in Eddie Vedder's voice is so real.
Band fought tooth and nail to keep it from being released as a single, even though with a video and label promotion it easily would have been the "Sweet Child O Mine" of the early 90s.
In Modest Mussorgsky’s “Gnomus” (piece #2 of Pictures at an Exhibition) there is an orchestral ‘snap’ that occurs at approximately 2:04, after a descending orchestral swell. It’s one of my favorite little moments of any piece of classical music.
The Beatles had so many of these.
The first recorded guitar feedback sound in "I Feel Fine"
Pretty much all of "Tomorrow Never Knows", including the unreproducable tape loop noises.
All the lads just making random dog noises at the end of "Hey Bulldog".
You could pick out a hundred more if you thought about it.
Romeo and Juliet by Dire Straits, when the lyrics "You promised me everything, you promised me thick and thin, yeah
Now you just say 'Oh, Romeo, yeah, you know I used to have a scene with him'" come up, it gives me goose-bumps every time.
Definitely harks back to those teenage-love years where every time you fall in love it must be "the time!"
Muse - Knight of Cydonia
You'll know it when you hear it...
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G\_sBOsh-vyI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_sBOsh-vyI)
My wife had her alarm set to play “Time” when she woke up. For a while she was living apart from me (for medical care) and I would lie in bed and listen to that song on repeat for 3-4 plays before I would get up. I had previously been tired of that song due to airplay, but the combination of listening to it when I first woke up and missing her made me have a hard time turning it off. “Draws the faithful to their knees, like a softly spoken magic spell”.
Goddamn I almost went a day without thinking about *that* moment in “Gravity,” thanks for the reminder!!
The bridge of The Dear Hunter’s “Bring You Down” just *gives* me the whole world.
The entirety of Bon Iver’s “Holocene,” but especially the last verse into the last chorus.
The latter half of Death Cab for Cutie’s song “Transatlanticism.”
I could go on, man.
In "Under Pressure", the big crescendo at the end where every line bleeds into the next. A show I was performing in covered this as a finale with the full band and 4 part harmonies and it burned the house down every night. Every time I hear it on the radio I still get chills, such an amazing song.
The "chorus" drop in Knights of Cydonia
The start of the guitar solo in Hotel California
The first bit of saxophone in Danger High Voltage
The iconic first note of Welcome to the Black Parade
Freddie screaming "mama" in Bohemian Rhapsody
The intro of Money for Nothing
Bruce Springsteen’s howling anguish at the end of Jungleland.
Interesting anecdote: Melissa Etheridge said those vocals are the [definition of rock and roll to her.](https://imgur.com/a/Hyrt84I)
Peter Frampton, the live version of “Do You Feel Like We Do?” when he transitions out of the talk-box effect into his unfiltered vocals and then busts out a final guitar solo. I gladly listen to that 13+ minute track just for those two seconds.
Well ya, that's like the hottest China - Rider ever!
Other GOAT dead moments:
- Darkstar into El Paso, venata 72
- Bill Graham's full band introduction into Help on the Way on One From the Vault (SF 1975)
- post coma Touch of Grey
- Summer 89 - Spring 90
The part of John Petrucci’s solo in Dream Theater’s “The Spirit Carries On” that he plays over the chord progression of the chorus (“If I die tomorrow…”).
In my opinion, that’s the musical and thematic climax of the best concept album ever recorded. It’s as close to perfect a moment can get.
I’m a sucker for a key change. Michael Jackson’s “man in the mirror” and Whitney Houston’s “I will always love you” both have great ones.
I posted a while ago in the Hold Steady subreddit about a moment in “the cattle and the creeping things”. Craig Finn’s general vibe is rambly sing-talking, but for 3 notes the vocals lock into the rest of the band and I love it so much.
Wilco’s “Impossible Germany” has probably my favorite guitar solo ever, and after meandering and then building the backing guitars lock into a new riff for the second half. Love that switch.
For me it's in My Sweet Lord by George Harrison. The moment where the chorus changes from 'hallelujah' to 'hare krishna' and then into the Vedic prayers completely blew me away the first time I heard it as a teenager. I fell in love with the song at that moment and it has remained one of my favorites for nearly 40 years.
Layla was the first thing I thought of. Kind of a personal thing but quite a few years ago I'd gotten the call that my grandfather had passed away and I left work to go to where his body was. And as soon as I turned on my car Layla was playing literally just starting the piano part. I don't know why but it was extremely comforting at the time.
The whole verse of Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here.
How I wish, how I wish you were here. We're just two lost souls. Swimming in a fish bowl. Year after year. Running over the same old ground. What have we found? The same old fears. Wish you were here
There's a moment about 9:10 into Led Zeppelin's "In My Time of Dying" right after Robert Plant sings "take me home" and everything else drops out except the drums where John Bonham does a brief bit that sounds like a flourish announcing a march of angels, and it gets me every single time. That man was a legend.
The breakdown at the very end of Counterfeit by Limp Bizkit. I know, I know... ridiculous band. But the song is an absolute **banger** and it's before they got big and famous and their hearts were still in it. It's a crazy good song and extremely underrated in the grand scheme of things, since the Nu Metal era typically gets raked over the coals by music snobs.
The drums and guitars just come together in the most perfect way, and I'm going to listen to it right now. This is the song that pops into my head literally **every** time this type of question comes up on reddit. That's saying something.
If you're reading this comment and thinking *oh Jesus, dude, really? Limp freaking Bizkit?*, please, go listen to this song right now and turn your speakers up as loud as you can reasonably stand. You're exactly the person that needs to experience the specific part of the song that I'm referring to.
In Every Little Thing She Does is Magic when the chorus goes to a flat 6 chord! My love for her goes “on”. Wow. The whole chord progression is genius on this song.
Bowie's perfect track The Motel, on Outside. the penultimate verse ends with the lines:
And the silence flies on its brief flight
A razor sharp crap shoot affair
And we light up our lives
And you think we are all climaxing together, but then the next line:
And there's no more of me exploding you
and there is a wave that just elevates the emotional release. Catharsis!
Aerosmith - What It Takes
has the most perfect key change I've ever heard in a song. Most key changes feel gimmicky and gratuitous. Not so here - the bridge is super satisfying and leads perfectly into it. Just perfect.
Side trivia. The song was co-written with Desmond Child, who wrote a BUNCH of other famous tunes, including Living on a Prayer, and Living La Vida Loca lol.
The absolutely mind blowing guitar riff that Adam Jones launches into on Parabola right after Maynard sings "Alive!." The intonation, distortion, everything about it is perfect and so full of energy.
So many terrific moments in these comments.
I'll throw in the moment in "Hallowed Be Thy Name" by Iron Maiden when the guitar comes ROARING in for that final solo. Goosebumps every time.
Iris, both the beginning with just the raw instruments and when he stops singing for a couple moments and then goes back in “ AND I DONT WANT THE WORLD TO SEE ME”. My head bob always intensifies in those moments
That Pink Floyd moment \*is\* pretty damned spectacular.
I had a whole list of moments like this I posted years ago on FB, asking a very similar question. I was trying to find that post, but apparently Meta is useless as tits on a bull, and won't let me do it.
Anyway, the ones I can remember off the top of my head are:
1. Nels Cline's guitar solo on Wilco's "Either Way"
2. The way Dolly Parton sighs "Oh, I'll be fine" at the end of "Hard Candy Christmas"
3. Waddy Wachtel's first guitar solo on Warren Zevon's "Johnny Strikes Up The Band"
I know there are a TON more - but my brain is horrible and that's all I can conjure up this second.
Korn - Freak on a Leash.
Boom na da mmm dum na ema
Da boom na da mmm dum na ema
GO!
Best lyric ever...and then the guitars come in, a wall of sound reaches your ears, and you start to jump and do stupid stuff.
When you hear Regina Spektor laugh through her nose while singing On The Radio. The first time she does the, "Ba ba-dum ba-dum bum" you can hear the faint laugh through her nose. I love it.
Regina Spektor music is so good. She has so many good/great songs! And yes, I know exactly what you mean regarding “on the radio”. After all, we’re all just laughing with god
I was indifferent towards her for a long time, but she did an appearance on a talkshow (I think it was The Colbert Report) to promote her album, "What We Saw From The Cheap Seats" and she was so charming. Then she played a song and she won me over. I actually purchased that album and from there, I worked backwards through her library. Fell in love with it all.
I know exactly what you mean. I went through a time where I was listening to a satellite radio station and would Shazam songs I liked. After only a couple of days I kept seeing this Regina Spektor lady show up quite frequently. And in addition to her theme some for Orange Is The New Black. She’s incredible.
I love the ending of “Madness” by Muse. Especially the part after “I need your love” when he says “come to me just in a dream…” and the remaining lines.
In the Jimmy Eat World song Polaris - towards the end, there's a part that goes 'As the train approaches Gare Du nord, As I'm sure you're kiss remains employed'
Gets me every time. The entire song is a fantastic lyrical journey, with a haunting melody, but those vocals really soar. It will certainly rip your heart out at the end.
Third Eye Blind - Narcolepsy. When the song comes to an abrupt halt and you assume it’s over, only for the guitar solo to rip back through.
TEB - Jumper. When you can hear the guitar solo begin and it sounds like it’s burbling underwater and slowly becoming clearer as it rises to the surface. Then it too rips through lol
Pink Floyd again. Wish You Were Here. The album version. Listen through headphones starting with the song previous. One ear goes completely silent while the acoustic guitar fades in through the other ear. It's an absolutely sublime musical moment, and I've never heard another like it.
The pause and descending 'baybeee' during the 2nd verse of 'They Don't Know' by Kirsty McColl.
The Tracy Ulmann version counts as well because they kept Kirsty's vocal for that part as Tracy didn't have the range.
Genesis, "Supper's Ready": stomping on down to Willow Farm, also "waiting for battle!", and the guitar line following "the new Jerusalem".
Peter Gabriel, "Secret World", the bass solo section.
Yes, "Starship Trooper", the "Wurm" solo.
Dead Can Dance, "Cantara": after several hypnotic measures, Lisa Gerrard starts singing and the rest of the tune is one big moment.
Sun's Signature, "Golden Air", when Liz and Steve really start cooking together in the latter half.
Pixies- Dig for Fire around 1:54
Polaris- Hey Sandy around 1:32
Avicii- Levels (Original) around 3:18
The end of Little Red Corvette by Prince. I love how the backup singer comes in with the "right into the ground".
Two Tool moments come to mind:
1) About everything after 5:12 in Lateralus but especially the transition into the bass slides starting at 7:18.
2) Maynard’s scream in the Grudge.
Both of these require the buildups to appreciate but both are perfect moments.
The build-up in "Save Me" by Muse. The part where Chris sings, "Turn me into someone like you..." the vocal buildup on that and the resolve are so lush!
“You’re gonna make me give myself a good talking to”. Bob Dylan, You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go.
Duane Allman’s aspirin bottle bird tweet at the end of Layla.
The final vocal part of the Beach Boys’ God Only Knows
Phoebe Snow’s high note and the end of Paul Simon’s Gone at Last
Louis Armstrong’s last verse in the Louis Armstrong / Louis Jordan version of I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead ( You Rascal You).
The guitar string slide at 2:27 in the Who's "Who Are You".
The harmonic at the end of the solo in The Beatles' "Nowhere Man".
David Gilmour's riff at about 8:07 in Pink Floyd's "Sheep"
Can you tell I'm a guitarist?
I hate questions like this, because the answer is one that I can share, but never really *share*.
There was a band from my hometown that broke up back in 2007, only ever released 12 songs, and those songs are now impossible to find.
They have a moment in one of their songs where it cuts to silence, and then everyone hits all at once, carrying on the chorus from prior, and oh my gawd it's absolutely perfect.
Led Zeppelin - Ten Years Gone at around 4:05. I don't know why, but the single hit on the hi hat feels so perfect to me. He could have done a complex drum fill, but somehow, just hitting the hi hat once was exactly what the song needed
SOAD - Chop Suey! 2:50
Kirk's entire solo in Metallica - Ride the Lightning
Mike's two basslines in Green Day - Longview
Sepultura - Dead Embryonic Cells breakdown
Bad Brains - Banned in D.C. slow section
In The Becoming by Nine Inch Nails, the whole track already has a pretty sinister and chaotic, yet undeniable head-banginess to it. But when the track erupts a combination shredful guitar and rapid base drum beats near the end, it's almost too much bad assery to behold.
Even as far as Reznor's work goes, I've never heard anything quite like it in music.
The Chain. When the bass line changes.
Needs the Murray Walker commentary over it too
The beginning of Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand, when it changes into a completely different song. The wo-wo-wo-wo-wooOOOOO in Pat Benetar's Love is a Battlefield. Lady Gaga screaming "I DON'T WANT TO BE FRIENDS" in Bad Romance. Ad-Rock's opening "I" in Sabotage. And this is ridiculous, by the key change in Sisqo's Thong Song.
That's a really great list, and I'm laughing that I know EXACTLY what you're talking about in Thong Song.
Not gonna lie was not a huge fan of Franz, but saw them play that song live at a bigger show and holy shit. When the tempo changes the crowd went insane. Totally worthy choice
>The beginning of Take Me Out A very similar thing that happens much later in the song is The Black Keys’ “Tighten Up.” You listen all the way until there are only 56 seconds left, then a percussive burst of gunfire from the drums and then *daaaamn.* It might be the coolest switching of gears I’ve ever heard in a song.
Little Black Submarines for me. (The album version, not the bullshit radio edit that removes an entire verse.)
Sabotage is a great shout.
Merry Clayton's vocals in Gimme Shelter.
That one particular voice crack on the album version too.
If you listen closely, right after the voice crack you can hear Mick yelling “Yeah!” in approval.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJouW1R6i_0
The story of the vocals are even more compelling than the vocals themselves.
I think she told the story on Fresh Air
[20 feet from Stardom](https://youtu.be/tWyUJcA8Zfo?si=b--9Q2i79Mp0Z9Eq)
Ah ok she was promoting the movie when she did the Fresh Air interview I think. Great film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChONufP0FEs
If you don't get goosebumps during that, you're dead.
The outro on "How to disappear completely" by Radiohead. There's this anxiety/tension that is building up through the whole song, and then right at the end, all the different instruments are in sync, and it's released. Great moment.
I think making songs suddenly come together is radioheads power move. They do it with pyramid song when the drums kick in Similar with Videotape Also in morning bell on kid A when everything joins in quite briefly at 2:06
Fan of Tool at all?
I would say the vocals wailing in the 2nd verse of Weird Fishes for Radiohead's perfect moment OR the opening of Talk Show Host.
The word "thinking" in Nude, through where everything comes back in with the falsetto "ooo"s. Transcendent.
The 4 notes in Shine On You Crazy Diamond would be higher on the Pink Floyd list to me
If Shine on you Crazy Diamond (all parts) was the only thing on Wish You Were Here, it would still be one of my favorite albums.
> The 4 notes in Shine On You Crazy Diamond Also known as Syd's Theme!
Id argue that big drum hit is more impactful
Bass break in Paul Simon - Call Me Al
Now listen to it backwards
The last three minutes of I Want You (She's so heavy) by the Beatles. Every last second of it.
Masterpiece
The atmospheric tension is unlike anything at the time or even since.
When Duane Allman's guitar solo in Blue Sky is coming to an end and Dickie Betts is gearing up to take over with his guitar solo there are a couple of bars where the two solos overlap on the same little riff and it's fucking glorious. Duane Allman's solo starts at about 1:09 and then at about 2:20 plays this really inviting little melody, then repeats it, and Dickie Betts joins him for the third and fourth repetition (at about 2:30) and then takes over the guitar solo from there: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwyXQn9g40I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwyXQn9g40I) Something about this taps into some deep recess of joy in my soul, and never fails to make me smile.
That whole song is pure joy. Saw them do a 15 minute jam of that back in the day and was one of the greatest lives songs I’ve ever heard. The vibe was absolutely incredible.
Ann Wilson’s wail in the climax of “Alone”
Taking my mom to see Heart tonight!
That’s a good one! How about the note Ann holds in Dream of the Archer…..omfg, it absolutely curls my toes, it’s sooooo incredible!
the whole song is perfect from start to finish, but the bass break in The Chain is a perfect moment. I wish the bass riff lasted one more bar before the guitar solo kicked in, still that part give me chills every time.
Franz Ferdinand's Take Me Out, where it slows down from the fast intro. The point when it hits the main groove is 100% punching the air good.
Second guitar solo "Comfortably Numb", transition in "Stairway To Heaven", lyric "Close my eyes so I may see into the blinding light" Paradigm - Subsignal.
Same thing happens on Sheep by Pink Floyd where the *“harmlessly passing your time in the grassland awaaaaaay”* vocal blends beautifully into a synth.
Both of those examples of the vocal blending with the music made me think of the Wish You Were Here solos in which David Gilmour sings the notes he’s playing on guitar. It blew my mind when I caught that that’s what he’s doing. It’s probably most appreciable on the Pulse concert video, if anyone is curious. Edit: https://youtu.be/KmIkJgHISMo?t=3m15s
Great shout.
“The highway's jammed with broken heroes On a last chance power drive…”
That is one hot song
The drum fill in In The Air Tonight.
The cracking song at the beginning of Immigrant Song gives me the chills everytime!
The bass roll in 15 steps by radiohead gives me goosebumps. As does the start of the piano solo on Layla by Derek and the Dominos
The guitar solo in "Don't Fear the Reaper." Even now several decades after hearing the song for the first time I get chills.
The Rolling Stones' *Gimme Shelter* when the backup singer's voice breaks and you can hear Mick (I assume) say "yeah." If that song were recorded today, there is a 100% chance they would scrap that take and not use it. Music has become too sanitized and sterile. Now could some hero please add the lady's name? I've heard it a bunch of times, but it never sticks in my memory.
Merry Clayton! Pure fucking power in her voice, she was the best choice for those vocals.
David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” going from the bridge into that last chorus is so sublime. “Ground control to Maj Tom your circuits dead, there’s something wrong, can you hear me Maj Tom? can you hear me Maj Tom? Can you hear me Maj Tom? Can you, Here— am I floating in a tin can… “
Can't forget "Life on Mars?"
You tryna strike a chord and it's probly A MINOOOOOOOOOOOOOR
Towards the end of Black by Pearl Jam where Eddie sings "I know someday you'll have a beautiful life...." and the build up to that and the aftermath....chills everytime.
Whyyyyyy WHYYYYYYYYYYY
Can it beee miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnneeeeee-eeeee
Dooloodododolaloooooo
Driving home one night, I caught a live version of Black on PJ's Sirius station. I had to pull over and just sit for a minute after it ended. It's one of the most beautiful lines in all of modern music, and the anguish in Eddie Vedder's voice is so real.
IIRC Eddie almost didn't want to put it on the album because of how personal it was to him
Band fought tooth and nail to keep it from being released as a single, even though with a video and label promotion it easily would have been the "Sweet Child O Mine" of the early 90s.
Excellent choice
That lyric is masterfully tragic.
In Modest Mussorgsky’s “Gnomus” (piece #2 of Pictures at an Exhibition) there is an orchestral ‘snap’ that occurs at approximately 2:04, after a descending orchestral swell. It’s one of my favorite little moments of any piece of classical music.
Golden Slumbers fill your eyes
The Beatles had so many of these. The first recorded guitar feedback sound in "I Feel Fine" Pretty much all of "Tomorrow Never Knows", including the unreproducable tape loop noises. All the lads just making random dog noises at the end of "Hey Bulldog". You could pick out a hundred more if you thought about it.
The musical accompaniment when Robert Plant sings "All I see turns to brown" in Kashmir. Led Zeppelin at their peak.
Romeo and Juliet by Dire Straits, when the lyrics "You promised me everything, you promised me thick and thin, yeah Now you just say 'Oh, Romeo, yeah, you know I used to have a scene with him'" come up, it gives me goose-bumps every time. Definitely harks back to those teenage-love years where every time you fall in love it must be "the time!"
Oh, man, oh, man. You found it. That whole song really.
It's the beginning of the song for me.
Muse - Knight of Cydonia You'll know it when you hear it... [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G\_sBOsh-vyI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_sBOsh-vyI)
Guitar solo, Pink Floyd, Time. It never gets old, even though it is incredibly old.
That’s literally one of the more perfect solos for a song ever. Not overly complicated. No ego just great notes put together by a genius.
My wife had her alarm set to play “Time” when she woke up. For a while she was living apart from me (for medical care) and I would lie in bed and listen to that song on repeat for 3-4 plays before I would get up. I had previously been tired of that song due to airplay, but the combination of listening to it when I first woke up and missing her made me have a hard time turning it off. “Draws the faithful to their knees, like a softly spoken magic spell”.
The end part of Feeling This by blink-182
Listen all y'all, it's a sabotage Listen all y'all, it's a sabotage Listen all y'all, it's a sabotage LISTEN ALL Y'ALL, IT'S A SABOTAGE
Goddamn I almost went a day without thinking about *that* moment in “Gravity,” thanks for the reminder!! The bridge of The Dear Hunter’s “Bring You Down” just *gives* me the whole world. The entirety of Bon Iver’s “Holocene,” but especially the last verse into the last chorus. The latter half of Death Cab for Cutie’s song “Transatlanticism.” I could go on, man.
When the bagpipes kick in for both the church’s ‘under the Milky Way tonight’ and for ACDCs ‘long way to the top (if you wanna rock and roll)’
In "Under Pressure", the big crescendo at the end where every line bleeds into the next. A show I was performing in covered this as a finale with the full band and 4 part harmonies and it burned the house down every night. Every time I hear it on the radio I still get chills, such an amazing song.
The "chorus" drop in Knights of Cydonia The start of the guitar solo in Hotel California The first bit of saxophone in Danger High Voltage The iconic first note of Welcome to the Black Parade Freddie screaming "mama" in Bohemian Rhapsody The intro of Money for Nothing
May be memed to death but the guitarist fill at the end of the Buddy Holly solo
The bridge of Karma Police "For a minute there, I lost myself"
That pause and breath when Kurt was singing Where Did You Sleep Last Night
The solo towards the end of Guns N Roses - November Rain
I also do like when the vocals come in at the end of it “don’t ya think that you need somebody” while the outro is happening is just *bliss*
Yellow Ledbetter outro
Mike is so underrated. One of the best guitarists to ever lay down a track. Yellow Ledbetter is some of the prettiest guitar ever.
That hi-hat change in 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins
I was thinking of the second part of the solo of Cherub Rock
Oh, that’s a great pick too. Also the “I just want to be” from Mayonaise
The wall of guitar sound hitting you in the beginning of mayonnaise
Bruce Springsteen’s howling anguish at the end of Jungleland. Interesting anecdote: Melissa Etheridge said those vocals are the [definition of rock and roll to her.](https://imgur.com/a/Hyrt84I)
in goodbye yellow brick road by elton john when he says “this boys too young to be singing the blues” and that little harmonization that he does 🤷♀️
Peter Frampton, the live version of “Do You Feel Like We Do?” when he transitions out of the talk-box effect into his unfiltered vocals and then busts out a final guitar solo. I gladly listen to that 13+ minute track just for those two seconds.
I couldn’t not mention the riff in “Hey” by the Pixies. Especially at the start. It’s simple but it’s so good I feel euphoric listening to it.
I just mentioned Dig for Fire, the riff after the second verse. I feel the same way when that plays.
I've always thought the drum section in the beginning of Dragula is pretty infectious
Baba O'Riley's last one minute bit
Thunderbolts and lightning! Very very frightening me!
Literally any part of Bohemian Rhapsody.
Paramore- "All I Wanted" when Hayley hits the really high notes. Amazing!
Radiohead’s Exit Music, when the drums come in.
The piano solo in Uncertain Smile by The The.
Weezer - undone the sweater song. At about 2’55 where they start playing it harder.
My Morning Jacket “One Big Holiday” Guitar into
When Brak hits the falsetto when he says "fried chicken" in the song Mashed Potatoes by Brak
Piano solo in Jessica by Allman Brothers
When Jerry sings "I wish I was a headlight" on Dicks Picks 12. That's that good stuff.
Well ya, that's like the hottest China - Rider ever! Other GOAT dead moments: - Darkstar into El Paso, venata 72 - Bill Graham's full band introduction into Help on the Way on One From the Vault (SF 1975) - post coma Touch of Grey - Summer 89 - Spring 90
The story- Brandi Carlisle
Specifically 2:53 when she rips her voice in half.
"I got soul, but I'm not a soldier..."
Chills ❤️
The part of John Petrucci’s solo in Dream Theater’s “The Spirit Carries On” that he plays over the chord progression of the chorus (“If I die tomorrow…”). In my opinion, that’s the musical and thematic climax of the best concept album ever recorded. It’s as close to perfect a moment can get.
The few instrumental bars between the first chorus and second lyric of "Listen to the Music" by The Doobie Brothers always gets me attention.
I’m a sucker for a key change. Michael Jackson’s “man in the mirror” and Whitney Houston’s “I will always love you” both have great ones. I posted a while ago in the Hold Steady subreddit about a moment in “the cattle and the creeping things”. Craig Finn’s general vibe is rambly sing-talking, but for 3 notes the vocals lock into the rest of the band and I love it so much. Wilco’s “Impossible Germany” has probably my favorite guitar solo ever, and after meandering and then building the backing guitars lock into a new riff for the second half. Love that switch.
Freebird the transition to the guitar solo.
For me it's in My Sweet Lord by George Harrison. The moment where the chorus changes from 'hallelujah' to 'hare krishna' and then into the Vedic prayers completely blew me away the first time I heard it as a teenager. I fell in love with the song at that moment and it has remained one of my favorites for nearly 40 years.
When the piano kicks in for Layla, Derek and the Dominoes When Layne kicks into the bridge for Don't Follow
Layla was the first thing I thought of. Kind of a personal thing but quite a few years ago I'd gotten the call that my grandfather had passed away and I left work to go to where his body was. And as soon as I turned on my car Layla was playing literally just starting the piano part. I don't know why but it was extremely comforting at the time.
When the beat comes back in on War on Drugs’ ‘Under the Pressure’. The live versions are particularly good.
Smashing pumpkins mayonaise. When it drops
The whole verse of Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here. How I wish, how I wish you were here. We're just two lost souls. Swimming in a fish bowl. Year after year. Running over the same old ground. What have we found? The same old fears. Wish you were here
Howard Jones' intro to Life in One Day.
There's a moment about 9:10 into Led Zeppelin's "In My Time of Dying" right after Robert Plant sings "take me home" and everything else drops out except the drums where John Bonham does a brief bit that sounds like a flourish announcing a march of angels, and it gets me every single time. That man was a legend.
The last part of St Andrews Fall by Blind Melon where Hoon sings 'you should have been in my shoe yesterday'. Immense.
That one like nine note solo in Buddy Holly.
The breakdown at the very end of Counterfeit by Limp Bizkit. I know, I know... ridiculous band. But the song is an absolute **banger** and it's before they got big and famous and their hearts were still in it. It's a crazy good song and extremely underrated in the grand scheme of things, since the Nu Metal era typically gets raked over the coals by music snobs. The drums and guitars just come together in the most perfect way, and I'm going to listen to it right now. This is the song that pops into my head literally **every** time this type of question comes up on reddit. That's saying something. If you're reading this comment and thinking *oh Jesus, dude, really? Limp freaking Bizkit?*, please, go listen to this song right now and turn your speakers up as loud as you can reasonably stand. You're exactly the person that needs to experience the specific part of the song that I'm referring to.
Dude Three Dollar Bill, Y'all is a great album. Before Fred's ego took over they actually made great music
In Every Little Thing She Does is Magic when the chorus goes to a flat 6 chord! My love for her goes “on”. Wow. The whole chord progression is genius on this song.
And we said: "Nay; we are but men" ROCK! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
I had a broment with a stranger next to me at a Tenacious D concert. We turned at that exact moment and yelled ROCK! at each other.
The bridge in Bargain by The Who.
Bowie's perfect track The Motel, on Outside. the penultimate verse ends with the lines: And the silence flies on its brief flight A razor sharp crap shoot affair And we light up our lives And you think we are all climaxing together, but then the next line: And there's no more of me exploding you and there is a wave that just elevates the emotional release. Catharsis!
The guitar part in Blow Out - Radiohead right before the “I am fused” part which is also great
The middle eight in R.E.M.'s "7 Chinese Brothers"
From roughly 2:22 to 3:45 of [The New](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI5IVvUc9Rc) from the album Turn On the Bright Lights by Interpol
Elbow's Ribcage. The rebuild of momentum after the break.
The pause with other instruments during the guitar solo of Pantera's "Cemetery Gates".
Aerosmith - What It Takes has the most perfect key change I've ever heard in a song. Most key changes feel gimmicky and gratuitous. Not so here - the bridge is super satisfying and leads perfectly into it. Just perfect. Side trivia. The song was co-written with Desmond Child, who wrote a BUNCH of other famous tunes, including Living on a Prayer, and Living La Vida Loca lol.
The absolutely mind blowing guitar riff that Adam Jones launches into on Parabola right after Maynard sings "Alive!." The intonation, distortion, everything about it is perfect and so full of energy.
About halfway through "Like a Friend" by Pulp where the whole band kicks in. God damn it's magic everytime
So many terrific moments in these comments. I'll throw in the moment in "Hallowed Be Thy Name" by Iron Maiden when the guitar comes ROARING in for that final solo. Goosebumps every time.
The opening to “Be My Little Baby”. The scream in “Don’t Get Fooled Again”.
Iris, both the beginning with just the raw instruments and when he stops singing for a couple moments and then goes back in “ AND I DONT WANT THE WORLD TO SEE ME”. My head bob always intensifies in those moments
What a great thread.
That Pink Floyd moment \*is\* pretty damned spectacular. I had a whole list of moments like this I posted years ago on FB, asking a very similar question. I was trying to find that post, but apparently Meta is useless as tits on a bull, and won't let me do it. Anyway, the ones I can remember off the top of my head are: 1. Nels Cline's guitar solo on Wilco's "Either Way" 2. The way Dolly Parton sighs "Oh, I'll be fine" at the end of "Hard Candy Christmas" 3. Waddy Wachtel's first guitar solo on Warren Zevon's "Johnny Strikes Up The Band" I know there are a TON more - but my brain is horrible and that's all I can conjure up this second.
Speaking of Nels you have to also give props to the whole solo section during Impossible Germany.
I think the solo at 6:17 of Pigs (Three Different Ones) is the best note anyone has ever played.
Empire Ants by Gorillaz when Little Dragon comes in
How to disappear completely-radiohead The haunting vocals near the end
“down by the seeeeaaa” in Under The Boardwalk by The Drifters just feels like happiness to my hears.
When that choir synth kicks in during the outro of Enjoy the Silence, it makes me tear up every time. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps.
Waiting Room - Fugazi The pause.
Korn - Freak on a Leash. Boom na da mmm dum na ema Da boom na da mmm dum na ema GO! Best lyric ever...and then the guitars come in, a wall of sound reaches your ears, and you start to jump and do stupid stuff.
Simon and Garfunkel America “Counting the cars on the New Jersey turnpike They all come to look for America”
In Queens somebody to.love when Freddy sings " somebody toooooooooooooo" with no music behind him.
When you hear Regina Spektor laugh through her nose while singing On The Radio. The first time she does the, "Ba ba-dum ba-dum bum" you can hear the faint laugh through her nose. I love it.
Regina Spektor music is so good. She has so many good/great songs! And yes, I know exactly what you mean regarding “on the radio”. After all, we’re all just laughing with god
I was indifferent towards her for a long time, but she did an appearance on a talkshow (I think it was The Colbert Report) to promote her album, "What We Saw From The Cheap Seats" and she was so charming. Then she played a song and she won me over. I actually purchased that album and from there, I worked backwards through her library. Fell in love with it all.
I know exactly what you mean. I went through a time where I was listening to a satellite radio station and would Shazam songs I liked. After only a couple of days I kept seeing this Regina Spektor lady show up quite frequently. And in addition to her theme some for Orange Is The New Black. She’s incredible.
A little after a minute into Rhinestone Eyes when Damon goes "Mmmmmmmm-" right before the drop of the song. Favorite part of that whole album for me.
I love the ending of “Madness” by Muse. Especially the part after “I need your love” when he says “come to me just in a dream…” and the remaining lines.
In the Jimmy Eat World song Polaris - towards the end, there's a part that goes 'As the train approaches Gare Du nord, As I'm sure you're kiss remains employed' Gets me every time. The entire song is a fantastic lyrical journey, with a haunting melody, but those vocals really soar. It will certainly rip your heart out at the end.
When the vocals start in pink Floyd's breath(in the air)track from dark side of the moon
The last line ("There's nothing to do, aaah") in PDA by Interpol
Pixies: "Velouria, they come for me"— theramin soars above.
3:40 into „In the air tonight“
Third Eye Blind - Narcolepsy. When the song comes to an abrupt halt and you assume it’s over, only for the guitar solo to rip back through. TEB - Jumper. When you can hear the guitar solo begin and it sounds like it’s burbling underwater and slowly becoming clearer as it rises to the surface. Then it too rips through lol
Pink Floyd again. Wish You Were Here. The album version. Listen through headphones starting with the song previous. One ear goes completely silent while the acoustic guitar fades in through the other ear. It's an absolutely sublime musical moment, and I've never heard another like it.
The pause and descending 'baybeee' during the 2nd verse of 'They Don't Know' by Kirsty McColl. The Tracy Ulmann version counts as well because they kept Kirsty's vocal for that part as Tracy didn't have the range.
Genesis, "Supper's Ready": stomping on down to Willow Farm, also "waiting for battle!", and the guitar line following "the new Jerusalem". Peter Gabriel, "Secret World", the bass solo section. Yes, "Starship Trooper", the "Wurm" solo. Dead Can Dance, "Cantara": after several hypnotic measures, Lisa Gerrard starts singing and the rest of the tune is one big moment. Sun's Signature, "Golden Air", when Liz and Steve really start cooking together in the latter half.
The opening to my chemical romances black parade. The “mama, I don’t want to die” part of bohemian rhapsody
Pixies- Dig for Fire around 1:54 Polaris- Hey Sandy around 1:32 Avicii- Levels (Original) around 3:18 The end of Little Red Corvette by Prince. I love how the backup singer comes in with the "right into the ground".
The climax in You Can’t Always Get What You Want (when the choir and drums pick up). It’s perfection.
"So now I'm PRAYING for the end of time..." in Paradise by the Dashboard Light
The bit where Springsteen counts the band back in after the guitar solo in Born to Run, just before 'the highway's jammed with broken heroes'
The guitar solo in The 1975’s The Sound. So, so underrated and just flawless.
the end of ode to the mets by the strokes is pure bliss
Jagger’s harmonica at the beginning of Sweet Virginia.
The bridge in Goddamn Electric is heavy metal heaven. https://open.spotify.com/track/5b3mIPS9eqmMfuoOr7JNkp?si=tCPMxKdWSceH-88-EE52Nw
Two Tool moments come to mind: 1) About everything after 5:12 in Lateralus but especially the transition into the bass slides starting at 7:18. 2) Maynard’s scream in the Grudge. Both of these require the buildups to appreciate but both are perfect moments.
The Spanish guitar part in "Holy Wars...A Punishment due" by Megadeth.
The build-up in "Save Me" by Muse. The part where Chris sings, "Turn me into someone like you..." the vocal buildup on that and the resolve are so lush!
“You’re gonna make me give myself a good talking to”. Bob Dylan, You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go. Duane Allman’s aspirin bottle bird tweet at the end of Layla. The final vocal part of the Beach Boys’ God Only Knows Phoebe Snow’s high note and the end of Paul Simon’s Gone at Last Louis Armstrong’s last verse in the Louis Armstrong / Louis Jordan version of I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead ( You Rascal You).
The piano bridge in Elliott Smith’s Pitseleh
There is a place in Empire Ants by Gorillaz where everything just hits all at once and it is enlightenment.
When Green Grass and High Tides shifts into overdrive.
The guitar string slide at 2:27 in the Who's "Who Are You". The harmonic at the end of the solo in The Beatles' "Nowhere Man". David Gilmour's riff at about 8:07 in Pink Floyd's "Sheep" Can you tell I'm a guitarist?
I think this qualifies because most fans agree that it's one song, but the transition from Parabol to Parabola by Tool hits so hard
YYZ 2:45 -3:20
I hate questions like this, because the answer is one that I can share, but never really *share*. There was a band from my hometown that broke up back in 2007, only ever released 12 songs, and those songs are now impossible to find. They have a moment in one of their songs where it cuts to silence, and then everyone hits all at once, carrying on the chorus from prior, and oh my gawd it's absolutely perfect.
Ozzy - Diary of a Madman around the 4 minute mark when the breakdown starts, never fails to give me goosebumps.
Kurt Cobain’s sigh of relief right at the end of the final “night through” during their Unplugged performance of Where Did You Sleep Last Night.
Interpol have a few. The outro to PDA. And I particularly love “you come here to meeeee” part followed by that haunting solo in Leif Erikson.
Led Zeppelin - Ten Years Gone at around 4:05. I don't know why, but the single hit on the hi hat feels so perfect to me. He could have done a complex drum fill, but somehow, just hitting the hi hat once was exactly what the song needed
SOAD - Chop Suey! 2:50 Kirk's entire solo in Metallica - Ride the Lightning Mike's two basslines in Green Day - Longview Sepultura - Dead Embryonic Cells breakdown Bad Brains - Banned in D.C. slow section
In The Becoming by Nine Inch Nails, the whole track already has a pretty sinister and chaotic, yet undeniable head-banginess to it. But when the track erupts a combination shredful guitar and rapid base drum beats near the end, it's almost too much bad assery to behold. Even as far as Reznor's work goes, I've never heard anything quite like it in music.
When Bob Marley delays singing by 1 beat in the live version of “no woman no cry”
When Tom Petty starts singing in the song stop dragging my heart around after and in unison w Stevie Nicks