Timestealers: The Long Song Thread

[Space Suicide]

Songs tend to be quick and punchy but sometimes you hear a song that’s so larger than life its time span clocks in over double digits. Admitted I’m not a huge fan of longer songs usually but for the right artist, song instrumentation and lyrics I can and will make an exception. Whether the song length is a certain artists’s norm or a rarity please share your favorites.

As a rule I will make this thread have a minimum time span by making it for songs that are at least 8 minutes and 30 seconds.

Also please tell us why it should be here and why you like it.

Let’s hear it! I’ll contribute shortly.

[r_z]

Here are a few favorite "time stealers" of mine. I don't love those, because they're long; I love 'em, because they take you on a journey and are simply great:

[dvdglss]

Oceansize- “Commemorative 9/11 T-shirt”

i mean it’s a ballsy way to open an album. The tension is there all song and it’s infectious.

Mastodon - “Hearts Alive”

peak early Mastodon. Such and amazing crescendo.

Smashing Pumpkins - “Silverfuck”

Out of all their “long” songs, it all really started here, encapsulating everything you love and what others hate about billy and co.

Emerson Lake Palmer - “Tarkus”
King Crimson - “Larks’ tongue in Aspic”
so many prog songs... but my top two.

the 60s and 70s definitely did long songs well

[Substance242]

Love me some long epic songs, e.g.:
Archive - Again (2002, 16:21)
Archive - Lights (2006, 18:28)

Also, "why it should be here and why you like it" - because you NIN fans deserve to know them, and because I do love them. :-) Nicely evolving, dramatic, dynamic, honest.

Update: Also, New Order - Elegia instrumental (Low Life collectors edition 2008, 17:28).

[Harry Seaward]

/thread

[EndlessLoveless]

Genesis "supper's ready". The climax is perfection. From the line "666 is no longer alone..." to the fadeout. Unreal.

[thevoid99]

[piggy]

Patti Smith, "Birdland"
The The, "GIANT"
Jane's Addiction, "Three Days"

These songs are just plain epic to me. "Birdland" feels like some sort of ascent into enlightenment, "GIANT" dissolves beautifully into tribal drumming and chants, and "Three Days" has three or four different movements to it.

[thevoid99]

"Three Days" for me was the "Stairway" of the 1990s. It was so epic in every sense of the word.

[BRoswell]

Broken Chords Can Sing A Little/Birds Toss Precious Flowers/Austerity Blues/What We Loved Was Not Enough - A Silver Mt Zion
Stone In Focus - Aphex Twin
Flood II/Naki Kyoku/Untitled/Missing Pieces/Luna - Boris
Good Times/Soup For One - Chic
Tick Of The Clock - Chromatics
Touch - Daft Punk
Blackstar - David Bowie
Disco & Haze - Do Make Say Think
(Take Your Pick) - Godspeed You! Black Emperor
The Court Of The Crimson King - King Crimson
Passage - Laurie Spiegel
Yeah (Crass Version)/Dance Yrself Clean/How Do You Sleep?/Black Screen - LCD Soundsystem
Lullaby/Do You Know How To Waltz?/Landslide - Low
Mogwai Fear Satan/2 Rights Make 1 Wrong/ - Mogwai
Scentless Apprentice (Demo Version) - Nirvana
Echoes - Pink Floyd
Purple Rain - Prince
I Think I Lost My Headache - Queens Of The Stone Age
Coded Language - Saul Williams
Svefn-g-englar/Festival - Sigur Ros
Avatar - Swans
Elektrobank/Escape Velocity - The Chemical Brothers
Time And Space - The Cinematic Orchestra
The End - The Doors
This Corrosion - The Sisters Of Mercy
Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who
Lonely Soul - UNKLE

[Harry Seaward]

[frankie teardrop]

dark star- harold budd
blaise bailey finnegan III- godspeed you black emperor
sister ray- the velvet underground
station to station- david bowie
premonition- david sylvian and holger czukay
medicine bottle- red house painters
burning from the inside- bauhaus
giant- the the
starla- smashing pumpkins
like a hurricane- neil young
rutti- slowdive
knife- aztec camera
after the flood- talk talk
eyes and smiles- bark psychosis
clara- scott walker
pigs (three different ones)- pink floyd
maritime tatami- victrola

[Swykk]

NIN-The Background World
David Bowie-Blackstar
Boris-Untitled
Tool-Lateralus
Airiel-In Your Room

I’m sure I will add to this as I think of more.

[Jon]

I'm glad to see almost all of Animals in this thread. A few for now; trying to stay away from certain genres/bands:

Boris with Merzbow -- Sun Baked Snow Cave (62:02) from Sun Baked Snow Cave
John Coltrane -- Africa (16:28) from Africa/Brass
Meshuggah -- In Death - Is Life/Death (15:24) from Catch Thirtythree
Metallica -- The Outlaw Torn (Unencumbered By Manufacturing Restrictions Version) (10:48) from The Memory Remains (Single)
Ween -- L.M.L.Y.P. (08:48) from GodWeenSatan: The Oneness

[Harry Seaward]

[Patrick_Nicholas]

Okay, I think I'll be here for a while. Going (mostly) with things not yet listed.


Pink Floyd:
"Echoes" - A 23-minute musical journey that resembles a soul search through a strange, nearly empty world.
"A Saucerful Of Secrets" - Especially live versions (like in Live At Pompeii) that have the full band at the climax. I have no intention of getting married anytime soon, but I would still want it to be my wedding song in case I change my mind.
The three songs of Animals. They're all epic enough for those songs alone, plus the intro and outro, to make a perfectly good album. "Pigs" in particular doesn't even feel like it's 11 minutes long.
"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" - The atmospheric build up by itself, leading to the first vocals, is long enough to be listed here. It does not feel at all like there are eight minutes and change before the vocals come in; even the edited version from A Collection Of Great Dance Songs, which omits the solos right before the vocals, still manages to make six and a half minutes go quickly.
"Embryo" - An obscure acoustic song that got turned into a rock epic on the band's 1970-71 tours.
"Fat Old Sun" - Not the album version, but the Meddle-era live version.
"Atom Heart Mother" - Another 23-minute epic journey. Live versions without the brass/choir/cello are pretty epic as well.


Yes: Close To The Edge - All three songs, especially the title track.

Tangerine Dream:
"Bent Cold Sidewalk" - Underrated prog song from an album (Cyclone) that apparently people hate for having vocals on it.
"Madrigal Meridian" - 20-minute instrumental from the same album.

Opeth: So very many songs. Ones that qualify are most of Orchid (save for two instrumentals), all of Morningrise, "April Ethereal", "When", "The Amen Corner", all but two tracks from Still Life, five of the eight tracks from Blackwater Park, most of Deliverance (save for a relatively short instrumental), half the tracks from Ghost Reveries, the three songs with growls on Watershed, "Famine", and "Moon Above, Sun Below". I've so far only listened to Sorceress once (but it only has one track that can be listed here). I've also stuck to just the tracks on the main albums.

Porcupine Tree:
"The Sky Moves Sideways" - Especially the 34-minute "alternate version".
"Even Less" - The 14-minute full-length version.
"Don't Hate Me" - Has a spooky feeling like walking home alone in a city at night. There might or might not be other people. You might or might not be on that "last train" with no one getting off or on. You see lights in that instrumental midsection, but nobody is talking to you. Someone or something might or might not be out to get you.
"Russia On Ice" - The instrumental second half does a good job at foreshadowing the heavier direction of subsequent releases.
"Deadwing" - The opening track from the album of the same name is quarter of a minute short of ten, but still manages to keep you interested.
"Arriving Somewhere But Not Here" - Has a feeling of driving at night in the middle of nowhere, with no other cars, and something goes wrong. There is a fire, and you're probably a ghost at the end.
"Anesthetize" - This epic almost singlehandedly prevents Fear Of A Blank Planet from being a mere EP. The instrumental transition between the first and second vocal sections works so smoothly, that I don't even notice it changing into something different until around the last minute before the vocals return. Then there's the softer song-within-a-song that ends with a short ambient bit to remind us that it's been the same song the whole time.
"Time Flies" - Oh, yes it does with this one.

Steven Wilson solo:
"No Twilight Within The Courts Of The Sun" - Jam with a random vocal part in the middle. This Insurgentes track pretty much foreshadows Grace For Drowning.
"The Holy Drinker" - Feels like a trip straight into hell.
"3 Years Older" - I like the Rush-sounding bass line.
"Routine" - One of his most powerful and emotional solo songs.
"Ancestral" - His solo equivalent to "Russia On Ice"

Mastodon: "The Czar" - Progressive metal suits them very well.

Agalloch: Also so very many. Special mentions go to "The Melancholy Spirit", "In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion", "You Were But A Ghost In My Arms", "Limbs", "Falling Snow", "Not Unlike The Waves", "Black Lake Nidstang", and "Ghosts Of The Midwinter Fires".

Smashing Pumpkins: "Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans" - A lesser-known gem from their classic era.

My Dying Bride: Several, with special mention going to "She Is The Dark" (just a few seconds short of 8:30) - Aaron brings back his growl after a three-album absence, and it sounds much more sinister than it did before.

Isis the band:
"Weight" - Mostly instrumental, save for a couple of minimalist vocal parts from a female guest vocalist. I love the build-up at the beginning, leading to the first vocal part.
"Threshold Of Transformation" - Perfect last song from a last album.

Metallica:
"The Call Of Ktulu" - The first real epic of their classic era.
"Master Of Puppets" - Not many songs at this length or more get much radio airplay, so clearly something must have been done right.
"Orion" (just a few seconds short of 8:30) - Solidifying Master Of Puppets as a worthy continuation of what they were doing with Ride The Lightning.
"...And Justice For All" - This and the shorter "Eye Of The Beholder" are just as relevant in today's political climate.
"To Live Is To Die" - Touching tribute to Cliff.
"The Outlaw Torn" - Load isn't exactly anyone's favorite Metallica album, but this is definitely one of the better tracks from their hard rock era.
"Suicide & Redemption" - The instrumental epic from the band's first real attempt going back to their classic style.

Guns N' Roses: "November Rain" - Yes, I went there.

Led Zeppelin:
"Kashmir" - How did we forget this one?
"In The Light" - It's the synthesizers.
"Achilles Last Stand" - How did we forget this one?

Black Sabbath:
"Warning" - The instrumental midsection makes it easy to forget that it's a cover.
"Megalomania" and "The Writ" - Two overlooked tracks from their classic era, each actually two songs in one.

Type O Negative:
"Unsuccessfully Coping with the Natural Beauty of Infidelity" - Peter knew you were fucking someone else.
"Gravitational Constant"
"Black No. 1"
"World Coming Down" - One of Peter's deepest.
"All Hallows Eve" - Letting Kenny step of to the mic for the first half of the second of three relatively light songs at the end of World Coming Down.
"September Sun" - Brighter feel than usual, but no less epic.

Tool: I'm sure most of us are already very familiar with these: "Pushit", "Third Eye", "The Grudge", "Lateralus", "Reflection", "10,000 Days (Wings Pt. 2)", "Rosetta Stoned", and "Right In Two".

I would be here all night if I kept going.

[piggy]

Here's more that would be on my list:

Temple Of The Dog, "Reach Down"
Medicine, "One More"
Loop, "Be Here Now"
Richard Hawley, "Remorse Code"
The Cure, "Watching Me Fall"

[thevoid99]

[Space Suicide]

I'll do my first few,

Watain - Waters Of Ain (2010's Lawless Darkness)

A true modern black metal masterpiece. The outro is phenomenal. It is a soothing yet brutal song. The last 5 minutes are special.



Deafheaven - Vertigo (2013's Sunbather)

An unsung highlight for Sunbather for me. This song makes time pass so easily it's unreal. A winding 14 minute of genre bending.



Bosse-de-Nage - A Mimesis Of Purpose (2012 Deafheaven/Bosse-de-Nage Split Single)

Odd to include another one right after the previous entry but I always loved the drumming and overall build up this song. It's a relentless assault for 9 minutes with a grand set up for the explosive middle and end.



Converge - Jane Doe (2001's Jane Doe)

Crushing, relentless, lengthy and every minute is a sharp crushing melody. One of my faves.



Iron Maiden - Sign Of The Cross (1995's The X Factor)

First song with Blaze Bayley and an impressive, brooding song. Such a climatic buildup into an explosive first verse. By far and away my favorite lengthy Maiden song, even beating out Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

[bobbie solo]

An even longer, better and more epic Maiden song (one of their best):



Kids at my college station would play this when they needed to use the facilities or go out for a smoke:

[eversonpoe]

locrian & mamiffer - in fulmic blaze

there are a ton of long songs that i love but i feel like i could spend all day finding them and posting them, so i'll just start with this one. there's a mamiffer song i really wanted to post but it's just shy of 8 minutes so it doesn't meet the thread requirements (but it's absolutely beautiful).

[Substance242]

One more:

Recoil (Alan Wilder) - Black Box (Complete) - Jezebel single 2000, 14:25

Edit: Forgot to write about why - as always technically perfect, and it's based on observed plane crash, deeply moving, when towards the end it starts to be very cinematic, with lots of strings, sirens, crying baby... oh.

[eversonpoe]

king crimson - easy money (live in chicago)

my favorite king crimson song of all time, and one of my favorite renditions (and not just because i was at the show)

[center27j]

Okay, I think I'll be here for a while. Going (mostly) with things not yet listed.


Guns N' Roses: "November Rain" - Yes, I went there.

I'll go ahead and add Estranged.

[Dr.Z]

king crimson - easy money (live in chicago)

my favorite king crimson song of all time, and one of my favorite renditions (and not just because i was at the show)

That version is sooooo dark... and I love it! I guess the extra atmosphere compared to the 2015 version on Radical Action (which I love just as much!) comes from Bill Rieflin switching to keyboards and effects - a great decision!

Edit: Your link seems to be broken. Spotify users can find the song on this album: https://open.spotify.com/album/5Unii2BCVDz3F3VcBvdG52?