Have I lost my mind? Quite possibly. But after seeing Duran Duran Saturday night, I can’t stop thinking about how those cymbal crashes during the chorus of "Hungry Like the Wolf" (below) make that song. I know I was doing head tosses to them, and the man "stancing" in front of me (that’s dancing when you can’t actually move your feet) was full-on air-cymballing.
So what other songs live and die by the cymbal? John Mellencamp appears to enjoy the cymbal (or cymbalesque) crashes at the end of his "Jack and Diane" video. If you can’t scare up some love for the underappreciated instrument, I’ll allow you to broaden the topic to music’s most essential drum moments. Obviously, that list begins with Phil Collins’ "In the Air Tonight."
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Sheila E.’s Glamorous Life, the best!
George Michael’s Freedom 90. its all about the cymbal clash.
In Bohemian Rhapsody, as demonstrated by Wayne during Wayne’s World. I do that air symbol everytime I hear that song!
I think we all know which song has the most essential cowbell. That’s kind of a percussion instrument, no?
First cool drum/cymbal parts that come to my (admittedly shoegazing-centric) mind are “High & Dry” by Radiohead, “Automatic” by Prince and “Teardrop” by Massive Attack, AKA the “House” theme song. And just about every Rush song out there.
–”Who Are You” by The Who (The giant crash at the transition between the synth intro and the vocals hits you like the proverbial sledgehammer to your skull.)
–Two my favorite hi-hat riffs include the intro to “Theme From Shaft” by Isaac Hayes and “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC (also great crash work there).
–One of my favorite drum parts to a rock song is “Dreams” by the Cranberries. The superb tom fills in that song make it hard for me to concerntrate on the vocals.
Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture had some pretty essential cymbal crashes.
Da!-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da! Crash!
“Message in a Bottle” – syncopated cymbal-crash goodness all over the place, courtesy of Stewart Copeland.
Live and Let Die by Paul McCartney. Great crashing!
You switched to headline only in google reader, PW! Why would you do that to me!?
Rush’es 2112 Overture, and can a gong count? If so, Bohemian Raps.- Queen.
The outro solo in “Comfortably Numb.”
Heck Yeah, “In the Air Tonight!” Best drum moment. Ever.
Anything by Rush. Neil Peart uses his symbals more than about a dozen other drummers put together.
If I had to pick a song – Subdivisions.
Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler
The intro to “Rock and Roll” by Led Zeppelin is pretty essential cymbal-crashing.
I gotta say any almost any White Stripes song would be nothing without Meg White’s banging of the cymbals.
I have to agree with Dinosaur. When you hear Bonzo crash those cymbals, you know that “Rock and Roll” is the song that’s being played.
I’ll nominate two similar ones:
The intro to YYZ by Rush.
The intro to Paschendael by Iron Maiden.
EW, get out of my head! Have definitely had this conversation, and besides (of course!) Phil Collins, you gotta include “Stairway to Heaven”.
Just thought of another one – the drumming in “Weird Fishes” off the new Radiohead album is total rad, dude. By the way, did anyone think “More cowbell!” when they saw this post?
How could nobody have said “I Melt With You” by Modern English. The one-two right before the chorus after he says “mesh and lace.” No wonder any time i handle either of those two materials, I think I’m going to make a huge crashing noise if I’m not careful.
How could nobody have said “I Melt With You” by Modern English? The one-two right before the chorus after he says “mesh and lace” is essential crash-play! And i just realized this is why every time i handle either of those two materials, I think I’m going to make a huge crashing noise if I’m not careful. Did I post this comment twice? If so, oops.
Aja Steely Dan
There are some arbitrary cymbal crashes in Steve Miller’s “The Joker.” And Cosmo Clifford’s crashing on CCR’s “Proud Mary” is nice. Van Morrison’s “Sweet Thing” creates a whole cymbal crashing narrative.
Good call Finley. “The Joker” has the most random cymbal crashes in the history of pop music.
And has anybody LISTENED to “Don’t Fear The Reaper” lately? There’s almost no cowbell in that song!! Which is the point of the SNL skit… which everyone misses… but anyway…
Sorry, this is off topic but just had to mention that I’m scrolling through the EW site and come across this article and realize…that’s MY video! Recorded this (and many others) last Saturday (and last November). How cool to find it here.
anything that invloves keith moon with drumsticks in hand…without him any list is a sham.
Winner Hands Down:
The Wallfloweres – One Headlight