Arrested by the Music
Three songs that stop me in my tracks:
Aerials on Toxicity by System Of A Down
It is unusual, to say the least, for me to like music as heavy as this. A lot of genres are well-represented in my music library, but metal is not one of them. I was introduced to this song by a friend, and I was surprised to like it as much as I did. Over the next couple of weeks, it got a few listens, with many distractions in the background, then I was listening to my iPod one afternoon and Aerials came on. This time, I was alone and the earphones helped block out any distractions that might have existed. To say that the song grabbed my attention this time through would be an understatement. I believe my words at the time, IMed to the friend who introduced me to the song, were "Holy...wow. WOW." I'm articulate when I'm impressed by something, clearly. I think it's the slow build that gets me: the few subtle low notes to start, the guitar arpeggiation, and then the crescendo of the drums and the driving guitar riff that continues throughout the song. The vocal harmonies are gorgeous, and I love the fact that the song is still musical, despite being heavy. A lot of metal seems to employ heavy distortion, and that turns me right off a song.
Pachelbel's Canon on Slingshot by Thanks To Gravity
Thanks to Gravity was big when I was in college. The band formed, in fact, at the college I went to. I heard a lot of their music and, while I thought they were OK and that lead singer Andy Happel was one hell of a fiddle player, I was never a raving fan. Never went to their shows, never purchased one of their CDs, did not get star-struck by sharing one semester's English class with Andy Happel. Then my roommate bought Slingshot, TTG's 1996 release, and up came track 9, Pachelbel's Canon. Having been in various bands (school concert bands, not cool bands) since 4th grade and having gone to a church where my father was the organist, I'd heard a lot of versions of Pachelbel's Canon. Thanks to Gravity's version started out as I expected. A couple of measures in, there was just the slightest dissonance that you don't get when the Boston Pops plays it. Just as I settled into that, a cymbal crash announced the entrance of the drums. Drums? This is not something you hear in Pachelbel's Canon, and it made me take notice. From there, the song was a wild ride that kept in touch with the roots of the classical piece and was yet an entirely new thing, too. The resolution -- a few slow, melancholy fiddle notes at the end of the piece -- was perfect. To this day, I love the song and will happily stop what I'm doing to re-experience it.
Thunder Road on Live 1975-1985 by Bruce Springsteen
In the grand scheme of things, I'm a fan of Bruce Springsteen, but I'm far from an expert on his music. Born in the U.S.A. was the first song of his that I ever heard, and for many years after that, I didn't know that he was 6 albums and 10+ years into his recording career when that song came out. When I did get clued in, I found that I didn't like a lot of his early music. The version of Thunder Road on Born to Run was an exception, but just by a narrow margin. I liked the music and lyrics, but I wasn't crazy about the singing and I really disliked -- and always have -- the vocal stylings of Steven Van Zandt, whose voice is pretty prominent in the chorus of Thunder Road. A couple of years ago, I got Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Live/1975-85 for Christmas. Track 1 on disc one is an acoustic version of Thunder Road with just piano, harmonica, and Bruce's voice. I was thunderstruck. The entire mood of the song is shifted by the stripped-down instrumentation and the chorus is beautiful, especially as it lacks the nasal, word-slurring whine of Van Zandt's voice. A couple of years and a great many listens later, I'm still captivated by the simplicity of this version of Thunder Road. I could, and do, listen to it over and over.
