# Loooong rock songs that still thrill you. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 7, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152 "2019-11-07T21:45:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152/41 "2019-11-08T08:13:45Z")
_Karn Evil 9_ is 29 minutes long and doesn’t waste any of them. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152/42 "2019-11-08T08:32:23Z")
You can spend the best part of half an hour listening to **Neil Young** and only listen to 3 songs [Cowgirl in the Sand](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I05yYwIVuRQ) [Cortez the Killer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-XnPXL_HMA) [Like A Hurricane](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gd2KXbhq3o) ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152/43 "2019-11-08T10:12:07Z")
what counts as long? If we consider the three minute mark as the “classic” length then perhaps over six minutes? with that I give you “[when the levee breaks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOEQTJV_3-w)” by Led Zeppelin, worth it for Page and Plant losing their shit from 2:30 Also, “[Quadrophenia](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXY5UWBmIFs&list=PL436BFCEB7848BC00&index=3)” by The Who, everything Townsend was about in one six minute piece of genius. It absolutely is operatic…without the opera. And a few from Prince, “International Lover” (can’t link) is insane but worth it for the sheer audacity of Prince as a sexy pilot and as much sub-Benny Hill innuendo as you can handle. No-one else could carry this off with a straight face. “[Automatic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYboMkLluKo)” Effortless funk? check. Catchy hook? check. Gratuitous smut? check…welcome to Prince. And of course “[Purple Rain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvnYmWpD_T8)”. Overblown nonsense that is undeniable genius and the greatest live track that you never knew was a live track. I suspect most musicians would trade a major organ just to have the musical quality of Prince’s sound-checks. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152/44 "2019-11-08T12:16:03Z")
Rush, “Xanadu” Jethro Tull, “Thick as a Brick” Rolling Stones, “Midnight Rambler” (Ya Yas version) Zappa and the Mothers, “Inca Roads” Grateful Dead, “China Cat Sunflower/I Know You Rider,” “Playin’ in the Band,” and others (e.g., Europe ‘72 versions) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152/45 "2019-11-08T12:20:47Z")
Had to look up the OP’s selections. The first is by the Outlaws, the second by Deep Purple. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152/46 "2019-11-08T12:41:05Z")
One of my fav oldies groups is “The Doors” because Jim Morrison’s voice was so God-awful sexy. Anyway, they had a song called, “Light My Fire”. There was a short version, which was probably for the limited attention span of teen radio stations, but there was also a long version that had great music between the opening and ending lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152/47 "2019-11-08T12:47:21Z")
how about a bit of anthemic, pounding Krautrock? Weighing in at a teutonic ten minutes, Neu! [Hallogallo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zndpi8tNZyQ) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152/48 "2019-11-08T13:32:12Z")
Genesis - “The Musical Box” Rush - “La Villa Strangiato” Zappa - “Watermelon in Easter Hay” Stones - “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” (don’t know if it’s really that long, but seems like it) Wishbone Ash - “Phoenix” ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152/49 "2019-11-08T14:01:14Z")
Yes - “America”. ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152/50 "2019-11-08T14:13:20Z")
Close to the Edge, Awaken, Gates of Delirium… you can guess the rest. However, side one of 2112 is generally regarded as a single song, so that might just win it for me. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152/51 "2019-11-08T15:02:00Z")
The full version of “In-a-Gadda-Da-Vita,” of course, seventeen minutes of brilliance. “Gold and Silver” from the first \*Quicksilver \*album and “Edward, the Mad Shirt Grinder” from _Shady Grove_, both instrumentals. Kraftwerk’s “Autobahn.” ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152/52 "2019-11-08T15:28:18Z")
[Curtain Call](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d66rCCoAJB0) by The Damned. Album version is 17 minutes long and very hypnotic. [Live is only 11](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb27Sd0aqyY) - I like the live version a little better because it drives home the point this is a punk rock band with an attention span greater than 2:30 - Trolling a punk audience (live video has audience spitting, stage crashing)–what’s more punk than doing what YOU want, audience be, well, damned. - [This song](https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/117314/) was produced as a symbol of the band putting the raucous 70s punk scene behind them as they grew artistically and transformed into actual musicians - And that they were still Punk AF ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152/53 "2019-11-08T15:35:19Z")
Arbouretum has a 59 minute version of _Sister Ray_ that is an epic groove. I pop it on now and then and crank it the fuck up! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152/54 "2019-11-08T15:50:35Z")
Manfred Mann’s version of Bruce Springsteen’s _Blinded By the Light_. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152/55 "2019-11-08T16:21:22Z")
The album version of the Chambers Brothers [“Time Has Come Today”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKIzbO5Q1nQ&t=0m7s) still smokes. There are covers of the song that aren’t bad (by the Ramones and Joan Jett) but nothing beats the original. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152/56 "2019-11-08T16:28:21Z")
1. Still one of Lifeson’s best solos that moves me every time I hear it. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152/57 "2019-11-08T16:57:18Z")
Grateful Dead…any live _Help\>Slip\>Franklin’s Tower_ Deep Purple…_Space Truckin’_ (live on Made in Japan) The Allman Brother Band …[_.Jessica_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOr_IV5v7Cg) (the version linked) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152/58 "2019-11-08T17:08:05Z")
Renaissance - “Song of Scheherazade” and “Ashes Are Burning,” both from the “Live at Carnegie Hall” album. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152/59 "2019-11-08T18:17:56Z")
24 Hours at Time Marshall Tucker Band (Live version - Where We All Belong) - great solos- guitar, sax, fiddle, bass. I never get tired of this one. I think its one of the best example of southern rock that there is. Maybe my favorite tune of all time. Also Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152/60 "2019-11-08T19:12:55Z")
“Bat Out of Hell” by Meatloaf The 9:52 album version is a haul, but there aren’t really any draggy, boring parts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loooong-rock-songs-that-still-thrill-you/843152.md?page=4)