ABSOLUTELY!
Television’s “Marquee Moon”, the title track of their debut album.
The part where the really long guitar solo goes back into the bass riff… I can’t make it justice in words, but if you’ve heard it you know what I mean. It’s fantastic.
There’s a part in the Leo Kottke tune Eggtooth, where he’s kind of just noodling around when suddenly he cuts loose with that great Kottke twelve-string roar. Never fails to send a chill.
And, it’s corny as hell, but I love that old Chilliwack tune Fly at Night, when they get to the line:
Ooooo, we like the big wide spaces,
Yeaahhh, we like a sea of faces
It’s innocent pop fluff, and maybe it’s just the way he sings the lines, or maybe it’s the five descending notes between the lines, but it always gets me, the rare times I hear the tune.
I’m a sucker for songs that end with huge crescendos. Give me the last 30-45 seconds of:
- “Gloria” by U2
- “Claire” by Jimmy Eat World
- “For Those About To Rock” by AC/DC
I’m also a sucker for great harmony:
- the a cappella breakdown in “Sloop John B” by the Beach Boys
- the chorus in Bad Religion’s “Turn on the Light”
- most of Queen’s “Somebody to Love”
- the choruses in “Peace of Mind” by Boston
Another Cream one, the live version of “Crossroads”, with Clapton just tearing it apart in the solos.
The opening rise and scream of “Welcome to the Jungle” at the beginning of football games always gives me goosebumps as well.
I get that “chilling” feeling way to easily. If I just stop to listen to a song–practically any song–with any seriousness, it’s almost a sure thing I’ll get the “chills” at some point.
I hate it. My subconcsious apparently appreciates everything aesthetically.
But the reaction is sometimes stronger than it is at other times. I’ll see if I can catch a strong reaction and then I’ll have something actually relevant to the OP to contribute.
-FrL-
Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel
Southern Cross by Crosby, Stills & Nash
Heh. I processed that as Jimmy Buffet and thought, "To each his own, but 
"
The beginning of Springsteen’s Badlands gets me revved up. It’s hard to narrow down my absolute favorite of his, but that’s right up there.
Driving beat
LIGHTS OUT TONIGHT
Trouble in the heartland
Got a head-on collision
SMASHING IN MY GUTS MAN
1812 Overture: Yeah, yeah, I know, it’s one of music nerds’ favorite things to look down their noses at. Well, it’s damn effective popular entertainment, and if the last few minutes don’t go up and down your spine, you’re probably dead.
I Can See For Miles: Still the ultimate Who song, IMO. Has to be the single version, though; the album mix is watered down. Baba O’Reilly is almost its equal, but not quite, and I wish it didn’t have the violin part at the end.
Grieg’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in A Minor: The first movement. After the killer opening, it lapses into a fairly pedestrian piece, and I don’t like the main theme. But in the last two or three minutes, as it builds to the repeat of the opening chord sequence, it just kicks all kinds of ass.
Genesis Hall by Fairport Convention: I think after all these years, this is still my favorite Richard Thompson song, and Sandy Denny and the band really pound it home.
Several pieces come to mind, in no particular order:
The last four minutes or so of “One Endless Childish Day” by Dark Suns. The entire song (well, album, really) builds up to the moment.
“One Last Goodbye” by Anathema. Just… wow. It seems whenever it comes up in shuffle at work (only a few times, considering how huge my library is), someone always comes up and goes “Who IS that?”
Odysseus’s theme from “The Odyssey” by Symphony X. I don’t think Homer could have done it any better. They absolutely catch the mood.
“Dreaming Neon Black” by Nevermore (both the album, and the title track specifically). Absolutely chilling in it’s portrayal of such a delicate matter.
“Mercy Lord” by Antestor. I admit it, I actually cried when I first heard this one. I imagine most other people would just be confused.
I’m sure I’m missing some others.
And, of course, “Face of Melinda” and “Godhead’s Lament” from Still Life by Opeth, they’re brilliant songs from a brilliant album, but they’re not so much chilling in and of themselves as they were in the context of where my life was when I heard them.
Forgot: O Mio Babbino Caro by Puccini. There’s a relatively new (2002) recording of this by the aforementioned Kathleen Battle that I have to get my hands on.
Knights in White Satin - Moody Blues
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
I don’t listen to a ton of classical music, but Romance for Violin (that’s the name it is under on my ipod) by that Beethoven dude brings tears to my eyes.
The first time a friend and I heard Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, I was driving us somewhere on an errand. I immediately pulled into a parking lot and stopped, just as he reached for the radio to turn it up. We sat there and listened to it all the way through, with goosebumps on our arms. When it was over, we just looked at each other for a moment, then went looking for a music store. Our original errand was put off by tacit agreement until we had a copy of the song. It still gives me chills many years later.
The Wreckers by Sarah Davis and The Yew Tree will send shivers down my spine in the hands of the right performers.
Loreena McKennit’s adaptation of “The Highwayman” gives me chills, too.
“Minuano (Six Eight)” by the Pat Metheny Group, about 7 1/2 minutes in. Lots of other Metheny/Mays compositions do it for me, but this one is the tops. Second best for them is “The First Circle”.
The crescendo in 3 Days by Jane’s Addiction. Makes feel like I’m going to explode.
The vocal solo in Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones. Goosebumps everytime, especially when her voice cracks. She reached deep down for that emotion.
Break Stuff by LimpBizkit, but only when I’m having a bad day.
After the 1st minute of Trip Like I Do by Crystal Method when the bass really kicks in.
The opening guitar riff on Can’t You Hear Me Knocking by the Rolling Stones. (It must be played as loud as possible).
Now that’s the kind of chillbumps I’m talking about! Serious stop-in-your-tracks blown-away stuff.
I failed to mention Billie Jean and until Michael Jackson does something much weirder than he already has, that contribution makes him a hero.
I always get that feeling as they build to the break in Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You.
Are any of you familiar with that trumpet piece known as the deguello? One of the pieces on Miles Davis’s Sketches of Spain album has that sound. There’s also a sort of march on that same album that gets me every time.
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp]
- “For Those About To Rock” by AC/DC
QUOTE]
Hell yes!
Reading that post, heck - just thinking about it still does. I don’t know what it is, the actual event had no impact on my life. I remember Dad pulling into the driveway about halfway through and we sat in the car until the song was over.
heh heh, yeah. Peter Buffet is nothing like Jimmy Buffett, tho I like JB, too. Peter Buffet mixes American Indian sounds and themes with a somewhat new age-y to jazzy sound. Is often mesmerising, even haunting at times.
Here is a completely legal* sample MP3 of 1992’s Yonnondio which I think may help someone see what I enjoy about his music.
*it’s a link from his official website which sells his CDs, so no copyright issues at all