By pop songs, I mean songs that would get played on mainstream radio stations - no Grizzly Bear or other eclectic alt-rock. By orchestration, I mean a massive array of instruments in the background providing a very layered and elaborate accompaniment. Could be strings, brass, woodwinds, world-music type stuff, or all combination of all.
For me it’s a tie between Al Stewart’s Year Of The Cat and Gerry Rafferty’s Baker Street.
The Moody Blues, the Verve…Sting has done at least two albums of pop reorchestrated…fair amount of mainstream metal/rock has a backing cello part (Metallica, Fuel, The Cult).
I agree that “Year of the Cat” was done very well.
Yeah, The Moody Blues kind of pioneered this idea with their Days of Future Passed album in the 60s. It was succeeded by other albums with orchestral backup.
In the synth/electronic/pop realm, it’s heard to beat Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror (or any number of his Quincy Jones-produced songs). Layered percussion, keys, synths, strings, guitars, and vocals. Every time I listen to that song I am impressed with how polished and complex an arrangement it is.
First song I thought of was Eleanor Rigby. You can hear just the strings on one of the Anthology CDs. Very cool.
mmm
I grew up with Boston and Chicago, if those count.
And I also grew up thinking ELO actually WAS orchestra music, ie ‘classical’ music. It was some time before that notion was disabused, but I still have tons of their songs on my playlist, and love them for not being the typical 3-4 instruments and some guy singing. (Even though they probably ARE just that, I just thought they always sounded more…well rounded, or something.)
Crowded House have had some amazingly orchestrated songs, Private Universe the first that comes to mind. And Into Temptation. Neil Finn knows his stuff.
Oh…I forgot. Life In A Northern Town by Dream Academy. (I try to forget about Sugarland’s brutal raping of this song.)
If I remember correctly, doesn’t When I’m Sixty-Four have some interesting brass in it?
I don’t know if it’s terribly complex, but I’ve always though the gold standard in effectively using classical strings in pop music was Annie Lennox.
When I’m Sixty-Four may or may not have strings - I can’t remember - but its most prominent instrumentation is a clarinet choir.
A bit tangential to the OP, but it’s too cool to not post here:
http://fororchestra.com/
Orchestral renditions of many good, and some not so good, pop songs. They even manage to make internet memes like Rebecca Black’s “Friday” and Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” listenable!
Anything off Pet Sounds qualifies here. In my opinion, it’s the most beautifully orchestrated pop album ever.
When they were not performing together for a while, Justin Hayward did Forever Autumn for War Of The Worlds…
I posted this one earlier in Cafe Society > Some Of Your Favorite Songs but it really fits here too…
I often catch myself being tremendously shocked by how surprisingly complex the arrangement of Bad Romance is. I’m no musician, so I can’t tell you exactly why, but the song has so many. . .layers when you really listen to it.
Many good selections have been mentioned. I’ll add “Conquistador” by Procol Harum.
You might want to check this out: (though, IMO, it’s not one of their better renditions)
http://fororchestra.com/2009/12/21/for-orchestra-24-lady-gaga-bad-romance/
Interesting, but I feel they could have gone a little heavier and darker with their version. It seems lacking that. . . depth and grittiness that the Gaga version has.
You may remember the '70’s group Rennaissance, they are likely to be among the most notable.
Songs like
‘Carpet of the sun’
‘A trip to the fair’
This takes quie some time to develop, but it builds
‘Mother Russia’
For the most part this was stuff you did not just get instant joy from, unlike much of todays stuff.
This may be a controversial choice, but the first thing I could hear in my head when I read the thread title was the intro to “Gimme Gimme Gimme” by ABBA, and the lush strings on that. There are a number of songs of theirs where Benny & Bjorn put together some really lovely arrangements.
Although this project was Eddie Rayner’s idea not Neil Finn, you might also like Enzso, which was the music of Split Enz orchestrated and performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.