# Songs that change gears drastically **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 18, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379 "2005-01-18T15:54:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wheelie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b4bc9f/32.png) [@wheelie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheelie)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379/21 "2005-01-19T01:13:50Z")
_Burn Down The Mission_ by Elton John _Minstrel In The Gallery_ by Jethro Tull ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379/22 "2005-01-19T01:40:30Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > I believe the [Trucker’s Gear Change Hall of Fame](http://www.gearchange.org/) is what you’re looking for 😃 I don’t know if that’s necessarily true–from the FAQ on that site, > [@](#): > > Many writers and arrangers feel that when their song is in risk of getting a bit tired, it can be given a fresh lease of life by shifting the whole song up a key, usually in between choruses, towards the beginning of a “repeat-till-fade” section. You may have heard this technique informally referred to as “modulation”, but the correct ethnomusicological term for the phenomenon is the truck driver’s gear change. . It seems like the OP is asking about songs that change more in the type or feel of the song, not a mere key change. Back to Franz Ferdinand. Their leading track “Jacqueline” starts off like a gentle ballad accompanied by acoustic guitar and transitions into their more typical sound. As said earlier, “Happiness is a Warm Gun” is a classic example. That’s more like 5 songs. Does “Hey Jude” count? Rilo Kiley does this a lot. “A Better Son/Daughter” has Jenny Lewis singing in a very soft and childish sort of way and transitions to a big anthem. I’d say their song “The Good that Won’t Come Out” would also count. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379/23 "2005-01-19T02:24:07Z")
“Put Me On” by Styx has two distinct sections, timed so that you can have a smoke when you start it and be knocked over by its changes: from _Put me on, I’m your brand new record album…_ through the part about turning your stereo up all the way and the killer Tommy Shaw guitar solo, by which time your smoke is over, just in time for _And now you’re in the mood, let the melody just drift your cares away…_. Then the main theme comes back. I like it, with or without the aforementioned accoutrements. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379/24 "2005-01-19T03:15:11Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Metallica’s “Fade to Black” qualifies, I think. I would say “Master of Puppets” does too, because of the interlude between the end of the second chorus and “Master, master, where’s the dreams that I’ve been after…” There’s probably others, too, but I don’t feel like combing through my albums right now. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379/25 "2005-01-19T03:38:05Z")
Pink Floyd’s _Animals_ album has three songs that change gears significantly. _Dogs_ switches back and forth between what feels like three very different movements, and _Pigs_ has that crazy pig-snorting melody in the middle. _Sheep_ doesn’t shift as much, but goes from a very calm, relaxed, mellow opener into a hectic, crazy, frantic feeling. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379/26 "2005-01-19T04:10:07Z")
I’m really the first to mention Guns N’ Roses’ **November Rain**? Man, did I love that song in middle school. It’s a bit embarassing now, ain’t it. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379/27 "2005-01-19T05:33:30Z")
How about **Free Bird** by Lynyrd Skynyrd or **Heroin** by Lou Reed? What an odd two songs to put in a single sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Othersider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cab0a1/32.png) [@Othersider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Othersider)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379/28 "2005-01-19T06:13:50Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > I don’t think that, of the chart-worthy stuff, anything can beat the Bohemian Rhapsody. 5:55 of pure unadulterated changes. Acapella to aria to operatic to metal to aria. I would say it goes to hard rock, but not metal. But that’s hardly the point. It’s a great, great song. ;j Of bands that haven’t been mentioned yet, I’d say Black Sabbath has done a fair share - for example, N.I.B., War Pigs, Fairies Wear Boots, and Wheels of Confusion…in fact, they had a habit of giving the different snippets their own names. ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379/29 "2005-01-19T09:20:43Z")
N.I.B.? I don’t see where that changes gears dramatically. Unless you mean the bass solo at the start? A lot of the older Faith No More songs change up too - _The Crab Song, Zombie Eaters, Smaller & Smaller_, Theres probably more than that. Suppose you could count _One_ by Metallica too. ---
**Author:** ![Othersider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cab0a1/32.png) [@Othersider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Othersider)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379/30 "2005-01-19T11:31:47Z")
> [@paulberserker](#): > > N.I.B.? I don’t see where that changes gears dramatically. Unless you mean the bass solo at the start? Yes, that’s what I meant - same with “War Pigs”, if you recall. > [@paulberserker](#): > > Suppose you could count _One_ by Metallica too. Definitely. Also, many of their other songs have sudden and/or drastic changes, like “Battery”, “Creeping Death” (similar to Master of Puppets), “Fight Fire With Fire”, “Seek and Destroy”, “The Call of Ktulu”, “The Frayed Ends of Sanity” (which begins with the soldier march from _The Wizard of Oz_, heh)…I’m sure there are others, too. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379/31 "2005-01-19T11:40:57Z")
_Drunk In the Morning_ by Kid Rock ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379/32 "2005-01-19T11:55:16Z")
> [@Othersider](#): > > Yes, that’s what I meant - same with “War Pigs”, if you recall. I’d say its more of a bass solo stuck on the front rather than a major gear change up - the main tune itself is consistent to the same riff. _4st 7lb_ by Manic Street Preachers goes from punk style rock to lilting sloed down reverb at the end. One thing as an aside, theres apparenly a 120 minute version of Leonard Cohens ‘Tower of Song’ by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds they did, which according to Cave goes through every conceivable style of music the Bad Seeds could feasibly play. Now that i’d like to play in the Office. Anybody know if it’s actually available? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Crunchy\_Crunch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Captain\_Crunchy\_Crunch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Crunchy_Crunch)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379/33 "2005-01-19T14:16:34Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I’m really the first to mention Guns N’ Roses’ **November Rain**? Man, did I love that song in middle school. > > It’s a bit embarassing now, ain’t it. No, it’s not embarassing. **November Rain** is a fantastic song! The epitome of the power-ballad. And Slash’s guitar solo is one of the best of all-time. Oh, and good choice! ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379/34 "2005-01-19T16:47:21Z")
One of the first songs in the semi-modern (rock-and-roll and beyond) era to do this actually got a fair amount of attention at the time for doing so, because it was unusual: Buffalo Springfield’s “Bluebird”, which retained the melody line but suddenly paused as if the song was over, does some strums, then comes back with a banjo and resumes the song, yet with the timing and rhythm stretched out (opposite of double-time… half-timing?), practically sounding like an Appalachian/country song for the last half-verse. At about half the distance from then to now, Yes did a somewhat similar thing with “And You and I” — although the tempo isn’t really modified, the instruments have changed and the same melody comes back with the phrasing and beats broken up differently (shorter, more rapid phrases, more acoustic) for a rather different feel than the long sweeping first-verse section. ---
**Author:** ![Frank\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Frank\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank_2)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379/35 "2005-01-20T17:10:44Z")
Led Zeppelin’s _Bring It On Home_. The first 1:45 is a laid back bluesy melody. The next 2:07 kicks into a standard hard rocking Zep song. The final 0:30 goes back to the bluesy stuff from the beginning. It’s like they stuck a Zep song in the middle of a traditional blues song. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379/36 "2005-01-20T18:27:27Z")
> [@Othersider](#): > > I would say it goes to hard rock, but not metal. But that’s hardly the point. It’s a great, great song. ;j Early metal, not anything modern. > [@](#): > > Of bands that haven’t been mentioned yet, I’d say Black Sabbath has done a fair share - for example, N.I.B., War Pigs, Fairies Wear Boots, and Wheels of Confusion…in fact, they had a habit of giving the different snippets their own names. N.I.B. is questionable–you could argue that the bass solo is its own song, as both were included in a medley on Black Sabbath’s first album. ---
**Author:** ![mlerose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@mlerose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlerose)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379/37 "2005-01-20T18:41:11Z")
There’s a Nine Inch Nails song I thought of when I saw this thread. I think it’s called “March of the Pigs.” ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379/38 "2005-01-20T18:44:57Z")
_Come Sail Away_ starts off slow, with light instrumental, and then changes to power chords… Styx did that a lot, actually. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379/39 "2005-01-20T20:29:52Z")
Yep, like with “Renegade”. “Hey Jude” was mentioned, but also “Hello Goodbye” has a similar pattern. And how about “I’m Your Captain”? And maybe “Fairytale of New York” a little bit. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379/40 "2005-01-20T20:42:34Z")
“Crown of Creation” - Jefferson Airplane (finale is distinctly slower and moodier than the basis of the song) “That’s it for the Other One” - Grateful Dead (“Anthem of the Sun” version) “Carry On” - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “Good Vibrations” - the Beach Boys [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-that-change-gears-drastically/285379.md?page=3)