Most emotional uses of drums/percussion in songs

Although largely unpitched, drums in the hands of truly accomplished and inventive musicians do so much more than mark time, add a cool beat or make songs rock hard; on a purely creative level they add colour, timbre, help to paint musical pictures and can really enhance the emotional effect and impact of a song.

Here are a few examples of percussive effects that really contribute towards these songs' greatness (I've picked mostly slow songs, but I'm sure I'll think of countless others, including faster ones, later):

King Crimson - Epitaph
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhuG2hCJtsk
That drum roll crescendo followed by the cymbal crash in the intro is what really gives this song the almost symphonic grandeur and tragedy which is so endemic of much of the album's mood. A true masterstroke of an opening.

Portishead - Roads
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gUn9mlBOcc&feature=fvst
Starts off with just that very spare, echoey Fender Rhodes setting the melancholy tone of the song, THEN that drum offbeat kicks in with Beth Gibbons' heavenly singing just a split second later. Gives me goosebumps every time.

Opeth - The Drapery Falls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfslLWySZYg
Similar opening effect to Epitath and Roads combined, just a few seconds of acoustic strumming, then the drums come breaking in like crashing waves, a stunning intro. Of course you also have that organ-like electric guitar and mellotron with those spine-tingling added-second minor chords, but the song wouldn't have half the impact without those added drum effects.

King Crimson - The Court of the Crimson King
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53q2YuKGejc
Michael Giles at his finest here, really betraying his jazz background, powerful but precise, tasteful and never overblown - in particular listen to how his slow but purposeful plod during the middle two verses underpins the narrative drama of this prog masterpiece. Then you've got that delicate symbol that gently heralds the listener back in after that false ending, and finally that superb drum break that signals the return of the refrain, and continues towards the end of the song, never letting up in intensity...I could probably write a whole dissertation about all the masterful percussive touches that make this song as great as it is.

 

The End - The Beatles (from "Abbey Road")
"Fire and Rain" - James Taylor
"Thats' the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" - Carly Simon
"Make Me Smile" - Chicago

 

You have to include "In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins in this list. The song climaxes with that iconic fill.

 

I Don't Care Anymore by Phil Collins

 

The Who - Love Reign O'er Me

 

Burn - Deep Purple

 

I wholeheartedly agree with the King Crimson choices.

 

Hal Blaine on Simon & Garfunkel's The Boxer.

 

Keith Moon's drumming at the end of "a quick one while he's away"

 

"Instant Karma" - John Lennon
"Spinning Wheel" - Blood, Sweat & Tears

 

Charlie Watts on Paint it Black

 

There's something instantly ecstatic about Ringo Starr's short intro to "She Loves You".

Also the first few bars *after* Ringo's drum solo on "The End". To me they sound like "ah, free at last", unbelievable drive.


And I totally agree about "I don't care anymore" and "In the air tonight". Amazing how "pissed off" Phil sounds on those drums.

Queen - "Don't stop me now" when they sing "Dont't stop me, don't stop me ohhhhhh" just before the guitar solo. A kind of ham-fisted, violent snare fill, but it gets things cooking.

Jon and Vangelis - Thunder (from Short Stories) right after Jon sings "knees trembling in my legs". Great drama percussionist, Vangelis.

 

tUnE-yArDs "Doorstep"... most goosebump-inducing song of the year for me, and it has almost no instrumentation except percussion.

 

Another one:
I love Max Weinberg's intense rapid-fire snare on Bruce Springsteen's Candy's Room, an effect that perfectly depicts the urgent passion and lust that the guy has for Candy (whoever she is).

I'd have thought given the calibre of their drummers The Who and Led Zeppelin would have loads to choose from but surprisingly I haven't thought of any yet, although Love Reign O'er Me is a good call.

 

How about the intros to I Fought The Law by the Bobby Fuller Four and You Didn't Have To Be So Nice by the Lovin' Spoonful?

Meanwhile, I'm listening to Opeth for the first time in my life ...

 

The Beach Boys- "Caroline No" THUNK!

 

I have to add Oasis--Wonderwall, the drums really propel the song forward, along with the cello.

 

Damn.....I just got emotional hearing this again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQw1bNgdCf8

 

DSOTM has a lot of points where the drum fills move me.

 

I Can See For Miles. It plays off the lyrics in a really interesting way.

 

The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again, Bargain (especially those double bass drum rolls...man he had some great shin muscles )

 

Peter Gabriel's "The Rhythm And The Heat"




Now playing on Ariel Stream: Basia - Everybody's On The Move

 

"Aja."

 

Peter Gabriel "Biko"
Josh Clayton-Felt "Dragonfly"
Radiohead "Optimistic"



Dan