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[DunDunDunpachi]

My example is one that everyone recognizes:



The song starts off as a gentle ballad (with piano and sweeping vocals), builds itself up over the next few minutes as the drums and guitar enter the song. Then it hops the fence into an operatic bridge made of bright chorus and bombastic drums before finally leaping into a full-blown rock melody. The song closes with a thematic reminder of the ballad at the beginning. 6 minutes well spent.

What other songs have this same kind of genre rollercoaster? It doesn't have to be rock, either. Jazz mixed with traditional German polka? Speedmetal mixed with folk-acoustic crooning? Okay, those probably exist somewhere but that's not quite what I'm asking. Gimme some good songs that play around with genre conventions.

David Bowie was always playing around with sound, so I'm sure I could pick up examples from his discography. I don't have a lot of depth to my hip-hop knowledge but since the music made clever use of samples, I can imagine there was plenty of genre-bending going on ('Walk This Way' by Aerosmith x Run-DMC comes to mind).

 

[Nymphae]

When I think of genre bending music, my mind goes to The Go! Team, really weird mixture of styles. Heavy on samples I think, but I have no idea where most of it originates. Their song Ladyflash felt to me like a mashup of different kinds of female vocal genres, there are parts that give me a motown vibe, then other parts that sound like early 90's dance, some school cheer chants, some slight rapping verses, really odd mixture that works very well.

 

[Dunki]

Babymetal the thread?^^







These were in their early days but they have gown a lot like this one for example

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Babymetal the thread?^^

Yesss! This is nothing like I expected when making the thread yet exactly what I'm talking about.

I love the metal growling in the last song mixed in with cutesy anime voice.

I will begin listening to this music during my shmup practice to power me up.

 

[Woffls]

One of my favourite examples:

 

[julio_grr]

Great thread

Thanks for the videos, adding them to my playlist haha
Some more example of genre defying songs I love:

Gentle Giant - Proclamation

Prog rock turning into... sea shanty??
Gentle Giant - I Lost My Head

Medieval village song (??) turning into prog rock
(Yeah I was sure learning the recorder in primary school would prove useful one day !)

Twelve Foot Ninja - Coming For You
Is it metal, is it jazz, is it funk?

Twelve Foot Ninja - One Hand Killing

 

[Dunki]

Yesss! This is nothing like I expected when making the thread yet exactly what I'm talking about.

I love the metal growling in the last song mixed in with cutesy anime voice.

I will begin listening to this music during my shmup practice to power me up.

I think their new stuff is really good and they are always in Top Albums of the year competitions woldwide in the metal szene. I do not even like metal but they are different IMO. It is always the mix of genres and their variation in their albums.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

julio_grr Never heard of Gentle Giant but that's totally up my alley!

Perhaps another example (his music was startling in its time and greatly influenced metal) would be Meatloaf.

 

[Thurible]

You guus should really listen to Sniper by Harry Chapin. It is one of my favorite songs because so much happens during the song, both in narrative, style, and tone. The song is about the titular sniper going ontop a watch tower to shoot people. In the song he questions his own identity and self worth. He begins by saying "I have a question" to the people below before he shoots. Then there are interjections from the press and people who knew the sniper. It goes back and forth through multiple perspectives and really paints a bleak picture on the state of identity and mental health. He is reviled by many people who mocked and turned him down in life and he even abhors his own mother when he says
"Mama, won't you nurse me? Rain me down the sweet milk of your kindness.
Mama, it's getting worse for me. Won't you please make me warm and mindless? Mama, yes you have cursed me. I never will forgive you for your blindness. I hate you!" It makes you feel bad for him and really humanizes him, which is bizarre since he is a killer.

At the very end, when the sniper is about to be killed as the police are going through the barricades, he rejoices, as he finally feels like he is something. He feels noticed and recognized. In the end he say "I was, I am, and I will be." It is haunting and makes you feel uneasy.

Overall, the bizarre dark nature and multiple perspectives and tones make this song a treat. It is pretty dang long (about 9-10 minutes) and doesn't really sound like anything I can really relate it to. So much anger and sorrow in this song. I HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND listening to Chapin. He did MUCH MUCH more than just write and sing The Cats and the Cradle.

 

[Redneckerz]

I really should get in on D Dunki 's Babymetal thing
Thurible that kind of narrative track sounds very interesting, reminds me of Iron & Wine's Taken From The Winter and Voice From The Mountain.

My entries are from the same band, one in which they intermix spoken word with dance, death metal, speed metal, symphonic elements, jazzy syncopations and the other their take on Gerry Raferty's Baker Street.

 

[lupi900]

For Metal music my 3 choices.

 

[John Day]

When I think of genre bending music, my mind goes to The Go! Team, really weird mixture of styles. Heavy on samples I think, but I have no idea where most of it originates. Their song Ladyflash felt to me like a mashup of different kinds of female vocal genres, there are parts that give me a motown vibe, then other parts that sound like early 90's dance, some school cheer chants, some slight rapping verses, really odd mixture that works very well.

I must admit, Little Big Planet introduced me to The Go! Team. Amazing!

Was also surprised to find Cafe Tacvba in the game. Such a gem.

 

[TrainedRage]

Yes! I get to post this again!



lol....
"Hey you're in a band"?
-"Yeah".
"What do you play"?
-"I hit a frying pan with the antlers of a dead stag".

Go to 6:19 if its too long.

 

[Dark Star]

90% of BTBAM

 

[yeahokaywhatever]

Naked City were a great band. Jazz as hardcore punk or hardcore punk as jazz. This song mixes tons of genres up.

 

[Gander]

 

[LegendOfKage]

Umi Says

One of my favorite rap albums. So good.

Seeing as Bohemian Rhapsody was mentioned, here's the closest thing Billy Joel ever put out, which is a pretty epic song in it's own right:

 

[brap]

Doo Wop + Pop Punk


Deathcore + Rap


Grindcore + Pop Punk (first song)

 

[Jae Mara]

Just found these folks recently, orchestral indie-rock. Really enjoying their stuff. There is a healthy does of jazz and country/folk in other songs too.


Good ol Caravan Palace, first album gypsy jazz electro-swing. Other albums focus more on big band and general electro swing. All pretty awesome.

 

[Boss Mog]

The "Bohemian Rhapsody" of Kpop:

 

[RoyBrown7777]

Did you just assume their genre?

 

[Domisto]

I guess this goes down as electro swing glitch hop dub or summit? Either way I'm a fan.




My favourite track from The Flying Lizards. Doing their minimalist 50s style electronica.




I've no idea what to file this classic under.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

The "Bohemian Rhapsody" of Kpop:

Entertaining!

 

[strange headache]

I'm a simple man, I see Bohemian Rhapsody, I like. But I would never have thought to see Gentle Giant on this forum, that's just amazing. Anyway, here's a couple of my suggestions:

Juno Reactor - Conquistador



Starts off with classical guitars, which is typical for flamenco songs, but then evolves into a full blown thumping electro tune (around the 6 min, mark). Be warned, this song is going to melt your brain!

Rolling Stones - You can't always get what you want



Starts off as a choir, then turns into a melancholic ballad with trumpets and then it becomes a rock n' roll song before ending as a choir again. There's just so much variation and tempo changes, it's flat out brilliant.

Pink Floyd - Shine on you crazy diamond



It's Pink Floyd my friend, do I really need to explain?

Dick Dale - Misirlou



We all know the surfer song from Pulp Fiction, but did you know that Misirlou is actually a Mediterranean folklore song? I linked the original above.

Tom Waits - Heigh Ho



Tom Waits sings a Disney classic. Slaving away in a mine suddenly isn't so much fun anymore. 'Nuff said.

 

[llien]

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

strange headache I thoroughly enjoyed that Juno Reactor piece. The song structure was like a prog-rock epic! Good callouts on Tom Waits, Floyd, and the Rolling Stones, too. I'll check out that Greek folk song later.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

Plus-Tech Squeeze Box - Early Riser
thrash punk + easy listening


Omoide Hatoba - Sugar Clip
shoegaze + noise


Stereo Total - Orange Mechanique
soundtrack music + surf rock

 

[#Phonepunk#]

Klaus Nomi - Falling in Love Again
pre-war German pop + punk/new wave

 

[Paracelsus]

Nevermind, misunderstood.