Series: What Makes This Song Great

[Zarathustra]

Anyone else familiar with this Youtube series? It's done by Rick Beato [musician, writer, producer] who analyzes your favorite songs in exhilarating detail. He has a Master's in jazz studies--and it shows. He also has access to the individual tracks of these songs, isolating bass/guitar/drums to point out what makes them amazing. He goes bar by bar, talking about the chord progression and time signatures, but also the history and context of the song. His deep connection to the industry and long history in rock music gives him a unique perspective.

Here are some of the individual songs he analyzes:

Tool Schism

Van Halen Running With the Devil

Yes Roundabout

Boston More Than A Feeling

And many more . . .

The Boston episode in particular dives right into the individual tracks to reveal things that you didn't notice, like the double-tracking of the acoustic guitars, along with a hidden clear electric guitar filling out the mid range of the sound. And that's just the first 10 seconds of the song!

The Journey episode shines new light on a song we've all heard so many times, that we no longer recognize how great it is: Don't Stop Believing. Even if you're sick of it, listen. It will open your eyes. The story behind its creation is beautiful. Did you all realize that its chorus doesn't start until 3:22 minutes into the (4 minute) song? Who does that nowadays??? No one. Songs nowadays are formulaic crap that takes no chances. Don't Stop Believing is such a good song, it can hold back the "goods" until nearly the end and still hook you.

If you love music, this series will give you plenty of binge watching bliss. It will only make you love music more.

[Cagliostro]

I love this kinda crap, though I don't think I've seen this series before. For a sec, I thought it might have been one on Stairway To Heaven that I watched, but I think it was about a tricky time signature thing in the song that was fascinating to watch, but I wonder how many non music nerds would find it interesting. But Rick does not look familiar, so I'm definitely interested. And I love when they isolate the different instruments, like when the 33 1/3 documentaries focus on specific albums. The one on Night At The Opera from Queen was fantastic, and it was cool hearing all the elements they put into the recording.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'm definitely in.

Edit: found the Stairway To Heaven thing I was talking about.

[Zarathustra]

Glad you liked it! Let me know if any stand out to you. I love the ones that open my eyes to songs I didn't really like, for instance, the Green Day episode. Beato's enthusiasm is infectious.

BTW, he got famous on Youtube for his videos about his son. At a very young age, his son developed perfect pitch. His abilities are incredible. It is no exaggeration to say that he has the greatest ear in the world. Watch the vid! It's jaw dropping. And this one is even more impressive.

I love the Stairway vid! Have you seen this one? Why John Bohnam is so great.

[Cagliostro]

I love the Stairway vid! Have you seen this one? Why John Bohnam is so great.

Not yet, but I suspect that will change pretty soon.

[Zarathustra]

If you think it's slow, skip ahead to the best part at 7:30, where he discusses Fool in the Rain drum beat.

[Cagliostro]

It was the daughter's birthday party this weekend, so I didn't get much progress in, but I did watch the Limelight one with the wife, and we both loved it. I watched some of the Journey one, and realized that you can't just half watch it while doing other things, as you aren't drawn in as much.
He has a lot of episodes, but most of the songs I saw I don't know or like enough to appreciate it.
I am at least familiar with Limelight as I play it either on Rocksmith or Rock Band, I forget which, but I do like the song. I've never paid much attention to Rush because until my wife, I never associated with anybody who was a fan. My wife has seen them many times, particularly at Red Rocks, and she mentioned that a friend had commented how hard it was to dance to Rush, unless you truly know the song. And now we understand why; the time signatures are all over the place throughout the song.
I was wondering why I never really got into Rush, and wondered if it was because of this that I found their music jarring, much in the same way that Terry Gilliam's quick choppy cuts throughout the movie of Brazil really unnerves me, and why it used to be my least favorite of his films (although he's certainly made some hard to like ones more recently). Then I realized that I just never had much exposure to Rush other than hearing Tom Sawyer a million times and hating it. My wife has opened my eyes a bit to Rush. Strangely enough, playing it has increased my appreciation more than just listening to it. And I realize how complex it is.
Speaking of which, Rock Band Rivals pack allows you to download a heap more free songs mostly by unknown new artists (of which only a handful are any good). One of them I remember shouting out, "what frickin' time signature is this?" while playing because it is so jarring. The fact that Rush can hide this under the song and make it sound pleasant is pretty cool.

[SoulBiter]

I love the Stairway vid! Have you seen this one? Why John Bohnam is so great.

I've seen this one before. Its interesting how his drumming was something that has been replicated since, but he was truly ahead of his time in creating the sound that became Led Zeppelin. I had not realized until I watched this just how much the rest of the band relied on his very specific musicality. Its no wonder they decided that they couldn't be Led Zeppelin without John Bohnam.