Month: February 2010

If you’re like us here at MAGNET, you’ve spent a great deal of time contemplating what artists you would put together to form your ultimate dream band. And apparently, so has San Francisco’s Citay, which used the concept in choosing the name for its recently released fourth album, Dream Get Together (Dead Oceans). This inspired the band to ask its musician friends to create their own supergroups, which are regularly being posted on Citay’s website. Frontman Ezra Feinberg made MAGNET his own “dream get together” of songs on this mix tape, which he claims are “the most epic of all epic jams” and verifies, “The Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of the word epic: ‘noting or pertaining to a long poetic composition, usually centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events is narrated in elevated style.’ The following are my favorite rock epics. (This mix would require several cassette tapes.)”

“Careful With That Hat” (download):
https://magnetmagazine.com/audio/CarefulWithThatHat.mp3

“Mirror Kisses” (download):
https://magnetmagazine.com/audio/MirrorKisses.mp3

Led Zeppelin “In The Light”
Led Zeppelin probably has the most epic jams per album, so it’s hard to say which is the most epic. Of course “Stairway” is the rock-epic standard, but I believe “In The Light” is the most epic of all epic Zeppelin. Jimmy Page once said he believed Zeppelin’s music consisted of shades of light and dark, and droning intro, heavy-dirge verse and the bright, chiming clavinets of the chorus. Every time I listen to it all the way through, I feel as though I myself have gone through the hero’s journey. Video

Pink Floyd “Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts 1-5”
Pink Floyd also have many epics, and again, the most classic is not this one but rather “Echoes.” And while “Echoes” is a true feat and an undeniably beautiful epic, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Parts 1-5” certifies the Floyd as masters of the epic. It also begins with a long drone, but this one has David Gilmour’s elegant, lyrical soloing easing us into the mysterious world of this song. Synth and sax solos proceed over a sinister groove, all of it leading into the the soul jam that ensues once the vocals arrive. Given that the vocals don’t even come before the nine-minute mark, I believe this song is an exploration of the possibilities of the long introduction. Video

Mike Oldfield “Hergest Ridge Part 1”
Most people know him for “Tubular Bells,” but I believe “Hergest Ridge” is his most epic achievement. Comprised of two side-long pastoral instrumentals, it’s remarkable to imagine a time when something this epic topped the charts, but it did, reaching number one in the U.K. in 1974. Video

Television “Marquee Moon”
The words “epic” and “punk” are rarely seen in the same sentence, but this is a punk classic and it’s 10 minutes long. Historians say Television started punk and that punk ended overly indulgent (read: epic) prog rock, but Television were punk and epic—and “Marquee Moon” is a revelation. Video

The Allman Brothers “Whipping Post”
When I was 15, I was obsessed with how intense this song sounded. I learned it on the guitar, note for note, and when my band at the time did a cover of it, I was very psyched. It was my first hands-on experience of epicness. The build at the end still kills me. Video

Metallica “The Call Of Ktulu”
There are so many Metallica epics, it is impossible to say which is best, but “The Call Of Ktulu” is an instrumental (instrumetal?) that grows slowly. The song has so many peaks and valleys; it paints a landscape of heaviness in all its textures. By the end, I’m often exhausted from air drumming. Video

Brian Eno And Robert Fripp “The Heavenly Music Corporation”
No Pussyfootin‘ outlined a new kind of epic at the time: soaring, spaced-out guitars treated through Frippertronics glowing through Eno’s budding ambient textures in two side-long tracks. It’s not about the progression of composed sections leading the listener from one part to the next. This is epic on a sonic plane, for the long drives of the mind. Video

Iron Maiden “The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner”
Maiden have a way of beginning at the peak and taking you higher and higher. This song is like five Maiden jams in one, which makes sense since it’s their interpretation of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s 18th-century epic. Video

Harvey Milk “Death Goes To The Winner”
All of these examples of epicness are from long ago except this song, from 2008. This is the most emotive, searing, intense guitar solo I’ve heard in recent years, and when the song goes on to quote both the Beatles and the Velvet Underground at the end, in a genius, non-mocking, non-stupid, totally smart and genuinely strange way, I was put over the top. I don’t want to give away this one too much in case you haven’t heard it. Video