# Did you ever get so emotional while listening...?

Category: Jam Session

## Post 1 by Blue Velvet (I've got the platinum golden silver bronze poster award.) on Sunday, 29-Nov-2009 21:28:39

As I sit here at the computer, the TV in the living room is tuned to whatever channel is showing the 25th anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert. Now some of those old timers should have hung it up long ago, but there are some who sound so good I'm getting all choked up. You can even hear the joy in their voices because they are singing together once again and in front of a huge audience. Paul Simon sang a song with David Crosby and Graham Nash, and now he is singing with his old partner, Art Garfunkle. Man they sound so good and those harmonies are as good as ever. I've always been a sucker for good harmonies.

## Post 2 by wildebrew (We promised the world we'd tame it, what were we hoping for?) on Sunday, 29-Nov-2009 21:57:20

I thik key to good and effective emotional music is really feeling that the artists are enjoying themselves or really buy into their music and enjoy it as much as the listener.
In my case I can point to quite a lot of bands actually. Red Hot Chilli Peppers' "Blood Sugar Sex Magic" is the sound of 4 extremely talented musicians locked up with too many drugs and too much beer and a producer in a house in LA and just jamming away for weeks. The resulting record is intoxicating, silly, emotional with highs and lows and phenominal musicianship "Under the bridge" is themost popular track but the entire album is fantastic.
Suede's "Dog Man Star" was recorded by a band torn apart by different visions, drugs and depression. It is a different sort of beauty, the guitarist and co song writer left the band during the sessions and they never came close to making anything remotely similar to that album again, and it still stands, in my opinion, as the most ambitious and beautiful albums of all time (though it will take a new listner a long time to appreciate it, the singer's voice can be downright annoying and the album takes a while to grow on people, and some people may forever hate it).
Radiohead's "OK Computer" has the same qualities, a band wanting to do something special and a band that creatively fit perfectly (for a change I do not think too many drugs were involved), listen to tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11 or 12, especially the guitars from tracks 5 and 10 and the guitar/space effect/electric piano of track 3, and you'll really see something unique happened in the making of this album, consistently ranked in the top 100 of the century by most usic magazines.
From Radiohead's previous LP, "the Bends", listen to the last track "Street Spirit", it is the most hopelessly beautiful tracks ever written, I did play it on repeat an entire night at college and it left me in a very comfortable coma almost, mae for weird dreams certainly, but it was awesome, felt like a good doze of illegal drugs (not that I've tried them, but I'd like to with that track on).
Another good track is Sigur Ros's last track of their second album, and pretty much their entire "Agaetis Byrjun" album, a band obsessed with a sound they discovered, mostly by accident, and perfecting it on that album. They never came close and obviously got bored with their own sound so their later albums do not speak to me the same way.
Green Day's Dookie is an album I'll always like, another 3 guys, not particularly talented may be, but with their own sound, with nothing to lose and with the ability to write damn catchy songs, none of the hundreds of immitators ever came close to replicating that carelessness of their sound and they've gone too commercial and bombastic for my taste lately.
Anyways, I could continue for a long time, I am a big fan of Johnny Cash, his "cool" delivery is awesome, Paul Simon did a great job and bands like Vampire Weekend are trying to revive that cross of African and European music he perfected on "Graceland", not always well but it produces some excellent songs.
I could go on for tens of pages so I'll stop it, but I just think the point mae here is excellent, the artists have to enjoy it and you have to belive they believe in their own music for it to work.

## Post 3 by Eleni21 (I have proven to myself and the world that I need mental help) on Monday, 30-Nov-2009 9:54:46

I don't know any of the bands mentioned in the last post except the first, vaguely. But I certainly agree about the musicians having to feel what they're singing. That's why I can't get into most modern music. You could tell that alot of the time, the singers are just doing it for a profit, no heart or soul in it at all and most don't even write their own songs. Usually, I prefer the Piraeus style of rebetika, with the bouzouki, the baglama etc. and the sometimes rough and emotional voices that made it famous. But sometimes, the bouzouki itself can sing on it's own, and in it's notes, you can feel the meraki, the passion with which the player is expressing himself, and it's like you're lost in Greece in the 30's with nothing but a dream and the music to keep you alive. It opens my heart like nothing can. Perhaps the best example of this, for me, is Taxim Zebekiko by Markos Vamvakaris. The first time I heard it, it sent shivers down my spine. The music of Iordanis Tsomidis, though not as well known, is for me, the best in the world in bouzouki playing. I don't know where he got his talent but no one's been able to surpass him either before or since. Even more so, though I listen to it alot less often, is the music of the refugees from Smyrna. Unlike the manges, they were educated many times, and you can hear it in their voices. Yet because of the pain that they suffered, even when they weren't the writers of the songs, you knew that they felt them. An excellent demonstration of this can be heard in the songs of Antonis Dalgas, particularly Tis Xenitias O Ponos, which is a masterpiece that I don't think can ever be repeated by anyone. It's on youtube. Stratos Pagioumtzis also had a voice that could convey almost anything you could think of, from happiness to sadness, and he worked in both styles and was sought after by all kinds of people.

## Post 4 by HotPerro (I live and breathe the board) on Monday, 30-Nov-2009 13:43:56

sigur ros's "Live from the Icelandic Opera House" does that for me, they have such an intense energy to their music.
Beck's "Sea Change" is another one, written at a time when he was going through a bad break-up, and problems with his record company, making for his best album in my opinion.
so many others that I can't think of right now.

## Post 5 by Shadow_Cat (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Monday, 30-Nov-2009 18:32:19

I know hardly any of the artists mentioned in the above posts. Sadly, the ones I know best are in Becky's original post. *Grin* But, I do know what it is like to tear up when hearing music, especially if you're at a live performance, and can feel the charge from the energy of the musicians and crowdd interacting. But even without that, music, both instruments, vocals, or the combination thereof, can definitely bring on tears, joy, and a whole onslaught of other emotions.

## Post 6 by DancingAfterDark (I just keep on posting!) on Monday, 30-Nov-2009 23:46:07

Sigur Ros really freak me out, lol. They give me shivers but not quite the kind meant in the original post.
Music does this to me constantly, I'm an extremely emotional listener lol. I agree to an extent with Tiffanitsa, it's why I don't like quite a lot of the more mainstream stuff. I hate generalizations and it always annoys me when supposedly Indie people start going on about how mainstream automatically means they're 'sellouts' who do it for the fame and money and don't really care, but it does ring true for so much of what I've heard recently when I actually bother to turn on the radio. Sad. There are only a few songs that have ever actually brought me to tears, but so many have made me emotional for one reason or another, I'd have multiple posts as long as B's if I tried to start naming them.
Also. I looove Paul Simon. So much. And I really can't stand the Chili Peppers but "Blood Sugar Sex Magic" has quite a lot of great stuff anyway.

## Post 7 by Elenhiia (Feather'rr'rr'rr'rr'rr'rr'rr'rr'rr'rr for president!) on Wednesday, 02-Dec-2009 19:20:54

I really agree with Chelsea. I find it so easy to respond to music. A truly good musician is caught up in his/her music and feels as though it's their soul that they're laying bare for your criticism and it is painful when you turn them away--not for lack of recognition but for lack of acceptance and understanding on the listeners' part. In essence you've just turned someone away, telling them their heart and soul isn't good enough or, in some cases, unacceptable by the rest of society. It's a very depressing experience. Or something similar, anyway; it's not the same for everyone. I used to write music. I can get emotional about this. lol
As for expressive bands/artists:
Nick Drake has got to be at the top of my list. My current boyfriend showed me "Fruit Tree," long before we started dating and I think I cried unashamedly when I heard it and had to get the rest of his music. His soul must be in his music, because even when you think you've finally figured it out, even when you've thought that the thousandth time, you haven't. There's still more to feel; each song expresses something different and interacts strongly with your emotions every time you listen to them. This is all just like a person, a living, breathing, vulnerable yet strong human being, exposed and by that complete exposure even more enigmatic, but only so because we so often limit ourselves to interacting with others' exteriors, and the souls with their individual uniqueness are being locked away. I can get emotional about this too...
Antony and the Johnsons has to be on my list too. They're always very expressive but the song "Deeper Than Love" immediately comes to mind; the string arrangement expresses pain and confusion and sadness in its first few simple notes. Antony sings, "From between cracked fingers/ Old blood spills." And his voice is filled with emotion, as in the chorus: "I have tried to shine/ In the darkness/ Entertaining vanities in vain."
For a complete change in sound I think Breaking Benjamin does it too. Even with the restrictions put on them by the type of music they're told to play they'll manage to cram as much emotion as they can in. Listen to "Forget It," "Rain," "Unknown Soldier," and especially "Give Me a Sign." They're not the best musicians but he feels what he's singing and you can feel that.
Another change of sound: "Don't You Need," "Precious Pain," and "In to The Dark," by Melissa Etheridge are great examples of someone who's feeling what they're playing and singing.
If you can find it, look up a song called "Heartmagic," from the Fairy Heart Magic album by Gary Stadler. It's a beautiful, almost purely piano piece. You'll never believe that someone was improvising when you hear it but it's very chordal so it doesn't sound it.
Now I'll have to turn to my top best soundtracks: Have a look at Lord of the Rings, Dante's Peak, Day after Tomorrow, Armageddon, E.T., and the Halo game scores.
If there's more I'll come back...

## Post 8 by dj outrage (I can't call it a day til I enter the zone BBS) on Monday, 25-Jan-2010 15:17:08

Iyana, i ever told yo i love you? :p
nick drake's river man saved my life. It sounds stupid, but it did. I was in hospital, in intencive. When i got out I was going to end it, there was, after all, no reason for me not to do so. John peel *aka god with records) was on the radio, and he played it, and it was beautiful. The same can be said for fruit tree. Hell I could write this entire topic on Nick drake, but...
Listen to early Louis Armstrong recordings ad you will here such wonderfully imotional, expressive playing it is unbelievable. The same with charly parker art tatum and countless other jazz men.
Anthony and the johnsons hope there's someone almost makes me cry whenever I hear it, so does a lot of music by chopin, debusy, faure, braams, paganini etc.
Some of those old doo wop singers sound like they mean every single teenaged word they ever rote, lee andrews and the hearts etc.
I'll stop before i use up all the zone's bandwidth lol