Song endings that fade leaving you....unfulfilled, or satisfied

[Progatron]

Starship Trooper - now this one, they could have started the guitar solo about 32 bars earlier. How many times did they really need to play that G Eb C riff and still, they fade out the solo?.

I always kind of liked how long the beginning of the "Wurm" section ran for. I always pictured it as a ship slowly being sucked into a black hole. I've mentioned here before too, that I actually do prefer the original studio version of this track to any live version. Never cared for the way Wakeman's solo came first. I know it lends itself well to a live epic where they can stretch out and trade solos, etc. but to me there's a magic on the album track that was never duplicated. Also, Steve Howe really changed the way he played it over the years, which I often didn't care for.

[Splicer]

"Scenes From A Night's Dream" - Genesis. It shifts into this funky keyboard thing at the end and then fades out. I have a feeling there was a lot more but that they wanted to move in a commercial direction so scrapped the long instrumental parts.

[Adinfinitum]

I was sort of kidding about 32 bars, but it does "build" for a loooooong time. I agree, I prefer the studio version, but do prefer HOTS on Yessongs. One of the most powerful songs I've ever heard (sorry for straying OT).

I also agree that Whiter Shade of Pale is probably the worst fade out of all time.

On the other hand, I Got You, She's So Heavy has the best one - John Lennon wanted it to sound like the ending went on forever and then just cut it off at an arbitrary point instead of fading it out (ok, not technically a fade out).

[ThomasKDye]

Jethro Tull - "Cheerio" … hey, not so fast fading out there, guys.

[tallliman]

Dream Theater - The Looking Glass, it just stops and makes you wonder where the ending was.

I wonder if a lot of vinyl era albums faded because of the constraints of the format. Generally, I don't think many songs should fade out.

[PeterG]

There is a similar thing with "Stairway To Heaven" if you compare the album version, which ends with Robert Plant singing a-cappella, and the live versions, which then go on to end in a more conventional way with a big "ending chord".

Exactly, because live, Freddie usually sang that last "of the world" that is absent from the official lyrics and studio version.

[calyx]

Supper's Ready just sort of peters out (album version)

Much stranger and very unusual is that live versions also fade out, which is something that is quite hard to achieve in live performance - it was more subtle than the overall sound just fading out while everybody played away, it was everyone individually reducing their sound.

[JJ88]

I have to say, for me the 'As Sure As Eggs...' section on 'Foxtrot' sounds like a bit of a rush job all round. There are some audible mistakes ('corrected' in the remix!) and the pace is much quicker and in a higher key than they ever did it live. I heard the 'Seconds Out' version first- I still have a lot of affection for that one. Of course it's a great shame the 1973 live release didn't have it added to the CD release.

[grego]

Frank Zappa - Zoot Allures. It could last longer, the rough fadeout spoils the brilliant track.

[nycsteve]

Floyd's Pigs(3 Differant Ones) fades on a cool guitar solo. Unfullfilling.

[PeterG]

Floyd's Pigs

Now there's a great name for a PF tribute band

[Adinfinitum]

Floyd's Pigs(3 Differant Ones) fades on a cool guitar solo. Unfullfilling.

Sheep does a cross fade via a cool repetitive guitar chord progression into Pigs on the Wing 2.

[No Pride]

Taking it Back, the b-side of Hold the Line, from the first Toto album, fades on a great keyboard solo, making it the most annoying fade-out of all time.

Toto may be the worst offender of that sort of thing. Lots of fades when they really start jamming (Rosanna is another good example of that). I've turned some of those fade-outs up just to hear what was going on. I think it was a ploy to get you to see them live, where you could finally hear what kind of jamming they were doing after the studio track faded into oblivion.

[Big Ears]

Toto may be the worst offender of that sort of thing. Lots of fades when they really start jamming (Rosanna is another good example of that). I've turned some of those fade-outs up just to hear what was going on. I think it was a ploy to get you to see them live, where you could finally hear what kind of jamming they were doing after the studio track faded into oblivion.

The album as a live taster is an interesting theory and is quite possible. Baker Gurvitz were also among the worst offenders, spinning out reasonable melodies, while cutting short and fading sublime passages. In their case, it may have been the result of hasty mastering. BGA albums are great, but could've been greater.

[Kim Olesen]

Much of 'Calling All Stations', especially the title track. What were they thinking??

+1

[nsmith1002]

I've always been left unsatisfied with the fadeout on "Breakdown" from The Alan Parsons Project album I Robot. I'd love to have about another minute and a half or so of all that orchestra & choir and then have the thing conclude with an actual coda.

[Garden Dreamer]

The flip side for me would be Boston's "More Than a Feeling". Every time I hear that last "walk awaaaaaayyyyyyyy...." into the fadeout, I get goose bumps. Well maybe not lately, but it had that effect on me when the song was new back in the day.

[Luckie]

I completely agree. It sounds like Tony Kaye is just getting going on the piano when it all disappears. Frustrating.

I think the same about the studio 'Siberian Khatru'. Steve's playing some very interesting stuff as it all fades away.

Siberian Khatru, it fades out just as Howe's solo gets going.

Most of the time when that happens, it's because there wasn't anything more of the solo there - they either stopped playing or screwed up, and it wasn't deemed worth punching-in an extension to the solo. It's just that we imagine the soloist in the throes of brilliance beyond the fade-out. Occasionally the solo is so brilliant that it's included in its entirety, even though the song isn't totally resolved - I think Dave Stewart's superb solo on Hillage's The Fire Inside is an example.

Anyway, off the top of my head, good ending (but very obviously silly): Brand X - Macrocosm; bad ending: Utopia - Hiroshima.

[trurl]

I generally like fade-outs. I'm guilty of several. Done right they can sort of make a song extend into infinity. The Lamia from The Lamb is a great fade.

[Yellow Jester]

Perhaps this is a been there done that thread (I suppose most are )....I grabbed my Echolyn self-titled disc to listen on the way to work today. The first song on this Echolyn release, "Island", clocking in at 16:38, is to my ears an epic that stands with the best. It has plenty of the changes we like in our prog diet, soft parts, more intense parts, and....an ending that fades. Normally, I don't like fade-outs for song endings. They generally leave me feeling unfulfilled with respect to the listening experience.

However, with Island, I found myself feeling quite satisfied with the fading recurring melody (a lovely one at that) and vocals that bring the piece to a close. To my ears it was analogous to drifting away from an island you just spent some time on and thoroughly enjoyed.

So, this particular fading end works for me. What about you....what are those fades that leave you satisfied, and what are those that leave you unfulfilled - even a bit frustrated. As usual I suspect there will be plenty of agreements, as well as some IMH opinions that differ.

One fade out that never worked for me is Gentle Giant's "Way Of Life". On the "In A Glass House" album, the long ending with the organ just fizzles out. On the other hand, the version of the same song that GG did for the BBC (on "Out Of The Woods") comes to a full and satisfying conclusion.

[Dave (in MA)]

I don't know why they faded out Hey Jude so early. Surely they could have given us a few thousand more na's.

[eporter66]

Perhaps this is a been there done that thread (I suppose most are )....I grabbed my Echolyn self-titled disc to listen on the way to work today. The first song on this Echolyn release, "Island", clocking in at 16:38, is to my ears an epic that stands with the best. It has plenty of the changes we like in our prog diet, soft parts, more intense parts, and....an ending that fades. Normally, I don't like fade-outs for song endings. They generally leave me feeling unfulfilled with respect to the listening experience.

However, with Island, I found myself feeling quite satisfied with the fading recurring melody (a lovely one at that) and vocals that bring the piece to a close. To my ears it was analogous to drifting away from an island you just spent some time on and thoroughly enjoyed.

So, this particular fading end works for me. What about you....what are those fades that leave you satisfied, and what are those that leave you unfulfilled - even a bit frustrated. As usual I suspect there will be plenty of agreements, as well as some IMH opinions that differ.

I love the fade out as well, but I feel like the ending is so powerful, and just beginning to build another head of steam as it fades out, I can see it going on another minute or two. I would have loved Island to be 18:00 or so....... ha

[eporter66]

Another satisfying fadeout that came to mind for me is Gentle Giant's "Three Friends". After the workout of Mister Class & Quality, with no pause, Three Friends brings this marvelous album to a great close with it's repeating "gentle" melody, washed with organ, gradually drifting away from the speakers, but remains for some time in the head.

To my ears, another fadeout that satisfies rather than disappoints.

BAM!!! Nailed it, I love the organ and vocals that take this out - fantastic, epic!

[BravadoNJ]

Rush - Different Strings and Madrigal.

No Rush song should ever end with a fadeout.

i totally agree! actually it was rare that a Rush song did fade out, but it's getting more common.... and lazy.
as for Different Strings... they should do this song live with an extended guitar solo without that fade out.

[zombywoof]

My favorite is "A Whiter Shade of Pale." Seriously? Fading out just as Gary Brooker launches into the passionate final chorus?? Unless this is just a single version and there's a longer version elsewhere.

There is!