Sounds Like...

While at the Billy Joel concert recently, I had a moment where two songs collided in my head. (Side note: there are some bands where many of their own songs all sound very similar to each other -- 38 Special is the band with the most songs that sound alike, in my opinion. However, in this case, it was more about the structure of the songs that felt similar.) 

Think: Bohemian Rhapsody (1975). That song has a few distinct "feels" -- it starts slow, and then suddenly jumps in tempo and energy!

I noticed that same exact pattern in Billy Joel's Scenes From An Italian Restaurant (1977). It also starts slow, but then changes into a totally different speed and style, and then changes again before returning to the original style.

I like it.

I wondered if this was a unique observation or thought on my part, and Google quickly revealed my lack of original thought! Someone else actually called out these same two songs a few years ago and gave them a name: Multi-Song Songs.

Jeff then mentioned that RUSH actually did this as will in 2112 (1976) - the ultimate 20 minute "multi-song song".

Guess that was the thing to do in the mid-70s!