Songs of "epic" proportion. Good ones. I guess there should be a minimum length. Does 10 minutes sound fair? Is it that too short?

I know i personally can't always be arsed with 'em, but a good one really hits the spot sometimes.
My personal favourites that spring to mind :

'Dopesmoker' by Sleep (surely the ultimate epic to end ALL epics)
'Glider' by My Bloody Valentine
'I Am Not Lonely With Cricket' by Papa M
'Halleluwah' by Can
'O'Malley's Bar' by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
'7 (boriginal)' by Boredoms
'Sea Drum' by Boredoms

I was going to list their length in minutes and seconds, but having most of them on vinyl without listed times, i couldn't be bothered.

Feel free to put forward the rules for an epic, and i'm sorry if this has come up before.

xx

There was a mind-tearingly long take of "Hydroplane," maybe 22 minutes long, that Unrest put out as a 12" B-side or something and then included on a comp CD of 12" B-sides. Or Something. A great song when played live, but 22 minutes?

There's this early 80's record I have by a band called Plan 9 called Frustration. The B side to the record is one whole track called "Flashback." Four guitars, organ, bass, tamborine and drums. Whew. Good record for trashy psych-garage.

No mention of the term "epic" would be complete without mentioning both Earth's Extra Capsular Extraction record, and the Melvins's "Charmicarmicat" from the Eggnog ep.
I don't remember how long either of those are, but they feel as least as long as growing.

"Yoo Doo Right" by Can

The longest song I own is 32 minutes long. Amarillo Ramp by Lee Ranaldo. Not something I listen to often though. And not really a song as much as a piece of music.


Although it's an obvious choice I'd have to go with Mogwai Fear Satan. Only topped by the live version of Stereodee. But you have to actually see it live, not a recording.

I agree with O'Malleys bar. Excellent song.

"Elijah" by the band Spirit
"Dead As Dreams" by Weakling
Probably most Iron Maiden songs
Ween's cover of "Echoes" by Pink Floyd

The complete "Der Ring des Neibelungen", no breaks, no pauses!

You CAN certainly hold it in for another eight hours......

heart of the sunrise, baby!

on a less proggy note, marquee moon.

Street Hassle - Lou Reed
Jenny Ondioline - Stereolab
Everyday World of Bodies - Rodan
Gamera - Tortoise
Electric Heavy Land(yes, the whole album...all three songs) - Acid Mothers Temple
Soap Shop Rock - Amon Duul II
Halleluhwa - CAN
Expensive Shit - Fela Kuti
The Hippies of Today are the Assholes of Tomorrow - Danny Ben Israel
Madame George - Van Morrison

....trying to think of epic songs that I actually loved listening to over and over...the ones that are sooo good it matters not that they are ridiculously long for a rock and roll song...these songs are rare!

on a less proggy note, marquee moon

AHH! forgot that one...classic.

I'd have to go with:

Morton Subotnick - Silver Apples of the Moon Parts A+B weighing in at 31'33"
Morton Subotnick - The Wild Bull Parts A+B at 28'10"
(Buchla magic from 1967 that leads the way for the Aphex Twin and his cronnies)

also
Klaus Schulze - Bayreuth Return 30'33" (recorded live on to 2track) a masterclass on repetition.