IPL wrote:

on a less proggy note, marquee moon

AHH! forgot that one...classic.

I didn't forget this, but i am semi-certain it clocks in around the 9 minute 50 mark. I'm talking about the vinyl version, and not the cd one without the fade. That extra bit on the cd version really ruins it i think. The ending is horrible, but the fade after coming back in is so cool. It's as if it could go on forever, endlessley fading in and out of exsistence.

And for the record, i really do listen to the songs i listed. Alot. And not out of some tolerence experiment. I just really love them.

Keep 'em coming folks.
xx

fela kuti - zombie
tortoise - djed

i'm not sure about this one, 'cos i've only got a vinyl pressing:
shellac - didn't we deserve a look at you the way you really are

it's prolly only 8 minutes or something, but it seems longer.

also:

spiritualized - cop shoot cop
spacemen 3 - suicide
spacemen 3 - rollercoaster

frankie teardrop by suicide is epic although i don't like it that much

Did i really forget 'Sister Ray'?!

Shame on me.

you know, i considered sister ray, and it's a song i like... but i think it has an opposite-of-epic vibe. i know, epic can mean just long, but i find sister ray to be more of a claustrophobic drone. so even though it qualifies in the 'being long' and 'being good' categories, i personally would leave it out.

Neil's "Man Needs a Maid". Not epic as in length but surly epic as in dynamics with that tiny piano and falsetto giving way to the London Philharmonic.

So good.

Only nine minutes, but Drive Like Jehu's "Luau" is a fucking monster.

I haven't heard it in years, but I really liked "Three Days" by Jane's Addiction when I was in high school. That seems to fit the definition of "epic".

What about the song "Epic" by Faith No More? Maybe not. But there's a bad song I have a soft spot for.

Or the Neu! song that launched a thousand Stereolabs? Can't think of the name...

One of my favorite songs is Jim O'Rourke singing that "Women of the World" on Eureka. A friend told me several years ago that he went to see Mr. O'Rourke live at the Empty Bottle and that he just played that song for the entire set. But my friend told many tall tales, so I don't know if it's true.

I am confused, a lot of these songs dont seem "epic" to me, simply just repeatitive minimalist compositions and some jams. like the Can stuff or Fela isnt counted in my book because theyre mostly just comping and jamming, the music doesnt really have an "epic" dynamic flow to me.

Godspeed You Black Emperor is among the greatest at writing really "Epic" sounding rock epics - my favorite of which are Side C of Lift Your Skinny Fists (if forget the name), and Motherfucker Redeemer pt 1 (also side C of yanqui U.X.O.). not only are the songs of epic proportions and instrumentation, but they have very dramatic ups and downs, finally culminating in a huge finale sort of thing at the end.

Some that dont quite cut it time-wise but have the feel of an epic are (obviously) Slint's Good Morning Captain, Neurosis's Times of Grace, Fugazi's 23 Beats Off (especially when coupled with the following track- Sweet and Low), and Converge's Jane Doe.

I'll definetly agree with Dopesmoker, and with Marquee Moon to a certain degree, but I can't agree with the Fela, the Can, the Tortoise, or, sadly, the Shellac even though they are all really great songs.