Highest intro/rest of song ratio?

[klattman]

I was thinking there are many songs where the intro is fantastic and the rest of the song is not as good. Maybe the rest isn’t bad but is significantly less good than the intro. Would be fun to identify a bunch of those that have the highest ratio.

examples
Metallica Enter Sandman has a great intro and buildup that far overshadows the rest of the song

Zz LaGrange great intro, rest of song is just a follow up.

what are your favorites with the highest intro to rest of song ratio?

 

[Michedelic]

Where do you get that the remainder of those songs are lesser? In both cases, the intro is same riff that the whole song is built on.
A great intro doesn’t necessarily have to be a precursor of anything to follow, in fact if it is epic enough to draw you in, and be its own entity, that’s far more interesting.

These always struck me as unexpected or suspenseful…


Short and sweet…

Want a build-up? Here you go, tension, release, and everything else…


Now, this may be a Captain Obvious selection, but maybe doesn’t count as it is its own aftermarket composition while being a monumental fanfare…


However the original version of the tune has a modest intro that has its own charm and is different…

 

[hrodbert696]

I'm not down on the body of this song, but IMO it's the long drawn-out intro that really makes it. We used to use it for our opener when I had an indie/alt cover band. Great moody mood-setter.

 

[ElectroVibe]

John Cougar, I need a lover.

 

[MonetBass]

I could name a ton of Yes and Pink Floyd songs here.

 

[Killing Floor]

I could name a ton of Yes and Pink Floyd songs here.

100%

But also Funeral/Love Lies Bleeding has a lot of intro going on.

 

[AlexanderB]

THIS ONE!!! It starts so promising, first sweeping pads, then building the funky riff, and suddenly deflates into formula based punk-pop....

 

[jdjk7]

I was thinking there are many songs where the intro is fantastic and the rest of the song is not as good. Maybe the rest isn’t bad but is significantly less good than the intro. Would be fun to identify a bunch of those that have the highest ratio.

By "highest intro/rest of song ratio" in the title, I thought you were talking about songs where the intro is a considerable portion of the entire run time of the song.

Under that interpretation, this song comes to mind... 2.5 minute intro for a 6 minute song (or 2.5 minutes intro for a 3.5 minute song). The intro also does sort of suggest a different sort of song to follow, but that doesn't matter a lot to me...

 

[A Bass And Its Boy]

I talk about the disconnect between the intro/outtro riff and the greater body of this one all. the. time.—it’s just so effing HEAVY when the song opens; and then it derails and just speeds up into kinda lame 2/4 blues riff. Granted, LOTS of bands did that in the 70s, it just really bums me out with this riff because it’s SO metal.

Aw, shucks, I can’t stay mad at the Runaways.

 

[pcake]

the intro is very cool. the rest of the song is meh in my ears, an actual station-changer.

 

[brianrost]

How about those goofy poems that opened Moody Blues albums? Oops, that's the lowest ratio of intro to song. But they did sound better when you were high

 

[ELG60]

Edit: I also misunderstood the title. The intro kicks A . . . So does the chorus and verse, in both versions. The original does take up more than half the song, though, so they have that going for them . . . Which is nice.

 

[lark_z]

 

[eriky4003]

Pcake, thanks for including Foreplay/Long Time but really, the rest of the song is meh?
Intro to Xanadu by Rush is killer and some of their side-long albums wouldn't introduce singing until after a large prelude.