19 replies · 790 views
13 votes · voting closed
Got to thinking about this yesterday. Especially applies to songs at the end of albums. Decided I like songs that don't fade out...seems like a cop out to me. I want some real resolution to a song.
Compare for example:
No fade out:
Leave Me Alone by New Order
Fade out:
Face Up by New Order
I like it when it fades out in general, assuming we're talking about the regular versions and not remixes. A song like "regret" is an exception; it ends without fading out(I think), right after Barney sings: "that's what they all say, just before they fall apart" it ends and it works perfectly like that.
Though some of the best songs e.g AOC and YSF fade out,I love a full stop on most tracks,gives more punch to a certain type of tune,like temptation for an obvious one
moz wrote: I don't like songs ending at all... at least NO songs
Good point! Some songs end just as they are becoming something magnificent.Lonesome tonight,amongst others springs to mind,even tho its ending is punctuated beautifully, you don't want it to end there....Well you don't, do you?
Like resolution, eh? Too bad you don't have Flipper's Brainwashed, on the b-side vinyl 45 of Sex Bomb. A fantastically simple Stooges like garage blow out, about 40 seconds long, repeated about a dozen times, with lyrics of "Um.........ok.... alright....................see there's ........this.............and..................never mind....................forget it........you wouldn't understand anyway" repeated during each segment. The final segment hits a locked groove on the phrase "forget it......you wouldn't underst.....", making the listener have to get up to change the record. Perfect party music for unwanted house guests, works like a charm 
The A-side Sex Bomb rules too.
How's about the resolution on that Heaven 17 song, We're Going To Live For A Very Long Time, a dig at the Moral Majority that was popular after the group debuted. The needle abruptly jumps off the record while they're singing "for a very long time, for a very long time, for a very......." . Not sure these two vinyl gems have been recreated on CD.
Count me in as preferring a definite ending.
I think it depends on the song. For example, LWTUA wouldn't work if it just stopped (also consider how it sort of fades in at the beginning. Perfection).
So I'm afraid I cannot vote in your silly poll, I fart in your general direction and wave my private parts at you :p
I prefer songs not to fade out, especially faster ones.
I think that, if done just right, any song could sound good not fading out. The ending for 1963-95 is much better than the original 1963. But ending all songs with or without a fade isn't good either; its good to mix it up.
I like how each track on Brotherhood ends (with the exception of Every Second Counts). Seems very creative. It seems that most songs on Substance fade out, and REALLY LONG ones too!
twist wrote: locked tracks!! Remember that Sonic Youth vinyl, Me, Maddonna and Sean Penn?
Oh yeah, forgot about that one, alternatively titled Expressway To Yr. Skull. I dunno, they're both choice.
I never like song endings, really. With some expections:
Album edit of Round and Round.
Rhythm is a Dancer by Snap
If I think of any more, I'll edit this posting.
It all depends on the song and it's sequence in the grand scheme of things, so... it's a tough question to answer. SOmetimes fading is just the right thing to do and other times it's a total cop out way to end. The music itself will tell you how it should end.
I always felt that fade out at the end of the track means that this song does exist in longer format :D
They never fade out live... so why the hell do they have to do it on albums? 
Are you serious? They CAN'T end in fade out live. So that's not exactly a reasonable question. They make a song, end it in fade out and if they're gonna play it live, they have to find a way of end it without fade out.
Spotnick wrote: I always felt that fade out at the end of the track means that this song does exist in longer format :D
They never fade out live... so why the hell do they have to do it on albums?
Exactly what I think.
They don't fade out books, do they? Would be funny...
Bere wrote:
Spotnick wrote: I always felt that fade out at the end of the track means that this song does exist in longer format :D
They never fade out live... so why the hell do they have to do it on albums?
Exactly what I think.
They don't fade out books, do they? Would be funny...
Wouldn't it be too hard to read it? I mean, with text getting smaller and smaller... 
