Talk:Breakdown (music)

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Cleanup[edit]

How is this article confusing? Hyacinth 07:16, 1 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Well, just read the opening sentence... PizzaMargherita 07:46, 1 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps this should be two articles: (1) the breakdown as a musical form and (2) the disco break, which is more of an editing technique than a musical feature. Anyhow, the musical form is certainly older; Bill Monroe recorded "Bluegrass Breakdown" in 1948. Grommel (talk) 15:55, 9 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I completely agree that the "disco break" section is at odds with the concept of a breakdown, and misleading. I am tempted just to delete the section, or try to spin it off to a new article. Madman (talk) 00:54, 19 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The Case for "Inverted" Breakdowns in Extreme Metal[edit]

In my mind, since the early days of Thrash metal, breakdowns are the relatively slow midsection of a fast song. An obvious case is Slayer's "Angel of Death", which probably has the most infamous breakdown in thrash history. Another obvious example is Metallica's "Master of Puppets".

What I came to realize, in the early 1990s, is that a particular subgenre of metal - Death-doom - inverted the breakdown formula. Bands from these subgenre played songs with very slow verses and choruses and then proceeded to play a relatively fast midsection. Here's a few examples:

My Dying Bride's classic "Sear Me" off their first full length, As the Flower Withers. "Sear Me" proceeds in typical ponderous fashion until 2:40. YouTube link: [1].
The opener from Anathema's debut album, Serenades - called "Lovelorn Rhapsody" - starting at 4:06. The YouTube link: [2].
Another Anathema song: the first track from the Pentecost III EP - "Kingdom" - starting at 7:27. Link: [3].

I'd also like to point out that Cathedral, an immediate predecessor to these bands, also used the inverted breakdown formula. Here's two examples:

"Comiserating the Celebration" from Forest of Equilibrium, beggining at 4:52. Link: [4].
"Frozen Rapture" from 1992's Soul Sacrifice EP, beggining at 3:50. Link: [5].

Links: [6]. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2804:D47:6117:3900:F1D2:FB01:FA6D:B8BA (talk) 13:00, 8 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thoughts? 189.49.246.34 (talk) 15:03, 6 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]