4 Legendary Classic Rock Tracks From the 70s That Sound Like Multiple Songs Crammed Into One

Rock music reached new levels of ambition and artistry in the 70s. Musicians were no longer content to churn out the same three chords and warmed-over lyrics. They went for the gusto, even within the confines of an individual song. These four 70s classic rock tracks are notable because they keep shifting shapes so that they seem like many songs crammed into one. See if you remember them.

“Stairway To Heaven” by Led Zeppelin

So many critics seemed bound and determined to criticize Led Zeppelin that they missed out on the extreme musical innovation that they brought to the table. Jimmy Page was a mastermind in terms of weaving textures and styles in and out of his creations. And he knew that his bandmates could handle whatever he threw at them. That all came to the fore on “Stairway To Heaven”, the centerpiece of the band’s masterpiece fourth album. Page’s love of the British folk scene rears its head in the early sections. There are a few connecting intermediate passages that subtly stir up the musical pot. By the end, it’s a rock maelstrom featuring Page’s pummeling guitar and Robert Plant’s wild wails contending for space.

“Band On The Run” by Paul McCartney & Wings

If anybody knew how to do the whole multipart song thing, it was Paul McCartney. He had pioneered the technique as a member of The Beatles, specifically on the second side of the Abbey Road album. And you could make a case for an earlier classic rock 70s McCartney song, “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey”, as one that easily could have fit this category. But “Band On The Run” is the more substantial song. It starts off in woeful ballad mode, briefly shifts into a menacing rock texture, adds in a little brass fanfare as a connecting piece, and ends in a blaze of pop glory. McCartney is there connecting it all with both his multi-instrumental wizardry and a fully engaged vocal performance.

“Scenes From An Italian Restaurant” by Billy Joel

Billy Joel never made any secret of his love of The Beatles’ music. That’s why it wasn’t too much of a surprise to see him branch out to his homage to the group, particularly that majestic second side of Abbey Road that we mentioned above. Like so many of the others on this list, Joel had several different, smaller songs lying around. It’s easy to say that you’ll just join them together. But Joel shows in this song the importance of the musical sections that take one part to the other. He manages to bring impressive grandeur to these small-scale slices of life. By the end, you feel like “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant” has taken you on a whirlwind, moving journey.

“Paradise By The Dashboard Light” by Meat Loaf

Jim Steinman came from the theater world. When the songwriter made his way into rock and roll with Meat Loaf as his vehicle, he took some of those tendencies with him. You can certainly hear that on “Paradise By The Dashboard Light”, the magnum opus of Meat Loaf’s Bat Out Of Hell album. You might need more than the fingers on two hands when you try to count all the musical motifs within this song. But they’re not just there for showiness’ sake. All the different tonal shifts mirror the highs and lows of the kid at the heart of the story trying to eke out some romance against all odds. And it helped that Steinman had Meat Loaf on his side to evoke all those emotions.

(Photo by Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage)

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