Physiological Effect of Music

[Parodygm]

Okay, this is a pretty weird topic title I admit, but I wanted to gauge other people's experience with music.

Does anyone else get that feeling, like a wave of energy up your spine that bursts out into the back of your brain and gives you a tingling musical high? No, I don't mean you have to be wasted when this happens either. :p

Only certain songs do this for me, but I almost always get the same reaction when I'm listening to those songs in a relaxed and receptive state. I'm sure there's something going on that's boosting natural opiates in my brain or something.

I highly doubt that anyone else who gets this sensation does so with the same songs. But here's a partial list of songs that definitely make me feel this way:

"Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd (guitar solo)
"The Host of Seraphim" by Dead Can Dance (especially at the "ah-ah-ah" section when it changes down pitch oddly for one phrase)
"Primal" by Slowdive (the building, climactic ending as the volume and distortion of the guitar crescendos while the subtle cello rhythm continues)
"Sigh's Smell of Farewell" by Cocteau Twins (particular the end section)
"Sweetness & Light" by Lush

[Hungryfreak]

I get that sort of sensation with my favorite songs, especially when it's being played at a concert. I've been noting it mostly when I listen to the intro of the Abigail album(by King Diamond). I think of it more as a feeling of excitement.

[floyd2406]

I know what you mean. There are only a few songs that has that effect on me.

Hearing Comfortably Numb while just released from intensive care for the first time. That song reflected everything I experienced at that moment. When that first guitar solo began I got shivers down my spine. Not hearing a guitar solo but a feeling I can't explain. Still have it when I hear it.

[FourstringOrion]

I know what your talking about, i only get that feeling from certain songs... Like only two songs

Orion - Metallica(Especially during the epic bass solo at the end)

Aces High - Iron Maiden(I don't know whats with this song, but it does give me that sensation throughout the whole song)

[WhiffleBallTony]

"Rime of the Ancient Mariner", "Hallowed Be Thy Name", "Phantom of the Opera", and "To Tame a Land" all by Iron Maiden do that for me. Just the complexity of the music, the amount of feeling Maiden plays it with, and Steve Harris' amazing ability to write epic music leave such a lasting effect on me. There are other bands/artists that make me feel that way, but Maiden nailed it. Just the way everything flows together perfectly is unbelievable.

[Fathoms]

Okay, this is a pretty weird topic title I admit, but I wanted to gauge other people's experience with music.

Does anyone else get that feeling, like a wave of energy up your spine that bursts out into the back of your brain and gives you a tingling musical high? No, I don't mean you have to be wasted when this happens either. :p

Only certain songs do this for me, but I almost always get the same reaction when I'm listening to those songs in a relaxed and receptive state. I'm sure there's something going on that's boosting natural opiates in my brain or something.

I highly doubt that anyone else who gets this sensation does so with the same songs. But here's a partial list of songs that definitely make me feel this way:

"Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd (guitar solo)
"The Host of Seraphim" by Dead Can Dance (especially at the "ah-ah-ah" section when it changes down pitch oddly for one phrase)
"Primal" by Slowdive (the building, climactic ending as the volume and distortion of the guitar crescendos while the subtle cello rhythm continues)
"Sigh's Smell of Farewell" by Cocteau Twins (particular the end section)
"Sweetness & Light" by Lush

Ah, nice selection of shoegazer here Parodym. Ambient music is at its most potent when you can slow down your own brainwaves to match... Unfortunately, I'm too lacking in self-discipline most of the time.

As much as people think I must be some type of druggie by the type of music I listen to, the truth is music is my drug. I go through withdrawl symptoms when I go without it. Irritability, restlessness etc...

Post-rock does that for me a lot. A song like 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong by Mogwai or Viorar Vel Till Loftarassa by Sigur Ros. It's just the economy of power in the genre, when the crescendos hit, it has a more substantial impact than traditional rock music which is typically more gratiutious. Its pretty sexual actually. build build build BUILD-delay-build buld build build BUILD - oh! God yes, yes yes yes YES!!!!1 - f a d e. . .

[defenestrater]

I'd have to say that pretty much all of Takk by Sigur Ros puts me in that state. I'd mention Godspeed You Black Emporer as well. The song Pink Steam by Sonic Youth does it to me too. There's probably a few others I can't think of off of the top of my head. I think Fathoms got it right though: its that sensation of things building and building and building, and then eventually, release.

[Parodygm]

Ah, nice selection of shoegazer here Parodym. Ambient music is at its most potent when you can slow down your own brainwaves to match... Unfortunately, I'm too lacking in self-discipline most of the time.

As much as people think I must be some type of druggie by the type of music I listen to, the truth is music is my drug. I go through withdrawl symptoms when I go without it. Irritability, restlessness etc...

Post-rock does that for me a lot. A song like 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong by Mogwai or Viorar Vel Till Loftarassa by Sigur Ros. It's just the economy of power in the genre, when the crescendos hit, it has a more substantial impact than traditional rock music which is typically more gratiutious. Its pretty sexual actually. build build build BUILD-delay-build buld build build BUILD - oh! God yes, yes yes yes YES!!!!1 - f a d e. . .

I know exactly what you mean on the druggie sentiment and concerning ambient music, I definitely find particular albums or pieces give me a very calming influence. My absolute favorite for a peaceful, relaxing bliss would be the album The Pearl by Harold Budd and Brian Eno.

Yeah, shoegazer and some post rock really do contain a lot of that kind of pulsating rhythmic element that probably does sync with our brainwaves at a very visceral level. Another good example in these genres for me would be "Fear of Flying" by Bowery Electric.

I'm only really just starting to experience some Sigur Ros. I really don't know why I haven't before - they've always been on my "to do" list.

[Chief Stubbs]

Only very certain songs give me that tingling feeling, usually epic songs that deal with depression, death, or suicide. I don't really relate to them, but they still chill me out.
Examples:
Hurt-Nine Inch Nails
Fade To Black-Metallica
I Won't See You Tonight pt. 1-Avenged Sevenfold
Hallowed Be Thy Name-Iron Maiden(Cradle of Filth one is even more chilling)

[JukeBoxHero]

I know what you mean by that, I got some songs that will make feel like that, others make me feel otherwise.

Instill Excitement
The Mars Volta-Roulette Dares(The Haunt Of)
Rush-Cygnus X1
Evile-Thrasher
Anthrax-Caught In A Mosh
The Who-My Generation
Blue Oyster Cult-7 Screaming Diz Busters
Helloween-Halloween

Songs that give that feeling you speak of
Blue Oyster Cult-(Don't Fear) The Reaper
Yes-Yours Is No Disgrace
Pink Floyd-Time
Yes-Close to the Edge
Yes-Everydays
Yes-Starship Trooper
Yes-I've Seen All Good People
Yes-America
Yes-Harold Land(I'll just say a lot of Yes' songs gives me the feeling you speak of).
Rush-Lakeside Park
Rush-Fly by Night
Rush-Twilight Zone
Rush-The Trees(Same reason with Yes)
King Crimson-Cat Food
King Crimson-In the Court of the Crimson King

My list is way too long, I'll stay now...

[guitarguru2112]

I think that this is an interesting thread. Some songs relax me while others just make me want to get up and play air-guitar. Here is my list:

Relaxing Songs
Beast of Burden- The Rolling Stones
Miss You- The Rolling Stones
The Battle of Evermore- Led Zeppelin
Thank You- Led Zeppelin
Stairway to Heaven- Led Zeppelin
Dream On- Aerosmith
Sweet Emotion- Aerosmith
When the Children Cry- White Lion
Wanted Dead or Alive- Bon Jovi

Exciting Songs
The Immigrant Song- Led Zeppelin
Dazed and Confused- Led Zeppelin
The Remains the Same- Led Zeppelin
Rock and Roll- Led Zeppelin
A Gypsy's Kiss- Deep Purple
Highway Star- Deep Purple
Burn- Deep Purple
Speed King- Deep Purple
Long Live Rock and Roll- Rainbow
Keep the Faith- Bon Jovi
Poison- Alice Cooper
Straight Through the Heart- Dio
Holy Diver- Dio
Too Young to Fall in Love- Motley Crue
Live Wire- Motley Crue

[onduvalst]

Songs that do that for me are most always connected to an event or memory.

Exciting Songs
Rock Me - Great White
You took the Words - Meatloaf
ThunderStruck - AC/DC
Fantasy - Aldo Nova
Run to the Hills - Iron Maiden
Devil Woman - Cliff Richards
Green Eyed Lady - SugarLoaf
Erotic City - Prince
Gimme Gimme Gimme - ABBA
Turbo Lover - Judas Priest
10001110101 - Clutch
My Life - Billy Joel
*Love Reign or'e Me - The Who

Relaxing
Escape - Rupert Holmes
On my Way - Rusted Root
Learning to Fly - Pink Floyd
A Pirate Looks at Forty - Jimmy Buffett (yes i am a pirate lol)
Spacegrass - Clutch
Sounds of Silence - Simon and Garfunkle

Spine Tinglers
alot of Pink Floyd lol
The Dance - Garth Brooks
Billion Dollar Babies - Alice Cooper
Red Strokes - Garth Brooks
Tears in Heaven - Eric Clapton
Along the Watchtower - Bob Dylan
Sun ain't going to shine - The Walker Brothers (long story its a harbinger of sorts lol)

I know theres more just can't remember :)
*edits

[CML207]

Stairway to Heaven does this for me...

[Fathoms]

Spacegrass - Clutch


You mean there's a song called Spacegrass and I haven't heard about it.

(four asterix and an exclamation point)

[ClassicRockFanatic23]

Quadrophenia, specificly Love Reign Ore Me, always make me feel sad, like REALLY sad. But it sort of a good sad. Hard to explain.

[onduvalst]

Quadrophenia, specificly Love Reign Ore Me, always make me feel sad, like REALLY sad. But it sort of a good sad. Hard to explain.
oh that reminds me I forgot to put that song on my list under Excited. :):p

[BhindBluEyes430]

I definatly know what you mean
The reason i listen to the Who is because it just gives you that feeling. I mean everytime i here those first guitar chords in Baba O'Riley I just want to break stuff

Some songs just move you right now its this song
Joe Strummer - Minstrel Boy
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GtazYlHhIVU The melody is perfect, I like that about Irish songs the melodys seem so natural

But other songs can actualy give you adrenaline as i have found while running ever other day.
The Faces- Around the Plynth (I know kenny jones sucked with The who but that beat is freking amazining \)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zAun0WoPNDU
I swear the other day I turned on Around the Plynth and ran for 4 min straight at full sprint. and Im a big guy so thats almost imposible for me

The Stones turd On the Run has a similar effect tho only for 2 min

[polishdog90]

Ah, nice selection of shoegazer here Parodym. Ambient music is at its most potent when you can slow down your own brainwaves to match... Unfortunately, I'm too lacking in self-discipline most of the time.

As much as people think I must be some type of druggie by the type of music I listen to, the truth is music is my drug. I go through withdrawl symptoms when I go without it. Irritability, restlessness etc...

Post-rock does that for me a lot. A song like 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong by Mogwai or Viorar Vel Till Loftarassa by Sigur Ros. It's just the economy of power in the genre, when the crescendos hit, it has a more substantial impact than traditional rock music which is typically more gratiutious. Its pretty sexual actually. build build build BUILD-delay-build buld build build BUILD - oh! God yes, yes yes yes YES!!!!1 - f a d e. . .

A bit off topic, but can you recommend some good post rock to me because I've only gotten into Explosions in the Sky and God is an Astronaut, but I've liked everything I've heard so far.

[medalofhonor]

Quite a few songs that put me in different moods. The songs that put me into more relaxed or nostalgic/sad moods are generally linked with memories, like:

Hold On Loosely - .38 Special
Seize The Day - Avenged Sevenfold
You - Breaking Benjamin
Honestly - Cartel
Cataracts - Drist
Eclipsed - Evans Blue
S.O.S - Good Charlotte
Wonderwall - Oasis
Vermillion Pt. 2 - Slipknot
The Hell Song - Sum 41
Roulette - System Of A Down
Let It Die - 3 Days Grace

But i think everybody's got at least a couple songs that get them hyped up, for whatever reason. I dont know about anybody else but for me these are always changing (unlike the relaxed/sad songs which generally dont change) and old songs that got me feeling like i wanted to pick up my guitar, turn the amp volume up all the way, and play along, usually lose their effect after a while.

Some songs that have had this effect recently or A.T.M.:

Joker And The Thief - Wolfmother
Animal I Have Become - 3 Days Grace
All Along The Watchtower - Bear McCreary (new Battlestar Galactica version)
All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
Hold On - Good Charlotte
Livin In Sin - Godsmack
Handlebars - Flobots
Cold (But I'm Still Here) - Evans Blue
I Believe In A Thing Called Love - The Darkness
Firefly - Breaking Benjamin
Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down
Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who
Livin On The Edge - Aerosmith

Personally, everyday i like to play some of the songs off of the latter list just after i've woken up, while im in the shower, about to go out, etc. Nothing like a little headbanging and jumping around like an idiot in the safety of your own home to start off the day right?? :D

Edit:

Forgot to list some songs in the past that have lost the effect (maybe because i havent heard them in a long time?) they used to have:

Blaze Of Glory - Bon Jovi
Empire - Queensryche
Rock Of Ages - Def Leppard

[Fathoms]

A bit off topic, but can you recommend some good post rock to me because I've only gotten into Explosions in the Sky and God is an Astronaut, but I've liked everything I've heard so far.

I forgot all about God is an Astronaught, I remember really liking them too. Another very EITS type band is This Will Destroy You. Though the post rock bands I'm most familiar with are essentially the big four: Mogwai, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Explosions the Sky and Sigur Ros. I've pretty much substisted on those bands for the better part of this decade because theirs just so much material to get through. Slint's 1991 album Spiderland is pretty seminal too. GYBE are likely the most grandiose, chilling, and brilliant of the batch, though they are also the most mood specific. Hearing your first Godspeed crescendo is on par with losing your virginity.

Wikipedia:
"The band took its name from God Speed You! Black Emperor, a little known 1976 Japanese black-and-white documentary by director Mitsuo Yanagimachi, which follows the exploits of a Japanese biker gang, the Black Emperors. The band is most commonly classified as post-rock, but they exhibit influences from a range of styles including progressive rock, punk, classical music and avant-garde. Each record consists of a few fairly long tracks (mostly between 15 and 25 minutes, but some as long as 29 minutes and some as short as 6), divided into "movements" which are sometimes specified in the record sleeve."

Mogwai are probably the most prolific and influential band in the genre however. Ep+2 was the first post-rock album I bought.

[polishdog90]

I forgot all about God is an Astronaught, I remember really liking them too. Another very EITS type band is This Will Destroy You. Though the post rock bands I'm most familiar with are essentially the big four: Mogwai, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Explosions the Sky and Sigur Ros. I've pretty much substisted on those bands for the better part of this decade because theirs just so much material to get through. Slint's 1991 album Spiderland is pretty seminal too. GYBE are likely the most grandiose, chilling, and brilliant of the batch, though they are also the most mood specific. Hearing your first Godspeed crescendo is on par with losing your virginity.

Wikipedia:
"The band took its name from God Speed You! Black Emperor, a little known 1976 Japanese black-and-white documentary by director Mitsuo Yanagimachi, which follows the exploits of a Japanese biker gang, the Black Emperors. The band is most commonly classified as post-rock, but they exhibit influences from a range of styles including progressive rock, punk, classical music and avant-garde. Each record consists of a few fairly long tracks (mostly between 15 and 25 minutes, but some as long as 29 minutes and some as short as 6), divided into "movements" which are sometimes specified in the record sleeve."

Mogwai are probably the most prolific and influential band in the genre however. Ep+2 was the first post-rock album I bought.

I forgot about Godspeed You! Black Emperor. I have 3 of their albums, but I haven't gotten all of the way through them yet. Since the last time I posted I got 2 Mogwai albums and they are really good. I'll look into This Will Destroy You, and Sigur Ros.

You should make a new thread about Post Rock since you seem to know a lot about it with Band/Album recommendations/discussions.

[guitarguru2112]

I was on a Rush rush the other day. It is like a sugar rush but with Rush music instead of sugar.

[HardRocker12]

These songs all do that kind of thing for me.

Toxicity- System Of A Down
You Know You're Right- Nirvana
March Of The Pigs- Nine Inch Nails
Critical Acclaim- Avenged Sevenfold
Settle For Nothing- Rage Against The Machine
Aneurysm- Nirvana
Stuff Is Messed Up- Offspring
I'm Eighteen- Alice Cooper

[JPink87]

Everytime I hear Fear of the Dark by Iron Maiden I get that feeling i dont know why but i was listening to it the other day in the car at the stop light and when it turned green i just sat there until a car blew at me..... And if you think thats bad you should see me when im listening to the live version of the song

[The_Little_Buster]

Pretty much I get that feeling any time I listen to Loveless.

[Gargoyle2500]

I think I know what you mean. The song is so awesome, It pumps adrenaline into you and you get goosebumps. This song, "Hot Nights" Does that to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chZgEIN30nk&feature=PlayList&p=B61FA0CFD7B33B74&index=7&fmt=18

Songs that give me that feeling:

Close To You (The cover that appears in the movie "Mirror Mask")
Drain You by Nirvana (Live on French TV version)
Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle by Nirvana
Heart Of Stone by Ted Mulry Gang
Hot Nights by Dave Evans and Thunder Down Under
It's Not Me Talking by A Flock Of Seagulls
Lacquer Head by Primus
Nightmares by A Flock Of Seagulls
Some Postman by The Presidents of the United States of America
The Kids Aren't Alright by The Offspring

Listening to relaxing songs can keep one calm. Have you ever heard the song Jamaica Rum by Ted Mulry Gang? No? You're in for a treat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuCwY3SxleY&feature=PlayList&p=A1995526978C6C8C&index=2&fmt=18

Relaxing songs:

Angel Eyes by Jeff Healy Band
Heart Of Glass by Blondie
I'll Follow The Sun by The Beatles
Jamaica Rum by Ted Mulry Gang
Kokomo by The Beach Boys
Lazy eyes by Ted Mulry Gang
Space Age Love Song by A Flock Of Seagulls
The More You Live, The More You Love by A Flock of Seagulls
Underground by Men At Work

[kwami42]

Recently I've noticed that when I try and sing (rap) along to Handlebars by Flobots, I get that massive chill down my spine many of you are describing...maybe it's the lyrics, I dunno.

Other songs that do that to me (just listening to them):

Ordinary High by City Sleeps
Viva la Vida by Coldplay
The Little Things Give You Away by Linkin Park (don't be hatin)
The View by Modest Mouse
Styrofoam Boots by Modest Mouse
3rd Planet by Modest Mouse
Tundra/Desert by Modest Mouse
Map of the Problematique by Muse
Pyramid Song by Radiohead
Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead
Sit Down Stand Up by Radiohead
Reckoner by Radiohead

Also, anything by Explosions In The Sky can do it if I'm focusing all my attention on the music