Favorite Song Trilogies

[Josh]

Pretty self-explanatory.

U2
The Joshua Tree
Streets- I still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For- With or Without You

U2
Achtung Baby!
Ultraviolet- Acrobat- Love is Blindness

U2
Pop
Discotheque- Do You Feel Loved- Mofo

REM
Reveal
She Just Wants to Be- Disappear- Saturn Return

REM
Automatic
Man on the Moon- Nightswimming- Find the River

REM
Life's Rich Pageant
Begin the Begin- These Days- Fall on Me

Over the Rhine
Good Dog Bad Dog
Latter Days- All I Need is Everything- Etcetera Whatever

Radiohead
OK Computer
Climbing Up the Walls- No Surprises- Lucky

Sam Phillips
Fan Dance
The Fan Dance- Edge of the World- Five Colors

Nichole Nordeman
This Mystery
This Mystery- Tremble- Fool for You



 

[beautifulmess]

Derek Webb
She Must and Shall Go Free
Nobody Loves Me-She Must And Shall Go Free-Take To The World  

Jars of Clay
The Eleventh Hour
The Eleventh Hour-These Ordinary Days-The Edge Of Water  

Nichole Nordeman
Wide Eyed
To Know You-Wide Eyed-Who You Are  

Jennifer Knapp
The Way I am
By and By-Breathe on Me-The Way I Am  

Remy Zero
The Golden Hum
Glorious #1-Out/In- Bitter  

I noticed that most of my three songs are at the beginning of albums. Hmmm....
Oh, and I agree with you on the Joshua Tree.




 

[Josh]

Good call on The Eleventh Hour.

[bloop]

Radiohead - "Paranoid Android", and from "Kid A", EIIRP-]KA-]TNA
"Paranoid Android" is a trilogy in itself.

Pink Floyd - "Dark Side of the Moon" (final three tracks)

Beatles - "Revolver" (also, last three tracks), "Abbey Road" (last three real tracks..."Her Majesty" doesn't count)

The U2 stuff already mentioned in this thread.

[Josh]

"Paranoid Android" is a trilogy in itself.

Then I guess we could say the same about "Happiness is a Warm Gun"?

[Guest]

Mine may lean a bit more to the hip hop side than most of yours...


Joey the Jerk-Average Joe
 Shut Up and Dance----Greenish Blue----Journey----


John Reuben-Are We There Yet
 Divine Inspiration----Do Not----No Regrets

Jason Mraz-Waiting for My Rocket to Come
 You and I Both----I'll Do Anything----The Remedy

Grits-The Art of Translation
 Oooh Ahh----Runnin----Tennessee Bwoys

Coldplay-A Rush of Blood to the Head
 God Put a Smile on Your Face----Scientist----Clocks

Lifehouse-Stanley Climbfall
 Take Me Away----My Precious----Empty Space

Switchfoot-The Beautiful Letdown
 Gone----On Fire----Adding to the Noise

Musiq-Juslissen
 Religious----Babygirl----Halfcrazy

LA Symphony-Call it What You Want
 Champion Birdwatchers----Very Expensive----San Diego



 

[cbluejays]

weird...I thought I was logged in for the above post...  

[bloop]

"Paranoid Android" is a trilogy in itself.

Then I guess we could say the same about "Happiness is a Warm Gun"?

Yes, we could.  That's a good "trilogy in one song" thing too.

The Trinity is like "Paranoid Android".  Hey, it's as good as the "cherry pie" analogy.

[Josh]

Just out of curiosity, bloop, what do you think ties the three sections of "Android" together? That is, what's the common thread that makes them fit together as one piece of music? I think the lyrics probably tell one story, but is there anything musically?

[bloop]

It is the underlying "story"...the lyrics.  The music is clearly separated into three sections.  It still coheres in spite of that, though, so I have no choice but to attribute its unity as a song to the lyrics.

You can kind of think of it the same way you might think of movements in a symphony.  Those can often change greatly from movement to movement, but the songs still gel.

On the other hand, much of the classical music I'm thinking about is only music and they cohere, so your question is tough.  Give me time to think about that . . . others can as well.

[Josh]

You can kind of think of it the same way you might think of movements in a symphony. Those can often change greatly from movement to movement, but the songs still gel.

You know, in some ways, I think Radiohead's music has more in common with classical stuff than with pop music.  

[bloop]

hmm...that seems a bit too far, but maybe.  I'll have to think about that.  I've always considered Radiohead a pop/rock band.

I'm actually on Radiohead sabbatical right now...giving them a rest for other CDs in my collection.  My moods come in cycles and right now I don't have much desire to listen to Radiohead.  Andree just sent me Delopolous's CD...I'm liking that one.  I just really got into The Velvet Underground.  They're strange so suffice it to say I love them...listening to a lot of U2, The Smiths, and Sonic Youth as well.

[beautifulmess]

Coldplay-A Rush of Blood to the Head
 God Put a Smile on Your Face----Scientist----Clocks

Switchfoot-The Beautiful Letdown
 Gone----On Fire----Adding to the Noise

 

I second those!  

[Nathan]

Sixpence None The Richer
Sixpence None The Richer
"We Have Forgotten" - "Anything" - "The Waiting Room"

Iona
Open Sky
"Songs of Ascent" all three parts

Jars of Clay
Jars of Clay
"Flood" - "Worlds Apart" - "Blind"

Chasing Furies
With Abandon
"Throw Me" - "I Would Drown" - "A Fair Night's Longing"

Over The Rhine
Good Dog, Bad Dog
"Latter Days" - "All I Need Is Everything" - "Etcetera, Whatever"

[Josh]

Iona
Open Sky
"Songs of Ascent" all three parts

Yes. I should be thrown into the Pit of Despair for forgetting this one. Good catch.

Over The Rhine
Good Dog, Bad Dog
"Latter Days" - "All I Need Is Everything" - "Etcetera, Whatever"

There has probably never been a more heartbreaking 15 minutes of pop music ever recorded.

[murlough23]

I second the vote for Iona's "Songs of Ascent" trilogy. A lot of Iona songs are trilogies in and of themselves, including "Castlerigg", "Bird of Heaven", "Encircling", "Man", and of course, "Trilogy".

Evanescence's instrumental "Eternal" is also a decent example of a triolgy contained within a single song. I love how the upbeat portion is a continuation of "Away from Me", and the slow, dirge-like guitar part at the end uses a slowed-down version of the melody from "Field of Innocence". And the delicate piano-and-thunder interlude in the middle is just plain sweet.

This doesn't entirely count, but dc Talk really uses the last three tracks on Supernatural to unify the album's theme - "Supernatural", "Red Letters", and the poem "There Is a Treason at Sea". The word "supernatural" shows up in all three, and though they're all musically very different and probably not an intentional "trilogy", they bring a stellar climax to one of my favorite albums.

Sixpence's self-titled album has an "official trilogy" in its first three tracks, "We Have Forgotten", "Anything", and "The Waiting Room", which are all relatively low-key given their placement on the album, but flow together beautifully. An "unofficial" trilogy shows up later in "Sister, Mother", "I Won't Stay Long", and "Love", which also flow together nicely, but I don't enjoy that group as much.

The final portion of Extreme's III Sides to Every Story, "Rise 'n Shine", "Am I Ever Gonna Change?", and "Who Cares?", really make the entire album worthwhile. Forget "More than Words" - this is where the band's true talent was.

Tool also has a pretty good trilogy near the end of Lateralus, comprised of "Disposition", "Reflection", and "Triad".

If trilogies aren't enough for you, check out Dream Theater's 8-part suite "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence", found on Disc Two of the album by the same name.

In general, I love sets of songs that are purposefully tied together, though sometimes this doesn't work as well (see "The Other Side of Me" --> "Breathe in Me" --> "Angels Unaware" from Michael W. Smith's I'll Lead You Home).

NP: "She", ZoeGirl

[smartash]

what makes a music trilogy? did i miss this concept? or is it any three songs on an album that seem to mesh well together chronologically?

[murlough23]

what makes a music trilogy? did i miss this concept? or is it any three songs on an album that seem to mesh well together chronologically?

Generally a song that is broken into three distinctive parts or movements (may sometimes be separate tracks). Generally I don't consider any old group of three consecutive songs to be a "trilogy" as some do, though there are occasions when I call tell a group of songs was placed together for a very specific reason, especially if the music doesn't fade to complete silence between songs (i.e. the band pulls off some sort of clever segue).

Even though it's not an intentional "trilogy", I have to say from a musical standpoint that I love the Newsboys' one-two-three punch of "Cornelius" --> "Fad of the Land" --> "John Woo" on Thrive. Too bad they had to end the album with a comparatively boring song after that.

NP: "Could I Be You", Matchbox 20

[Josh]

When I started this thread I was really just thinking of three songs that gel together well, but David's stricter definition of the term is probably much better.

[oneafroboy]

A lot of good trilogies mentioned. I'd also add dcTalk's incredible dynamic finale in Jesus Freak as a superb trilogy. "In the Light", "What Have We Become" and "Mind's Eye" fit together really well (the whole album is quite good actually); however, I doubt they were meant purposely as a trio.

I would also say that tracks 1-5 on Joshua Tree are stunning and fit well together. But I know that 5 of anything is not a trilogy.  

[bloop]

I like segues, too, but a lot of them seem pretty contrived to me...a way to connect two songs that have no other connection.

[murlough23]

I would also say that tracks 1-5 on Joshua Tree are stunning and fit well together. But I know that 5 of anything is not a trilogy.

Unless you read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

[bloop]

Unless you read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

or if the tracks are divided in a way that doesn't make sense to its being a trilogy, but it still is one.  I can't name anything like this, but it is possible.