I love songs with enthralling crescendos. I just happened to be listening to Asia's "Holy War", which has one of my favourite crescendos in rock, and I thought this might make an interesting topic. The song's chorus is not nearly as rousing as the guitar work that starts off (at :25) the verses (as well as the singing of the verses themselves) at the beginning of the song and re-emerges with a bang at 1:27 and, most forcefully, after a long instrumental bridge, at 3:54. I particularly love the descending guitar riff that punctuates this last section. Amazing musicianship throughout. If only the chorus were more memorable.

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Please post some crescendos you love. As they occur to me, I'll pipe in with some more I really fancy.

Child in Time by Deep Purple.

Are we sure about our definition of "crescendo"? My background in music has led me to believe that the term is used in reference to volume itself building gradually, not the building of the song itself by adding instrumentation and layers of complexity. I didn't hear too many "crescendos" in that song.

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Foals - Spanish Sahara

I'm a little shaky on the term also. If we're talking about a section of the song that builds from soft to suddenly louder, it seems that it was a favorite technique employed by Pete Townshend.

Examples:

"Won't Get Fooled Again"...around 6:30, goes to solo organ/synth before gradually introducing a brief series of Moon's riffs before culminating in Daltrey's famous scream accompanied by power chords that lead into the ending section of power chords.

"Baba "O'Reilly"...the entire ending section with the violin growing more and more maniacal & faster until the song ends in a crashing crescendo (oxymoron?).

"Who Are You" has that soft middle section in which the echoing soft chants of the title are accompanied by soft keyboards (mainly piano) and then builds to power chords and Daltrey screaming the title.

Is this way off base from what is meant by "crescendo," music majors?

YYZ by Rush when the synths and strings kick in

"Future" by Paramore. Especially live.

King Crimson's "In the Court of the Crimson King" has those soft, melodic acoustic stanzas that end in a swelling crescendo. That one came to mind right away.

Live version from '71:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49RbvU3LbQk


And...not to be overly obvious...the Moody Blues made crescendos a staple. Just one of the most famous in pop/rock history:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9muzyOd4Lh8

And Queen's "We Are the Champions":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04854XqcfCY

Well, I'm not a musicologist, but several dictionaries I've consulted have defined it as "a gradual, steady increase in loudness or force", so my example refers to a rise in force or power, not volume. The song may not be the exemplar of a "crescendo", but I don't think another word exists that describes the phenomenon of the visceral build-up in that song or other songs with similar passages.

Yeah, I was trying to think of that one word, too. "Uplifting" is all I could come up with.

Maybe "uplifting", yes, but I think "rousing" or "invigorating" are better words.

Indubitably.

The end of Rocket by Smashing Pumpkins.

And La Villa Strangiato, especially live.

So, would the buildup to the last chord in "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles qualify? That was the first thing that came to mind.

Absolutely and that is a great one.

Yes, definitely. There are several in that song.

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This is not only a great crescendo, but it's a song that is an accurate musical depiction of an urban riot. I honestly feel it's a classical composition just as much as it's a great punk song. Do you remember in music class when they'd play some classical piece and say "doesn't this sound like a rainstorm?" (or some other event the composer was trying to imitate)? The Dead Kennedys' "Riot" literally sounds like a peaceful protest that gets more and more unruly as it goes on, becomes violent and chaotic, and the conclusion of the song sounds like the aftermath and cleanup.

I like psychedelic rock for this type of build up and then ecstatic release (that sounds sexual).

The fuzz guitar riff that kicks in at about 3:15 on this song is one of my favorite moments in rock:
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This entire song is essentially build/release:
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First one I thought of and am really surprised it took that long to get mentioned.

Another one I adore is this masterpiece by my friend Willie Nile. The entire song is a crescendo.

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