10 Hidden Details In Legendary Rock Songs

Beyond the riffs.

Metallica Master Of Puppets
Elektra Records

In the age of Pro Tools, it feels like every single rock song can be dissected one singular track at a time. You might think that a song might have a very simple structure, only to open up the actual mix and see a million different tracks flying by. Life was a little different in the golden age of rock and roll though, and some of the greatest songs of all time tended to have some funky moments in between the verse and chorus.

While the focus may have always been to come through with a classic track, every one of these songs has some subtle changes woven in there as well that you would have never thought to put on a professional recording. From random pieces that they had lying around the studio to creepy audio samples that somehow made it into the final mix, every single one of these cuts definitely have a few weird "instruments" that will make you want to rewind the track to here what you just heard.

The artists in question may have been going for a specific vibe with these sorts of songs, but there are also more than a few times where you'll be wondering if these guys are trying to pull a fast one on you. Then again, rock and roll was meant to be fun every now and again, and these songs are a lot more interesting once you here the little imperfections in between.

10. Empty Spaces - Pink Floyd

As soon as we figured out that you could play a song backwards, concerned parents started to have an absolute field day. Suddenly every single rock band to have ever existed were putting backwards messages into songs, telling you to either kill yourself or the band professing their love for Satanism, and getting more and more ridiculous by the day. That's not to say that some bands couldn't have a little bit of fun with it as well.

Although the Wall is not an album known for its humor most of the time, the track Empty Spaces has more than a few backwards messages in its sound design. In the context of the record, this might be representing how far Pink has fallen from reality, with the backwards messages just sounding like the dark void of space left over in his brain. When you look at what's actually being said there though, the band were more or less poking fun at everyone who looks for these kind of messages.

When played backwards, most of the line is followed by a bunch of white noise and one of their friends saying 'Congratulations, you've just discovered the secret message.' The Wall is a pretty heavy album and it might not be the most wholesome story ever told in rock and roll, but Pink Floyd were never meant to be a serious band all the time. This is rock and roll theater, and there's no shame in poking fun at the concept every now and again.

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