15 of youtube's best isolated music tracks _ l.a

12/5/2015 15 of YouTube's Best Isolated Music Tracks | L.A. Weekly

http://www.laweekly.com/music/these-15-isolated-tracks-from-famous-songs-will-blow-your-mind-5533565 1/4

BY MATT WAKE

THESE 15 ISOLATED TRACKS FROM FAMOUSSONGS WILL BLOW YOUR MIND

TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2015 | 7 DAYS AGO

Stevie Wonder's Clavinet: even cooler when it's the only thing you're hearing

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As any good music geek knows, YouTube is a treasure trove of isolated tracks a single

vocal or instrument lifted from a familiar song, sometimes from the master tapes, sometimes

pulled out of the mix by an enterprising amateur sound engineer. It's a fascinating, stark and

entirely new context in which to hear a guitar solo, drum pattern or lead vocal that was

heretofore as familiar as your couch. Sometimes the revelations are impressive. Sometimes

less so.

A YouTube search for isolated tracks nets 35,700 results, including Stings Message in a

Bottle bass, Adele's Rolling in the Deep" vocals, Notorious B.I.G.s Machine Gun Funk rap

and a surprising amount of Dream Theater. So curating a list of the best-ever isolated tracks is



and a surprising amount of Dream Theater. So curating a list of the best-ever isolated tracks is

a vast and somewhat impossible task. And here goes!

The Rolling Stones, Gimme Shelter vocals

Mick Jaggers multiple vocal personas can sell a song even better than his stellar stagecraft,

but the best vocal performance ever on a Stones song belongs to someone else. New Orleans-

born soul singer Merry Claytons reaches hallelujah bliss at the 1:46 mark in the doomy

Gimme Shelter. Note Jaggers enthusiastic exclamation immediately afterwards. Micks

witchy intro (0:12 in) and Brit-blues belting are also impressive. Clayton would later give

Skynyrds Sweet Home Alabama extra oomph, as well.

Stevie Wonder, Superstition Clavinet

The Hohner Clavinet D6 keyboard is inherently funky. In the hands of R&B genius Stevie

Wonder, it sounds like a robot spider thats been turned loose after ingesting a gram of coke

and two ecstasy tabs. Wonder reportedly overdubbed around six Clavinet tracks on

Superstition. The 1972 cut remains undeniable to this day, no matter how many Caucasians

dance badly to it at wedding receptions.

The Beatles, Helter Skelter lead vocal

Paul McCartneys vocals are so unhinged on Helter Skelter that a struggling Los Angeles

musician named Charles Manson thought The Beatles were trying to send him secret

messages via this song. (And others from the 1967 Fab Four LP best-known as 5IF8IJUF

"MCVN.) At about 2:32, McCartney appears to have invented hair-metal shrieking. This after

inventing punk-rock only about 0:12 in. Dude, take it easy youre supposed to be the Cute

Beatle!

Duran Duran, Rio synth

You can almost hear the black lacquer here. Nick Rhodes refracted synthesizer work on the

title track from Duran Durans monster 1983 album perfectly matches the discs stylized cover

art, designed by Patrick Nagel. Rhodes reportedly used a Roland Jupiter-4 synth on the song.

Just FYI: If youre looking to start a DD tribute band, Jupiter-4s usually go for around $3,000

to $4,500 on eBay.

Van Halen, Somebody Get Me a Doctor guitar

You can assemble a respectable isolated tracks best-of list from Eddie Van Halen guitar parts

alone. The easy choice which we considered is Eddies wildfire solo from Michael

Jacksons 1982 number-one hit Beat It, perhaps The Gloved Ones greatest single of all time.

But those 32 seconds are burned into the DNA of virtually everyone whos ever heard them.

Guitar geeks and otherwise will hear Somebody Get Me a Doctor with fresher ears. From the

first three aircraft-carrier-sized chords, Eddies wicked tone and vastly underrated rhythm

playing is at the forefront. About 0:33 in, he begins a helicopter-blade rhythm. At 1:15, EVH

starts another patterned accented with volume swells, which have the effect of sounding like

time is being reversed. And then Eddie literally makes the hair on the back of your neck stand

up with the first licks of his solo at 1:26.

The Jackson 5, ABC vocals

Michael Jackson was only around 11 years old when he cut this jaw-dropping performance.

Yeah, the pre-puberty thing helped hit those helium-high notes, but what made Jackson such



Yeah, the pre-puberty thing helped hit those helium-high notes, but what made Jackson such

a musical phenom was the natural, worldlyfeel at least a decade beyond his years he

brought to his singing at such an early age.

Whitney Houston, How Will I Know vocals

This isolated vocal almost sounds better than the entire mixed 1985 track from which its

taken, which is marred by gaudy '80s production. Houstons pre-debauchery upper-register

sparkles like church stained glass. She reportedly sang her own background vocals on How

Will I Know, a George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam composition originally intended for

Janet Jackson, forming an all-Whitney choir. Her melisma curves without detouring into Diva

City. And check out the cloud-piercing climb beginning at 2:49.

Beasties Boys, Hey Ladies vocals

The next time some jackass in the next cubicle tries to tell you theres no art to rapping, cue

up this clip. Beastie Boys Ad-Rock, MCA and Mike D were masters of vocal orchestration and

cadence, and with the platform-shoes-and-wah-wah jive removed from Hey Ladies, these

talents are super-pronounced. Its interesting how the Beasties individual vocal tones and

personalities were so distinct, yet laced together as slickly as a pair of Air Jordan shoelaces.

Deep Purple, Space Truckin organ

If The Devil ever opens a disco, he should play music like this. Deep Purple keyboardist Jon

Lord opens Space Truckin with a dramatic pattern and hairy, overdriven tone. At 0:33, Lord

segues into a gliding boogie thing which at 0:57 disintegrates into an insane riff that sounds

like that coked-out robot spider from Stevie Wonders Superstition has grown to 90 times

its original size and is now biting the heads off every bell-bottom-wearing human in sight.

Dio, Holy Diver vocals

The king of the blues, Ronnie James Dio. 8BJUXIBU One of metals most metallic voices

begins his signature song with a few juke-joint ad libs before spreading bat-wings to ascend

into menacing vibrato. Dios syncopated growls swell into overdubbed oscillation during the

choruses, like at 0:36, for example. The late great singers performance is dramatic without

ever getting hammy.

Guns N Roses, Welcome to the Jungle guitars

Its the echoed, descending guitar line thats rocked hundreds of arena-rock concerts and

thousands of stadium sporting events. Played, of course, by Slash (in the right channel), who is

now not only a six-string legend but also a brand. At 0:09 bluesy, laid-back bends (in the left

channel) introduce the least famous member of Guns N Roses 1987-1991 prime lineup, Izzy

Stradlin. Around 0:18 Slash returns to windmill chords in time with Stradlin. Then, at 0:32, the

duo merge into the savage riff that gives Jungle so much attitude you could play it on a

kazoo and sound like a badass. Its fascinating to hear how the two guitarists' slighting

differing rhythm add to the songs serpentine hiss. And during an era when Spandex guitar-

flash was de rigor, Slashs well-paced, soulful solos, which begin at 1:34 and 2:39, initiated a

welcome return to more tasteful playing.

Led Zeppelin, Fool in the Rain drums

Led Zeppelin is one of few bands where a case can be made for each musician in the group

being the best ever at their respective primary instrument within the rock genre. Of all of

them, John Bonham probably comes closest to earning such an accolade. The main dusky



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them, John Bonham probably comes closest to earning such an accolade. The main dusky

shuffle on "Fool in the Rain" which starts here at 0:14 is hardly byzantine. But Bonhams

pocket was huge and a major reason Zep moved so many people. And check out the roll at

1:26 and 2:10, a hook onto itself, leading into jazz-cymbal technique. While Bonzos groove

never stops, unfortunately this isolated track ends before the songs vibrant samba coda

begins.

Heart, Barracuda lead vocal

This is where Ann Wilson out-Robert-PlantsRobert Plant. The Heart singer scorches her

microphone with a Valkyrie yelp, first introduced at 0:24 and 0:31 on Barracuda, sister-led

band Hearts flagship number. Like a lot of hard rock vocal tracks, this one is doused in echo,

which add to the powerful, airborne aesthetic of Wilsons pipes. With most of the

instrumentation out of the mix, some curious references to porpoises in the lyrics are easier to

make out but hey, try to read some of Plants Tolkien-inspired Zeppelin lyrics without

laughing out loud.

Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit vocals

Theres 38 seconds of complete silence at the beginning... then that eloquent rasp eases in.

Twenty years after his death, Kurt Cobains vocals still sound as stirring as ever, especially

when isolated from Nirvanas punk-metal stomp. The multi-tracked IFMMPIFMMPIFMMPIPX

MPXT sound much more out-there unaccompanied. Its also interesting hearing the numerous

punch-ins on the track. Cobains acidic howl ignites the songs chorus beginning at 1:10, and

from 4:34 on, its all catchy catharsis.

Rush, YYZ drums

Did you really think we were going to omit this virtuosic Canadian power-trio? Prepare to

enter sensei Neil Pearts drum dojo. To avoid receiving angry corrective emails from

[email protected], we're going to steer clear of any technical descriptions of Pearts

playing on this instrumental tune from Rushs breakthrough 1981 LP .PWJOH1JDUVSFT. But in

nontechnical terms, the YYZ drums evoke trigonometry, jazz, boxing and Keith Moon being

hybridized in centrifuge.

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15 of youtube's best isolated music tracks _ l.a

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