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From epic guitar solos to symphonic codas, these musical endings leave an unforgettable impression! Join us as we celebrate the most impressive and awesomely enduring examples of musical codas. Our countdown includes "Layla," "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Hotel California," "Stairway to Heaven," and many more unforgettable finales that keep echoing in our ears long after the song ends!
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most
00:09impressive and awesomely enduring examples of musical codas.
00:13It may be true that Sweden's ABBA was much more than just a disco band to a great many
00:39people, but there's also no denying how much the 70s-intensive musical movement influenced
00:45ABBA's creative direction.
00:46Cheeky Tita is taken from one of the group's most disco-influenced records, Voulez-vous,
00:51yet this song primarily resides within a balladic space.
00:56This is due primarily to the first part of Cheeky Tita, which is slow, melancholic and
01:01pensive.
01:02The song's ending, however, is much more positive and uplifting, and features a musical
01:14coda that reflects the sentiments.
01:17Hope and positivity are the name of the game as Cheeky Tita reaches its finale, and it's
01:22clear that this happy-slash-sad dynamic was intentional by ABBA.
01:36Number 19 Under the Bridge Red Hot Chili Peppers
01:49This is one of those Red Hot Chili Peppers songs that isn't simply among their most
01:53commercially successful, it's also a tune that's intrinsically linked to their identity
01:58as a band.
01:59This is another song that starts off slowly, with John Fruscianti's iconic opening guitar
02:04work setting the stage for Anthony Kiedis' confessional verses.
02:17It isn't until nearly the three-minute mark, where the band breaks loose for some jam-style
02:22instrumentation.
02:23The combination of this upbeat musical ending, combined with the almost choir-like vocal accompaniment,
02:29makes this outro to Under the Bridge work as a perfectly satisfying finale.
02:33Number 18 Cemetery Gates Pantera
02:44The call and response musical technique is put to outstanding work here within the ending
02:58of Cemetery Gates by Pantera.
03:00The much-missed Dimebag Daryl Abbott goes for a back-and-forth with vocalist Phil Anselmo,
03:05as the latter's high notes reach for the stars against Abbott's lead guitar.
03:10Then, in a moment that's almost poetic in its symbolism, it's Dimebag's guitar that
03:16ends up winning the battle.
03:25Soaring into the stratosphere and the resulting outro dive bomb just screams.
03:30Pantera fans will probably never forget the first time they heard Cemetery Gates, or how
03:35much it meant to them, and neither will we.
03:44Number 17 November Rain Guns N' Roses
03:48The success of Guns N' Roses' monstrous 1987 debut, Appetite for Destruction, essentially
04:03meant that they were going to retain a lot of creative control going forward in their career.
04:07The resulting album Double Shot of Use Your Illusion 1 and 2 both contained some of the band's
04:12most experimental work up until that point, including the epic November Rain.
04:25This is a song that features multiple movements as GNR indulges their innermost Queen fantasies,
04:32with the side helping of Sunset Strip sleeves.
04:35The orchestral accompaniment is pure bombast, as it backs up Slash's all-time classic outro
04:41solo, a mirror image against the man's earlier iconic rip in front of a deserted church.
04:47It's pure cinematic musical overkill, the likes of which we may never see again.
04:52Number 16 God Only Knows The Beach Boys
05:04There's an almost mantra-like rhythm to the ending of God Only Knows by The Beach Boys,
05:18a hypnotic lull that's impossible to resist.
05:21This masterpiece composition from Brian Wilson and Tony Asher is widely considered to be one
05:26of the best songs ever written, despite its length of just under three minutes.
05:31Yet so much occurs within this time.
05:34From gorgeous vocal harmonies, to the alternative percussive elements of sleigh bells and even
05:39juice cuffs.
05:40It's the repetition of that final chorus that forever reverberates within the hearts and minds
05:54of Beach Boys devotees, a gorgeously melodic echo that's warm and utterly inviting.
06:08Number 15 Mr. Blue Sky
06:11Electric Light Orchestra
06:13Sprawling double albums were commonplace back in the heyday of 1970s rock, with Out of the Blue
06:27being a particularly successful one for Electric Light Orchestra.
06:31Side three of that album featured an epic length composition titled Concerto for a Rainy Day,
06:36the last of which was a little tune called Mr. Blue Sky.
06:40This has gone on to become one of the most successful and popular tunes from ELO's history,
06:45having been repurposed for many TV shows and movies.
06:56Mr. Blue Sky is honestly an embarrassment of riches.
06:59From that driving beat to its ultra-cool vocal harmonies, it's that epic orchestral ending,
07:05with bonus vocoder awesomeness that serves as the proverbial cherry on the cake,
07:10ending things with a proper sturm and drang.
07:21Number 14 Fade to Black
07:23Metallica
07:24It may sound difficult to believe today, but Metallica actually received more than their fair share of blowback in 1984 for including a ballad on their sophomore effort, Ride the Lightning.
07:43Diehard thrash metal fans bemoaned the band's apparent selling out on the track Fade to Black,
07:48but that track is now rightly considered to be a classic from Metallica's catalogue, so that shows what they knew.
07:54Fade to Black is more of a moody and melancholic piece than anything traditionally balladic in scope.
08:08Meanwhile, the song's fiery ending sequence proved that Metallica was in no way, shape or form abandoning thrash metal for the pop charts.
08:18At least, not yet.
08:30Number 13
08:32Baba O'Reilly
08:33The Who
08:42A lot of attention, justifiably of course, has been paid to the extended intro to The Who's Baba O'Reilly.
08:49This classic jam from The Who also contains an equally iconic outro, a jig that combines Keith Moon's manic drumming alongside some frenetic violin from Dave Arbus, on loan from progressive jazz rockers East of Eden.
09:03It almost makes it easy to forget how awesome the middle of Baba O'Reilly is, as well since the whole composition is basically one of classic rock's most well-regarded epic masterpieces.
09:22It's a hat trick of separate pieces that come together to make a whole, anchored by The Who's expert musicianship.
09:37Number 12
09:38Purple Rain
09:39Prince and the Revolution
09:41Here's a question, is Purple Rain by Prince and the Revolution basically one long guitar solo?
09:56Well, not really, but it's perhaps easy to label it as such, if only to how the Purple One's extended instrumental freakout went on to become the stuff of legend.
10:06Purple Rain is basically a song of halves, the buildup of that beginning, where Prince's vocals are the focus, and that En Fuego finale.
10:22The closing solo to this song is soulful, aggressive, melodic, and more.
10:26Sometimes, all at once, it's a reckoning of Prince's enviable musical abilities as he shreds that guitar for all he's worth.
10:36Number 11
10:44Don't Fear the Reaper
10:46Blue Oyster Cult
10:47They were among the Outsiders, a cerebral and dynamic rock band from the 70s that were influenced by science fiction, comic books, and high fantasy.
11:03Blue Oyster Cult were also responsible for crafting one of that decade's best radio hits with Don't Fear the Reaper.
11:10Sure, it may also exist within the same space as its famous SNL parody, but this song's iconic opening guitar line is tempered with an equally epic outro section.
11:20The sustained guitar that resounds out of the solo sets the stage for this song's final verse.
11:32Meanwhile, bassist Joe Bouchard spreads out over the guitar harmonies and pounding drums to help create rock history.
11:39create rock history.
11:48Number 10
11:49Freebird
11:50Freebird
11:51Leonard Skinner
11:52The members of Leonard Skinner spent nearly half the running time of their massive hit Freebird in solo mode, rocking out with Reckless Abandon.
12:09And sure, frontman Ronnie Van Zant's verses on the first half of Freebird are outstanding, but who are we kidding?
12:16You all came to hear Skinner jam the F out on Freebird, preferably for an extended amount of time.
12:22The band's episode of VH1's Behind the Music discussed just how much these good ol' boys practiced during their lean years, and this hard work was clearly seen within the final results of Freebird and its absolutely fire ending.
12:44Number 9
12:53Riders on the Storm
12:55The Doors
12:56We can't think of a better way to remember the creative partnership of The Doors better than this late period hit from their final album released with Jim Morrison,
13:13during his lifetime.
13:14Riders on the Storm benefits greatly from keyboardist Ray Manzarek's decision to use a Fender Rhodes electric piano on the track, since it adds a sumptuous warmth to what's already an incredibly evocative tune.
13:36Manzarek enjoys a fantastic extended solo section, while Morrison's haunting vocals are tracked alongside an equally creepy whisper.
13:45Finally, the outro pitter-patter of pouring rain is atmospheric as heck, closing the book on an era for The Doors' iconic style of psychedelic rock.
13:55Number 8
14:04Sweet Child O' Mine
14:06Guns N' Roses
14:07There's a laundry list of influences that permeate the music of Guns N' Roses to the point where this variety eventually seeped into the complexity of their arrangements.
14:25There were no real compositional road signs that might lead one to believe that the end of Sweet Child O' Mine is about to go where it goes.
14:32No signal that Axl Rose and the boys are about to switch things up with the Where Do We Go section after the lead break.
14:39Yet it's this decision that turned Sweet Child O' Mine from a great song to a tune that helped define a generation.
14:45Then again, this was also the band that decided to end the infamously sleazy Rocket Queen with a heartfelt melodic outro.
15:00Pure genius.
15:01The creative partnership of Pink Floyd members Roger Waters and David Gilmour was known to be challenging and adversarial at times,
15:28but it was their collaboration on Comfortably Numb that helped this tune work so well.
15:33The orchestral elements favored by Waters blend well with Gilmour's more rock-focused approach to songwriting.
15:39Meanwhile, the latter's notably emotive style of lead guitar playing shines on the outro section of Comfortably Numb.
15:46Gilmour's solo here is widely considered by Floyd fans as one of the man's best.
16:00A soaring performance that runs through a gamut of evocative feelings as Comfortably Numb fades out.
16:06Number 6 Hotel California Eagles
16:19The history of harmonized guitar playing dates way back to the country, bluegrass, and early rock and roll pioneers of decades past.
16:35Fast forward to the 1970s and Hotel California by the Eagles included a notable harmonized coda at the end of this all-time classic soft rock jam.
16:45Joe Walsh and Don Felder steal the show here as Hotel California comes to a close, sealing the deal after a series of iconic verses from drummer vocalist Don Henley.
16:55This is one of those radio rock staples that continues to be played on terrestrial airwaves today, with listeners always anticipating Hotel California's triumphant final section.
17:17Number 5 The Chain Fleetwood Mac
17:31Never break, never break the chain
17:35It's John McVie's bassline that anchors this finale to Fleetwood Mac's all-time banger, The Chain.
17:45The group's fractured romantic dynamic was laid bare on their supremely successful Rumors LP, while the opening sections of The Chain are crafted with wonderful vocal harmonies.
17:55Finally, the rocked-out coda section that's announced by McVie allows for Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, and Christine McVie to come together once again, delivering musical magic as their voices join up with the song's instrumentation.
18:17There have been many amazing songs written by this collective over the years, but The Chain has to be among their very best.
18:24Number 4 Bohemian Rhapsody Queen
18:37This one has to be one of the most obvious inclusions on this list, thanks to the notable history of just how much work went into crafting Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.
18:53The arrangements here are startlingly progressive for a major commercial work, incorporating numerous movements, such as a rock operetta, within its nearly six-minute running time.
19:04The song is vocally driven, for the most part, while also featuring that head-bangable hard rock section near the finale.
19:20Queen's group vocals come back to bid an official farewell to the song, however, as frontman Freddie Mercury proves once again that he was unlike any other stadium rock singer, no matter the era.
19:33Nothing really matters to me.
19:40Number 3 A Day in the Life The Beatles
19:53The uncompromising creative spirit of The Beatles only became stronger as the 1960s drew to a close.
19:59These lads fully embraced the album format, abandoning pop life for more progressive avenues on albums like Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and non-album single hits such as Hey Jude.
20:10The former has gone down as a true example of The Beatles working together with their producer George Martin to craft music that made a statement.
20:25A Day in the Life was also notable for that iconic deep note ending that sounds deep and rich, enveloping the listener and transforming them into an almost hypnotic state.
20:36Number 2 Stairway to Heaven Led Zeppelin
20:49Led Zeppelin
20:50It's perhaps one of the most famous guitar solos of all time, a hard-rocking climax to what's essentially a pastoral folk song.
21:05Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven is one of those prototypical power ballads, a soft and inviting epic that provides a determined build to an all-out fiery climax.
21:16Leonine frontman Robert Plant joins up with Jimmy Page's guitar pyrotechnics to howl for the skies as Stairway to Heaven reaches down to hell for heavy metal inspiration.
21:26Then, as if to bring it all back to that soft beginning, Plant sings us out, unaccompanied, as Stairway takes its rightful place amongst the best rock songs of all time.
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22:081. Layla – Derek and the Dominoes
22:14There's a lot of interesting controversy behind the composition of Layla, specifically the famous ending piano coda that occurs after the rock half of the tune.
22:31Drummer Jim Gordon took credit for the piece, but multiple sources have claimed that the troubled skins man for Derek and the Dominoes actually stole the idea from his then-girlfriend, Rita Coolidge.
22:42Granted, this takes little away from how the piece works to bookend Eric Clapton's hard-rocking work on the first part of Layla.
22:57However, it is interesting to hear how Rita Coolidge's sister Priscilla would go on to record her own version with the legendary Booker T. Jones in 1973.
23:06Do you recall any of these iconic endings long after they've stopped echoing in your ears?
23:20Let us know in the comments.
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