The 10 greatest orchestral rock songs of all time
Most of the greatest rock songs revolve around guitars, bass and drums. Even though many bands tend to utilise unconventional instruments, there aren’t too many classic rock tunes that can’t be delivered effectively with just those three instruments being utilised simultaneously. After bands like Metallica and The Beatles wet their feet with classical instruments, though, there was no limit to where they would go next.
Throughout rock history, many bands have created their best work by moving out of their wheelhouse and into symphonic music. While some may have used a cello here or a violin there, these songs were where nothing was off the table, eventually bringing in an entire orchestra to translate their songs to the public.
Although many artists would get claims of selling out by straying too far away from their sound, it’s always about how the instruments are being used. Instead of providing a melodramatic edge to a ballad, the key to the song’s success usually comes from how well they compliment the rest of the instruments, either playing off the vocal or making brilliant use of the interplay between the guitars and bass.
From the sounds of metal to the beginnings of baroque pop, these tracks helped prove that symphonic instruments had a place beyond the traditional fugues they were being asked to play. Rock and rollers may not have been thrilled then, but hearing an artist move from a traditional guitar riff to sweeping strings is the clearest sign of musical maturity.
10 best orchestral rock songs:
10. ‘November Rain’ – Guns N’ Roses
Across Guns N’ Roses’ Use Your Illusion, the band could claim to have jumped the shark more than a few times. After becoming one of the biggest names on The Sunset Strip, Axl Rose’s idea to bring together sweeping epics after songs like ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ led to massive creative disagreements, culminating in one of the most lavish tours any rock band has ever conducted. Although the group may have been able to hold it together on record, ‘November Rain’ was the first moment of brilliance between the band and the orchestra.
Based around a musical piece that Rose had been toying with before Appetite for Destruction, the song feels like a natural extension of something Elton John might have done on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Although the group may play the song as an understated ballad throughout most of the song’s nine minutes, it’s the final section that turns the track from a vanity project to a rock and roll classic.
Featuring a dramatic shift in mood, Rose changes the song’s key before Slash comes in with one of the most excellent guitar solos of his career, descending various scales to create the sound of the listener being pulled down to Hell. Although ‘November Rain’ may have been meant as a breakup song, the amount of effort they put into this one track is better served to a Romeo and Juliet couple than Sid and Nancy.
9. ‘Night in White Satin’ – The Moody Blues
Towards the mid-1960s, bands were just getting used to using sounds that weren’t the traditional rock instrumentation. While the Kinks may have been able to make phenomenal singles with a snarling guitar, the more adventurous bands were looking to make songs that took the genre to new heights. While Procul Harum may have gotten bit by the classic bug on ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’, the sounds of baroque rock weren’t solidified until The Moody Blues got ahold of it.
While anything from Days of Future Passed would have been enough for this list, ‘Nights in White Satin’ represents the emotional cornerstone of the record. As Justin Hayward waxes poetic throughout the song, the response of the strings is practically crying out in pain right along with him, always providing the suitable emotional foil for the rest of the group.
Even though the rest of the band is subsequently muted in the mix compared to the orchestra, the track is better suited to a traditional classical arrangement. As opposed to many artists that may use classic instruments to add something to their song, ‘Nights In White Satin’ may as well be a classical piece of music that happens to feature a rock band at its centre.
8. ‘Climbing Up the Walls’ – Radiohead
When working on OK Computer, Radiohead were already looking to defy the conventions of their genre. After starting their career as an offshoot of the grunge movement, Thom Yorke had a new idea when travelling on tour to support The Bends, looking to write songs about the fears of technology’s future. While the band’s masterpiece would make frequent use of both organic and synthetic instruments, they never sounded more macabre than on ‘Climbing Up the Walls’.
Based on the warped visions that Yorke would have after working in a mental asylum, Jonny Greenwood wanted to go beyond the traditional classical arrangement for the string sections. Composing a sweeping piece of music to play off of Yorke’s vocals in the chorus, the strings fill the listener with a sense of dread, almost like they are seeing themselves slowly losing their sanity in real time.
This would only be a precursor of what was to come, with Greenwood later creating even more disorienting classical pieces when working on films like There Will Be Blood and the band’s latest offering, A Moon Shaped Pool. While strings can often make a song sound too syrupy if in the wrong hands, ‘Climbing Up the Walls’ establishes a dark mood quicker than any of the strings from Psycho ever could.
7. ‘It’s Good To Be King’ – Tom Petty
By the mid-1990s, Tom Petty was about to enter a new phase in his career. Having worked alongside legends like Jeff Lynne and George Harrison on his solo album Full Moon Fever, producer extraordinaire Rick Rubin helped Petty find his muse again on Wildflowers, bringing everything back to basics in the studio. While the layering of different instruments was a thing of the past, that didn’t mean that orchestras couldn’t become a part of the equation, either.
Bringing in composer Michael Kamen to oversee the score for ‘It’s Good To Be King’, Petty turned in one of the moodiest ballads that he ever made, dripping with stirring minor chords and haunting upper chord extensions that make the song feel like it’s floating in the air. Although the song is rooted to the ground thanks to Steve Ferrone’s drums, Petty’s lyrics are also some of his most gripping, talking about the greed that can overtake someone if they let their royal nature cloud their judgement.
Petty knew what he had on his hands here as well, leaving the final few sections of the track bare and letting the orchestra bring everything to a sombre conclusion. He may have been getting back to the basics of his songwriting, but putting together strings like this is the ultimate marriage of the light and the dark sides of Petty’s musical personality.
6. ‘Overture’ – The Who
From day one, Pete Townshend always knew there was more to life than just the three-minute single. For every great song on the radio, just as many kids were waiting to be challenged by something that wasn’t just about dancing or puppy love. While Townshend may have busted down the doors of rock and roll with The Who‘s ‘My Generation’, the opening sounds of Tommy kicked off with one of the most ambitious sounds in rock history.
Since Townshend always envisioned the album to be an expanding story revolving around a deaf, dumb, and blind boy, ‘Overture’ helps set the scene of the whole thing, practically serving as the musical opening credits. While strings play a prominent role later in the album, it’s the horn section that takes centre stage throughout the intro, playing different pieces that would be fleshed out later in the album.
Despite not having heard the songs before, each piece touched on during the intro already hints at the dark themes ahead, from the moody sounds of ‘See Me Feel Me’ to the quizzical sounds found in the ‘Go to the Mirror’ section. Whereas most albums might want to capture the listener’s attention from the start, ‘Overture’ feels like stepping into the world of Tommy from the moment it starts.
5. ‘No Leaf Clover’ – Metallica
For any metal purist, the thought of an electric guitar mixing with classical music feels like sacrilege. Considering how prim and proper orchestras might seem at the outset, hearing an electric guitar cutting through everything is the opposite of what fans want to hear. There is a way to please both parties, though, and Metallica was just the right band to introduce metal’s sophisticated side of S&M.
Throughout their years of honing their craft, Metallica had developed into a musical machine by the time they had worked with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, turning ‘Master of Puppets’ into a drug-addled nightmare it was always meant to be when they performed live. When putting together new material for the night, ‘No Leaf Clover’ stood out as one of the most gripping pieces the band have ever made.
Starting with the sweeping sounds of the orchestra, James Hetfield’s initial musical-box-esque riff gives way to the heaviest riffs they would ever compose, with lyrics warning of the dangers of adopting the rock and roll lifestyle. Even though Metallica may have been written off as sellouts by a majority of their thrash fanbase by this point, ‘No Leaf Clover’ is by far one of the most underrated pieces of music they have ever made.
4. The Ninth Wave – Kate Bush
Kate Bush has never been known to make music for the masses. Throughout her time in the studio in the 1980s, Bush was always used to following her muse, either making songs that could get on the radio like ‘Wuthering Heights’ or toying with the fabric of traditional pop music on albums like The Dreaming. While Hounds of Love featured some of the best blends of synthesisers in pop music history, there was a far more elaborate piece awaiting listeners on the back half of the album.
Crafted as a side-long epic, The Ninth Wave takes advantage of every musical trick that Bush has to offer. Telling the story of a woman shipwrecked and left floating out to sea, each song has a different sonic character to compliment her mood, from the serene sounds of ‘And Dream of Sheep’ to the unsteady mood of ‘Waking the Witch’.
While many different electronic patches may have been used on the album, the greatest strength of the piece comes from the unusual instruments, like bringing in a choir on ‘Hello Earth’ or the classical guitar that brings the movement to a finish. Kate Bush may have been able to sculpt musical masterpieces whenever she went into the studio, but The Ninth Wave is the sound of her operating at the peak of her powers with symphonic sounds at her disposal.
3. ‘Kashmir’ – Led Zeppelin
Everything about Led Zeppelin revolved around pushing music forward. Ever since Jimmy Page left the confines of The Yardbirds, he knew that he wanted something that wasn’t about the traditional sounds of the blues. Although Zeppelin was always building towards something bigger on every album, it would be tough for anyone to top what they did on ‘Kashmir’.
While most of Physical Graffiti revolves around non-traditional approaches to rock songs, bringing in an orchestra to balance out Page’s riff is a marriage made in heaven. Although Page’s riff sounds amazing in his unusual DADGAD guitar tuning, the real magic comes in the midsection, where the strings match him note for note as he descends the guitar neck, evoking the lyrical themes of moving onward to new lands.
The song is also deceptively complex, with John Bonham laying down a fantastic groove in 4/4 time while the rest of the band plays in waltz time, creating a strange polymetre throughout the rest of the track. Zeppelin never took the traditional route of the typical rock band, but with ‘Kashmir’, they opened up a whole new realm of possibilities that no other band had touched on before.
2. ‘Eleanor Rigby’ – The Beatles
By the mid-1960s, The Beatles had turned the studio into its instrument. After becoming tired of the road, the back half of the Fab Four’s career would see them utilising various studio techniques to produce the sounds they heard in their head, often using different loops to get what they wanted. While John Lennon may have been all for experimenting with the traditional formula, Paul McCartney was daring to dream bigger than rock.
Although ‘Yesterday’ may have hinted at more sophisticated material on the back half of Help!, fans were shellshocked hearing ‘Eleanor Rigby’ for the first time. Featuring no Beatles on any instrument, the song is dominated by their harmonies and a string section performing the melody, with George Martin arranging the instruments to give them a distinct bite whenever the strings were bowed.
That wouldn’t be the last time McCartney tried his hand at this sort of ballad, using the same tactic on songs like ‘She’s Leaving Home’ and even branching out later in life to compose orchestral movements like The Liverpool Oratorio. While many bands would be concerned about their credibility as a band, ‘Eleanor Rigby’ is the kind of song that could work just as well on a classical station as a rock station.
1. ‘Mr Blue Sky’ – Electric Light Orchestra
Any list comprising the best orchestral moments in rock could easily boil down to Electric Light Orchestra‘s entire discography. After leaving The Move, Jeff Lynne was inspired to make the kind of gargantuan sounds that he heard from classical music, having string sections play riffs that were better suited for guitar players. While the band may have carved out a niche as a musical oddity, ‘Mr Blue Sky’ is the best example of guitars and strings working well together.
Originating from a beautiful day that Lynne saw breaking through the storm clouds in the mountains, the track is one of the most upbeat tracks of all time, punctuated by the fantastic use of strings and horns going on in the background. As the rest of the band plays in the background, Lynne’s ear for production knows how to balance everything, giving as much time to the orchestra as he does to the lead guitar and the eventual vocoder solo.
Seeing how The Beatles helped inspire Lynne to embrace his classical tendencies, there are even a few nods to the Fab Four’s style, including using a handbell just like Paul McCartney used on ‘Penny Lane’. Even though Lynne and co. may have the reputation of ripping off one of the giants of rock history, ‘Mr Blue Sky’ is the kind of song that can only come out of the mind of a musical genius.
