Top 10 Rock and Metal Songs With Surprising and Unusual Elements

Such as: sax solo in a hard rock song, jazz in a metal song, lyrics in a binary code, musical dialogue, and any other things you find unusual.
Very often these surprising elements are awesome.
The Top Ten
1 Urgent - Foreigner

Instead of the expected guitar solo Foreigner put a sax solo which is pretty unusual to be heard in a hard rock song. This is one of the most memorable sax solos in rock history (from Junior Walker, who wasn't a bandmember).

2 Pictures of Home - Deep Purple

It has 5 solos on 4 instruments. Currently there are many songs with different solos but usually they are on less than 4 instruments. Besides, Pictures of Home was released in 1972 and it was quite unusual for that phase of music evolution.
Solos - a great drum intro, 2 cool guitar solos, 1 crazy keyboard solo and even a surprising bass solo!
It also has a catchy riff, pleasant vocals, playful melody and rhythm.

3 Flight of Torek - Aina

Jazz in a metal song?
I know what you think but Tobias Sammet would say "Why not? Watch me! "
Tobias Sammet (Edguy, Avantasia) sings jazz for 1 minute in the middle of a power metal song! And I really like it, Tobi sounds great (3:25-4:25). He sings the whole song, not only the jazz section. Aina is probably a side project or he was a guest musician.

4 Die Eier Von Satan - Tool

@CastlevaniaFanboy128 - thanks for this brilliant addition! Is the recipe good? Have you tried it?

5 Gates of Babylon - Rainbow

Ritchie Blackmore used arabic scales that are unusual in rock and metal music because rock and metal are products of the Western Civilization. However, he perfectly blended these arabic elements with metal elements - riffs, rhythms, and so on. The song is about Babylon and arabic scales are just perfect. Gates Of Babylon is a masterpiece - a timeless and epic metal classic.

6 Wheel of Time - Blind Guardian

Similarly to Rainbow, Blind Guardian also used oriental folk tunes in this metal song - I always imagine belly dancers when I hear these tunes. Blind Guardian obviously learn from the best in the business (Ritchie Blackmore, Rainbow) but Blind Guardian took the idea to a whole new level. In addition, Blind Guardian put overlapping vocal harmonies like in Bohemian Rhapsody and spiced this mixture with a perfect symphonic orchestration. One of the best metal songs I’ve ever heard.

Blind Guardian obviously did some reading, and I'm glad. A metal song about a book series that I love? What could be better?

7 In the Name of God - Dream Theater

They used the morse code to say "Eat My Ass and Balls"

8 Age of Shadows - Ayreon
9 YYZ - Rush

I quote CastlevaniaFanboy128 - "the drum beat at the beginning is morse code for "YYZ"

10 Damien - Iced Earth

This outro is pretty unusual - these are whispered words combined with gregorian chanting in the background. Jon's reversed voice repeats the message that is also in the middle silent section of the song. So, if the song is played backwards, the true message can be heard.

The Contenders
11 Spirit Horse of the Cherokee - Manowar

This is probably the most bizzare song I've ever heard. There are many unusual elements and it's better to hear them.

12 Sails of Charon - Scorpions

Mindblowing guitar solo in the intro and not in the middle of the song. Currently there are many metal songs with solos in the intro but in 1977 it was really unusual. This is my favorite song by The Scorpions and my favorite riff from Uli.

13 Baba O'Riley - The Who

One of the first Rock songs to use a synthesizer, which was confusing and quite unique back then.

14 As I Am - Dream Theater

@CastlevaniaFanboy128 - this is a great song, however I can't ignore one mistake - it is In the Name of God which has the morse code.

15 Lateralus - Tool
16 By the Pain I See In Others - Opeth

This is a massive 14 minute song. The first 10 minutes are like a twisted carnival. Then there is about a minutes silence, followed by a reversed sung passage, which actually appears unreversed on the song Master's Apprentices. And that reversed is the scariest thing Opeth has ever done.

17 All for One - Primal Fear

Awesome mini drum solo in the middle of the song right before the guitars solo. Drum solos aren't unusual in metal but they are typically found in the intro, not in the middle. Usually in the middle there are drum fills but this is way longer than a fill. And last but not least, this drum solo is the climax of the song and probably its most memorable element.

18 Hunting Humans (Insatiable) - Rainbow

There is a unique musical dialogue between the guitar and the singer. I've never heard such a beautiful thing before. Ritchie Blackmore is an amazing songwriter.

19 Lord of the Rings - Blind Guardian

When lyrics in the chorus say "Slow down", music speeds up! This is very odd because it sends controversial messages to your brain and I guess Blind Guardian did it on purpose. It’s really funny at live shows because when Hansi sings "Slow down", the crowd doesn't slow down and actually starts jumping, following the music that speeds up. And Hansi smiles. Pure genius.

20 Kaptein Kaos - Trollfest

Funny folk metal with lyrics in the fictional Troll language (Trollspråk), which is a mixture of Norwegian and German. The video is very funny.

21 Exit the Giants - Dead Brain Cells

Check out the song sample.

22 Locomotive Breath - Jethro Tull
23 Viginti Trees - Tool
24 Summit - Giant Squid
25 Majesty - Blind Guardian

This is one of the fastest metal songs with clean vox (and also pretty heavy) but it opens with a waltz by Johann Strauss II ('The Blue Danube').

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