3 up, 3 down: musical selections

I had a tough time coming up with a decent name for this idea, and I'm still not sure I have one. In any case, here are three musical selections/passages/phrases/parts that I really like, and three that I'm not as big a fan of. If it sounds like I've done this "3 up, 3 down" thing before, it's because I have, twice.

3 up
1. The drum beat in "Feel Good Inc."
Huge fan of this song in general; it's catchy and I'm strangely okay with the rap parts. But by far the most credit in this song goes to the measure at 1:42; it just sounds real smooth despite being four quarter notes. Set up nicely by the drum pattern before, too. Fantastic four bass drum notes.

2. The main theme in The Dark Knight Rises main theme

This selection is very similar to my first choice in the sense that it's set up as one idea and then contrasted as another. Hans Zimmer is an absolute genius and works this technique to perfection. If you're looking for the two notes that comprise the main Dark Knight-ness of The Dark Knight, listen for it being set up at 23 seconds, and it coming for real at 38 seconds.

3. The final solo in "Satellite" by Guster

Mega-catchy tune, super-fun to sing in the car, and by far my favorite part is the outro solo that you can find at 4:09. Eight of the sweetest guitar-solo measures I've ever heard. Love the sound, love the notes, love that it keeps on going after you think it'll stop after four measures. Well done, Guster, well done.

3 down

1. The backup singers in "Rolling In The Deep"

I used to like this song a lot, and I'm just not a fan of it anymore. I've always been displeased with this one particular part, which hits right at 1:00. It's the first thing the backup singers sing, and it's totally not in the scale. "Wish" is a half-step higher from "met," "gonna," and "in" and I hate it.

2. The chorus in OneRepublic's "Love Runs Out"

Overall I can't decide if I like this song or not, but the second part of the chorus is one beat too late, I think. There's "I've been running," one, two, "I've been running," one, where I think it would be way better if it were "I've been running," one, "I've been running," one, two. Just a minor change I'd make. That, and mashing the song up with "Love Lockdown."

3. The number of times the chorus is sung in "How to Save a Life"

Look, I love this song. It's one of my favorite to play on piano, and one of my favorites to sing to. Amazing song. I just don't think the chorus needs to be sung 6.5 times.