Paranoid – Black Sabbath
The riff is so plain it feels like a taunt: three chords, a downhill run, no atmosphere to hide in.
Unfinished Sympathy – Massive Attack
A breakbeat keeps a small, dry confidence, and over it a voice starts in the middle of a thought, as if the singer had been mumbling in a corner and someone finally turned the fader up.
Vienna – Ultravox
A drum machine marks a European dusk, sparse and formal, and Midge Ure's voice arrives with one line already finished, as if the rest of the song had to catch up with a sentence he could not lose.
Round Midnight
Dale Turner speaks slowly, as if the next sentence had to walk across a room before it could be said.
Everybody Wants to Rule the World – Tears for Fears
Two bright chords on an acoustic guitar, a shuffle that should belong to a lighter band, and Curt Smith's voice comes in as if the sunshine were a cover for a colder sentence.
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