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openAlbum cover reference in music video Music
When the music video features an object, a place or a person (not a band member) that's also on the cover, has the band dressed the same as they are on the album cover, or features a scene that is a de facto reenactment (or possibly the source) of the cover art.
An example would be the car from the cover of ZZ Top's Eliminator also appearing in the video for Sharp Dressed Man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wRHBLwpASw&list=TLPQMTcwNTIwMjCpid3-jYdBaA&index=4
The old man on the cover of Fates Warning's Parallels appearing in the music video for Through Different Eyes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDf04d-vTfQ
Mountain king from The Hall of the Mountain King by Savatage, featured both on the album cover and the music video of the title track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOKoLiOkWWQ
Rush's Roll the Bones beginning with the scene from the cover art coming to life:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmIynF-59YE
Quiet Riot's mascot from the cover of Metal Health, also featured in the video for the title track:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_1ruZWJigo
The same guy would then appear on the cover of the follow up album, and the mask he's wearing was featured in the video for Twilight Hotel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq-vnMUxM6k
David Lee Roth appearing in the same face paint he's wearing on the cover of Eat 'em and Smile in the video for Yankee Rose, around the 1:30 mark or so:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgLWTrWgDTI
Two years later, in the video for Just Like Paradise, DLR is climbing a mountain, just as on the cover of the Skyscraper album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4qh_9vH1Ww
The old guy from the cover of Damn Yankees' s/t album appearing at the start of the video for Don't Tread on Me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkEbqgbSqs8
Mr. Big's music video for Addicted to That Rush ending with Eric Martin dissappearing and leaving only his boots, hat and staff behind, effectively (re?)creating the picture used as the album cover https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoSD0DLQII0
Etc. etc.
Edited by TheGreatDuck2openGeographical error? Music
Trying to find a trope for Music.Little Mix:
- On a radio station website's interview with Little Mix, one of the members said they'd done an arduous road trip to Nottingham, 100 miles away from London. But the math says that, by road, Nottingham is either 130 or 148 miles away by road, contradicting what one of their members said.
and also would this be an example of Writers Cannot Do Math or another trope entirely:
- If you put your postcode on the Auto Trader UK website, the distance quoted is "as the crow flies" rather than by road. This has proven controversial on some car websites.
Is this a case of Writers Cannot Do Math, Artistic License – Geography, Artistic License – Statistics, Not Drawn to Scale or an entirely different trope before I put this on the work page itself?
Edited by Merseyuser1openVillain Music, but not exactly. Music
Hi, I'm searching for some genres of music to start up a Villain Music but Not Exactly playlist (or, not exactly Disney villain music due to sheer lack of Disney). I'm seeking music similar to the following, and I would like help finding similar genres/songs/musicians. When I look up "villain songs" all I get are Disney songs, and while they encapsulate the vibes I want from these songs, they are certainly not the songs I want. I want new things, for my cravings for these songs has become almost like a Mad Scientist seeking forbidden knowledge... or rather, what the Youtube algorithms don't think I want but I absolutely do. Now, behold, the Examples List!
Villainous Thing by Shayfer James - Genre unknown to me. Love the vibes and direct villainous references. Any song with direct villainy within is a bonus.
When You're Evil by Aurelio Voltaire - Definitely some kind of tango. Is very nice. Stalker's Tango by Autoheart - Another dark tango thing. Very enjoyable.
Birth to my Creation from Frankenstein, A New Musical - Genre unknown; I'd love to know this genre, as it gives me immaculate Mad Scientist vibes.
That's... all I have. I just need more villainous-vibed songs, if anyone has them. I don't know genres very well at all, but these seem to almost surpass those... Any help for improving this villainous endeavor of absolute jams would be much appreciated.
openInstantly Recognized Music
Epic Riff meets All There Is To Know About The Crying Game, so to say. Music titles you can recognize by hearing literarily only the first note. Or maybe two. (Some offhand examples: Satisfaction, Supervixen, Amateur Hour, Action...) Not necessarily limited to music (bet you know the beginning of Moby Dick or The Metamorphosis, so add some Wham Line to the mixture), so in general: Any work that is instantly recognizable from its start.
openDramatic Key Change Music
When a song hits a climax (usually in the last or second-to-last chorus if it's a verse-chorus structure) and indicates it with a key change.
openOne verse and a half Music
That standard song structure where the second verse is half the length of the first… is there a trope for it?
openLate Bloomer Trope? Music
Do we have a Late Bloomer trope? For anyone unfamiliar with the phrase it's someone who achieves success in a field later in life than would be considered normal. For example Sheryl Crow had her first big hit at the age of 29 - not old per se, but considering most musicians who "make it" tend to have their first hit in their late teens or early 20s it's older than normal (possibly because musicians who reach their late 20s without breaking through often transition into regular careers out of necessity). Another example is Billy Bob Thornton who didn't have an acting credit till he was past 40.
openOne-hit-duet-with-famous- musician wonder? Music
The idea is basically that the musician in question is mostly (or only) known for recording a duet with a much better known musician - sometimes even being the sole recorded piece of music by the lesser known musician. Do we have this trope on the site? I expecte to find it as a subtrope of OHW, but there seems to be nothing there...
openFully clothed in the bathtub Music
A lot of Music videos feature people/the singer singing in a bathtub while fully clothed, to the point where it feels like a convention like Fight Fur Your Right to Party. Example
. Do we have this and is it common enough to trope?
openInversion of Self-Titled Album Music
Self-Titled Album is about music albums named after the musician(s) who created them. So I'm wondering about cases where the musicians took their name from one of their own albums.
Usually this happens when a group collaborates on an album that's supposed to be a one-time thing, so they don't bother to come up with a band name. Then for whatever reason the same group does make a followup, and find they do actually need a band name after all. So to establish continuity, they use the previous album title as the name of the band.
All the examples I can think of are from the extended Zorniverse:
- John Zorn recorded an exotica/surf album with a bunch of his musical friends and titled it The Gift, then did a followup with the same musicians titled The Dreamers. Both of those albums were big hits, so Zorn named that ensemble The Dreamers, and they released a few more albums under that name.
- Cyro Baptista did this twice. He put out the album Beat the Donkey in 2002, and his extended ensemble from that album played a bunch of live shows as "Cyro Baptista & Beat the Donkey". Then Cyro put out Banquet of the Spirits in 2008, where he stripped his ensemble down to a quartet. That quartet took Banquet of the Spirits as their own name, and released several more albums.
- Guitarist Jon Madof recorded an Afro Beat-inspired album and titled it Zion80 (as a nod to Fela Kuti's backing band, Egypt80). That ensemble put out a few followup albums, credited to the band Zion80 rather than to Madof specifically.
...but there have to be some others I'm not aware of.
I'm wondering if this should be a new sub-folder under Self-Titled Album, or if some other page is a better fit, or if it's worth making a new trope page.
openHot Girl Bassist Music
The stereotype, most prevalent in the 80's and 90's, that the Token Girl in a rock band is always the bassist. Goes along with Nobody Loves the Bassist, as there's often the assumption that the girl bassist is purely there for sex appeal, as the bass is supposedly easier and less essential than other instruments.
openTechnical limitations turn into staple of genre or a classic Music
I'm not sure this is going to have a trope, but let's try:
During the 80s, we've got the explosion of synthesisers and MIDI format. For various reasons, music that got present in late 80s/early 90s video games heavily utilised MIDI, because there was literally all they could use with given file sizes and memory capacity, rather than the intention being to make it like that. The notes for each piece can be easily put on any given instrument, or even orchiestrated. Years later, audience consider the original MIDI formatting to be some sort of staple or desired intention of how the music was "supposed" to sound, rather than the technical limitation.
Any trope to cover this? Yes, I know Fan Dumb exists, but that's not what I'm asking, plus that's a flame bait trope.
openBut/Butt Music
It’s usually a lyric trope but it can show up elsewhere too. The melody places the word “but” in a position where it sounds like “butt.”
For example, the Bob Seeger classic “I do respect her but... I love to watch her strut.” The novelty song, “She’s got freckles on her BUT she’s nice.”
And by weird coincidence I’m currently watching an old Match Game rerun, and even while I was typing this, Charles Nelson Reilly just did it. He was asked to complete “Pain ___.” He responded, “Well, I was going to say pain in the but I changed it to pain pills.”
What is this trope?
Edited by BradyLadyopenHip hop skits? Music
Is there a trope about "skits" being used in Hip-Hop music? Many albums in the Hip-Hop genre intersperse their songs with little "skits," which are (usually) spoken-word and fit in with the theme of whatever album they are on. 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul, Straight Outta Compton by N.W.A., and The Marshall Mathers LP by Eminem are among the albums that use them. Do we have a trope for that?
openRepetitive and frenetic moments. Music
Mostly happens on high BPM songs, such as hardstyle or techno. Basically, it revolves around one part of the song suddenly becoming frenetic with some instruments being repeated over and over to cause a sense of fast-paced action-like soundtrack.
Examples: -Extravaganza by Banya, where they literally sampled Daft Punk's "Burnin'", sped it up, and added sound effects in the background. 0:25 and 1:25.
-"SIN -THE LAST SCENE-" Harmonic opera-like singing suddenly replaced with high-speed beats and sound effects around 1:40-1:50.
Edited by DazuiopenAverage American Accent in the Arts Music
Is there a trope for the phenomenon in music that everybody has an American accent when singing? Dutch, Finnish, British, French, plenty of singers have an accent (thick or otherwise) when speaking that completely disappears in performance. I've mostly noticed this with the Finnish bands (predominantly Nightwish) I listen to, but I feel like it happens everywhere.
opentrope for songs with lyrics that contrast with the music itself? Music
"knife" and "two weeks" by grizzly bear are big examples of this although they're about lying straight to peoples' faces and the breakdown of a relationship respectively they still sound "romantic"

A trope I tend to associate with '80s hard rock and metal videos, it features a down on his luck protagonist - a nerdy high school kid being picked on by jocks, who also court his love interest, a not-so-nerdy kid getting a hard time from his teacher, or a rock-loving worker getting the same from his boss; magically, the band appears, kicks the villains' butts, and helps the protagonist get out of his problems, possibly also winning the affection of the girl he desired; a variation might include the band transporting the protagonist to another dimension, where he usually gets starry eyed and has a great time.
Twisted Sister's I Wanna Rock and We're Not Gonna Take It are prime examples:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRwrg0db_zY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9AbeALNVkk
ZZ Top's Sharp Dressed Man and Legs are also good examples:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUDcTLaWJuo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wRHBLwpASw
Also Madam X - High in High School
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo3uMMge8uA
Nelson's After the Rain is an example of the "transporting to a different dimension" variation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFLggqjddKM