The renowned record producer Rick Rubin tells his bands not to listen to popular songs while they produce an album. They’re “better off drawing inspiration from the world’s greatest museums,” Rubin says, “than finding it in the current Billboard charts.”69 For example, Iron Maiden’s music combines the unlikely elements of Shakespeare, history, and heavy metal. Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” considered one of the greatest rock songs of all time, is like a musical sandwich, blending an opening and closing ballad with hard rock and opera in the middle.
