These rock tracks all use sound effects in their intros. These effects have become so iconic that they are instantly recognizable.

That anvil drop in Metallica’s 1985 heavy metal hit “For Whom The Bell Tolls” might be the most legendary part of the whole song. At the beginning of the track, the sound of a “bell” tolling ushers in ...

It happened exactly 36 seconds into the song—a glimpse of the shape of pop to come, a feel of the fabric of the future we now inhabit. The phrase “I can’t break through” turned crystalline, like the ...