Earlier this morning, Jill and Sean shared details from a recent study that analyzed what makes a scream a scream.

David Poeppel, a neuroscientist at New York University and the Max Planck Institute in Frankfurt, and an author of the new study in Current Biology, told the New York Times that he and his colleagues found that all screams share a trait called roughness, which is a measure of how fast the loudness of a sound changes. Essentially, the more roughness a scream has, the better it is.

With all respect to Dr. Poeppel and his colleagues, it seems a lot of people in the music world have unlocked the secret to a good scream, even if they don't fully grasp the science behind it. Note we're not talking about the screamo genre; rather, we're referring to vocalists who expertly incorporate screams into their arrangements.

So for today's Coffee Break, what songs do you want to hear by music's great screamers? Naturally, if the song you're requesting contains an example scream, the better.

Songs Played

Screamin' Jay Hawkins "I Put a Spell on You"
The Beatles "Helter Skelter"
Prince "The Beautiful Ones"
Foo Fighters "Monkey Wrench"
Janis Joplin "Piece of My Heart"
J. Roddy Walston and the Business "Heavy Bells"

Do you deserve a Coffee Break? We at The Current's Morning Show think you do, and we want to bring treats from Morningstar Coffee and Café Latté to your workplace. Let us know why you'd like a Coffee Break.

Related

• New York Times: The Secret to a Good Scream