e 70s and not a single Song features from past the year 2000, proving that these songs really do get better with time.
1) Led Zeppelin - STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN It had to be this, right? Being "banned in guitar shops" doesn't alter the fact that this epic from Zep's fourth album is undeniably better than ANY other song because it somehow manages to cram pretty much every single rock genre into one sprawling eight minute slice of brilliance. Oh, and don't forget THAT guitar solo... It's worth noting that 'Stairway' picked up 15% of all the votes cast - more than twice that of its nearest rival. | |
2) QUEEN - BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Easily the most subversively ingenious song to ever reach number 1 in the UK charts. The fact that it did it TWICE nearly 20 years apart was just showing off. This song, above all others, summed up exactly what Queen were whilst changing rock music forever | |
3) LYNYRD SKYNYRD - FREE BIRD Perhaps the greatest compliment you can pay Free Bird is that when that fade starts to happen about 30 seconds before the end you simply don't want it to end. It's like five minutes of foreplay followed by an almighty explosion of duelling guitar solos and Southern rock brilliance. | |
4) DEEP PURPLE - SMOKE ON THE WATER Who would have thought that the story of a burning casino would have become the most recognisable rock song in history? Undeniably iconic, and a brilliant song to boot. That opening riff will be inspiring wannabe guitarists for the rest of time. | |
5) PINK FLOYD - COMFORTABLY NUMB Another epic, and another song which boasts a solo that still makes grown men weep every time they hear it. This is the defining moment in a catalogue that is almost without equal. | |
6) LED ZEPPELIN - KASHMIR No track more perfectly represents the sum of Zep's parts than Kashmir - every member working in absolute harmony, with no solos, no vocal histrionics, no showboating from any member. It's dramatic, beautiful and just as startling every time you hear it. | |
7) RAINBOW - STARGAZER Absolutely bursting with attitude and power, Stargazer was born to be played VERY loud. It turned Dio into a legend, and reminded everyone that with a guitar in his hand, Ritchie Blackmore was unbeatable. | |
8) FREE - ALL RIGHT NOW A staple of rock radio since the moment it was released in 1970, All Right Now is an unceremoniously joyous record that simply screams sunshine and happier times. Not to mention that pretty much every human on the planet can probably sing the chorus, even if they have never heard of Free. | |
9) LED ZEPPELIN - WHOLE LOTTA LOVE When you consider that this song is made up of a simple riff repeated many times over, a pretty non-existent chorus and a drum solo which lasts for half the song, it really is spectacularly brilliant. | |
10) THE WHO - WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN The Who's defining moment closed their greatest album. Eight and a bit minutes of incendiary guitars, synthesisers, drums and vocals combining to provide one of the most euphoric rock songs of all time. | |
11) GUNS N' ROSES - SWEET CHILD O' MINE Written in minutes and with a riff born out of a guitar warm up exercise, this song most definitely had inauspicious beginnings. It remains the greatest example of why rock ballads don't have to suck. | |
12) AC/DC - BACK IN BLACK Emerging from an event so catastrophic that it would have destroyed lesser bands, AC/DC's highest placing song in this poll is the greatest tribute they could have paid to their former singer, Bon Scott - celebratory, wild and a killer riff that never gets old | |
13) LED ZEPPELIN - Rock AND ROLL The closest thing to a pop song that Zeppelin ever did - three and a half minutes of raw rock fire-power which does exactly what it says on the tin. It also has the greatest drum intro to any song EVER. | |
14) AC/DC - WHOLE LOTTA ROSIE The greatest song ever written about an overweight Tasmanian lady who's good in the sack? You bet. It's also the most concise example of what AC/DC do best: fun, loud, hard rock and roll. | |
15) BLACK SABBATH - PARANOID Another example of a song which was born in a moment of magic. Written in minutes solely to make up the numbers on the band's second album this has become their most enduring and recognisable song. | |
16) MOTORHEAD - ACE OF SPADES Furiously fast and frenetic rock n roll which, when played loud enough, has the tendency to make your brain dance around inside your skull like bouncy ball... but in a good way. | |
17) DEEP PURPLE - HIGHWAY STAR The sound of a band who have nothing left to prove. Apparently written in minutes on a tour bus, this remains one of the all time great driving songs. It is also pretty notable for containing not only an enormous keyboard solo but also an outrageous guitar solo from Ritchie Blackmore. | |
18) RUSH - THE SPIRIT OF RADIO The song which put Rush into the UK singles might have been a loveletter to great radio but it was also a prophetic warning about the commercialism creeping into the medium. While the song is the band's biggest single, it's no less complex or arresting than the rest of their work - musically prodigious and melodically profound, it's everything that rock should be. | |
19) AC/DC - HIGHWAY TO HELL If anyone ever asks you to "explain rock music" then - without saying anything - dig out your copy of Highway To Hell, turn the volume up loud and press play. That moment when the drums first kick in remains one of the most thrilling in the history of music. | |
20) JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE - ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER The only cover to make the top 30, Hendrix took ownership of Dylan's hit single and essentially created the blueprint for hard rock. | |
21) BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - BORN TO RUN A perfect encapsulation of the hopes and dreams of youth in small-town America in the post-Nixon era. | |
22) QUEEN - WE WILL ROCK YOU What other band could have fitted something so big and bombastic into two minutes? | |
23) AC/DC - LET THERE BE ROCK They may have been paying tribute to their heroes but in doing so they immortalised their own mission statement | |
24) JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE - VOODOO CHILD (SLIGHT RETURN) Responsible for pretty much every wah-wah pedal sale since its release, this was the last song on the last Experience album and it remains one of the all time great closing tracks | |
25) BOSTON - MORE THAN A FEELING For a song that's actually a bit melancholy in content, you won't find many songs like this that can be sung with such gleeful gusto by pretty much every human on the planet. | |
26) MEAT LOAF - BAT OUT OF HELL It's overblown, theatrical and a lot of fun - it's no wonder Meat has been trying to recreate it ever since. | |
27) THIN LIZZY - THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN The soundtrack to lives of young men around the world for nearly 40 years | |
28) METALLICA - ENTER SANDMAN The moment that metal became mainstream and Metallica became one of the biggest bands of all time | |
29) RUSH - 2112 A 20 minute concept epic that filled a whole side of the album of the same name. Despite being utterly bonkers, it's a brilliant and ambitious piece of music. | |
30) DEEP PURPLE - BURN Proof that there was life after Gillan, and it was MkIII's greatest moment |
31) Slade - Cum On Feel The Noize 32) Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter 33) Hawkwind - Silver Machine 34) Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit 35) Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 36) Genesis - Supper's Ready 37) Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone 38) Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell 39) Guns N Roses - Welcome To The Jungle 40) Jimi hendrix - Purple Haze 41) Derek & The Dominoes - Layla 42) Led Zeppelin - Black Dog 43) Who - Baba O'Riley 44) Black Sabbath - War Pigs 45) Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond 46) Rush - Xanadu 47) AC/DC - Thunderstruck 48) Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear the Reaper 49) Rush - Tom Sawyer 50) AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long 51) Bon Jovi - Livin on a Prayer 52) Eagles - Hotel California 53) Led Zeppelin - Dazed And Confused 54) Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here 55) Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks 56) Cream - Crossroads 57) Def Leppard - Pour Some Sugar On Me 58) Foo Fighters - Everlong 59) Faces - Stay With Me 60) Metallica - Master Of Puppets 61) Neil Young - Rocking In The Free World 62) Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil 63) Steppenwolf - Born To Be Wild 64) Who - My Generation 65) AC/DC - For Those About To Rock 66) Alice Cooper - School's Out 67) Iron Maiden - Run To The Hills 68) Journey - Don't Stop Believin' 69) Led Zeppelin - Achillies Last Stand 70) UFO - Rock Bottom 71) Whitesnake - Still Of The Night 72) AC/DC - Shoot to Thrill 73) Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast 74) Dire Straits - Money for Nothing 75) Led Zeppelin - Since I've Been Loving You 76) Pink Floyd - Time 77) Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road 78) Iron Maiden - The Trooper 79) Europe - The Final Countdown 80) Iron Maiden - Hallowed Be Thy Name 81) Metallica - One 82) AC/DC - Hells Bells 83) Chuck Berry - Johnny B Goode 84) Black Sabbath - Iron Man 85) Free - Wishing Well 86) Kinks - You Really Got Me 87) Thin Lizzy - Whiskey In The Jar 88) Metallica - Nothing Else Matters 89) Led Zeppelin - In My Time of Dying 90) Kiss - Detroit Rock City 91) Deep Purple - Speed King 92) Pink Floyd - Money 93) Iron Maiden - Fear Of The Dark 94) Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe 95) Pearl Jam - Alive 96) Thin Lizzy - Still In Love With You 97) Rolling Stones - Brown Sugar 98) Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 99) Uriah Heep - July Morning 100) Deep Purple - Black Night |