Top 10 Rock Songs of All Time
(biased, obviously)
10. Don't Stop Believin'
he track, which also include contributions from guitarist Neal Schon and vocalist Steve Perry, comes from their highly successful 1981 album ‘Escape,’ and also hit the Top 10 on the Billboard charts before finding a home on this list. Cain credits "Don’t Stop Believin'" as a musical stimulant, one that “gives the listener permission to dream." "Don't Stop Believin'" continues to demonstrate a seemingly everlasting, and possibly growing popularity more than 30 years after it was originally released.
9. Nothing Else Matters
"Nothing Else Matters" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released in 1992 as the third single from their self-titled fifth studio album, Metallica. The song peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, number 6 on the UK Singles Chart as well as top-ten on many other European charts.
8. Highway to Hell
Highway to Hell became AC/DC's first LP to break the US Top 100, eventually reaching number 17, and it propelled the band into the top ranks of hard rock acts. It is the second highest selling AC/DC album (behind Back in Black) and is generally considered one of the greatest hard rock albums ever made. Gret Kot of Rolling Stone writes, "The songs are more compact, the choruses fattened by rugby-team harmonies. The prize moment: Scott closes the hip-grinding 'Shot Down in Flames' with a cackle worthy of the Wicked Witch of the West."
7. Hey Jude
"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in August 1968. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The single was the Beatles' first release on their Apple record label and one of the "First Four" singles by Apple's roster of artists, marking the label's public launch. "Hey Jude" was a number-one hit in many countries around the world and became the top-selling single of 1968 in the UK, the US, Australia and Canada. Its nine-week run at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 tied the all-time record in 1968 for the longest run at the top of the US charts. It has sold approximately eight million copies and is frequently included on music critics' lists of the greatest songs of all time.
6. 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.
5. Sweet Child O' Mine
"Sweet Child o' Mine" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses. It appeared on their debut album Appetite for Destruction. The song was released in August 1988 as the album's third single, and topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the band's only number 1 US single. Billboard ranked it the number 5 song of 1988. Re-released in 1989, it reached number 6 on the UK Singles Chart. Guitarist Slash said in 1990, "[The song] turned into a huge hit and now it makes me sick. I mean, I like it, but I hate what it represents."
4. Fly To the Angels
Slaughter's debut album Stick It to Ya had three singles released that hit the Billboard Hot 100: the hit "Fly to the Angels" (US#19). This is Slaughter's number 2 song, but in my mom and I's opinion it should be first.
3. Smells Like Teen Spirit
"Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by American rock band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, Nevermind (1991), released on DGC Records. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was Nirvana's biggest hit in most countries, placing high on music industry charts around the world in 1991 and 1992, including topping the charts of Belgium, France, New Zealand and Spain. The unexpected success propelled Nevermind to the top of several albums charts at the start of 1992, an event often marked as the point where grunge entered the mainstream.
2. Stairway to Heaven
"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant for the band's untitled fourth studio album (often called Led Zeppelin IV). It is often referred to as the greatest rock song of all time.The song has three sections, each one progressively increasing in tempo and volume. The song begins in a slow tempo with acoustic instruments (guitar and recorders) before introducing electric instruments. The final section is an uptempo hard rock arrangement highlighted by Page's intricate guitar solo (considered by many to be one of the greatest ever) accompanying Plant's vocals that end with the plaintive a cappella line: "And she's buying a stairway to heaven."
1. Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera. It is a six-minute suite, consisting of several sections without a chorus: an intro, a ballad segment, an operatic passage, a hard rock part and a reflective coda. The song is a more accessible take on the 1970s progressive rock genre. Upon its release as a single, "Bohemian Rhapsody" became a commercial success, topping the UK Singles Chart for nine weeks and selling more than a million copies by the end of January 1976. It reached number one again in 1991 for another five weeks when the same version was re-released following Mercury's death, eventually becoming the UK's third-best-selling single of all time.[