Best Rock Songs of All Time

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   Stairway to Heaven

   Led Zeppelin · from Led Zeppelin IV (1971)

   Rock's most famous slow build.

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   Bohemian Rhapsody

   Queen · from A Night at the Opera (1975)

   The mock-opera with no chorus.

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   Gimme Shelter

   The Rolling Stones · from Let It Bleed (1969)

   Apocalyptic and electric.

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   Baba O'Riley

   The Who · from Who's Next (1971)

   Synth pulse and a teenage-wasteland holler.

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   Smells Like Teen Spirit

   Nirvana · from Nevermind (1991)

   The riff that changed the 90s.

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   Sweet Child o' Mine

   Guns N' Roses · from Appetite for Destruction (1987)

   A tender riff turned anthem.

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   Back in Black

   AC/DC · from Back in Black (1980)

   A monstrous riff and a roar.

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   Born to Run

   Bruce Springsteen · from Born to Run (1975)

   A widescreen escape anthem.

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   Go Your Own Way

   Fleetwood Mac · from Rumours (1977)

   Heartbreak turned into a hit.

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10. 10
    DB
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    “Heroes”

    David Bowie · from “Heroes” (1977)

    A soaring anthem of fleeting triumph.

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    All Along the Watchtower

    The Jimi Hendrix Experience · from Electric Ladyland (1968)

    Guitar reinvention in three minutes.

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    Wish You Were Here

    Pink Floyd · from Wish You Were Here (1975)

    An acoustic elegy for a lost friend.

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    Whole Lotta Love

    Led Zeppelin · from Led Zeppelin II (1969)

    Bonham's drum intro and Page's guitar — the riff that needed no backing.

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14. 14
    RS
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    Paint It Black

    The Rolling Stones · from Aftermath (1966)

    Brian Jones's sitar turning a pop song into a psychedelic funeral.

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    Won't Get Fooled Again

    The Who · from Who's Next (1971)

    The synth, the guitar, the scream — eight minutes of civilisation collapsing.

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    QU
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    Bohemian Rhapsody

    Queen · from A Night at the Opera (1975)

    The impossible thing that somehow worked perfectly.

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    Should I Stay or Should I Go

    The Clash · from Combat Rock (1982)

    The most commercial thing The Clash did, and still great.

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    Thunder Road

    Bruce Springsteen · from Born to Run (1975)

    The piano intro, the harmonica, the screen door — the whole American myth.

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    FM
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    Go Your Own Way

    Fleetwood Mac · from Rumours (1977)

    Buckingham's acoustic guitar riff and the best Nicks-about-Buckingham lyric.

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    DB
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    Heroes

    David Bowie · from “Heroes” (1977)

    Three minutes of Eno ambience built into the definitive Berlin Wall anthem.

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    Losing My Religion

    R.E.M. · from Out of Time (1991)

    Mandolin in 1991. Michael Stipe said the quiet part out loud.

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    Free Fallin'

    Tom Petty · from Full Moon Fever (1989)

    The California pastoral that made heartbreak sound easy.

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    U2
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    Where the Streets Have No Name

    U2 · from The Joshua Tree (1987)

    The longest Edge guitar intro ever, building to a stadium release.

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