Best Rock Songs of All Time
From 60s blues-rock to the alt-rock 90s — twelve rock songs every collection should know, each from an album worth owning. Rock is really an umbrella covering several distinct family trees rather than one continuous style — the British blues revival that fed into hard rock and eventually metal, the American garage and psychedelic scenes that fed into punk, and the more melodic, radio-friendly strains that dominated arena rock through the 70s and 80s. This list moves across that whole family, favouring the songs that still sound essential rather than simply the ones that were biggest at the time.
Reviewed by Callum Ashworth, 247 Album Verdict · Last updated · How we rank
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Links below are affiliate links.
-
1LZ
-
2QU
-
3RS
-
4WH
-
5NI
-
6GN
-
7AC
-
8BS
-
9FM
-
10DB
-
11JH
-
12PF
-
13LZ
Whole Lotta Love
Bonham's drum intro and Page's guitar — the riff that needed no backing.
-
14RS
Paint It Black
Brian Jones's sitar turning a pop song into a psychedelic funeral.
-
15WH
Won't Get Fooled Again
The synth, the guitar, the scream — eight minutes of civilisation collapsing.
-
16JH
-
17QU
-
18CL
Should I Stay or Should I Go
The most commercial thing The Clash did, and still great.
-
19BS
Thunder Road
The piano intro, the harmonica, the screen door — the whole American myth.
-
20FM
Go Your Own Way
Buckingham's acoustic guitar riff and the best Nicks-about-Buckingham lyric.
-
21DB
Heroes
Three minutes of Eno ambience built into the definitive Berlin Wall anthem.
-
22R.
-
23TP
-
24U2
Where the Streets Have No Name
The longest Edge guitar intro ever, building to a stadium release.
Tap the artwork or "Listen" to find the track on Amazon Music; "Watch" opens a YouTube search; the song title or "Album" opens its album page. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases and sign-ups.
What's the actual difference between rock and rock and roll?
Rock and roll usually refers specifically to the 1950s genre pioneered by artists like Chuck Berry and Little Richard. "Rock" is the broader umbrella that grew out of it from the 1960s onward, encompassing everything from blues-rock and hard rock to punk, metal and alternative — genuinely distinct family trees that all trace back to the same roots.
Why do blues songs and blues-rock songs both show up in rock lists?
Rock's early development is inseparable from the British and American blues revival of the 1960s — bands like The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin built their sound directly on blues structures and reworked blues songs, so the genres overlap heavily in this period specifically.
Is this list ranked by chart success or critical acclaim?
Critical and lasting significance, not chart position. Several songs here weren't necessarily the biggest hits of their era, but are widely regarded by critics and musicians as some of the genre's most influential or best-crafted recordings.
Does this cover metal and punk too?
This list stays closer to rock's core lineage — blues-rock, hard rock, arena rock, alternative. We have separate, more focused lists and genre pages for metal and punk specifically if that's what you're after.