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Top 10 rock'n'roll songs of all time

jimmyjazz

By jimmyjazz
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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 47,331

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Not a new topic, but it deserves a reboot.  I was asked by a family member to list my top 10 rock'n'roll songs of all time.  They want to build a playlist and wondered where to start.

No pop, no soul, no country, no rap, no blues, no Americana.  Obviously, genre boundaries blur, but play along.  Tell me your 10.  I was saddened to eliminate my favorite band (The Replacements) but whatever.  As you can see, I have very mainstream tastes.  Argue away.

 

1. Led Zeppelin "Black Dog"
2. Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
3. The Rolling Stones "Satisfaction"
4. The Clash "London Calling"
5. AC/DC "Back In Black"
6. Van Halen "Runnin' With The Devil"
7. Jimi Hendrix "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)"
8. Black Sabbath "War Pigs"
9. Heart "Barracuda"
10. Rush "Tom Sawyer"

 

 

 

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G650

G650 14,451

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It's hard to do because there's different songs for different times. I think the best I can do is my top ten in no particular order. And honestly several of these bands have tons of songs that could go in, this is just a random stab.

 

Stones - Sympathy for the Devil

Zeppelin - Good Times Bad Times

Motorhead - No Voices in the Sky

Pink Floyd - Pigs (3 Different Ones)

Creedence - Fortunate Son (really wanted to put Born on the Bayou here)

Stones - Gimme Shelter

Guns - Pretty Tied Up

Smithereens- A Girl Like You

Clash - Clampdown

Bobby Fuller - I Fought the Law

 

 

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 47,331

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41 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

WTF?  No Johnny B. Goode?   No Helter Skelter?  No Get Back?  

I'm not enough of a Beatles fan to rank the latter two.  JBG?  Yeah, it's up there.  Probably "Hound Dog" (either Elvis or Big Mama Thornton), too.

I thought about GnR "Welcome To The Jungle", just couldn't find the spot.  "Fortunate Son" is a great call, such an important song.

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BurntOrangeCrush

BurntOrangeCrush 1,034

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Here's mine in random order:

1. "Get the Funk Out" Extreme

2. "Ride the Lightning" Metallica

3. "Riff Raff" AC/DC

4. "Take Your Whisky Home" Van Halen

5. "We Die Young" Alice in Chains

6. "Hangar 18" Megadeth

7. "Pull me Under" Dream Theater 

8. "Holy Diver" Dio

9. "Air That I Breathe" All That Remains

10. "It's So Easy" Guns n Roses

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G650

G650 14,451

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It's So Easy is up there. I had probably the hardest time with picking a Guns song. Mr. Brownstone, Nighttrain and Its so Easy were being debated in my mind.

 

Johnny B Goode is definitely a good one but I thought I could only justify one from that era as the song pool is much smaller. Buddy Holly Not Fade Away was also on my mind.

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ztejas

ztejas 44,285

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11 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Not a new topic, but it deserves a reboot.  I was asked by a family member to list my top 10 rock'n'roll songs of all time.  They want to build a playlist and wondered where to start.

No pop, no soul, no country, no rap, no blues, no Americana.  Obviously, genre boundaries blur, but play along.  Tell me your 10.  I was saddened to eliminate my favorite band (The Replacements) but whatever.  As you can see, I have very mainstream tastes.  Argue away.

 

1. Led Zeppelin "Black Dog"
2. Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
3. The Rolling Stones "Satisfaction"
4. The Clash "London Calling"
5. AC/DC "Back In Black"
6. Van Halen "Runnin' With The Devil"
7. Jimi Hendrix "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)"
8. Black Sabbath "War Pigs"
9. Heart "Barracuda"
10. Rush "Tom Sawyer"

 

 

 

I love this concept. Repped even though your list fucking sucks (Jk it's fine).

I'd like some time to come back around for a full ten but let me drop a couple to start.

 

 

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ztejas

ztejas 44,285

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1 minute ago, jimmyjazz said:

I ruled out The Who almost immediately, I'm very ambivalent about that band.  I considered "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd but dropped it in favor of Rush "Tom Sawyer".

It's a pretty difficult exercise, sort of like the interminable "name the top 10 pro basketball players" arguments.

Well that's the beauty of this exercise. 

I would be dead before I'd have a fucking Van Halen song in my top 10.

I was just throwing a couple out there that came to mind. I'll come back with a more refined top 10.

That said I fucking love The Who and I think that Skynyrd is the greatest American rock band of all time. 

YMMV 😉

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Kennythetiger

Kennythetiger 9,661

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27 minutes ago, ztejas said:

I love this concept. Repped even though your list fucking sucks (Jk it's fine).

I'd like some time to come back around for a full ten but let me drop a couple to start.

 

 

Would swap Free Bird for Simple Man just because Simple Man reminds me of my maternal uncles and them taking me fishing when I was a child. 

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ztejas

ztejas 44,285

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2 minutes ago, Kennythetiger said:

Would swap Free Bird for Simple Man just because Simple Man reminds me of my maternal uncles and them taking me fishing when I was a child. 

I adore Simple Man. 

Not sure any Skynyrd is going to cut it for my top 10 that I'm working on right now, though.

I have 5 - btw - @jimmyjazz. 

Give me a sec on 10.

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G650

G650 14,451

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25 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Well that's the beauty of this exercise. 

I would be dead before I'd have a fucking Van Halen song in my top 10.

I was just throwing a couple out there that came to mind. I'll come back with a more refined top 10.

That said I fucking love The Who and I think that Skynyrd is the greatest American rock band of all time. 

YMMV 😉

Well one out of two ain't bad

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ztejas

ztejas 44,285

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Alright here's a quick one. Again @jimmyjazz love the concept. 

Breakdown - Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
Life's Been Good - Joe Walsh
Baba O'Riley - The Who
Over the Hills and Far Away - Led Zeppelin
Five Years - David Bowie
Purple Rain - Prince
Ready to Start - Arcade Fire
Sunday Morning - The Velvet Underground & Nico
My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue) - Neil Young
It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) - Bob Dylan

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ztejas

ztejas 44,285

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3 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Damn.  I totally whiffed on Petty.  "Breakdown" is a great call, as would be "Refugee" or "American Girl".

I'll take 1 out of 10 I guess. I thought my 10 was a bit more interesting but maybe not. You're a tough customer. 

I started that Petty thread and I'm proud of it. Such a fucking bad-ass composer and songwriter. 

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 47,331

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3 minutes ago, ztejas said:

I'll take 1 out of 10 I guess. I thought my 10 was a bit more interesting but maybe not. You're a tough customer. 

I started that Petty thread and I'm proud of it. Such a fucking bad-ass composer and songwriter. 

Oh, I like your list.  "Life's Been Good" is one of those songs that totally resonates with me.  I absolutely love the recording, warts and all, and it's funny as hell.  Bowie is a Titan, as is Prince.  Finding a spot was tough for me.  (I prefer "Changes" or "Fame" and "1999" or "Dance, Music, Sex, Romance" myself.) 

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locodos

locodos 5,593

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In no real order 

  • Jane's Addiction  Mountain Song or Ocean Sized or 3 Days
  • The Clash  The Clamp Down
  • Rage Against the Machine  Bulls on Parade
  • Dead Kennedys  Police Truck or Holiday in Cambodia
  • AC/DC  Highway to Hell
  • Smashing Pumpkins Bury Me
  • Led Zeppelin (insert any song here)
  • Breeders Cannon Ball
  • Lynyrd Skynyrd  Give Me Back My Bullets
  • Pink Floyd Time

 

 

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ztejas

ztejas 44,285

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30 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Oh, I like your list.  "Life's Been Good" is one of those songs that totally resonates with me.  I absolutely love the recording, warts and all, and it's funny as hell.  Bowie is a Titan, as is Prince.  Finding a spot was tough for me.  (I prefer "Changes" or "Fame" and "1999" or "Dance, Music, Sex, Romance" myself.) 

I'm just gonna leave y'all with what I think is the greatest live performance of all time. 

Shit is fucking stupid. 

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Darth Tron

Darth Tron 1,164

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Baba O'Reilly - The Who

More Than a Feeling - Boston

Panama - Van Halen

If You Want Blood (You've Got It) - AC/DC

Good Times Bad Times - Led Zeppelin

Shapes of Things - Jeff Beck Group

Under Pressure - Queen/David Bowie

Even The Losers - Tom Petty

Reelin' in the Years - Steely Dan

Against the Wind - Bob Seger

 

Honorable Mention:

Authority Song - John Cougar Mellencamp

My Wave - Soundgarden

How Soon is Now - The Smiths

Cherub Rock - Smashing Pumpkins

Cinnamon Girl - Neil Young

Empty Pages - Traffic

 

 

On any given day the order changes.

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BrickHorn

BrickHorn 18,450

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6 hours ago, ztejas said:

Purple Rain - Prince

I literally can’t stop laughing at this. That’s like responding to “Name the most badass football player ever” with “Martin Gramatica!”

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BrickHorn

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5 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

There is a noticeable lack of late 70s/80s bands so far -- The Cars, The Police, Def Leppard (I personally hate them), Blondie, U2, REM, etc.

That era was weaker for rock, outside of heavy metal (and specifically second wave of Brit metal and American thrash). You also won’t find many nominations from 1997 forward. A list of best rock songs is bound to be dominated by the late 60s-mid 70s and the early 90s.

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G650

G650 14,451

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14 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

There is a noticeable lack of late 70s/80s bands so far -- The Cars, The Police, Def Leppard (I personally hate them), Blondie, U2, REM, etc.

The Cars are one of my all times, but i don't feel like they fit in this list.

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locodos

locodos 5,593

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43 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

There is a noticeable lack of late 70s/80s bands so far -- The Cars, The Police, Def Leppard (I personally hate them), Blondie, U2, REM, etc.

Agree to disagree.  Lots of 70s stuff represented here.  80s kinda sucked musically unless you really liked glam rock and hair bands.  IMO the 80's bands that played good music never really had mainstream success.

In my list Janes is 80s, DK is 80s   1 out of 5 aint bad  ymmv

You animals would eat me alive for putting Oingo on a top 10 list. Maybe Deadman's Party could sneak in without too much rukus

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 47,331

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43 minutes ago, BrickHorn said:

That era was weaker for rock, outside of heavy metal (and specifically second wave of Brit metal and American thrash).

In terms of true rock, I agree, but as I said the lines can blur a bit.

 

38 minutes ago, G650 said:

The Cars are one of my all times, but i don't feel like they fit in this list.

I kinda agree, mostly because I think they are more revered for a very deep catalog than any one particularly fantastic song.

 

So . . . Cheap Trick?  Kansas?  (ducking on Kansas, but "Carry On Wayward Son" still slams and goes harder than any Derka Pflugerville pink sauce).

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Stringer

Stringer 1,494

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I don’t have the energy to make a full 10 list but a few to add to the pot that I don’t think have been mentioned:

Interstate Love Song - STP
Fell In Love With a Girl - The White Stripes
Last Night - The Strokes
Pick your favorite Spoon song

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G650

G650 14,451

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2 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:
3 hours ago, G650 said:

 

I kinda agree, mostly because I think they are more revered for a very deep catalog than any one particularly fantastic song.

To me they are firmly a new wave/power pop band, not really rock and roll.

 

There's honestly not many straight rock bands from that era. The Ramones, The Clash, The Pretenders, AC/DC, Motorhead, The Alarm and such were kind of the leading lights, and only some of those bands charted much. Bruce and Tom Petty to a degree.

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Pato del Muerto

Pato del Muerto 53,601

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Kiss- rock n roll all nite

38 special- rockin into the night

night ranger- still rock in america

great white- rock me

twisted sister- I wanna rock

LZ- rock and roll

bill Haley and the comets- rock around the clock

Rick derringer- rock and roll hoochicoo

Gary glitter - rock and roll part 5

Michael Damien- rock on

 

went for a titular rock themed list  

 

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G650

G650 14,451

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8 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Kiss- rock n roll all nite

38 special- rockin into the night

night ranger- still rock in america

great white- rock me

twisted sister- I wanna rock

LZ- rock and roll

bill Haley and the comets- rock around the clock

Rick derringer- rock and roll hoochicoo

Gary glitter - rock and roll part 5

Michael Damien- rock on

 

went for a titular rock themed list  

 

No David Essex, wnb

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