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Top 10 rock'n'roll songs of all time


jimmyjazz

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On 1/27/2025 at 10:45 AM, Chad Fuck said:

Man, this is a tough one. I wound up with about three lists and any of them could have worked.  Tried to keep it to two per decade of rawk from the 50s through 2010s.  I don't feel like we've had any great all time rockers make the list in the 2020s, plus we don't have the benefit of time to look back.  With that context:

  1. Maybellene - Chuck Berry
  2. Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones
  3. Revolution (Single version) - The Beatles
  4. Rock and Roll - Led Zeppelin
  5. Back in Black - AC/DC
  6. Debaser - Pixies
  7. Panama - Van Halen
  8. Kiss Off - Violent Femmes
  9. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
  10. Seven Nation Army - White Stripes

I had to kick off some of my personal favorite rockers as follows:

Rave On - Buddy Holly

Whole Lotta Shakin - The Killer

Tutti Frutti - Little Richard

Cinnamon Girl - Neil Young

Are you Gonna Go My way - Lenny

Outtasite (Outta Mind) - Wilco

Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet

Man there are just tons of good rockers that could've made the list.

Oh and I repped this one and meant to comment. Very cool list - love Debaser being included. Such a perfect punk rock song. And Seven Nation Army should deserve some love at least for how ubiquitous it became at sporting events - even on other continents.

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1 hour ago, ztejas said:

I like @jimmyjazz because he will say annoying cunty shit like The Who are boring but then completely take the piss from someone who is trying to claim that "You Shook Me All Night Long" is an all-time track let alone even a good AC/DC track. 

I'm not sure which side of this argument I'm on, but let me just go on record as saying I love (AC/DC's) "You Shook Me All Night Long".  I posted Celine because it's so incredibly cringe-inducing.

As I said from the jump, my tastes are impeccably mainstream.

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1 minute ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'm not sure which side of this argument I'm on, but let me just go on record as saying I love (AC/DC's) "You Shook Me All Night Long".  I posted Celine because it's so incredibly cringe-inducing.

As I said from the jump, my tastes are impeccably mainstream.

Oh I thought you were making fun of him by posting Celine. Either way it was funny. I don't hate that song but I think it's a weak offering vs. some of their other stuff. 

1 minute ago, UTCzech III said:

Went with songs I feel pushed the genre forward, could have picked 30 others but these just rolled outta me head

Rock Around the Clock

Maybelline

Rumble

I Saw Her Standing There

You Really Got Me

My Generation

Satisfaction

Whole Lotta Love

Iron Man

Suffragette City

And we have more The Who mentions. 

@jimmyjazz

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Hope you and yours are doing well my man - always fun going back and forth with you here.

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4 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I respect the hell out of The Who, I just don't particularly like them. 

That's fair. Kind of how I feel about the Beatles and Stones. 

The Who for me is like if Led Zeppelin gave less of a shit, didn't work as hard, and threw more TVs out of hotel windows. 

I think they were almost equally talented. 

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I asked by 7 year old to compile his Top 10, based on his car ride play list we've curated over the last couple of years: 

 

It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock'n'Roll) - AC/DC

Lola - The Kinks 

Janie Jones - The Clash 

Last in Line - Dio 

No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn - Beastie Boys 

Immigrant Song - LZ 

Destroyer - The Kinks 

I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor - The Arctic Monkeys 

Iron Man - Black Sabbath 

Another One Bites the Dust - Queen 

 

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I asked by 7 year old to compile his Top 10, based on his car ride play list we've curated over the last couple of years: 
 
It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock'n'Roll) - AC/DC
Lola - The Kinks 
Janie Jones - The Clash 
Last in Line - Dio 
No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn - Beastie Boys 
Immigrant Song - LZ 
Destroyer - The Kinks 
I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor - The Arctic Monkeys 
Iron Man - Black Sabbath 
Another One Bites the Dust - Queen 
 

Immigrant Song. Fuck yeah.

That’s a pretty good list.

You need to expose that young squire to some 50s stuff.
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Full disclosure:  I respect the hell out of The Who, I just don't particularly like them.  That said "My Generation", "Baba O'Reilly" and "Eminence Front" kick ass.

This is where I am with the Who as well, and they were even my first real arena rock show. They have some great stuff but they aren’t kings like the Beatles, Stones or Led Zeppelin.

They remind me of Foo Fighters. I’ve seen them a couple times, great shows. I don’t often turn their stuff off if they come on the radio. But I don’t usually go looking for it either.

Except “Everlong.” That’s a bad ass real song right there.
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19 minutes ago, Hank Kingsley said:

I asked by 7 year old to compile his Top 10, based on his car ride play list we've curated over the last couple of years: 

 

It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock'n'Roll) - AC/DC

Lola - The Kinks 

Janie Jones - The Clash 

Last in Line - Dio 

No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn - Beastie Boys 

Immigrant Song - LZ 

Destroyer - The Kinks 

I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor - The Arctic Monkeys 

Iron Man - Black Sabbath 

Another One Bites the Dust - Queen 

 

Very cool and thanks for sharing. I'd offer this upgrade for Arctic Monkeys:

 

3 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

This is where I am with the Who as well, and they were even my first real arena rock show. They have some great stuff but they aren’t kings like the Beatles, Stones or Led Zeppelin.

They remind me of Foo Fighters. I’ve seen them a couple times, great shows. I don’t often turn their stuff off if they come on the radio. But I don’t usually go looking for it either.

I don't even know how to respond to this. Nirvana is better than The Foo Fighters, right? I like The Who better than Nirvana. 

To each their own, though. That's the beauty of music. 

I saw a post on Instagram recently about "you're on a first date and they say this is their favorite band - what artist makes you leave and not come back"

And my thought was - no one, really. 

Anyone that's been big enough for anyone to have them be their favorite band I bet they have a song or two that I can get behind. On a first date? I'll feel it out. 

Idk. Maybe a lot of people aren't like that. I like Katy Perry and there's an Ariana Grande album I like a lot and even Imagine Dragons has a song I like. 

I think it's what makes these discussions fun. 

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15 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

Eminence Front is my low key favorite Who track. 

It's so different.  I don't know if it's all because of Kenney Jones on drums, or if maybe he influenced Pete Townshend's writing, but it's a far tighter, even hookier song than most he ever wrote.  I absolutely love it.

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58 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

Except “Everlong.” That’s a bad ass real song right there.

That's a top 50 all timer right there.  Grohl tapped into the gods on that one.

For me, the Foos are hard-wired into my soul.  I was (am) a huge Nirvana fan, and I loved the first Foos (solo) album.  I caught Dave's first tour, and that hooked me for a couple of decades.  Very pure, high energy, singular songwriting.

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1 hour ago, ztejas said:

That's fair. Kind of how I feel about the Beatles and Stones. 

The Who for me is like if Led Zeppelin gave less of a shit, didn't work as hard, and threw more TVs out of hotel windows. 

I think they were almost equally talented. 

IMO, Townshend is a fucking genius.  the difference between the Who and Zep to me is that the Who had to always bend to Townshend's wishes and while the supporting cast were talented as shit(Daltrey seems like a professional) they weren't equal parts like Zep.  add to that the "punk/mod" attitude they were just a different breed.

 

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1 minute ago, dcar00 said:

IMO, Townshend is a fucking genius.  the difference between the Who and Zep to me is that the Who had to always bend to Townshend's wishes and while the supporting cast were talented as shit(Daltrey seems like a professional) they weren't equal parts like Zep.  add to that the "punk/mod" attitude they were just a different breed.

 

He for sure was. 

I think what you said is accurate. I also think Moon was better than Bonham but that's a close contest. 

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Just now, ztejas said:

I think what you said is accurate. I also think Moon was better than Bonham but that's a close contest. 

I'm gonna go ahead and take the other side of that debate, and vehemently so.  I loved Moon, but he was a total spaz.  He couldn't swing from a rope.  Bonham was the polar opposite.

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1 hour ago, Hank Kingsley said:

I asked by 7 year old to compile his Top 10, based on his car ride play list we've curated over the last couple of years: 

 

It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock'n'Roll) - AC/DC

Lola - The Kinks 

Janie Jones - The Clash 

Last in Line - Dio 

No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn - Beastie Boys 

Immigrant Song - LZ 

Destroyer - The Kinks 

I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor - The Arctic Monkeys 

Iron Man - Black Sabbath 

Another One Bites the Dust - Queen 

 

No Sleep til Brooklyn - awesome.  I almost rolled with Sabotage on my list.  that track just kicks all kinds of ass but we are talking all time.

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3 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'm gonna go ahead and take the other side of that debate, and vehemently so.  I loved Moon, but he was a total spaz.  He couldn't swing from a rope.  Bonham was the polar opposite.

I'm talking about their peaks. Bonham for sure - over his career - was more prolific. I think Moon's work on Who's Next is a half-step above anything Bonham ever did but I'm more than willing to listen to the contrary.

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16 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

Moon is a drummer that really wanted to be the lead guitarist.

See I think that's shit because I think he knew his place and played within the band and knew when to turn it up. I think this track is a good example. He does his thing - occasionally murdering fills - then turns it up when it the track calls for it. 

I mean this is like if Ringo was twice as talented, basically. This is such fucking unreal rock drumming. 

Maybe I'm out of place. Idk.

If anyone has YT music this version is higher quality

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=wy9WOTyGPjg&si=gbu8WAYRxV72326j

 

Edited by ztejas
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3 minutes ago, ztejas said:

See I think that's shit because I think he knew his place and played within the band and knew when to turn it up. I think this track is a good example. He does his thing - occasionally murdering fills - then turns it up when it the track calls for it. 

I mean this is like if Ringo was twice as talented, basically. This is such fucking unreal rock drumming. 

Maybe I'm out of place. Idk. 

 

 

I'm not saying Moon wasnt a great drummer. he was.

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12 hours ago, ztejas said:

Very cool and thanks for sharing. I'd offer this upgrade for Arctic Monkeys:

 

I don't even know how to respond to this. Nirvana is better than The Foo Fighters, right? I like The Who better than Nirvana. 

To each their own, though. That's the beauty of music. 

I saw a post on Instagram recently about "you're on a first date and they say this is their favorite band - what artist makes you leave and not come back"

And my thought was - no one, really. 

Anyone that's been big enough for anyone to have them be their favorite band I bet they have a song or two that I can get behind. On a first date? I'll feel it out. 

Idk. Maybe a lot of people aren't like that. I like Katy Perry and there's an Ariana Grande album I like a lot and even Imagine Dragons has a song I like. 

I think it's what makes these discussions fun. 

No response was really necessary, because it's just a description of how I feel.  I almost never say "Man I really need to throw on a Who/Foo record."  With some frequency, I tell myself, "I need some Zeppelin/Stones/Beatles/Nirvana."  Just like I almost always buy chocolate or vanilla ice cream, but very rarely strawberry. It doesn't mean I won't eat strawberry, just that it doesn't really come up on my radar.  

2 hours ago, G650 said:

I love the Foos, but  I could honestly give zero shits about this song.

elmo-shrug.gif

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16 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

No response was really necessary, because it's just a description of how I feel.  I almost never say "Man I really need to throw on a Who/Foo record."  With some frequency, I tell myself, "I need some Zeppelin/Stones/Beatles/Nirvana."  Just like I almost always buy chocolate or vanilla ice cream, but very rarely strawberry. It doesn't mean I won't eat strawberry, just that it doesn't really come up on my radar.  

elmo-shrug.gif

 

Yeah idk either. My drummer loves it, but it's just never done anything for me from day one. Otoh Times Like These is one of my all time songs.

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7 minutes ago, G650 said:

Yeah idk either. My drummer loves it, but it's just never done anything for me from day one. Otoh Times Like These is one of my all time songs.

I love "Everlong".  I also love "Monkey Wrench" and "This Is a Call".  To be honest, I pretty much love all the songs on their first few albums.

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Monkey Wrench is a decent tune. This is a Call is same boat as Everlong for me. The songs just don't go anywhere. They really didn't hit their come around until Nothing Left To Lose for me, and really got to be mature with Sonic Highways.

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5 minutes ago, G650 said:

Monkey Wrench is a decent tune. This is a Call is same boat as Everlong for me. The songs just don't go anywhere. They really didn't hit their come around until Nothing Left To Lose for me, and really got to be mature with Sonic Highways.

See, I thought Sonic Highways was weak.  It was a bad premise -- write a song in a week, wasn't it?

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1 minute ago, jimmyjazz said:

See, I thought Sonic Highways was weak.  It was a bad premise -- write a song in a week, wasn't it?

 

It took a year to record. All I remember was he went to each city to interview people and spring off that to write each song back at home. Then they went back to each city to record.

 

It's got Congregation on it, which is a top 5 Foo song I'd say. Add in St Cecilia, Learn to Fly, Times Like These and Long Road to Ruin and that is the best of the FF in terms of songwriting.

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1 minute ago, G650 said:

It took a year to record. All I remember was he went to each city to interview people and spring off that to write each song back at home. Then they went back to each city to record.

Ah.  I thought he was writing in the moment, in situ.

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1 minute ago, jimmyjazz said:

Ah.  I thought he was writing in the moment, in situ.

I mean there was probably plenty of that too. It was a pretty protracted process though. I'm not a huge FF fan, so I'm not totally up on all the ins and outs.

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All the obvious choices have already been taken, so I tried to do an alt version. 

Search and Destroy - Iggy & The Stooges (I prefer Iggy mix to Bowie mix)

Roadrunner - The Modern Lovers

Teen Age Riot - Sonic Youth

See No Evil - Television

Bodysnatchers - Radiohead 

Ghost Rider - Suicide

The One I Love - R.E.M.

Waiting Room - Fugazi

Gloria - Patti Smith version

Wolf Like Me - TV On The Radio

Edited by Reynolds Woodcock
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