OT: Best hard rock song of all time

[firerescuefin]

Hard Rock will mean different things to different folks....and age will certainly be a factor. This came up on my shuffle today.

Metallica: One

Checks off all the boxes for me. My favorite.

Can I get a witness from the congregation:)

[learningtoride]

...

[christian]

"Goodbye to You," by Scandal. It might not be a great song, but it encapsulates the form.

[texbike]

Wow! So many...

OK, I'll go with this one - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB_fNVOPzyM .

Would by Alice in Chains.

For something more classic, there's always Zep's Dazed and Confused - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehwSEVbBZl4 or Sabbath's War Pigs - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGPD0ZBiMs0 .

Man, my head could explode with this question.... Maybe something from Men at Work or Huey Lewis? :rolleyes:

Texbike

[alexstar]

No contest - Motley Crue - Kickstart my Heart

[joosttx]

The best rock song ever is "Heroin" by the Velvet Underground. However, if that is not "hard rock" then randomly select anything on Led Zepplin 4 and call it a day.

[tv_vt]

This is gonna be good.

Here are a few nominees:

Stones - Street Fighting Man

Led Zep - Rock n Roll http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WzG64syKHA

Cream - Crossroads

Crank it up!

[PQJ]

Stairway to Heaven.

[MattTuck]

I'm not a music critic, but these kinda stick out for me. Not sure if they are 'Hard Rock' or not. I think song preferences are very generational. I listened to a lot of nirvana/pearl jam in my teens -- I think that is where a lot of music preference comes from.

Enter Sandman
Smells like teen spirit
Baba O'Riley

[learningtoride]

...

[Germany_chris]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Mn1WN5yeag

Agnostic Front -- Gotta Go

[eddief]

Stairway to Heaven.

And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter
If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now
It's just a spring clean for the May queen
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on
And it makes me wonder
Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know
The piper's calling you to join him
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind
And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll

[bthornt]

Any song on this album. Highway Star, Lazy, Smoke on the Water ...

[eddief]

In a gadda da vida

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCkHanF4v1w

[fuzzalow]

Zep "Immigrant Song"

Valhalla I am coming...

Stairway has the dubious distinction of being a song driven to dislike by being overplayed to death in the classic rock radio genre. But a song with IMO one of the greatest guitar solos before the tumultuous avalanche to the end.

And as we wind on down the road Our shadows
Am - Am - G - G ; F - F - F - F F F - G - Am - Am - G - G.
taller than our souls
F - F - F - F F F - G - Am - Am - G - G.

See, just reading these chords puts the song in your head.

[rugbysecondrow]

Hard Rock will mean different things to different folks....and age will certainly be a factor. This came up on my shuffle today.

Metallica: One

Checks off all the boxes for me. My favorite.

Can I get a witness from the congregation:)

I will start by saying that all of my favorite Hard Rock songs share a strong opening, which pulls you into the song and forces your head to jam, air guitar to come out, drums on your steering wheel. You don't even know it is happening, it just takes you over. With all of that said, here are my favorites, in my current ranked order:

"One" is a great song, maybe one of the best. The guitar, the drums, the raw emotion. It is gripping. This song has moved me to tears more than once.

"Cult of Personality" Living Colour...just a great song which has the energy to get you head banging from the first note.

"Welcome to the Jungle" When it starts, you know it is going to take you on a ride...roll with it and enjoy it.

"Changes" Black Sabbath...arguably not a Hard Rock song, but I put it here anyway. A great song, it is hard to believe it is 40 years old, as it could have been a hit. Ozzy vocals at their best, IMO.

[Davist]

hmm. From BMX days:

Fugazi Waiting Room

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMOAXm94VWo

[eddief]

Dust in the Wind
Carry on My Wayward Son

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ob_Iwbd8h4

More Than A Feeling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSR6ZzjDZ94

[firerescuefin]

One thing about most of these songs is that they need time to breathe/open up if you're wanting he full experience.

[rugbysecondrow]

One thing about most of these songs is that they need time to breathe/open up if you're wanting he full experience.

Amen my man

[Tony Edwards]

Some of my favorites:

Hocus Pocus by Focus - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGaVUApDVuY

Song for the Deaf by Queens of the Stone Age - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9zeb5BfpgE

Song for the Dead by Queens of the Stone Age - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrA2KLtAn1A

Avon by Queens of the Stone Age - (awesome live version with Dave Grohl on drums) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW2AKkwJb_c

War Pigs by Black Sabbath - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxgtk_3qwXw

Shortest Straw by Metallica - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yVodvRpW2M (actually I could count at least 20 songs off their first 4 albums as among my favorites - don't really care for anything after that, though)

Airbag by Radiohead (not sure it really qualifies but it's fun to think of the days when they were a guitar-based band) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvTNWWL4CW4

Nights in Venice by the Saints (this is really more punk than hard rock, but my God did these guys kick ass - it has always irritated me that everyone knows the Ramones and the Sex Pistols but not their vastly superior contemporaries the Saints) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7XvE0CWUbA

[beeatnik]

hmm. From BMX days:

Fugazi Waiting Room

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMOAXm94VWo


hahaha...i'm sure young Ian would have been thrilled to be included on a "hard rock" list.

anyway, the obvious is Back in Black

or

You Shook Me All Night Long

[dogdriver]

I won't settle for just one, but will add:

The Real Me, The Who

[martl]

Little known, but rocks: "Meat" by Tony Iommi sung by Skin from "Skunk Anansie"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_ZlJsFeyy4

[Saint Vitus]

...it's probably children.

The man said hard rock, I'll offer up "Kashmir" only because it's my youth. "Hocus Pocus" is an interesting inclusion to the pantheon of hard rock: Yodeling and fantastic guitar work by a jazz musician.

[mdeeds71]

:crap:

MOTHER by Danzig '93

:crap:

"If you wanna find hell with me, I can show you what it's like…till you're bleeding"
(awesome song to listen to on a grinding double digit gradient, double digit km climb…or a screaming fast, tight crit)

[learningtoride]

...

[ptourkin]

Any excuse to post this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfD7agP1yxw

[beeatnik]

Any excuse to post this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfD7agP1yxw

hahaha

satan and roids, better for music than for fighting.

[bobswire]

In a gadda da vida

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCkHanF4v1w

I was semi friends with Doug Engle, I was working the Fillmore the first time they played there, they arrived late and didn't have a place to stay or stash there personal gear etc, so I let them use my place to stash their stuff. Anytime they returned Doug and I would bull···· about our lives.
Most (not all) of the rockers I knew were pretty down to earth once they were off stage, even Janice.

I was backstage manager (fancy title for back door man) that's me on the far right. Bill Grahm and staff of the Fillmore 1968.

For me the iconic R&R song is the Stones, Satisfaction, It came out when I was in Vietnam but they wouldn't play it on Armed Forces Radio BUT..we had a record we played over and over and over again. I'm not saying it was the best song,just the one that turned me on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXcNQTa3zgs

http://i58.tinypic.com/2vb674m.jpg

[BSUdude]

Led Zeppelin - No Quarter, the live version from The Song Remains The Same.

Other worldly. The first time I heard it the song gave me chills. The guitar, Plant's vocals. Perfect.

[nbl78s]

Queen - fat bottomed girls
Get on your bikes and ride :banana:

[MadRocketSci]

The Temples of Syrinx - Rush (yes I'm an engineer)

some honorable mentions:

Misty Mountain Hop - Zep

Mr. Brownstone - GNR

[echelon_john]

Hard rock? The song I heard--absolutely blaring--when I walked into my first junior high dance.

Bad Company "Feel Like Making Love"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEuKkcX1uKA

[makoti]

I won't settle for just one, but will add:

The Real Me, The Who

Quadrophenia.
The.Best.Album.Ever.

[OtayBW]

Hmmm....

How about 'Theme for an Imaginary Western'.

So many come to mind....

[msl819]

I will start by saying that all of my favorite Hard Rock songs share a strong opening, which pulls you into the song and forces your head to jam, air guitar to come out, drums on your steering wheel. You don't even know it is happening, it just takes you over. With all of that said, here are my favorites, in my current ranked order:

"One" is a great song, maybe one of the best. The guitar, the drums, the raw emotion. It is gripping. This song has moved me to tears more than once.

"Cult of Personality" Living Colour...just a great song which has the energy to get you head banging from the first note.

"Welcome to the Jungle" When it starts, you know it is going to take you on a ride...roll with it and enjoy it.

"Changes" Black Sabbath...arguably not a Hard Rock song, but I put it here anyway. A great song, it is hard to believe it is 40 years old, as it could have been a hit. Ozzy vocals at their best, IMO.

Based off your criteria I would add Kravitz's, Are You Gonna Go My Way. From the first lick it gets you.

[Stephen2014]

Have been into Real - "Get out on your own" for some years
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYnVj_vYT5k&app=desktop

[chengher87]

Metallica - Master of Puppets
Cream - Crossroads
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Scuttle Buttin (a bit of a stretch I know..)
Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun

Honorable Mention

Spinal Tap - Big Bottom

[Stephen2014]

The Soundgarden track I love is Spoonman.

[NRRider]

Quadrophenia.
The.Best.Album.Ever.
I was going to add everything off of this, and most off of Who's Next, but if I had to pick one it would be this. Never tire of the bass solos. Or Baba, or Won't Get Fooled Again.
Oh yeah, and I can't forget Rush's Red Barchetta. And lots of other Rush songs.

[MattTuck]

I was going to add everything off of this, and most off of Who's Next, but if I had to pick one it would be this. Never tire of the bass solos. Or Baba, or Won't Get Fooled Again.
Oh yeah, and I can't forget Rush's Red Barchetta. And lots of other Rush songs.

If you like Baba O'Riley, and are interested at all in cellos, listen to Low Strung's version. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODJZokkuOC0) This version doesn't have the best audio quality but you get the idea.

[1centaur]

I know some would shudder at what some here consider "hard rock."

While my first instinct was "Stairway to Heaven" I worried that it has too much melody for true hard rock.

I'm inclined to think something by AC/DC because they epitomize the feeling of rock, but which one?

[slidey]

Tommy Bolin - Post Toastee, The Grind

Fleetwood Mac - Coming Your Way, Oh Well

Rolling Stones - Monkey Man, Gimme Shelter

Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks (besides the obvious)

Pink Floyd - Money, Time, Shine On You Crazy Diamond

The Beatles - Free As A Bird

[Matt-H]

I know some would shudder at what some here consider "hard rock."

While my first instinct was "Stairway to Heaven" I worried that it has too much melody for true hard rock.

I'm inclined to think something by AC/DC because they epitomize the feeling of rock, but which one?

Back in Black, the album, from start to finish.

[choke]

Hmmm....so many choices it's hard to pick just one. A few that spring to mind...

Montrose - Rock Candy
Judas Priest - The Ripper
Dust - From a Dry Camel

The Temples of Syrinx - RushExcellent choice though I'd say the entire 2112 song.

[rustychisel]

I know some would shudder at what some here consider "hard rock."

While my first instinct was "Stairway to Heaven" I worried that it has too much melody for true hard rock.

I'm inclined to think something by AC/DC because they epitomize the feeling of rock, but which one?


Damn right!!

Maybe Stairway To Heaven gets a pass, but nothing by Huey Lewis.

You Shook Me All Night Long or perhaps Hells Bells

surprised to be the first to mention Ace Of Spades - Motorhead

[Louis]

I'm inclined to think something by AC/DC because they epitomize the feeling of rock, but which one?

That's easy - "Back in Black"

Edit - I see Matt-H beat me to it.

[93legendti]

^ Instant cool points for mentioning Tommy Bolin. Teaser is a killer album/CD.

Burn, Highway Star- Deep Purple
Achilles Last Stand, Whole Lotta Love- Led Zep
Real Me, Won't Get Fooled Again- Who
Rock the Nation, Dancin' Feet - Montrose
Paranoid, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Hoedown- ELP
All Right Now- Free
Easy Livin- Heep
Mississippi Queen - Mountain
Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf
White Room - Cream
Lights Out- UFO
Bridge of Sighs, Too Rolling Stoned - Robin Trower




Sorry, can't name just one...

[Aaron O]

Sheesh - so many choices!

I'll take Kinks you really got me

A few others I considered:

Ramones - blitzkrieg bop
Ac/DC - back in black
Stones - paint it black
Ny Dolls - trash
The sweet - ballroom blitz
White Stripes - 7 nation army
Clash - the clampdown
999 - homicide
The stooges - search and destroy
Count 5 - psychotic reaction
Pixies - gouge away
Bob mould - circles
Dead kennedys - California Uber alles
MC5 - kick out the jams
Joan Jett - bad reputation

[rustychisel]

Sheesh - so many choices!

I'll take Kinks you really got me




there are soooo many choices, I reckon some of yours are borderline, like 999 Homicide is really a punk song, but I'll see you and raise you a Stranglers No More Heroes.


What about Van Halen's Eruption/You Really Got Me?

[Louis]

What about Van Halen's Eruption/You Really Got Me?

That's definitely at or near the top of rock's virtuoso performances.

[Aaron O]

I absolutely hate that version of the song and can do without Van Halen in general.

Many of my choices were punk songs - punk songs that I think rock pretty hard. If by hard rock you mean stuff like Aerosmith, it ain't my thing.

[FlashUNC]

Hendrix put it best: The Troggs' Wild Thing. I'll trust his judgment given his own body of work. Can point to that song's influence everywhere.

Failing that...you go with Link Wray's Rumble -- inspired Iggy and the Stooges after all and invented the power chord for Pete's sake.

Or for an off-beat suggestion at the height of garage greatness, the Sonics with Have Love, Will Travel.

[rustychisel]

okay, but what about when what you like blends with stuff other people like?

For example, Blue Oyster Cult's producer Sandy Pearlman as produced The Clash' second album 'Give Em Enough Rope' and the result is, well, pretty fine, as you know.

English Civil War
Stay Free

etc

[Louis]

This isn't "hard" rock, but since we're now talking about guitarists, overall I'd have to put Mark Knopfler near the top of my all-time fav lists. As a song-writer and guitarist, there aren't many better.

[ojingoh]

Down on the Street (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qannFs974gg)

[DRZRM]

Rocket From the Crypt - On a Rope (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=777kGx7-qLw)

But I'm a sucker for a horn section!

As everyone else is giving multiple choices, I'll add

The Hellacopters - By the Grace of God (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1aZUzaAdJY)

The Dirtbombs - Chains of Love (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0tSiJet9TM)

DRZRM out...

[Aaron O]

okay, but what about when what you like blends with stuff other people like?

For example, Blue Oyster Cult's producer Sandy Pearlman as produced The Clash' second album 'Give Em Enough Rope' and the result is, well, pretty fine, as you know.

English Civil War
Stay Free

etc
It really depends on the blend...I freaking hate the doors, but I dig a lot of what Ray manzerack produced. I actually really like blue oyster cult.

I'm not an iconoclast... I love Bonny raitt, Steely dan and shakirah. I'm pretty much all over the place, but I generally dislike the guitar masturbaters.

Speaking of link wray - I have a killer live recording he made with Jason and the scorchers.

[Louis]

But I'm a sucker for a horn section!

"They don't give a damn 'bout any trumpet playing band
It ain't what they call Rock and Roll"

Speaking of Mark Knopfler ;)

[majorpat]

AC/DC If You Want Blood

[Aaron O]

Courtney love should be banned from speaking in public for what she said about horn sections.

Almost every band benefits from a horn;)

Dire Straits made some terrific music.

[pinkshogun]

In 1979 The Kinks played The Providence Civic Center. the buzz was tremendous but i was too young to go according to my parental units. this pioneering song (1965), album (One for the Road), and youtube videos remind me of what i missed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2Jj9yKsC-U

[pcxmbfj]

Not true hard rock but as good as anything listed so far

The Clash-"Train in Vain" off London Calling

[oliver1850]

It really depends on the blend...I freaking hate the doors, but I dig a lot of what Ray manzerack produced. I actually really like blue oyster cult.


Speaking of link wray - I have a killer live recording he made with Jason and the scorchers.

Manzerack produced X, I believe. Were they hard rock, punk, or????

I left the outdoor stereo playing while I went riding Monday night; when I got home BOC was playing. I saw them 7 or 8 times in their 1970s heyday, their stuff still holds up for me. And I listened to that live Jason/Wray while unloading hay the other night. Link tried a lot of different styles over the years, get the "Missing Links" lps on Norton for the evidence. Saw him live at Gabe's in IA City maybe 1997. House sound man comes up to me before the show, says "I hope you brought your ear plugs".........

Aaron doesn't like many covers, so I'm going to test his patience with another one. I'll throw this out not as the best hard rock song ever, just one I really like that nobody else is likely to name:

The Celibate Rifles, "Dancing Barefoot"

[soulspinner]

Didnt look at each response but Red Barchetta.......

[soulspinner]

Dust in the Wind
Carry on My Wayward Son

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ob_Iwbd8h4

More Than A Feeling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSR6ZzjDZ94

honorable mention.......

[jr59]

I'll show my southern roots;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZbHKQi5uDs

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg54zkr6IWs

[gomango]

Hmmm, let me see here.

How about T. Rex/ Marc Bolan - 20th Century Boy ?

http://youtu.be/fqITwSOXX2g

[Aaron O]

Manzerack produced X, I believe. Were they hard rock, punk, or????

I left the outdoor stereo playing while I went riding Monday night; when I got home BOC was playing. I saw them 7 or 8 times in their 1970s heyday, their stuff still holds up for me. And I listened to that live Jason/Wray while unloading hay the other night. Link tried a lot of different styles over the years, get the "Missing Links" lps on Norton for the evidence. Saw him live at Gabe's in IA City maybe 1997. House sound man comes up to me before the show, says "I hope you brought your ear plugs".........

Aaron doesn't like many covers, so I'm going to test his patience with another one. I'll throw this out not as the best hard rock song ever, just one I really like that nobody else is likely to name:

The Celibate Rifles, "Dancing Barefoot"
I think they were usually considered a punk band, but a lot of what they did is just great rock. Genres usually aren't too important to me.

I've never hard of that band, but I love the song.

I do like a lot of covers - I just don't like how van Halen approached that song. I really just don't like van Halen. I thought David lowery approached the kinks well with his covers, and I love dar Williams cover of better things because she went completely sincere, which just heightens the sarcasm.

[Aaron O]

Hmmm, let me see here.

How about T. Rex/ Marc Bolan - 20th Century Boy ?

http://youtu.be/fqITwSOXX2g

That is such a great song...I thought about children of the revolution, but bolan's vocals are just too sexy for me to think of him as hard rock.

[gomango]

I think they were usually considered a punk band, but a lot of what they did is just great rock. Genres usually aren't too important to me.

I've never hard of that band, but I love the song.

I do like a lot of covers - I just don't like how van Halen approached that song. I really just don't like van Halen. I thought David lowery approached the kinks well with his covers, and I love dar Williams cover of better things because she went completely sincere, which just heightens the sarcasm.

I lumped the Celibate Rifles in with the Hoodoo Gurus and the Church.

Yeah, the Church had a lighter pop sensibility, but they were all worthy.

[Aaron O]

I lumped the Celibate Rifles in with the Hoodoo Gurus and the Church.

Yeah, the Church had a lighter pop sensibility, but they were all worthy.

I'll check them out - I do really like hoodoo gurus.

[rallizes]

This isn't "hard" rock, but since we're now talking about guitarists, overall I'd have to put Mark Knopfler near the top of my all-time fav lists. As a song-writer and guitarist, there aren't many better.

May I suggest Richard Thompson?

[Climb01742]

My two go-to bands would be Sisters of Mercy ('More') and Social Distortion ('Cold Feelings').

[Likes2ridefar]

Tool - Lateralus

[ptourkin]

Manzerack produced X, I believe. Were they hard rock, punk, or????
"

Manzarek produced Los Angeles and played keyboards on their excellent version version of Soul Kitchen: http://youtu.be/k5ikNYY0JgQ

They were early members of the LA/Hollywood punk scene and are still touring with all original members, even though there were many iterations in between. I saw them last Sunday.

For a longer hard experience, I give you Dopesmoker by Sleep:


http://youtu.be/hIw7oeZKpZc

[ptourkin]

My two go-to bands would be Sisters of Mercy ('More') and Social Distortion ('Cold Feelings').

Some Social D from when they were hard (and Mike was high): http://youtu.be/W4y0pSC-mJ4

[Saint Vitus]

If you like Baba O'Riley, and are interested at all in cellos, listen to Low Strung's version. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODJZokkuOC0) This version doesn't have the best audio quality but you get the idea.

I know some would shudder at what some here consider "hard rock."
I'm inclined to think something by AC/DC because they epitomize the feeling of rock, but which one?

AC/DC are a rotting lot of tossers, but this version of "Thunderstuck" by a pair a cellists rocks almost everything mentioned in this thread, powdered wigs and all...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT3SBzmDxGk

[makoti]

My two go-to bands would be Sisters of Mercy ('More') and Social Distortion ('Cold Feelings').

I was going to mention Sisters of Mercy & More, but was torn between that and "Ribbons".

[BobC]

Surprising no one has mentioned Cult's She Sells Sanctuary or Living Color's Cult of Personality

[Saint Vitus]

Manzarek produced Los Angeles and played keyboards on their excellent version version of Soul Kitchen: http://youtu.be/k5ikNYY0JgQ

They were early members of the LA/Hollywood punk scene and are still touring with all original members, even though there were many iterations in between. I saw them last Sunday.


I remember at a gig with X at the Country Club in about '82 when Manzarek was working with them I was at the stage door waiting to get in this guy runs up asking to see Ray (pleading...). The guy was a dead ringer for Morrison, he was summarily dismissed. Could have been Val Kilmer for all I knew lol

So how was that show? I should have gone to that one instead of the January show at the Casbah, I was at the stage and my ears are still ringing! DJ does not need to be mic'd.

[93legendti]

Surprising no one has mentioned Cult's She Sells Sanctuary or Living Color's Cult of Personality

Living Color got a mention a few pages ago...

King's X?

[carpediemracing]

I spend a lot of time on the trainer. Any harder ride gets done with bike video on the screen and music in my earbuds. Some of my go to songs for big efforts in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th hours of a trainer ride:

(apologies to the purists as I seem to like popular stuff)

Queens of the Stone Age "Little Sister" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGRqnNEOpe0)

Queens of the Stone Age "Go With The Flow" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcHKOC64KnE)

Zebrahead "Get Back" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHF3CcN-ga4)

Zebrahead "I Am" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI8GbkH9KXQ)

Other Zebrahead stuff from Waste of Mind and Playmate.

System Of A Down "Chop Suey" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSvFpBOe8eY)

System Of A Down "BYOB" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUzd9KyIDrM)

CIV "Choices" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k-HiCnTS3A)

Other CIV as well.

Midnight Oil "Only The Strong (live)" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyqWoq2STjw) (the studio version isn't all that)

Rage Against The Machine stuff, I have to leave it fallow for now. Ditto some other good bands, Green Day is one that I've burnt out on for 15 years or so.

All my clips (https://www.youtube.com/user/SprinterDellaCasa) feature music by my two brothers and bands they belonged to, and I like them all.

[Cornfed]

May be cheating, but there are a lot of lists out there on this subject -- e.g., http://www.stereogum.com/43591/vh1s_100_greatest_hard_rock_songs/list/

My take: if you can't name the song in the first three chords, it can't be a "greatest".

[Climb01742]

I was going to mention Sisters of Mercy & More, but was torn between that and "Ribbons".

Good choice. Always felt SoM were under-appreciated.

[Louis]

Queens of the Stone Age "Little Sister" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGRqnNEOpe0)

Queens of the Stone Age "Go With The Flow" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcHKOC64KnE)

I have to add "No One Knows" to that list.

They get zero air-play around here (at least on the stations I have programmed on my car radio) which IMO is a durn shame.

[bluesea]

Led Zepplin - "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You"

[Germany_chris]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpGhIP-nSJE

Pennywise -- My God

during my sprints today

[texbike]

Led Zepplin - "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You"

Absolutely! Soooo, many good ones by these guys. Ramble On, Kashmir, Immigrant Song, The Ocean.

[Aaron O]

Ok - I'm going to throw a curve ball...

RUN DMC's stuff rocks awfully hard, so...

King of Rock

[oliver1850]

Which puts me in mind of another cover. "Walk this Way", Run DMC covering Aerosmith.

[redir]

IMO Tony Iommi is the harbinger of all things hard rock, a riff master like no other, and well deserved of holding the greatest hard rocker title to date. I'd put in another vote for 'War Pigs' because of it's intensity not only in the neck hair raising haunting guitar riffs, thumping bass lines, marching drums and dark prodigious vocals but for it's driving political and religious content which has spanned the time of it's creation to our times now and in the foreseeable future.

\m/

[ptourkin]

I remember at a gig with X at the Country Club in about '82 when Manzarek was working with them I was at the stage door waiting to get in this guy runs up asking to see Ray (pleading...). The guy was a dead ringer for Morrison, he was summarily dismissed. Could have been Val Kilmer for all I knew lol

So how was that show? I should have gone to that one instead of the January show at the Casbah, I was at the stage and my ears are still ringing! DJ does not need to be mic'd.

Weird!
I was at the Casbah too - great show, all the classics.
This tour is semi-acoustic. completely different set, but all good.

The first time I saw them was at the Starwood on upper Santa Monica Blvd. on Thanksgiving 1980. DOA opened for them and we were shocked when all the punks left after DOA and didn't stay for X.

Here's a pic from the Belly Up - really hard to compare to the Casbah as the North County mellow tends to suck some of the life out

[93legendti]

Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast, Run To The Hills
Ozzy - Crazy Train, Over The Mountain
Priest - Electric Eye, Green Manilishi
Nugent- Out Of Control
Queensryche- Eyes Of A Stranger, I Don't Believe In love
Crue - Dr. Feelgood
Alice in Chains- Would
Rush - Working Man, Freewill

A hard rock song better be heavy...

[makoti]

Which puts me in mind of another cover. "Walk this Way", Run DMC covering Aerosmith.

Covers? "Wicked Game" by H.I.M. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WA2jBMk-Pk
Nothing like the original in feel.

[Frankwurst]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6uKpwCZnkk

[MadRocketSci]

if we're bringing in old-school rappers that rock i'm gonna also go Mamma Said Knock You Out by LLCoolJ, esp the unplugged version...

[93legendti]

Dust In The Wind? LL Cool J? Ok, we've jumped the shark on hard rock songs.

[jbrainin]

School's Out!

(seven pages and no one mentioned alice cooper? wow!)

[Louis]

dust in the wind? Ll cool j? Ok, we've jumped the shark on hard rock songs.

+1

Edit - those must have been tongue-in-cheek.

[texbike]

OK, gonna show my white trash, 80s rock upbringing here. I got my 1st decent guitar in 1984 (a Fender Lead III - still have it!) and played in several bands during high school and early college that focused on rock and metal.

These were some of my influences from that time.

That OTHER Canadian rock band - Triumph:

Don't Waste My Time (www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxpixBu7UMQ )
Fight the Good Fight (www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlJA-cN2C_0 ) Jack Brunk's favorite? :)

Dokken:

It's Not Love (www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCn80HADpto )
Breaking the Chains (www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQb1t_Yw0S8 )

Krokus: Screaming in the Night (www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6Ae0k27LT4 )

Whitesnake: Still of the Night (www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_tfq0qTDDE )

Zebra: Tell Me What You Want (www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAl1nrRqSVg )

Dio!!!: Rainbow in the Dark (www.youtube.com/watch?v=WapvE4pRqic )

And of COURSE, the Scorpions!!!

Big City Nights (www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmE_l_dN9UM )
No One Like You (www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YNUu7w-WpU )
Rock You Like a Hurricane (www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxdmw4tJJ1Y ) I won a 12 string guitar playing this song in a contest when I was 15. :)

Damn, I need to spice up my wardrobe with some old concert shirts and dig the guitar out of the closet. :cool:

Texbike

[Aaron O]

OK, gonna show my white trash, 80s rock upbringing here. I got my 1st decent guitar in 1984 (a Fender Lead III - still have it!) and played in several bands during high school and early college that focused on rock and metal.

These were some of my influences from that time.

That OTHER Canadian rock band - Triumph:

Don't Waste My Time (www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxpixBu7UMQ )
Fight the Good Fight (www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlJA-cN2C_0 ) Jack Brunk's favorite? :)

Dokken:

It's Not Love (www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCn80HADpto )
Breaking the Chains (www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQb1t_Yw0S8 )

Krokus: Screaming in the Night (www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6Ae0k27LT4 )

Whitesnake: Still of the Night (www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_tfq0qTDDE )

Zebra: Tell Me What You Want (www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAl1nrRqSVg )

Dio!!!: Rainbow in the Dark (www.youtube.com/watch?v=WapvE4pRqic )

And of COURSE, the Scorpions!!!

Big City Nights (www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmE_l_dN9UM )
No One Like You (www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YNUu7w-WpU )
Rock You Like a Hurricane (www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxdmw4tJJ1Y ) I won a 12 string guitar playing this song in a contest when I was 15. :)

Damn, I need to spice up my wardrobe with some old concert shirts and dig the guitar out of the closet. :cool:

Texbike
I beg you, for all of our sakes - no denim jacket with cheesey patch on the back!

[Pars]

Lots of good suggestions here.

Off the top of my head votes:

The Who: I Can See For Miles
Nazz: Open My Eyes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXMImnA5tDQ&feature=related)
Catherine Wheel: I Want To Touch You

lots of others...

[Louis]

OK, here's a twist, best "hard" rock song by a band with a female lead singer?

That narrows the field quite a bit.

[rustychisel]

OK, here's a twist, best "hard" rock song by a band with a female lead singer?

That narrows the field quite a bit.


Skunk Anansie
Nina Hagen Band
Divinyls

that'll do for the mo

[bluesea]

OK, gonna show my white trash, 80s rock upbringing here. I got my 1st decent guitar in 1984 (a Fender Lead III - still have it!) and played in several bands during high school and early college that focused on rock and metal.

These were some of my influences from that time. (snip)


Texbike



You can't get any trashier than the 80's. :D

I saw Dio twice in the 80's. First on his Heaven And Hell tour with Black Sabbath. Second on the Last In Line tour, where they also had a huge black lighted ancient Egyptian mural system for a Heaven And Hell Reprise. For these two examples I'll have to say Iommi was boring, Vivian Campbell electrifying.

[Pars]

OK, here's a twist, best "hard" rock song by a band with a female lead singer?

That narrows the field quite a bit.

Curve Hell Above Water, for example

P.J. Harvey (saw her open for U2 in 2001, and she was good)

Someone told me that her earlier albums make Courtney Love sound like Doris Day :rofl: I'll have to check that sometime.

[bluesea]

^ Heart - Magic Man

[93legendti]

Bring Me To Life - Evanescence
If Looks Could Kill - Heart
Time Flies- Sass Jordan

[GuyGadois]

The Phoenix - The Cult

I love that song

[oliver1850]

I cast my vote for Polly Jean. Can't name a song without playing the CDs. Lucinda Williams can rock pretty hard too but she's not in the hard rock category in general.

Backing up to the OZ bands: The Rifles had a much harder edge than the Gurus or the Church. I put them closer to Radio Birdman/Stooges territory. Not a knock on the Gurus or Church, but the Rifles make the hard rock cut and the others don't.

[makoti]

OK, here's a twist, best "hard" rock song by a band with a female lead singer?

That narrows the field quite a bit.

Joan Jett: Hate Myself for Lovin' You

[Aaron O]

OK, here's a twist, best "hard" rock song by a band with a female lead singer?

That narrows the field quite a bit.
I like this question.

The first one that popped in my mind was heart's baracuda, but there are some others that rock harder.

I'm going with The Distillers - hall of mirrors

http://youtu.be/nclOYdxA9cM

Honorable mentions to:

Joan Jett - bad reputation
Runaways - cherry bomb
Breeders - hell bound
Patti smith - Gloria

[Tony Edwards]

I cast my vote for Polly Jean.

If you haven't, check out the Desert Sessions Vol. 9 and 10. Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age hangs out at a studio in the Mojave desert with a lot of other musicians and they develop and record songs very quickly. PJ was on those volumes.

Here are live performances of a couple of live songs they developed there from the Jools Holland show. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtARUOnFk7E) This is PJ with, more or less, the then-current Queens lineup. The second song, Make it Wit Chu, was later adapted into a Queens song - this has happened in the past with some other Desert Sessions material, like In My Head.

[Matthew]

Eight pages of bands and not one mention of Godsmack? I stand alone, Speak, and Cryin like a bitch. How about some Y&T: Meanstreak, Forever, and Rescue Me to name a few. Saliva: Click, Click, Boom. And a shout out to a local band named Pop Evil that has hit the big time: Last Man Standing, Trenches, and Somebody Like You. Scorpions: Arizona, The Zoo, Blackout. Caroline's Spine: Sullivan and pretty much the entire Monsoon album. Matthew

[DRZRM]

Hmm, good one...

The Muffs, Agony (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R15gv949KyU)

I'll second

Joan Jet, Bad Reputation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RAQXg0IdfI)

and thanks for that Distillers link, awesome!

OK, here's a twist, best "hard" rock song by a band with a female lead singer?

That narrows the field quite a bit.

[Seramount]

I listened to Jimi's Electric Ladyland every morning while getting ready to go to high school...

so, I cast a vote for Voodoo Chile.

it's indelibly etched in my brain.

[Kirk Pacenti]

This documentary includes many of the songs mentioned here. It's a great film too...

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTQxNDY2NjMwNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNzExMDg0OQ@@._ V1_SX640_SY720_.jpg

[Aaron O]

Hmm, good one...

The Muffs, Agony (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R15gv949KyU)

I'll second

Joan Jet, Bad Reputation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RAQXg0IdfI)

and thanks for that Distillers link, awesome!

Glad you enjoyed!

[R2D2]

I listened to Jimi's Electric Ladyland every morning while getting ready to go to high school...

so, I cast a vote for Voodoo Chile.

it's indelibly etched in my brain.

I go with
All Along The Watchtower.

[MadRocketSci]

Dust In The Wind? LL Cool J? Ok, we've jumped the shark on hard rock songs.

Naw, G. Since people started bringing up Run DMC I brought in what i consider a great rap/hard rock-esque live performance. Yeah today LL is known for sitcoms and playing cops on TV (like Ice-T) but before that he threw down with a great performance that rocked the house. Didja know LL is a 2014 nominee for the rock hall of fame? Prolly not.

http://www.rockhall.com/inductees/nominees/ll-cool-j/

this describes the MSKYO performance on unplugged:

http://blindedbysound.com/features/deepsoul/deepsoul-ll-cool-j---mama-said-knock-you-out-mtv-unplugged-version/

and this is if you can't be bothered to scroll down....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DENOoiDtOvw

i'd say it rocks more than 75% of the stuff mentioned here. I'm a The Who fan since I was 12 years old but don't consider Baba O'Riley hard rock.

and continuing on with the hard rock crossovers, the king in my book is the grunge/HR Territorial Pissings by Nirvana...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ooa3m8aVzO4

[dogdriver]

Wow, the girls...

Ann Wilson rips-- the only girl I've ever seen who will hit the high notes live. Heart's cover of LZ's "Rock and Roll" is pretty hard to beat.

Also, Grace Potter's cover of White Stripes' "7 Nation Army" rocks hard...

[Dromen]

Black dog. Got me hooked

[texbike]

I beg you, for all of our sakes - no denim jacket with cheesey patch on the back!

Ha! Actually I did have a denim jacket with a picture of Bill the Cat on the back of it. :)


I saw Dio twice in the 80's. First on his Heaven And Hell tour with Black Sabbath. Second on the Last In Line tour, where they also had a huge black lighted ancient Egyptian mural system for a Heaven And Hell Reprise. For these two examples I'll have to say Iommi was boring, Vivian Campbell electrifying.

That must have been a great show! I worked for a solid week to perfectly nail the solo in Holy Diver. Good stuff!

Scorpions: Arizona, The Zoo, Blackout. . Matthew

The Zoo along with Still of the Night, and Nugent's Stranglehold were 3 of my favorite cruise songs.

Texbike

[Repack Rider]

Rock 'n' Roll Hoochikoo.

I walked into the club where I did the sound in the '70s, and Mike Finnigan and Jerry Woods ("Crazed Hipsters") were playing that song, first time I had heard it. I said to myself, that is the baddest rock tune ever played.

It holds up very well.

[fueler84]

Whole album: "rise against" siren song of the counterculture
"mudvayne" end of all things to come

But for song... I'll 2nd or 3rd, "metallica" master of puppets

[rounder]

OK, here's a twist, best "hard" rock song by a band with a female lead singer?

That narrows the field quite a bit.

Pretenders - In the Middle of the Road
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Niz2DuHc5K8

Other good rock & roll songs -

Chuck Berry & Keith Richards - Carol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClgtoM2RwQY

Rolling Stones - It's All Over Now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH0DxBIP3wE

The Band and Paul Butterfield - Mystery Train
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uto9t8k-Flg

[Aaron O]

Pretenders - In the Middle of the Road
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Niz2DuHc5K8

Other good rock & roll songs -

Chuck Berry & Keith Richards - Johnny B Good
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClgtoM2RwQY

Rolling Stones - It's All Over Now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH0DxBIP3wE

The Band and Paul Butterfield - Mystery Train
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uto9t8k-Flg

Good pick on middle of the road - love that tune.

[Russell]

Highway to Hell

[texbike]

OK, here's a twist, best "hard" rock song by a band with a female lead singer?



The Cranberries/Dolores O'Riordan - Zombie.

[binxnyrwarrsoul]

...

[Saint Vitus]

Weird!
I was at the Casbah too - great show, all the classics.
This tour is semi-acoustic. completely different set, but all good.

The first time I saw them was at the Starwood on upper Santa Monica Blvd. on Thanksgiving 1980. DOA opened for them and we were shocked when all the punks left after DOA and didn't stay for X.

Here's a pic from the Belly Up - really hard to compare to the Casbah as the North County mellow tends to suck some of the life out

I was on Doe's left the whole time, shooting pics.

Hahaha yeah true, though I saw Sharon Jones there and that jam cannot be stopped even by the mellowest NC sandal crowd.

I first saw them at the old Skeleton Club on Market in '80, I ended up in a conversation with one of the openers and missed much of X, only to join that band and later open for X a number of times.

[SpokeValley]

I know some would shudder at what some here consider "hard rock."

While my first instinct was "Stairway to Heaven" I worried that it has too much melody for true hard rock.

I'm inclined to think something by AC/DC because they epitomize the feeling of rock, but which one?

Well now, if we're going to AC/DC land...Have a Drink On Me...especially when they wind it up at the end...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM1xL2JPWJo

[bluesea]

Siouxsie & the Banshees' Dear Prudence is pretty hard (rock). :)

[1989Pre]

18 and Life-Skid Row

[chwupper]

I'm surprised there hasn't been more positive mention of Van Halen. Did the Sammy years and all the post-1984 meshugas obliterate the greatness that came before?

Not saying this is the best ever. But if the stuff I liked when I was 12 still sounds good to me 30 years later, it's worth mentioning.

The last two tracks of '1984' gave me bad dreams:

'Girl Gone Bad' -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ2yvAI4A7g

'House of Pain' -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHYLAxJ55xw

And if you prefer the dark side of VH to their party band vibe, check out the album that came out previous to '1984' -- 'Fair Warning':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHLPMV00yfc

[MadRocketSci]

Though The Police are not a "hard rock" band, I've always loved the harder edge of Synchronicity II. The lyrics are a step above typical teenage hair band fodder as well.

Another industrial ugly morning
The factory belches filth into the sky.
He walks unhindered through the picket lines today,
He doesn't think to wonder why.
The secretaries pout and preen like cheap tarts in a red light street,
But all he ever thinks to do is watch.
And every single meeting with his so-called superior
Is a humiliating kick in the crotch.
Many miles away something crawls to the surface
Of a dark Scottish lake.

Another working day has ended.
Only the rush hour hell to face.
Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes.
Contestants in a suicidal race.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1z6zh_the-police-synchronicity-ii_music

[firerescuefin]

18 and Life-Skid Row

Your first post on the Forum is "18 and Life" as the best hard rock song ever. I think your membership should be revoked or moved to probationary status. Surprised you passed up something from Ace of Base :fight:

[texbike]

Your first post on the Forum is "18 and Life" as the best hard rock song ever. I think your membership should be revoked or moved to probationary status. Surprised you passed up something from Ace of Base :fight:

Ouch! ;)

[MadRocketSci]

Your first post on the Forum is "18 and Life" as the best hard rock song ever. I think your membership should be revoked or moved to probationary status. Surprised you passed up something from Ace of Base :fight:

That was my next entry...esp this version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK3-cWDobww

[Elefantino]

AC/DC are a rotting lot of tossers, but this version of "Thunderstuck" by a pair a cellists rocks almost everything mentioned in this thread, powdered wigs and all...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT3SBzmDxGk
Beat me to it.

I'll add this, if only for the riff:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUwEIt9ez7M

[charliedid]

Your first post on the Forum is "18 and Life" as the best hard rock song ever. I think your membership should be revoked or moved to probationary status. Surprised you passed up something from Ace of Base :fight:

But you said "Hard Rock will mean different things to different folks....and age will certainly be a factor. This came up on my shuffle today."

So maybe you should have just told us what the "Best" was and closed the thread?

[firerescuefin]

But you said "Hard Rock will mean different things to different folks....and age will certainly be a factor. This came up on my shuffle today."

So maybe you should have just told us what the "Best" was and closed the thread?

So maybe you shouldn't have checked your sense of humor at the door.

[Germany_chris]

Humor you say? I have very little of that!

even I got the humor of the post and I don't do hair band crotch stuffing hard rock

[Saint Vitus]

Beat me to it.

I'll add this, if only for the riff:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUwEIt9ez7M

:cool: I'm glad someone took the time to watch it, because it really does out-rock most everything mentioned ;-)

The ad for the Deep Purple song was the latest from Spoon, which is more of my liking. I never was much of a hard rock kinda guy, more Kinks/Who/Beatles/Stones etc sure they have shades of HR, but for the most part it's about tune craft and the art of the form than balls out rock ala AC/DC and Spoon exemplifies that tradition more than most of the recent crop of artists.

[Elefantino]

:cool: I'm glad someone took the time to watch it, because it really does out-rock most everything mentioned ;-)

The ad for the Deep Purple song was the latest from Spoon, which is more of my liking. I never was much of a hard rock kinda guy, more Kinks/Who/Beatles/Stones etc sure they have shades of HR, but for the most part it's about tune craft and the art of the form than balls out rock ala AC/DC and Spoon exemplifies that tradition more than most of the recent crop of artists.
2Cellos are coming to NorCal next March. Birthday present to myself, two tickets!

[charliedid]

So maybe you shouldn't have checked your sense of humor at the door.

Not humor, just condescending and snarky...on your part.

[firerescuefin]

Not humor, just condescending and snarky...on your part.

PM'd

[Saint Vitus]

Given some of the offerings here as "Best hard rock of all time" I wonder about people's sense of humor...

[Saint Vitus]

2Cellos are coming to NorCal next March. Birthday present to myself, two tickets!

You will be rocking hard no doubt!

[Louis]

Given some of the offerings here as "Best hard rock of all time" I wonder about people's sense of humor...

Hey, there are probably some folks out there who think that Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life" is "hard rock."

[Saint Vitus]

Hey, there are probably some folks out there who think that Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life" is "hard rock."

Ha! I tried searching using those parameters to see if some HR version existed and this thread was one of the yields lolol

[Waldo]

+1 for Gimme Shelter

[Louis]

Ha! I tried searching using those parameters to see if some HR version existed and this thread was one of the yields lolol

We're famous!!!

(or maybe just the only ones in our little world of weirdness)

[jmeloy]

May I suggest Richard Thompson?


You may. RT is amazing.

[Aaron O]

I found some duets he did with David Byrne. Talk about talent.

[jmeloy]

OK, here's a twist, best "hard" rock song by a band with a female lead singer?



That narrows the field quite a bit.


Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders. Her voice always got me stirred up. Mystery achievement for example.

[19wisconsin64]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDlC7oG_2W4

lots of good songs mentioned in this tread. this one's been mentioned before. it blends classical music with modern rock. before i race at the velodrome this song is stuck in my head…it's a good thing.

heck, a japanese koto ensemble band crushed it when they did this cover of it….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm2glu3WLGk

[texbike]

Tool - Lateralus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDlC7oG_2W4

lots of good songs mentioned in this tread. this one's been mentioned before. it blends classical music with modern rock. before i race at the velodrome this song is stuck in my head…it's a good thing.


Absolutely one of the best bands of the 90s/early 2000s. I wish they'd release another album!

[BryanE]

Almost went with Led Zep RNR but my Michigan roots had me vote for
the MC5:Kick Out The Jams.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XhQRFO4M7A

[Bob Ross]

Interesting question, since I haven't really been a Hard Rock fan since the 1970s, and even then I think part of the appeal was my sense that it was my teenage obligation to embrace this rebellious (sic) music. So I'm not sure these are what I consider the "best" hard rock songs of all time, just the ones that for some reason strike me as being some of the most iconic examples of the genre:

Foghat - "Honey Hush"
Black Sabbath - "Paranoid"
Alice Cooper - "School's Out"

and, despite the verses being so delicate, soft, and bordering on fey, I think the choruses and outtro are perhaps the definitive Hard Rock statement:

Led Zeppelin - "What Is And What Should Never Be"

Actually, to be honest I think in terms of tone (timbre), attitude, content, pretty much everything really, the most mind-blowingly awesome Hard Rock tune ever is

Rage Against The Machine - "Killing In The Name"

...but I detest that band on principle so I have a hard time giving them the kudos that song deserves. :banana:

[Elefantino]

Is qualification necessary if it's a song by a band whose lead singer leaps around like a gnome and plays the flute?

If not, then this deserves mention. I heard it on the way home from work last night and cranked it up. Here's an awesome live version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWubhw8SoBE

[Mikej]

Decendents - coolidge

[binxnyrwarrsoul]

IMO Tony Iommi is the harbinger of all things hard rock, a riff master like no other, and well deserved of holding the greatest hard rocker title to date. I'd put in another vote for 'War Pigs' because of it's intensity not only in the neck hair raising haunting guitar riffs, thumping bass lines, marching drums and dark prodigious vocals but for it's driving political and religious content which has spanned the time of it's creation to our times now and in the foreseeable future.

\m/

....

[1989Pre]

+1 for Honey Hush

[1989Pre]

Mr., you sound pretty pompous. Why are you so angry? I have a perfect right to enjoy the music I enjoy.
18 and Life is my favorite 80's metal song because it accurately captures teenage angst. I think it's probably time to let yours go.


Your first post on the Forum is "18 and Life" as the best hard rock song ever. I think your membership should be revoked or moved to probationary status. Surprised you passed up something from Ace of Base :fight:

[Kirk Pacenti]

haven't read the entire thread... anyone mention Ram Jam's "Black Betty"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqjoHKISCVU

[firerescuefin]

Mr., you sound pretty pompous. Why are you so angry? I have a perfect right to enjoy the music I enjoy.
18 and Life is my favorite 80's metal song because it accurately captures teenage angst. I think it's probably time to let yours go.

Enjoy your music. It was a joke. Apologize if that was not how it was received. Didn't think it was that much of a reach. Obviously for some....it was.

[rain dogs]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufzRV3xspYA

Girls moving those hips.

I'm glad someone mentioned Rage... but opposed to them? Why?

Bullet in the Head, Bombtrack, Freedom... they're all good.

Anything from the Zep catalogue is worthy - Kashmir, Since I've been loving you, In my time of Dying ... oh man Blind Willie Johnson!

[makoti]

More blues, but one of my faves. Savoy Brown - Hellbound Train

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlqqeobOJvg

[Louis]

Kashmir

Which reminds me of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" which reminds me of this scene: ("Relax, alright. My old man is a television repairman - he's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it. ... ")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN_Nod65e7o

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7f/Fast_Times_at_Ridgemont_High_film_poster.jpg

[poff]

Sorry if already posted:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4CvjvMs9PU
And I do not know if Billy I qualifies, but I love it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLjE-2_Luaw

[Bob Ross]

I'm glad someone mentioned Rage... but opposed to them? Why?

Because they wear their politics like a badge of honor, as if it somehow elevates their art [sic] rather than simply contextualizes it.

[holliscx]

Knockin' me out with those American thighs

CHORUS:
Shook me all night long
Yeah you shook me all night long

[Louis]

Knockin' me out with those American thighs

CHORUS:
Shook me all night long
Yeah you shook me all night long

And there's the one about feeding the puppy (or something like that).

[JWDR]

Decendents - coolidge

I love the Descendents and saw All numerous times as a teen but would not consider them hard rock.

[martinez]

THE ACEEE OF SPAAAADDEEESSSSSS!
-Motorhead

[Germany_chris]

I love the Descendents and saw All numerous times as a teen but would not consider them hard rock.

That's true, and is not even hard punk. We all have different perspectives though.

[Waldo]

Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders. Her voice always got me stirred up. Mystery achievement for example.


Heart: Barracuda

[Dead Man]

I can't freaken believe it took 4 pages before anyone mentioned AC/DC in this freaken thread!

I am not an AC/DC fan by any means, but their best work is THE best of rock & roll, and I think that's generally pretty undisputed. But the two best of the best R&R songs ever performed still aren't even mentioned yet -

It's A Long Way To The Top
For Those About To Rock

These two songs rock harder than anything before, and still nothing has ever been recorded that matches the perfect balance of rock, attitude, an melodious intelligence (coining the phrase- you saw it first here) that is these two songs.

Shook Me is right up there, but just not quite the same caliber.

AD/DC did other songs well... but these are the very definition of Rock & Roll.

IMHO

[Germany_chris]

So are you saying you've been thunder struck?

[Louis]

So are you saying you've been thunder struck?

Wasn't that done a long time ago by some of Mozart's buddies? Was it the 2Cellos guys?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT3SBzmDxGk

[Germany_chris]

Wasn't that done a long time ago by some of Mozart's buddies? Was it the 2Cellos guys?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT3SBzmDxGk

All I have to say about that is front row purple dress..:eek:

[d_douglas]

Yeah, what he said - ACDC! They're a guilty pleasure, but you can't deny their awesomeness :). Dirty Deeds cannot be topped in my opinion.


If you expand this to post-punk, I would vote in Television's 'Marquee Moon' as the best late night driving song of all time. If you haven't heard it, give it a try...


I can't freaken believe it took 4 pages before anyone mentioned AC/DC in this freaken thread!

I am not an AC/DC fan by any means, but their best work is THE best of rock & roll, and I think that's generally pretty undisputed. But the two best of the best R&R songs ever performed still aren't even mentioned yet -

It's A Long Way To The Top
For Those About To Rock

These two songs rock harder than anything before, and still nothing has ever been recorded that matches the perfect balance of rock, attitude, an melodious intelligence (coining the phrase- you saw it first here) that is these two songs.

Shook Me is right up there, but just not quite the same caliber.

AD/DC did other songs well... but these are the very definition of Rock & Roll.

IMHO

[oliver1850]

That's true, and is not even hard punk. We all have different perspectives though.

They sounded pretty hard down at the East Moline VFW circa 1990. Edit: that was ALL I think. Same thing.

[rustychisel]

They sounded pretty hard down at the East Moline VFW circa 1990. Edit: that was ALL I think. Same thing.

Attaboy!

Saw the original Rollins Band in 1992. Now that was way effin' HARD!!!!


PS: still don't consider it 'hard rock' though

[bart998]

Any song on this album. Highway Star, Lazy, Smoke on the Water ...


Highway Star.