Best rock song of all time?

Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones.

BORING!! ^^^

And I love Led Zeppelin.

“(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” is better than both of those, but even that wouldn’t be my number one pick. It’s impossible to pick just one song and the ‘greatest rock song ever’. Yikes!

My top 3:

Under Pressure by Queen & David Bowie

Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

Hands down.

Crazy on You by Heart

Back In Black — AC/DC

Smells Like Teen Spirit — Nirvana

Welcome To The Jungle

Pretenders - Middle Of The Road

Rock The Casbah.

Queensryche- Silent Lucidity Pearl Jam- Yellow Ledbetter Kashmir- Led Zepplin AC/ DC- Hells Bells Elton John- Tiny Dancer Baby Blue- Badfinger Mind Games- John Lennon Day After Day- Badfinger Gold Dust Woman- Fleetwood Mac Down in a Hole- Soundgarden So many more. Very hard to pin down one.

Pink Floyd — Comfortably Numb

^^ yes.

Come Out and Play, The Offspring

More Than a Feeling, Boston. Brad Delp had an amazing voice.

David Bowie: Heroes

Metallica: Enter Sandman

Genesis: Firth of Fifth

Dire Straits: Sultans Of Swing

Still Loving You, The Scorpions

Born to be Wild, Steppenwolf

Innagadadavida, Iron Butterfly

Stairway To Heaven (Led Zeppelin)

Hotel California (Eagles)

Sweet Child Of Mine (Guns N’ Roses)

Jumping Jack Flash (Rolling Stones)

The Doors, “Break On Through”.

Metallica: Enter Sandman

The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again

Green Day's Jesus of Suburbia

Some days it's "Baba O'Riley." (Thanks, r21.)

Hell's Bells, ACDC.

No More Tears, Ozzy Osbourne,.

Smoke on the Water, Deep Purple.

Sweet Child of Mine, Guns N Roses.

Enter Sandman, Metallica.

Bad Company, Bad Company.

Grunge era:

Man in the Box, Alice in Chains.

You Really Got Me - The Kinks

"You Shook Me All Night Long" (Celine Dion version)

She truly is the Queen of Rock and Roll!

"You Really Got Me" is a great choice. Dave Davies was not the first person deliberately to distort guitar sounds, but I think he was the first big success at it. I was a little kid when that came out and could not resist it.

For Alice in Chains, I'd choose "Been Caught Stealing."

“Been Caught Stealing”, as in the Jane’s Addiction song?

“Whole Lotta Love” Led Zeppelin. Yes, it’s the commercial hit, but it’s still great.

“Aenema” Tool

“Who Are You?” The Who

There’s a lot more, but that’s off the top of my head.

Whoops. You're right, r28. I guess the women's names confused me.

Queen's We Will Rock You is the best Rock anthem of all time, and, in my opinion, the best Rock song of all time. Get's your blood moving.

Lots of good songs listed here.

Perhaps not as obvious: New Year's Day - U2

OP:" Exceeds my expectations" = "I am an idiot'

"Heroes and Villains" - the Beach Boys

@r18, Nailed it!

"NO Stairway to Heaven" 😂

As a musician and a 50 year old, I have to say that we are all too old to be choosing favorites at our age.

If I had to choose a Top Ten, here they be:

The Kinks 'You Really Got Me" The Beatles "Helter Skelter" The Stones. "Brown Sugar" Led Zepplin. "Rock and Roll" The Who. "Behind Blue Eyes" INXS. "What You Need" PIL. "Seattle" Blur. "Beetlebum" Radiohead. "Paranoid Android Oasis. "Wonderwall"

Led Zeppelin - "When The Levee Breaks" That heavy, crushing beat at the start is one of the best openers there is.

Surfing USA - The Beach Boys

This too is up there.

End of thread!

If this were a "best show tune of all time", or "best disco song of all time", or "best diva classic of all time" thread, it would already be on Part 3.

Another vote for Helter Skelter. Perfect vocal delivery by Paul McCartney.

This is actually one of the greatest songs of all time.

Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen

Hey, Jude

Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts - Bob Dylan

Black Sabbath, Fairies wear Boots.

Gimme Shelter.

And fuck that queen who goes around posting “r47 see r1.” Just fuck you.

Venus in Furs - The Velvet Underground

Rock Around the Clock.

Skater Boy by Avril.

You shook my tits and you rattled my cunt

"Once upon a time you dressed so fine, threw the bums a dime, in your prime, didn't you?"

How to choose a favorite? That’s difficult, but here’s one

Rhiannon

Hungry Heart — Springsteen

[quote] And fuck that queen who goes around posting “[R47] see [R1].” Just fuck you.

MARY.

Are you the "r57 see r56" queen?

If I could see inside of me what would the answer be would there be three

R33 is an asshole.

4 minutes of feminist angst with some of the cleverest lyrics of pust grunge crossover.

Post* grunge

r6 I am with you

Lloyd Price - Stagger Lee

I've been liking "You Never Can Tell" for a long time now.

One of the reasons it's hard for me to choose is because I've been buying albums for such a long time, I don't necessarily remember the names of individual songs. I could tell you my top ten albums more easily than my top ten songs.

R41 Lack of interest may be because "best rock song" seems too generic. i.e. Seven decades of music covering all kinds of genres and subgenres within "rock."

I Wanna Be Your Dog by The Stooges

R65 Your right on the money. Because many “rock n roll” tracks would be considered soul today including those by Elvis. Then you got classic rock a la the Eagles Hotel California and that sort of sound. I thought of including one of my favorite songs of all time, Let’s Go Crazy by Prince but is it rock? It’s definitely rhythmic rock but I feel like most would consider it pop. Let’s just say Pink Floyd’s Time and call it a day.

Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower

Hole - Violet

Pixies - Debaser

INXS - Don't Change

Focus - Hocus Pocus

Husker Du - Pink Turns to Blue

Joy Division - Transmission

[quote] Lack of interest may be because "best rock song" seems too generic. i.e. Seven decades of music covering all kinds of genres and subgenres within "rock."

No, I think the first person had it right. Datalounge is not comprised of a bunch of rock music fans. Believe me, it really, really isn’t. There are a lot of people here who do know a lot of 70s radio hits, which is wonderful, but most DLers are into pop music or pop standards or show tunes or whatever.

The choices in this still-rather-short thread are very, very mainstream, as rock music goes. Are these the best? That’s debatable. But they sure are CHART HITS, and they sure are mostly classic rock from the 70s—the OP never asked “what’s the greatest classic rock song from the 70s?”. (Not that there’s anything wrong with classic rock radio hits from that decade — don’t get me wrong.)

15-20 years ago I would have agreed with “More Than A Feeling.” Even though I was thoroughly an Indie/alternative kid at the time. But my tastes have gotten quite a bit darker and far less mainstream since then. Now, I might be tempted to pick a brutal PJ Harvey song from her early years. Or maybe something by Led Zeppelin?

I hear "rock" and my first question is, "What kind of rock?"

I could choose a favorite from no less than 20 different genres that I appreciate, but not just one "of all time."

"Be My Baby" - the Ronettes

Pictures of Matchstick Men

Team pink floyd dark side of the moon

The Ronettes… that’s really pushing it. Were they ever really considered ‘rock’ music? Girl Group / R&B / Pop, sure…

R74 Because its often included in rock r roll greats. The musical lines really get blurred. I’m actually glad OP made this thread.

Only mentioned once above. The opening riff alone defined all "hard rock" for the next 40 years (hard rock died in 2008).

Hendrix - Purple Haze

[quote] The Ronettes… that’s really pushing it. Were they ever really considered ‘rock’ music?

From today's vantage point, probably not, but at the time (1962?), absolutely.

r74 is why people shy away from posting in threads like this.

In 1963, when "Be My Baby" came out, the music I thought of as "rock and roll" comprised the Beach Boys, the Four Seasons, the Phil Spector girl groups, Lesley Gore, some Motown ("Where Did Our Love Go" would not be released until the following spring; the Beatles had yet invade). This is what I and other NY area teens heard on our transistor radios. We called it "rock 'n' roll" without seeking out all your segregators (Girl Group / R&B / Pop, sure…)

Check out this 77 WABC-AM Silver Dollar Survey for September 3, 1963, the day "Be My Baby" entered the charts at #4. Let us know the rock-est song you find there.

R77 At the least in the production: that wall of sound.

[quote] But my tastes have gotten quite a bit darker and far less mainstream since then. Now, I might be tempted to pick a brutal PJ Harvey song from her early years. Or maybe something by Led Zeppelin?

Led Zeppelin isn't mainstream?

[quote] Datalounge is not comprised of a bunch of rock music fans.

Yeah, I'm disappointed in this thread. Although, I think we have had better rock threads in the past.

R78 There's "rock" and there's "rock 'n roll"... not the same thing.

Rock n roll: Little Richard- Good Golly Miss Molly Rock: Jimi Hendrix, suck my big dick

Different, right?

Okay, r82. You win. "Rock" only. Please remove any songs I may have posted. You win. You win.

IT'S YOUR THREAD, DICKBREATH.

R83 "Where did our love go?", first album I ever bought.

R82 Before we give up the "roll", perhaps we should ponder why OP's choice by Led Zeppelin is entitled "Rock and Roll."

I've read it has something to do with Little Richard and Chuck Berry.

I wish there were more rock/punk/folk/etc fans on DL. There’s just worship of boring pop divas who caterwaul all their songs. Maybe Stevie Nicks is the furthest out it goes.

R86 I am a hard core rock/punk/alternative/folk fan. Hardcore.... and, I gotta admit (and surface an unwarranted stereotype I must believe in) I am surprised there is as much expertise and appreciation for rock/alt rock as there is... I think I did expect only "Oh, Judy" stuff. There is a lot of deep RnB, dance, IDM wisdom on DL.

R86 I woke up to "rock" when punk debuted. This would be on my list.

R88, the Los Angeles has two of the best song titles ever--"The World's a Mess , It's in My Kiss" and "Your Phone's off the Hook (But You're Not)".

This song has always blown me away.

[quote]Led Zeppelin isn't mainstream?

I never said they weren’t.

But I will say: most of their catalog is far weirder than their song “Rock and Roll” which is just bog standard 12-bar blues with nothing challenging happening with the time signature or the chords/melody.

Cannonball by the Breeders

No Aloha is even better ^^

The Epic of Gilgamesh

A pretty little black A-line dress

I give to you

The spinal cord of JFK

Wrapped in Marilyn Monroe’s negligee

I give to you

R76. Just came here to post Purple Haze, too. I think the idea of there being a single best anything is naive and simple-minded. But if it had to come down to ONE that rocks the hardest?

Definitively?

Purple Haze.

[quote]Purple Haze.

"Scuse me, while I kiss this guy".

Afternoon Delight.

Are You Ready For My Great Big Cunt?

L7's Pretend We're Dead

I'll fine tune it for best mainstream/radio songs 90s rock (my teenage years):

Heart Shaped Box by Nirvana

Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead

Silent All These Years by Tori Amos

Divorce Song by Liz Phair

Wildflowers by Tom Petty

Man on the Moon by REM

R100 Too much pop in the DNA of that list.

I am a huge Radiohead fan... and also think their songs are too sophisticated for competing for "best rock song", but I think one of their stupidest songs can contend: Creep

R96 Ah the old days, give a young hippie a couple tabs of acid and you could fuck his brains out all day.

In response to the question, this one just came to me - no idea why.

Another day, my answer might be different. But today, it's this one.

The Cure - Just Like Heaven

R101 pop? Really? I wouldn't call any of the songs listed as pop. But pop is hard to define.

I do think most Radiohead songs are too sophisticated for rock. But not Fake Plastic Trees. It's a total rock song.

radiohead is shit

Radiohead is pretty interesting and experimental for such a popular band - not always successfully, but they have some very good music. They remind me somewhat of Brian Eno as well John Cale’s “drone” work.

Another vote for Purple Haze, because the best rock song of all time should have brilliant guitar playing and Hendrix rules. To that I'll add Layla (Clapton/Allman)...

All Along the Watchtower by Jimi.

It has many layers and large and small guitar riffs. I never get tired of it.

"Interstate Love Song" by Stone Temple Pilots is in my catalog of bests.

Great live version.