Despite the risque subject matter, 'Roxanne' reportedly helped the Police secure a record deal. The label agreed, beginning a relationship that would span the Police's entire career. As if to underscore its genre fluidity, 'Roxanne' has metamorphosed through the years. Emo-pop act Fall Out Boy emphasized the punk roots of the song on a released cover, while pop star George Michael approached the song like a standards crooner.
Sting himself has actually reinvented the song more than anyone else: He recorded a version of the song with rapper Puff Daddy in , and during solo concerts has performed both an extended, reggae-driven interpretation of the song and a gentle orchestral rendition.
Frampton is deservedly celebrated for his guitar playing and songwriting, but should also be recognized as a survivor in an industry that chews up and spits out even the best of them.
The longevity of his career is nothing short of remarkable. Remember, he started out as the vocalist and guitarist in the British teen band the Herd, and then followed that up by co-founding the mighty Humble Pie before going solo.
Frampton released four mildly successful solo albums before millions and millions of copies of Frampton Comes Alive! He was calling out for guidance and the audience made the connection. So, while the boys tried to figure out how he achieved that unique talk-box sound could it be he got some inspiration from Joe Walsh? Decades years later, Frampton has proven that he knew the way all along. You can almost feel the warm breeze blowing in as the summery sounds of wind chimes lead into the acoustic guitar and fiddle during the opening of the next track on our Top Classic Rock Song countdown, the Doobie Brothers' 'Black Water.
However, in an oft-repeated tale in rock history, an intrepid DJ flipping the record over and playing the other side led to the song hitting the No. Written and sung by guitarist Patrick Simmons, 'Black Water' was a change up from the more rootsy rock and roll that had established the band up to this point with hits like 'Long Train Runnin' and 'China Grove.
The Doobie Brothers would go on to score more hits and explore more creative ground throughout their long and successful career, but 'Black Water' was their first monster hit and remains among their most popular songs ever.
Rush grab their much deserved slot on our Top Classic Rock Songs list with a track that found the band once again breaking new ground artistically. From the band's perspective, every single second of 'Tom Sawyer' would be hard fought for in the studio as they worked to get things exactly right.
What began as it often does as simple noodling at soundcheck evolved into a much more complex undertaking. Fortunately their efforts paid off and 'Tom Sawyer' was quite well received, to put it mildly. The positive reception however, came as a complete shock to the band.
Lifeson has joked in the past about nailing the solo in a short period of time, but he later admitted that in reality quite a bit of tinkering was necessary to finally get a satisfactory take. Regardless of exactly what format the best local rock station from your teenage years favored — the popular classics, the hard stuff, or true oldies — odds are pretty good that Thin Lizzy's hit 'The Boys Are Back in Town' was regularly pulled out of the record stacks to accompany your evening's adventures.
Learning how to drive, then spending weekend nights goofing off with your friends in the car, you'd kill to hear a song like this on the radio. It would soundtrack your night, but you'd hope for more — that it would somehow bend the evening toward some chaotic climax of insanity, like a bar fight or the chance to sweep some new girl off her feet.
Even if, in reality there were no bars you really had a prayer of getting into and few girls willing to give any of us guys the time of day. Thin Lizzy's classic sound was defined by the twin guitars of Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson, and the central riff on hard-to-dispute Top Classic Rock Songs club member 'The Boys Are Back in Town' is maybe their most recognizable and brilliant moment.
But let's not discount the late Phil Lynott's lyric or vocals; breathless from the start, he paints with a broad brush and brings you into the middle of an ongoing story. These characters aren't from anywhere you know, and they may not wander through your night again, but while they're around, they will tear things up. We must admit, we can't recall any evenings spent cruising around in our green Ford Tempo that rivaled the action depicted in 'The Boys Are Back in Town.
By , more than a decade into their career, Judas Priest were ready to take on the world. With the release of their sixth album, the classic British Steel and the single 'Living After Midnight' they were really delivering the goods. The song packed a real one-two punch that woke up U. With its simple, almost Kinks-like riff, 'Living After Midnight' was a perfect melding of metal and pop, in the best sense of both worlds. In just over three minutes, Judas Priest packed all the power of their metallic sound into a simple, direct pop track.
Leaving behind earlier, more complicated songwriting, the band turned in a riff, melody and driving beat that was irresistible to rock radio. Record buyers also got hooked, giving Judas Priest their first major hit. The album cracked the Top 40 in America and the Top 5 in their native England. Judas Priest could be a lot heavier, no doubt, and at times even poppier remember 'Turbo Lover'? Four years after Frank Zappa realized there was something special about Alice Cooper, signing them to his record label, the title track from the band's album School's Out sent the group to the head of the class.
Decades later, it still easily aces our Top Classic Rock Songs entrance exam. Three and a half minutes of pure loud guitar bliss, with Alice the man in full power of his gritty, made-for-rock and roll voice. From the opening call to arms guitar riff through to the cheering school kids at the end, it's a celebration put to wax.
Wisely released just as school was letting out across America, the single hit the Top 10 in June of and would carry the album all the way to No. The song proved to be an even bigger hit in England, where it shot to No. The ever-present controversy surrounding Alice Cooper didn't hurt.
The group's on-stage use of snakes, hangings, guillotines and a pervading dark, perverse sense of humor made their show a must-see attraction early on. The release of the School's Out album itself was not without its share of headlines as the initial run was packaged with paper panties in lieu of a sleeve.
Turns out, the panties were flammable and had to be recalled. Naysayers howled: Who was this sick Alice Cooper and why were young kids buying a record with panties in it? Of course, this was back when parents would genuinely get upset by such things. Ahh, those were the days! Then again, why would you want to? The original studio version of the song had appeared on the band's sophomore LP In Color , and failed to make any waves in this country.
In Japan, a different story was unfolding: The band became an overnight sensation in the land of the rising sun. Just as their third album, the classic Heaven Tonight , hit the streets, Cheap Trick found themselves being welcomed to Japan, Beatlemania-style. This led to a headlining tour, and the recording of a series of shows at the legendary Budokan arena.
The resulting live project, Cheap Trick at Budokan , was released in the fall of and was originally intended for a Japanese-only release. Then something happened. Imports started showing up in this country and — what d'ya know? In fact, Cheap Trick at Budokan reportedly became the biggest selling import album of the '70s.
So, in a classic case of supply and demand, Epic Records released the album here in early and it just took off. The success of At Budokan caught everyone by surprise — the label and radio programmers, not to mention the band itself.
As it kept selling, the album shot to No. It made the Budokan and Cheap Trick household names, and turned the masses on to what the band's die hard fans already knew: This was a great band that needed to be heard. Along with 'Surrender,' this remains the song most identified with the eternally great Cheap Trick, so it finds a rightful home on our list of the Top Classic Rock Songs. Approximately one year following the release of JJ Cale's record Troubadour , Eric Clapton introduced Cale's song 'Cocaine' to a much wider audience when he included it on his album Slowhand , released in November Slowhand marked a resurgence of sorts for Clapton, arriving after a string of releases failed to live up to the promise heard on 's Ocean Boulevard.
Driven by a relatively laid-back blues beat, 'Cocaine' wasn't so much a lyrically based song as it was a somewhat understated showcase of Clapton's superior skill with the guitar. His version of 'Cocaine' runs approximately 53 seconds longer than Cale's, but Clapton's treatment of the track is otherwise faithful, maintaining the same relaxed vibe as the original.
Given his ability on the guitar, it should not be terribly surprising to anyone that Clapton chose to showcase his chops and in turn extend the song. Regardless, the song stands proud on our Top Classic Rock Songs list as arguably one of his finest moments, and a staple of his set list decades after its release.
Following the massive success of their self-titled debut record, England's Bad Company certainly had their work cut out for them when the time came around to crafting the dreaded sophomore follow-up.
The song starts with an acoustic guitar, sounding somewhat similar to Led Zeppelin, who signed the band to their Swan Song label. Vocalist Paul Rodgers sounds almost wistful and rather restrained, considering what we know of his full potential power. Gentle vocal harmonies keep 'Feel Like Makin' Love' on track before guitarist Mick Ralphs kicks the distortion pedal on in time for the anthemic, yet simplistic chorus. Rocket science this was not, yet the track resonated well with their fans.
Kid Rock is one of the more recent artists to have covered 'Feel Like Makin' Love,' including the song on his self-titled release of But he didn't have quite as much luck on the charts as the originators of the song did, peaking at No. The Pacific Northwest band had become superstars in Canada and the U.
It was really a feeling of rage I felt; I felt sort of trapped and really insulted. Underneath the barreling top layer, sustained guitar flourishes add flickers of unease. Heart's entry onto our Top Classic Rock Songs list has lost none of its power over the years. Fleetwood Mac's legendary record Rumours has sold more than 19 million copies in the U. A warts-and-all tale of real-life relationship break-downs within the band — yes, more than one, at the same time — Rumours has stood the test of time largely based around the honesty of tracks like 'Go Your Own Way.
Ultimately, he concludes if she doesn't like what he has to offer, well, the door's right over there. Ironically, for a song that classic rock radio has almost played to death, it seems to be more revered nowadays than it was at the time of its original release.
Chances are that if you were to approach any random stranger on the street, they would be more likely to have heard 'Go Your Own Way' that either of those other two tracks.
Let that sink in: This fully-formed, blues-drenched tune was the first many heard from Mark Knopfler and company. Its appeal was evident long before 'Sultans of Swing' hit No. After all, a demo version of the song reportedly earned the band a record deal. More specifically, the literal approach to the lyrics is subtle and clever.
The year was busy for former Beatles star Paul McCartney. April saw the release of his album Red Rose Speedway Then the stand-alone single song 'Live and Let Die' — written for the James Bond movie of the same name — garnered McCartney one of his biggest hits ever. The No. Unlike much that McCartney had released to date, 'Live and Let Die' starts with a hushed introduction featuring piano and McCartney's doubled-up vocals, but an entirely different dynamic comes into play after the first verse.
At this point, a bombastic run of strings and orchestral instruments brings approved action movie drama to the proceedings, before making another surprising move, into a pseudo-reggae bridge. It was, to say the very least, an interesting mash-up of musical styles, and one that only a talented and studied artist like McCartney could pull off with such flying colors.
In what could have been the ultimate tribute, Weird Al Yankovic had approached McCartney with the idea of writing a parody of the song that he was going to call 'Chicken Pot Pie. Otherwise, many bands have covered the track since its release.
Elton John's 'Rocket Man' is not the first classic rock song about a lonely dude drifting through space. Hell, it may not even be the best, although a debate on the merits of this track versus David Bowie's 'Space Oddity' found later on this Top Classic Rock Songs list is a conversation for another day.
What sets 'Rocket Man' apart also happens to be what makes the music of John and his songwriting partner, lyricist Bernie Taupin, stand the test of time, fads, and fading fame. Elton and Bernie practice a unique division of labor: Taupin writes lyrics almost as stand-alone poetry, with an eye toward the rhythms of pop music. Then Elton sits at a piano with a pile of these lyrics and writes the music. Some of their biggest hits have emerged after just a half-hour or less at the piano, and if he can't find the hook quickly, Elton will simply walk away.
Taupin's lyrics for 'Rocket Man' emphasize the personal over the sci-fi. The astronaut's wife packs his bags; Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids. John's melody underscores the words with a melancholy, wistful tone, while the production brings in a light element of futuristic sheen, never abandoning that fragile, perfect melody. Would the song be as successful if Elton John had the skill to write lyrics and melody? But it might not accomplish its emotional goals with quite as much grace.
The years since the breakthrough success of the group's live album At Filmore East , however, were anything but kind.
They lost both guitarist Duane Allman and bassist Berry Oakley in separate motorcycle accidents barely a year apart, and many probably wondered if the Allmans would ever recover. The answer, in the form of 's Brothers and Sisters , was a clear 'yes.
In response to the tragedies that had unfolded, Allmans guitarist Dickey Betts stepped up to the plate on Brothers and Sisters and delivered several strong songs, including the beautiful, wistful instrumental 'Jessica' and, of course, this anthem. Perhaps one of the most concise examples of Southern rock, the song's guitar lick and chorus are firmly entrenched in the minds of millions of fans, and will remain there for generations to come.
Perhaps the most indelible of those tunes, however, is 'Just What I Needed. This clear choice for our Top Classic Rock Songs list crams together hooks in simple, yet inventive ways. Things build even more before the second verse, thanks to the emergence of an unexpected curveball: a fuzzy keyboard line which languishes like a siren.
That crucial element anchors 'Just What I Needed' for the duration, as it unfolds into a rather biting tune. Heartthrob bassist Ben Orr assumes lead vocal duties, which softens the tone of the song somewhat. After The Cars , mingling rock elements with electronic sounds became de rigeur. Do politics belong in rock 'n' roll? You might say no.
But when the result is a barnburner like Neil Young's 'Rockin' in the Free World,' it's hard to deny the value of self-righteous rage when it comes to penning a classic tune. Whatever your political leanings, there's plenty to love about this track, not least of which is the simple gut-punch riff that churns throughout the tune.
Young shreds away at his guitar with the ferocity of a pissed-off teenager in his garage, spitting out words that were a scathing indictment of America under George H. Artists like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan have woven politics seamlessly into the fabric of their music, chronicling the American condition over decades.
And anger has always been part of the backbone of rock music, whether the singer's angry at the government, another man, or a girl who's done him wrong. Young captured that anger perfectly with 'Ohio' in the wake of the Kent State shootings in , and he did it again in with this Top Classic Rock Songs entry.
It feels like decades of rage over every betrayal of the American promise, spitting out line by line and lick by lick over three and a half minutes. Although they were only together for two years, the impact that British power trio Cream had upon the world is truly remarkable.
No song illustrates this better than 'Sunshine of Your Love,' which mixed hard rock with aspects of psychedelia to wonderful effect. The song centers around what is perhaps one of the most simplistic guitar riffs of all time, courtesy of 'Slowhand' himself, Eric Clapton.
In many ways though, restraint is what propels 'Sunshine of Your Love' forward, although Clapton's remarkable skill with the guitar are on prominent display throughout the solo section. Vocal duties are shared between Clapton and Jack Bruce, as the latter's menacing bass gives the song it's hefty low end.
Drummer Ginger Baker cuts slightly loose during the song's chorus, but otherwise keeps time as if he were in a military band. We'd venture a guess that Jimi Hendrix would have given this song a spot on his own personal Top Classic Rock Songs list, as the guitar legend began adding the song to his concert setlists — much as he had done with the Beatles' Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Sports nuts can visit their favorite teams and ballparks. Movie buffs can visit landmark scenery from their favorite films. But how exactly do you get to Hotel California? For decades, it's played host to the annual Montreux Jazz Festival. When Deep Purple first visited however, the festival was in its early stages, lasting only a couple of days.
They had come to town in to record the album which would become Machine Head. Recording in a mobile studio owned by the Rolling Stones within the Montreux Casino complex, the band was in the midst of laying down basic tracks when lead singer Ian Gillan was sidelined with hepatitis. Their progress was further delayed when a concert-goer shot off a flare at a Frank Zappa show at the Casino that set the roof on fire and destroyed the building.
Watching the fiery events inspired the immortal opening riff from guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. It would be painstakingly imitated by budding guitar players of many future generations, and also patiently taught to the younger set by Jack Black in the movie School of Rock.
Bassist Roger Glover came up with the title 'Smoke on the Water,' and that provided the linchpin for Gillan to write lyrics which provided a scene-by-scene account of the debacle. It was a scary vision, as Gillan remembers.
The wind was coming down off the mountains and blowing the flames and the smoke over the lake. And the smoke was just like a stage show and it was hanging on the water.
Hence the title, and also unfortunately, the need for a new recording location. Decades later, Deep Purple gave the familiar classic a turbo-charged update, performing it during a orchestral tour. Tags: The Pretenders. Posted in: Music. Posted by szachtar On 24 August Leave a Comment.
Light of the Moon 4. Full length version 5. Tradition of Love 6. Don't Get Me Wrong 7. I Remember You 8. Chill Factor Hymn to Her Room Full of Mirrors Total playing time Single, Dezembro , Real Records. Hymn to Her 2. Room Full of Mirrors.
Tradition of Love Extended Remix. A Carregar. Stop Your Sobbing. Mystery Achievement. Bad Boys Get Spanked. Back On The Chain Gang. News flash, it ain't a perfect world, but with records like this around, it's really not such a bad place to hang out, ya know. Yet if you ask a dozen people what the lyrics mean, you'll quickly find out this entry in our Top Classic Rock Songs countdown has at least that many explanations. The band itself has described the six-minute song as its 'interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles,' with Don Felder, who wrote the music, explaining: 'If you drive into L.
All of that aside, listener imaginations ran wild. One group of Christian evangelists insisted 'Hotel California' referred to a San Francisco hotel converted into a Church of Satan, while other people thought the song's title was about a state mental hospital.
Henley's always been resistant to explaining exactly what the metaphors in the song mean, but here's what we do know: the word 'colitas' in the first stanza is Mexican slang for the buds of the Cannabis plant oh, stop looking so surprised , and the phrase 'steely knives' was a playful nod to Steely Dan, who referenced the Eagles in their song 'Everything You Did. Do with all that what you will, but there's no mystery about the electric guitar interplay between Felder and Joe Walsh at the end of the song.
Walsh once told us he remembered his recording session with Felder fondly, saying, 'We decided we would each have a personality to each of our guitar parts, and we would work together in the body of the song — and then we would have a go at each other at the end. We brought out the best in each other. We were real competitive.
If he played something great, it was like 'Oh yeah? Watch this! The magical combination of metaphors, allegory and some bad-ass guitar work took 'Hotel California' to the top of the charts in May of , and the song earned the Eagles a Grammy award for record of the year, as well. Pretty lofty stuff for a song most people still don't even understand. But if it wasn't today, it was probably yesterday — and it could have reached us from a hundred different sources.
It may be hard to believe, listening to the radio today, but there was a time when ZZ Top had trouble even getting noticed. Certainly, this wasn't due to a lack of talent: The trio had the attention of their peers right from the start, with Jimi Hendrix naming frontman Billy Gibbons 'America's best young guitarist' early in their career.
However, despite releasing two extremely solid albums including 's Rio Grande Mud and developing a reputation as a powerful live band, large-scale success eluded the group until 'La Grange' knocked down the door in The song nearly hit the Top 40, and propelled their third album, Tres Hombres , to the top reaches of the album charts. A loving lyrical tribute to Texas's favorite little whorehouse, the track found ZZ Top enhancing a souped-up but otherwise highly traditional blues boogie with their own distinctive twists and turns.
Part of what's made the gruop so special over the years has been their ability to expand, mutate and transcend the blues genre on songs such as 'Cheap Sunglasses' and 'Sharp Dressed Man. Gibbons didn't need any trickery to work his magic on this track. If you need another reason to justify placing 'La Grange' on our Top Classic Rock Songs list, simply go to the movies, turn on your radio or watch television for a few hours. Odds are you'll hear the track setting the mood for at least one film, TV show, commercial or video game before too long.
Released in April of , L. Woman was the final album the Doors made with Jim Morrison. Within three months of its release, the singer would be dead. Sad as his loss is, talk about going out on a high note. The title track holds up as one of the finest recorded statements from one of rock's greatest bands and lands itself at No. So many things about this album are truly iconic, one of which is certainly this song. In nearly eight minutes of glory, the Doors take the listener on a wild ride down a road that winds, bends, twists, and turns as the vehicle accelerates, then let's its foot off the gas slightly before driving us off into the sunset.
It is certainly one of the Doors' brightest shining recorded moments. With the opening sound of auto acceleration leading straight into the driving beat of John Densmore, Ray Manzerek's pulsating organ and Robbie Krieger's slithering guitar line, the ground work is laid for Morrison's gruff and demanding vocal. He certainly rises to the occasion.
More than ever, Morrison conjures up the old bluesman within that contradicts the year-old man at the mic, with his world-wise, take-no-prisoners attitude. The band, and Morrison, play like the ship is going down, which of course, it was.
Written by all four members, 'L. Woman' captures all the best elements of the Doors' music. The haunting sense of mystery and road-weary poetry lock up with primal instinct, below the waist rock and roll, to create the group's definitive song. It's terrifyingly easy to think of a rock music landscape without Ozzy Osbourne's towering presence.
Instead, and seemingly against his own efforts, we have the mighty 'Crazy Train' blasting out of every football stadium in the nation. The substance abuse problems which got Osbourne fired as lead singer of Black Sabbath in also left him adrift and searching for a lifeline as he sought to form his own solo band.
When that savior arrived in the form of guitarist Randy Rhoads, Ozzy was reportedly almost too messed up to see the light. Luckily, the determination of a friend and the sheer talent of Rhoads were able to cut through the haze and launch one of hard rock's brightest and sadly, briefest collaborations. Bassist Dana Strum, originally intended to be a member of Osbourne's solo band, described the struggles he had getting Rhoads and Ozzy together in the book Randy Rhoads, and without those efforts we'd never have heard this future Top Classic Rock Song.
I was so frustrated that I cranked the volume of Randy's amp really loud. He started playing power chords to warm up, and suddenly Ozzy's face looked up. Even though he couldn't even see the guitarist through the reflection of the studio glass, Ozzy declared, 'Tell the kid he's got the job,' and then, 'Now take me home.
No song on that fantastic album shines brighter than 'Crazy Train,' which features Rhoads' anthemic main guitar riff and soloing that merged his heavy metal and classical music influences to wonderful effect. Suddenly, Eddie Van Halen had a serious rival for the title of world's favorite guitar hero.
The record soon helped establish Osbourne as a solo star perhaps even more popular than Black Sabbath itself, and though Rhoads' life was cut short in , 'Crazy Train' and other songs from the two albums he recorded with Ozzy remained the foundation of Osbourne's concert setlists.
By early , Bruce Springsteen's career was stuck. Although his first two albums were critically acclaimed, he had trouble finding an audience outside the Northeast corridor where his live shows were knocking crowds dead every night.
Knowing that Columbia Records would drop him if his next release stiffed, Springsteen knew he had, as he would say in 'Thunder Road,' one last chance to make it real.
Enter 'Born to Run. Recorded later in the summer of that same year, 'Born to Run' is Springsteen's masterpiece. Throw in some Duane Eddy guitar and a King Curtis-like sax solo from Clarence Clemons, and you have a song that encapsulates pretty much everything great about the previous 20 years of rock n' roll history. What sets 'Born to Run' and 'Thunder Road,' from the same album apart from virtually every other great anthem on our Top Classic Rock Songs list is that it's not a song of outright rebellion, but of escape to a better life than the one you're destined to live.
This provided an interesting irony in the mid-'80s, when there was talk of making it the official state song of New Jersey. Even though the rest of the album had not yet been recorded, Springsteen's then-manager Mike Appel leaked the song to some Bruce-friendly FM radio stations.
It quickly became popular and forced Columbia to release it as a single a few months later, when it reached No. Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan replaced the duo, and remain for decades. In , America was waist-high in a muck of chaos, politically and emotionally. In just two and a half minutes, Creedence Clearwater Revival spit out enough venom via 'Fortunate Son' to disarm, or at least disorient the enemy. This song was written with middle finger in full flight to the Nixon administration, the legacy of the 'silver spoon in hand' kids, and the contradictions and struggles of a wartime America.
People like to remember the 'peace and love' aspect of the '60s, but it was a violent, brutal time as well. Putting flowers in their hair may have been a novel pastime for bored kids with nothing to do a couple years prior, but by , the voice of frustration spoke louder — and CCR captured that in full ragged glory here. That being said, even if you take the politics out of it, 'Fortunate Son' remains one hell of a record.
Released in the fall of as a double A-side with 'Down On the Corner' as the flip , it made the Top 10 and helped the band's Willy and the Poor Boys album hit the gold standard. The emotion and energy in the playing shines through and lets the listener know that something important is going on. One of John Fogerty's best vocals sends the song through the roof. An obvious choice for our list of the Top Classic Rock Songs, the simplicity, urgency and direct message of 'Fortunate Son' speaks volumes.
In its own way, it's as punk rock as punk rock ever got. The only downside is, it brings to mind the fact that a song like this has become a period piece. Where is the modern day equivalent? Released in the summer of as the lead track on Second Helping , the band's Al Kooper-produced sophomore effort, it cemented the band's status as American rock royalty.
Skynyrd were perfect for the times they lived in. They combined down-home attitude with a certain flair of street-smart rebellion that fans and critics just ate up.
This song's calling card is a simple-as-can-be guitar riff that's as undeniable now as it was back when it elicited that first 'Turn it up! The solid groove and barrelhouse piano make it irresistible either way. The various worlds of early '70s rock and roll couldn't have been more disparate. With David Bowie and the glam-rockers in one corner, Yes and their progressive friends on another, and Led Zeppelin and others from previous waves holding their own, the down-home sounds of Lynyrd Skynyrd might have seemed without a natural home.
Well, record buyers certainly welcomed them into their collections, as the single hit the U. Top 10 and Second Helping achieved platinum status. And what of all the brouhaha over the lyrics? Addressing the state of the country post-Watergate, singer Ronnie Van Zandt also took a jab at none other than Neil Young. Van Zandt and the boys didn't take too kindly to it, and decided a rebuttal of sorts was in order — even though ironically, none of them were from Alabama, with most of the band calling Florida home.
Lynyrd Skynyrd found a way to continue past a devastating plane crash, and the lasting love and constant airplay have given 'Sweet Home Alabama' a similar longevity. The song begins with the midnight train goin' anywhere and I think people are liking that concept that there is some place to go and hope that life is better.
People that grew up in those times like the song because it reminds them of better days, so maybe we jog them back? Really, it was another song. I brought the chorus in [and] it was one of the later songs we wrote. We wrote fairly quickly. I had the chords, we worked backwards in rehearsal and it was a group effort, really a sort of an improv thing.
If you listen to the piano part, it is the chorus without the melody, stripped down. Same chords, but the bass line makes it sound like it's different. Was it all really that easy? Apparently so. The little break that Neal came up with sounded like a train. No matter how bad it seems, you can't give it up.
After being featured in the series-ending episode of The Sopranos and being adopted as a baseball anthem to use only a couple of examples , 'Don't Stop Believin' continues to demonstrate a seemingly everlasting, and possibly growing popularity more than 30 years after it was originally released.
And yet, after all that, Cain still modestly describes 'Don't Stop Believin' simply as a song where 'we did some things right. In the universe of great story-based songs, 'Don't Stop Believin' stands tall as one of the very best. It's hard to believe there was a time when Guns N' Roses weren't absolutely huge. But in reality, if it weren't for the second chance 'Sweet Child O' Mine' granted them, the world at large could have missed out on a lot of great music.
And yes, some drama. Although it's considered a masterpiece now, the band's major-label debut, Appetite for Destruction , hardly set the world on fire with it was first released in Even the mighty 'Welcome to the Jungle' didn't connect fully upon its first run at radio.
Little by little though, Guns N Roses' popularity grew via word of mouth and fiery live performances, and by the time second single and future Top Classic Rock Songs inductee 'Sweet Child O' Mine' dropped a year later, the band would be thrust into the spotlight once and for all.
Whether they intended it or not, the video for this track helped soften Guns N' Roses' rough n' tough image for many listeners. For all of the bravado and rage heard in other tracks on 'Appetite Ironically, the popularity of this track would help give a second life to the group's initial Appetite for Destruction single, 'Welcome to the Jungle,' sending it back up the charts and into the Top Together with the epic 'Paradise City,' Guns N' Roses' chance at a place in rock history was assured.
They remained intensely popular from through , but 'Sweet Child O' Mine' is surprisingly the band's only No. That being said, Appetite For Destruction remains one of the best-selling records in American history, having moved more than 18 million copies to date.
If Pete Townshend had his way, the album that bore the Who's classic anthem 'Baba O' Riley' would have sounded completely different. Townshend originally planned to top the band's previous project, 's Tommy , with an even more ambitious rock opera concept called Lifehouse. Alas, like Icarus, Townshend's ambitions were too much for his grasp, and the project ground to a halt amid band dissension and a near-nervous breakdown for its chief architect.
The opening synthesizer loop works as an immediately ear-catching hook, but it was no mere gimmick, also serving as the fundamental foundation of the song. The LP basically created the template for heavy metal, what with the trifecta of 'War Pigs,' 'Iron Man' and the superlative title track. By modern standards, the song 'Paranoid' is slow. However, its riffs rev like an idling car engine— an effect created because guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler play similar rhythms on the verses.
The in-tandem playing creates a dense, methodical groove which is only enhanced because the pair also mirrors the beat-keeping of drummer Bill Ward. In fact, the lack of complication on 'Paranoid' makes it that much more effective.
Butler's lyrics are also relatively straightforward. Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and Roger Waters are almost as famous for their feuding as they are for their music. They were bandmates for nearly two decades, but their personality conflicts precluded true collaboration for many of those years. One notable exception: the No. Originally released on 's The Wall , 'Comfortably Numb' is one of only three songs on the album credited jointly to Gilmour and Waters — and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the song had a difficult birth, marked by a long-running, heated argument over how to record the verses.
Gilmour, who composed the song as an instrumental demo while working on his solo album, wanted the verses to have a harder sound. He was eventually overruled by Waters, who drew his lyrical inspiration for the track from an experience he had after being shot up with painkillers prior to a Pink Floyd gig. After Waters quit the band in the mid '80s, Pink Floyd went on to play 'Comfortably Numb' the way Gilmour had always envisioned it, while Waters subjected the song to his own tinkering, employing an array of special guests including Van Morrison, Bruce Hornsby, and Don Henley at various live performances.
But it could be said Gilmour had the last laugh, as his solo is generally considered one of the best of the rock era. The higher we climb on our Top Classic Rock Songs list, the harder it gets to pick just one song to represent bands such as Van Halen. But if you've attended any one of the group's concerts in recent years, it might be pretty easy to understand why 'Everybody Wants Some!!
First off, for all the love we have for the Sammy Hagar years — see our list of the Top 10 'Van Hagar' songs — our pick's obviously got to be a David Lee Roth-fronted tune. Their blistering version of the Kinks' 'You Really Got Me' was their introduction to most of the world, but that song's already on our list via the original band. What about their biggest hit, 'Jump? Instead, we aim right into the heart of VH's unassailable first six albums, with a song from 's Women and Children First that shows all four members at their peak individually and collectively.
We think Lane Meyer would agree with us on this one. Van Halen's first two albums were primarily drawn from a large collection of songs honed during their pre-contract club show days.
Some of those same tracks also turned up decades later on A Different Kind of Truth , incidentally. Despite a breakneck touring and recording pace, the creation of Women and Children First seemingly gave Van Halen at least a second to collect their thoughts and then push the limits of their songwriting even further. The result is a much more dramatically-paced, dynamic album with new sonic wrinkles like the overdriven organ on 'And the Cradle Will Rock They use that time wisely, with Alex Van Halen's tribal drumbeat and his brother's alternately scratching, chugging and squealing guitar promising something epic is heading our way.
They keep that vow when Eddie finally releases the song's main riff, which sets Roth off on a bold romantic vocal safari. He whoops, he yelps, he engages in seductive pillow talk; it doesn't always make sense but it sure does work. Of course, none of them could be so bold without Michael Anthony filling in both the low and high ends so wonderfully. At nearly every show we've attended after Roth reunion with Van Halen — and that's been a lot — 'Everybody Wants Some!!
The moment of release after that massive introductory build-up gets a gigantic cheer each night, and seems to signify the part of the evening where all the levels get balanced correctly and everything clicks into a higher gear. Released in , Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' must be one of the oddest songs to ever become not just a hit, but practically a part of our daily lives. Everything about it is miles from your average hit record.
Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song begins beautifully with those haunting layered harmonies, before baring its soul with a simple piano and Mercury vocal for the first verse.
As the verse breaks free, the tension mounts then band kicks in. The song has no chorus, by the way, and is written almost like a classical piece in sections.
Talk of the Town Pack It Up Waste Not Want Not
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