TOP 100 CLASSIC ROCK SONGS

'Highway to Hell'1'Highway to Hell'

From 'Highway to Hell' (1979) MWhen AC/DC decided to hitch a ride on the 'Highway to Hell,' they also embarked on the fast track to conquering America and, though they were well on their way to achieving this already, the world. Set to the echoing signature riff’s portentous fanfare and powered by Phil Rudd’s inexorable backbeat, 'Highway to Hell' -- one of our top AC/DC songs -- also sparked parental concerns across America over its perceived satanic connotations. In reality, Mom and Dad were making much ado about nothing, since the song simply addressed the hardships of touring life -- but hey, whatever sells the papers!
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,.. 2 / Back in Black'From 'Back in Black' (1980)

 Arguably the most recognizable guitar riff-and-lick combo in the universe, 'Back in Black' crowned the greatest, best-selling hard rock album of all time with a heartfelt tribute lyric -- notably penned by his successor, Brian Johnson -- for recently deceased AC/DC singer and soul Bon Scott. Heck, that’s a song almost worth dying for! Fittingly, 'Back in Black' also reflects AC/DC’s deepest roots in ‘50s rock and rockabilly, since its famous turnaround lick was allegedly inspired by the Johnny Kidd & the Pirates classic “Shakin’ All Over” – well worth sampling here.
Hear 'Back in Black'


3.You Shook Me All Night Long'You Shook Me All Night Long'
From 'Back in Black' (1980)


Arguably the biggest true single of AC/DC’s long career, 'You Shook Me All Night Long' makes this list of top AC/DC songs because it has surely lured more unsuspecting, non-traditional hard rock listeners -- not to mention virtually every female -- into the dirtier, tougher alleyways of the band’s discography than any other tune. AC/DC’s first American Top 40 hit (peaking at a now seemingly modest No. 35, in late 1980), it also enjoyed a second worldwide run at the charts in 1986 when it was featured on the ‘Who Made Who’ soundtrack and given a brand-new music video treatment to capitalize on the power of MTV at the height of its influence.
Hear 'You Shook Me All Night Long'

4Making an exhaustive list of the non-music places in which the Scorpions’ entry on our Top 100 Classic Rock Songs list, ‘Rock You Like A Hurricane,’ can be heard is difficult.

However, it’s safe to say that when a song is championed by ‘The Simpsons,’ college football teams and a Dave Eggers novel, it has clearly reached pop-culture ubiquity.

Released in 1984, ‘Rock You Like A Hurricane’ propelled the German metal band’s ‘Love At First Sting’ album into the Billboard Top 10, although the song itself only hit No. 25 on the singles charts.

In terms of ’80s metal classics, however, the tune is the Platonic ideal: a headbanging-worthy repeating riff, gigantic drums, a ripping solo and an indelible refrain—sing it now—‘Here I am / Rock you like a hurricane.’

Although the official video is full of ’80s clichés (women dressed as animals, actual zoo animals, absurd sci-fi flourishes), the campy edge of the music never overshadows the ferocious nature of the song. Heck, ‘Rock You Like A Hurricane’ even sounds badass when interpreted by an orchestra: Just try to stop yourself from fist-pumping while watching this video of the band performing with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

5. With ‘Born To Be Wild,’ Steppenwolf delivered not only a timeless rock anthem and open road biker soundtrack, but also one of the most iconic songs of an era, and a clear choice for inclusion 

The song was written by Mars Bonfire who, though not a member of Steppenwolf, had previously been in the band The Sparrows with Steppenwolf leader John Kay.
The song appeared on the band’s debut album and was released as a single, making it as high as just shy of the No. 1 spot in the summer of 1968. It’s greatest success, however, would come a year later when it was featured prominently in the classic film ‘Easy Rider.’ From then on, it was forever attached to the idea of the open road, rebellion, freedom and rock and roll. The song has been covered countless times and used in dozens of movies and tv shows.
The other thing the song is most known for is the term ‘heavy metal’ as featured in the lyrics — “I like smoke and lightning / Heavy metal thunder!” There is debate as whether or not this is the first time that term was used, ultimately becoming a musical genre unto itself, but even if it’s not, it’s certainly the most identifiable. Now go on, get your motor runnin’…time’s a wastin’!
. Don’t Bring ‘Me Down’ may just be Jeff Lynne’s most concise and representative musical statement.          You can hear a Jeff Lynne song from a couple miles down the road — it’s all in the bass drum. That magnificent, booming sound that’s graced records by Tom Petty (‘Running Down A Dream’), Roy Orbison (‘You Got It’), even the Beatles (‘Free As A Bird’).

‘Don’t Bring Me Down’ has got those drums, and oddly enough, that’s about all it has — the song represents the first time the band released a track without strings, and by the group’s ornate arrangement standards, it’s positively rudimentary.

Recorded in Munich, Germany during sessions for ELO’s 1979 ‘Discovery’ LP, ‘Don’t Bring Me Down’ emerged almost whole cloth from Lynne, who wrote the tune on piano and immediately moved to complete the backing track on his own, using a slowed-down drum tape from a previous song to create the tune’s trademark beat. It’s unknown if any other members of ELO even played on the track.

That makes it pure, vintage Lynne in a way that maybe no other ELO hit can claim. And while the Electric Light Orchestra counted plenty among its membership over the years, from its second album onward, the band acted largely as a musical auteur vehicle for Lynne’s gifted songwriting and arranging skills.

While ‘Don’t Bring Me Down’ wasn’t Electric Light Orchestra’s first hit single, it was by far the band’s biggest smash, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 3 in the UK; it also charted highly in Canada and Australia. As of November 2007, the track had logged a whopping two million radio airplays according to BMI. After ‘Evil Woman,’ ‘Mr. Blue Sky’ and ‘Livin’ Thing’ have faded into history, ‘Don’t Bring Me Down,’ one of our Top 100 Classic Rock Songs of all time, may stand as Lynne’s greatest recorded legacy.

Well, that and ‘Xanadu.’

7.

Until the time of their 1973 smash ‘Ramblin’ Man’, the Allman Brothers Band had largely been centered around siblings Duane and Gregg Allman.

The years since the breakthrough success of the band’s 1971 live album ‘At Filmore East,’ however, were anything but kind to the band.

With the group losing both guitarist Duane Allman and bassist Berry Oakely in separate motorcycle accidents barely a year apart, many probably wondered if the Allmans would ever recover.

The answer, in the form of their 1973 album ‘Brothers and Sisters,’ was a clear “yes,” with the song ‘Ramblin’ Man’ becoming one of the band’s most beloved tunes and earning a spot on our Top 100 Classic Rock Songs.

In response to the tragedies that had unfolded before them, on ‘Brothers and Sisters’ Allmans guitarist Dickey Betts stepped up to the plate and delivered several strong songs, including the beautiful, wistful instrumental ‘Jessica’ and this classic anthem.

Perhaps one of the most concise examples of what would be classified as “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.

8.The Cars set the bar rather high for themselves with their 1978 self-titled debut: Out of the album’s nine songs, seven of them remain AOR staples to this day. Perhaps the most indelible of those tunes, however, is ‘Just What I Needed.’

This clear choice for our Top 100 Classic Rock Songs list crams together hooks in simple, yet inventive, ways. First, there’s the staggered, stuttering intro– splattered quarter notes and then clipped eighth notes punctuating concise, tick-tock guitar. Then, the song’s tension increases as minimalist chords — containing no more than several changes — kick in and gradually pile up underneath the first verse.

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.

The lust the narrator has for the mysterious object of his affection is obvious: “I don’t mind you coming here / Wasting all my time / Cause when you’re standing oh-so-near / I kind of lose my mind.” However, the chorus reveals more than a little arrogance — if not disdain for this beauty—on the protagonist’s part, as he asserts, “I guess you’re just what I needed / I needed someone to” alternately “feed,” “bleed” and “plead.”

Heartthrob bassist Ben Orr assumes lead vocal duties, which softens the tone of the song somewhat. Orr sounds like more a teenybopper singer than he does a muscular rocker, presaging new-wave’s embrace of unconventional masculinity. In fact, ‘Just What I Needed’ is a bridge between the past and future: Classic rock-friendly riffs and unabashed expressions of lust cohabitate with power-pop’s brevity and new wave’s keyboard-pop.

Post-‘The Cars,’ mingling rock elements with electronic sounds became de rigeur. Even ragged rockers the Strokes, who in later years felt more like a Cars tribute band than one indebted to NYC hip