Tunes! A Top Ten List Of My Favorite Rock Songs

Lake Charles, LA

 

I’ve been listening to music ever since I could hear.  Some of my first tunes were children’s classics like Jesus Loves Me and The B-I-B-L-E.  As I got older, my ears were treated to music from artists like Merle Haggard and the Statler Brothers thanks to my father’s all-encompassing power and control over the radio in our car and the stereo at home.  Once in awhile I would listen to bands like Fleetwood Mac or Journey whenever I was playing in my brother or sister’s room.

Once I decided to make my own musical listening decisions, I started listening to a lot of Top 40 radio.  The first album that I ever bought with my own money was Huey Lewis and the News:  Fore!  I thought that I was the coolest kid on the block.  I also fed my musical mind with albums from artists like Debbie Gibson and Prince, but somewhere during my search for the perfect tune, I ran into bands like Skid Row, Def Leppard, KISS, Motley Crue, and Bon Jovi.  A couple of years later I discovered groups like Metallica and Aerosmith.  I started listening to less and less pop music and focused on hard rock, heavy metal, and left-of-center country music.

Today, most people consider me a classic rocker, metalhead, or old rocker, but I still listen to a lot of new music.  Heck, I even dabble in pop music from time to time and have no problem saying that I like artists like Kesha and Bruno Mars.  I’ve also taken a shine to Renaissance Faire music, and listen to a lot of world music as well.

For this list (which might change within minutes of posting it), I’ve decided to list my ten favorite rock tunes.  Some of them are more metal than others, but they all rock.  I hope you enjoy!

1. Hard Luck Woman–KISS-Peter Criss’ scraggly-tinged vocals make this track my favorite tune not only by KISS, but by any band ever.  I sing along with it, skip ahead to it, and sing its praises everywhere I go.  Without this song, I probably wouldn’t have become the massive KISS fan that I am today!
2. Hysteria–Def Leppard-Whenever I am feeling overly stressed (which happens a lot), I pop this track on and almost immediately my worries swim away.  I love a lot of tunes by Def Leppard, but this particular track is my favorite by them.
3. N.I.B.–Black Sabbath-Although Electric Funeral is a close second, N.I.B. was the tune that made me a Black Sabbath fan.  From Geezer’s massive bass solo to Ozzy’s dark vocals, this track is my go-to Sabbath tune.
4. Master of Puppets–Metallica-Any pre-St. Anger Metallica is good in my book, but Master of Puppets (the entire album, but specifically this tune) is their best stuff.  Lars pounds the skins, Hetfield and Hammett shred, and Burton keeps things in check.  Orion, also on the album, gets an honorable mention as well.
5. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap–AC/DC-I could select a lot of AC/DC tunes for this list, but Bon Scott’s gritty lyrics peppered by the Young Bros. and company make this track my favorite by the band.  I’m especially fond of Scott’s screech at the end of the tune.
6. Live Wire–Motley Crue-Of all the bands on this list, I’ve been a fan of the Crue for the longest time.  I wanted to be Mick Mars growing up, but unfortunately I was too fat and too uncoordinated to master his guitar licks.  Live Wire is off of the band’s first album, Too Fast For Love, and it captures the band at their rawest and punkish best.
7. Drink, F*ck, Fight–The Treatment-I saw this young UK-based band whenever they opened up The Tour featuring KISS and Motley Crue a couple of years ago.  I knew absolutely nothing about them, but before their set was over I was a massive fan.  I actually got to meet a couple of the guys in this group and they were awesome.  Drink, F*ck, Fight was one of the tunes they played live, and once the crowd realized what they were chanting, everyone started chanting with them.  Here’s to a long and prosperous career for those guys!
8. Crazy Train–Ozzy Osbourne-I’m a big fan of Ozzy both as a member of Sabbath and as a solo artist.  Crazy Train is one of those tracks that I sing along with every time it hits the airwaves.  It’s also one of my favorite air guitar tunes.  Oh, and it was one of the first songs I ever taught my son how to sing.
9. Hell To The Heavens–Leaves’ Eyes-The newest song on this list, Hell To The Heavens, comes from an album by the same name from Leaves’ Eyes, a Beauty and the Beast metal band that I’ve only discovered within the last four or five years.  They are the perfect blend of melody and mayhem.
10. Welcome to the Jungle–Guns N Roses-Back when GnR were really GnR (with the lineup of Rose, Slash, Izzy, Adler, and Duff), they produced one of the greatest albums in history, Appetite for Destruction.  In my opinion, it did more for heavy metal and hard rock than anything the grunge era ever produced.  With all of the polished acts out there, GnR were the gritty, dirty, punkish antidote.  I wish they would have made more music together before the train derailed.

Well, there you have it.  My top ten rock tunes.  Sooner or later I’ll be posting top ten country, pop, blues, and other song lists.

Leave a comment with your own favorites, or tell my why my list is terrible.  I’d love to hear from you all.