Steppenwolf produced the greatest biker rock anthem, “Born to be Wild,” and a few mighty psych-blues gems besides. Yes, the sound was very much of the era. But judged for all of its terrific songs, Steppenwolf has to be seen as one of the greatest rock bands of all time.

Let’s look at the hits and a few of the underrated gems besides. These are the 10 best songs by Steppenwolf.

The Greatest 10 Songs by Steppenwolf

10. “Sookie Sookie”

The fact is that Steppenwolf’s debut is one of the best documents of 1960s garage rock. An exciting, raucous guitar sound courtesy of Michael Monarch powers the band. And the sprinkling of acid-rock brought by the rest of the members makes Steppenwolf sound as if it had connected directly to the hippie subculture.

While “Sookie Sookie” is a cover of a soul song, it announced Steppenwolf as a serious contender for the crown of late 1960s counterculture rock.

9. “Don’t Step on the Grass, Sam”

Steppenwolf didn’t dial things back for their sophomore album. If anything, the group pushed the throttle on psych-rock motifs for “Second.” In doing so, they improved upon the formula of the debut.

There’s a hit of blues-rock menace to “Don’t Step on the Grass, Sam.” The rest of the song’s charm is the band’s apparent longing to be accepted by the hippie crowds. It worked on both fronts. But once those subcultures had faded away, Steppenwolf was in trouble.

8. “Snowblind Friend”

“Snowblind Friend” is one of the most underrated tracks of the era. Released in 1970 and featuring a country-led acoustic arrangement, this was a song about the drug consumption that had claimed the lives of so many in the rock n’ roll world.

John Kay seems to be singing from experience. It was a highlight, even though the “Steppenwolf 7” album failed to reach many audiences.

7. “Ride with Me”

Steppenwolf was the ultimate biker-rock gang. But, other than its biggest hit, “Born to Wild,” it didn’t exploit the theme of the open road often.

Besides the title, “Ride with Me” tries to call on familiar sounds. Kay’s gritty and soulful vocals are pushed to the forefront along with the distorted guitars.

By 1971, unfortunately, few were looking for new music from Steppenwolf. But the cheekily titled “For Ladies Only” is not an album without its charms.

6. “Faster Than the Speed of Life”

I was pleasantly surprised to listen back to the first two Steppenwolf albums. The group possesses terrific skills in playing psyched-out garage rock and a lot of excitement with that. “Faster Than the Speed of Life” is one of the most rocking numbers from that set of songs, and an underrated gem of late ’60s rock.

5. “Foggy Mental Breakdown”

Steppenwolf may not have retained its success in an era dominated by Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath in the guitar-rock market. But the band didn’t go away quietly.

Early 1970s releases are an attempt to blend the band’s natural psychedelic leanings with blues and pop influences. Kay does a great job of singing the hazed-out “Foggy Mental Breakdown.”

I think it’s a great track. General audiences, however, may have looked for something a bit more rock and direct to notice the same.

4. “The Pusher”

Steppenwolf’s John Kay sounded like he meant business. His singing and lyrics also made him sound like a heavy. He seemed someone who’d seen some trouble going down.

“The Pusher” was turned into a hit by “Easy Rider,” a love letter to motorbikes and counterculture. Still, in these intervening drug wars, Steppenwolf was on the right side. Terrible things were happening, but the musicians wanted no part in it.

3. “Rock Me”

“Rock Me” was a predictable hit for Steppenwolf, one of the premier rebel-rockers of the 1960s. How could it not? It played on the band’s strengths of shaping garage rock into pop hooks.

But it was also the start of the decline. The band’s third album, “At Your Birthday Party”, had fewer thrills than previous outings. Perhaps Steppenwolf did a little too much to try to capitalise on its sound and image when other groups dared to innovate.

2. “Magic Carpet Ride”

It’s a tremendous blessing for Steppenwolf. John Kay and Rushton Moreve had the perfect groove to go with the ideal melody. It’d all turn into a curse. How do you follow this up?

“Magic Carpet Ride” is one of the best late 1960s songs. It’s also one of the defining songs of the psych-rock era. Whereas “Born to be Wild” is all about starting mischief everywhere you go, “Carpet Ride” is about dreaming next to the sound machine. It’s one of the songs that, regardless of how many times you hear it, begs for more plays.

1. “Born to be Wild”

That’s a mighty evil, seductive sound! “Born to be Wild,” on its own, sold more motorcycles than Harley-Davidson, and created more freedom-chasing hippies than Timothy Leary.

It was an immediate hit. Pre-dating heavy metal by at least 12 months, “Born to be Wild” was the first breath of a new kind of guitar-driven pop sound.

By the early 1970s, this hard-rock sound was the principal force in the charts. Nearly all of the arena-rock bands worked it into their mix. But it was a little too late for Steppenwolf to take advantage.

Still, “Born to be Wild” isn’t just one of the most famous songs of all time. It’s also one of the best. It’s hard to imagine pop-rock’s evolution without it. And thus, it is hard to imagine the history of rock music without Steppenwolf.