The greatest rock songs of all time innovated, bewildered and inspired passionate reactions. The greatest rock songs of all time are played loudly and in near-perfect rotation on oldie rock stations, devoted rock fans’ playlists and in the struggling music shops still selling them in the form of records. Always there, but never quite overplayed, these songs still deserve our attention.

I’ve looked for clues, studied the proof and have given this a lot of thought. In my opinion, these are the greatest 100 rock songs of all time.

The Top 100 Best Rock Songs of All Time

1. “Stairway to Heaven” – Led Zeppelin

“Stairway to Heaven” is the shortest eight-minute song. It is, in fact, one of a few songs on this list that paid little attention to format restrictions, yet still became a radio hit.

And while I know of all the parodies and the famous signs forbidding guitarists to play these while in music stores, I think it’s a song best appreciated, at least, once a week. I can still remember hearing it for the first time and the impression that the song’s dynamics had on me.

I can remember, also, studying music as a teenager and being floored by its complexity. Finally, I can recall hearing it a few minutes prior to writing this and being just as impressed.

The greatest rock song of all time is bound to be a ubiquitous choice, a standard that we all adhere to. That’s why I believe that Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” is the greatest achievement in the field of rock.

2. “Bohemian Rhapsody” – Queen

Early Queen felt stifled by rock cliches. Yes, the group, singer Freddie Mercury in particular, wanted to play in front of arenas of adoring fans. Sure, they worked hard, touring and releasing music relentlessly, to achieve that goal. But they didn’t make it easy on themselves.

Mercury dreamed of rock n’ roll as an expanded form of the opera or the ballet. He thought of rock stars as modern depictions of godly beings. And he wrote “Bohemian Rhapsody” as an over-the-top experiment that blended classical and hard rock music. It worked in every regard. “Bohemian Rhapsody” remains one of the greatest songs of all time.

3. “Like a Rolling Stone” – Bob Dylan

It was just another day at the office for future Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan. He’d already written classics before it. Some of them, he’d not even bothered recording himself.

But when the engineer hit the “record” button, and while the band struggled to keep up with the songwriter’s story of an upper-class girl facing the reality of life in the gutter, the air was heavy with magic even by Dylan’s lofty standards.

You know the rest. Bob Dylan was booed by fans of his acoustic folk period. The song became a bona fide hit. And “Like a Rolling Stone” created a place for serious artists within rock music. Years later, I listen to it, and am amazed by how much of a kick it has.

4. “A Day in the Life” – Beatles

I suppose that John Lennon was always the troublemaker among the Beatles. He was, I believe, the one who always pushed music ideas to their extreme. Sometimes these tendencies lead to the compelling nonsense of “Revolution 9,” other times to the gorgeously bizarre and utterly satisfying “A Day in the Life.”

I think that this is the greatest of all the songs by The Beatles. And while the band is primarily known for its beautiful melodies and clever arrangements, “A Day in the Life,” to my ears, still sounds terrifying. This is an anthem for the end of the world written from the perspective of mundanity. In my book, it’s one of the greatest songs of all time.

5. “Good Vibrations” – The Beach Boys

They call it “a pocketbook symphony.” Still, that doesn’t quite do “Good Vibrations” justice, I feel. Symphonies, after all, are designed to be enjoyed by a small, well-educated few. I’ve yet to meet, on the other hand, someone who doesn’t enjoy “Good Vibrations.”

It was an experiment that, like the initially aborted “SMiLE” record, could’ve ended badly. Brian Wilson spent an enormous amount of time chasing “moods” and trying to outdo Phil Spector. The rest is, however, in my estimation, one of the greatest pop-rock songs ever created.

6. “Johnny B. Goode” – Chuck Berry

It’s supposed to sound, I think, like you’ve just been zapped by electricity. And, if you’re a guitarist, it’s supposed to be a cavalcade of tricks executed masterfully by the ever-showman Chuck Berry.

And while “Johnny B. Goode” is one of the catchiest early rock n’ roll singles, I have to remind myself to pay attention to the songwriting. The storytelling is faultless, and the orchestration is damn clever. I think that Chuck Berry was a masterful songwriter, and “Johnny B. Goode” was his reaching his peak.

7. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” – Nirvana

I can understand why Kurt Cobain hid his intentions. After all, admitting to being ambitious wouldn’t make him look good in the rock underground from which Nirvana had arrived.

Still, he had told his bandmates, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, that he wanted to write the ultimate pop song. He’d told them he wanted to emulate Pixies. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” managed those things largely, I believe, because of Cobain’s incredible knack for catchy songwriting. You’ve heard the song a million times. But I doubt that you’ll mind hearing it again. It’s one of the greats.

8. “London Calling” – The Clash

I think of The Clash as a band that needed to create enemies and opposition to be at its best. Joe Strummer fought against injustice. But without targets at which to launch his lyrical projectiles, the music would simply be too vague.

“London Calling” to me sounds like a battle courageously fought against imminent defeat. That’s, of course, not the case for a band that was soon going to become very successful. But it works. Those enemies, invisible or not, make Strummer and The Clash sound heroic. And it helps “London Calling” to be one of the greatest songs of all time.

9. “Comfortably Numb” – Pink Floyd

There are plenty of legends created around the making of “The Wall” and of one of its most enduring songs, “Comfortably Numb.” The pressure was on. Pink Floyd’s musicians were barely communicating. And Roger Waters, I am sure, was in his natural element. After all, he was fashioning a rock opera based, essentially, on his own story.

I think that “Comfortably Numb” is a two-part song. The first part has the paranoid vocals of Waters as a highlight. The second has David Gilmour’s emotional guitar soloing as the focus. Together they blend to create one of rock’s finest songs.

10. “Sweet Emotion” – Aerosmith

I’m not sure that any other band quite did sleazy rock n’ roll as well as Aerosmith did. I know, for a fact, that numerous groups across several generations have tried.

But where did everybody else fail? Just listen closely to “Sweet Emotion” and it will start to make sense. Joe Perry’s riffs sound like the best part of a symphony condensed into a few notes.

The rhythm section pays simply, precisely throughout. And Steven Tyler is the mad hatter of rock – part poet, part sexual degenerate. This is one of the greatest rock songs of all time and Aerosmith’s best track.

11. “You Really Got Me” – The Kinks

12. “Ziggy Stardust” – David Bowie

13. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” – The Rolling Stones

14. “Some on the Water” – Deep Purple

15. “Seven Nation Army” – The White Stripes

16. “Live Forever” – Oasis

17. “Heartbreak Hotel” – Elvis Presley

18. “Losing My Religion” – R.E.M.

19. “Baba O’Reilly” – The Who

20. “God Save the Queen” – Sex Pistols

21. “Bittersweet Symphony” – The Verve

22. “Purple Haze” – The Jimi Hendrix Experience

23. “Highway to Hell” – AC/DC

24. “Jeremy” – Pearl Jam

25. “Iron Man” – Black Sabbath

26. “Radar Love” – Golden Earring

27. “The Trooper” – Iron Maiden

28. “Bastards of Young” – The Replacements

29. “Ace of Spades” – Motörhead

30. “Message in a Bottle” – The Police

31. “Waiting for the Man” – The Velvet Underground 

32. “Hocus Pocus” – Focus

33. “Last Nite” – The Strokes

34. “Paranoid Android” – Radiohead

35. “Hey Jude” – The Beatles

36. “Black Magic Woman” – Santana

37. “Ain’t Talkin About Love” – Van Halen

38. “The Mercy Seat” – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

39. “Refugee” – Tom Petty and Heartbreakers

40. “Born to be Wild” – Steppenwolf

41. “Breaking the Law” – Judas Priest

42. “Pump It Up” – Elvis Costello & The Attractions

43. “I Fought the Law” – The Bobby Fuller Band

44. “Hotel California” – Eagles

45. “In Bloom” – Nirvana

46. “Should I Stay Or Should I Go” – The Clash

47. “See Emily Play” – Pink Floyd

48. “Debaser” – Pixies

49. “Welcome to the Jungle” – Guns N’ Roses

50. “Proud Mary” – Creedence Clearwater Revival

51. “Killing in the Name” – Rage Against the Machine

52. “Man in the Box” – Alice in Chains

53. “Born to Run” – Bruce Springsteen

54. “Tom Sawyer” – Rush

55. “Shake, Rattle & Roll” – Big Joe Turner

56. “La Grange” – ZZ Top

57. Bob Marley – “I Shot the Sheriff”

58. “Blitzkrieg Bop” – Ramones

59. “I Want You to Want Me” – Cheap Trick

60. “Sunny Afternoon|” – The Kinks

61. “Sultans of Swing” – Dire Straits

62. “Black Dog” – Led Zeppelin

63. “Master of Puppets” – Metallica

64. “Sweet Home Alabama” – Lynyrd Skynyrd

65. “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)” – Elton John

66. “Locomotive Breath” – Jethro Tull

67. “School’s Out” – Alice Cooper

68. “Shakin’ All Over” – Johnny Kidd & The Pirates

69. “Epic” – Faith No More

70. “Walk on the Wild Side” – Lou Reed

71. “Can’t Stop” – Red Hot Chili Peppers

72. “Livin’ On a Prayer” – Bon Jovi

73. “Evil” – Interpol

74. “Rebel Yell” – Billy Idol

75. “You Shook Me All Night Long” – AC/DC

76. “Go Your Own Way” – Fleetwood Mac

77. “Black Hole Sun” – Soundgarden

78. “Basket Case” – Green Day

79. “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2” – Pink Floyd

80. “Break on Through” – The Doors

81. “Symphony of Destruction” – Megadeth

82. “The Boys Are Back in Time” – Thin Lizzy

83. “Walk” – Pantera

84. “Walk This Way” – Aerosmith

85. “Town Called Malice” – The Jam

86. “Whipping Post” – The Allman Brothers Band

87. “Paranoid” – Black Sabbath

88. “Don’t Look Back in Anger” – Oasis

89. “My Best Friend’s Girl” – The Cars

90. “Roundabout” – Yes

91. “Summer Babe – Winter Version” – Pavement

92. “Closer” – Nine Inch Nails

93. “Psycho Killer” – Talking Heads

94. “Bad Company” – Bad Company

95. “Space Oddity” – David Bowie

96. “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” – Genesis

97. “Easy Livin'” – Uriah Heep

98. “Aqualung” – Jethro Tull

99. “Stay with Me” – Faces

100. “Clap Hands” – Tom Waits