The Greatest Landmark Songs in Rock History
Submitted by lukeprog on Thu, 03/17/2005 - 12:04
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- Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and His Comets, from Rock Around the Clock (1954)
- 'Rock Around the Clock' very nearly created rock & roll as we know it today, though Chuck Berry would later mature the genre by placing emphasis on that signature of rock music: the electric guitar. But if one looks for a single song to serve as the leap from blues to modern rock & roll, you can't do better than 'Rock Around the Clock'.
- A Day in the Life by The Beatles, from Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
- With Sgt. Pepper's, The Beatles gave rock critics something to write about: rock was now art, not just entertainment. The album closer, 'A Day in the Life', is an avant-garde mini-suite of experimental mayhem that still retains its sharp Beatles hooks. When discussing Pink Floyd or Radiohead or later masters of art rock, know that it all comes back to 'A Day in the Life'.
- Time by Pink Floyd, from Dark Side of the Moon (1975)
- The early sonic texture of 'Time' suggests the titular deep space rhythms, which give way to a groovy riff and a soaring, extraterrestrial guitar solo. If there are benevolent, superintelligent beings out there, this must be what they listen to.
- Master of Puppets by Metallica, from Master of Puppets (1986)
- If you listen to one heavy metal song in your life, make it this one. It has everything you will ever hear in a heavy metal song, done better than you will hear anywhere else. With its apocalyptic riffage, dispairing lyrics, cutting vocals, blistering guitar solos, and thoughtful interlude, 'Master of Puppets' is simply the best metal song ever. If music was an army, 'Master of Puppets' would obliterate every other song ever written, one by one.
- Paranoid Android by Radiohead, from OK Computer (1997)
- A wandering epic that is nothing and everything, simple and complex, rough and lush, and inarguably brilliant. If you've never heard this song but you love music: maximize the volume, turn off the lights, close the doors, and tell me you're not inexplicably sobbing on the floor when it finishes.
Author Comments:
Highly subjective, of course. Feel free to submit your own arguments. I'm intentionally keeping this list very short. So far, it has worked out to one song per decade. I'm hoping the latter half of the 2000s will provide a song superior to those on Kid A so I won't have to give two consecutive slots to Radiohead.
Well, it's hard to argue about Rock Around the Clock but I know people who would strongly defend Elvis's "It's all right, mama" as the "point zero" of rock 'n' roll...
Now, your argument of defense for Sgt. Pepper's is very valid but I feel I have to point out that Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys (well, Brian Wilson basically) was released earlier in 66 and it has always been acknowledged by McCartney as the album that somehow showed him the way to the songwriting techniques the Fab 4 employed for Sgt. Pepper's... especially the song "God Only Knows"
and also, if "rock became art" is an important factor, Days of Future Passed by the Moody Blues, released in late summer 67 but written as soon as winter 66-67 is a timeless piece of music that lives on today in a much more modern way and has not aged as Sgt. Pepper's has... song to consider from that album would have to be "Nights in White Satin" though Days of Future Passed is really a cohesive piece of "rock symphony" rather than a collage of songs...
Anyway, thanks for this daring and interesting list and yes, I agree that such a list should be kept very short.
I'll have to give "It's all right, mama" a listen. I considered Pet Sounds and Days of Future Passed. For me, 'God Only Knows' is still very much a pop song or even a 'traditional' melody. 'Nights in White Satin' is just a good song accompanied by a symphony. I love those songs; I'm just trying to explain why I chose 'A Day in the Life,' which I think is experimental and impressive beyond just including 'noise.' And once again, just as 'Rock Around the Clock' didn't 100% 'create' Rock & Roll, Sgt. Pepper's hardly 'created' art rock, but it sure helped more than any 60s rock album I can think of.
I'm surprised you tackled the first two and not 'Master of Puppets' or the other later ones. :-)