UltimateClassicRock.com has a list of the Top 100 Classic Rock Songs. There’s no indication how this list was compiled, but they adhere to an absurd rule of restricting each artist to only one entry. It invites immediate argument not just about where a song ranks, but why this is the one chosen to represent the band? If you only get one Van Halen song, is “Everybody Wants Some” the way to go? How much validity should one give a list which doesn’t have classic rock staples like Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird,” The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall Part II,” The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” Aerosmith’s “Dream On,” and – most shockingly of all – the song which consistently tops classic rock lists: Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”? All of these appear in the DMDB’s list of The Top 100 Classic Rock Songs of All Time.
Still, the songs that are included make for a pretty good starting point for any beginner’s classic rock library. There’s also some nice commentaries to accompany the songs.
Click here to see other lists from publications and/or organizations.
1. Aerosmith “Sweet Emotion” (1975)
2. Led Zeppelin “Kashmir” (1975)
3. The Rolling Stones “Gimme Shelter” (1969)
4. AC/DC “Back in Black” (1980)
5. The Beatles “A Day in the Life” (1967)
6. The Jimi Hendrix Experience “All Along the Watchtower” (1968)
7. Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975)
8. Van Halen “Everybody Wants Some” (1980)
9. Pink Floyd “Comfortably Numb” (1979)
10. Black Sabbath “Paranoid” (1970)
11. The Who “Baba O’Riley” (1971)
12. Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child O’ Mine” (1987)
13. Journey “Don’t Stop Believin’” (1981)
14. Lynyrd Skynrd “Sweet Home Alabama” (1974)
15. Creedence Clearwater Revival “Fortunate Son” (1969)
16. Bruce Springsteen “Born to Run” (1975)
17. Ozzy Osbourne “Crazy Train” (1980)
18. The Doors “L.A. Woman” (1971)
19. ZZ Top “La Grange” (1973)
20. Eagles “Hotel California” (1976)
21. Bob Dylan “Like a Rolling Stone” (1965)
22. Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band “Turn the Page” (live, 1976)
23. John Lennon “Imagine” (1971)
24. Ted Nugent “Stranglehold” (1975)
25. Tom Petty “Free Fallin’” (1989)
26. Kiss “Rock and Roll All Nite” (live, 1975)
27. Derek & the Dominos “Layla” (1970)
28. Boston “More Than a Feeling” (1976)
29. David Bowie “Space Oddity” (1969)
30. Crosby, Stills, & Nash “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” (1969)
31. Metallica “Enter Sandman” (1991)
32. Deep Purple “Smoke on the Water” (1972)
33. Cream “Sunshine of Your Love” (1967)
34. Neil Young “Rockin’ in the Free World” (1989)
35. The Cars “Just What I Needed” (1978)
36. The Allman Brothers Band “Ramblin’ Man” (1973)
37. Elton John “Rocket Man (I Think It’s Gonna Be a Long Time)” (1972)
38. Paul McCartney & Wings “Live and Let Die” (1973)
39. Dire Straits “Sultans of Swing” (1978)
40. Fleetwood Mac “Go Your Own Way” (1976)
41. Heart “Barracuda” (1977)
42. Bad Company “Feel Like Makin’ Love” (1975)
43. Eric Clapton “Cocaine” (1977)
44. Cheap Trick “I Want You to Want Me” (live, 1979)
45. Alice Cooper “School’s Out” (1972)
46. Judas Priest “Living after Midnight” (1980)
47. Thin Lizzy “The Boys Are Back in Town” (1976)
48. Rush “Tom Sawyer” (1981)
49. The Doobie Brothers “Black Water” (1974)
50. Peter Frampton “Show Me the Way” (live, 1976)
51. The Police “Roxanne” (1978)
52. The Guess Who “American Woman” (1970)
53. Blue Öyster Cult “Don’t Fear the Reaper” (1976)
54. Free “All Right Now” (1970)
55. Def Leppard “Photograph” (1983)
56. George Harrison “My Sweet Lord” (1970)
57. Joe Walsh “Rocky Mountain Way” (1973)
58. Steve Miller Band “The Joker” (1973)
59. The Kinks “You Really Got Me” (1964)
60. Foghat “Slow Ride” (1975)
61. Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble “Pride and Joy” (1983)
62. Golden Earring “Radar Love” (1973)
63. Billy Joel “Piano Man” (1973)
64. Stevie Nicks “Edge of Seventeen” (1981)
65. Bachman-Turner Overdrive “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” (1974)
66. Phil Collins “In the Air Tonight” (1981)
67. Mötley Crüe “Home Sweet Home” (1985)
68. Don Henley “The Boys of Summer” (1984)
69. Rod Stewart “Maggie May” (1971)
70. Talking Heads “Burning Down the House” (1983)
71. Big Brother & The Holding Company “Piece of My Heart” (1968)
72. Foreigner “Juke Box Hero” (1981)
73. Lou Reed “Walk on the Wild Side” (1972)
74. Manfred Mann’s Earth Band “Blinded by the Light” (1976)
75. Buffalo Springfield “For What It’s Worth” (1966)
76. Nazareth “Hair of the Dog” (1975)
77. Mountain “Mississippi Queen” (1970)
78. America “A Horse with No Name” (1971)
79. Pete Townshend “Let My Love Open the Door” (1980)
80. Jefferson Airplane “Somebody to Love” (1967)
81. T-Rex “Get It On (Bang a Gong)” (1971)
82. The Animals “The House of the Rising Sun” (1964)
83. The Pretenders “Brass in Pocket (I’m Special)” (1979)
84. The James Gang “Funk #49” (1970)
85. The Marshall Tucker Band “Can’t You See” (1973)
86. Steppenwolf “Born to Be Wild” (1968)
87. War “Low Rider” (1975)
88. Yes “Roundabout” (1971)
89. John Cougar Mellencamp “Jack and Diane” (1982)
90. Ram Jam “Black Betty” (1977)
91. .38 Special “Hold on Loosely” (1981)
92. Grand Funk Railroad “We’re an American Band” (1973)
93. George Thorogood & the Destroyers “Bad to the Bone” (1982)
94. Blind Faith “Can’t Find My Way Home” (1969)
95. Styx “Renegade” (1978)
96. Molly Hatchet “Flirtin’ with Disaster” (1979)
97. Electric Light Orchestra “Don’t Bring Me Down” (1979)
98. The Scorpions “Rock You Like a Hurricane” (1984)
99. Kansas “Carry on Wayward Son” (1976)
100. Sammy Hagar “I Can’t Drive 55” (1984)
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First posted 6/20/2013; last updated 8/3/2022. | 
