The Greatest Rock Songs Ever

For no particular rhyme or reason, today I’m putting together a list of what I feel to be the 20 greatest rock songs ever. Please note that I said "rock" songs - that means certain artists and certain songs aren't eligible to enter this list. Maybe some other day, I’ll compile a list of the 20 greatest non-rock songs.

20. R.E.M.: Everybody Hurts: I'm not really a R.E.M. fan, but this one is something special.

19. Beatles: Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds: I love the atmosphere this song creates. It has a very cool, almost inexplicable vibe to it that just draws you in as a listener.

18. U2: Pride (In the Name of Love): I love Edge's ringing guitar and Bono’s impressive vocal performance is truly awe-inspiring.

17. Aerosmith: Dream On: The original "power ballad", and possibly Tyler’s best lyrics.

16. U2: Bad: An intensely emotional sound is what sets this apart.

15. Bob Marley: Redemption Song: This song is the story of Marley’s life, and a call to future generations to "sing these songs of freedom."

14. Metallica: One: The greatest true heavy metal song ever put to tape.

13. Aerosmith: Sweet Emotion: I love this song for the swagger it presents.

12. Beatles: Revolution: A strong melody, good playing, and a song that actually has something to say.

11. Tom Petty: Free Fallin: I don't know a solitary soul who hates this song. That alone is enough to get it on the list.

10. Guns N Roses: November Rain: It's not often that an 8 minute epic becomes a band's biggest hit. But such was the case with G'nR and November Rain.

9. Aerosmith: Walk This Way: Probably the best known guitar riff ever.

8. AC/DC: Highway to Hell: Those opening chords just sound like you're starting on a trip to hell. A whole lot of people can relate to being on a highway to hell.

7. The Doors: Roadhouse Blues: Sounds like a band on a musical rampage. No matter how many people think it’s great, it actually is!

6. Guns N Roses: Paradise City: A six plus minute long hard rock epic, this has one of those unforgettable and great hard rock choruses, not to mention some all around fantastic playing.

5. The Doors: Light My Fire: I love the Doors. More accurately, I love Jim Morrison. Enough said.

4. Queen: Hammer to Fall: I honestly think this has some of guitarist Brian May's best work. It's certainly an under-rated song by a band that had so many great ones.

3. U2: With or Without You: What else can be said about this song? It's probably one of the two or three best songs to come out of the 1980s, and it remains just as inspirational and hopeful now as it did then.

2. U2: I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For: I honestly feel that this is the most honest song ever written.

1. Pink Floyd: Another Brick in the Wall Part II: The only Pink Floyd song on the list. It is almost impossible to calculate how much this song, and the album it was a part of ("The Wall") influenced other bands and artists, but to say it was great is an extreme understatement.

In case you noticed it yet, this list still looks incomplete. That's because the single greatest rock song is not on this list. That's because that song is beyond this list. This one is beyond controversy, beyond argument…and beyond belief…

And that song is...

#Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody: NO song has it over this one.