{"id":666905,"date":"2026-10-27T15:00:40","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T15:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/666905\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T15:00:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T15:00:40","slug":"the-200-best-rock-songs-of-the-21st-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/666905\/","title":{"rendered":"The 200 Best Rock Songs of the 21st Century"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cRock &amp; roll can never die,\u201d Neil Young sang deep in the 20th century. Guess what: Neil wasn\u2019t lying. Nearly 50 years later, rock is thriving the way it always has \u2014 by mutating, diversifying, evolving into the future. Now that we\u2019re deep into the 21st century, it\u2019s a perfect time to celebrate the songs that have made this a golden age for rock fans. But as always, rock &amp; roll keeps moving too fast to get pinned down, which is why it remains defiantly, unrepentantly vibrant a century after Chuck Berry was born.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThat\u2019s the spirit behind this list \u2014 the 200 best rock songs of the 21st century so far. It\u2019s a companion piece to our recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-lists\/reasons-to-love-rock-scenes-artists-trends-1235626112\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Reasons to Love Rock <\/a>feature. The list is a wide-ranging mix of different rock styles, different generations, different voices. Some of these tunes are universally beloved classics, known and sung worldwide; others are deep cuts or underground cult faves. But from Bruce to Boygenius to Bombino, from Dylan to D\u2019Angelo to Deftones, from Wilco to Wednesday to the White Stripes, we\u2019ve got artists from around the world and all over the stylistic map.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThis is an era when rock can\u2019t be contained \u2014 it travels everywhere. In our Top 10 alone, we\u2019ve got the blues, we\u2019ve got dance-floor glam, we\u2019ve got gritty punk and psychedelic jams and high-tech dystopia and acoustic storytellers, along with loads of air-guitar riffs. We\u2019ve got metal warriors from Black Sabbath to Mastodon. We\u2019ve got pop-punk and emo. We\u2019ve got sex and drugs and black leather jackets. We\u2019ve got riot grrrls, rock en espa\u00f1ol, indie upstarts, rootsy twang, African desert grooves, virtuoso guitar heroes, garage bands, electro experiments, grunge, deep soul. We\u2019ve got Nineties legends from Fiona Apple to Sonic Youth. We\u2019ve got the grizzled veterans who learned new tricks instead of going quietly: David Bowie, Prince, even Neil \u201cTime Fades Away\u201d Young himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tWe\u2019ve got country rebels. We\u2019ve got hip-hop headbanger anthems from OutKast and Jay-Z. (You know, the guy who called himself \u201crap\u2019s Grateful Dead.\u201d) We\u2019ve got ambitious pop rockers from Olivia Rodrigo to Harry Styles to Taylor Swift, who\u2019ve kept their unabashedly rock moves at the top of the charts. We\u2019ve got the skinny-tie postpunk club commandos of the Meet Me in the Bathroom era. We ramble from the U.S.A. to Colombia, Tokyo, Versailles, Niger, Dublin, CDMX, and YYZ. Some of these songs are innovative and complex; others are three-chord bangers to make you jump up and down. Their only thing in common is that they rock. You can listen to it all <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/playlist\/3WzT47Yekou7AhHwAHN52U?si=93b109cf12484970&amp;nd=1&amp;dlsi=8fe6072434d14a68\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIt\u2019s a list of songs, not artists, so we mostly avoid repeating songs by the same artist. But a handful of legends simply had too many classics to deny. (How could you pick just one Radiohead song from this century?) The toughest part was cutting it down to a mere 200, with so many more worthy artists than we could cram into one list. But it\u2019s a tribute to the vitality, diversity, and energy of rock in our modern age. There will always be folks asking why it can\u2019t stay like the old days, but that question has been around since Buddy Holly\u2019s plane went down, and the answer is the same as it ever was \u2014 rock keeps growing because rock keeps changing. The only way to deny the music\u2019s irrepressible health is to stop listening, and what fun would that be? Keep reading for 200 excellent reasons to pump up the volume and let it blast.<\/p>\n<p>\tYellowcard, \u2018Ocean Avenue'(2003)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Yellowcard, 'Ocean Avenue'\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/yellowcard-ocean-avenue.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tYellowcard managed to capture the ephemera of teenage summers of yore \u2014 and the angsty yearning for those days \u2014 in this violin-driven pop-punk classic. It wasn\u2019t an easy feat. As the band finalized recording its debut, Ocean Avenue, lead singer Ryan Key couldn\u2019t find a melody for the title track\u2019s chorus. \u201cOne day I walked in, exhausted and almost defeated \u2026 and I sang, \u2018if I could find you now, things will get better,\u2019\u201d Key told Rolling Stone for Ocean Avenue\u2019s 20th anniversary. It was just what producer and pop-punk architect Neal Avron was looking for. \u201cI tracked it on the spot, and our lives were changed forever.\u201d \u2014Maya Georgi<\/p>\n<p>\tNoah Kahan, \u2018American Cars\u2019 (2026)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"noah kahan syntk\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/noah-kahan-syntk.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Patrick McCormack*\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tOn his 2026 album, The Great Divide, Vermont songwriter Noah Kahan broadened his palette beyond the indie-folk magic of \u201cStick Season.\u201d On \u201cAmerican Cars,\u201d he dug deep into heartland rock, channeling Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, and the War on Drugs. He likens drinking to a profession (\u201cIf drinkin\u2019 was a day job\/I\u2019d be askin\u2019 for more money\u201d), while begging his sister to come fix the latest kerfuffle in the family. \u201cThe song was basically like, \u2018You\u2019ve got to get your ass home, we really need you this time,\u2019\u201d Kahan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lA4bUsrad4w\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">told us <\/a>in his Rolling Stone<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/noah-kahan-the-great-divide-album-vermont-1235556474\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> cover story<\/a>. It\u2019s a propulsive stunner unlike anything in Kahan\u2019s catalog \u2014 and proves he\u2019s a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-album-reviews\/noah-kahan-the-great-divide-review-1235550894\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">genuine rock star<\/a>. \u2014Angie Martoccio<\/p>\n<p>\tSpeedy Ortiz, \u2018The Graduates\u2019 (2015)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Speedy Ortiz, 'The Graduates' (2015)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-speedy-ortiz-the-graduates.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tSadie Dupuis\u2019 pen was never sharper than on this 2015 song, which spins an alt-rock anthem out of a complaint about feeling overlooked: \u201cI was the best at being second place, but now I\u2019m just the silver you dread.\u201d Her witty, literate lyrics and her twist-and-turn chords somersault over one another until she hits the bridge and flies even higher. (\u201cSomeone tweeted that I looked bored onstage,\u201d she <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/speedy-ortiz-outsmart-the-world-44993\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">told RS<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018I\u2019m just focusing so I don\u2019t fuck up this guitar part!\u2019\u201d) It\u2019s a gem from a moment when indie rock was heating up again, and it seemed like all you needed was a distinct perspective and a distortion pedal to get the world\u2019s attention. \u2014Simon Vozick-Levinson<\/p>\n<p>\tMogwai, \u20182 Rights Make 1 Wrong\u2019 (2001)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Scottish rock group Mogwai, circa 2001. Left to right: guitarist John Cummings, drummer Martin Bulloch, singer and guitarist Stuart Braithwaite, bassist Dominic Aitchison and guitarist Barry Burns. (Photo by Andy Willsher\/Redferns\/Getty Images)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-mogwai-2-rights-make-1-wrong.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Andy Willsher\/Redferns\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThirty years in the noise game, and the Scottish punk lads in Mogwai have yet to go stale. They rose up in Glasgow, after getting their minds blown by My Bloody Valentine and Slint, blasting their own massively emotional \u2014 yet ear-bleedingly loud \u2014 style of worshipful feedback devotionals on their 1997 debut, Young Team. \u201c2 Rights Make 1 Wrong\u201d is their apex, from the 2001 gem Rock Action, around the time Stephen Malkmus was declaring them \u201cthe best band of the 21st century.\u201d It\u2019s a swirl of banjos, a vintage 1970s Vocoder, heavy guitar fuzz, distorted strings and horns, barking dogs \u2014 a psychedelic hymn, building for nearly 10 cathartic minutes. \u2014Rob Sheffield<\/p>\n<p>\tIncubus, \u2018Circles\u2019 (2001)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Incubus (Photo by KMazur\/WireImage)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-incubus-circles.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Kevin Mazur\/WireImage\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIncubus broke through in the final breath of the 20th century with Make Yourself in the fall of 1999 \u2014 a cosmic rock odyssey that featured their meditative acoustic hit \u201cDrive.\u201d They carried that momentum into the 2000s with Morning View, an ultra-chill California masterpiece that glistened with rockers like \u201cWish You Were Here\u201d and \u201cMexico.\u201d The album\u2019s hardest-rocking moment was the head-banging kiss-off \u201cCircles,\u201d complete with guitarist Mike Einziger\u2019s fiery riffs. When they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/incubus-brandon-boyd-morning-view-tour-1234958323\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">rerecorded Morning View <\/a>in 2024, the songs were less an exact replica of the originals and more a reflection of how they\u2019d evolved in live settings over the years. Unsurprisingly, \u201cCircles\u201d sounded more ferocious than ever. \u2014Angie Martoccio<\/p>\n<p>\tThe Mountain Goats, \u2018This Year\u2019 (2005)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"The Mountain Goats, 'This Year' (2005)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-the-mountain-goats-this-year.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tSinger, songwriter, and guitarist\u00a0John Darnielle\u2019s look back at \u201cplaying video games in a drunken haze\u201d when he was \u201c17 years young\u201d and acting out against an abusive stepfather brims with the sort of warts-and-all autobiography that feels uncomfortably intimate. And then you get to the chorus, in which the Mountain Goats founder vows that \u201cI am going to make it through this year\/if it kills me.\u201d This track from the Goats\u2019 stellar The Sunset Tree has long been a fan favorite before becoming an unexpected viral hit in 2020, when the notion vowing to make it through a shit time became unexpectedly resonant. \u2014David Fear<\/p>\n<p>\tOld 97\u2019s, \u2018Rollerskate Skinny\u2019 (2001)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"OLD97S13-C-11MAY01-DD-LH --Old 97's, from Texas, playing at Slim's. (BY LIZ HAFALIA\/THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE) (Photo By LIZ HAFALIA\/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rollerskaterSkinny.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: LIZ HAFALIA\/THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE\/GETTY IMAGES\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tDallas\u2019 Old 97\u2019s were initially lumped in with the alt-country scene, but by 2001\u2019s\u00a0Satellite Rides, they had turned into something else: an ace pop-rock band. Inspired by a brief romance with Winona Ryder, \u201cRollerskate Skinny\u201d finds frontman Rhett Miller piling up lines both boyishly endearing (\u201cYou\u2019re pretty as a penny\u201d) and caustic (\u201cWouldn\u2019t be here if the Athenia hadn\u2019t sunk\u201d). It\u2019s joyfully buoyant, but with an ache at its center, summed up by its final line, which Miller stretches out till it sounds almost like an affirmation: \u201cI believe in love, but it don\u2019t believe in me.\u201d\u00a0\u2014Jon Dolan<\/p>\n<p>\tMomma, \u2018Speeding 72\u2019 (2022)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Momma, 'Speeding 72' (2022)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-momma-speeding-72.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe Brooklyn-by-way-of-Los-Angeles band Momma was born out of the tight-knit friendship between childhood pals Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten, who met in grade school. Their longtime connection is all over the group\u2019s wistful melodies, often hidden in under blankets of distortion, as no song might be as reflective of what they\u2019re good at than \u201cSpeeding 72,\u201d off their 2022 album, Household Name. It\u2019s a dreamy, riff-heavy joy ride that brings in more and more overlapping guitars, swelling into a bit of chaos that sounds like the whole band moving around each other without ever stepping on each other\u2019s toes. \u2014Julyssa Lopez<\/p>\n<p>\tJuanes, \u2018Es Por Ti\u2019 (2002)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Screenshot\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/juanes-es-por-ti.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tBack in the late 1990s, Medell\u00edn, Colombia\u00a0native Juanes left Ekhymosis, his heavy metal band, and decamped in Los Angeles in search of pop-rock stardom. He found it almost immediately thanks to a superlative ear for comforting hooks, and the guidance of producer Gustavo Santaolalla, By the time his second album,\u00a0Un D\u00eda Normal,\u00a0dropped in 2002, Juanes was a Latin Grammy winner and concert favorite. \u201cEs Por Ti\u201d sums up the Zen beauty of his spiraling, guitar-based melodies, the supple comfort of his guy-next-door vocals, and a sunny cosmovision of disarming sincerity.\u00a0\u2014Ernesto Lechner<\/p>\n<p>\tWolf Parade, \u2018I\u2019ll Believe in Anything\u2019 (2005)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Wolf Parade, 'I'll Believe in Anything' (2005)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-wolf-parade-ill-believe-in-anything.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tSpencer Krug\u2019s baroque and surprisingly hopeful rock anthem has had a few lives now, the most recent being the endlessly charming needle drop from HBO\u2019s Heated Rivalry. Krug actually wrote the first version of the song, a low-fi take on an upright piano, for his side project Sunset Rubdown back in 2005, calling it a \u201ckooky\u201d experiment. \u201cFor me, it was a scrappy little love song about two people willing to take a chance on their young relationship,\u201d Krug said. He eventually rerecorded it into the billowing version that\u2019s become the enduring Wolf Parade classic that saw a 2,650 percent steaming jump and peaked at Number Seven on the Billboard U.S. rock chart 20 years later. \u2014J.L.<\/p>\n<p>\tAlex G, \u2018After Ur Gone\u2019 (2014)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 10: Singer Alexander Giannascoli of Alex G performs at the Regent Theater on December 10, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.  (Photo by Brian Feinzimer\/Getty Images)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-alex-g-after-ur-gone.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Brian Feinzimer\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAlex Giannascoli was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/alex-g-dsu-interview-1235390122\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a college kid<\/a> making music in between term papers when he wrote, recorded, and produced this two-and-a-half-minute stunner. Released as the first track on his breakthrough album, DSU, it has all the qualities that would make him a star \u2014 the haunting falsetto, the piercing guitar lead, the cryptic words alluding to an unnamed loss. \u201cI guess some kids do model cars or skateboarding,\u201d  Giannascoli told Rolling Stone at the time, describing how he developed his DIY methods. \u201cI\u2019d go to the basement after everyone was asleep and record all fuckin\u2019 night.\u201d Many years later, he\u2019s still doing more or less <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-album-reviews\/alex-g-headlights-review-1235382725\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the same thing<\/a>, for an audience so huge you can hardly call it a cult anymore. It all starts here. \u2014S.V.L.<\/p>\n<p>\tBaroness, \u2018Isak\u2019 (2007)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"MANCHESTER, TN - JUNE 10:  Musician John Baizley of Baroness performs in concert during day 1 of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival at the Bonnaroo Festival Grounds on June 10, 2010 in Manchester, Tennessee.  (Photo by Gary Miller\/WireImage)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-baroness-isak.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Gary Miller\/WireImage\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tA surface read of the lyrics to \u201cIsak\u201d makes this song seem to be about living an unfulfilling existence on a farm. But singer-guitarist John Baizley hollers couplets like, \u201cIsak, tender the swine, carry the hare and barrow home,\u201d in a way that suggests there\u2019s something deeper going on. Ultimately, it\u2019s the overall feel of this Red Album standout that made \u201cIsak\u201d an instant classic. Baizley and Brian Blickle play swinging blues-metal riffs, each guitarist dutifully stacking his part over the other\u2019s, with two great solo breaks \u2014 the first echoing Pink Floyd space rock, the second summoning Tony Iommi\u2013like metal miasmas. And drummer Allen Blickle somehow holds them together with unusual, jazzy rhythms.\u2014Kory Grow<\/p>\n<p>\tThe Raconteurs, \u2018Steady, As She Goes\u2019 (2006)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"American indie band The Raconteurs performing in Hyde Park in 2006 (Photo by Andy Willsher\/Redferns\/Getty Images)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-the-raconteurs-steady-as-she-goes.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Andy Willsher\/Redferns\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cSteady, As She Goes\u201d was the first song Jack White and Brendan Benson wrote together before forming the Raconteurs in 2005 with Patrick Keeler of the Afghan Whigs and Jack Lawrence of the Greenhornes. They had an alt-rock hit with \u201cSteady, As She Goes,\u201d a catchy garage-blues tune with a bassline that recalled Joe Jackson\u2019s 1979 hit \u201cIs She Really Going Out With Him?\u201d This song has two very different videos, each directed by notable filmmakers. The first was more traditional, directed by Jim Jarmusch, with the band playing in a barn, and another directed by the Malloys that featured Paul Reubens as a cartoonish villain. \u2014Alison Weinflash <\/p>\n<p>\tSlipknot, \u2018People = Shit\u2019 (2001)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"UNITED STATES - JANUARY 01:  USA  Photo of SLIPKNOT  (Photo by Mick Hutson\/Redferns)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/iowa-slipknot.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Mick Hutson\/Redferns\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cI\u2019m in this band because of everything that I hate about everything in the world,\u201d Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison told\u00a0Rolling Stone\u00a0in 2000. Actual children of the corn, the nine mutants of Slipknot came out of Iowa in the late Nineties with their scary masks and bone-breaking live shows, and made their eye-popping extremism the most explosive attraction on Ozzfest. They summed up their hate-everything worldview with succinct fury on the nu-metal maelstrom \u201cPeople = Shit,\u201d an undeniable statement of tribal misanthropy and outcast self-determination. \u2014J.D.<\/p>\n<p>\tTame Impala, \u2018Elephant\u2019 (2012)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 6: Jay Watson, Dominic Simper, Julien Barbagallo, Kevin Parker and Nick Allbrook of Tame Impala pose for portraits on 6th October 2012, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Martin Philbey\/Redferns)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-tame-impala-elephant.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Martin Philbey\/Redferns\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tOn \u201cElephant,\u201d Tame Impala\u2019s Kevin Parker took some of rock\u2019s most\u00a0familiar pleasures \u2014 fuzzed-out Sabbath chug, high-heeled glam stomp,\u00a0mind-melting psychedelia \u2014 and fused them into a sonic funhouse of his own.\u00a0The lead single from his sophomore album,\u00a0Lonerism, builds a whole world around Parker\u2019s supersized riff. The song\u2019s wonderfully wiggy midsection \u2014 a fantastic voyage of proggy synths, heavily distorted guitar, and burbling electronics \u2014 blasts into the cosmos before snapping back into its big dumb riff, showing Parker\u2019s knack for indulging headphone listeners without losing the arena crowd. \u2014Jason Roth<\/p>\n<p>\tVelvet Revolver, \u2018Slither\u2019 (2004)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Velvet Revolver, 'Slither' (2004)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-velvet-revolver-slither.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tUnlike so many other Frankenstein bands, the mashup of Stone Temple Pilots and Guns N\u2019 Roses known as Velvet Revolver wasn\u2019t a cringey lark. The group actually turned out kick-ass, relevant hard rock songs, and \u201cSlither\u201d is chief among them. Driven by the river-bottom bass of Duff McKagan, the song twists and turns like its serpentine title, with Scott Weiland\u2019s keening vocals cutting through the din. It climaxes with an eruptive Slash solo that ranks right up there with the guitarist\u2019s best. Even Axl Rose seems to like the song: It\u2019s become a staple of the reunited GNR\u2019s set list. \u2014Joseph Hudak<\/p>\n<p>\tMudcrutch, \u2018Crystal River\u2019 (2008)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - MAY 1: Mike Campbell (L - R) Tom Petty, and Tom Leadon of Mudcrutch perform in support of the bands seld titled release at the Troubadour on May 1, 2008 in  West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder\/Getty Images)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-mudcrutch-crystal-river.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Tim Mosenfelder\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAfter an incredible run of in the 1990s, Tom Petty hit a creative rough patch in the 2000s, with underwhelming albums like\u00a0The Last DJ and Mojo. But he rediscovered something in 2008 when he made the unlikely decision to reform his pre-Heartbreakers band Mudcrutch and record a new album with them. Unlike Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, this was a democratic unit where all members wrote songs and even sang lead. But their best song, \u201cCrystal River,\u201d was a Petty original that clocked in at nearly 10 minutes. (In concert, it stretched out to 15.) Though considerably longer than just about anything else in Petty\u2019s catalog, it\u2019s a mellow journey that never gets boring or repetitive. \u2014Andy Greene <\/p>\n<p>\tBombino, \u2018Amidinine\u2019 (2013)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Bombino from Nigeria performs at the Odeon stage during the Roskilde Festival on July 5, 2013.   AFP PHOTO \/ SCANPIX DENMARK\/ KASPER PALSNOV DENMARK OUT        (Photo credit should read TORKIL ADSERSEN\/AFP via Getty Images)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-bombino-Amidininie.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: TORKIL ADSERSEN\/AFP\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tA member of the nomadic Tuareg people, singer and guitarist\u00a0Omara \u201cBombino\u201d Moctar traveled from Niger to the Nashville studio run by Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach and recorded the searing 2013 album\u00a0Nomad. It kicks off with the anthemic \u201cAmidinine,\u201d which bridges West African \u201cdesert blues\u201d and the pyrotechnics of Jimi Hendrix, whom Bombino discovered as a child living in exile with his family in Algeria. As he told Rolling Stone, \u201cThe freedom that Jimi expressed through his guitar sent me to another world, where I was also free.\u201d You can hear that freedom in every note he plays.\u2014J.D.<\/p>\n<p>\tAvril Lavigne, \u2018My Happy Ending\u2019 (2004)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Avril Lavigne, 'My Happy Ending' (2004)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-avril-lavigne-my-happy-ending.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tFollowing the spunky one-two punch of breakout hits \u201cComplicated\u201d and \u201cSk8ter Boi,\u201d Avril Lavigne had something to prove on her sophomore effort, 2004\u2019s Under My Skin. Though barely 20 years old, the Canadian pop-punk star had already seen her share of challenging relationships, channeling her disappointment into a singular line \u2014 \u201cSo much for my happy ending\u201d \u2014 at the top of the album\u2019s breakup ballad. She\u2019s a co-writer on the song, with producer Butch Walker, and Lavigne\u2019s lament is achingly felt in the bridge, \u201cIt\u2019s nice to know we had it all\/Thanks for watching as I fall\/And letting me know we were done.\u201d The success of \u201cMy Happy Ending\u201d confirmed the opposite, as Lavigne\u2019s star continued to rise.\u2014Shirley Halperin<\/p>\n<p>\tYungblud, \u2018Hello Heaven, Hello\u2019 (2025)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Yungblud, &quot;Hello, Heaven Hello&quot; (2025)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-yungblud-hello-heaven-hello.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tWhile he hadn\u2019t yet turned 30 when his fourth album,\u00a0Idols, came out in 2025, British agit-rocker Yungblud had already blazed a singular career path by the time of its release, and he used its opening cut to reintroduce himself to the world. The nine-minute, three-part rock opera, he\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/yungblud-idols-album-breakdown-interview-rock-dead-1235368396\/\">told Rolling Stone<\/a>, was inspired by him realizing the parallels between stadium rock and concert-hall classical; Yungblud added a dollop of 21st-century angst to the mix, cementing the song as his own. \u201cHello Heaven, Hello\u201d veers from propulsive rock to swaggering post-glam to cavernous neo-power-balladry; it\u2019s audacious and triumphant, with Yungblud\u2019s tightly wound yawp sounding ready to conquer the world. \u2014Maura Johnston<\/p>\n<p>\tDowntown Boys, \u2018Monstro\u2019 (2015)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"AUSTIN, TX - MARCH 16:  Downtown Boys perform on stage at the House of Vans during the 2016 SXSW Music, Film + Interactive Festival at Mohawk on March 16, 2016 in Austin, Texas.  (Photo by Neilson Barnard\/Getty Images for SXSW)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-downtown-boys-monstro.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Neilson Barnard\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tProvidence, Rhode Island\u2019s Downtown Boys combined refreshingly confrontational left-wing politics and a refreshingly confrontational punk attack on their excellent second album, Full Communism. The album\u2019s peak cathartic moment was \u201cMonstro,\u201d a roaring critique of sexist, racist stereotypes and celebration of revolutionary power. With a blaring Lora Logic-style sax leading the charge, the song builds and builds until it combusts, as frontwoman Victoria Ruiz repeats the line \u201cShe\u2019s brown! She\u2019s smart!\u201d like a battle cry. It\u2019s political punk rock primed for the DSA era. \u2014J.D.<\/p>\n<p>\tMoses Sumney, \u2018Virile\u2019 (2019)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Moses Sumney, 'Virile' (2019)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-moses-sumney-virile.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tMoses Sumney is no stranger to challenging our expectations, whether he\u2019s making your jaw drop with his ocean-deep, sky-high vocal range or creating spellbinding visual worlds to complement his otherworldly music. On \u201cVirile,\u201d a standout from his 2020 album, Gr\u00e6, Sumney raises his glass to masculinity and smashes it on the ground. Sumney does rock music his way, alchemizing cavernous drums with spritely harp, industrial rock with classical music, heaven with hell. \u201cDear son,\u201d he screeches to the stars, before slinking into his lower register, \u201cWe pick our own prisons.\u201d \u201cVirile\u201d is evidence that we\u2019re only confined to the boxes we lock ourselves into. \u2014Jaeden Pinder<\/p>\n<p>\tSleigh Bells, \u2018Rill Rill\u2019 (2010)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Sleigh Bells, 'Rill Rill' (2010)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-sleigh-bells-rill-rill.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tA band birthed both in the belly of MySpace and peak-hipster Williamsburg, Sleigh Bells became a huge hit with blog-era tastemakers. This breakout track \u2014 off 2010\u2019s Treats \u2014 sounds like your heart beating its way out of your chest, a tidal wave of guitars, booming drums, and electro sleaze, all showcasing Alexis Krauss\u2019 almost too-sweet vocals. If you ever saw them perform live, you\u2019ll know the feeling of all those amps buzzing in your chest as the crowd pogoed along. The track just sounds like 2010: languid and hopeful, a party before the world burns. \u2014Brenna Ehrlich<\/p>\n<p>\tAlejandro Escovedo, \u2018Castanets\u2019 (2001)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"(MANDATORY CREDIT Ebet Roberts\/Getty Images) UNITED STATES - MARCH 16:  SOUTH BY SOUTH WEST  Photo of Alejandro ESCOVEDO, at Las Manitas  (Photo by Ebet Roberts\/Redferns)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-alejandro-escovedo-castanets.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Ebet Roberts\/Redferns\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tNo one is better at merging the worlds of country-roots and punk than Alejandro Escovedo, and no song of his embodies his New York Dolls meets Austin roadhouse sound than \u201cCastanets.\u201d Escovedo storms and stomps his way through his deceptively nuanced tale of \u201ca woman people don\u2019t understand,\u201d as he later explained. When George W. Bush was reported to have liked the song in 2005, Escovedo retired it from his set lists for several years, even though it was his most well-known tune. Then, more than two decades later, Escovedo deconstructed his cowpunk anthem with an entirely new arrangement and Spanglish lyrics on 2024\u2019s \u201cCasta\u00f1uelas.\u201d\u2014Jonathan Bernstein<\/p>\n<p>\tKing Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, \u2018Rattlesnake\u2019 (2017)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, 'Rattlesnake' (2017)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-kglw-rattlesnake.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe marvelously prolific Australian psych-punk shredders King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have released a slew of songs that could potentially be on this list, but the opening track from their 2017 exploration of alternate guitar tunings\u00a0Flying Microtonal Banana\u00a0has taken on a life of its own. Chugging guitars and huge gales \u2014 as well as a Vibraslap that echoes the titular serpent\u2019s warning sound \u2014 give \u201cRattlesnake\u201d an ominously windswept, while lead Gizzard Stu Mackenzie\u2019s constant repetition \u201crattlesnake\u201d (he says it\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/kglw.net\/song\/rattlesnake\/about?artist_id=1\">54 times on the album version<\/a>, according to fans) and the microtonal tuning make it feel like a fever dream that won\u2019t \u2014 and shouldn\u2019t \u2014 end. \u2014M.J.<\/p>\n<p>\tRed Clay Strays, \u2018Wondering Why\u2019 (2022)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"at Rolling Stone's Future of Music Showcase at ACL Live on March 15th, 2024.\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Red-Clay-Strays-For-RS-By-Dusana-Risovic_2024-1.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Dusana Risovic for Rolling Stone\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThough ostensibly a country band from Alabama, the Red Clay Strays sure can rock: Songs like \u201cRamblin\u2019\u201d and \u201cDown South\u201d have all the punch of Lynyrd Skynyrd. In the case of their breakout song, \u201cWondering Why,\u201d however, they display more of a slow burn. There\u2019s no big riff, no bombastic intro \u2014 just Elvis-adjacent frontman Brandon Coleman\u2019s smoldering croon, which blazes near the song\u2019s end as drummer John Hall plays an understated beat with a few choice cymbal hits. For the really ferocious version of \u201cWondering Why,\u201d check out the band\u2019s Live at the Ryman album.\u2014Joseph Hudak<\/p>\n<p>\tFuture Islands, \u2018Seasons (Waiting on You)\u2019 (2014)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"INDIO, CALIF. - APR. 12, 2014. Samuel T. Herring fronts Future Islands on the Gobi Stage on the second day of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio on Saturday, Apr. 12, 2014.  (Photo by Luis Sinco\/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-future-islands-seasons.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Luis Sinco\/Los Angeles Times\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe idiosyncratic Baltimore indie band had a surprise hit with the high-drama synth-pop of \u201cSeasons (Waiting on You),\u201d a song about how time may pass but some people remain frustratingly the same. Singer Samuel T. Herring delivered his heartbroken lyrics with an uncanny emotional force, going from a forlorn croon to an overwrought rasp that was hard to shake once you heard it. His ungainly dance moves were unforgettable too; when the band performed on The Late Show\u00a0With David Letterman, the host\u2019s floored reaction helped seed the song\u2019s viral success. \u2014J.D.<\/p>\n<p>\tBlondshell, \u2018Salad\u2019 (2023)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Blondshell, 'Salad' (2023)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-blondshell-salad.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cGonna get big,\u201d Blondshell\u2019s Sabrina Teitelbaum declares. She accomplishes all that and more on \u201cSalad,\u201d the deliciously dark centerpiece of her 2023 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/blondshell-exclusive-interview-joiner-1234666443\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">self-titled debut.<\/a> It\u2019s the indie-rock version of \u201cGoodbye Earl,\u201d as Teitelbaum sets out to get revenge on a guy for abusing her friend \u2014 specifically by poisoning his greens. She lays out her plan across thrashing, restless riffs, inspired by Hole\u2019s \u201cDoll Parts\u201d and Nirvana\u2019s \u201cYou Know You\u2019re Right,\u201d a move that proved she was carrying the furious torch of the Nineties into a new generation. \u201cLook what you did\/You\u2019ll make a killer of a Jewish girl,\u201d she sings. It was one of the first startlingly great Teitelbaum lines \u2014 and certainly not the last. \u2014A.M.<\/p>\n<p>\tThe Monkees, \u2018Me and Magdalena\u2019 (2016)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"AGOURA HILLS, CA - OCTOBER 20:  (L-R) Singers Michael Nesmith and Micky Dolenz of The Monkees perform onstage at The Canyon Club on October 20, 2017 in Agoura Hills, California.  (Photo by Scott Dudelson\/Getty Images)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-the-monkees-me-and-magdalena.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Scott Dudelson\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe idea of a brilliant new Monkees album in 2016 seemed about as likely as the Archies making a major musical comeback. But for their 50th anniversary, Monkees superfan Adam Schlesinger recruited an incredible slate of songwriters, including Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller, and Rivers Cuomo, for the comeback LP Good Times! Dead Cab for Cutie\u2019s Ben Gibbard contributed the gorgeous ballad \u201cMe and Magdalena,\u201d which Schlesinger arranged as a duet between Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith. Their voices blended as seamlessly as they did back in the 1960s, finally giving them a new classic they could play in concert alongside \u201cI\u2019m a Believer\u201d and \u201cPleasant Valley Sunday.\u201d \u2014A.G.<\/p>\n<p>\tMdou Moctar, \u2018Afrique Victime\u2019 (2021)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Toeareg-songwriter and guitarist Mdou Moctar performs on stage at Lowlands, Biddinghuizen, Netherlands 21st August 2022 (Photo by Paul Bergen\/Redferns)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/guitar-solos-mdou-moctar-afrique-victime.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Paul Bergen\/Redferns\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tEqually inspired by Eddie Van Halen as he is by the Tuareg guitarists of his native Niger, Mdou Moctar is one of the 21st century\u2019s greatest guitarists \u2014 and his hypnotizing solo on the desert blues track \u201cAfrique Victime\u201d is a perfect example why. Across the song\u2019s seven-minute run time, the tempo rises and rises as Moctar laments French colonialism\u2019s eternal scar on Niger. He plays the song\u2019s guitar solo as if he\u2019s vehemently typing away on a computer, sliding back and forth and drumming along the strings, warping the instrument\u2019s tones to mimic a wailing siren. \u201cAfrique Victime\u201d\u2019 is frenetic yet liberating \u2014 it\u2019s no wonder he\u2019s often called the Hendrix of the Sahara.\u00a0\u2014J.P.<\/p>\n<p>\tSum 41, \u2018Fat Lip\u2019 (2001)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Sum 41, 'Fat Lip' (2001)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-sum41-fat-lip.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cFat Lip\u201d is so immaculate, you\u2019d never know Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley cobbled it together from disparate parts: a monster riff, a howl-along chorus, a tender bridge, and, most daringly, a rap-rock verse with the pass-it-off stylings of the Beastie Boys and Run-D.M.C. By Whibley\u2019s admission, the demo stunk, but producer Jerry Finn saw the vision. \u201cFat Lip\u201d remains one of the great achievements of the early-aughts pop-punk boom: an undeniable hit that\u2019s sneakily inventive in construction and execution; a brilliant loser anthem that\u2019s defiant, deprecating and degenerate, funny and furious. Still, to this day, it\u2019s guaranteed to get the pit going. \u2014J. Blistein<\/p>\n<p>\tThe Rolling Stones, \u2018Whole Wide World\u2019 (2023)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Ron Wood, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Rolling-Stones-Back-in-the-Studio.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Kevin Mazur\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAt the start of the 2020s, Rolling Stones fans had resigned themselves to the idea that they were simply a touring band at that point. Fortunately, producer Andrew Watt didn\u2019t share this viewpoint and managed to coax them into the studio for 2023\u2019s revitalized Hackney Diamonds. The LP\u2019s climax is \u201cWhole Wide World,\u201d where Mick Jagger sings about a broke-down Londoner convinced his best days are long behind him: \u201cWhen the whole wide world\u2019s against you\/And that\u2019s got you on the run\/And you think the party\u2019s over\/But it\u2019s only just, only just begun,\u201d he sings. The song was also a tribute to the Stones themselves, who managed to extend the party longer than any rock band in history. \u2014A.G.<\/p>\n<p>\tElectric Six, \u2018Danger! High Voltage\u2019 (2002)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Electric Six, 'Danger! High Voltage!' (2003)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-electric-six-danger-high-voltage.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAll together now: \u201cFire in the disco! Fire in the Taco Bell!\u201d (Yes, it rhymes with \u201cgates of hell.\u201d) \u201cDanger! High Voltage\u201d was an insanely catchy floor-filler in the indie-sleaze days of the early 2000s \u2014 if you were a drunk girl and this song came on in the scuzzy rock bar at 2 a.m., you were legally required to dance on a table and kick the DJ\u2019s drinks over. Detroit conceptual mastermind Dick Valentine groans about the agonies and ecstasies of physical love for a global left-field hit. But he gets a big assist from his duet partner: Jack White, uncredited but unmistakable, wailing \u201cdanger, danger!\u201d in his high-pitched sex yelp. \u2014R.S.<\/p>\n<p>\tJason Isbell and the 400 Unit, \u2018Cumberland Gap\u2019 (2017)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"BERLIN, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 08:  (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Singer-songwriter Jason Isbell performs live on stage during a concert at Columbia Theater on November 8, 2017 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Stefan Hoederath\/Redferns)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-jason-isbell-cumberland-gap.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Stefan Hoederath\/Redferns\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tBefore his name became synonymous with the best in detail-rich Americana songwriting thanks to albums like his 2013 opus, Southeastern, Jason Isbell was one of the three singer-guitarists in this century\u2019s top literate bar band, Drive-By Truckers. On this rocker from his 2017 LP, The Nashville Sound, Isbell showed how hard he could still bring it, singing about working-class angst and desperation in the heart of coal country over the roaring backing of his band the 400 Unit. \u201cMaybe the Cumberland Gap just swallows you whole,\u201d he wonders. That sense of fatalism is deep in his bones, but so is the dream of punching your way out. \u2014J.D.<\/p>\n<p>\tAt the Drive-In, \u2018Arcarsenal\u2019 (2000)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"UNITED KINGDOM - DECEMBER 07:  ELECTRIC BALLROOM  Photo of AT THE DRIVE-IN  (Photo by Nicky J. Sims\/Redferns)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-at-the-drive-in-arcarsenal.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Nicky J. Sims\/Redferns\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAt the Drive-In\u2019s third album, Relationship of Command, truly felt like a band firing on all cylinders. Their sound was sharper, crisper, and more adrenaline-surged than ever \u2014 some of that a result of producer Ross Robinson finding ways to capture the musicians at their most heightened state. And the first song, \u201cArcarsenal,\u201d offers the best introduction to the power coursing through the album, functioning as a forceful call to action to break from societal conformity. It\u2019s also a solid example of Omar Rodr\u00edguez-L\u00f3pez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala\u2019s almost telepathic connection, with Bixler-Zavala howling out the lyrics (\u201cI must have read a thousand faces\u201d) to Rodr\u00edguez-L\u00f3pez\u2019s blistering riffs. \u2014J.L.<\/p>\n<p>\tLouis XIV, \u2018Finding Out True Love Is Blind\u2019 (2005)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Louis XIV, 'Finding Out That True Love Is Blind' (2005)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-louis-xiv-finding-out-that-true-love-is-blind.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tDeliciously sexy and sleazy, this track epitomized why Louis XIV were once banned in Alabama. What other band can make \u201ccarrot juice\u201d sound dirty? The standout on 2005\u2019s The Best Little Secrets Are Kept, this song encapsulates a truly horny era replete with flat-ironed bangs, that first foray into skinny jeans, and a solid lacquering of eyeliner. The song may have an STD or two, but singer Jason Hill is an equal opportunity letch: smart girls, short girls, tough girls, girls of all races and creeds, he\u2019s down to wind you up and make you crawl to him \u2014 even 20 years later. \u2014B.E.<\/p>\n<p>\tDeerhunter, \u2018Desire Lines\u2019 (2010)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 28:  Musicians Bradford Cox, Josh Fauver, Moses Archuleta and   Lockett Pundt of the band Deerhunter perform at Apple Store Soho on September 28, 2010 in New York City.  (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris\/Getty Images)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-deerhunter-desire-lines-2.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tOn their space-rock epiphany \u201cDesire Lines,\u201d the Atlanta band Deerhunter found a happy place somewhere between moody Velvet Underground drone poetry and languid, stretched out, eat-a-peach transcendence. The peak moment on their great LP\u00a0Halcyon Digest,\u00a0the song begins as a hesitant reflection on twentysomething coming-of-age ambivalences, then lifts off into a mind-meld monster jam between guitarists Lockett Pundt and Bradford Cox, who make like shoegaze ninjas for three dazzling minutes. It\u2019s a modern psychedelic bounty that brilliantly undercut trippy escapism with real-life ambivalence. \u2014J.D.<\/p>\n<p>\tSturgill Simpson, \u2018Call to Arms\u2019 (2016)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 15:  Sturgill Simpson performs at O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire on July 15, 2016 in London, England.  (Photo by Brigitte Engl\/Redferns)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-sturgill-simpson-call-to-arms.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Brigitte Engl\/Redferns\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAfter the release of his breakthrough album, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, it was clear that Sturgill Simpson was in a category all his own, far beyond just the bounds of traditional country. He cemented that on 2016\u2019s A Sailor\u2019s Guide to Earth, which ends with the furious \u201cCall to Arms,\u201d where Simpson, alongside a wailing horn section, bemoans our modern discontents. \u201cThey serve up distractions and we eat \u2018em with fries, until the bombs fall out of our fucking skies,\u201d he sings. When Simpson appeared on Saturday Night Live, he finished the song with the ultimate rock star move: smashing his guitar.\u2014Marissa R. Moss<\/p>\n<p>\tOught, \u2018Beautiful Blue Sky\u2019 (2015)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Ought, 'Beautiful Blue Sky' (2015)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-ought-beautiful-blue-sky.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe Montreal post-punk rebels Ought racked up a string of cerebral records in the 2010s, eventually evolving into the new band Cola, which put out one of 2026\u2019s finest rock statements with Cost of Living Adjustment. \u201cBeautiful Blue Sky\u201d is a life-affirming staccato guitar groove, building under Tim Darcey\u2019s acerbically witty voice, as he narrates another boring normal day of sleepwalking through life. But by the end, he\u2019s reaching deep inside himself for awkward confessions like, \u201cI am no longer afraid to dance tonight, because that\u2019s all that I have left.\u201d It all adds up to a reluctantly anthemic song that can hit you when you\u2019re feeling down and remind you that your future is still wide open. \u2014R.S.<\/p>\n<p>\tMetallica, \u2018Spit Out the Bone\u2019 (2016)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Metallica, &quot;Spit Out The Bone&quot; music video\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/spit-out-the-bone-mv.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAbout a decade before AI panic, Metallica saw the future (or maybe just a few Terminator movies) and wrote \u201cSpit Out the Bone,\u201d their hardest-thrashing metal epic this side of \u2026And Justice for All. James Hetfield sings the lyrics from the perspective of a homicidal AI hell-bent on wiping the planet of all humanity: \u201cLong live machine, the future supreme,\u201d he sings. \u201cMan overthrown, spit out the bone.\u201d \u201cWe could be a much more efficient race if we just allow computers to help us,\u201d Hetfield once explained. \u201cAnd yeah, they are helping us, but how far does that go? All of that craziness.\u201d But no machine could invent a guitar solo as good as the one that Kirk Hammett plays at the end of the song. \u2014K.G.<\/p>\n<p>\tWater From Your Eyes, \u2018Barley\u2019 (2023)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Water From Your Eyes, 'Barley' (2023)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-water-from-your-eyes-barley.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIt shouldn\u2019t work, but it does. Brooklyn duo Water From Your Eyes\u2019 \u201cBarley\u201d was partially born out of a joke to try and use as many lyrics from Sting\u2019s 1993 song \u201cFields of Gold\u201d without outright stealing from him. In the end, they created a dissonant yet undeniably cool banger. Instead of an ode to the beauty of nature imbued by Sting\u2019s wistful voice, WFYE\u2019s lyrics go for a patchworked, vibes-forward quality, delivered in an icy droll by vocalist Rachel Brown sounding a whole lot like Kim Gordon. \u201cBarley\u201d accumulates a series of skronks, screeches, growls, and chika chikas, and Nate Amos layers each new element over the last as if making an opera cake composed of scrap metal. \u2014J.P.<\/p>\n<p>\tThe Shins, \u2018Caring Is Creepy\u2019 (2001)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Portrait of US group The Shins lead singer James Mercier taken at The Borderline in London on 12th February 2003.;    (Photo by Edd Westmacott\/Avalon\/Getty Images)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-the-shins-caring-is-creepy.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Edd Westmacott\/Avalon\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tLike a dispatch from a hazy, fractured dream, the opening track from the Shins\u2019 breakout Oh, Inverted World has all the elements of left-field rock genius. Don\u2019t let the whimsy fool you, though: It\u2019s also a fiery breakup track replete with bitterly poetic barbs, likening a relationship to a battered castle, an icy tundra, and the feeling of being dead inside. It would take three years for Natalie Portman and Garden State to propel the band to the mainstream, but the Shins\u2019 essence quickly leached its way into many a band\u2019s sound. As Portman says, \u201cYou gotta hear this one song. It\u2019ll change your life, I swear.\u201d \u2014B.E.<\/p>\n<p>\tGossip, \u2018Standing in the Way of Control\u2019 (2006)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"UNITED KINGDOM - FEBRUARY 09:  BUFFALO BAR  Photo of Beth DITTO and GOSSIP, Brace Paine and Beth Ditto performing live onstage  (Photo by Marc Broussely\/Redferns)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-the-gossip-standing-in-the-way-of-control.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Marc Broussely\/Redferns\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe combo of living in the wrong place (the USA) at the wrong time (the George W. Bush years) inspired Beth Ditto to write Gossip\u2019s biggest hit, \u201cStanding in the Way of Control,\u201d a soulful and frustrated disco-punk indictment of a proposed bill that could\u2019ve outlawed same-sex marriage in the mid 2000s. \u201cAt the time, my very best friend \u2014 who was queer like me \u2014 was having a brutally hard time,\u201d Ditto told The Guardian. \u201cI wrote the song for him to know how much I loved him \u2014 and to tell the administration to fuck off.\u201d Ditto\u2019s voice was a beacon for millions: \u201cStanding in the way of control\/You live your life, Survive the only way that you know.\u201d \u2014K.G.<\/p>\n<p>\tHop Along, \u2018The Knock\u2019 (2015)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 27:  (EDITORS NOTE: This image has been converted to black and white.)  Singer Frances Quinlan of Hop Along performs onstage during FYF Fest 2016 at Los Angeles Sports Arena on August 27, 2016 in Los Angeles, California.  (Photo by Emma McIntyre\/Getty Images for FYF)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-hop-along-the-knock.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Emma McIntyre\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tHop Along\u2019s 2015 breakthrough, Painted Shut, opens with three and a half minutes of the reckless energy that made this Philly band heroes to indie fans starved for a band that really means it. \u201c\u2018The Knock\u2019 is about a couple with conflicting feelings regarding a Jehovah\u2019s Witness showing up at their door,\u201d singer Frances Quinlan told Rolling Stone at the time. \u201cFor some people, spirituality is a very difficult reminder of an abuse of power, and for others it\u2019s comforting.\u201d Quinlan sketches that scene of domestic turmoil with writerly precision, then proceeds to sing the hell out of it, downright howling over the band\u2019s bright, clean rock &amp; roll. \u2014S.V.L.<\/p>\n<p>\tPrince, \u2018Guitar\u2019 (2007)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Prince, 'Guitar' (2007)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-prince-guitar.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tPrince can\u2019t think of a better pairing than him and his instrument on \u201cGuitar,\u201d the lead single from his 2007 album, Planet Earth. His guitar, for instance, won\u2019t get high and call him in the middle of the night, or pretend to love him and value his friendship while faking it the whole time. There\u2019s more than enough love to go around, but most of it is going to his guitar. The solo that plays out the track is a high-voltage jolt meant to reflect his unwavering devotion to those four strings. \u201cGuitar\u201d later became a staple in Prince\u2019s live shows, landing on the set list for more than 100 of his performances across eight years. He really loves his guitar. \u2014Larisha Paul<\/p>\n<p>\tSky Ferreira, \u2018You\u2019re Not the One\u2019 (2013)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Sky Ferreira, \u2018You\u2019re Not the One\u2019\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Sky-Ferreira-youre-not-the-one.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tSky Ferreira faces up to all the temptations and frustrations that define a will-we-won\u2019t-we romance on \u201cYou\u2019re Not the One,\u201d one of countless gems from the pop singer\u2019s 2013 debut (and, still, to this point, only album). With its gut-rumbling rhythm section and the crystalline screech of the lead-guitar riff, the song harkens back to Eighties goth rock and David Bowie\u2019s\u00a0Low,\u00a0yet Ferreira\u2019s booming, yearning vocals lend the song its contemporary-pop edge. Crafted alongside a murderers\u2019 row of songwriting and production talent \u2014 Ariel Rechtshaid, Justin Raisen, and Dan Nigro \u2014 \u201cYou\u2019re Not the One\u201d is the perfect emblem of the 2010s moment when the indie and pop barriers began to fall. \u2014J. Blistein<\/p>\n<p>\tBoris with Michio Kurihara, \u2018Rainbow\u2019 (2007)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"CHICAGO - JULY 20: Bass guitarist Takeshi of rock band Boris performs on stage during the Pitchfork Music Festival at Union Park on July 20, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Roger Kisby\/Getty Images)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-boris-rainbow.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Roger Kisby\/Getty Images\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tJust when you thought Japanese sludge explorers Boris had settled into something resembling traditional rock on 2006\u2019s excellent\u00a0Pink, the trio followed it up with a series of boundary-pushing collaborations, including 2007\u2019s\u00a0Rainbow, with psych-guitar experimentalist Michio Kurihara. With such great potential for inspired chaos,\u00a0Rainbow\u2019s title track is most shocking in its gentle restraint. Well, at least for its first half, where Boris vocalist Wata seductively coos over Kurihara\u2019s woozy shimmer for a late-night feel that approaches cocktail jazz. But then Kurihara shatters the chill with a piercing, fuzz-drenched squall, creating a wild collision of sounds.\u2014Jason Roth<\/p>\n<p>\tFoo Fighters, \u2018Best of You\u2019 (2005)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Foo Fighters, 'Best of You' (2005)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-foo-fighters-best-of-you.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tOf all the Foo Fighters songs that test frontman Dave Grohl\u2019s signature upper-register growl, \u201cBest of You\u201d might be the most vocally demanding. Conceived while on the campaign trail for presidential hopeful John Kerry and recorded in 2005, its political message intertwines with a feeling of encumbrance. \u201c\u2019Best of You&#8217;\u201d is a song of resistance,\u201d Grohl said shortly after its release. \u201cIt\u2019s about the refusal to be taken advantage of by something that\u2019s bigger than you, or someone you\u2019re in love with. It\u2019s the fight in the face of adversity.\u201d The song often shows up as an encore or finale to a Foo Fighters set, and even made it to the Super Bowl in 2007, when Prince performed it as part of his halftime show medley. The Purple One\u2019s twist elevated the instant anthem, with screams to match the original.\u2014S.H.<\/p>\n<p>\tJet, \u2018Are You Gonna Be My Girl\u2019 (2003)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Jet, 'Are You Gonna Be My Girl' (2003)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-jet-are-you-gonna-be-my-girl.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tJet were a band of swaggering, pub-crawling bros from Melbourne, Australia \u2014 one of the better tracks on their 2003 debut, Get Born, was an AC\/DC-steeped strutter called \u201cCold Hard Bitch.\u201d They hit throwback gold with their lone hit \u201cAre You Gonna Be My Girl.\u201d Opening with one of the better tambourine shakes of the century and transitioning into a killer Motown bass line, they paid homage to the Iggy Pop of \u201cLust for Life\u201d as singer Nic Cester rhymed \u201choney\u201d with \u201cmoney\u201d like he was the first to ever do it and yowled about chasing a girl with big black boots, long brown hair, and a get-back stare. They nailed their ripped-off rock moves with infectious zeal. \u2014J.D.<\/p>\n<p>\tKurt Vile, \u2018Pretty Pimpin\u2019  (2015)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Kurt Vile, 'Pretty Pimpin'' (2015)\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/rock200-kurt-vile-pretty-pimpin.jpg\" data-lazy- data-lazy-\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tImage Credit: Youtube\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tWith his shaggy, shreddy everydude aura, Kurt Vile has a solid claim to being the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/kurt-vile-neil-young-playlist-archives-793938\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Neil Young<\/a> of the Philly indie scene. Call this his \u201cHeart of Gold,\u201d then \u2014 the catchy single that outperformed everything else in his catalog, an albatross around his guitar neck that\u2019s also just a damn great song. Fingerpicked notes spiral almost as fast as Vile\u2019s thoughts as he sings about staring in the mirror and seeing a well-dressed stranger: \u201cOh, silly me, that\u2019s just me!\u201d He plays that moment of existential panic so casually that it yielded an actual radio hit and a favorite at nearly all his live shows. \u2014S.V.L.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cRock &amp; roll can never die,\u201d Neil Young sang deep in the 20th century. Guess what: Neil wasn\u2019t&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[26041,93,61,60,18128,144140,278,15735,122166,652,94818,76056,259113,282468],"class_list":["post-666905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-arctic-monkeys","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jay-z","tag-killers","tag-music","tag-olivia-rodrigo","tag-phoebe-bridgers","tag-radiohead","tag-strokes","tag-white-stripes","tag-wilco","tag-yeah-yeah-yeahs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}