(Credits: Far Out / Eric Meola / Alamy / Album Covers)
Thu 1 January 2026 17:30, UK
While 1975 is a banner year for classic rock fans, not every one of the classics is necessarily going to stand the test of time in the same way.
It isn’t exactly called “classic rock” because everything sounds timeless, and even if certain bands are well respected within the genre, that doesn’t mean every one of their songs is a masterpiece. But every so often, bands like Queen come out of the woodwork to remind us why rock and roll will forever be considered one of the best genres of the twentieth century.
But no one really goes into the studio looking to make music that will be remembered in 100 years. The pop charts usually concern themselves with the kind of music that follows the trends, but the best artists of all time usually know how to defy the trends in just the right way and have everyone follow them. It might not have made the most sense at the time, but the songs here are the ones that seem to only get better with age.
There are certainly blemishes from the time that timestamps them in the 1970s, but those shouldn’t even be that much of a detractor. If anything, those rough patches give the songs a lot more character, whether that’s the band using the studio as an instrument or using their limitations to their advantage in the same way that their heroes like The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix had done years before them.
Not every band on this list was planning on making an all-time anthem, but that magic only reveals itself over time. Anyone can think that they have absolute magic on their hands, but that only comes from when people start following in the footsteps that you already laid out for them on these tunes.
Five songs from 1975 that will be loved in 2075:
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