For a while when I was a teenager this was one of my favorite Bob Dylan songs. From the moment I realized it's Dire Straits it's been my favorite song by them as well. Yeah I know, now I can tell the difference pretty easily, but I was a neophyte then.
Mark Knopfler is really an underrated guitarist. The guitar work (and the drumming) in this song rate amongst the best of any classic rock song. The only thing that could possibly make it better were if the lyrics involved installing microwave ovens.
9. Aerosmith - Dream OnMost bands peak early and it's not a big surprise to find their best song is off their first album, however in a musical career as long and storied as Aerosmith it is a bit of an odd thing. Ironically this song is probably about as un-Aerosmith sounding as Aerosmith gets. If you squint, you can tell it's Steven Tyler singing, but it lacks his trademark scat. Still an absolutely fantastic song though.
8. Beach Boys - Good Vibrations
Why do the best ones always have to be crazy? If not for his neurosis it's very possible Brian Wilson may have become as big as Paul McCartney. While they started out as a fairly simply surf group they, like the Beatles, grew up in terms of complexity as the 60's waned. The Beatles begat Pet Sounds which begat St. Pepper's. Sometimes friendly competition is good when it leads to 2 of the best albums ever recorded.
With the Beach Boys it was always all about the harmonies and this song is the apex of that along with the dreamy quality of the music and lyrics.
7. The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again
In making this list, I realized I really really like The Who which came as no surprise, but they are the only band with two songs this high on my list. This song showcases everything that is good about the band. The structure of the song changes so many times up to the most defining yowl of any song ever made.
And the drumming, oh Lord the drumming. The track laid down by Keith Moon is probably the best drum track ever and thanks to the increasing blandness of newer song's drums may hold that title for a very long time.
6. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
There is no band out there quite like Queen. It's amazing what they managed to accomplish with the limitations of 1970's analog recording equipment. This signature cut has probably caused numerous traffic accidents as people were busy banging their head to this song a la Wayne's World.
To create this masterpiece the 3-part harmony was dubbed and overdubbed numerous times to create the choirlike vocals.
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