Perfect Strangers
1984 · From Perfect Strangers
Stowe, Vermont, a mobile studio, the Mark II lineup back after eleven years, and Lord's organ doing the heavy lifting.
★ 3.7
The Songs canon
Sourced and sung.
Every song chosen by hand, with the recording to play it.
Browse all 2,393 songs or filter by genre, subject, artist, and year.
Browse all 2,393 songs or filter by genre, subject, artist, and year.
Round and Round
1984
Three writers bouncing riffs between cassettes in a Hollywood apartment, and Milton Berle in the video that broke them.
★ 4.0
We're Not Gonna Take It
1984
Snider hung the melody on "O Come, All Ye Faithful," and the PMRC filed it under filth anyway.
★ 5.5
I'm Eighteen
1970
Ezrin cut an eight-minute jam down to three, and John Lydon mimed along to it to join the Sex Pistols.
★ 6.4
Sweet Emotion
1975 · From Toys in the Attic
Three sounds in that intro: Hamilton's bass riff, Perry's talk box, a bass marimba. Aerosmith's first Top 40 single.
★ 7.1
School's Out
1972
Buxton's riff, a children's chorus, a school bell fade; Cooper wanted the last three minutes of term on tape.
★ 7.1
November Rain
1992 · From Use Your Illusion I
Slash's solo grew from an improvisation, Rose had chased the song since 1986, and nine minutes went top three.
★ 7.2
I Wanna Be Your DogThe Stooges
I Wanna Be Your Dog
1969 · From The Stooges
Three chords, sleigh bells, and Cale leaning on a single piano note throughout. Punk starts here.
★ 7.7
Paradise City
1987 · From Appetite for Destruction
Written in a rental van home from San Francisco, and the final two minutes simply double the tempo.
★ 7.8
Smoke on the WaterDeep Purple
Smoke on the Water
1972 · From Machine Head
Blackmore's four notes in parallel fourths, written after a flare gun burned the Montreux Casino down during a Zappa show.
★ 7.8
Iron ManBlack Sabbath
Iron Man
1970 · From Paranoid
Osbourne heard Iommi's riff and called it a big iron bloke walking; Butler built the science fiction around that.
★ 8.0
War PigsBlack Sabbath
War Pigs
1970 · From Paranoid
Called Walpurgis until the label balked at the witchcraft, and Butler aimed the lyric at politicians who start wars.
★ 8.1
Enter Sandman
1991 · From Metallica (The Black Album)
Hammett built the riff after Soundgarden's Louder Than Love, and Bob Rock sent Hetfield back to write a child's nightmare.
★ 8.1
Welcome to the Jungle
1987 · From Appetite for Destruction
Slash's riff, McKagan's breakdown recycled from his old punk band, and roughly three hours from nothing to finished song.
★ 8.4
ParanoidBlack Sabbath
Paranoid
1970 · From Paranoid
Iommi's riff arrived as three-minute filler for the album, Butler wrote the words fast, and Sabbath had their biggest UK hit.
★ 8.5