Music Magazine Classic Rock Special: 100 Greatest Rock Songs of All Time Third Edition Back Issue

Put a group of music fans in a room and sooner or later the question will come up: what’s the greatest rock song ever written? The answer depends on how many people you’re asking, because you can put money on the fact that every person in that room will have a different reply. For one it might be Led Zeppelin’s Stairway To Heaven. For another it might be Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. Someone else might choose Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb, AD/DC’s Whole Lotta Rosie, Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Water or Budgie’s In The Grip Of A Tyrefitter’s Hand (OK, maybe not that last one, though it’s an unsung classic). We knew that would be the case when we put together this list of the 100 Greatest Rock Songs Of All Time, but were we going to let that stop us? No, of course not. Still, rather than sit in a darkened room and cook up the list ourselves, we decided to throw it open to the people who really count: you. Here’s how we did it: a few months ago we asked people on Classic Rock’s Facebook and Twitter pages to vote for their favourite song. We drew up a longlist of more than 200 contenders, but also gave everybody the chance to pick something that might not be on the list. After several weeks of sweating over hot abacuses, we finally emerged with the definitive list of 100 songs, as voted by you. And here it is, in this publication you’re holding right now. You’ll find more than 50 years of rock history crammed into its pages, from early classics by the likes of the Kinks, the Stones, The Beatles and Hendrix to more recent anthems from Soundgarden and Alter Bridge. It’s a celebration of the great and the good of rock’n’roll, written by some of the finest journalists working today. And what did you vote for as No.1? Well, we don’t want to ruin anything, but (Spoiler Alert!) it’s not Budgie’s In The Grip Of A Tyrefitter’s Hand. Sorry, gents. We hope you have as much fun reading it – and arguing about it – as we did putting it together. Enjoy…