90. Anathema - Untouchable (Pt I & II)
Anathema, for some people the 21st century’s answer to Pink Floyd, hit a peak with this stirring, stunning epic, all 11 or so minutes of which is still extremely popular when the band play live. The fact that the Liverpudlian brothers (and their lifelong mates who make up the band) managed to make something this sweeping and grandiose feel so intimate is quite remarkable. Heartbreaking but ultimately rousing stuff.
89. Alice Cooper - What Do You Want From Me?
After two more industrial metal-geared records, Vincent Furnier returned to hard rock with 2003’s The Eyes Of Alice Cooper. On stand-out track What Do You Want From Me?, a punchy, stick-it-to-the-man (or rather, woman) shit-kicker, he sounded like the Alice Cooper we all knew and loved. ‘Woke’ by Gen-Z standards? Hell no (‘I burned all my porno, you say it offends you/ Disconnected my XBox’ he snarled). Filthy, fun and fired up.
From: The Eyes Of Alice Cooper, 2003
88. Jeff Lynne's ELO - When I Was A Boy
Following the spectacular rebirth of the Electric Light Orchestra in Hyde Park in 2014, a disbelieving Jeff Lynne hunkered down pretty much alone to create his first album of all-new material in almost 15 years. Its charming lead-off single presented the autobiographical tale of Lynne as a young boy in his bedroom and setting his sights on stardom: ‘Don’t want to work on the milk or the bread/Just want to play my guitar instead.’
From: Alone In The Universe, 2015
87. Stereophonics - Dakota
Classic Rock said Dakota (one of only two songs in our countdown to make the UK No.1 spot) was “a breathtaking anthem whose cutting-edge production belies a depth of feeling that Kelly Jones has rarely shown before”. The singer was no less enthusiastic about his band’s return to full-throttle rock after a couple of albums dominated by laid-back acoustics. He told us he strove to write a song “that sounded great when you were driving or dancing or in bed with someone. I wanted it to sound sexy and dark and spacy.” And it is.
From: Language. Sex. Violence. Other?, 2005
86. The Temperance Movement - Only Friend
The opening track of their debut album, this catchy, classy cocktail of Rolling Stones swagger and Faces-via-southern gospel passion set The Temperance Movement’s bar very high. Put simply, it made them the modern-day classic rock band to beat. With singer Phil Campbell’s departure it’s unclear what the future holds, but with gems like this they already occupy a special place in rock’n’roll’s latter-day renaissance.
From: The Temperance Movement, 2013
85. Chickenfoot - Soap On A Rope
He might be a technically eye-popping guitarist, but Joe Satriani is a classic rock guy at heart. So when he joined with Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony and Chad Smith in this supergroup it was no surprise that the results, of which this is the pinnacle, were nothing short of joyous. Chunky, loose-limbed and enormous fun.
84. The Strokes - New York City Cops
The Strokes’ debut album Is This It was the perfect marriage of new-millennium cool and vintage attitude, and everything great about them was bottled in New York City Cops, a song that could easily have been wrenched straight from the CBGB stage circa 1975.
83. Jane’s Addiction - Just Because
The freak-rock visionaries’ much-anticipated reunion album Strays might have been a damp squib, but it did offer one flash of genius in its title track. Swapping out the smack-addled chaos of old for gleaming arena rock, this was the sound of a bunch of ex-junkies hitting the gym. But there was enough weirdness in guitarist Dave Navarro’s psychedelia-on-steroids riff and Perry Farrell’s dog-whistle urgings to ensure that Just Because sounded like absolutely no one else.
82. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Please Read The Letter
They made an odd couple: Plant, the grizzled rock warhorse, and Krauss, the glamorous, fiddle-playing bluegrass star 23 years his junior. But their voices were perfectly matched on an album that gave Plant the biggest hit of his post-Zep career. Their duets ranged from blues to folk, country to rock’n’roll. Some songs dated from the 50s and 60s. Others merely sounded old, such as standout Please Read The Letter, originally written and recorded for Page & Plant’s album Walking Into Clarksdale. Plant, in harmony with Krauss, has rarely sung better.
81. Massive Wagons - Tokyo
The business of nailing a genuinely lovable rock banger, when so many have already been written, can feel like a tall order even for the best songwriters. With Tokyo, Massive Wagons proved that it really doesn’t have to be. The ingredients are simple: big ol’ lip-smacking guitars, va-va-voom by the caseload and a tune the size of Texas. Thought they didn’t make ’em like this any more? Au contraire.
