10 Best Hard Rock Intros

Aerosmith had really got into their groove once they turned in Toys in the Attic. After earning their road stripes as one of the greatest live bands in the country, they ducked into the studio to create some of the greatest anthems of their career, from the Stonesy title track to the R&B flavored Walk This Way. However, the final stroke of genius came to the band at the 11th hour.

Looking to have one more song to fill out the track listing, bassist Tom Hamilton came to rehearsal the next day with one of the greatest bass riffs known to man. Building the entire song around Hamilton's bass part, the band coated the intro in a psychedelic haze, with Joe Perry using a talkbox on his guitar and Steven Tyler using sugar packets as makeshift maracas in the studio.

Instead of beating you over the head with the riff, this little piece of music seeps into the background, almost as if it has set up shop in the back of your mind and refuses to go away. Even when the rock parts actually kick in, you're still flying through the sky off the strength of this one lick. Sweet Emotion may have become one of the greatest guitar-driven rock songs ever, but the real aura of this song is all about the low end.