10 Best Hard Rock Intros

At the start of the '70s, it was anybody's guess where The Who would go. After making one of the most important records in rock and roll with the release of their rock opera Tommy, the band could either do it all over again or go in a completely opposite direction. Even though Pete Townshend's ambitions for another rock opera fizzled out, the fragments of his work ended up being some of the most dramatic musical passages the rock world has ever known.

Originally supposed to be the centerpiece of Townshend's LifeHouse project, Baba O'Riley sets up Who's Next as one of the band's most ambitious albums, with the synthesizers taking center stage for the first minute of the song. For as much as it sounds like chaos, each little piece of the synthesizer was meticulously planned out, with Townshend spending hours trying to dial in the perfect tone.

Once you get accustomed to the sonic haze of notes around you, the piano brings closure to the melody, as it starts off playing the identifiable chords of the tune. By the time the song gives way to Townshend's roaring guitar, you're off on an adventure, as we make our way through the fields and onto a better life. Baba O'Riley may not have been the song Townshend had envisioned, but what it became has been the foundation for rock and roll for half a century.