10 Best Hard Rock Songs Over 10 Minutes Long

In terms of expansive rock pieces, there is none as beloved as Lynyrd Skynyrd’s 1974 genre-crossing hit Free Bird. It became the band’s signature track, the purest representation of their sound and the go-to song title to yell at any busking guitar player for the last 40 years. Live, Free Bird often runs closer to fifteen minutes which is a lot longer than its original time of 9:08. That being said, with the release of Skynyrd’s Innyrds in 1989, diehard fans were treated to a longer outtake version of the classic that just crosses the all important ten minute mark.

Riding the line between country music and the emerging wave of hard rock, Free Bird is effortless in its pacing. Part of its staying power is how it represents many of the core values of the United States of America in its succinct lyrics but in truth the real foot-tapping, head-bopping joy comes from the pure excitement of the second half where Allen Collins shows us the true power of the guitar solo. Every single rocker on planet Earth has air-guitared their way through its brilliance.

Free Bird is not just important to the genres of southern and hard rock but to all guitar music, period. It is this joyful exuberance that makes it an unquestionable experience even four decades later. The Skynyrd’s Innyrds version adding even more to the cut, including an out of control ending rather than a fade-out, may well make it the quintessential release.