10 Songs That Saved Rock And Roll

When rock and roll was first finding its feet, people were thinking that it was the musical equivalent of the second coming. Although the parents may have hated it, the freedom that you got from turning on a fast and loud record made people absolutely lose their minds in the era of Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly. Every now and again though, rock has found itself on life support...and you sometimes need a song to revitalize everything.

So are these songs meant to be the absolute pinnacle of musical achievement? Hell no. You could probably argue that some of these songs aren't even all that great from a writing perspective. But that's not the point. These are the songs that made rock feel important again, with people flooding in droves to hear a loud guitar next to a fizzy distorted amp.

For as much as the early rock and rollers may have laid the groundwork, this is where the next generations started to pick up the pieces and go on to turn rock inside out into something much more exciting for the years to come. While people have been trying to put the 'rock is dead' label on everything these days, these are the songs that brought rock out of the doldrums and back into relevancy again.

With 30 years of hindsight, it's time that Homer Simpson was given the truth: rock did not attain perfection in 1974. For all of the greats like Zeppelin and Floyd making waves on the scene, you also had acts like Grand Funk making rock sound a lot more boring than many may have liked to admit. Rock was getting a bit bloated, and it was up to a few guys from the wrong side of the tracks to help it slim down.

Kicking off the true punk revolution, The Ramones thesis statement Blitzkrieg Bop became the anthem for any rocker who wanted something a little more cut throat than something like ZZ Top. Considering this was also the time that disco was first starting to overtake the masses, this was the new generation of kids who were sick of listening to radio based schlock and ready to take the music world by the throat.

As much as you can claim that bands like the Sex Pistols or even The Clash served as greater ambassadors for punk rock, the real genesis of going back to basics begins right here. Rock didn't have to be some overbloated mess anymore. Just count it off and play your hearts out for anyone who will hear you.