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Best rock song intro?

pknz said:
Can't Stop - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Highway to Hell - AC/DC
Thunderstruck - AC/DC
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3 excellent choices, that I just can't fault.
But I'll add these to the mix of suggestions:-

Cochise - Audioslave
Everlong - Foo Fighters
The Bucket - Kings of Leon
Dreaming of You - The Coral
Plug In Baby - Muse
No-One Knows - QOTSA
Gimmie Shelter - Rolling Stones
Oh! Sweet Nuthin' - The Velvet Underground
Pinball Wizard - The Who
 
Props to those who mentioned:

Been Such a Long Time—Boston
Trust—Megadeth (although that album s**ked)

I'll add:

Bookkeepers Son—Steely Dan
The Great Southern Trendkill—Pantera
 
OutThere said:
Hells Bells by AC/DC

Classic in every way. Unmistakable. Straight dirty.
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Unfortunately ruined for me, by neighbors downstairs who would come home drunk at 3 a.m. after striking out with the chicks and playing the intro over and over with the stereo turned up to 11.

B
 
Dave Matthews - Two Step
Eric Clapton - Layla (the original version, and unplugged)

I'd also agree with a lot of what's been mentioned already.

Buschmaster, I think the Hendrix version of Watchtower is good.
 
Wilco - I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
(1st song on the album - great build-up)

I also have to agree with OwlsAndApples choice of 2+2=5 by Radiohead. There are so many - I'll have to review the collection later and add more...
 
P-Worm said:
I was just listening to Dire Straits' Money for Nothin' and I thought to myself, this has got to be one of the greatest intros to a rock song there is. The building synths, the drum beats that add a little bit more each loop, the building crecendo, all the way to the ultimate climax: a rocking solo guitar riff. The rest of the song I think is okay, but that intro is awesome.

So what do you guys think? What are some of the greatest intros in rock history?

P-Worm
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Actually I was listening to that track today and I had the same thought.I pursued that thought with the thought that Knofler is such an amazimg musician that I would suppose he would eclipse Hendrix in that his virtuosity would be his equal whilst his subtlety would far surpass it.
Anyway I was sufficiently impressed with my feeling regards the intro to MFN that I wondered if it should be obvious and strike anyone else similarly.So I did a google search on "best intro" and yours was the first thread I found.I'm glad it is still more or less active so I can contribute.
Seeing as how easy it was to find someone who agreed with me it looks like it really must be a no-brainer and so that must be one of the top intros (I can't think of other good ones off the top of my head)-Well White Rabbit hasn't been mentioned and must be in a class of its own .It's like the intro is the whole song.
 
Buschmaster said:
Hells Bells is good, but for me this one goes to...

Enter Sandman by Metallica.
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Why does no one else think this? Or is it because this is really just a competition for the "Second Best Rock Song Intro", because everyone can agree that Enter Sandman is #1?
 
Among classic rock songs, here's a list of great intros that come to mind. 64 points to anyone who actually knows all of these. I'll start with some easy ones, then work my way down to a couple of obscure ones.
The Doors: Light My Fire <--- nobody mentioned this one so far?

Deep Purple: Smoke On The Water

Rolling Stones: Paint it Black, Satisfaction

The Who: Pinball Wizard, Baba O'Riley, Won't Get Fooled Again

Jimi Hendrix: Foxy Lady

Jethro Tull: Aqualung, Locomotive Breath

The Beatles: Revolution, Daytripper

Led Zeppelin: Heartbreaker

Iron Butterfly: In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

Isaac Hayes: Theme from "Shaft"

Heart: Crazy on You

Canned Heat: On the Road Again

The Surfaris: Wipe Out

Jethro Tull: A Passion Play <--- my #1 choice

Ten Years After: Going Home

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown: Fire​

If we get to include R&B, one of the best intros was
The Temptations: Papa Was a Rolling Stone​

Speaking of The Doors, amazingly enough they came out with a new album just yesterday!
 
The ones that I really enjoy though others have also posted
Dire Straits - Money for Nothing (I love that they used Sting in the intro too)
AC/DC - Hells Bells
Eric Clapton - Layla
and many others

Now I'll try to add a few of my own:
Europe - The Final Countdown
Lenny Kravitz - Are You Going to Go My Way
 
Although it's just one chord the opening of A Hard Day's Night by The Beatles is hard to beat.
 
Doctor Q said:
Heart: Crazy on You

Canned Heat: On the Road Again

The Surfaris: Wipe Out

Ten Years After: Going Home

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown: Fire
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I have all but these in my iTunes Library (though I have several cover versions of Wipe Out!, most noticeably Toy Dolls' 1985 version). :(

I was sure I had Canned Heat and Ten Years After, too, but that was just my mind playing tricks on me (it does that every now and then).
 
-Syrius...Alan Parsons Project
-Streets...U2
-Baba/Fool...The Who
-Today...Smashing Pumpkins
-Breathe...Pink Floyd
-Sweet Child...GnR
-Bulls on Parade...Rage Against the Machine
-You Enjoy Myself...Phish

calculus said:
Although it's just one chord the opening of A Hard Day's Night by The Beatles is hard to beat.
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one of my all time fav chords. true meaning of short and sweet.
 
Mitthrawnuruodo said:
I have all but these in my iTunes Library (though I have several cover versions of Wipe Out!, most noticeably Toy Dolls' 1985 version). :(

I was sure I had Canned Heat and Ten Years After, too, but that was just my mind playing tricks on me (it does that every now and then).
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That's close enough. You can have the 64 points.
 
[playlistId=18294676&s=143441&i=18294721]Roundabout[/playlistId] by Yes

Most 30-second samples in the iTunes Store are from the middle of the song, but in this case you can hear some of the intro. I guess whoever selected the sample knew it was a good one.
 
How can this topic be three pages long without a single mention of The Kinks, a band known for some of the greatest intros ever?

:confused:
 
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