give me some loud, heavy rock and roll

February 15, 2009 11:29 PM

Looking for some long, loud, heavy rock songs.

I really like the sort of rock song that, you know, cleans your ears out. Long and driving and epic-sounding, with lots of crash cymbals and heavy rhythms and repetitive riffs and such. Two good examples of what I'm looking for are Led Zeppelin's "Achilles Last Stand" and The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again." Another example, though not as well known, is the Secret Machines' "First Wave Intact." Thanks for any recommendations!

Please note: I'm not too enthusiastic for either genre, but I would rather err on the side of "jam rock" than "prog rock" :)

posted by Vic Morrow's Personal Vietnam to media & arts (39 answers total)

Iron Butterfly - In a Gadda da Vida
posted by netbros at 11:38 PM on February 15, 2009

Bulls on Parade, War Within a Breath, and Sleep Now in the Fire by Rage Against the Machine all work for me. Perhaps short, but definitely will fire you up.

Tool works too, say, Undertow. Maybe too proggy.
posted by Ghidorah at 11:55 PM on February 15, 2009

Uriah Heep
posted by phunniemee at 11:56 PM on February 15, 2009

Not sure if it's quite what you're looking for but: One Big Holiday by My Morning Jacket
posted by bhatman at 12:19 AM on February 16, 2009

Bang Camaro - Fairly new band. You might know them from Rock Band/Guitar Hero. Pretty much every song consists of big guitar riffs and epic choruses. Not always the longest though. I especially like the songs "Pleasure, Pleasure" and "Push Push Lady Lightning".

"Don't Run Our Hearts Around" and "Stormy High" by Black Mountain - Epic songs, somewhat bluesy.

"Knights of Cydonia" by Muse - One their most rock-out-able-to songs (Also one of the best music videos ever). Their album Absolution is also incredible, although maybe a little more progressive.

"The Prophet's Song" by Queen - Starts out with a slow acoustic intro, builds to a really great riff, awesome chorus. Freddie Mecury is the greatest.

"No One Knows" by Queens of the Stone Age - These guys have a ton of great heavy songs, this is one of my favorites. "Burn the Witch" and "Little Sister" are also good.

"2112" by Rush - At over 20 minutes, definitely fits the definition of epic . One of the best drummers ever. The intro section is pretty good and can be found in a cut down version if you don't want the whole thing.

"Ball and Biscuit" by The White Stripes - Awesome crunchy guitar sound, great bluesy rock.

"Hocus Pocus" by Focus - The linked live version of this is probably the best.



Not sure how heavy your willing to go, the rest of these are pretty heavy, probably would fall under metal.

Most anything by Mastodon. Start with "Colony of Birchmen" and go from there. "Blood and Thunder", "Iron Tusk", "The Wolf is Loose", and "Crystal Skull" are all good tracks. Their drummer is incredible.

"In My Darkest Hour", "Hanger 18", "Symphony of Destruction", "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due", and "Peace Sells" by Megadeth - These are all some of their best tracks and all of them are pretty decent in length.

Rammstein, if you don't mind the lyrics being in German (and if you happen to speak German they are even better, since you can get all of the puns). Their album "Mutter" is probably a good place to start; there really isn't a track on it that doesn't reach their signature heights of crushing awesomeness.

The Darkness - Get their first album "Permission to Land". Most of the tracks are really good, with awesome riffs.

"Welcome Home" by Coheed and Cambria - Despite having the worst band name ever, these guys still have a couple of good songs. This is the best.




I hope that helps. I might have erred a little on the progressive side, but maybe you'll find something you like in there.
posted by pwicks at 12:37 AM on February 16, 2009 [1 favorite]

Twilight Exit by the Holy Ghost Revival is the greatest rock and roll album of the 21st century to date. It is only available in the US by import but I will send you a copy of their entire work if you remain curious. Nothing but sheer genius, minus a lot of distortion.
posted by christhelongtimelurker at 12:41 AM on February 16, 2009

these 2 came to mind:
Oasis - The Hindu Times
Velvet Revolver - Slither
posted by mrmarley at 12:55 AM on February 16, 2009

You are the Shining Star of Hi - by God's Temple of Family Deliver

also, pick up some stuff by Kyuss
posted by chillmost at 1:14 AM on February 16, 2009

2nding the Black Mountain and Mastodon recs.

Smashing Pumpkins - Starla
posted by carsonb at 1:22 AM on February 16, 2009

I'm probably a little biased to NWOBHM, prog-y and hair metal, but:

Hammer To Fall, I Want It All - Queen
Revolution Calling, most of the rest of Operation: Mindcrime, Another Rainy Night- Queensryche; possibly a little prog for you.
Dragula - Rob Zombie
Du Hast, Amerika, Moskau, Benzin, Mann gegenn Mann, numerous others - Rammstien
Nemesis - Shriekback; again, perhaps too prog.
Dirty Little Thing, Slither, hell, the whole album - Velvet Revolver
Keep em Separated - The Offspring
Rocking the Free World - Neil Young
West End Riot, Roll On - The Living End. Perhaps a little more punk than you'd like.
Cult of Personality - Living Color
I Hate Myself For Loving You, Dirty Deeds - Joan Jett... actually, just "Joan Jett".
Run To The Hills, Can I Play With Madness, The Trooper, Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter, From Here To Eternity - Iron Maiden. Actually, pretty much any Iron Maiden.
Foo Fighters. Most of the Foo Fighters.
Shake Your Blood - Probot.
Flame of the West, East of Eden - Big Country.
Jesus Christ Pose - Soundgarden.
Bullet with Butterfly Wings - Smashing Pumpkins.
AC/DC - the premier pub rock/stadium cock rock band. Back In Black, Highway To Hell, Thunderstruck.
Glam Rock Cops, Let's Get Tattoos, Rubbish, Lenny and Terrence, Bloodsport for All, Alternative Alf Garnett, RSPCE, Sealed With a Glascow Kiss, 24 Minutes from Tulse Hill - Carter USM. Yeah, yeah, they use a drum machine, they're still more of a rock band than most of the shit being pushed by their contemporaries.
Ich Bein Ein Auslander - Pop Will Eat Itself.
Ever Fallen In Love, Orgasm Addict - Buzzcocks.
posted by rodgerd at 1:42 AM on February 16, 2009

Also:
You Got Nothing I Want - Cold Chisel.
Shihad. Pretty much anything by Shihad - All The Young Facists, Coming Home, you name it.
posted by rodgerd at 1:46 AM on February 16, 2009

Meatloaf?

Ram Jam - Black Betty
Motorhead - Ace Of Spades
Gillan - Roller
Focus - Hocus Pocus (takes a while to get going)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:14 AM on February 16, 2009

My Bloody Valentine - Only Shallow
Their music is loud and heavy but it sounds very different to the examples you've given. I didn't link to youtube because all the clips seem to be bad recordings of live perfomances.

I also recommend the Live at Leeds and the Live at the Isle of Wight recordings by The Who but you're probably familiar with them. Heavy, loud rock doesn't get very much better than "Heaven and Hell"," Young Man Blues", "Summertime Blues", "Shaken' All Over", etc. from Live at Leeds.
posted by quosimosaur at 2:21 AM on February 16, 2009

"Disintegration" by the Cure. The original album version is good, the live version on Entreat is faster and has more glass-samples.
posted by K.P. at 3:26 AM on February 16, 2009

A second vote for Motörhead. You also might want to look at Hawkwind's Doremi Fasol Latido and Space Ritual albums.

If you want something heavier, check out Six Feet Under's album Warpath, which is a kinda "death'n'roll" that has quite a groove to it.
posted by Bearded Dave at 5:34 AM on February 16, 2009

You want heavy, repetitive and long? Try Monster Magnet's Tab...

32 minutes of syrupy spaced-out heaviness.
posted by googly at 5:42 AM on February 16, 2009

How we've gotten this far without mentioning Rime of the Ancient Mariner (not the whole song) from Iron Maiden is beyond me. At 13 minutes it definitely hits the epic range.
posted by theichibun at 6:03 AM on February 16, 2009

Karn Evil 9, by ELP
Locomotive Breath - Jethro Tull
The Knife -Genesis
Kashmir - Led Zep
Mutha (Don't wanna go to school) - Extreme
Cupid's dead - Extreme. Actually you need a lot of Extreme on this list.
posted by Gungho at 6:24 AM on February 16, 2009

'I Want You (She's So Heavy)' by the Beatles - worst song in their catalogue, perfect for what you want.
posted by waxbanks at 6:44 AM on February 16, 2009

Sleep's "Dopesmoker" album. It doesn't get much longer, louder, or heavier than that.
posted by bobot at 6:48 AM on February 16, 2009 [1 favorite]

Monster Magnet's Spine of God has a great deal of mass per unit of volume.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 6:50 AM on February 16, 2009

I recommend Jesu.
posted by erebora at 7:16 AM on February 16, 2009

Yo La Tengo "Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind" – 10:47 of crunchy goodness.
posted by fixedgear at 7:20 AM on February 16, 2009

Definitely seconding Kyuss. Most of their stuff fits the decsription!
Also on the Queens of the Stone Age front, I'd have to chip in with Song for the Deaf, not the heaviest but totally nice and dark.
posted by opsin at 7:26 AM on February 16, 2009

Oh, no I had been thinking about Song for the Dead, which is absolutely heavy!
posted by opsin at 7:31 AM on February 16, 2009

The Mars Volta rock as hard as anybody, and usually for at least six minutes at a time.

Seconding Jesu and nthing Kyuss.
posted by sinfony at 7:33 AM on February 16, 2009

Boris - Pink (the album)
Specifically the tracks: "Farewell", "Pink" and "I Just Abandoned Myself"
"Farewell" is a super epic 8 minute long drone metal track
"Pink" is just balls out fucking metal
"I Just Abandoned Myself" is an 18 minute long mix of the two. Highly recommended. It nearly killed me when they played it live.

Also seconding Jesu and Sleep
posted by azarbayejani at 7:50 AM on February 16, 2009

Oh dude, you are so going to love Earthless.

Earthless on Myspace and lastFM.

start with the song Sonic Prayer
posted by Stonestock Relentless at 8:21 AM on February 16, 2009

Magnatune is cool for finding new stuff. You could give Roots of Rebellion a go. I randomly bought Surfacing as one of my very few heavy rock albums.
posted by Bigbrowncow at 9:20 AM on February 16, 2009

if you want heavy try Wood Goblins by the band Tad
posted by Redhush at 9:50 AM on February 16, 2009

caveat.. I don't like bluesy rock stuff much, but.. Alice in Chains Grind always struck me as a pretty good track
posted by citron at 9:52 AM on February 16, 2009

Almost every song on Skillet's "Comatose" disc rocks your ear drums...

Also, Thousand Foot Krutch's "The Art of Breaking"
posted by olddogeyes at 10:18 AM on February 16, 2009

Marquee Moon - Television
Warhammer 48k
Mammatus
posted by schyler523 at 10:37 AM on February 16, 2009

seconding Sleep's Dopesmoker
posted by geos at 11:04 AM on February 16, 2009

Thin Lizzy, Suicide and Emerald.
posted by The Straightener at 11:35 AM on February 16, 2009

Cardiacs' Dirty Boy. Epic incarnate.
posted by prinado at 11:37 AM on February 16, 2009

i like zoning out to ministry's album 'filth pig.' might fit your bill. chock full of metal dirges.
posted by lester's sock puppet at 1:52 PM on February 16, 2009

1. The Who - Baba O'Riley (5:09)
2. Audioslave - Bring Em Back Alive (5:29)
3. Billy Idol - White Wedding, Pt. 1-2 (8:23)
4. Billy Idol - Rebel Yell (5:27)
5. Alice in Chains - Down in a Hole (5:40)
6. Aerosmith - Love in an Elevator (5:21)
7. Black Sabbath - Wheels of Confusion (8:14)
8. Black Sabbath - Heart Like a Wheel (6:34)
9. Bush - Machinehead (4:16)
10. Bush - Testosterone (4:19)
11. Blue Oyster Cult - The Reaper (5:05)
12. Cream - White Room (5:03)
13. Creedence Clearwater Revival - I Heard It Through the Grapevine (11:06)
14. The Dandy Warhols - Mohammed (5:20)
15. The Dandy Warhols - Nietzsche (5:40)
16. Deep Purple - Lazy (7:22)
17. Depeche Mode - Barrel of a Gun (5:35)
18. George Thorogood & the Destroyers - One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer (11:30)
19. Guns N' Roses - You Could Be Mine (5:43)
20. Kansas - Carry on Wayward Son (7:12)
21. Kenny Wayne Shepherd - True Lies (5:48)
22. Jimi Hendrix Experience - If 6 Was 9 (5:33)
23. Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child (Slight Return) (5:12)
24. Judas Priest - You've Got Another Thing Comin' (5:09)
25. Led Zeppelin - In My Time of Dying (11:05)
26. Led Zeppelin - Kashmir (8:28)
27. Living Colour - Cult of Personality (4:55)
28. Mad Season - I Don't Know Anything (5:01)
29. Molly Hatchet - Fall of the Peacemakers (8:07)
30. The Offspring - Denial, Revisited (4:32)
31. Ozzy Osbourne - No More Tears (7:25)
32. Pink Floyd - Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Pts. 1-7 (17:32)
33. The Red Hot Chili Peppers - Sir Psycho Sexy (8:16)
34. The Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication (5:21)
35. REO Speedwagon - Ridin' the Storm Out (5:51)
36. The Rolling Stones - Might as Well Get Juiced (5:23)
37. The Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil (6:26)
38. Rush - Working Man (7:11)
39. Soundgarden - Rusty Cage (4:25)
40. Soundgarden - Head Down (6:09)
41. Soundgarden - Like Suicide (7:01)
42. Stone Temple Pilots - Dead and Bloated (5:10)
43. Stone Temple Pilots - Sin (6:05)
44. Stone Temple Pilots - Where the River Goes (8:25)
45. Traffic - Dear Mr. Fantasy (5:37)
46. Van Halen - Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do) (5:56)
47. The Vines - 1969 (6:27)
48. ZZ Top - Cover Your Rig (5:48)
posted by maggieb at 8:28 PM on February 16, 2009

A piece by Mogwai called "We're No Here" plays in Miami Vice (over the canyon waterfalls on the way to Isabella's mansion). Loud, heavy, rock and roll instrumental.
posted by cgc373 at 12:24 AM on February 17, 2009