Awesome Music/Rock

Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Gorillaz, Muse, and Radiohead have their own pages.

"Hey what else can we do now, except roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair? Well, the night's bustin' open these two lanes'll take us anywhere! We got one last chance to make it real, to trade in these wings on some wheels. Climb in back, heaven's waiting on down the tracks."
 * The Beatles. If you try to list their best songs, you'd be here all day. It's nearly impossible to quantify their awesomeness. How can four guys have SO many hits and appeal to SO many people?
 * "Across the Universe", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Eleanor Rigby", "Tomorrow Never Knows", the entirety of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
 * The entirety of Abbey Road, especially the Side 2 medley. "And in the end, the love you take...is equal to the love you make."
 * "Helter Skelter", with its killer guitar riffs and blister-inducing drumming.
 * "Twist and Shout", the infamously throat-shredding single take, and the incredible crescendo of harmonies that open it.
 * The opening chord of "A Hard Day's Night", the stuttering open to "I Want to Hold Your Hand", the feedback on "I Feel Fine".
 * Na... na-na nana-nana! HE-EY JUUUUUDE!!
 * You say you want a revo-LUTION?
 * "Happiness Is A Warm Gun".
 * "Let It Be".
 * "Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play, now I need a place to hide away, oh, I believe in yesterday."
 * The "one, two, three, FOUR!" at the beginning of "I Saw Her Standing There."
 * Well, she was just seventeen, you know what I mean...
 * The fade-in at the beginning of "Eight Days a Week".
 * "Paperback Writer" and its B-side, "Rain" (which contains some of Ringo's best drumming).
 * "Hey Bulldog".
 * The double A-side of "Day Tripper" (with its awesome guitar ostinato) and "We Can Work it Out".
 * Don't forget "Strawberry Fields Forever".
 * The final piano chord of "A Day In The Life." So powerful.
 * If you want to talk about Beatles and awesome, for the first week in April of 1964, the band held all five spots on the Billboard charts. This will probably never happen again.
 * Roger Greenawalt with various singers has covered about half the Beatles' output on ukulele.
 * Bob Dylan. Try to find any album that's better than Highway 61 Revisited without resorting to Sgt. Pepper's.
 * The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is the album that proved he was a musical genius. Even Rolling Stone says "the most optimistic Dylan fans underestimated this album."
 * Led Zeppelin:
 * "Kashmir"?
 * Listen to Dazed and Confused and tell me you don't think of a Zombie Apocalypse.
 * When the Hammond organ starts and Robert Plant sings the title of "Your Time Is Gonna Come".
 * Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality... Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see. I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy - because I'm-easy-come-easy-go...
 * "We Will Rock You"?. Seriously, the beat is probably one of the most easily recognized beats in the country. The *clap clap stomp* is practically a real-life meme.
 * The Flaming Lips cover is no pushover either.
 * The Warriors of Rock choreography is essentially a tribute to this band. You HAVE to see to believe.
 * I'M BURNIN' THROUGH THE SKYYYY, TWO HUNDRED DEGREES THAT'S WHY THEY CALL ME MISTER FAHRENHEIIIIIT, I'M TRAVELLIN' AT THE SPEED OF LIIIIGHT
 * This makes it BETTER. Complete with EBA and Phoenix Wright!
 * Queen also performed the theme song to the 1980s Flash Gordon movie. FLASH! Aa-ah! Savior of the universe!
 * "All we hear is (clap clap) radio ga-ga... (clap clap) radio goo-goo... (clap clap) radio ga-ga..."* Cat Stevens. "Father and Son" is one of the most beautiful songs in existence.
 * The CD Roadsinger is amazing.
 * Cat definitely qualifies as awesome, if only because his lyrics are so beautiful. I listen to the wind, to the wind of my soul. I let my music take me where my heart wants to go.
 * "Moonshadow". Yes I'm being followed by a Moonshadow, moonshadow moonshadow.
 * Let's not forget "Where Do The Children Play?" "Will you keep on building higher 'til there's no more room up there?"
 * "I always flirt with death, I look ill but I don't care about it! I can face your threats and stand up straight and tall and shout about it! I think I'm on another world with you, with you..." "Another Girl, Another Planet" by the Only Ones. That intro...That guitar solo...The lyrics, hell everything about this song is amazing.
 * Tom Waits has quite a few amazingly good songs, but his awesomest would have to be "Goin' Out West" and "Hoist That Rag".
 * His crowning moment has to be "On The Nickel." Who thought a song about Skid Row could be so beautiful?
 * Take everything off the album RAIN DOGS. Insert here. That's just getting you STARTED.
 * You know there ain't no devil, just God when he's drunk!
 * There's a world, goin' on, UNDERGROUND!
 * Nick Cave's double album Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus contains a few of these things. "Hiding All Away", "Abattoir Blues", "Carry Me", and "O Children" stand out.
 * Nick Cave's "Into My Arms" kicks arse like nothing alive.
 * Not to mention "Red Right Hand" (from Let Love In), "Tupelo" (from The Firstborn is Dead) and "The Carny" (from Your Funeral, My Trial).
 * Speaking of Nick Cave, Grinderman. The song "No Pussy Blues" is 4 1/2 minutes of shouting about a mid-life crisis, set to some of the noisiest guitar you'll ever hear.
 * Grinderman 2 opens with "Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man," which manages to rock balls-out, and feature some sexy howling.
 * The Men They Couldn't Hang have a song called "The Ghosts of Cable Street", about the Battle of Cable Street, when a mob of enraged East-Enders beating the tar out of a parade of Black Shirts. The song is appropriately awesome.
 * The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets' "Power Up" is as kickass as the name demands.
 * "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey is so awesome that it's reached the point of parody due to overuse in Sports Venues and the end of The Sopranos. That does not diminish its awesomeness, however.
 * "Separate Ways" is another amazing uplifting song by Journey. Listen to it already.
 * Oasis' "Live Forever". Makes me cry tears of epic.
 * "Don't Look Back in Anger" has to be one of the best songs to have come out of Britain during the nineties.
 * cough "Champagne Supernova" cough
 * Forms part of the immaculate "-ver" trilogy with the above mentioned "Live Forever" and the also brilliant "Whatever".
 * Actually, most songs out of Definitely Maybe and Morning Glory? fit. For newer songs, how about "The Shock of the Lightning"?
 * "Falling Down". Just..."Falling Down". This song was so awesome it was used at the opening for Eden of the East in JAPAN. Not the U.S opening, the Japanese one. Japan liked this song enough to use it. That's how awesome it is.
 * "Gas Panic!" is definitely one of the awesomest songs off of Standing on the Shoulder of Giants
 * Said the Whale. "We Are 1980". Even people who hate indie are bound to love it. It even rams itself into So Cool Its Awesome territory.
 * Southern Rock. While most of its famous songs are awesome, "Free Bird", by Lynyrd Skynyrd (Now with 100% more cowbell!), and "Green Grass and High Tides", by The Outlaws, take guitar playing to a whole new level with it's gigantic, impressive "something you'll remember forever from the first time you hear them" solos.
 * Don't forget the Allmans! "Whipping Post", "Ramblin' Man", "Midnight Rider", and the iconic "Jessica".
 * "Won't Get Fooled Again," by The Who. Particularly Roger Daltrey's scream, about seven minutes in. You know the one.
 * The Who's entire catalog from 1965 to 1973 qualifies.
 * Just the scream? Are you forgetting the guitar solo, the organ solo, and arguably the most epic drum solo of all time?
 * Everyone knows the scream, all thanks to Horatio Caine.
 * "Baba O'Riley." Beginning, middle, and end. Don't cry, don't raise your eyes, it's only teenage wasteland...
 * Not to be overlooked is Pete Townshend's demo of the original "Teenage Wasteland" (yes, it had that title at the time), featuring all the lyrics of "Baba O'Riley" and then some...with the first half in that gut-wrenching minor key. Lifehouse was quite the Missed Album of Awesome.
 * The last part of the song "We're Not Gonna Take It", the "See Me, Feel Me" part when played at Woodstock. After finishing their two hour set, with the epic Rock Opera Tommy coming to the end, Roger Daltrey sings with all the powers he's got at the same time as the sun comes up.
 * Side 4 of Quadrophenia: "Doctor Jimmy/Is It Me?", "The Rock", "Love, Reign O'er Me". Full stop.
 * How about we just go with all of Quadrophenia?
 * "The Devil Went Down To Georgia", a song based on the concept of a fiddle duel with Satan himself. (Both the original version and the cover in Guitar Hero 3 count, by the way. Which version you think is more awesome will depend on your personal tastes.)
 * The Primus version is also pure distilled awesome. Bonus for Tom Waits as the Devil.
 * Riffing off a similar theme is "Tribute" by Tenacious D. All of a sudden,/There shined a shiny demon,/In the middle of the road,/And he said!/Play the best song in the world, or I'll eat your souls.../Well me and Kyle,/we looked at each other,/And we each said,/Okay.
 * That and you have David Grohl of the Foo Fighters (and formerly Nirvana) playing the Devil in the music video.
 * The significant number of parodies of this song should speak for it's awesomeness.
 * Charlie Daniels collaborated with violinist Mark O'Connor on an official sequel, "The Devil Comes Back to Georgia", with Travis Tritt as the Devil and Marty Stuart as Johnny. Adding to the awesome is the narration by Johnny Cash in full preacher-mode.
 * The initial trailer for Sin City sparked a flood of 'what the hell is that awesome music?' comments; it's a song called "Cells" by The Servant, and many were disappointed that it didn't feature in the film.
 * "I'm Shipping Up To Boston" by Dropkick Murphys. When you take cellos, a banjo, and a concertina and make them sound like a world of hurt is about to descend upon some poor bastard, you know you've accomplished something.
 * Dropkick Murphys are carrying on the tradition from The Pogues, whose songs like "If I Should Fall From Grace With God" and "Bottle of Smoke" are ideal drunken brawl music.
 * Speaking of "Shane MacGowan", the Dropkick Murphys version of "Spancill Hill" is a definite CMOA, for when you get to that reflective, melancholy phase of drunkenness.
 * "Flannigan's Ball" and "The Warrior's Code" are pretty awesome.
 * If we're talking about Dropkick Murphys, we have to mention "The State of Massachusetts".
 * Their version of "Peg O' My Heart", with a very awesome guest.
 * "Famous For Nothing" is another great one.
 * Dead Can Dance's version of Middle-Ages Italian folk song "Saltarello".
 * Their whole career is a CMOA. Lisa's trademark One-Woman Wail and Brendan's playing...
 * "Invincible" by Pat Benatar may just be the ultimate cure-all for any sad, depressed, or hopeless feeling anyone could conceivably feel. Ever.
 * The recent cover of this song by Ayria just adds to the awesomeness of this song. It turns it into a "stand-on-a-tank-and-wave-a-revolutionary-flag" anthem...
 * Muse's song by the same name, though unrelated, has a similar effect, plus makes a mean warm-up song before any sort of competition.
 * The Killers have many. "Read My Mind" is a favorite, but "Mr. Brightside" was once named the greatest song ever written by a British radio station.
 * Just to further back up how good "Mr. Brightside" is - this song is played at all social events, and everyone, regardless of their musical tastes, knows all the words. That's how big it is, at least over in the UK.
 * Then there's this version of "Human". A great song, epic visuals, and added thematically relevant lyrics? Awesome.
 * Bruce Springsteen's "Jungleland". Goddamn epic.
 * Don't sell "Born to Run" short, either! Hell, the man made riding a carnival ride sound epic!
 * Bruce Springsteen's "Magic", "Radio Nowhere", or "Last to Die".
 * The old stuff is the best. "Rosalita," "No Surrender," "Born in the USA," "Dancing in the Dark," "Thunder Road." It's like he puts his whole soul into it.

"Now, with these hands, with these hands I pray for the faith, Lord I pray for the strength, Lord I pray for Your love, Lord -- Come on, Riiiiiiiise up, come on riiiiiiise up...."
 * This bit in "City of Ruins" in particular hits close to home with New Yorkers:

"BAD-LAAAANDS, you gotta live 'em every day And the broken hearts stand as the price you gotta pay Just keep pushin' til it's understood and these badlands start treatin' us good!"
 * His performance of "The Ghost of Tom Joad" at the 2009 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame concert, though his co-performer Tom Morello's absolutely mind-blowing guitar solo contributes to the awesome. Watch it here.
 * "Incident on 57th Street". Absolutely gorgeous.
 * "BADLANDS". Just... Badlands.

"And everybody's wreck on main street from drinking unholy blood! Sticker smiles sweet as gunner breathes deep, his ankles caked in mud And I said "Hey, gunner man, that's quicksand, that's quicksand that ain't mud Have you thrown your senses to the war or did you lose them in the flood?""
 * Off of Live in New York City listen to "Lost in the Flood" one of his lesser known but man that is one killer song.

"And if birds could fly high over their troubles She gonna find some of her own wings and fly And no one could convince or pay her double Or tell her she was too young to die! Oh, Caroline, Caroline!"
 * Wrecking Ball features the first studio version of "Land of Hope and Dreams", perhaps the defining song of the E-Street reunion tour in 1999. The song features Clarence Clemons' last recorded performance. It is unbelievable.
 * Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows". Quite possibly the single best song ever recorded.
 * Hell, just Leonard Cohen, period.
 * Couldn't agree more. "Hallelujah", his most famous work. "The Faith", his last song. It's so perfect that once he wrote it, there was nothing more to be said.
 * Frank Zappa's Over-Nite Sensation is more than qualified to be on this list. The solos on this album really bring it to CMOA, particularly the ones on "Dirty Love" and the second one on "Fifty-Fifty".
 * Also, "Billy The Mountain", quite possibly the greatest absurdist rock opera ever. The only way to make it better is to do it a cappella... and here it is. Dweezil even signed off on how awesome it is.
 * "Bela Lugosi's Dead", by Bauhaus. No, seriously. The parts when he sings "Ooohh, Bela" can raise hairs.
 * The Rolling Stones. We know, it's only rock and roll, but we like it, we like it, yes we do!
 * "Jumping Jack Flash", their most-played song, and for good reason, too. Now get a load of the EBA cover.
 * You can't always get what you want, but if you try some time, you just might find... you get what you ne-eed!
 * The opening notes to "Satisfaction". The song that kick-started their career and it was only the demo.
 * Please allow me to introduce myself...
 * Hell, all of Exile on Main Street and Sticky Fingers and Black and Blue and Let It Bleed and Beggars Banquet and Some Girls.
 * "Gimme Shelter." What other song creates such a perfect mood. That meandering opening riff will give you chills.
 * Did someone mention an Epic Riff in the context of a discussion on The Rolling Stones...?
 * If you can listen to Dire Straits' "Brothers In Arms" without being moved, you make the Straw Vulcan look emotional.
 * "Tunnel of Love". One of the best guitar solos ever. "Telegraph Road" ain't half bad either, being the best driving song ever, especially if it's raining.
 * "Walk of Life".
 * "Sultans of Swing"!
 * And, of course, "Your Latest Trick". The sax solo is so well-known that if someone walks into a music store with the intent of buying a saxophone, chances are this is what they'll play to test it.
 * How about "Romeo and Juliet"? They took one of the most cliched, over-used allusions in history, and they made one of the best, most emotional songs ever written out of it.
 * "Money for Nothing"!
 * Jason Mraz is the veritable walking example of this trope. The proof lies in "The Remedy", "You and I Both", "WordPlay", "Geek In The Pink", "Lucky", "Make It Mine" (here's another version), and "The Beauty In Ugly" from the OST to Ugly Betty.
 * "The Remedy" doubles as a Crowning Music of Heartwarming when you realized the true story behind this song.
 * "Song. For. A. Friend".
 * "I'm Yours". (It was immensely successful in the U.S. on the Billboard charts. It spent 76 weeks on the Hot 100, breaking the record for most weeks on the chart. It is currently the eighth-best selling digital song of all time in the U.S., selling in excess of 6 million downloads.
 * Damon Albarn. The Good the Bad and the Queen and Journey to the West are some of the best.
 * Don't forget Blur. "Song 2", people, "Song 2"!
 * "Girls who want boys, who like boys to be girls..."
 * The chorus of "Tender" deserves a mention.
 * The Beach Boys were the undisputed masters of applying the Rule of Fun to music. Examples being "Good Vibrations", "Barbara Ann", "Fun, Fun, Fun", and "I Get Around".
 * "Sloop John B", with its copious Lyrical Dissonance is damn fun.
 * "God only knows what I'd be without you."
 * Smile. Brian Wilson again faces a project which was the source of painful personal issues, had a massive reputation to live up to, was conceived as a studio work but was put together as a live show, and ended up with one of the most acclaimed albums of recent times.
 * Brian Wilson? Awesome. Brian Wilson completing an unfinished Gershwin song? Magical.
 * Nine Inch Nails. Try "Closer". Or "Hurt".
 * If you think "Hurt" is epic, just listen to Johnny Cash's cover.
 * "Right Where it Belongs"
 * "The Hand That Feeds", "Heresy", "Only", and "Every Day Is Exactly The Same" are all awesome too.
 * "Just Like You Imagined" requires at least a little awesome to be used in the trailer for 300. What clinches it is the rising scream at the climax.
 * Acid Folk Rock band Jefferson Airplane's "We Can Be Together" is a fairly easy-going song... it's not even epic in length. However, it does have its own crowning moment, in which the vocalists harmonize to sing the line, "Up against the wall, ************, tear down the wall!" The song sparked a good bit of controversy when it was performed, uncensored on The Dick Cavett Show in 1969, and the performance is often noted for being one of the first times "fuck" was ever said on national television. The fact that this song is more well-known than its A-Side is something astounding, as well.
 * For the record, the lyrics also quote, word-for-word, the philosophies on a leaflet written by a member of an anarchic group called Up Against the Wall ************ s. The song helped the phrase rise in popularity as a rallying cry. Not bad, considering the song was originally released as a B-Side.
 * Don't forget Grace Slick's mind-blowing vocals in...well, every song she sings, but "Somebody to Love" is worthy of a special mention.
 * "Sturmnacht" by the German Medieval Rock band Schandmaul. Translates to "Storm Night". Despite the name it doesn't have any connection to Those Wacky Nazis. It's purely instrumental and pure awesome.
 * The album Alaska by Between the Buried and Me is pretty epic in its entirety, but the song "Selkies: The Endless Obsession" takes the cake.
 * "White Walls" too. Specifically the the intro, the White Walls and "We will remembered for this" roars, and the incredibly amazing ending solo.
 * Goldfrapp's "Strict Machine" is brilliant, as is "Number 1" and "Black Cherry".
 * "Human" and "Pilots". Yikes.
 * Anything by Tim Minchin.
 * Why not not eat pigs together?
 * The Pet Shop Boys' "Brits Medley". GO WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEST.
 * Oh sod it, just the Pet Shop Boys in general.
 * R.E.M.. "The One I Love", "Me In Honey", "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?", and - on a completely different level - the eleventh untitled song from Green are all utterly triumphant moments in the history of music.
 * Even though most people think it's a flop, "Shiny Happy People" is brilliant.
 * LEONARD BERNSTEIN!!!
 * They score at least one every album. Since three have been covered, we'll just add "Wolves, Lower," "Perfect Circle," "So. Central Rain," "Green Grow the Rushes," "The Flowers of Guatemala," every single song on Automatic for the People, "Electrolite," "Diminished," "Beat a Drum," and most of Accelerate.
 * Follow me, don't follow me, I've got my spine and I've got my orange crush. Collar me, don't collar me, I've got my spine...
 * "Losing My Religion" and "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)".
 * "Man on the Moon".
 * "Nightswimming" is haunting and lets Michael Stipe's voice shine. So beautiful.
 * "E-Bow The Letter".
 * "The Great Beyond" may just reach "Nightswimming" levels of haunting beauty.
 * "Drive" sounds like the sort of song that would play over the opening credits of an old western, and "Find the River" will make you cry, period.
 * Santana's "Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen" and "Smooth" are truly brilliant. And for a legendary song that can cheer you right up, try "Samba Pa Ti."
 * Raising you one with "Dance Sister Dance (Baila Mi Hermana)". The vocal part of the song has a great groove to it, but wait until 4:24. If you're familiar with the song, you know what this is getting at...and if you don't, be prepared for an ending that just melts in your ears.
 * Raise it more with "Soul Sacrifice", from freakin' Woodstock. Possibly the best drum solo ever, and by a 19 year old kid. Check out 3:48 especially.
 * "Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)."
 * Try not to enjoy this 1-2 punch of Clapton and Santana, known as "The Calling".
 * Pretty much any song from Santana counts as this trope.
 * The John Butler Trio's song "Caroline" can make you want to jump up and down and scream the last verse, where the string instruments kick in and the music just gets that much more awesome.

""And so you're back from outer space; I just walked in to find you here without that look upon your face. I should've changed that fucking lock; I would've made you leave your key, if I'd have known for just one second you'd be back to bother me.""
 * Cake:
 * "Short Skirt/Long Jacket", "Race Car Ya-Ya's", and "Satan Is My Motor."
 * "Arco Arena" and "Long Line of Cars."
 * "Reluctantly crouched, at the starting line/Engines pumping, and thumping in time... HE'S GOING THE DISTANCE!" *riff*
 * "Opera Singer" is fantastic.
 * Their cover of "The Guitar Man".
 * Their cover of "War Pigs".
 * Their cover of "I Will Survive". I Will Survive, sung in that funky, halting Cake style, with trumpet solos, and a few lyrical tweaks, the most badass of which being,

"''Cleaned-up, corporation progress, '' Dying in the process,  Children that can talk about it Living on the railways, ''People moving sideways , Sell it 'til your last days ,'' Buy yourself the motivation Generation nothing! "Nothing but a dead scene !'' ''Product of a white dream !'' I am not the singer that you wanted, but a dancer! I refuse to answer! Talk about the past, sir! Wrote it for the ones who want to get away"
 * L. Udo's rock opera, The Broken Bride. Especially the chorus: "I crashed before the birth of Christ / Pterodactyls swarming / You died in nineteen eighty-nine / I want to get back to that morning in May --"
 * Neil Young. Dude's entire carrier is one great, big, "Rockin' in the Free World" CMOA.
 * A bit indie, but nevertheless a serious Crowning Music of Awesome: "Headlights Look like Diamonds" by the Arcade Fire. Like all the painful joy and joyous pain in the world condensed into a song. Catch them in a smaller venue singing balls out and the glory of the thing hits you in the face like a ton of bricks.
 * If that doesn't get you, try "Rebellion (Lies)".
 * As well as "Wake Up".
 * Furthermore: "Wake Up" WITH DAVID EFFING BOWIE.
 * Don't forget "Neighborhood #2 (Laika)".
 * What about "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"?
 * The first few notes of "Neighborhood #1 (7 Tunnels)" never fail to cause goosebumps. It's an awesome way to start an album.
 * Also, "(Antichrist Telivision Blues)". Try to keep a straight face. Try not to get affected by the lyrics.
 * Another indie CMOA: "Light and Day" by the Polyphonic Spree.
 * Along with, you know, just about everything else in their catalog.
 * The live performance of "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the MTV Music Awards, especially when they hit that last note.
 * "Flowers" by Hurt.
 * "KISS YOUR ASS GOODBYE!!!!" Though seriously. "House Carpenter", anyone?
 * "Fighting. Tao". Also "Rapture". And if we need something from Vol. II, how about "Summers Lost"?
 * What's that you say? Acoustic instrumental post-rock isn't awesome? Do Make Say Think says otherwise, creating goose-bump inducingly beautiful songs. "A Tender History in Rust", "Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!", and "In Mind" are amazing.
 * Go to a B-52s concert. Just do it. If you don't have the urge to get up and dance at least once, then you just might be a robot.
 * Besides, you might get the chance to realize the place where it sounds like they use a theremin is Kate Pierson singing. Your mind will be blown clear into the next county.
 * "Take me home, country roads..."
 * Approximately 70% of everything ever performed by Cold Chisel.
 * "Khe Sanh". Whenever an Australian radio station does a "greatest songs of all time" countdown, it's guaranteed to be at least in the top 5, and probably number one.
 * Chicago's early years, particularly The Chicago Transit Authority (their first album) and Chicago (II). These guys brought together blues-rock, jazz, and the early prog-rock movement together into one big package (literally; their first three studio outputs were all double albums, and the Carnegie Hall release was four vinyls long). Need to be convinced that Chicago had more than one good rocking song besides "25 or 6 to 4"? Try these: "Poem 58", "South California Purples", an early live version of "It Better End Soon" (the studio version is even better), and from the same concert, "Introduction".
 * Also consider "Feelin' Stronger Everyday" and "Saturday in The Park". Those songs always make for good moods.
 * How about this version of "25 or 6 to 4", performed live with Earth, Wind & Fire?
 * The best part about that song is how meta it is. It's not about drugs, or gambling, or any of the other random interpretations. It's about... writing "25 or 6 to 4". The title refers to how the band had writer's block early in the morning.
 * Possibly Oscar did a cover of "Dead Again". There were no survivors.
 * "Mandelbrot Set" by Jonathan Coulton. The fact that it's an awesome song about fractals is enough.
 * One may prefer his awesome renditions of "Famous Blue Raincoat" and "We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions." Also, "Re: Your Brains."
 * "Code Monkey" will rank highly for anyone taking AP Computer Science.
 * Possibly the best driving song, "Radar Love" by Golden Earring.
 * "Twilight Zone". Three words: Epic Bass Riff.
 * Of course, there's always "Vanilla Queen."
 * If you don't get a cold shiver to Pentangles rendition of "My Lagan Love" then... Can't think right now, too beautiful...
 * Try sitting still while Farin Urlaub of Die Ärzte fame performs "Zehn". "I want to see you jump" indeed. Also, Bonus points for the female drummer and guitarists.
 * Similarly, "Unrockbar" (un-rockable) by Die Ärzte is a song about his rock-hating girlfriend. The last third deserves special mention for being objectively epic.
 * "Break Me Down" by Red. As AMV'ed here.
 * "Lost" + "Death of Me" = GOD!!!!
 * Everything RED has EVER done. From the distraught, torn "Gave It All Away" to the hate-filled "Death of Me," and "Feed the Machine" and from the sweeping cover of "Ordinary World," to the quiet, melancholy hope of "Pieces," RED is full of passion and feeling, and the ability to express it all.
 * "Turn! Turn! Turn!" manages to be super-awesome in its simplicity despite being a series of Bible quotations from Ecclesiastes. The fact that it was set to music by Pete Seeger in the 1950s (although not released until 1962), a time where Cold War paranoia was gripping much of the world makes its "world peace" subject an anvil that really, really needed to be dropped.
 * Buckethead. "Jordan" is a classic, as are "Nottingham Lace" and "King James". "Soothsayer" can be both this and a Tear Jerker at the same time. There's just something about listening to someone with a near-complete mastery of the guitar that's incredible - even if said person is an insanely creepy, impossibly tall man with a KFC bucket on his head.
 * Gogol Bordello. Unusual and gimmicky, but their music is more loud and energetic than possibly anything else in the world. Also, they have an impossibly cool-looking fiddle. For example, this.
 * "Dogs Were Barking" is reserved on wedding playlists for a reason.
 * Pure happiness streaming from speakers. "Start Wearing Purple", "Not A Crime", and "Baro Foro", which includes fiddle-induced orgasming.]]
 * "Wonderlust King". Try not to turn it up when the chorus kicks in. " BUT I'M A WONDERLUST KING !!!"
 * Heading Mary My Hope's "Communion" once will make you buy the entire album. It's just that good.
 * Side one of The Sisters of Mercy's Floodland consists entirely of Crowning Music of Awesome.
 * I'll see you Floodland and raise you everything on Vision Thing. A Slight Case of Overbombing isn't half bad either.
 * "Rock'n'Roll Suicide" is phenomenal even by David Bowie's standards.
 * So is this rendition of "Ashes to Ashes". Made even more awesome by a few things: the absolutely bitchin' guitar solo (one guy on rhythm AND bass simultaneously) that dominates the last half of the song. And the fact that, on a call-in/request concert, this was the song requested by a 5-year old boy. Yeah. Get 'em started early.
 * What about the entire Ziggy Stardust era! The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust is the most crowning music achievement of ALL TIME!
 * "Fame". Funk-tacular.
 * "Cygnet Committee". Epic Rocking at its best, in 1969.
 * Much of Bowie's post-Scary Monsters output in The Eighties is dismissed, but there's gorgeous stuff there too. In particular, "Blue Jean" and "Underground" can leave you dizzy with delight.
 * We need more Bowie. "Life on Mars?", "Oh You Pretty Things", "Changes", and ""Rebel Rebel" all warrant your attention.
 * "Space Oddity".
 * Bowie isn't particularly well-known for his love songs...but he has his moments.
 * "Let's Dance". When Bowie gives an order, the world listens.
 * "Lady Grinning Soul". Bowie meets Bond,complete with epic piano solo intro.
 * Yes, The Protomen are based off of Mega Man, but the music is original and extremely awesome. Words cannot express how great this band is.
 * "The Hounds", an epic Villain Song, "The Stand", another epic Villain Song and "Keep Quiet", the only song to beat up assassin robots too.
 * LIGHT UP THE NIGHT!
 * Let's face it, pretty much every song they've put out count, but "The Good Doctor" and "The State Vs. Thomas Light" deserve mention. That's raw emotion there, ladies and gentlemen.
 * "Breaking Out". The ultimate La Résistance theme.
 * Now, consider Phish's "Divided Sky," as well as "Guyute" and "Harry Hood."
 * Their versatility is just stunning. Here's a good example. Have you ever heard a Zeppelin cover rock so hard and sound so joyous? As an added bonus, that song that they segue into at the end - one of their originals called "Tweezer Reprise" - is in a completely different key than they normally play it in (E instead of D). They never rehearsed that or anything. It just happened.
 * Trey Anastasio is just a stunning guitarist. Check out him sitting in with Dave Matthews Band. There has never been a finer long-form guitar solo.
 * Mark Knopfler. "What it is" is the perfect combination of rythym, lyrics, and storytelling that will capture the hearts of everyone and anyone that listens to them.
 * "Boom, Like That" is a song about Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's and it is badass.
 * Morrissey's "Jack The Ripper", which more makes up for every bad or mediocre song that he's ever written, and is so objectively awesome that even people who hate Morrissey have to admit that it's good.
 * My Dying Bride. If "The Cry Of Mankind" is not awesome enough, there's the opening song of the 2004 album Songs Of Darkness, "Words Of Light". They even did an awesome Portishead cover (and the Youtube video is a Tim Burton-esque uncanny/horrifying/Narm clip).
 * Flogging Molly's "Requiem For A Dying Song".
 * Also, "What's Left of the Flag", and "Drunken Lullabies".
 * "If I Ever Leave This World Alive" deserves a mention as well.
 * "Rebels of the Sacred Heart". While definitely not their best song, it deserves a CMOA for the first chorus. "Oh yeah, some psuedo-protest song, nice flute playing, but it's not really pun-WOAH WHAT THE FUCK AWESOME!"
 * Hoobastank's "Born to Lead" should be on here. Quite a driving, heart pumping song for those of us who love a good positive song we seem to be lacking nowadays. The music video is also fairly trippy and cool as well.
 * Even haters of My Chemical Romance love "Welcome To The Black Parade". It's just... listen to it. Read the lyrics, too. And don't get discouraged by the slow opening or the band it's by. Looks can be deceiving.
 * All of The Black Parade is Crowning Music of Awesome (just check out the album page) Also, their version of "Desolation Row" definitely qualifies.
 * "House of Wolves" and "Mother"
 * The B-sides from The Black Parade are pretty good too: the absurdly catchy "Where Is My Mind" soundalike "Kill All Your Friends" and slightly epic "Heaven Help Us".
 * "You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison" just for the lyrics.
 * Their single "Na Na Na" counts as this too, and not only because that's Grant Morrison at the beginning there.
 * Holy crap, "Vampire Money" has to be the catchiest Take That to Twilight EVER.
 * Bonus points for being much more rock n' roll than their usual output. There's even a shout-out to "Ballroom Blitz" by The Sweet at the beginning.
 * From Danger Days, special mention must go to: "S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W" for being a Nightmare Fuel Mind Fuck, and "Planetary (GO!)" for having the most romantic line ever. "Let's ruin EVERYTHING!"
 * "Bulletproof Heart" has one of the greatest lyrics of all time. "I have a Bulletproof Heart, you have a Hollowpoint smile"
 * All of "S.I.N.G." is amazing, but the best part has to be the bridge:

"There's a place in the dark where the animals go; You can take off your skin in the cannibal glow. Juliet loves the beat and the lust it commands; Drop the dagger and lather the blood on your hands, Romeo."
 * Teenagers, my good sir.
 * "The Sharpest Lives".

""They took the wall away Brick by brick it came down again A Chain reaction, a solemn vow Who in the world can stop this now?""
 * "Astro and Mary" is definitely worth a listen. Great lyrics, great voice and a sweet guitar solo.
 * Cream. "White Room", "Badge", and "As You Said" are just magnificent.
 * Not to mention "Sunshine Of Your Love".
 * Great Big Sea's version of "John Barbour". Starts out as your basic ballad, then subtly builds until after the final line it swells until it makes a tin whistle sound Badass. Cool enough on the album, but live it more than deserves this title.
 * Another GBS example- "Gallows Pole", specifically the performance at the 2009 Junos. Sean McCann was singing this with a lung infection.
 * "Vehicle" by Ides of March.
 * Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Their pieces always take a while to get into stride, but the wait's always worth it.
 * Seconded. They treat every single song like it's a symphony, taking as long as they need to run the full gamut of emotions. It's impossible to list individual standout tracks.
 * The Australian band Bridezilla's song, "Chainwork". Bloody brilliant. They should win an ARIA for that.
 * Another brilliant Australian group: Dead Letter Circus. They epitomize the term "epic", and they've only released one album and two extended plays so far!
 * "Field of Daggers" by House of Heroes. The title may sound like a Naruto attack, but just wait until the song gets to 1:06, at which point the epic begins.
 * "Telstar", originally by the Tornados, is almost an anthem to human achievement. It has an extensive Cover Version record for that reason. Here's the Shadows's version.
 * "Bleed It Out" by Linkin Park. Yes, the song follows the same done-to-death "rapped verses, screamed everything else" formula that they've been doing since they formed, but eschewing nu-metal in favor of alternative/RapMetal and the fact that Mike and Chester sound so pissed off just makes the song work better than any of their previous attempts.
 * It's also a song about how hard it is to write songs. So that's awesome too.
 * "New Divide", good sir. "New Divide". Possibly one of the best music videos ever.
 * The whole Jay-Z mashup album was genius, but especially "Numb/Encore". Far better than the sum of its parts. This remix also counts, replacing most of Jay-Z's Encore with parts from Eminem's song of the same name.
 * Props to Mike for turning this Grammy-winning turd into this jaw-dropping piece of excellence. That and the entire band reworking "High Voltage" into one of the most cataclysmic b-sides in recent memory.
 * Reanimation is an entire Crowning Album of Awesome. Even people who hated Hybrid Theory or hate Linkin Park in general would find themselves drawn to Reanimation, because of the quality of the music. To name two songs off the top of my head, "P5hng Me A* wy" (which is definitely better than the original, and is the version they perform live) and "1Stp Klosr".
 * "Breaking the Habit". That is all.
 * "The Little Things Give You Away". Over 6 minutes (!) of distilled awesome.
 * Doubles as Fridge Horror and a Tear Jerker when you realize the song is about Hurricane Katrina. It isn't difficult to figure out, but it hits hard.
 * "The Catalyst". That ending is auditory bliss in its purest form.
 * "Numb." Or "Blackout" for that matter.
 * "Don't Stay".
 * "Iridescent" and "Burning In The Skies"
 * "One Step Closer", "Points Of Authority", "Runaway", "Crawling", "Papercut", "In The End", "By Myself", "With You", "Easier To Run", "Hit The Floor", "Faint", "Lying From You", and "Somewhere I Belong" are all great as well.
 * "Can't Win" by Richard Thompson, especially on the Ducknapped! live recording. It is the angriest fucking thing.
 * "Awaking the Centuries" and arguably any other song by Haggard.
 * Richard Thompson. Elvis Costello. "Shoot Out The Lights".
 * Tori Amos, Kate Bush, and Bjork, aka the Crazy Awesome eccentric female musician trio.
 * Kate's "Wuthering Heights" always makes me a little teary-eyed. And "The Dreaming" is one of the creepiest (in a good way!) albums ever made.
 * What about PJ Harvey? "50 Foot Queenie" is a fucking MONSTER song.
 * "Almost Cut My Hair". THE Sixties counterculture song.
 * "Halfway Home" by TV on the Radio. It starts off high, but at the "Is it not me" bridge around 2:00 it takes off into the stratosphere.
 * Their Dear Science album is one big example, really. There's a reason Rolling Stone named it the best album of 2008.
 * The Stone Roses in general: "This Is The One", "Waterfall", "She Bangs The Drums", "I Am The Resurrection", "I Wanna Be Adored", "Made Of Stone" in particular.
 * "Elephant Stone" has the most epic drum beat since Keith Moon.
 * And carrying on from there, The Seahorses with "Love Is The Law" (the opening riff is awesome and the lyrics are quite funny in places) and "Blinded By The Sun".
 * The live version of The Smashing Pumpkins song "silverfuck" is made of this trope. With a "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" tease, an extended middle section and the ending which usually detoriates in to mess of feedback makes it a prime example of this trope!
 * "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" shows that no matter how well you can control yourself, we are all just animals underneath. Put it on your car stereo and crank it to 11.
 * That moment in "Soma" when the wall of fuzz guitar erupts out of silence.
 * "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" set to the theatrical trailer for Watchmen. Just watch it.
 * The Smashing Pumpkins are basically a band made up of this trope, as far as most of their fans are concerned.
 * Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode." Good luck finding an individual song, other than maybe "Like a Rolling Stone," with a greater influence than this one, which apparently convinced The Rolling Stones to get serious, was the subject of one of the earliest Beatles demos, and practically invented the Epic Riff and Rockstar Song as we know them. Go, Johnny, go.
 * Weezer. Say what you will about them now, but they have had so many good songs. Here are a few.
 * "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived" is made of awesome. Watch it here.
 * Whatever you think of Weezer or the song, it's near impossible not to sing along to the chorus of "Beverly Hills".
 * Continuing with the above, no matter what you think of their current work, their Magnum Opus Pinkerton is absolutely brilliant from start to finish. "Across The Sea" has to be one of the most simultaneously heartfelt and creepy statements in music history.
 * "One" by U2 is one of the most beautiful songs ever.
 * Their album No Line on the Horizon has no shortage of awesome, as evidenced by "Magnificent", and "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight".
 * The Joshua Tree, from start to finish. (How the HELL do you choose between the opening to "Where The Streets Have No Name" or that anguished shriek in Bono's voice at the end of "One Tree Hill" or....).
 * Achtung Baby is this trope personified. The transition from the idealistic, ethereal "Joshua Tree" into a rather dark, yet powerfully anthemic and emotional album's worth of awesome is done so brilliantly.
 * And of course, "Bad" at Live Aid, which epically coincides with a Crowning Moment of Awesome. Seriously, the whole thing feels like it's ripped out of a movie.
 * The version of "Love is Blindness" from their Zoo TV Live in Sydney concert. There's no U2 like live U2.
 * "New Years Day".
 * Eric Clapton. The man who brought us "Layla", "Tears in Heaven", and more!
 * Rod Stewart. Especially "Maggie May."
 * Andrew WK's "Party Hard". That. Is. ALL.
 * Silversun Pickups, the best indie band of this DECADE! "Future Foe Scenarios", "Well Thought Out Twinkles", and.... scratch that, the entirety of "Carnavas" was awesome!
 * Swoon has some of the most effective uses of strings in modern rock ever.
 * Chiodos' "The Undertaker's Thirst for Revenge is Unquenchable". Emo never sounded this epic before.
 * Then there is The Velvet Underground. Their level of influence could very well be on the same level as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, acting as the leaders of the proto-punk movement of the late 60s/early 70s and taking rock music to new, artistic heights. Some of their most famous songs include "Venus in Furs", "Heroin", "White Light/White Heat", and "I'm Waiting for the Man".
 * "Pale Blue Eyes."
 * Anything by Sublime, but especially their self-titled album, which went quintuple platinum, despite the band being unable to tour, due to lead singer/lead guitarist Bradley Nowell tragic overdose, weeks before the album came out.
 * The Breeders. "Cannonball". That is all.
 * Everything and anything by INXS. It's no wonder the death of Michael Hutchence is regarded a national tragedy in Australia. Which song is most awesome? Take your pick: "Need You Tonight", "Never Tear Us Apart", "What You Need", or "Suicide Blonde", to name but a few.
 * "Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain" is another epic song.
 * While they fell out of favor in America after a while, they deserve a shout out to their later songs "The Stairs", "Beautiful Girl", "The Gift", and "I'm Just A Man." And as for their post-Hutchence album Switch, there's "Pretty Vegas" which honestly lead to a well-earned (but brief) comeback and made their stupid reality show worthwhile..
 * That Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" isn't on this list is madness! It's the perfect anthem for people who refuse to be pushed around by the world and for people whom the world is constantly dragging down.
 * Duran Duran. From "Careless Memories" to "Hold Back the Rain" to "Union of the Snake", "Hold Me", "I Don't Want Your Love", "First Impression", "Love Voodoo", "Big Bang Generation", "Playing With Uranium"... and that's not even scratching the surface! Almost their entire CAREER is a "crowning music of awesome".
 * The Birthday Massacre. "Blue", "Looking Glass", "Under the Stairs", "Goodnight", "Walking With Strangers", "Movie" (YMMV on that last one), "Lovers End", "Happy Birthday" and "Play Dead" are only a few of their awesome songs.
 * "Red Stars" and "In The Dark" are amazing.
 * The Dresden Dolls aren't on this page yet? "Coin-Operated Boy", "Backstabber", "Girl Anachronism"... Amanda Palmer's pounding piano and heartfelt vocals combine with Brian Viglione's awe-inspiring drum work to create punk-cabaret-rock. And it is AWESOME.
 * More songs of theirs which are amazing include "Lonesome Organist Rapes Page-Turner", "Shores of California" and "Mandy Goes to Med School".
 * Everything off of Them Crooked Vultures' debut could count, but particular mentions have to go to "No One Loves Me And Neither Do I", "Mind Eraser (No Chaser)", "New Fang" and "Gunman".
 * You list all these artists but not the King? Elvis had some of the greatest rock and roll songs of all time! "Jailhouse Rock", "Hound Dog" and "Heartbreak Hotel" are some of his greatest works. Some of his later work like "Suspiscious Minds" and "Burning Love" also deserve to be on here.
 * Elvis' other CMOA can be found on his '68 Comeback Special. Elvis is playing the lead guitar, too.
 * "Blue Suede Shoes" stars off rockabilly, but his soft gentle love songs like "Love Me Tender" also qualify. For the ultimate in awesome, listen to "If I Can Dream" from the '68 Comeback Special.
 * Incubus had a hit in 2001 with "Drive", an acoustic rock song with inspirational lyrics about embracing new experiences, good or bad, and deciding for yourself what to make of them.
 * A lot of songs by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. To name one, "By The Way", which has the most epic bass riff ever.
 * Also "Hard to Concentrate", "Throw Away Your Television", "Torture Me", "This Velvet Glove", "This is the Place", "Hey", "Road Trippin'"... Flea himself says "Hey" was his best.
 * "Venice Queen" doesn't get nearly enough love.
 * "Don't Forget Me"
 * The mere mention of his name may be a Captain Obvious moment, but there's always Jimi Hendrix.
 * "Purple Haze" is a rock classic.
 * His bombastic version of "Star Spangled Banner" caps both the Woodstock festival and the incredible documentary that recorded the event.
 * His debut album Are You Experienced? (along with its follow-up Electric Ladyland) is routinely at the top of any Greatest Album lists.
 * It isn't for nothing that most people think Hendrix, not Bob Dylan, wrote "All Along The Watchtower."
 * Just by listening to it you can tell what kind of guitarist he was. The last verse will give chills.
 * T'Pau's "Only a Heartbeat", was written to symbolise the fall of the Berlin Wall and does so to almost tearjerking effect.

"Don't talk in your sleep, don't leave a trace Because a loving woman can have the devil's face I don't want to be mean, but I'm not afraid Anything you steal baby you'll pay for in spades"
 * "Rock Around The Clock", by Bill Haley and the Comets. The song that started Rock and Roll. Its guitar solo, originally played by Danny Cedrone, inspired many future guitarists including Jeff Beck.
 * This is an obscure one, but it is one gem worth tracking down; the Artists United Against Apartheid project. It was one of the gazillion "mass-supergroup charity albums" from the 80's-- THIS one, though, was an anti-apartheid album, specifically targeting the "Sun City" resort in Johannesburg. There's one hell of a cast on board -- Little Steven started it, so he got Bruce Springsteen in easily; but he also got Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, Joey Ramone, Eddie Ruffin (from the Temptations), Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Ruben Blades, Peter Gabriel, Nona Hendryx, Bonnie Raitt, Miles Davis, Gil-Scott Heron, Herbie Hancock...the video for the main song was pretty kick-ass and gives an idea of the scope of artists. The album also has Bono's original SOLO version of U2's "Silver And Gold". The original features just Bono singing, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood on guitar and slide guitar, and some random studio hand whanging on a cardboard box for the "percussion." This Troper's old-school blues-loving father actually BURST HER DOOR DOWN when he heard her listening to it, and stood in awe, asking "who is THIS?..."
 * DC Talk started out as a Christian hip-hop group, but they eventually switched to rock and became seriously awesome. Their musical style was very similar to that of The Beatles, but their songs conveyed a completely different message. While they were much better after the switch, their transitional album, Free at Last, is all quite interesting.
 * "Der Ring der Nibelungen" by E Nomine.
 * Ex-Soft Machine bassist Kevin Ayers' debut album Joy Of A Toy, is a worthy candidate, especially the title track with its cool parade atmosphere that foreshadows the music from Lemmings.
 * Switchfoot: "Dare You to Move", "Meant to Live", and "Dirty Second Hands" are absolutely mind blowing when performed live.
 * Paramore's live performance of "Let the Flames Begin" comes right the hell out of nowhere and turns a pretty good middle-of-the-album song into an epic performance, despite a few vocal slips on Hayley's part.
 * Say what you want about the rest of Phil Collins' music, but "In The Air Tonight" is awesome in song form.
 * And if that's not good enough for you, check out the Ben Liebrand remix!
 * Also arguably, "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven". So. Very. CATCHY.
 * "Invisible Touch" back when he was in Genesis.
 * Harry Chapin. In the interest of not running favourites all the way down the page, just one: "Sniper". Pure lyrical brilliance with a soundtrack to match.
 * Peter Gabriel. "In Your Eyes." A thing of glory well before John Cusack blasted it on a boom box.
 * The Pretty Things may have been largely forgotten, but their 1970 album Parachute contains "Grass", one of the most beautiful rock songs ever.
 * "Don't Talk In Your Sleep" by the Magik Markers. Quite simply the most seething, visceral, and powerfully feminine song ever recorded. The pulsing, repetitive melody, scatterbrained drums, knife-sharp hiccups of funk guitar, all slathered in a terrifyingly emotionless warning. The chorus alone speaks volumes.

"Citizen soldiers Holding the light For the ones that we guide From the dark of despair Standing on guard For the ones that we shelter We'll always be ready Because we will always be there"
 * "The Logical Song" by Supertramp. Upbeat, yet cynical, meaning it somehow matches the attitudes of Generation Y, and it's just so epic.
 * Love's Forever Changes album. All of it. Rhino even put the whole thing on a Love compilation. It is that good.
 * "7 & 7 Is" from Da Capo, one of the most insane pieces of garage-based rock to come out of the '60s, with its high-speed energy, surprisingly good lyrics and an atomic explosion in its ending, all in just two minutes and thirteen seconds.
 * Florence + The Machine's whole first album Lungs is this trope incarnate.
 * To list a specific example, "The Drumming Song". Excellent.
 * Cosmic Love. With powerful, ethereal lyrics, a pounding instrumental, and truly fantastic singing, it becomes a small opera, evoking more than one kind of emotion with every verse.
 * Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, kids. An absolute rock GODDESS with some of the best pipes ever. And the band is killer too. Their entire albums constitute this trope start to finish. But if you're looking for particular examples, "Sweet Hands", "Paris", "Ah Mary", "Mastermind", "Medicine", "Tiny Light", and "Oasis"...on and on it goes.
 * Bob Seger had such amazing hits as "Old Time Rock and Roll", "Hollywood Nights", and "Main Street".
 * "Turn The Page" more than trumps them all.
 * Ween's "Buckingham Green"
 * Love/Hate's "Mary Jane", "She's An Angel", and "Rock Queen" from the album Blackout in the Red Room.
 * Swans, as a group, period. Often goes hand-in-hand with Nightmare Fuel, but still: The only singular words appropriate to describing something like "Helpless Child" are "epic" and "awesome" in their original senses.
 * "Club Foot" by Kasabian. Especially when used as the theme tune for the TV adaptation of The Take.
 * Every time I Fight Dragons does a cover, that song can be easily defined as Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons. EVERY TIME. Examples:
 * "The Power of Love".
 * "Why Bother?" by Weezer
 * Even The Legend of Zelda!
 * Can you say "DragonROLL with Mario on top"?!
 * My Vitriol are full of awesome sounding music. There's a reason why they're given credit for revitalizing the shoegaze movement.
 * Heart: "Barracuda".
 * "Alone" is probably one of the best power ballads released. See for yourself. Two other nominations are One Republic's All The Right Moves (DANGER Remix) and the candlelight remix of DJ Sammy's Heaven. Be warned though, it is a Tear Jerker.
 * The Pretty Reckless created such magic as "Make Me Wanna Die", "He Loves You", "Miss Nothing", "Light Me Up", "Since You're Gone"...Taylor has one of the best voices ever!
 * Before Nightwish covered it, there was Gary Moore's version of "Over the Hills and Far Away", a truly epic song.
 * Bruce Cockburn's "If I Had a Rocket Launcher". Inspired by his visit to Guatemalan refugee camps in Mexico that were being attacked by Guatemalan helicopters on a regular basis, this is one song in which a Precision B Strike is more than deserved.
 * 3 Doors Down:
 * "Citizen/Soldier"

"Baby baby baby, when all your love is gone who will save me from all I'm up against in this world"
 * "Chillout" by Youth of Britain. A song that does the exact opposite of its title, it is made three times as awesome by its music video.
 * Alternative rock band Ludo are so awesome. Their defining song may well be "Save Our City", a song about one of the last cities on earth being attacked by zombies. They also have "Good Will Hunting By Myself", "Love Me Dead", and "Whipped Cream".
 * Van Halen
 * Check here for some elaboration.
 * The Zombies' 1968 album Odessey and Oracle. Only "Time of the Season" was ever a hit, but "Care Of Cell 44" (an oddly cheery love letter to a convicted criminal), "A Rose For Emily" (a piano elegy for a spinster who dies alone), "Brief Candles" (a breakup song that's actually about getting over it instead of wallowing), and "Hung Up On A Dream" (despite the psychedelic Mellotron, possibly the most beautiful anti-drug song ever) all deserve to be more famous.
 * Siouxsie and the Banshees' "Dazzle". This could easily be the sound of the ENTIRE UNIVERSE in your ears!
 * "Hong Kong Garden" is a punk song with a xylophone.
 * The Doobie Brothers bring us "Long Train Runnin'". It's epic for an acoustic song, and you'll be hearing it for days.
 * The White Stripes
 * The Hoosiers' "Choices" is quite frankly one of the most incredible songs in its simplicity.
 * The heartbreaking but strangely catchy "A Sadness Runs Through Him".
 * As far as chillwave goes, people aren't very inclined to call it "awesome." Go listen to "Amor Fati" by Washed Out. Your mind may change.
 * "Where Butterflies Never Die." Never heard of it? If not, don't worry, you aren't alone. Broken Iris's only album, The Eyes of Tomorrow, is a masterpiece of anguish and grief, showing the progression of a troubled relationship ending in tragedy that continues into unstable insanity.
 * "Bright Lights" by Matchbox Twenty, from the below lines to the big rock ending, complete with flawless build:


 * Billy Joel. "Piano Man", "We Didn't Start The Fire", "Miami 2010 (Lights Go Out on Broadway)", and "Leningrad", just to name a few.
 * Limp Bizkit. How can you not love "Break Stuff", "Rollin", "Head For The Barricade", "Gimme The Mic", "Phenomenon", "Red Light Green Light", "Shotgun", "Douchebag", "Shark Attack" and "Gold Cobra"?
 * Most songs by Tenacious D. Especially the above-mentioned "Tribute" and "Master Exploder".
 * Foster the People, anyone? They're masters of catchy melodies and dark lyrics; "Warrant" is a triumph, from the soaring angelic beginning to the foot-tapping chorus to the garbled verse at the end.
 * Buddy Holly, one of the founding fathers of rock as we now know it. "Rave On", "Peggy Sue", "Rock Around With Ollie Vee", "Everyday", "Maybe Baby", "Brown Eyed-Handsome Man", the list goes on.
 * For that matter, "La Bamba", "Donna", "Come On Let's Go", "We Belong Together". Welcome to your spot here, Richie Valens!
 * Pioneers such as The Everly Brothers and Eddie Cochran have a place on here as well.
 * Roy Orbison, one of the greatest voices in Rock ever. Just try "Only The Lonely", "Oh, Pretty Woman", "It's Over" and "In Dreams" to name but a few.
 * "Forever" by In This Moment, one of the best female singers ever along with a KILLER chorus makes for one hell of a song!
 * Halestorm is just awesome incarnate: "It's Not You", "Taste Of Poison", "I Get Off" are all great.
 * Rev Theory's "Hell Yeah", the song title says it all really, "Light It Up" rocks pretty hard as well.
 * Jet Black Stare "Ready To Roll". WARNING: this song is so awesomely catchy that you should not under any circumstances listen to it while driving.
 * Hinder: "Up All Night", "Take Me To The Limit", "Use Me", and "The Best Is Yet To Come" all rock hard.
 * "Glad All Over" by the Dave Clark Five. One of the early British Invasion hits, it's not just catchy, but awesome.
 * Bon Jovi's "It's My Life".
 * Kid Rock: "All Summer Long" is the PERFECT song for driving along during a warm summer day.
 * Orianthi's "According To You". Just listen to that solo!
 * Simple Minds, just Simple Minds.
 * If you think "Oh Jungleland" is a good song, just listen to the 12-inch version!
 * "Glittering Prize" is particularly uplifting. The live version from the B-side of the "Promised You a Miracle" single (Live in the City of Light), might be even better
 * I feel it in my bones, enough to make my systems grow...
 * Girls' "Jamie Marie". When the drums kick in it gives you chills.
 * "Jojo's Jacket". So awesome..
 * "My Sacrifice" by Creed. Narmy, maybe, but damnit, it's Narm that you HAVE to love.
 * Dave Hole's "My Bird Won't Sing." A breakup song that's blues to the point that you want to drink yourself catatonic is just great.
 * Mirah's "Archipelago". The only bad thing is that every time she sings, "Goodbye my love," her speech sounds really slurred. Otherwise, it's a very beautiful piece of music. For a breakup song.
 * The Frames' "Dream Awake".
 * The chorus of "The Bagman's Gambit" by The Decemberists is this so hard.
 * "Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns" by Mother Love Bone. Epic Rocking at its finest.
 * The live version of "Whipping Post". The "At Fillmore East" live album version is 23 minutes long and manages to be gorgeous and heartbreaking every step of the way. Plus EPIC GUITAR.
 * "Now You're Gone" by The Secret Machines. Truly awesome.
 * "Fall Down" by Toad The Wet Sprocket.
 * The wailing vocals and incredible medley of space rock makes M4 Part II is the CMoA for a band all about epic space rock.
 * The track "Live and Learn" by a somewhat obscure band called House of Fools is a somewhat depressing but very awesome track.
 * "Barra Barra" by Rachid Taha is not only awesome for its fusion of hard rock and traditional Algerian music, but its lyrics, though pretty depressing, sound so angry and powerful in Arabic.
 * The Pixies' "Gigantic". Incredibly breathtaking, especially at the moment when the guitars kick in after the second chorus.
 * Anastacia & Ben Moody: "Everything Burns". The theme song to every Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds ever.
 * Celldweller's "Own Little World". It's a rock song about The Power of Imagination. And very much Better Than It Sounds.
 * There's an entire CD of nothing but remixes of the song. In particular The Remorse Code Remix stands out as pure awesome.
 * The entire album New Again by Taking Back Sunday. From the title track ("I am/ready to be new again/I'm ready to hear you say/who I am/is quite enough") to Capital ME about their former guitarist who left in a huff ("he taught me how to hold my tongue/and wait to strike 'til their backs were turned/and you slither away like the snake that you are") to closer Everything Must Go about lead singer Adam Lazzara's broken engagement ("You quote the Good Book when it's convenient/But you don't have the sense/No, you don't have the sense to tie your tangled tongue"). The entire album is practically constructed to show how much better off they are with their current line-up, not to mention how far they've come from "you could slit my throat/and with my one last gasping breath/I'd apologize for bleeding on your shirt". Kudos.
 * KEEP DANCIN' IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD SHE SAID OH BABY IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD, C'MON BABY IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD SHE SAID SMILE TO THE END OF THE WORLD!
 * Every song by The Birthday Massacre is awesome, but "To Die For" ranks among the best.
 * "Young Lions" by the Constantines, anyone?
 * "Starblood" by Cranes. A creepy broken little girl voice against epic, tribal drumming, and then when it reaches the chorus? Epic wall of guitars, and even more epic drumming. Just, wow.
 * Matthew Good. This and this are two in a massive flock of awesome songs that are, well. Awesome.
 * "The '59 Sound" by The Gaslight Anthem, which is a goodbye to a friend of theirs who'd passed away. Ever since the early 90s, many have wondered who if anyone would be the rightful heir to Bruce Springsteen. We now have a definite answer.
 * There's this lovely song out there called "Save Our City" It's about a zombie apocalypse.
 * That song is actually part of a rock opera by a band called Ludo and is from the CD Broken Bride. They have incredibly hilarious songs like "Girls on Trampolines", "Good Will Hunting by Myself."
 * Anything by Electric Six. Formula 409. Watch the video.
 * "Under a Vast/Boundless Sky" by Beyond. There're reasons they're legends of Cantopop, and this is one of them.
 * The guitar solo in "Whisper".
 * "Journey of the Sorcerer" by The Eagles, better known as the theme to the Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy.
 * The absolutely beautiful "Buried Alive By Love" (Deliverance version) by HIM