In December 2024, Gene Simmons opined, fairly matter-of-factly, that rock was lifeless. The artists comprising our High 30 Rock Songs of 2024 would really like a phrase.
Because the 12 months attracts to a detailed, UCR seems again fondly on one other 12 months of heavyweight rock songs that reaffirmed our religion in the style. This 12 months noticed thundering releases from heavy metallic juggernauts like Judas Priest and Bruce Dickinson; punchy blues-rock anthems from Jack White and Black Keys; heartfelt musings from Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks; and age-defying reunions from the Black Crowes and the Treatment. And that is simply scratching the floor.
Learn on to see our full checklist of the High 30 Rock Songs of 2024.
30. James McCartney, “Primrose Hill”
From: Stunning Nothing
James McCartney made waves when he revealed that he’d co-written “Primrose Hill” with Sean Ono Lennon — and certainly, the tune’s wistful melancholy evokes the work of their fathers. The people-tinged acoustic ballad tells a easy however poignant story of fond remembrance and heartsick longing. “You disappear eternally / eternally’s a protracted phrase / however by no means’s not lengthy sufficient / to be loving you,” McCartney sings. It is a flip of phrase most songwriters would kill to put in writing — he realized from the perfect, in spite of everything.
29. Mike Campbell & the Soiled Knobs feat. Graham Nash, “Dare to Dream”
From: Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits
After many years of serving as Tom Petty’s right-hand man, former Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell has spent his previous three solo albums discovering his personal voice as a singer and bandleader. He sounds assured in his new position on “Dare to Dream,” a languid, quasi-psychedelic rocker stuffed with droning guitar licks and Campbell’s nasally sneer, which sounds greater than a bit of bit like his late accomplice’s. A visitor vocal from Graham Nash additional solidifies the tune’s ’60s pop-rock bonafides.
28. The Darkness, “The Longest Kiss”
From: Goals on Toast
The cheeky lead single off the Darkness’ 2025 album leans closely on the band’s Queen affinity, stuffed with crunchy guitar harmonies and rhythmic keys that give it a uniquely British pomp and stomp. Lead singer Justin Hawkins provides a comparatively subdued vocal efficiency, exhibiting off his well-rounded mid vary whereas constructing anticipation for the head-voice histrionics that characterize the Darkness’ most iconic songs.
27. Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, “Sea of Emotion, Pt. 1”
It appears unbelievable that Joe Satriani and Steve Vai had by no means beforehand collaborated within the studio, however they make up for misplaced time on the sprawling “Sea of Emotion, Pt. 1.” Each guitar heroes preserve the emphasis on melody and tune construction, delivering a cool jam that is filled with mini-hooks at each flip. It makes the payoff even larger after they each minimize free with their characteristically dizzying and esoteric solos.
26. Little Feat and Bonnie Raitt, “Lengthy Distance Name”
From: Lengthy Distance Name
Little Feat’s swampy rendition of Muddy Waters’ blues staple is a mixture of the acquainted and the novel. The band extends its decades-long historical past of collaborations with Bonnie Raitt, who duets evocatively with classic-era percussionist Sam Clayton in his first-ever vocal flip. You’d by no means realize it from his assured, gravelly, talk-sung efficiency — which, when mixed with Scott Sharrard’s scorching slide guitar, makes for a contemporary blues masterclass.
25. Melvins, “Working the Ditch”
From: Tarantula Coronary heart
“Working the Ditch,” the lead single off Melvins’ twenty seventh studio album Tarantula Coronary heart, finds the group working in a mode that is acquainted if not precisely accessible. The band’s sludge-metal cacophony reaches new long-form, experimental heights throughout the LP, and “Ditch” is anchored by grinding, hypnotic riffs and Buzz Osborne’s gruff, repetitive chants. The twin-drum assault of Dale Crover and Roy Mayorga concurrently provides density and looseness to their gurgling sonic stew.
24. Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Morrison and Steve Stevens, “Crack Cocaine”
From: The Morrison Challenge
Positive, you can take Billy Morrison at his phrase and browse the lyrics to “Crack Cocaine” as a metaphor for a poisonous love affair — however provided that you may divorce the monitor from Ozzy Osbourne’s legendarily debauched historical past. Nevertheless you interpret it, the tune is a basic Ozzman stomper, stuffed with chugging, Zakk Wylde-approved riffs and a livid solo from Morrison’s Billy Idol bandmate Steve Stevens. Osbourne sounds fierce and lucid as he bellows a couple of pastime that always made him behave in a less-than-dignified method.
23. Billy Idol, “Finest Manner Out of Right here”
From: Insurgent Yell (Expanded Version)
“Appears like Steve [Stevens] was very influenced by Prince,” Billy Idol mentioned when he unveiled “Finest Manner Out of Right here,” a beforehand unreleased monitor from the Insurgent Yell classes. “It’s virtually like a Prince backing monitor with Billy Idol singing.” Certainly, Stevens’ funky guitar licks and the tune’s heavy synths evoke the Purple One and different new wave contemporaries, whereas Idol’s scat-sung vocals really feel indebted to reggae — proof that the punk pinup was at his greatest when he embraced his pop instincts.
22. Dream Theater, “Night time Terror”
From: Parasomnia
Dream Theater thrilled followers after they introduced cofounding drummer Mike Portnoy’s return in 2023, and so they assuaged any lingering doubts about rekindling their previous spark with “Night time Terror.” The ten-minute behemoth that previews 2025’s Parasomnia twists and turns with blistering precision, stuffed with head-spinning guitar solos and time signatures that change on a dime. Portnoy lends to the prog-metal mayhem, however his punishing fills and slick grooves remind listeners that he is a rocker at coronary heart. It is good to have him again.
21. Slash feat. Brian Johnson and Steven Tyler, “Killing Ground”
From: Orgy of the Damned
Twenty-five years after retiring Slash’s Blues Ball, the guitarist lastly dedicated his love of the style to report together with his all-star covers album Orgy of the Damned. He is squarely in his consolation zone on this cowl of Howlin’ Wolf’s electrical blues staple, ripping fast-and-loose solos and locking into a simple groove together with his bandmates. Brian Johnson delights with a soulful vocal showcasing his husky low register, and a visitor harmonica efficiency from Steven Tyler provides further grit and gravitas.
20. Sheryl Crow feat. Tom Morello, “Evolution”
From: Evolution
Sheryl Crow continues to be able to the identical easy cool that shot her to stardom within the ’90s, however she tackles headier subject material on “Evolution,” a moody rocker in regards to the risks of synthetic intelligence left unchecked. As a 30-year music business veteran, Crow’s confusion and dismay over listening to “a tune that appeared like one thing I wrote” on the radio ring particularly poignant. A futuristic solo from Tom Morello drives residence the purpose that some eccentricities cannot be manufactured.
19. Eddie Vedder, “Room on the High”
From: Unhealthy Monkey soundtrack
Eddie Vedder had been overlaying Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Room on the High” for years earlier than releasing a studio model for Apple TV+’s Unhealthy Monkey soundtrack. His affection for the late rocker is clear in his plaintive vocal, and Andrew Watt’s punchy manufacturing provides the monitor a extra anthemic really feel. This mix of melancholy and muscle is second nature to Vedder. With mentors like Petty, it is easy to see why.
18. Ace Frehley, “Walkin’ on the Moon”
From: 10,000 Volts
On 10,000 Volts, Ace Frehley sticks largely to what he is aware of greatest: catchy, three-chord exhausting rock with a chewy pop middle. “Walkin’ on the Moon” exemplifies this system with its swaggering cowbell groove, gigantic energy chords and a assured vocal efficiency from the Spaceman. Is this a part of Frehley’s private UFO testimony, or only a love letter to old school rock ‘n’ roll? Both manner, it soars.
17. MC5 feat. Tom Morello, “Heavy Lifting”
From: Heavy Lifting
MC5 posthumously launched Heavy Lifting a whopping 53 years after their sophomore album, 1971’s Excessive Time. That huge hole explains why Wayne Kramer’s newest star-studded endeavor typically bears little resemblance to the band’s glory days. Nonetheless, the late bandleader sounds invigorated throughout the mission, particularly the Tom Morello-assisted title monitor, a raucous slab of metallic funk that evokes the sound and fury of each collaborators’ heydays. A becoming farewell to one among rock’s undisputed heavyweights.
16. Bruce Dickinson, “Rain on the Graves”
From: The Mandrake Challenge
Far be it from Bruce Dickinson to take the trail of least resistance. The Iron Maiden frontman’s first solo album in 19 years, The Mandrake Challenge, is one other high-concept epic about abuse, id, energy struggles and the occult. Pre-release single “Rain on the Graves” combines Dickinson’s operatic vocals and tongue-in-cheek theatrics with muscular riffs and propulsive grooves. In spite of everything this time, he nonetheless sounds out for blood.
15. The Smashing Pumpkins, “Sighommi”
From: Aghori Mhori Mei
The Smashing Pumpkins’ catalog is a examine in duality, alternating between explosive, metallic exhausting rock and shimmering, experimental art-pop. “Sighommi,” the lead single off Aghori Mhori Mei, lands within the former class, stuffed with lithe grooves and bone-crunching guitar chugs. Billy Corgan’s melodic sneer is the cherry on prime, giving “Sighommi” an intangible sense of longing whilst its guitars crash like waves towards the rocky shore.
14. Mark Knopfler, “Forward of the Sport”
From: One Deep River
Mark Knopfler conquered the globe many years in the past with Dire Straits, however on “Forward of the Sport,” he makes taking part in within the noisy again room of the neighborhood pub sound like probably the most superb endeavor on the planet. The singer and guitarist delivers his tried-and-true strand of laidback pop-rock, slick however removed from sterile, as he sprinkles in blues and nation licks with easy panache. “We’re worn out and weary, all of us / However we all know why we got here,” Knopfler croons, sounding like a person who is aware of some cosmic secret the remainder of us are nonetheless attempting to determine.
13. Billy Joel, “Flip the Lights Again On”
Non-album single
Billy Joel deserted pop music after 1993’s River of Goals, satisfied he had nothing left to say. Thirty-one years later, he returned with “Flip the Lights Again On,” a reflective piano ballad on which he brazenly wonders if he is missed his window of alternative. The tune captures Joel in basic ’70s balladeering mode, his voice weathered however nonetheless strong. The rapturous reception to the tune’s reside debut on the 2024 Grammys squashed any doubts whether or not the general public would nonetheless embrace him.
12. Stevie Nicks, “The Lighthouse”
Non-album single
Stevie Nicks wrote “The Lighthouse” shortly after Roe v. Wade was overturned, feeling compelled “to face up for the ladies of the USA and their daughters and granddaughters — and the boys that love them.” It is a rally name from the bounce, with Nicks exhorting girls to embrace their scars and by no means let the villains of the world strip them of their energy. She sounds heat and welcoming within the verses, a kindred spirit and nurturer. However when the refrain kicks in, a change flips: She turns into a warrior and protector, imploring listeners to “see the longer term and get mad.” Hell hath no fury like a rock goddess scorned.
11. Sebastian Bach, “Everyone Bleeds”
From: Youngster Throughout the Man
The titles of “Everyone Bleeds” and accompanying album Youngster Throughout the Man counsel that Sebastian Bach has gained some hard-earned knowledge and a contemporary perspective. However do not suppose for a second that the previous Skid Row frontman has softened with age. “Everyone Bleeds” is a bludgeoning metallic anthem, filled with catchy riffs, titanic drums and Bach’s full-throttle screams. If everyone bleeds, burns and drowns ultimately, Bach sounds decided to go down swinging.
10. The Smile, “Good friend of a Good friend”
From: Wall of Eyes
Is it a copout to say “Good friend of a Good friend” sounds positively Beatlesque? The Radiohead offshoot did report its sophomore album at Abbey Street Studios, and the album’s third single is a twisting art-rock odyssey, anchored by Tom Skinner’s lithe drumming and Thom Yorke’s lilting vocals. The lyrics had been impressed by footage of Italian individuals singing on their balconies throughout the COVID-19 lockdowns; the climactic string swells provide a cathartic rebuke to the concern and isolation wrought by the pandemic. But “Good friend of a Good friend” ends on a be aware of uncertainty — a warning towards complacency and an interrogation of who advantages in occasions of international disaster.
9. Pearl Jam, “Darkish Matter”
From: Darkish Matter
The title monitor to Pearl Jam’s twelfth album goes straight for the jugular with martial percussion, fist-pumping riffs and savage call-and-response vocals from Eddie Vedder. It is a sweaty, breathless efficiency that harks again to the band’s mid-’90s heyday. Producer Andrew Watt provides the tune a contemporary, gut-punching sheen, and Mike McCready’s scorching guitar solo proves the alt-rock giants have misplaced none of their chunk.
8. The Black Keys, “Stunning Individuals (Keep Excessive)”
From: Ohio Gamers
The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney way back dropped the pretense of working as a duo, and “Stunning Individuals (Keep Excessive)” sounds like a big-budget alt-rock anthem befitting its seven credited co-writers, most notably Beck. That is not essentially a nasty factor: The “na na na” backing vocals and auxiliary brass and keyboard contributions elevate the tune’s funky blues-rock strut. It will not be a literal arena-sized banger, nevertheless it’s the work of a band that proudly busted out of the storage a very long time in the past.
7. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, “When the Levee Breaks”
Non-album single
Few basic rock titans have found out how you can reinvent their previous songs as successfully as Robert Plant. Along with Alison Krauss, the previous Led Zeppelin frontman affords one other tackle the Memphis Minnie blues tune, reimagining it as an unique, elemental dirge. Plant’s husky vocals lend an air of desperation to the efficiency, whereas Krauss’ evocative violin work nods briefly to Zeppelin’s “Pals” earlier than propelling the tune to a climactic rootsy stomp.
6. Inexperienced Day, “1981”
From: Saviors
Ever since 2004’s American Fool revitalized their profession, Inexperienced Day has fought (and sometimes succumbed to) the temptation to show each mission right into a massively bold endeavor. Even Saviors was touted as their long-awaited reunion with longtime producer Rob Cavallo, and the third installment in a non secular trilogy additionally comprising Dookie and American Fool. Fortunately, Inexperienced Day tamps down these outsize urges on the brash “1981,” a back-to-basics punk anthem stuffed with blunt-force energy chords and singalong choruses. It is Inexperienced Day similar to you keep in mind them — one model, at the very least.
5. David Gilmour, “The Piper’s Name”
From: Luck and Unusual
“The Piper’s Name” is a cautionary story in regards to the perils of fame from any person who’s spent greater than half a century conserving the hounds at bay. The contemplative monitor begins with delicate acoustic guitar strums and a hushed vocal from David Gilmour, who warns that you simply “cannot undo the voodoo that you simply do” and implores listeners to “keep away from snakes.” The tune builds step by step and climaxes with a smoldering guitar solo — the proverbial North Star that is all the time righted Gilmour when the business threatened to steer him astray.
4. Judas Priest, “The Serpent and the King”
From: Invincible Defend
In order for you progressive grandeur or epic balladry, there are many songs in Judas Priest’s catalog to satiate your urge for food. “The Serpent and the King” shouldn’t be one among them. The Metallic Gods serve four-and-a-half minutes of unadulterated, ass-kicking heavy metallic, anchored by rapid-fire riffs, double-kick drum commotion and Rob Halford’s siren-like wail. It is an epic story of fine versus evil, delivered with the venom of the serpent and the authority of the king.
3. Jack White, “That is How I am Feeling”
From: No Identify
Jack White soared to stardom as a blues-rock revivalist, however his actual superpower has all the time been his means to imbue these garage-rock rave-ups with unabashed pop hooks. Working example: “That is How I am Feeling,” the lead single off his guerilla-released No Identify. White’s feral yelp cuts via the jagged guitars, however the loud-soft dynamics and dance floor-ready beat give it an irresistible earworm high quality. White has no enterprise sounding this important 25 years after the White Stripes launched their debut album. However we’re not complaining.
2. The Black Crowes, “Wanting and Ready”
From: Happiness Bastards
There’s one thing exhilarating about a few seasoned professionals choosing up proper the place they left off and sounding no worse for put on. That is the case on “Wanting and Ready,” the lead single off Happiness Bastards, the Black Crowes’ first studio album in 15 years. Brothers Chris and Wealthy Robinson serve up their patented blues-rock boogie with soul and swagger, combining sassy vocals and scorching riffs with smoky keyboard prospers and poppy hand claps. Fellas, we beg you: Do not go away us wanting and ready for one more 15 years.
1. The Treatment, “Alone”
From: Songs of a Misplaced World
The Treatment’s first album in 16 years takes its time getting began. “That is the top of each tune that we sing,” Robert Smith croons three and a half minutes into opening monitor and lead single “Alone.” It is a majestic and introspective sluggish burn, teeing up an album that concurrently sums up the band’s profession whereas additionally pushing them into uncharted territory. Smith summons a “broken-voiced lament to name us residence,” however at 65, he sounds as craving and highly effective as ever.
High 25 Rock Albums of 2024
As soon as once more, stories of the style’s dying have been significantly exaggerated.
Gallery Credit score: Michael Gallucci
