The Best Rock Songs

Rock songs ranked by how few beers they need to sound good. Rock is the largest part of the catalogue, so this is also the most crowded chart: stadium anthems, grunge, punk and the occasional power ballad all fighting for the same places.

Top 25 of 108 songs with at least 10 ratings. Ranked by average beer score on a 0 to 11 scale.

1
Come as You Are
Nirvana
That guitar tone is worth two beers on its own.
1.4beers24 ratings
2
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Nirvana
You either get it sober or never.
1.5beers34 ratings
3
Hey Jude
The Beatles
The na-na-nas run four minutes. Pace your beers accordingly.
1.5beers39 ratings
4
Come Together
The Beatles
The bassline does all the work and knows it.
1.7beers34 ratings
5
Stairway to Heaven
Led Zeppelin
Eight minutes that every guitar shop on earth has banned.
1.8beers36 ratings
6
Something
The Beatles
Harrison's best song, and the other three knew it.
1.8beers25 ratings
7
Light My Fire
The Doors
The organ solo goes on forever and should go on longer.
1.8beers17 ratings
8
Johnny B. Goode
Chuck Berry
The riff that started all of it. Zero beers required, ever.
1.9beers23 ratings
9
Wishlist
Pearl Jam
The most gentle Vedder has ever allowed himself to be.
1.9beers16 ratings
10
Black Hole Sun
Soundgarden
The chorus is gorgeous and the video was terrifying.
1.9beers38 ratings
11
Yesterday
The Beatles
The most covered song ever written. There is a reason.
1.9beers27 ratings
12
About a Girl
Nirvana
Proof Cobain could write a pop song and rather resented it.
2.0beers28 ratings
13
Better Man
Pearl Jam
A genuinely brutal song disguised as a singalong.
2.1beers21 ratings
14
In Bloom
Nirvana
A song mocking the people who love it. They love it anyway.
2.2beers29 ratings
15
Lithium
Nirvana
The quiet-loud-quiet blueprint, executed perfectly.
2.2beers34 ratings
16
Even Flow
Pearl Jam
That solo is McCready showing off, and he earned the right.
2.2beers24 ratings
17
Bohemian Rhapsody
Queen
Sober masterpiece. Drunk masterpiece. There is no wrong beer count here.
2.2beers47 ratings
18
Heart-Shaped Box
Nirvana
The weirdest thing to ever get daytime radio play. Beautiful.
2.3beers25 ratings
19
Another Brick in the Wall
Pink Floyd
A children's choir telling teachers off. Still undefeated.
2.3beers30 ratings
20
Basket Case
Green Day
Anxiety, three chords and one hell of a hook.
2.6beers35 ratings
21
Comfortably Numb
Pink Floyd
Two solos. The second one is why beers exist.
2.6beers21 ratings
22
A Day in the Life
The Beatles
That orchestral build is worth the entire six-pack.
2.6beers31 ratings
23
I Want to Break Free
Queen
Freddie in a dress with a vacuum cleaner. Pure cinema.
2.7beers43 ratings
24
Here Comes the Sun
The Beatles
The first warm day of the year, in song form.
2.7beers30 ratings
25
It's Now or Never
Elvis Presley
The King doing opera. Somehow it lands.
2.8beers25 ratings