As soon as I saw the first mention of King Crimson in your post my mind went right to this…I felt stoned just cuing up the clip. I haven’t listened to this in so long.
Here’s one of mine. I know this is a bit odd, but I used to listen to these couple of notes over and over. Just after they say “Hey, teachers, leave them kids alone” you see David play 12 notes/chords. The last 8…love them. I don’t know what it is about those, but something special happens there (for me).
One more. The transistion in Whole Lotta Love from the point where the drums start until Robert starts singing again.
Okay, one more…I can’t really pick one part of this song, but there is an amazing guitar solo (which turns into a brass section solo) towards the end…I give you…are you ready…25 or 6 to 4
Tried to explain to a daughter the other day that, for once we weren’t high. It was just a guess as to what time it was. She didn’t believe me.
Honest to God, there were points your parents were not entirely clear what time it was. Especially in the 70s.
When Chuck Berry told us Johnny “could play a guitar just like a ringin’ a bell”.
It told us that it didn’t matter what else you knew or didn’t know as long as you could play a guitar. Plenty of subsequent rockers based their entire lives on that principle.
Go Your Own Way from 2:38 to the end.
From Metallica’s “One”:
Darkness imprisoning me
All that I see
Absolute horror
I cannot live
I cannot die
Trapped in myself
Body my holding cell
Those lyrics, plus the awesome drums and guitars emulating machine gun fire, is one of the best moments in all of hard rock.
“Remember…What the DORMOUSE SAID…FEED YOUR HEAAAD! FEED YOUR HEAAAAD!”
“Misirlou” by Dick Dale (is that the correct name?), but better known nowadays as the theme music for “Pulp Fiction.”
The organ solo intro to the Band’s song Chest Fever
Badge by Cream, right after the line about the kid who’s married to Mabel. There’s a pause, then Clapton’s riff breaks over the top and a few bars later, the drums and bass kick in.
Through the years, Clapton’s made the pause longer, sometimes with a bass rumble to build anticipation…and the crowd goes wild.
Clapton’s Layla, in particular the tacked on piano piece at the end (IIRC originally written as an entirely different song) – the piano section, for me, is one of the most emotionally evocative musical passages ever.
The B-52s Rock Lobster is the only song that will get me dancing (okay, jumping around like an idiot, but still…).
Martha and the Vandellas – both Dancing in the Street and Nowhere to Run. There are aren’t enough great adjectives. Both absolute iconic songs.
Merrilee Rush’s Angel of the Morning – very, er, influential on a teenaged boy – the idea of a sexually enthusiastic and independent woman.
The Ramones I wanna Be Sedated – I can’t explain why I love this song, except I felt for most of my life I would have preferred to be sedated. 
Rare Earth’s I Just Want to Celebrate – really a tremendous shout out for joy and life (yeah, forget that bullshit I just said about the Ramones!)
Robert Palmer’s Addicted to Love – maybe the sexiest music video ever.
Tom Petty’s I Won’t Back Down – kind of my personal anthem. Hell, I don’t even stand up very often, but when I do…
To agree with some others, The Who has the two most powerful rock songs ever – the terribly named Baba O’Riley, and Won’t Get Fooled Again. I want the latter to be our new National Anthem.
Back then Gracie used her pipes instead of a microphone. And she had fleshy backup. And had been a Vogue model. I’ll be in my bunk.
Van “The Man” Morrison with Caravan in the “Last Waltz” concert/movie - especially when he signals for the final horn riff at 3:57.
A Day in the Life, the final buildup, the final chord.
Tomorrow Never Knows, John’s final verse.
Abbey Road, final 15-odd minutes.
Janis. Piece of My Heart.
…you know you got it WOAHHW!
Specifically, the last song of the evening - a cover of Leadbelly’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” - when he changes octave for the last verse. It’s such a raw, anguished moment that no only was I not surprised he shot himself a few weeks later, I was surprised he didn’t shoot himself while he was performing.
This(CMOA starts at 3:45).
I’ve always thought of the guitar solo in The Knack’s “My Sharona” as pretty awesome.
So here’s this band, which might as well be a garage band, plodding through a hard-driving rock number. Yeah, we’ve heard it all before. And then, the song just takes off! It’s the guitar solo, and suddenly, this band is a contender.
We heard little else from them, but damn! What they did in this rock song, at a time when new wave was rising and disco was dying, was nothing short of brilliant, IMHO. It was a “screw you,” in a way, and I think it was pretty awesome.
Check out the YouTube rendition, with the guitar solo starting at 2:47 here.
So odd…after 25 years of not even thinking about this, I’ve been listening to it almost daily for the last month. Unfortunately it may not fit into the OP’s category because there doesn’t seem to be a non-awesome moment in it…but I’ll keep looking!
Don McLean “Eight miles high and falling faaaaaaaast.” Most awesome moment in an awesome song.
All the a cappella moments in Billy Joel’s Only The Good Die Young.
About 2 months ago I was driving home and “The Longest Time” came on…I’ve heard that song a million times…I don’t think I ever noticed it was almost completely a capella. If you haven’t noticed, listen to it again with that in mind.
The Longest Time is good, but Only The Good Die Young is very hard rock. How many people can do hard rock a cappella?
Joel doesn’t get enough credit for his work, but that’s another thread.
Oh yeah!
All right!
Are you gonna be in my dreams
tonight?