I like songs that get off to a good start, not ones where I have to fast forward to 1:00 to see what it’s all about. Here are some that come to mind:
Evenflow - Pearl Jam
Stranglehold - Ted Nuggent
Bad to the Bone - George Thorogood
Lust for Life - Iggy Pop
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
Immigrant Song - Zepplin
Rock and Roll - Zepplin . - Zepplin (Ok, not Stairway)
I Love Rock and Roll - Joan Jett
Fortunate Son - CCR
Miserlou - Dick Dale
What’d I leave out?
(I was going to include Won’t Get Fooled Again by the Who but I gave it a quick listen and it’s got that annoying organ part at the beginning)
“Enter Sandman” by Metallica (as much as it pains me to say it)
“Metal Health” by Quiet Riot
“Question” by the Moody Blues
“Overture 1928” by Dream Theater (well, the whole song’s basically an intro to “Strange Deja-Vu”, but it still kicks ass)
“Tom Sawyer” by Rush - very sinister
“Anarchy X” by Queensryche
Layla is a good call.
If we’re talking Zep, I’d add Heartbreaker.
Just to throw out another classic, Hendrix’s Purple Haze has to be there. So do Foxey Lady and the lesser-known Message to Love.
Tool’s Sober has a very threatening bass intro. So does Whipping Post by the Allmans.
I’m not a big fan of Van Halen’s cover of You Really Got Me, but I think the intro sounds great (I’m talking about the real intro, not Eruption. I like the tone).
Lightning Bar Blues by Hanoi Rocks
She Is My Sin by Nightwish (Still makes me go Yeah! Yeah! YEAAAAAH! in a Beavis voice)
I love the opening riff to What’s the Frequency Kenneth? by R.E.M.
Suckerpunch by the Wildhearts
A Perfect Circle does an amazing cover of Diary of a Madman/Lovesong with the usual cool opening.
“Smoke on the water” - Deep purple
“Detroit rock city” - KISS
“Aint talking 'bout love” -Van Halen
“Electric eye” - Judas priest
“Baby I’ma want you” - Bread (just kidding:D)
“Foreplay/Long time” - Boston
The intro catches my attention right away because of the irregular rhythm (it’s either a 7/4 measure, or more likely alternating 3/4 and 4/4 measures).
Not exactly at the precise beginning, but when I heard Mark Knopfler kick that opening guitar riff on Dire Strait’s Money for Nothing for the first time, I was incredibly pleased.
Cocaine by Clapton is also tasty, particularly the crowd picking up on it halfway through the opening riff in the live version.
Saturday Night Special by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and of course Sweet Home Alabama with the added bonus of the lead singer saying “Toin it up!”
Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple
Harden My Heart by Quarterflash
Ticket to Ride and I Feel Fine are two of The Beatles best openings, IMHO
and the beat goes on…(wouldn’t this thread’s list make an incredible road music CD?)
Yeah, me too. And of course “Won’t Get Fooled Again” has a seriously kickass intro, too…and then, as I scroll back through the thread, I see the OP disagrees with me. Well, I don’t care. I like the organ part at the beginning.
