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It has been said that AC/DC only sings about four things; f**king, rocking, Hell and balls.  And while most of their songs are in one way or another about sex, a not insubstantial amount of their catalog deals with rock n’ roll music and the act of rocking itself. Funnily enough, the actual term “rock n’ roll” is also a euphemism for having sex, so I guess in the end they really are all about f**king. Besides the ones about Hell and balls that is, but I digress. The point is, AC/DC are if not the greatest rock band of all time, certainly the most rocking and the one that has sung the most times about rock n’ roll. Like, on almost every album. Hell, three of their albums even have the word “Rock” in their title, including their latest, Rock Or Bust, which is due out next month and contains another three songs about rock and / or rocking. So the time has now come to rank every AC/DC song with the word “rock” in the title, from the most rocking to the not-quite-as-rocking-as-the-preceding-songs-but-still-pretty-goddamn-rocking-next-to-most-things. There’s 18 of them in all, so let’s get rockin.’ Read more…

Not every band can be Led Zeppelin or The Beatles or The Jimi Hendrix Experience and immediately make rock history and find fame with their debut album. Many groups we now consider legendary toiled away for years in relative obscurity or achieved cult success, gradually building their fan-bases until one gold album launched them into the stratosphere. Several of the following artists even considered breaking up before finally breaking big; after all, when you put as much work as these bands did into promoting, touring and crafting your own signature style, there’s a point where you just don’t know where it’s all going. But, oh did it go somewhere, to say the least. Whether it’s U2’s The Unforgettable Fire, Rush’s Moving Pictures or Queen’s A Night at the Opera, these groups reached superstar status with one single album – breakthrough successes that contained their biggest hits to date and solidified them as rock legends. Here are 15 historic rock albums that broke the band.

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60 years ago today, one of the greatest frontmen in the history of rock n’ roll let out his first cry and he’s been making noise ever since. David Lee Roth made his bones as a member of legendary Southern California band Van Halen who forever changed hard rock with their boisterous party anthems and the over the top personalities. Only an exhibitionist of epic proportions could share the stage with Eddie Van Halen, whose technique and tone revolutionized electric guitar playing, and DLR perfectly fit the bill with his mane of bleach blonde hair, shirt agape, loud screams and absolutely hilarious on stage banter.

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Today would have been the 70th birthday of John Entwistle, the groundbreaking bass guitarist for legendary classic rockers The Who who died in 2002. Entwistle redefined the role of the bass in rock music and changed the way the instrument sounded and was played. His lead breaks on the band’s 1965 anthem “My Generation” may or may not be the first bass solo on a rock n’ roll record, however it is the most well known and possibly the best. And though it took a couple years to catch up, others soon followed suit, inspired by “The Ox”’s aggressive playing style and impressive musicianship. From fellow travellers like Jack Bruce and Tim Bogart through to present day bass ragers Billy Sheehan and Les Claypool, thanks to Entwistle’s innovations the bass guitar is no longer banished to the back of the bandstand. Celebrate John Entwistle’s birthday today and check 15 of the greatest bass guitar solos in rock history.

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