Top 10 80s Rock Anthems

WatchMojo

These 80s anthems rock! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the 80s rock songs that make us raise our fists and yell!

Transcript

00:00 "Live and we must fall, one love and one for all, the rising sun to wall"

00:06 Welcome to WatchMojo!

00:08 And today we're counting down our picks for the 80's rock songs that make us raise

00:12 our fists and yell!

00:14 "Mighty is calling, I have to go, don't be sorry, you watch this show"

00:23 Number 10.

00:24 Dr. Feelgood - Motley Crue Kings of the Sunset Strip, Motley Crue have

00:29 no shortage of heavy metal anthems.

00:31 However, it's seriously impressive that the band was able to craft songs this excellent.

00:42 Both Dr. Feelgood and fellow banger Kickstart My Heart are heavy, high-octane affairs.

00:47 The sort of songs that immediately evoke a memorable time and place.

00:51 Specifically, Dr. Feelgood chugs along at a sinister mid-pace, achieving heaviness without

00:57 skimping on major hooks and sleaze.

01:02 Meanwhile, the music video is a mini-epic, with frontman Vince Neil commanding listeners'

01:11 attention as the song's cautionary tale ends in bullets, fire and lots of explosions.

01:24 Number 9.

01:25 Ace of Spades - Motorhead Motorhead's Ace of Spades may just squeeze

01:31 into our criteria in the year 1980, but the song's influence as an iconic hard rock

01:37 and heavy metal anthem remains secure.

01:47 There's an electricity to Ace of Spades that takes hold right from Lemmy Kilmister's

01:51 overblown bass tone to that sandpaper guitar riff from fast Eddie Clark.

01:56 Add to this sonic stew the maniacal drums of Phil "Filthy Animal" Taylor, and you

02:01 have a recipe for a take-no-prisoners sonic assault.

02:09 Lemmy's fatalistic lyrics about gambling and wild west danger lend Ace of Spades a

02:14 conceptual atmosphere that's analogous to hard rock's unpredictability as the '70s

02:20 gave way to a new decade.

02:22 What remained constant, you may ask?

02:24 Well, Motorhead and their no-BS brand of rock and roll.

02:33 Number 8.

02:34 You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC If Motorhead was leading the heavy charge

02:40 in 1980, then consider AC/DC's Back in Black LP as a re-energized statement of intent.

02:49 "I'm the best damn woman that I ever seen."

02:54 The Australian legends were still reeling from their loss of their inimitable frontman

02:59 Bon Scott.

03:00 Yet it was Back in Black and songs like "You Shook Me All Night Long" that helped prove

03:04 AC/DC could soldier on with new singer Brian Johnson at the helm.

03:21 If that album's opening track, "Hell's Bells" possessed demonic intentions, then

03:25 You Shook Me All Night Long is the party-time respite that helped AC/DC re-enter the charts

03:31 with a vengeance.

03:32 It's a duck-walking, fist-pumping exercise in radio-friendly, anthemic rock that continues

03:38 to get AC/DC fans all riled up.

03:54 Number 7.

03:56 Youth Gone Wild - Skid Row A good song is a good song regardless of era,

04:01 style, or extraneous trappings.

04:12 Youth Gone Wild is truly one of the all-time greats, too.

04:15 A heavy metal anthem from one of the 1980s' most influential groups, Skid Row.

04:20 Much of the attention paid to Youth Gone Wild, deservedly so, falls to singer Sebastian Bach.

04:25 He is, quite simply, the man, and possesses a voice that embodies power, emotion, grace,

04:32 and humor.

04:37 However, the songwriting of Skid members Dave "Snake" Sabo and Rachel Bolan also can't

04:46 be denied as the glue that helps make Youth Gone Wild work so well.

04:50 The textured arrangements and attention to detail are 100% there, and Youth Gone Wild

04:55 as a result transcends the 80s to last forever.

05:03 Number 6.

05:04 Paradise City - Guns N' Roses Here's a question.

05:09 Does it matter that the main riff from Guns N' Roses' Paradise City sounds remarkably

05:13 similar to Zero the Hero by Black Sabbath?

05:16 Maybe, but we also doubt that this revelation will hurt this GNR classic from ruling radio

05:22 roosts for decades to come.

05:34 That's because it's a song that's become synonymous with Guns N' Roses as a brand.

05:38 A song they almost always have to play, and one that always gets a rabid reaction.

05:50 The aforementioned riff, heisted or not, keeps Paradise City going for the most part.

05:57 But the real kicker is during the final act, when the pace is stepped up and GNR go for

06:02 broke.

06:03 It's classic stuff.

06:19 Number 5.

06:20 Peace Sells - Megadeth Thrash fans know this one right from that

06:25 iconic bassline.

06:27 Heck, people who never even heard of Megadeth might know Peace Sells from its long-time

06:32 use during MTV's Music News Briefs.

06:42 Beyond this bit of trivia, this title track from Megadeth's sophomore album, Peace Sells

06:47 But Who's Buying, hangs its creative hat on something we're calling the Mustaine Shuffle.

06:52 It's an approach Megadeth main man Dave Mustaine historically uses often for his riffs.

06:57 And there are few who chug and crunch in quite the same way.

07:07 Peace Sells really hits its stride when it breaks away from this shuffling rhythm, however,

07:12 hitting the thrash gas for some lightning fast solos and a chorus that still kills.

07:17 So many years later.

07:27 Number 4.

07:28 Rock You Like A Hurricane - Scorpions Germany's Scorpions were actually doing just

07:34 fine for themselves prior to the 1980s, enjoying a reputation as one of their country's finest

07:39 progressive krautrock exports.

07:41 However, heavy metal came calling in a big way for the group as the 70s headed into the

07:47 creative rear view.

07:55 Rock You Like A Hurricane is very much indicative of the musical path Scorpions have trod from

08:00 that point to the modern day.

08:02 A muscular and riff-focused Metallica salt.

08:20 Twin harmony leads, anthemic choruses, savage riffing, it's all there and laser-focused

08:25 to its most commercial potential for a decade that liked things loud and heavy.

08:30 Sure, Scorpions weren't really a prog band anymore, but that mattered little to their

08:35 new legions of head-banging faithful.

08:51 Number 3.

08:52 Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne Put those pitchforks away for the time being.

08:57 We know that Crazy Train isn't Ozzy Osbourne's best song, not by a long shot in fact.

09:03 However, its status as an anthem and calling card for the former Black Sabbath singer is

09:08 undeniable.

09:13 There's a hokeyness to that opening riff that's immediately recognizable by even those completely

09:19 unfamiliar with hard rock and heavy metal.

09:27 The creative flowers here definitely need to be laid at the feet of the dear and departed

09:31 Randy Rhoads, whose axe-slinging skills laid the groundwork for Ozzy to become the icon

09:36 he is today.

09:37 Rhoads may be gone, but the contributions he made on songs like Crazy Train live forever.

09:50 Number 2.

09:51 Run to the Hills - Iron Maiden We're on a similar line of thinking as Ozzy

10:03 with this one.

10:04 A tried and true heavy metal anthem that's most definitely not a deep track.

10:09 Still, Iron Maiden's Run to the Hills was, for many, a gateway drug for the intoxicating

10:14 bliss that was heavy metal back in the 1980s.

10:18 So that's gotta count for something, right?

10:20 Racist and songwriter Steve Harris leans into this trademark gallop for all it's worth

10:25 as Run to the Hills makes its presence felt.

10:38 It's then-freshly acquired singer Bruce Dickinson that really steals the show here, however,

10:43 howling with abandon and ferocity as if his life depended on it.

10:47 Love it or hate it, Run to the Hills is an undeniable rocker.

11:06 Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

11:10 Dream Warriors - Dokken A hair metal horror anthem

11:23 Transformers - Lion The most epic animated intro ever

11:34 Nothin' but a good time - Poison The United States of Pop Metal

11:45 Metal Health - Bang Your Head Quiet Riots - Heavy Metal Enters the Charts

11:59 Round and Round - Rats Sleaze and style collide on the Sunset Strip

12:27 Master of Puppets - Metallica Who said an anthem needs to compromise anything

12:34 in order to connect with the masses?

12:36 If someone did, nobody told Metallica because worldwide dominance and success came to them,

12:42 not the other way around.

12:51 How else can we explain a world where a song as heavy, complex and brazenly metallic can

12:56 enter the pop culture zeitgeist of a show like Stranger Things?

13:00 It speaks largely to how closely Metallica's songwriting reflected a perfectionist's desire

13:05 and an almost maddening attention to detail.

13:16 This is meticulous thrash metal composed with an ear for classical bass structures and arrangements

13:22 that always service the song, as opposed to any personal indulgences of the musicians

13:27 involved.

13:28 In other words, it's perfect.

13:38 What 1980s rock song pumps you up?

13:56 Let us know in the comments.

14:06 (dramatic music)

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