Top 10 Hard Rock Songs of the '80s

1. Tesla - "Modern Day Cowboy"

Built on some fantastic riffing and a powerful twin-guitar attack, this somewhat futuristic-sounding offering from Tesla's 1986 debut release, Mechanical Resonance (Compare Prices), still stands as the band's finest moment. The quintet never quite fit into the pop-metal strain in vogue at the time, projecting something intriguing and distinctive in its sound as well as in its place of origin, Sacramento instead of Los Angeles. This solid track likewise stood a breed apart from its rock radio peers of the time in the sense that it actually rocked hard. My only complaint would be Jeff Keith's somewhat thin voice.

2. Dokken - "Into the Fire"

This L.A. band transcended its hair metal visual image and propensity toward sappy romantic lyrics for one reason and one reason only: the contributions of guitarist George Lynch. Without Lynch's powerful, imaginative riffing and speedy, exhilarating solos, this band would have never escaped the heap of moderately talented melodic metal bands of the mid-'80s. After all, Don Dokken's vocals never really exceeded competence, though his sense of melody was strong. No, it's all about Lynch, and on this track his gorgeous solo still shines as one of the most dazzling in all of '80s hard rock's considerable fretwork.

3. Guns N' Roses - "It's So Easy"

When trying to cull one song from probably the best hard rock album by the best hard rock band of the '80s, I could have picked any of a dozen tracks and not gone wrong. I choose this one, however, because it's the best approximation of the menace, threat and breakneck assault Guns N' Roses delivered in its blend of old-school hard rock, metal and punk. And it's not just Axl Rose's liberal use of profanity and confrontational lyrics that brings a consistent sense of danger; the entire band starts a collective sonic riot that sounds as fresh and exciting today as it did 20 years ago when the L.A. quintet emerged.

4. Metallica - "Master of Puppets"

In my mind, metal in the '80s never seemed more broodingly gothic, precise or intelligent than in the work of Metallica, one of the most important of America's thrash pioneers. The San Francisco-area quartet deliberately stayed quite removed from L.A.'s sunset strip scene, developing a speedy and brutal sonic assault informed by both punk and classical influences. This epic track from the band's 1986 classic album of the same name crystallized perfectly all of Metallica's originality and sonic intensity from prime ingredients like James Hetfield's distinctive growl and crunching riffs.

5. Motorhead - "Ace of Spades"

If Metallica represented the refined, intellectual side of speed metal, England's Motorhead went for the jugular with a biker-bar, broken-bottle-attack kind of ferocity. This 1980 title track to one of the band's signature albums simply pummels the listener with uncontrolled riffing, a merciless rhythmic assault and the throat-ripping vocal exploits of Lemmy. Hard rock literally can't get much harder than this, even when the music stops about halfway through for one of metal's all-time classic lines: "You know I'm going to lose and gambling's for fools, but that's the way I like it, baby, I don't wanna live forever."

6. Iron Maiden - "Flight of Icarus"

Well, of course there's going to be a song on this list from Iron Maiden, the perfect manifestation of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Deciding which one, however, is both the hard part and the fun part. I've always been a huge fan of this tight, melodic track that chronicles a key tale from Greek mythology with economy and dramatic tension. The song's musical attributes are plentiful as well, from the familiar, galloping rhythm section to the twin-guitar attack of Adrian Smith and Dave Murray. But lead singer Bruce Dickinson's primal wail at the end of the song truly puts this one over the top.

7. Judas Priest - "Don't Have to Be Old to Be Wise"

Here's another curveball for you, a sleeper track from this other great British metal band's masterpiece, 1980's British Steel. There are plenty of more prominent Judas Priest tracks to settle on for this list, but I like this one because its quality proves beyond a doubt that some heavy metal was of high enough quality to generate deep album cuts that deserve to be revered as classics. Frontman Rob Halford's vocal performance here is typically powerful and impressively piercing, and the twin guitars of K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton always work incredibly well on both riffing and solos.

8. Queensryche - "Breaking the Silence"

Genuine hard rock received a real threat from the dominion of hair metal during the late '80s, but luckily bands like Guns N' Roses, Tesla and Queensryche maintained the form's punishing sonic integrity through each band's distinctive sound. This Seattle band worked effectively as an outsider, injecting elements of progressive metal into a cerebral concept album of melodic hard rock, 1988's Operation: Mindcrime. This track effectively spotlights the group's strengths: precise, often complex songwriting, dense dual guitars, and the powerful vocals of frontman Geoff Tate. A hard rock classic of any era.

9. Scorpions - "I'm Leaving You"

Germany's Scorpions became hugely popular in America during the mid-'80s, riding in on a wave of melodic, slightly operatic metal that always remained highly accessible for mass audiences. There are several of the band's tunes more well-known than this fine album track from 1984's Love at First Sting, but I don't know if there any that are better. The band has been known to rock harder than on this mid-tempo track, but I've always felt the group is at its best when its approach is more deliberate and lingering. This one doesn't have the fury of a hurricane perhaps, but it's a powerful showpiece nonetheless.

10. AC/DC - "Hell's Bells"

Because I prefer this quintessential hard rock band's Bon Scott era to the still successful and ongoing Brian Johnson version, I tried to squeeze AC/DC off this list. But ultimately I had to include a track from one of hard rock's all-time classics, 1980's Back in Black. Angus Young clearly lost no riffing chops following the sudden death of Scott, and Johnson jumped right in as a sensible, organic replacement. And even though he lacked the menace of his predecessor, Johnson gives a spirited performance of a vintage AC/DC tune at the band's artistic peak. This isn't metal, but it's premium hard rock without a doubt.