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31   "Keep Yourself Alive"
Queen (1973)

Queen's first single was Brian May's statement of purpose: a phalanx of overdubbed guitars crying out in unison, with rhythm and texture from over-the-top effects. (Check out that science-fiction noise!) It's an entire album's worth of riffs crammed into a single song.


"Keep Yourself Alive" from Queen (Hollywood)


Queen performing "Keep Yourself Alive" live in 1977

32   "Sultans of Swing"
Dire Straits (1978)

Part Nashville twang, part pub-rock grit, this ode to a journeyman jazz band offered an earthy alternative to the disco and punk of the late Seventies. Singer-guitarist Mark Knopfler wrote the song on acoustic guitar, then switched to a Strat; his trumpetlike solos and tart licks answer him as he sings.


"Sultans of Swing" from Dire Straits (Mercury)


Dire Straits performing "Sultans of Swing" live in 1985

33   "Master of Puppets"
Metallica (1986)

This long, mutating track showed that California metal wasn't all hair spray and power chords. A hell's parade of quick-chop figures and bludgeoning fills, the song is anchored by a main, surging lick with jolting stops, and the guitars sound like grinding brakes.


"Master of Puppets" from Master of Puppets (Reprise)



Metallica performing "Master of Puppets" live in 1989

See all of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All TIme


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Number Thirty-Three: Metallica's

Number Thirty-Three: Metallica's "Master of Puppets"

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