The watery chorus effect on the guitar. The message of inclusion for the outcasts. It is the most inviting song ever written about alienation. 10-1: The Mount Rushmore 10. "Everlong" – Foo Fighters (1997) Dave Grohl’s masterpiece. The dropped tuning, the shifting time signatures, the desperate, ragged vocal. It is a love song that feels like a panic attack. For many millennials, this is the greatest rock song, period.
Damon Albarn’s joke about American grunge accidentally became the soundtrack for every sports highlight reel for 25 years. "WOO-HOO!" Alternative rock’s greatest gag.
The queen of jagged little pills. This track defined the "cool girl" cynicism of the mid-90s, blending folk-rock with post-grunge swagger.
The barking, the funky bass, the sample of a police scanner. It was alternative because it was weird and fun, not just sad.
The happiest sad song ever written. The swelling strings and the quiet verse/loud chorus dynamic are executed to absolute perfection.
The ultimate one-hit wonder that wasn't. Beck combined folk, hip-hop, and slide guitar into a slacker anthem that changed the rules of radio.
The slacker manifesto. The conversation at the beginning. The sudden explosion of distortion. Weezer made nerdiness cool.
Yes, it rips off "Lust for Life." Yes, it is simple. But it brought back garage rock swagger for a new generation in the early 2000s.
Gavin Rossdale’s best lyrical moment. The "British grunge" label fits, but the sheer weight of the chorus lifts this into the pantheon.