21   "Seven Nation Army"
The White Stripes (2003)

How much noise can one guitar make? Plenty. Jack White's six-string is responsible for everything from the "bass line" to the burn-rubber slide, not to mention the most indelible riff of the last decade. Not many songs can claim to have been covered by both Audioslave and the Flaming Lips.


"Seven Nation Army" from Elephant (Third Man)


The White Stripes performing "Seven Nation Army" at the 2004 Grammy Awards

22   "A Hard Day's Night"
The Beatles (1964)

It's been 44 years, and still nobody's sure what that opening chord is, but when it crashed out of the Beatles' first movie, it marked the Sixties as their pop decade. George Harrison's harpsichordlike 12-string Rickenbacker lead part alone spawned the entire genre of folk rock.


"A Hard Day's Night" from A Hard Day's Night (Capitol)



The Beatles performing "A Hard Day's Night" live

23   "Over Under Sideways Down"
The Yardbirds (1966)

There's a Chicago-style blues shuffle in here, but Jeff Beck's sitar-imitating lead part is louder than anything else, with good reason. In a band that never lacked guitar heroes — including Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page at various times — Beck invented rock guitar heroism as we know it.


"Over Under Sideways Down" from Roger the Engineer (Repertoire)


The Yardbirds performing "Over Under Sideways Down" live

See all of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All TIme