41   "Marquee Moon"
Television (1977)

Punk rock had barely been born, and already Television were taking it to a new, virtuosic place with the 10-minute one-take centerpiece of their debut album. Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd's interlocking riffs and scales spiral into a daredevil Verlaine solo that takes up half of the song; its brainy elegance paved the way for bands from Wilco to Pavement.


"Marquee Moon" from Marquee Moon (Rhino)


Television performing "Marquee Moon" live

42   "Hideaway"
John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers (1966)

John Mayall brought Chicago-blues fire down from the mountaintop to a generation of British rockers, and his star, for a glorious period, was Eric Clapton, sojourning between the Yardbirds and Cream. On this virtuosic elaboration of a Freddie King tune, he sets his amp on overdrive and his fingers on "atomize."


"Hideaway" from Blues Breakders with Eric Clapton (Polydor)


John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers perform "Hideaway" live with Eric Clapton

43   "Holidays in the Sun"
The Sex Pistols (1977)

The fireball force of "Holidays" is deceiving: For all the Pistols' anti-technique posturing, guitarist Steve Jones had real chops. He overdubbed layers of his blunt-force rhythm guitar (played through an amp Jones stole from a Bob Marley concert) with military precision, and his guitar solo is a punked-up take on Chuck Berry.


"Holidays in the Sun" from Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (Warner Bros.)


The Sex Pistols performing "Holidays in the Sun" live

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