What is the greatest hard rock song of all time according to radio listeners?

Combining 28 all-time countdowns from 4 stations, "Master of Puppets" by Metallica ranks first. It appeared on 26 of the countdowns and was voted number one 14 times.

How is the all-time ranking calculated?

Every appearance on an all-time countdown earns points based on its position and the length of the list: number one earns 100 points and the last position earns close to zero. A song's total is the sum of its points across every qualifying countdown.

All-time consensus · Hard Rock & Metal · 28 countdowns from 4 stations

The greatest hard rock songs of all time

Radio stations have been asking their listeners to vote for the greatest songs of all time since the 1970s. This ranking combines hard rock and metal listener polls: 28 countdowns in all. The result: “Master of Puppets” by Metallica comes out on top, appearing on 26 countdowns and voted number one 14 times.

28all-time countdowns

4stations

2,445songs ranked

Top 100 of all time

Top 1000 →

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s	Year
1	Master of Puppets Metallica	2,560	26	#1	14	2022
2	One Metallica	2,317	26	#2	–	1997
3	The Number Of The Beast Iron Maiden	2,020	26	#2	–	–
4	Paranoid Black Sabbath	1,909	26	#5	–	–
5	Enter Sandman Metallica	1,823	27	#3	–	1991
6	Killing in the Name Rage Against the Machine	1,821	24	#2	–	1993
7	Chop Suey System of a Down	1,751	20	#2	–	2001
8	Ace of Spades Motorhead	1,730	20	#3	–	–
9	Schism Tool	1,725	19	#2	–	2001
10	Run to the Hills Iron Maiden	1,703	26	#11	–	1997
11	Black Fuel Channel Zero	1,685	18	#1	2	–
12	Fear of the Dark Iron Maiden	1,634	18	#2	–	–
13	Thunderstruck AC/DC	1,566	25	#2	–	1990
14	Angel of Death Slayer	1,445	18	#5	–	–
15	Raining Blood Slayer	1,423	18	#4	–	–
16	Wait and Bleed Slipknot	1,356	20	#13	–	2000
17	Sonne Rammstein	1,351	18	#9	–	2001
18	Walk Pantera	1,300	19	#4	–	1997
19	The Sea Is Dying Steak Number Eight	1,299	16	#3	–	–
20	Help Channel Zero	1,295	18	#8	–	–
21	Highway to Hell AC/DC	1,280	19	#2	–	–
22	Duality Slipknot	1,215	19	#10	–	2004
23	Davidian Machine Head	1,165	18	#10	–	–
24	Primo Victoria Sabaton	1,154	15	#6	–	–
25	Toxicity System of a Down	1,127	20	#14	–	2002
26	Whole Lotta Rosie AC/DC	1,096	21	#6	–	–
27	Down With the Sickness Disturbed	1,045	17	#5	–	2001
28	War Pigs Black Sabbath	1,009	22	#17	–	–
29	Back in Black AC/DC	997	16	#4	–	1980
30	Stairway to Heaven Led Zeppelin	993	10	#1	6	–
31	Fade to Black Metallica	987	19	#22	–	1997
32	Iron Man Black Sabbath	973	15	#5	–	1997
33	Whole Lotta Love Led Zeppelin	955	16	#18	–	–
34	Suck My Energy Channel Zero	955	18	#14	–	–
35	For Whom The Bell Tolls Metallica	909	16	#12	–	–
36	Sweet Child o' Mine Guns N Roses	858	10	#6	–	1988
37	Smells Like Teen Spirit Nirvana	845	10	#2	–	1991
38	Roots Bloody Roots Sepultura	837	18	#10	–	–
39	Smoke on the Water Deep Purple	836	12	#14	–	–
40	You Shook Me All Night Long AC/DC	832	9	#2	–	1980
41	Dream On Aerosmith	831	10	#7	–	–
42	Crazy Train Ozzy Osbourne	822	9	#1	1	1980
43	Welcome to the Jungle Guns N Roses	821	11	#1	1	1997
44	Seek and Destroy Metallica	797	17	#15	–	1983
45	Sweet Emotion Aerosmith	790	9	#4	–	–
46	All along Brutus	785	10	#1	1	–
47	Painkiller Judas Priest	773	19	#20	–	–
48	Nothing Else Matters Metallica	761	17	#17	–	1997
49	Paradise City Guns N Roses	759	12	#4	–	1989
50	Bohemian Rhapsody Queen	748	9	#2	–	–
51	Black Dog Led Zeppelin	742	9	#25	–	–
52	Tom Sawyer Rush	739	8	#2	–	1981
53	All Along the Watchtower Jimi Hendrix	739	8	#13	–	–
54	Another Brick in the Wall Pink Floyd	735	8	#5	–	1980
55	Walk This Way Aerosmith	732	8	#24	–	–
56	Kashmir Led Zeppelin	728	8	#15	–	1997
57	Cowboys from Hell Pantera	727	19	#2	–	1997
58	Hotel California The Eagles	725	8	#8	–	–
59	A Solitary Reign Amenra	723	8	#1	2	–
60	Flying Whales Gojira	714	13	#17	–	–
61	Holy Diver Dio	704	14	#47	–	1983
62	Purple Haze Jimi Hendrix	704	8	#1	1	–
63	Rock You Like a Hurricane Scorpions	704	8	#29	–	–
64	Runnin' With The Devil Van Halen	701	8	#5	–	1978
65	Foxy Lady Jimi Hendrix	701	8	#17	–	–
66	You've Got Another Thing Coming Judas Priest	694	8	#8	–	–
67	Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap AC/DC	691	8	#60	–	–
68	Alive Pearl Jam	686	8	#9	–	1992
69	The Unforgiven Metallica	685	8	#5	–	1997
70	Hells Bells AC/DC	677	10	#7	–	1980
71	Man in the Box Alice In Chains	669	8	#8	–	1997
72	Immigrant Song Led Zeppelin	661	8	#18	–	2003
73	Freebird Lynyrd Skynyrd	657	7	#3	–	–
74	Dazed and Confused Led Zeppelin	656	8	#83	–	–
75	Working Man Rush	650	7	#4	–	–
76	Flying High Again Ozzy Osbourne	650	7	#48	–	1981
77	Jamie's Cryin Van Halen	645	7	#37	–	–
78	We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions Queen	644	7	#15	–	–
79	Cat Scratch Fever Ted Nugent	643	7	#36	–	–
80	No One Like You Scorpions	642	7	#13	–	–
81	Rock of Ages Def Leppard	641	7	#33	–	–
82	For Those About to Rock AC/DC	641	7	#14	–	1981
83	Hallowed Be Thy Name Iron Maiden	640	17	#24	–	–
84	Stranglehold Ted Nugent	640	7	#10	–	1997
85	Comfortably Numb Pink Floyd	634	7	#8	–	1980
86	Living After Midnight Judas Priest	633	7	#17	–	1980
87	Symphony of Destruction Megadeth	632	11	#18	–	1997
88	Psychosocial Slipknot	629	14	#10	–	2008
89	Money Pink Floyd	627	7	#21	–	–
90	Eruption/You Really Got Me Van Halen	626	7	#6	–	1997
91	Sad But True Metallica	624	14	#21	–	–
92	Rock and Roll Led Zeppelin	623	7	#27	–	–
93	The Trooper Iron Maiden	622	19	#29	–	–
94	Photograph Def Leppard	619	7	#11	–	1983
95	Sweet Leaf Black Sabbath	617	7	#68	–	–
96	Sober Tool	608	9	#37	–	1993
97	Born to be Wild Steppenwolf	606	7	#27	–	–
98	Girls Got Rhythm AC/DC	605	7	#48	–	–
99	Sweet Home Alabama Lynyrd Skynyrd	605	7	#42	–	–
100	Hair of the Dog Nazareth	604	7	#29	–	–

The countdowns behind the ranking

Every all-time list →

KBPI

Top 200 Songs of All Time

KISW

Studio Brussel

Z-Rock

Top 1001 Songs of All-Time (1990)

How the all-time ranking works

Each countdown contributes percentile-based points: a number one earns 100, a song halfway down earns about 50, and the last position earns close to zero. A song’s all-time score is the sum of its points across every qualifying countdown, which rewards songs that appear on many lists and rank highly on them. Themed countdowns (party songs, single-artist lists) are archived but not counted, and each radio format is ranked on its own. Read the full methodology.