Then there are songs very well known to fans of that band or genre but not so much in wider circles. Take the famous single chord fronting The Beatles’ “Hard Days Night,” for example.

Others are cool or even iconic, but too short to really stand on their own. There are scads of great opening rock hooks that don’t qualify here because they’re essentially the main riff or chorus, tunes like the Stones’ “Can You Hear Me Knocking,” or Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer,” Allman Brothers’ “One Way Out,” The Who’s “Pinball Wizard,” The Doors’ “LA Woman,” Derek & the Dominos’ “Layla,” AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” on and on.

First, though, a couple of caveats….īy “intro,” I mean a lead-in with its own identity. The following are, in my decidedly unhumble estimation, the best of the best instrumental intros in rock. But I also appreciate a finely crafted intro, one that takes its time, revs you up, maybe teases you just a bit before you find out where the tune is gonna go. Now, me, I love a great two-minute punk blast as much as the next guy. Some start with the main course, with others you get appetizers. Photo by Anirudh Koul ( Wikimedia Commons)

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