On the same note as AC/DC, "Thunderstruck" always gets the blood pumping! The eletrifying opening riff, the powerful giutars, the thundering drums, Brian's epic vocals......WOW.
Most songs showcase Ritchie Blackmore's guitar, for Ian Gillan's vocals: "Strange King of Woman", "Black Night", and "Child in Time", and for Ian Paice's drums: "The Mule".
"Lift U Up" by Swiss band Gotthard, especially the intro and that little guitar...bit at about 1 minute 25 seconds.
Quite possibly the undisputed masters of this trope, the original Guns 'N Roses. Between "November Rain", "Estranged", their ultimate rile-the-crowd song (admittedly taken from Bob Dylan), "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", and their classic "pure, innocent love" song "Sweet Child O' Mine" (with an amazing solo), they have more undisputably awesome songs than any other band. And of course, who can forget "Paradise City", which was deservedly their constant closer.
The first four original Guns N' Roses albums (Appetite for Destruction, Lies, Use Your Illusion I&II). Notable moments: The second riff in "My Michelle", the last two minutes of "Rocket Queen", all of "Mr. Brownstone", all of "One in a Million" - but mostly the parts that offend people. In UYI I&II, you have: "Don't Cry", "Coma", "Locomotive", "Bad Apples", and "You Could Be Mine".
Reality Subtext just makes this jaw-dropping. Freddie was practically on his deathbed, and couldn't even stand without assistance. Brian May wanted to take a pass on the song as a result. Freddie said, "I'll fucking do it, darling," slammed some vodka, and belted it out in one take.
"I Want It All". In addition to the awesomely defiant lyrics (helped in no small part by Freddie Mercury's voice), it also features what may the most awesome shredding of Brian May's career.
"Don't Stop Me Now" was already an awesome Queen song, but this Automatic Mario tribute is in a high enough TV Tropes Made of Win Archive tier that is almost impossible to define. There are four distinct levels that are synced up to each member of the band.
"The Hero", and its progenitor "Battle Theme" to a lesser extent, are some of the most epic Queen songs ever. Possibly even more epic than "Flash Gordon"?
"Brighton Rock". If there was ever a track that proved that Queen was more than what Classic Rock radio showed, this was it, with the band plowing down the road at 125 mph with Freddie delivering an insane vocal performance at the beginning and end of the track.
"We Are The Champions", the victory song by excellence.
Led Zeppelin have put out several; "Kashmir", "Immigrant Song", "Black Dog", "The Song Remains the Same", but especially "Stairway to Heaven", which is not only their most famous song, but according to a Guitar World poll, it has the greatest guitar solo of all time.
"Immigrant Song" is used repeatedly by Michael O'Neil in the Posleen War Series to send his Mobile Infantry into battle.
"Dazed And Confused", where Jimmy Page plays the guitar with a freakin' violin bow!
Not to mention that in the movie The Song Remains the Same, they play a 30+ minutes version of "Dazed and Confused". Also, the last couple of minutes of "The Ocean".
What about "The Rain Song"? Heck, Houses of the Holy was an awesome album in its entirety.
For "Over the Hills and Far Away", it's a toss-up between the intensely beautiful acoustic guitar intro and the part when it abruptly transitions into headbanging hard rock (but is still tempered by the acoustic guitar throughout the song).
Then there's arena rock, a subset of hard rock. Out of the arena bands, Boston stands out, with its rousing "More Than a Feeling" and its incredibly epic "Foreplay/Long Time" double song.
Rev Theory's "Hell Yeah" really gets your blood pumping, because who can say no to shouting "Hell yeah!" at the top of their lungs?
Almost anything composed by Jim Steinman, but his true Crowning Music of Awesome would have to be Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell album, especially the title track. Subsequent awesome tracks include music from 80s movie Streets of Fire ("Nowhere Fast", "Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young"), and the fantastically over the top ballad "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler.
Both "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" and "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" (which not even Celine Dion can ruin), for their dramatic, bombastic nature.
"I've been looking for an original sin/One with a twist and a bit of a spin..."
Jimi Hendrix's "Machine Gun" from Band of Gypsys. The most incredible thing to ever have been done on an electric guitar.
Or "Voodoo Chile" (not the wah-wah one). A 15-minute jam that never once feels boring, together with some of the best musicians ever guesting on the track.
Pretty much every time this man picked up a guitar resulted in a CMoA. Behold his amazing cover of Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode", in which he plays part of the solo with his teeth.
Thin Lizzy: "The Boys Are Back In Town".
"You've got a bad reputation / That's the word on the town. / It gives a certain fascination, / but it can only bring you down ...."
Aerosmith's cover of "Train Kept A-Rollin'". Each and every one of the FIVE solos could count as a CMOA in and of themselves.
"Sweet Emotion" and "Lightning Strikes" stiffen up the sinews, and summon up the blood.
"Dream On".
"Back in the Saddle" can still be touted as the greatest Aerosmith song ever.
A case could be made for any of their songs, but particular mention to "I Don't WannaMiss A Thing", "Dream On", and "Beyond Beautiful".
And the songs from their post-makeup days, which got closer to metal (or at least to hair metal). "All Hell's Breakin' Loose", "Into the Fire", "Heaven's on Fire", "Tears Are Fallin'", etc. (Too bad those MTV music videos generally sucked ass.)
"Everybody Wants To Rule The World" by Tears For Fears.
And "Shout".
Also, "Head Over Heels" and "Mad World". Tears for Fears are just simply amazing.
Queens of the Stone Age's Songs for the Deaf was a pretty darn hard rock album, but at the end of it all, the "hidden" track "Mosquito Song" comes on. The perfect, beautiful, and very dark setup to their next album, Lullabies to Paralyze.
And that's just off of one album. There's also "The Bronze", "18 A.D.", and "Born to Hula", and none of these ever made it to a major release.
For years, the band, Foreigner had numerous hit songs that fell just short of #1 on the Billboard Pop chart like "Waiting For a Girl like You". In 1985, they finally created the song that put them on top, "I Want To Know What Love Is", a magnificent power ballad complete with a choir accompaniment.
What about "Jukebox Hero"?! Makes you wanna jump on a table and rock out on an air guitar!
Eddie Van Halen more or less invented finger-tapping. Fueled the whole hard rock genre for the 80's. The guitar solo track Eruption was in its time regarded as the best piece of guitar playing, ever.
"I'm the One" in particular has a godlike solo. It took finger-tapping to its apex - and then every other rock band had to come along and copy the technique, which steered it into Narm territory.
Eddie's solos were pretty much a walking(?) CMoA. "Dancing in the Street", "Hot for Teacher", "Panama", "Drop Dead Legs"...
"Cassie" by Flyleaf never fails to make for headbanging.
Heart has some amazing songs, but nothing beats this live version of "Alone".
Quiet Riot is basically the apotheosis of pop-metal. They blended all of the metal genre's elements - heavy blues, Gothic horror, insane riffs, and pinup sexuality - together into one inimitable package. All these years later, "Bang Your Head" is still terrifying. "Run For Cover" is probably their best song. And "The Wild and the Young" is an underrated gem: Frankie Banali's opening snare beat alone is proof that your world is about to get rocked really fucking hard.
Whitesnake deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame someday, if only because they were one of the most technically accomplished bands of the '80s. Their 1987 album is pure gold, with not a single bad track. "Children of the Night" particularly deserves a mention: it proved to the band's critics that, yes, they could be subtle....and yet still be Badass, as well. Same with "Kitten's Got Claws" from Slip of the Tongue.
The Scorpions' "Rock You Like a Hurricane". Oh, and "Bad Boys Running Wild." "Out in the streets"....it's literally a zoo!
Semi-fictional, yes but Spinal Tap has given us plenty of immortal musical moments. "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight", for example, is an Ear Worm for the ages. "Stonehenge" is a thrilling celebration of ancient paganism. And while "Break Like the Wind" may be an awful title, it is a flat-out mythic song. But then, would you expect any less from Joe Satriani?
Theory of a Deadman, anyone? "Deadly Game" and "Invisible Man" in particular. Those songs are like a comic book come to life.
Alter Bridge. They definitely beat the shit out of Creed. Especially "Open Your Eyes" and "Metalingus" (best known as the entrance theme for the "Rated-R Superstar" wrestler Edge). Whoever thought Christian salvation could sound so Badass?
"Isolation". Just...wow this song is pretty kickass. Especially in the choruses.
Motley Crue; "Kickstart My Heart", "Dr. Feelgood", "Live Wire"...
Journey in general is made of Crowning Music of Awesome. There's songs like "Lights", which will invoked nostalgia for anyone who's been to the big cities; "Wheel In The Sky", which is PERFECT to blast on road trips; and last, but certainly not least, "Faithfully", which is THE GREATEST. Love Song. EVER.
Mountain has a handful with "Nantucket Sleighride", "Theme From An Imaginary Western", "The Laird", "Silver Paper", "Travelin' In The Dark" and, their biggest Crowning Music of Awesome, "Mississippi Queen".
Roxy Music, "2HB". Something about that song is just so calm and slow-burning it becomes awesome. On the other end of the scale - but on the same album - "Re-Make/Re-Model". Epic saxophone.
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