5 Rock Songs From 1974 That Sound Even Cooler Today

By 1974, rock music as a genre was seemingly going through a shaky patch, at least commercially speaking. That was the year when disco finally made its commercial breakthrough with "Love's Theme," a Barry White instrumental released by his Love Unlimited Orchestra at the end of 1973, which climbed to the top of the charts and became one of the year's biggest releases despite minimal radio play. At the same time, the end-of-year lists seemed to suggest that listeners were turning away from the burgeoning rock scene and reverting to big love ballads that were popular back in the early 1960s, with Barbara Streisand's "The Way We Were" and Terry Jacks' English-language rendition of Jacques Brel's "Seasons in the Sun" being 1974's biggest Billboard blockbusters.

But 1974 was also a year in which rock showed off its incredible diversity, with glam rock, hard rock, and proto-punk all making waves among the listening public. Some of the biggest rock tracks of all time were released that year, including Lynyrd Skynyrd's anthem "Sweet Home Alabama." But the problem for some bestsellers that continue to get radio play in the 21st century is that oversaturation means that time is unkind to them; as popular as it remains, could Skynard's signature tune really be described as cool today? Unlikely. But here are five rock tracks which we say stand the test of time, whether for being influential at the time of release of for being so totally out there that they remain timeless.

1974 was a year of transition for David Bowie. A musician who had already signaled his willingness to move on even from successful creative pastures with the dramatic killing off of his Ziggy Stardust persona in July 1973, Bowie wasn't afraid to change his look, and he was fizzing with ideas. At one point, Bowie planned to turn to the stage and produce a musical based on the novel "1984" by George Orwell. However, he was unable to gain the rights to the work from Orwell's estate.

Instead, Bowie created "Diamond Dogs," an apocalyptic concept album that also reincorporated the Ziggy aesthetic regardless of his claims to have abandoned it. But despite the conceptual nature of Bowie's 1974 oeuvre, the album's standout track, "Rebel Rebel," is as infectious as anything in his entire discography. The song revolves around a circuitous, hypnotic guitar riff, which guitarist Alan Parker has claimed Bowie wrote as an intentional rip-off of The Rolling Stones, which he thought would get under Mick Jagger's skin. But despite the allusion to the iconic '60s band, "Rebel Rebel" is glam to the core, a farewell to the genre he helped to bring into the mainstream which would prove to be one of its most enduring tracks. With lyrics describing the subversive nature of androgyny, it's definitive of Bowie's most famous period and remains an anthem for legions of fans today.

Sparks is a band that never achieved a true commercial breakthrough in the U.S. — only two singles released in the 1980s ever charted on the Billboard Hot 100, despite the band existing for more than 50 years. Described by NPR as your "favorite band's favorite band," the pop-rock duo made up of American brothers Ron and Russell Mael has enjoyed only a small cult following in the States, though the 2021 documentary "The Sparks Brothers" has created a new wave of appreciation for its music in recent years.

One track that was sadly overlooked in the U.S. for many years was 1974's "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us," the band's breakthrough single in the U.K. that telegraphed just how eccentric the Mael brothers were willing to be. Featuring Russell's soaring falsetto vocals, Ron's intricate keyboard parts, spiky guitar, and, unexpectedly, barrages of gunshot sound effects, "This Town" is a satirical counterpoint to much of the macho posturing that featured in strictly hard rock songs of the era. The irony of the track makes it a fresher listen than much of the straight-up hard rock of the period; its joyous theatricality still sounds comically overblown, and it remains the ideal entry point for anyone looking to explore the world of Sparks.

You might think that heavy metal band Deep Purple would have been flying high by the mid-1970s. The British outfit had enjoyed its greatest success in 1972 with the release of the huge studio album "Machine Head," featuring their classic track "Smoke on the Water," and looked set to spend the rest of the decade enjoying victory laps made up of sold-out tours and platinum albums. But by 1973, the band had already fallen apart. After the follow-up to "Machine Head," "Who Do We Think We Are," proved to be a disappointment to fans, vocalist Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover left the band, to be replaced by David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes, respectively.

Fans may have worried that the turbulence would continue the band's decline, but in fact Deep Purple bounced back in style in 1974 with the album "Burn," proving the new line-up was capable of living up to the band's hard-rocking reputation. The album's title track is undoubtedly the stand-out. The bluesy track opens with a driving guitar riff that only lets up to give room for Ian Paice's superhuman drum fills, Coverdale's roared refrains, and most notably an intense, intricate guitar solo from Ritchie Blackmore, which many hard rock aficionados describe as one of the finest on record. It may not be as infectious as "Smoke on the Water," but the track showcases what made Deep Purple such a captivating live act during the decade, with musicianship that could take audiences to ecstatic heights. "Burn" was counted by Eddie Van Halen among his favorite songs and has undoubtedly influenced many more rockers since its release.

John Lennon was a living legend in the 1970s, though after the acrimonious break-up of The Beatles in 1970, much of the press surrounding the songwriter involved him sniping at the other members of the Fab Four in what became a very public feud. Despite successful releases such as 1971's "Imagine," by 1974 Lennon was in turmoil. His relationship with his wife, the artist Yoko Ono, had become strained, and he had left the family home in New York and headed to Los Angeles for what he would later describe as his alcohol-fueled "lost weekend."

Among this messy period, however, Lennon managed to cobble together an acceptable album of original material, "Walls & Bridges," which, though patchy, features several high points, of which "#9 Dream" is the most successful. Based on a dream that Lennon had, the track's soaring melody and distant vocals do create a successful dreamlike atmosphere, which moves toward the nonsensical with the invented refrain "Ah! böwakawa poussé poussé," and abrupt strings reminiscent of Lennon's earlier masterpiece "Strawberry Fields Forever."

"#9 Dream" is notable for being the last truly psychedelic release of Lennon's career, with the songwriter going on a five-year hiatus in 1975 that lasted until shortly before his tragic murder in December 1980. Though he failed to achieve the commercial or critical peaks that his former songwriting partner Paul McCartney achieved during the 1970s with his band Wings, such songs demonstrated Lennon's enduring artistry and power to captivate the listener just as he had done with his more experimental work with The Beatles.

Steely Dan arrived with a splash in 1972, thanks to the release of their studio album "Can't Buy a Thrill," and while its tempting to look back now as the 1970s being Steely Dan's flawless classic period, the truth is that the early years of the group were somewhat shaky, with early live performances failing to connect with audiences (leading to the band becoming a studio-only affair from 1974). On top of that, Steely Dan's sophomore album, "Countdown to Ecstasy," was a commercial disappointment compared to its predecessor.

Thankfully, the band's next release, "Pretzel Logic," was supported by one of the catchiest singles of its career: "Rikki Don't Lose That Number." A tight, radio-friendly number based around the simple piano riff from Horace Silver's "Song for My Father," the song develops an infectious melody over a samba drumbeat that reveals Fagan and Becker's mastery of genre-blending techniques that ultimately produce addictive pop hits. A sophisticated song that nevertheless makes the listener want to sing along and dance, it achieved Steely Dan's highest chart placing, hitting No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and remains alongside "Do It Again" as one of the duo's most popular and accessible singles.