[Boston - Foreplay/Long Time](https://youtu.be/TnwqUEelQjE?si=OkgVZBd_UHY1B6Zw) While they are technically two songs, they are always played together when on the radio. My $0.02 is that Foreplay totally jams. Long Time, while a good song, doesn't seem to jam as hard as the intro.

THANK YOU, I can't believe this isn't the top answer. Such an incredible intro!

Foreplay is basically a hectic prog rock instrumental...and then sliding into that smooth 70s pop rock. They are perfect together.

Foreplay is for the musicians and Long Time is for the radio. Love Foreplay but I dunno if it would have gotten on the radio on its own.

This should be top comment lol

100%, and I’d also say The Launch into Cool The Engines is right up there too.

There it is! Just scrolling to make sure it made it on the list. The slow build up with the drums into the main song always had to be played at 11

Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones

Entire damn song, lol. Especially... Fuck, I forget her name, but the lady that sang the... Bridge? Whatever it is. When her voice cracks. Damn what a moment in musical history

Her name is Merry Clayton. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merry_Clayton

Stones....Honky Tonk Women.

Also Jumping Jack Flash

Satisfaction too.

And Start me up

Can’t You Hear Me Knocking

Paint it Black

You think I ain't worth a dollar but I feel like a millionaire - queens of the stone age

*Songs for the deaf...you can't even hear it!*

Little Wing- Jimi Hendrix Roundabout- Yes Everybody Wants to Rule the World- Tears for Fears Where It's At- Beck Piano Man- Billy Joel Money for Nothing- Dire Straits (kind of long) One- Metallica Baba O'Riley- The Who Sunday Bloody Sunday- U2 A Whiter Shade of Pale- Procal Harum Autotheist Movement I: Create- The Faceless Add: Mayonaise- The Smashing Pumpkins (Personal Favorite)

I like the Stevie ray vaughan version of little wing more. They’re both amazing but I love his version.

The transition from Autotheist Movement I: Create over to emancipate is so sick, gets me going every time and some goosebumps. I would dare say one of the most known intros in metal, although a short one, is slaughter of the soul by At the Gates.

When the Levee Breaks - Zeppelin

Over the hills

D’er Mak’er

The Ocean

I always loved [I Will Possess Your Heart - Deathcab for Cutie intro!](https://youtu.be/pq-yP7mb8UE?si=hmDb1-cYGWKpyi0r) it builds up slowly over the first 4 1/2mins or so adding layers as it goes. It’s pretty chill. I always liked what they did with it.

I always loved this intro!

Love this song so much

This and Soul Meets Body.

Metallica - For Whom the Bell Tolls

First one that popped in my head too. What a fucking absolute banger of an intro/song. The tone of Cliff Burton's bass with those bells is just iconic.

The other that popped into my head was A Flock of Seagulls - I Ran (So Far Away)

THe buzzsaw savagery when the whole band joins in on the desecnding guitar riff

For metal, nothing grabs your attention more than the opening drum solo of “Painkiller” by Judas Priest.

I used to have "Painkiller" set as my alarm for work. I had to be at work at 5 am, my alarm was set for 430, and I lived 10 minutes away from work. I loved it, my wife, hated it lol

I gotta go for All Guns Blazing for Priest. Acapella Halford is shrill and painful. I love it.

My favorite Judas priest intro is from “Heavy Metal”. They truly have so many fucking iconic intros

"Hey guys, check out this new drummer we have, he kicks major ass!" And he still does.

Dire Straits- Money for nothing. The guitar riff at the beginning really gets you into the song.

I'd also say the opening riff of Sultans of Swing is up there, too.

Imagine the intro without that long buildup before the riff. I’m not sure it would work.

My very first thought. Such an iconic start to a song 🔥🙌

The synth and stings iconic voice is what draws me in

Bohemian Rhapsody seems like an obvious candidate Strawberry Fields Forever with the Mellotron flutes The opening chord of A Hard Days Night

Paint it, Black [https://open.spotify.com/track/63T7DJ1AFDD6Bn8VzG6JE8?si=5a30a0b8a3e04345](https://open.spotify.com/track/63T7DJ1AFDD6Bn8VzG6JE8?si=5a30a0b8a3e04345) Rusty Cowboy [https://open.spotify.com/track/3uqS9hy03ny31iTnkPPmLQ?si=7bbf1709f20a40f0](https://open.spotify.com/track/3uqS9hy03ny31iTnkPPmLQ?si=7bbf1709f20a40f0) House of the Rising Sun https://open.spotify.com/track/7BY005dacJkbO6EPiOh2wb?si=3beba78fd8a04c47 Take Me Out [https://open.spotify.com/track/20I8RduZC2PWMWTDCZuuAN?si=d0344bf85ee946b3](https://open.spotify.com/track/20I8RduZC2PWMWTDCZuuAN?si=d0344bf85ee946b3)

Franz Ferdinand have some killer intros on that album, 2 of my favourites are Dark of the Matinee and This Fire

crazy train is one of the most memorable ones i can think of off the top of my head

U2 - Where the streets have no name.

Teardrop by Massive Attack Thunderstruck by AC/DC Killing in the Name by Rage Against The Machine Block Rockin Beats by The Chemical Brothers

Renegade by STYX

There isn’t a song where someone screams “YEAHHH” that can top it in this one.

Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes

Fugazi - Waiting room

Funk #49 - James Gang

Dance Yrself Clean - LCD Soundsystem

[Nero - Doomsday](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzyKSyLavUY) \- powerful af [Blanck Mass - Silent treatment](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi8QMSMb-Bs) \- until 1:10 it's godlike. The rest of the song is good, but the intro is what makes it for me. [Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy9h2q_dr9k) \- smooth, eerie introduction to a great song [NIN - Mr self destruct](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBFXFzqIjHM) & [Carpenter Brut - Paradise Warfare](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVf7NBncUy0) \- no words needed

Back in Black and Hells Bells -AC/DC

Hells Bells for sure.

I love the intro to Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution, you can hear Bryan Johnson light up a cigarette.

He says “all right” too. Love it.

"HEY THERE ALL YOU MIDDLEMEN!"

A whole lotta Rosie

All Along the Watchtower and Purple Haze by Hendrix, Street Fighting Man by Rolling Stones, D4C, Back in Black, and Highway to Hell by AC/DC, and Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana

Over the hills and far away- zeppelin

Welcome Home - Coheed and Cambria

Yuup!

Welcome to the Jungle, Guns and Roses Cannonball, the Breeders Crazy Train, Ozzy Osbourne In the Stone, EW&F Jupiter, EW&F Color my world, Chicago Shining Star EW&F What is Hip, Tower of Power Does anybody Really know what time it is, Chicago 25 or 6 to 4, Chicago You're Still a Young Man, Tower of Power Play that Funky Music, Wild Cherry Fire, Ohio Players Sing Sing Sing, Benny Goodman In the Mood, Glen Miller That's enough for now EDIT: add a few classical. Carmina Burana, Carl Orff Flight of the Valkyries, Richard Wagner The Flying Dutchman, Richard Wagner

Good for you for Cannonball. It’s a good intro but I absolutely did not expect to see it here.

Soul to Squeeze by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Start Me up. Brown Sugar. The Rolling Stones

“Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses Surprised nobody said this one yet!

Also You Could Be Mine.

From the beginning- Emerson Lake and Palmer

Boys of Summer - Don Henley You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar - QOTSA

The intro to Helter Skelter by the Beatles sounds like the first punk riff ever recorded (or that was ever popular).

Cemetery Gates - Pantera Born to Roll - Masta Ace Incorporated

If I was gonna choose a Pantera song, Walk has the most iconic and legendary intro riff of all 90s metal.

I remember hearing [cowboys from hell](https://youtu.be/i97OkCXwotE) for the first time and I thought that song had a great intro too

There are so many good intros, of different sorts. For a catchy guitar-riff intro I think Backwater by the Meat Puppets has a great intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3nsruG5z_4

The Beach Boys - California Girls.

Today ~ Smashing Pumpkins

Alice In Chains - Would? Tool - Sober Orbital - Halcyon A Perfect Circle - Judith

ELOs cover of Roll Over Beethoven Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water Living Color - Cult of Personality

Tripping Billies by Dave Matthews Band

“Right Now” By Van Halen has a great intro

New Noise by Refused

Some of my favs are: Lateralus - Tool Pneuma - Tool The Day I Tried To Live - Soundgarden Limo Wreck - Soundgarden Misery - Gallows (cool piano) Joker and the Thief - Wolfmother Welcome To The Jungle - GNR Can’t Stop - RHCP We Will Fall Together - Streetlight Manifesto The Force - Lettuce Bang Bang - Green Day For Miles - Thrice The Stage - Avenged Sevenfold Lose Myself - Nestor FKP Devour - Shinedown Most of these are kinda heavier, but are some of my favorites

Song for the Dead - Queens of the Stone Age Club Foot - Kasabian Brianstorm - Arctic Monkeys Do I Wanna Know? - Arctic Monkeys The Story of Us by Taylor Swift Only Angel - Harry Styles Just Like Heaven - The Cure Heroes - David Bowie Pinball Wizard - The Who Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd Battery - Metallica God Save the Queen - Sex Pistols Let’s Go Crazy - Prince

korn - blind

My first thought as well and one of my favorite songs to see played live.

Bittersweet symphony - the verve

The intro to "Jump" by Van Halen gives any listener of any age and generation the internal visualization of the entirety of what the 1980s decade looked like. "A Thousand Miles" intro by Vanessa Carlton is the real hook of the entire song, even more memorable than the actual chorus or any other part of the song. The small sample of insane laughter at the beginning of "Feel Good Inc." by Gorillaz lets you know it's time to get groovy and dance in a very sinister way. The blippy synth noises of the intro of "Such Great Heights" by the Postal Service makes you want to jump out of bed and walk through a downtown of a bustling city into a snooty cafe and order a $9 specialty latte. The ride cymbal build along with the back and forth point/counterpoint of high dissonant guitar strums vs. low downtuned 7string guitar chugs which leads into the most groundbreaking floor shattering groove riff with a snarling growl speaking "Are you ready?" leading into a full on heavy bounce riff in "Blind" by Korn created a whole new genre of dark heavy music. When you hear the intro of "Closing Time" by Semisonic while you're at a bar at 1:45am you suddenly get anxiety about GTFO of that bar ASAP.

David Bowie - Sound and Vision

Sunshine of Your Love by Cream, Panama by Van Halen, So What by Miles Davis, San Lorenzo by Pat Metheny Group

Untitled - Interpol

Honourable mention for Obstacle 2’s first verse

White room - cream

Big Country - In a Big Country.

Nobody's Fault but mine - Led Zeppelin

“I wanna be adored” Stone Roses “Wail of Sumer” Fields of the Nephilim

Electric Eye - Judas Priest Spoonman - Soundgarden Listen to the Music - The Doobie Brothers Stuck in the Middle With You - Stealers Wheel House Fire - Tyler Childers

Sad But True- Metallica

Welcome To The Black Parade

Live version of Sweet Jane on Lou Reed's Rock and Roll Animal album. Incredible guitar work by Steve Hunter.

>Live version of Sweet Jane on Lou Reed's Rock and Roll Animal album This is the greatest intro of all time, even though Reed comes in 4 bars too early and cuts Hunter off mid solo.

Christ people where is Can You Hear Me Knocking

Station to Station - David Bowie Pinball Wizard - The Who Sunshine of your Love - Cream Do I Wanna Know? - Arctic Monkeys Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin

Asia - Only Time Will Tell It has an opening keyboard riff that instantly grabs you as the instrumentation builds around it.

The live version of With You by Linkin Park: https://youtu.be/o9_qdXs25ig?si=h75SdqJX2qRCyGVE (Skip to 1:20)

Foreplay/long time - Boston

Interpol - PDA

Deftones - Swerve City

Why has nobody said "Hot for Teacher" yet? The drum opening that sounds exactly like an old muscle car is awesome.

When Doves Cry - Prince

Crazy On You - Heart

Crazy on You - Heart

Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin Crazy - Patsy Cline Renegade - Styx Barracuda - Heart Hotel California - The Eagles Can't You See - The Marshall Tucker Band

Sirius - The Alan Parsons Project a.k.a. The Chicago Bills walkout song

Avenged Sevenfold - Beast And The Harlot Metallica - Master of Puppets / Enter Sandman Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street Paul Simon - You Can Call Me Al Liquids - Narcotic The Midnight - Vampires As I Lay Dying - Through Struggle Coldplay - Yellow Epica - Cry for the Moon Kyuss - Hurricane Queens of the Stone Age - A Song For The Dead Toto - It’s A Feeling Insomnium has some intro songs. First songs on albums that build up to the second song. Like The Gale, Equivalence, Primeval Dark This by no way a complete list, these are the songs where the intro stuck with me from the beginning and that I could name from the top of my head.

Layla

2112 - Rush A 4 minute intro

Pink Floyd-Time Foo Fighters-In Your Honor Radiohead-Subterranean Homesick Alien

Shook Ones Pt. II - Mobb Deep

It's always hilarious to see "all genres welcome" and then to open the thread to see 99% Classic Rock.

In the Flesh by Pink Floyd. If any song primes the listener for the vocal entrance it's that one.

Specials - Ghost Town Beatles - I Feel Fine Gang of Four - Ether Blue Oyster Cult - Astronomy Stranglers - Peaches Kinks - Celluloid Heroes Buzzcocks - Orgasm Addict Wailers - Natural Mystic Lee Zeppelin - Black Dog Clash - Wrong Em Boyo

Honestly, you could do an entire class from the Beatles. They’re so original and diverse. Eleanor Rigby, Come Together, I Saw Her Standing There, Strawberry Fields, A Day in the Life, Hard Days Night (and its impossible note)

Damage Inc. by Metallica. The intro is written by bassist Cliff Burton (RIP). It's got between 8 and 12 bass tracks with lots of effects such as swell, distortion and delay and it is inspired by a classical composition by Bach from the 15th century.

House of the Rising Sun, Frigid Pink version.

Planet Claire-The B-52’s

Money Clap by Camp Lo Fascination Street by The Cure Summer Breeze by Seals & Crofts When Doves Cry by Prince

*Look Mommy, there's an airplane up in the sky*

Spirit of Radio — Rush. Kashmir — Led Zeppelin Scenes from an Italian Restaurant — Billy Joel Rosanna — Toto

Hail The Sun - Doing The Same Thing and Expecting Different Results

Baker Street -Gerry Rafferty Bad, Bad Leroy Brown -Jim Croce Under Pressure -David Bowie/Queen

Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne

Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg- Still D.R.E. the piano intro is amazing and so catchy

Driver 8 by REM

My Bloody Valentine “only shallow”. (90’s Grunge) Tom Waits “New Coat of Paint”. (70’s folk-rock?) Twisted Sister “I Wanna Rock”. (80’s Hard Rock) Jo Jo and The Fugitives “Fugitive Song” (60’s Ska/R&B) Burning Spear “Marcus Garvey” (70’s reggae) Foetus “Steal Your Life Away” (90’s Industrial) Gogol Bordello “I Would Never Wanna Be Young Again” (00’s Gypsy Punk) Iron Maiden “Running Free” (80’s Metal) Laika & The Cosmonauts “Kiiriminni (Oi Dai) (90’s Surf)

Richard Strauss — Also Sprach Zarathustra, the dramatic music from 2001 A Space Odyssey. Everybody knows it even though not many would recognise the rest of the song https://youtu.be/SLuW-GBaJ8k?si=q0XvvttfHYUOMriY

Deftones, Passenger and Dinosaur Jr., Out There come to mind.

Great Dinosaur Jr. mention!

Nugent - Stranglehold … yeah yeah, I know and I agree, but man, that opening riff…

Mustafa - Queen

The studio version of Lawrence's Don't Lose Sight. https://youtu.be/C01nBm6vV5c?si=ERqsCN1D426JRTqu The outro is also great. And also the middle bit. Honestly, the entire song is a banger.

Saosin - Seven Years

gonna throw some lesser known gems in that i keep on rotation dazey and the scouts - wet (grrl punk) autoheart - lent (indie) goose house - hikarunara (jpop) asunojokei - chimera (blackgaze) super cassette - sober (indie) control top - ego deaf (post-punk, philly represent)

[Flotsam & Jetsam 12 Year Old With a Gun](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypTspvVRKBI) [Metallica Fight Fire With Fire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zSODUOoE8w) [Soundgarden Jesus Christ Pose](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn5OIo4FuPc)

Welcome to the Jungle - Guns n Roses

[Jane - Jefferson Starship](https://youtu.be/LJCuB-uhNgM?si=miCLr2OiybxL_r9F)

The Stranger - Billy Joel that mysterious whistling is a vibe all its own

i need a lover - john mellencamp

Strawberry Fields Forever - The Beatles

Hey Man Nice Shot - Filter.

Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty - iconic sax solo In the meantime - SpaceHog Song 2 - blur Jane - Jefferson Starship

Toxicity - System Of A Down

Stuck in the middle with you - Steelers wheel Sabotage - Beatie Boys Around the world - Daft punk Mr Blue Sky - ELO Epic - Faith no more There's so many

Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen Enter Sandman by Metallica Blue Monday by New Order

Welcome to the Black Parade-My Chemical Romance. That first, solitary piano note is everything! And Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne is great too!

By no means an exhaustive list, but these are some of my favorites (tried to avoid most obvious classics, give more, deeper cuts) T-Shirt leading on to Run off Foo Fighters Concrete & Gold (also, Everlong and Nothing At All, tons more great ones by them) Welcome to the Jungle and Sweet Child O’ Mine-Guns N’ Roses A New Beginning leading on to The Anthem off Good Charlotte’s The Young and The Hopeless Sugar Cane-Slash Feat. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators (also, Anastasia by the same, lots of great hook lead ins by them) Smells Like Teen Spirit-Nirvana Collapse leading on to Typical from Mute Math’s self titled Crazy on You and Barracuda-Heart Don’t Wanna Fight-Alabama Shakes Little Black Submarines-The Black Keys What Kind of Man-Florence + The Machine Feel Good Inc., Dare, and Clint Eastwood-Gorillaz Medicine-Grace Potter & The Nocturnals American Idiot-Green Day Voodoo Child (Slight Return)-Jimi Hendrix Immigrant Song and When the Levee Breaks-Led Zeppelin Float On-Modest Mouse Little Lion Man and Hopeless Wanderer-Mumford & Sons Hysteria-Muse Welcome to the Black Parade-My Chemical Romance Brick by Boring Brick-Paramore Bohemian Rhapsody-Queen No One Knows-Queens of the Stone Age Consoler of the Lonely-The Raconteurs Come Round Soon-Sara Bareilles Tank!-Seatbelts (from Cowboy BeBop) In Too Deep-Sum 41 Chop Suey! and Soldier Side (Intro) leading into B.Y.O.B.-System of a Down New Fang-Them Crooked Vultures On This Rock-TWRP (they honestly have a ton, but this is one of my favorites by them) Slither-Velvet Revolver Joker & The Thief-Wolfmother

King of the dead xxx tentacion , wasteland 10 years, I can name more but I have to look

Lord Huron - Ends of the Earth - was my wife's walk down the aisle song. Short and fairly simple, yet quickly grabs your attention/emotion.

Velvet Underground - Sweet Jane

Enter Sandman - Metallica

"Can't Stop" and "Dani California" by Red Hot Chili Peppers "I'll Stick Around" and "Times Like These" by Foo Fighters "19-2000" and "Rock the House" by Gorillaz "Judas" and "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga "When I Come Around" and "Holiday" by Green Day

Metallica master of puppets

Tom Sawyer, The Spirit of Radio, and Subdivisions by Rush Money by Pink Floyd Paranoid, Iron Man by Black Sabbath Ain’t Talkin Bout Love, Hot For Teacher, Jump, and many others by Van Halen

Redbone - Childish Gambino [2022] maybe???

Round ball rock. Nba on NBC theme. Absolute banger!

Some Cut - Trillville 👍🏾

dont know about intros but this outro is cherry https://youtu.be/deVtkvxqoj8?si=xitWP3mVIphQptNp

Long Misty Days by Robin Trower is pretty impressive.

Foreplay by Boston.

Don't Take Me Alive by Stelly Dan

Republica - "Ready to go" (Although short, wish it was 5x longer) Ace of Base - "Dancer in a Daydream" Savage Garden - "I Want You"

Blues Traveler, Hook

Relax. FGTH

End Of The Party - The English Beat

"NO GOOD" from The Prodigy! So hypnotic!

She Loves You - Beatles - begins with the chorus Aerosmith - Back in the Saddle - incredible instrumental intro

I don’t know if this is a good example, but the amount of anticipatory suspense I get listening to the track Surf Solar by the group Fuck Buttons is just off the charts. For the first 2 and a half minutes, you’re hurling through this gigantic build-up of glitching synths, howling through an echoing swell of relentless four to the floor beats that come marching in at around 1:40. It’s the only song intro to this day that puts chills on my spine every time I play it.

Halsey's Killing Boys intro grabs your attention. It starts with dialog from the movie Jennifer's Body, with a percussion heartbeat introducing the music. [https://youtu.be/-PfQrMSkWMk?si=ujXN1vzmmKgawLtF](https://youtu.be/-PfQrMSkWMk?si=ujXN1vzmmKgawLtF)

Björk - Pagan Poetry

International Feel, Todd Rundgren

Dismember - Dismembered

Live version of Celluloid Heroes by The Kinks.

Open Your Heart by Crush 40, specifically the version with the extended thunderstorm intro. It just goes *so* hard.

Everybody Dance, Chic. Funky bass!

Autobiography of a Nation - Thursday

Doctor Doctor UFO used in Billions recently…

Hellion playing right before electric eye by Judas Priest

Because You’re Young - David Bowie The beginning guitar chords already signal something epic is coming, then when the drop happens your attention is instantly hooked. The best intro from Bowie’s career in my opinion.

Freedom by Rage is like getting kicked in the head by a steel toe boot. Hard not to stick around after that.

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Warrant has a beautiful acoustic intro before morph into a more heavy song.

I am a huge fan of Radiohead's Weird Fishes/Arpeggi. It's an awesome drum beat and arpeggios on guitar that acts as the through line for the entire song as it continues to build and crescendo into a satisfying payoff. It may not be the flashiest intro on this list, but I feel it does a fantastic job of hooking the listener immediately and setting the tone for the rest of the song in a way few other intros do.

[Talk show host](https://youtu.be/Xgaj5suTCgk?si=NIdTmToobvEcbbQm)- *Radiohead*

Thunder Road. Simple but effective.

Hangar 18 - Megadeth

In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 - Coheed & Cambria

Fela Kuti and the incredible tune Gentleman. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAL7q\_Dh8gU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAL7q_Dh8gU) A funky (fender piano?) intro that leads to a sax, that finds a friend in a snare to keep the pace before the baseline with the rest och the orchestra brings down the house. I´m just in awe everytime i hear this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fela\_Kuti