Selecting only five of the best rock screams ever isn’t easy. But the songs below wouldn’t be the same without the thunderous wails that buoy them. When a singer reaches the point where they are lost in a fit of rock and roll, words simply aren’t enough to get it all out. Some twist, some shout, while others simply… scream!
Videos by American Songwriter
“Helter Skelter” by The Beatles
Paul McCartney has the rare ability to sing tenderly, as in “Yesterday”, while also possessing one of the greatest screams in rock and roll. Partly inspired by The Who, McCartney’s track drives everything into distortion, and his vocal take is delightfully unhinged. Finally, after a seemingly endless amount of takes to get the song right, it all left Ringo Starr to shout: “I got blisters on my fingers!”
“Welcome To The Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses
If you were a teenager in 1987 and dropped the needle for the first time on Appetite For Destruction, the opening track was both exciting and terrifying. Beneath Slash’s echoing guitar notes, Axl Rose makes his voice sound like a howling storm before “Welcome To The Jungle” fully kicks in. But perhaps the greatest scream in rock history arrives with a simple question: “You know where you are?” Then Rose answers, “You’re in the jungle, baby, you’re gonna diiiiiieeeeeeeee!”
“Painkiller” by Judas Priest
Melody remains a crucial component of a great rock scream. And Rob Halford reaches the kind of sky-high opera few rock singers can muster. On “Painkiller”, Halford describes some kind of heavy metal monster with biblical allusions to surviving Armageddon. Meanwhile, his shrieks are layered like the tragic figures flailing within this dystopia, which leads to Halford’s epic scream at the five-minute mark.
“Crazy On You” by Heart
Nancy Wilson opens “Crazy On You” with a classically tinged acoustic guitar piece. The track quickly moves into Led Zeppelin folk-rock territory as Ann Wilson pleads to a partner to forget about the world’s chaos in one night of primal instinct. The way she sings “crazy” highlights the desperation, intent, and utter release. Under the shadow of the Vietnam War and social conflict in the 1970s, Wilson wanted to escape it all.
“I Remember You” by Skid Row
Sebastian Bach became so well-known for his glass-shattering screams that he once appeared in an SNL skit with Adam Sandler called “Kiddie Metal”. Sandler portrayed Axl Rose as he and Bach ripped through “The Dueling ABC Song”. If you were a heavy metal band in the 80s and you wanted to sell a lot of records, you needed a great power ballad. Skid Row’s bluesy “I Remember You” was a hit and helped launch the band’s self-titled debut into the Top 10. This track, along with “18 And Life”, showcases what made Bach an iconic rock singer.
Photo by Mediapunch/Shutterstock
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