Brian May has put together a compilation album titled Air Guitar Anthems.
“It’s an interesting discussion between a simple riff and a complex riff,” May says, explaining the concept behind the three-CD Air Guitar Anthems. “Most of us think simple is great but there are definite exceptions, like Message In A Bottle by The Police – it is the most incredibly complex thing but it sticks in the mind and it’s obviously one of the greatest riffs of all time.
“A riff is a riff is a riff… and it’s a mystical thing. Either it grabs you or it doesn’t and some things can be quite involved or some things can be incredibly simple.”
Track listing:
CD1
1. Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
2. Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love
3. The Rolling Stones – Start Me Up
4. ZZ Top – Gimme All Your Lovin’
5. T Rex – 20th Century Boy
6. Meat Loaf – Bat Out Of Hell
7. Ram Jam – Black Betty
8. Deep Purple – Smoke On The Water
9. Bachman-Turner Overdrive – You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
10. Metallica – Stone Cold Crazy
11. Alice Cooper – Poison
12. KISS – Crazy Crazy Nights
13. Motorhead – Ace of Spades
14. Thin Lizzy – The Boys Are Back In Town
15. Whitesnake – Here I Go Again ’87
16. Derek & The Dominoes feat. Duane Allen – Layla
17. Rainbow – Since You Been Gone
18. Boston – More Than A Feeling
CD2
1. Dire Straits – Money For Nothing
2. Journey – Don’t Stop Believing
3. Status Quo – Down Down
4. Bryan Adams – Run to You
5. Free – All Right Now
6. The Who – I Can’t Explain
7. The Kinks – You Really Got Me
8. Muddy Waters – Mannish Boy
9. Bad Company – Feel Like Makin’ Love
10. Billy Idol – White Wedding
11. George Thorogood & The Destroyers – Bad To The Bone
12. Survivor – Eye of the Tiger
13. Cream – Sunshine of Your Love
14. Chuck Berry – Johnny Be Good
15. Buddy Holly – That’ll Be The Day
16. Small Faces – All Or Nothing
17. Sex Pistols – God Save the Queen
18. The Animals – The House of the Rising Sun
19. Brian May & Kerry Ellis – Parisienne Walkways
CD3
1. Def Leppard – Pour Some Sugar On Me
2. The Police – Message In A Bottle
3. The Darkness – I Believe In A Thing Called Love
4. Stiltskin – Inside
5. The Knack – My Sharona
6. Toto – Hold The Line
7. Lynyrd Skynyrd – Sweet Home Alabama
8. Rush – The Spirit of Radio
9. Motley Crue – Girls Girls Girls
10. Twisted Sister – I Wanna Rock
11. Mott The Hoople – All The Young Dudes
12. Joe Walsh – Rocky Mountain Way
13. Blue Oyster Cult – (Don’t Fear) The Reaper
14. Dio – Holy Diver
15. Soundgarden – Black Hole Sun
16. Robert Palmer – Addicted To Love
17. Shadows – FBI
18. The Troggs – Wild Thing
19. Queen – We Will Rock You