Top Rock Albums 1992-2022

DETROIT, MI – MAY 31: The #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Riley DP Ford EcoBoost of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas of Mexico in the pits during the Tudor United Sports Car Championship Series Chevrolet Sports Car Classic at the 2014 Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park on May 31, 2014 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)

The Detroit Grand Prix has been on Belle Isle since 1992! This is the final year on the island. Since rock and racing have always gone hand in hand, here's the top rock albums from 1992-2022!

Stone Temple Pilots - ‘Core’

Atlantic

Released on September 29, 1992.

31. “Shut Up and Dance” - ‘Get a Grip’ (1993)

Geffen

'Get A Grip’ was just chock-full of massive, arena-ready songs. “Shut Up and Dance” is one of those songs, and it wasn’t even released as a single in the United States. (And this album had six singles!) Many might remember it closing out ‘Wayne’s World 2’ when Aerosmith showed up at WayneStock. What people may not remember is that in addition to Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, Jack Blades and Tommy Shaw also have songwriting credits on this jam.

2. “Longview” from ‘Dookie’ (1994)

Reprise

Green Day had been around for five years by the time they *cough* dropped ‘Dookie,’ but this is the song and video that brought them into the homes and hearts of America. Like their peers from the north in Seattle, Green Day had their share of angst. But unlike those guys, they actually had some fun with it.

1995

Virgin

The Smashing Pumpkins - ‘Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness’

1996

Epic

Rage Against The Machine – ‘Evil Empire’

Foo Fighters - ‘The Colour and the Shape’

RCA

Released on May 20, 1997.

1998

Rick Diamond/Getty Images

Kid Rock 'Devil Without A Cause'

1999

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Creed 'Human Clay'

1. “In The End” - ‘Hybrid Theory’ (2000)

Warner Bros.

The song is certified four times platinum… One billion views on YouTube… A staple across multiple radio formats to this day. In the end, was there any question that Linkin Park’s signature song wouldn’t top this list? The universal lyrics, while rooted in negativity, offer a place for us to air our grievances. Mike’s frustrated verses find balance with Chester’s defeated repose. For most of us, this was the first time we heard their chemistry, and it was gripping. Sonically it transcends genre; every type of music fan knows this song. In three and a half minutes, this one track encapsulates everything that makes Linkin Park remarkable.

2001

Flip Records/Elektra

Staind - ‘Break the Cycle’

2002

Disturbed 'Believe'

3. “Faint” - ‘Meteora’ (2003)

Warner Bros.

All six members of the band are well-represented here. A symphonic intro is overtaken by chunky, distorted riffs. Mike’s rapid staccato is carried by the drum beat. The tension releases at the bridge with a roar that solidifies Chester as one of the greatest voices of the 21st century.

2004

Velvet Revolver 'Contraband'

2005

Buda Mendes/Getty Images

Nickelback – 'All The Right Reasons'

2006

Warner Bros.

Red Hot Chili Peppers 'Stadium Arcadium'

35. The White Stripes - “300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues” from ‘Icky Thump’ (2007)

Third Man Records

Jack told Rolling Stone: "That [song] started on an acoustic guitar - it became an idea to use as many different styles of the blues as I could in one song. It goes from the really screeching, distorted, heavy blues sound, to an almost wimpy Wurlitzer kind of loungey blues sound, to white-boy takes on the blues, to real earthy, country blues."

Kid Rock - ‘Rock n Roll Jesus’

Atlantic

Released on October 9, 2007.

2009

Nickelback 'Dark Horse'

2010

Erik Aratari

Deftones 'Diamond Eyes'

2011

Nonesuch

The Black Keys - ‘El Camino’

4. "Freak Like Me" - 'The Strange Case Of...' (2012)

Atlantic

Lzzy Hale told us of “Freak Like Me,” “This is the song that I can trace back to that moment where I was an 11 year old and found out I was not cool, that I was not like the other girls…I love playing that song live. It has become such an amazing anthem for our community. The fans took it upon themselves to change their branding. They used to call themselves ‘Storm Chasers’ in the beginning years of Halestorm. And since that song was released, they'd started calling themselves ‘Freaks.’” In addition to fans finding inspiration in the tune, “Freak Like Me” marked Halestorm’s first number one hit on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.

30. “Stone” - ‘The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here’ (2013)

Capitol

“Stone” is the most recent Alice in Chains song to top Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Songs chart, which is determined solely on radio airplay. The chugging riff was written by Cantrell during a time when he actually couldn’t play a guitar. He said in an interview with Ultimate-Guitar.com that he was still recovering from shoulder surgery, so he just hummed the riff into his phone, which only proves that even when he’s unable to play, Jerry Cantrell is still better than most other guitarists. He’s just that good!