Ted Nugent - Stranglehold

From Ted Nugent (1975)

Arguably the most badass song of all time:

Monster riff from first second ✅
Way over the top long guitar solo ✅
”The road I cruise is a bitch now baby” ✅

I have listened to this one so much I know exactly when the all the notes in the 5 minutes long guitar solo happen.

Initially I was bothered by the Led Zeppelin style misogyny. But a Straussian reading reveals that the song is about Ted Nugent’s relationship with record companies. He was initially rejected by all of them. But of course he turned out a massive success.

Or, as the song says:

Sometimes you want to get higher
Sometimes you gotta start low

The song came to him at the moment where he had the right level of hubris; enough make a kick-ass gloating anthem, but not so much that he would insist on singing it himself as he later would. (Instead his bandmate Derek St. Holmes sings in a Plant-worthy performance.)

I’m going to listen to the build-up for the final verse starting at 6:53 again. And no you can't turn me 'round.