Loudwire picks the best rock song from every year of the 2010s

Loudwire has published a retrospective naming the best rock song from each year of the 2010s, using the year-by-year format to map out the trends that shaped the decade. According to the outlet, the 2010s were not defined by a single dominant movement, but rather by the carryover of bands and sounds that had already broken through in the 2000s.

One of the central threads in the piece is the ground gained by female-fronted rock bands. Halestorm is credited with setting the bar early, including the Grammy the band won for the 2012 single "Love Bites (So Do I)," while The Pretty Reckless is named as the act that carried the momentum forward with a run of chart-topping rock singles.

The list also spotlights artists who changed direction mid-decade. Bring Me the Horizon appears as the prime example of a band that moved toward electronically tinged radio rock, while Ghost is cited for its shift from doom-leaning material to a far more danceable approach over the same stretch of years.

For Loudwire, the end result was a decade that kept heavy rock on the radio and added a new chapter to the genre's long run. Alongside the song picks, the feature is paired with a second rundown highlighting the best new rock and metal bands from each year of the 2010s.