Our festive-season countdown stumbles drunkenly towards its climax…

40. The End Of The Line – Metallica
From the 2008 album Death Magnetic. Back on form and in the form of their lives, Metallica returned to basics, to more than just rebuild their reputation. Watch the band play it live here.

39. Divinations – Mastodon
From the 2008 album Crack The Skye. The current masters of progressive metal here in their pomp. If you wanna know why this band are so revered, then just spin this diabolically clever song. Watch the video here.

38. Marlon JD – Manic Street Preachers
From the 2009 album Journal For Plague Lovers. Featuring the lyrics of the missing Richey Edwards, this thrums with barbs, wit, insight and pain. The music is equally as cultured. Listen to the song here.

37. Lord, Kill The Pain – Pig Irön
From the 2005 album The Law And The Road Are One. An epic that kicks up road dust and strides into the grimiest bar in town. Spaghetti western southern music – from London! Brilliant. Watch the video here.

36. Life’s A Bitch – Motörhead
From the 2004 album Inferno. It’s Lemmy and co doing what they do best – and doing it better than anyone else. ‘Nuff said. Watch the video here.

35. Keep Believin’ – The Answer
From the 2006 album Rise. The Answer come riding out of Ireland on a surfeit of Free and Zeppelin freshness, and with this gives classic rock a new sense of pride and urgency. Watch the video here.

34. Joker And The Thief – Wolfmother
From the 2005 album Wolfmother. Odd times changes help to make this one of the stand-out tracks from a band who’ve taken psychedelic inspirations from the both the 1960s and the 90s. Original and catchy. Listen to the song here.

33. Don’t Drink The Water – Stone Gods
Like Hot Leg, Stone Gods rose out of the ashes of The Darkness. This is a punky summertime slam-along, complete with a chucklesome, hanky-on-your-head, socks-in-your-sandals, Carry On Abroad-style vibe. Watch the video here.

32. Go – Def Leppard
From the 2008 album Songs From The Sparkle Lounge. Def Leppard claimed a few years ago they wanted to come up with new songs that proved they were far from being a nostalgia act. This is a fine example of why it worked. Listen to the song here.

31. Grace Kelly – Mika
From the 2007 album Life In Cartoon Motion. It’s got a tune that owes a lot to opera – and to a certain Sir Freddie Of Mercury. It satirises the music business, and you can’t get it out of your mind. Reasons enough to be cheerful. Watch the video here.

Go here for previous entries in the Classic Rock chart.

* Coming tomorrow on www.classicrockmagazine.com – numbers 30 through to 29.