ROLLING STONE HAS ranked the 200 greatest rock songs of the 21st century so far, with two Irish bands earning places on the list.

U2’s Beautiful Day comes in at number 22, while Fontaines D.C.’s Starburster takes 61st place.

Released in 2000, Beautiful Day places U2 just ahead of David Bowie’s Blackstar at 23 and Coldplay’s Yellow at 24.

Rolling Stone praised the song, saying: “the band reignited its signature mix of soaring studio atmospherics, the Edge’s turbo-charged guitar, and Bono’s vaulting vocal heroism to create an uplifting anthem about pushing past personal entropy by grounding yourself in the elemental joys of life.”

“The result is one of the most exciting return-to-form moments any major band has pulled off,” they added.

Fontaines D.C.’s entry, taken from their 2024 album Romance, sits between Mastodon’s Blood and Thunder and Bloc Party’s Banquet.

“If Fontaines D.C.’s “Starburster” sounds like a panic attack, that’s the point,” Rolling Stone writes.

Along with the Irish entries, there’s plenty to fuel an argument over the playlist.

Franz Ferdinand’s Take Me Out reaches number 15, ahead of My Chemical Romance’s Welcome to the Black Parade at 16 and LCD Soundsystem’s All My Friends at 17.

Further down, System of a Down’s Chop Suey! lands at 34, Queens of the Stone Age’s No One Knows at 36 and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ By the Way at 50.

Elsewhere, Wheatus’s Teenage Dirtbag takes 72nd place, one spot behind Kelly Clarkson’s Since U Been Gone. 

The ranking also stretches beyond the acts most readily associated with rock. Taylor Swift’s ten-minute version of All Too Well comes in at 33, while Beyoncé’s Jack White collaboration Don’t Hurt Yourself ranks 46th.

Radiohead’s The National Anthem takes fifth place, with Olivia Rodrigo’s Good 4 U at number four.

That puts the 2021 pop-punk hit ahead of songs by The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys and Foo Fighters.

The Killers’ Mr. Brightside finishes third, while The White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army takes second.

The top spot goes to Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Maps, the 2003 song from their debut album Fever to Tell.