10 TV Show Theme Songs that Rock

This has got to be the most metal of all TV theme songs right? The music was written by creator Brendon Small even though the credits show Dethklok, which is the fictional heavy metal band featured in the show. Despite being an animated metal band, they released their first album called The Dethalbum in 2007 and eventually toured as a real band. Series creator Brendon Small set up the band for tour in late 2007.

“Go Go Power Rangers” is arguably one of the most iconic theme songs of all-time and features a super fun guitar-driven melody. Ron Wasserman composed the theme song while he was working for Saban Entertainment, the company responsible for a number of hit TV shows in the ’90s, including Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. In 1994, Wasserman released a soundtrack for the show, which included music from the first two seasons.

Ron Wasserman’s work with children’s shows did not end with the Power Rangers, and continued to X-Men. In an interview with Marvel, Wasserman admitted that it was easier to create the theme for X-Men than Power Rangers because he was given clips of the show to work off of this time.

At this point, you must be aware that the ‘90s were a great time for kids’ animated television. Not only were the cartoons just great fun, the blood-pumping, heart-racing theme songs that opened them were arguably the best parts of the show. X-Men had a great theme song, and so did Marvel’s other animated series. This time the theme song was composed by Shuki Levy, who worked on the aforementioned Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, as well as Kussa Mahchi and Udi Harapaz. The song was performed by Joe Perry of Aerosmith.

The opening credits to this British sci-fi show about delinquents with super powers was written and performed by The Rapture. The band’s song “Echoes” is the intro theme song and often fades in after the opening scene. The intro is animated and features the main characters and their powers. The music and the scenes match perfectly with the characters and the adventures that take place in each episode. It’s hectic, surprising and down-right raunchy at times, with a number of terrible, yet hilarious events taking place through each of the four seasons.

The show’s opening credits begin with an organ and then quickly transitions into rock with an electric guitar. The intro song was actually already written by the band Nerf Herder before they were called to submit a demo. In the show, the characters often visited the music venue called The Bronze, where bands would play in the background during scenes. The production of the show meant that they had to fill The Bronze with actual musicians. Because of this, the show called for real unsigned, local bands that would perform in the background. Most notably, Michelle Branch made an appearance in Season 6. 

Thanks to the tremendous success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Netflix and Marvel teamed up to create Jessica Jones, a private investigator with some serious personal issues. The opening music to this series begins with a playful piano piece and then slowly crescendos into a piercing electric guitar, perhaps encapsulating the character herself. The entire first season of music is written and composed by Sean Callery, who worked as a jazz pianist before tackling big-budget TV. Callery spoke about the titular character of Jessica Jones as a mysterious character, but a fun character, and he called the entire production of the sound track a “neo-noir” experiment.

This sitcom that launched the careers of Bryan Cranston and Frankie Muniz is an award-winning show with a cast of characters as memorable as the theme song that opened each half-hour show. The intro song is “Boss of Me” by They Might Be Giants and even if you’ve never heard of that band, you probably have heard the song. Malcolm in the Middle and They Might Be Giants won a Grammy for the song. The band also wrote and performed all of the incidental music in the show, which is music used in the background of scenes, etc.

The teen comedy show starring Linda Cardellini and John Francis Daley was short lived. It was cancelled after only 18 episodes were completed. The opening song is a classic punk-rock number, “Bad Reputation” by Joan Jett. As the song plays, the main characters sit in front of the camera as they get their school pictures taken. The young actors in this show also include future stars such as Seth Rogen, Jason Segel and James Franco. 

The intro theme song of this CSI spin-off is none other than “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who. Interestingly enough, The Who also performed the theme songs for CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: NY, and CSI: Cyber. The Who’s connection to the show ran even deeper when Roger Daltrey, frontman and singer for the rock band appeared in an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Daltry played the character of Mickey Dunn, a criminal from the 1970s.

Billy Saefong is the Community Support Specialist for Guitartricks.com and 30daysinger.com.