Jimi Hendrix, ‘Third Stone From the Sun’ vs. Styx, ‘Come Sail Away': Rock Star Wars

Two out-of-this-world classic-rock favorites square off against each other in the first round of our Rock Star Wars battle.

To try and fill our days between now and the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie, we’ve tracked down 32 space-themed classic rock songs and paired them off against each other in 16 first-round battles. The field will be halved every week based on your votes, until only the spaciest song in rock history remains standing.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Third Stone From the Sun" was included on their 1967 debut, Are You Experienced. For a song named after the Earth's placement in the solar system, it's appropriately a spacey track, with lots of effects soaring through the instrumental passages. The slowed-down spoken parts include a dialogue between space commander Hendrix and his manager about exploring Earth for intelligent life.

Likewise, Styx's "Come Sail Away" (from 1977's The Grand Illusion) is about an outer-space journey, but this time the band isn't a willing participate ... at least not at first. They're just sorta spacing out when "a gathering of angels" appears above their heads. But in a twist worthy of '70s sci-fi, they weren't angels at all but space aliens who board their "starship" at song's end and head for the skies.

So which of these songs will emerge victorious from this round? It’s your choice. You can listen to both tracks below, and vote once per hour in each of the this round's Rock Star Wars battles until polls close on Nov. 23 at 11:59PM ET. Your choice for our Rock Star Wars champion will be revealed on Dec. 22, 2015.

Listen to Jimi Hendrix's 'Third Stone From the Sun'

Listen to Styx's 'Come Sailing Away'

See Jimi Hendrix and Other Rockers in the Top 100 Albums of the '60s