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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 6, 2022 5:36:17 GMT -5
21. Diamond Head - “Am I Evil”
One of the most important influences on Metallica and Megadeth was this NWOBHM anthem about a witch’s son seeking revenge. The riffs that Diamond Head were laying down were prototype thrash riffs, and the song’s influence is still felt today. Metallica paid tribute in a famous cover of the song, and the Big 4 played it together live in concert in a genre-defining moment.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 6, 2022 5:44:14 GMT -5
20. Dream Theater - “Metropolis - Part I: ‘The Miracle and the Sleeper’”
We’ve reached the Top 20, and from here on out it’s only going to get tighter and more competitive as the songs vie for the top spot. We begin with one of the most influential epics in prog metal. Not only was “Metropolis” an instant fan favorite among Dream Theater fans, it also led to the groundbreaking Scenes from a Memory concept album a few years later. One of the band’s signature songs.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 6, 2022 5:53:31 GMT -5
19. Opeth - “Blackwater Park”
A twelve minute behemoth about disease and damnation, the closing title track to Opeth’s fifth album remains the crowning jewel of their discography. With several different sections working as a unit — and a few acoustic breaks for good measure — this is the definitive merger of prog with death metal, and remains a towering classic of extreme metal.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 7, 2022 6:15:00 GMT -5
18. Rainbow - “Stargazer”
“Stargazer” was the OG metal epic, and there’s no single MVP on this track. Ritchie Blackmore not only was playing a sick ass riff, he also killed it on that guitar solo. Cozy Powell opened the song with one of the greatest drum intros of all time, and then never let up afterwards. Jimmy Bain kept things rooted with his bass playing, and Tony Carey added extra texture with this keyboard. Then of course you have Ronnie James Dio on vocals, delivering one of his most passionate storytelling moments about a wizard who wants to fly. And for an extra final measure the band also had the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra added further excellence to this monster. No wonder it’s heralded by many as one of the greatest metal songs of all time.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 7, 2022 6:20:36 GMT -5
17. System of a Down - “Chop Suey!”
SOAD may have been using an alt / nu metal template, but they expanded on it through their Armenian backgrounds and personal creativity. Toxicity brought the world their greatest, most iconic song: a three and a half minute exploration of suicide with several shifting moods and ultra-famous moments and performances.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 7, 2022 6:25:30 GMT -5
16. Anthrax - “Caught in a Mosh”
Anthrax’s most iconic song wasn’t even released as a single originally, yet it quickly became the fan favorite from Among the Living. It immortalized the metal dance of moshing with a ‘fuck you!’ energy and is widely considered one of thrash’s best compositions.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 7, 2022 6:33:27 GMT -5
15. Mastodon - “Blood and Thunder”
Mastodon merged sludge with progressive elements to craft one of the most popular metal sounds of the 2000s. Their sophomore record Leviathan took the world by storm with their brand of ‘whale metal’ — they based the album’s concept on Herman Melville’s iconic novel Moby-Dick. Any skeptics of the thematics need only look to the opening track to see just how well it works. “Blood and Thunder” is an anthemic ode to slaying the white whale in a tight sub-four minute package.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 7, 2022 6:39:04 GMT -5
14. Mayhem - “Freezing Moon”
The spear-headers of the Norwegian black metal scene, Mayhem took the framework that bands like Venom and Bathory was crafted and full expanded the genre into a frigid, northern wasteland of gripping ferocity. Their most popular and iconic song had been finished by 1989, and a demo recorded as early as 1990, but the band wouldn’t finally release it as part of their first full studio record until 1994, thanks to the suicide of vocalist Dead and bassist Varg Vikernes’s murder of guitarist Euronymous. Yet even before it had been released, it was one of the greatest examples of black metal ever laid down, and retains that status to this day.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 7, 2022 6:44:50 GMT -5
13. Slipknot - “Wait and Bleed”
In two and a half minutes, Slipknot had already immortalized themselves on their debut single. The success of this song, a blaring alt metal barnstormer, took the band by surprise, but helped propel them forward to future endeavors.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 7, 2022 6:51:49 GMT -5
12. Tool - “Lateralus”
In the 21st century, few metal songs have been heralded as much the title track to Tool’s 2001 record Lateralus. The complexity of the song is well known — its main riff is composed of 9/8, 8/8, and 7/8 time signatures, and several elements of the song relate to the spiraling Fibonacci sequence. Yet the message of the song itself is to avoid overanalyzing everything and just embracing the ride for what it is. In thinking outside the box, Tool crafted one of the most definitive genre-benders of all time.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 7, 2022 6:58:18 GMT -5
11. Dio - “Holy Diver”
Ronnie James Dio had already performed on genre-defining albums with Rainbow and Black Sabbath, and then jumped right into a solo career with Holy Diver. The title track is a titan of metal excellence, featuring RJD and guitar maestro Vivian Campbell killing it.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 7, 2022 7:04:07 GMT -5
10. Ozzy Osbourne - “Crazy Train”
We have churned through 190 killer songs and now have ten left. What a countdown. Coming in at No. 10 is the debut solo singer from Ozzy Osbourne, featuring Randy Rhoads dropping one of the best guitar performances with great riffs and a killer solo. That anthemic chorus was proof enough that Ozzy still had what it took to keep his career after Black Sabbath, and it now remains a classic of rock and heavy metal. All aboard!
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 7, 2022 7:07:55 GMT -5
9. Motörhead - “Ace of Spades”
Motörhead had a formula — dirty and fast rock ‘n’ roll — and they stuck to it throughout their career. After all, if it ain’t broke, why break it? The standout example of their style is their monster rocker ode to gambling, one of metal’s most blazing tunes.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 7, 2022 7:11:56 GMT -5
8. Pantera - “Cowboys from Hell”
Incredibly, Pantera had released four albums before Cowboys from Hell, but they were mostly glam affairs that never got anywhere. Nobody was expecting the genre switch the band would hit with this record. The opening title track was a juggernaut, sonically like being beaten over the head with a cement mixer. Dimebag Darrell’s riff skills wowed and Phil Anselmo’s powerful vocals helped inspire a legion of ‘90s metal bands as they pioneered the genre that would come to be known as groove metal.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 7, 2022 7:16:10 GMT -5
7. Megadeth - “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due”
1990 was a damn fine year for metal, even as grunge was about to steal the spotlight. Megadeth’s Rust in Peace was state-of-the-art technical thrash that stunned listeners and Dave Mustaine and new gun Marty Friedman devastated with their guitar skills. The opening track on the album is a two part epic about religious conflicts and Marvel’s The Punisher. It remains the band’s signature song and has one of the most badass riffs in history.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 7, 2022 7:23:28 GMT -5
6. Black Sabbath - “War Pigs”
Standing just outside the final five is one last return from the band that created the genre we’re discussing right now. It never fails to amaze how all the different heads of metal today are rooted in what Black Sabbath did over fifty years ago. In 1970, the band had already created the genre with their debut, and then went back into the studio to further define it with the immortal classic that is Paranoid. The opening track was an anti-war epic that highlighted both the sinister nature of the genre, and the artful way it could be used. It was proof this new sound wasn’t a fluke — it was lifeblood.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 7, 2022 7:32:11 GMT -5
5. Death - “Pull the Plug”
Possessed had recorded the death metal prototype in 1985, but it was Death that fully perfected the heaviest metal subgenre. Chuck Schuldiner growl and guitar skills were out of this world, and by the second record the band had already matured from plain blood and gore music into something… more. With riffs tighter than fuck and existential lyrics about life verging on death, this Leprosy cut remains one of the greatest examples of extreme metal in the history of the genre. And yet there is also hope found in this song. The line, “Life ends so fast, take your chance and make it last,” would hit even harder after its writer had died of brain cancer. Death were a nigh-perfect band, and left behind them one hell of a legacy, constantly improving, redesigning, and redefining the genre they helped to create.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 7, 2022 7:38:18 GMT -5
4. Judas Priest - “Painkiller”
Nobody was expecting an album like Painkiller from Judas fucking Priest in 1990, nobody. The band had embraced glam with mixed results on Turbo, and the follow-up Ram It Down was even more lackluster. But then they dropped a nuclear bomb and stepped it the fuck up with new drummer Scott Travis and suddenly heavy metal was fucking heavy metal again. Pile-driving drums, blazing riffs, ecstatic solos, and vocals higher than your mom can scream assaulted the listener and redefined the band forever. It would be the band’s last album with vocalist Rob Halford until 2004, but what a hell of a record to go out on. When it comes to epic fucking metal, this song threw down the gauntlet.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 7, 2022 7:42:36 GMT -5
3. Slayer - “Raining Blood”
In 1986, no band was half as aggressive, as brutal, as devastating, as extreme as fucking Slayer. Reign in Blood redefined thrash entirely and helped extreme metal to blossom, and its final track is the perfect example of Slayer’s talent. As blood red rain falls and ominous drumming intensifies, Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King laid down one of metal’s greatest riffs, and then it just accelerates from there. Never has overthrowing Heaven sounded this fucking awesome.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 7, 2022 7:56:37 GMT -5
2. Iron Maiden - “Hallowed Be Thy Name”
The New Wave of British Heavy Metal birthed an onslaught of bands, but as with every new music scene that comes along, most of them have faded into obscurity as time has gone on. Not Iron Maiden. The British superstars are bigger today than they have ever been in their career, and the reason for that has a little to do with great marketing skills and a whole lot to do with writing consistently great fucking music. The first proof that Maiden were going to be sticking around for a long time came with their third record, The Number of the Beast. It was Bruce Dickinson’s first record with the band and instantly his vocals added something extra to the mix. On the album’s final track, the magnificence of ‘Iron Maiden’ had come to fruition. Seven and a half minutes of chilling, exciting, heavy metal opera about a prisoner on his way to the gallows, concocted by Steve Harris’s brilliant songwriting, rooted by Clive Burr’s impeccable drumming, carved with Adrian Smith and Dave Murray’s guitar finesse, and narrated by Bruce’s jaw-dropping vocals — what more can you say? There is a reason that this song remains one of the most heavily quoted favorites in the entire genre. Forty years after its release, it has rarely left the setlist and continues to make people go crazy. What a song.
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