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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 2, 2022 17:54:12 GMT -5
81. Nightwish - “Ghost Love Score”
The “Stairway to Heaven” of symphonic metal, Nightwish’s ten minute masterpiece was one of the final songs Tarja Turunen would perform with the band. Yet, in truly poetic fashion, it would scale even greater heights with the band’s current frontwoman Floor Jansen, become the show-stopping moment of each live show, and one of the most reacted to metal epics on YouTube.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 2, 2022 18:04:24 GMT -5
80. Helloween - “Keeper of the Seven Keys”
It was on the second Keeper that Helloween dropped the magnificent title track of the two power metal classics. An epic journey of good and evil, it paved the way for future bands in the genre and remains one of metal’s greatest 10+ minute songs.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 3, 2022 16:10:02 GMT -5
79. Kreator - “Pleasure to Kill”
The premiere band of German teutonic thrash metal, Kreator were obsessed with violence and God hatred early on. Their second album is one of many iconic thrash records released in 1986, and the ferocity of the title track makes for one of the genre’s most brutal attacks.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 3, 2022 16:15:44 GMT -5
78. Motörhead - “Overkill”
The title track to Motörhead’s second album is a blaring anthem that embodies the band’s rock ‘n’ roll approach to heavy metal. Its status in the band’s discography was always secure throughout their career, as it was always a beloved live staple — but with the passing of Lemmy it gained the further accolade of being the last song the band would ever play together.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 3, 2022 16:20:25 GMT -5
77. Rob Zombie - “Dragula”
Rob Zombie’s most famous solo song was also one of the last to be recorded for Hellbilly Deluxe, and the frontman has said it could’ve easily been left off the album. Thank god they released, because this car-inspired single has become his signature song.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 3, 2022 16:24:38 GMT -5
76. Scorpions - “No One Like You”
That incredible dual guitar opener will forever be one of the Scorpions’ most iconic moment. Released on the band’s eighth album Blackout, it instantly stood out from the pack and remains one of their most played bangers on radio.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 3, 2022 16:29:54 GMT -5
75. Bathory - “Enter the Eternal Fire”
Bathory’s third album Under the Sign of the Black Mark remains one of the most important albums in the history of black metal, as Quorthon cemented many of the genre’s trademarks going forward. The lyrics were filled with hellish references to the demonic, as on this classic, written about a deal with the devil.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 3, 2022 16:37:38 GMT -5
74. Testament - “Practice What You Preach”
Testament hit the thrash scene relatively late compared to the rest of the big names, but wasted not a minute in making up for lost time. By the third album everything had come together for them, and the title track took MTV by storm thanks to Alex Skolnick’s incredible solo, Greg Christian’s thumping bassline, and Chuck Billy’s gravelly but catchy vocals. It’s widely considered the band’s signature song.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 3, 2022 16:42:46 GMT -5
73. Iron Maiden - “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
Few epics in metal history are so renowned as the closing track to Iron Maiden’s Powerslave album, a 13 minute monster based on the poem of the same name by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. With its several distinct section, building mood, and fantastic performances from all five band members, Steve Harris’s towering opus would inspire school kids everywhere to get excited for literature class. And yet the whole of the song can be boiled down to Bruce Dickinson’s simple but blunt intro when the track is played live: This is what not to do if your bird shits on you.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 3, 2022 16:59:56 GMT -5
72. Slipknot - “Psychosocial”
The second single released from Slipknot’s fourth album All Hope Is Gone was musically co-written by Shawn Crahan and Joey Jordison before Corey Taylor penned the lyrics. It took the world by storm and has become one of the definitive songs by the band that defined 21st century metal.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 3, 2022 17:08:59 GMT -5
71. Slayer - “Seasons in the Abyss”
Slayer’s fifth album ended on an incredible high note, a six and a half minute tour de force stuffed to the gills with killer riffs and bagging arguably Kerry King’s and Jeff Hanneman’s finest solo section. The guitarists had decided to take some guitar lessons to hone in their skills and the result was one of the greatest metal songs of all time.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 3, 2022 17:13:54 GMT -5
70. UFO - “Doctor Doctor”
This classic was one of UFO’s first Top 40 hits, and remains one of their most beloved songs. The band inspired countless future heavy metal acts, including Iron Maiden, who still play “Doctor Doctor” over the PA system before every concert.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 3, 2022 17:18:01 GMT -5
69. Megadeth - “Symphony of Destruction”
It may have foreshadowed Dave Mustaine’s obsession with American politics, but Megadeth’s first single from Countdown to Extinction is also just a great fucking metal song. Its effective riff and catchy chorus helped make it one of the band’s most iconic anthems.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 3, 2022 17:23:34 GMT -5
68. Black Sabbath - “Black Sabbath”
This is it, the very first metal song. With its doomy pace, hellish lyrics, and heavy downtuned guitars, it made for a frightening new entry to the music scene in 1970. And it still holds up today — in spite of how drastically the genre has evolved in the 50+ years since its release, it still haunts the listener with its shadow.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 3, 2022 17:30:13 GMT -5
67. Dream Theater - “Pull Me Under”
The opening track to Dream Theater’s game-changing Images and Words is an eight minute epic inspired by Hamlet. It remains their most famous song and altered the course of prog metal forever.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 3, 2022 17:40:56 GMT -5
66. Accept - “Fast as a Shark”
Accept opened their fourth album with this firestormer. It starts with the crackly recording of the old German song “Ein Heller und ein Batzen”, which the band used for contrast with their more aggressive song. It stirred up controversy in their native Germany, however, as unbeknownst to them it had been used as a marching song during the Nazi reign. The song itself slays though, and the pummeling double bass would lead to its heavy usage in thrash.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 3, 2022 17:46:55 GMT -5
65. Ghost - “Cirice”
Ghost emerged in the 2010s as an exciting, mysterious group with a brand of heavy rock ‘n’ roll that caught the attention of the masses instantly. The Satanic masterminds’ third album Meliora was the one that cemented their place in pop culture history, and this doomy single helped push them to their peak.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 3, 2022 17:50:32 GMT -5
64. Entombed - “Drowned”
Left Hand Path remains one of death metal’s most cherished and heralded albums, filled with a tracklist of tight, eviscerating tunes. “Drowned” may be the one that best sums up what makes the album so great: the buzzsaw riffs that blare through the speakers scream out the band’s influence on the genre.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 3, 2022 17:55:27 GMT -5
63. Pantera - “Cemetery Gates”
The longest song the band would ever release, “Cemetery Gates” stood out on Cowboys From Hell thanks to its incredibly moving sense of melody within the heaviness. Heavy metal had just received a new set of masters and yet they weren’t afraid of embracing the emotional in this transcending power ballad.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 3, 2022 18:05:47 GMT -5
62. Metallica - “Creeping Death”
The penultimate song on Ride the Lightning is a scorcher tower of thrash intensity that helped cement Metallica as gods in a newly birthed genre. Lyrically it’s the story of the plagues of Egypt from the perspective of the Angel of Death; sonically its a rifftastic mountain of headbanging excellence, and it remains one of their most beloved songs.
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