Top 100 Metal Songs, 90-81

UPDATE 1/5/2010: Check out my new list, The Top 50 Metal Albums of The Last Decade

In case you missed them . . .
Introduction, 100-91

#90: “Hellraiser” by Motörhead
March or Die (1992)

Everything about this song is simply cool, from the drum and bass beat with guitar accents to the guitar solo. It’s not fast-paced, but it doesn’t have to be. Ozzy also did this song, but Lemmy wrote it and he does a much better job with it.

#89: “Space Lord” by Monster Magnet
Powertrip (1998)

Another cool, middle-paced song. The bass and drums make the song, and the muted guitar riff does not detract. The chorus rocks in an unusual way. As with all Monster Magnet songs, the lyrics are very cool but they make no sense.

#88: “Bloodline” by Slayer
The Dracula 2000 soundtrack (2000)

The intro says “heavy.” It builds up to a chugging riff and Tom Araya’s always-scary, adrenaline-pumping voice, with his frightening lyrics: “Bleed your death upon me, let your bloodline feed my youth.”

#87: “Mr. Tinkertrain” by Ozzy Osbourne
No More Tears (1991)

The song starts with a frightening music box and children’s voices, and then goes directly into Zakk Wylde’s signature heavy riffs and pinch harmonics. The verses are toned-down, but always rock into the heavy chorus. The mellow part in the middle can’t hold back Zakk’s expert solo.

#86: “Until It Sleeps” by Metallica
Load (1996)

A very unusual-sounding Metallica song, with a lot of string-bending my Jason Newstead. The lyrics are haunting, “I’ll tear me open make you gone, no more can you hurt anyone, and the fear still shakes me.” The low-key solo allows the listener to relax for only a moment before James hits hard again and allows the song to conclude naturally.

#85: “Passenger” by the Deftones featuring Maynard James Keenan
White Pony (2000)

Excellent! The riff is signature Deftones, and Maynard’s voice complements Chino’s quite well in the responsive verses. They complement each other so well, in fact, that it’s unclear which one is singing on the chorus. In any case, it’s some of the best vocal work done by either of them.

#84: “Shock the Monkey” by Coal Chamber featuring Ozzy Osbourne
Chamber Music (1999)

I think this is what Peter Gabriel must have originally intended with the song. Ozzy’s presence as a second vocalist always makes a metal song better. This is because of the stark contrast between his voice and the voices of most other metal vocalists. The contrast with Dez’s voice is particularly pleasing to the ear. The riff has a good feel to it when it’s this bottom-heavy,

#83: “Children of the Grave” by Black Sabbath
Master of Reality (1971)

The riff chugs forward with aggressive drums in the background and Ozzy’s voice laced over the top. What more could you want? The guitars emphasize the lyrics with a high chord at the end of each phrase, and Tony Iommi’s solo in the middle is simple, but the solo at the end is his pure blues-style.

#82: “This Is Not” by Static-X
Machine (2001)

“I hate this!” The song is representative of Static-X’s continuing mission to “Keep disco evil.” In all truth, if the beats were slowed down they would make excellent dance beats. But there’s none of that for Static-X. They hit hard and fast through the whole song, with Wayne Static’s excellent voice fitting into the song perfectly with one of his usually hypnotic hooks: “This is not my life, this is not my home, this is not me. I hate this!”

#81: “Enter Sandman” by Metallica
Metallica (1991)

I don’t’ think I really need to go into this song much. I remember the first time I heard it. That was my introduction to heavy metal. Before that day in junior high, I didn’t care about music. After that day, it was time to start saving my allowance to get a CD player. And the first CD I bought? Guess. Everything about this song is awesome, and I know that if anyone’s reading this they’re going to give me flak for putting it so low on the list. But this is my list, and nostalgia has no place in deciding a song’s rank. There are 80 songs on this list that I truly believe to be better, but that’s it. The other 2600 songs on my computer are not. Metallica themselves have many better songs, but none next week.

I hope I put something on here that Todd knows. Log on next week to see two more cover songs, a great original song from a CD full of absolutely terrible cover songs, and another big surprise at #71.

Jump to . . .
80-71, 70-61, 60-51, 50-41, 40-31, 30-21, 20-11, and the Top Ten

UPDATE 1/5/2010: Check out my new list, The Top 50 Metal Albums of The Last Decade