40 years of metal

Metal fans tend to be very opinionated. Just an observation.

40 years of metal

OK. I still need to edit this playlist more, but I never got around to it. The theme of this playlist is one metal song from each year, from 1971 to 2010. For the most part, I believe my song selections to be a great success. However, the rather lean years before 1980 have given me some trouble, and that is where I have to edit the list again.

I'm not a metal fan, but a coworker is, and I decided to burn a cd for him. The songs were culled from this list. After creating the list, I discovered the one thing I like most about heavy metal: the choruses tend to be extremely catchy, invigorating, bombastic, triumphant, and they just beg to be sung along to while striking an incredibly cheesy pose. (Actually, I believe that choruses like that are primarily the hallmarks of the NWOBHM and Power Metal subgenres. It makes sense, since Blind Guardian is my favorite metal band).

Anyway, I chose nice power ballads for some of the songs, such as Return to Serenity by Testament. I ended up not including anything by Slayer, Anthrax, or Megadeth, I just couldn't up with any songs I really liked from them, but I did quite enjoy the awesome Metallica jam, The Thing That Should Not Be. I also included the rather silly "We're Not Gonna Take This" by Twisted Sister, probably not a metal song really, but I love it, and the chorus is absolutely everything a sing-a-long chorus should be, the very highest example of the form that I've ever heard.

The Iron Maiden song "Die With Your Boots On" is rather silly, I will have to change it since they easily have many other better songs.

Many websites (allmusic, wikipedia, amazon) that I consulted while preparing the list listed bands such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Blue Oyster Cult, and even Queen as early heavy metal bands of the seventies. To me, however, Black Sabbath provided the original metal blueprint. Since those other bands don't really sound like Sabbath, they aren't metal to my ear. Same goes for some other bands and jams that I put on my list-Aerosmith, Van Halen, and AC/DC in particular. I just couldn't find anything else that was suitable for those years and eventually I gave up. I'm sure I'll be able to find something better if I try.

Other highlights on the list include the Gamma Ray song, the Cacophony song, the Manowar song, the Savatage song, the Bruce Dickinson song, the Judas Priest song, the Buffalo song, the Saxon song, and the Motorhead song. (Lemmy is the most iconic metal singer I know of). There's also a Tenacious D song on there. So check it out and hear the metal goodness for yourself!

Comments

  1. I think you should clarify the parameters a bit more dude. One song from each year and one song from each artist, right?

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