Top 10 Best Heavy Metal Songs of All Time
Mainly heavy and thrash metal songs from 80s and 90s... these songs defined original metal...
This is the perfect heavy metal song. It has everything: Steve Harris' galloping bass, Dave Murray and Adrian Smith in that perfect, uncanny sync, scorching guitar solos (one from each of the boys), Nicko McBrain pounding the living daylights out of those drums as he was born to do... and Bruce Dickinson, belting it out like nobody else in the business. And the song doesn't repeat to fade like so many others - that final, sudden, decisive machine-gun rat-tat-tat-tat of an ending leaves the heart pounding.
Yeah, yeah, yeah - Hallowed Be Thy Name!
HBTN is exceptionnaly inspired music, not just a sequence of catchy riffs. One of a few songs that actually plants vivid pictures in your brain and makes you see the whole story it tells. There is also an exceptional feeling of progression in the song: it starts with an atmosphere of gloom and despair and builds progressively to a climax expressing brilliant hope and vibrant power. Anytime I listen to this song I have to push the replay button, for it is never enough to hear it only once.
I don't think Master of Puppets defined original metal (at the time) but it did in hindsight, but I would still vote for Hallowed Be Thy Name anyway because it epic in it's structure, and captures Iron Maiden's ability to create atmosphere out unusual topics, such as a dead man walking. They are in a league of one so far as that goes.
I loved the guitar-work in this song.. It proves that dave murray is one of the most underrated - kick ass guitarists ever was.. Almost like 5 riffs in this song and 2 kick ass solos.. And loved the lyrics and the singing style.. Best classic heavy metal song ever...
Master of puppet is good song but a bit overrated song.
Love the sudden intro. Feels hard and yet sort of fluid in motion of the music in several parts of the song, and the vocals are impeccable. Really good song, you don't hear many like this very often. I also like how the song kinda cools down in the middle areas of the song and starts to pick back up again.
Half the stuff on this list isn't even metal...Enter Sandman? Duality? Come on. This is a metal list, and this song is the one that will live through the ages
This song will indeed become your puppet master, because for some reason my head is banging and my foot is tapping uncontrollably. Their is a big reason why; I don't want to make a 20 paragraph review on this page, because instead of wasting your time reading it, plug in your headphones and prepare for awesomeness.
Master of Puppets most complete heavy metal song, it has the most powerful intro, best riffs, best licks, solos and arpeggio, lyrics that are deep and meaningful and personal with poetic arrangement, awesome bass and drums! Com'on... it's the best.
What else can you say about a song that not only helped invent punk, but also has one of the best driving rhythms in heavy metal.
Paranoid and Sabbath were the founding fathers of Metal, without Black Sabbath, great bands that succeeded them wouldn't have existed as we know them today. That deserves respect.
Paranoid is one of my favorites heavy metal songs & it will be
One of the most representative heavy metal songs
God bless heavy metal forever!
I really love how the song carries a constant sound throughout the entire song. Ozzy's voice is right on the money.
Just listened to "...Justice" after a pretty long break. It's just insanely good. When it first came out I was about 14 and the empty sound of it really freaked me out. It's only looking back now that you can really appreciate where the sound and the anger and the lyrical content came from after losing Cliff. The whole album is about loss, and the ultimate expression of this is "one" - the story of a man who has lost everything. Metallica at their lowest and very best.
Yes Master of Puppets is an amazing heavy metal song, but its too overrated. One is truly an amazing song. All the solos in it are amazing, the vocals are outstanding, the bass is calm yet fun to play, and the drumming is amazing. The drums on the breakdown feel like machine gun fire pumping into you. Metallica at their best
No doubt master of puppets is amazing but One is Extreme. You'll find some list on the internet for the best song of metallica but they don't contain MAP, while one is on the every single list. One has the greatest Guitar solo ever.
Master of puppets it above one? I'm only 14 and I've learned that one is the best song out there to be found, although One and Master of Puppets are the only ones on this list I've actually heard of.
What can I say... War Pigs is one of Sabbath's ultimate songs. Ozzy's voice has a nice droning and emotional quality, the riffs are great and unforgettable and has some of Bill Ward's best drumming ever.
This is a seminal Heavy Metal song & one of the best Metal songs ever. If there was never Black Sabbath half of the bands on here wouldn't exists b/c Sabbath was the original Metal band...
Black Sabbath invented "Heavy Metal"
War Pigs is a timeless classic that no one can ever touch. Lets not forget Into the Void. Now that is the greatest metal song of all times!
This song just amazes me. I cannot believe that humans are even capable of creating such a masterpiece.
This sounds as good today as when I first bought the album. Fantastic metal at the time when Metallica released the Black album.
Dave isn't a great singer but this rocks!
Best song ever made, this compared to Master of puppets it's 1000x better. Stop with your Metallica whining, it's not the best band anymore, it's only about the money.
Love the riffs and the vocals are very good for dave mustaine. This song defines the thrash metal genre. Just listen and be amazed.
Even Hitler agrees that megadeth is better than metallica,
But then people blindly vote for that metallica. What has
The world come to.
I absolutely love Crazy Train. It has that perfect Randy Rhoads guitar in there, which I think the guitar solos were probably one of the best if not the best, besides Ozzy's amazing vocals.
The combo of Randy Rhoads' guitar riff And solo: all that needs to be said about how awesome this song is. Ozzy kills it as well on a chorus that will never get old
The best song of all time. Can't get tired of it
One of the best songs in rock history!
This is a kickarse song by one of the greatest metal bands since the dawn of time. I'm sick to death of people talking up Metallica's songs. I'm a diehard fan of theirs but they're sellouts and only have a handful of good albums. They just don't compare to bands like Priest, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath.
This song is the essence of hevy/speed metal! Fast, brutal and unstoppable, this song make people loose their minds!
Much better than any other song in this ranking! This is the Painkiller - the best metal song ever!
This song is great because of the speed of the drumming and the guitar solo is just AMAZING! Rob Halfords singing is brilliant
Although this is not the best known Heavy Metal song, it is the most famous of Black Sabbath and it has one of the most epic electric guitar basses in music, I still do not understand what songs like Paranoid and Master of Puppets do above this one, those songs don't even count as Heavy Metal, as Paranoid is Proto Punk and Master of Puppets is obviously a Thrash Metal song
People vote for Metallica because it's the only metal they know, people vote for Black Sabbath because they know all about metal.
There is no doubt this is the best heavy metal song... Master of puppets is also very good but not better than Iron Man
And as I said before ... Paranoid has nothing to do against Iron Man as a Heavy Metal song terms ...
What else do you want? You have everything that makes a gender and many generations shiver : an epic intro, some transcending lyrics, 2 different yet amazing solos and divine vocals. Even though I am not objective when I say it should be first, every metal-loving person on earth should listen to it in order to fully understand metal.
No.25? What the hell? How is that down here? This is an amazing song. They mite not be one of the best bands ever but this song is AMAZING. Definitely one of the best metal songs. Just listen to it once and you'll love it!
Fear of the dark would be suitable for a 12 inch maxi version, in a silent version from which the first 2 minutes of the song, it is a masterpiece in history
Lyrics:
I am a man som walks alone
And when I'm walking a dark road
At night or strolling through the park
When the light begins two change
I sometimes feel a little strange
A little Anxious når it's dark
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
Introduced me to maiden so its gets my vote but all th above are effing awesome...
The Newcomers
This song takes me to a different level every time I listen to it. The rolling barrel rhythm, killer soloing, vocal harmonies...and top it off with the intense lyrics on that last verse - pure genius! This has got to be single greatest metal song ever created.
Another classic Heavy Metal song of Iron Maiden from their fourth album Piece Of Mind. This one should be in the top 5 along with Hallowed Be Thy Name
Just listen to the entry. It totally gets you hooked. It is so good there is not much explaining I'll do to show its greatness.
This song is incredible, definitely one of the best by Maiden aside from Still Life!
Not only helped to create heavy metal but the subgenre of doom metal with this song. Also comical they used to play this song in jazz and blues clubs in late 60's Birmingham.
This song right here is the definition of heavy metal. It also has one of the heaviest solos I've heard. A song don't need to be all fast to be heavy. This is prove of that.
The first doom metal song, very different and strong guitar riffs for the year 1970.
Doom and heavy Metal before it was a thing? You've come to the right place.
They all have clouded judgement because they all have been down too long in the midnight sea.
Very powerful vocal and cool riff!
Best ever in my opinion
It's the legendary dio
This was thrash metal taken to a much higher level. Its got speedy solos, crushing riffs, and dimebag's smashing solid-state guitar tone!
This defines fast metal and is a blow on the face to those who say metal is not worth listening... Just love it
Dimebag darrell the guitar god. I don't say that pantera is number 1 metal band but I can claim that he is the best metal guitarist of the world.RIP DIMEBAG
It's a way better song than hallowed be thy name. Deserves more attention.
Great song, should be higher up but if it was up to one or two individuals, I would say the whole top ten would be Maiden!
I love this song so much! Why is this not in the top 10?
I always hated this song.
I love this song, great riffs great everything, I always can't wait after the slow put as that is where the fun begins.
This should be at number one. THE best heavy metal song of all time. Masterpiece by the best band in the world.
My fave maiden song and one of metals finest.
Best maiden song. Should be top 5
As much as I wanted to vote for "Sign of the southern cross" Ace of spades just beat it by a landslide. Motorhead is great and Lemmy should've never died! R.I.P
Really? This is a song that everyone knows, way more than master of puppets.
Speed Metal=Heavy metal? Master of puppets is a Thrash Metal Song.
This shows that you don't have to be thrash in order to be fast.
Just amazing...has everything
Best megadeth song. Ever.
Number 1.Best song ever
This is a joke right, if this isn't in the top 10 then there really is no point to this list.
I love the beginning of the song with that hard and amped up feeling I get whenever I listen to it. I love how the lyrics connect to the official music video too.
Great song. This is one of the songs that you should put on and listen to before a football, baseball, hockey, or basketball game to get you pumped up. The intro is spectacular. Deserves higher on this list
"My friend introduced me to Metallica with this song. It's great for writing action themed books, especially when an armored collum is moving through a town at high speed.
Take a look to the sky just before you die - it's the last time you will!
That's a hell of a song! See the video at Moscow '91. Best trash song ever!
How the hell is this only 39?! Raining blood is one of the very best songs of all time and should at least be in the top 5, maybe even number 1. EPIC song.
Really great song...lot of thrash and heavy stuff in there, definitely a thrash metal classic
Only one of and at one time the fastest thrash metal song of all time. Jeff lives
Raining blood rules! !
You see moshpits within 10 seconds of the intro when this song is played live, that's how you define heavy metal through a single song. Listen to the song and come back headbanging for the saviours of metal in the new era!
This is by far my favorite. No dought that it's bad. It should at least be in the top ten because crazy train is a horrid, horrid song
Ultimate getting pumped song before stepping onto the ice to thrash people!
It is awesome and you feel the music very nice.
This surely is the best Heavy Metal song of all time.
This song introduced me too heavy metal!
Best Heavy Metal song of Slipknot in 2008!
Belongs in top 10
If you want a real list of Heavy, you must put this song to first place. This is only song you can freely say "it's the best" I think. It's a classic song at all.
Then, you can place War pigs or children of the grave. And then, its time for vote Motorhead Priest Iron maiden Metallica Megadeth n others..
This song is the DEFINITION of heavy metal. Yes, I love Slayer, Metallica, Anthrax (true dark heavy metal bands) as well as 80's classics like AC/DC, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and even 70's bands like Deep Purple, Black Sabbath (with Ozzy) and Led Zeppelin. But this song simply captures THE SPIRIT of heavy metal. A MASTERPIECE!