The 411 Music Top 5 07.15.08: Heavy Hitters of Heavy Metal

Posted by Blake Lauderback on 07.15.2008

This week in the Music Zone Top 5, we will be breaking down our versions of the Top 5 Heavy Metal bands of all time. Read on fellow headbangers to find out which of us you agree with and cast your vote for your favorite list!

This week in the Music Zone Top 5, we will be breaking down our versions of the Top 5 Heavy Metal bands of all time. Read on to find out which of us you think is right.

Welcome back to the Music Zone Top 5. We are hear to get the ball rolling on some musical opinion conversations, and inevitably piss some of you guys off. What can I say; it is what we do here.

I would like to take this chance to point out a few of the new faces around here in the Music Zone. A few weeks back a bus dropped off a whole load of new recruits for us to corrupt. (And no, it was not a short bus.) We are very excited to have a few of them here with us this week. Keep in mind that all of the names you see here, both new and old alike, are writers for the Music Zone elsewhere, so click on their names and check out where you can find their other work.

Before we delve into this week's lists, I wanted to mention a new system that we are going to put into place starting this week. In order to keep the competitive sprit alive amongst the writers, we are going to have a weekly winner here at the Top 5, and the judging panel? Well that would be all of you out there in Internet land. I want to know whose list you agree with the most after each week, so you can send along your votes via the comments at the bottom, or by sending me an email with your thoughts. The winner will be announced in next weeks addition, and I will keep a running total of the winners.

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Now, on to the subject at hand… the greatest bands in the loud, over the top, devilish, and evil history of the sounds of the gods that we know as Heavy Metal. Now, we are taking a look at nearly forty years of head banging, so will these guys give the nod to the classics, or will they raise the goblet of rock to the new breed? Let's find out shall we?

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The Top 5 Heavy Metal Bands of All Time


Jeff Modzelewski
[B-Sides, Reviewer]

5. Slayer - Slayer is one of only a few bands that I would not go into a pit at one of their shows. Slayer set the standard for mixing brutal music with violent and often disturbing industry. Most metal bands try to avoid or at least downplay metal stereotypes in their music and image. Slayer fully embraces them

4. Sepultura - Mixing top-notch thrash metal with their Brazilian roots sets Sepultura apart from many other bands. While their best known for their 90's run from Ariseto Roots, Sepultura was an early pioneer in both death metal and thrash metal.

3. Pantera - Pantera had an amazing run as the biggest metal band in the world before internal conflicts caused the band to split in the early 00's. They brought metal to the masses, and are by far the heaviest band ever to have a #1 album. They were uncompromising, always heavy, and always committed to metal.

2. Metallica - Say what you will about their recent history, but nobody can deny Metallica's influence on metal. They were huge even before reaching the "mainstream" with their self-titled album. Metallica has gone through tragedy, line-up changes, and quite a bit of controversy, and they still sell out arenas on a regular basis.

1. Black Sabbath - As if it could be anyone else? Black Sabbath invented heavy metal. All of their first six albums stand up to the test of time, and that doesn't include their non-Ozzy success. Nearly 40 years after their debut, the Black Sabbath legacy is still alive and going strong. Black Sabbath is the first and still the best.


Black Sabbath

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Rob Samuels
[Random contributor and occasional reviewer]

Before my list I feel it should be said that my Ipod is hardly bulging with Metal. I enjoy a bit of the hard stuff now and again, but I'm hardly a connoisseur of the genre. Nevertheless here are my picks:

5.– Metallica - This is an obligatory pick really. As I have mentioned previously in Fact or Fiction I don't much care for Metallica these days, mainly because I'm not an angry 15 year old any more. However I cannot possibly dismiss the success these guys have had. They have been at the very top of the Metal world for years, and are surely a major influence to any modern Thrash band.

4. – Rage Against the Machine Love ‘em or hate ‘em Rage have had a massive impact on the music scene. They redefined Metal in the 90's and showed that music of this genre could mean something instead of just being about tits and Satan.

3.– Deep Purple - These guys are the forgotten men of ‘Metal'. Okay, by today's standards they might be a bit tame - but these guys are some of the early pioneers of Heavy Metal music. If you don't believe me listen to ‘Highway Star' and tell me it isn't one of the best Metal songs of all time. Not only did Deep Purple lay down the foundations for Metal bands of today, but they spawned several atrocious ‘Metal' spin off bands including Whitesnake and Rainbow. ‘Nuff said.

2.– Iron Maiden - The ultimate exponents of the NWOBHM. Their music has inspired thousands of teenagers to pick up guitars and jam along to the likes of ‘Fear of the Dark'. How many Metal bands out there today site Maiden as an influence? A lot is the somewhat ambiguous answer to that question. Iron Maiden Rock - end of discussion.

1.– Black Sabbath - There is no possible way to argue that Sabbath are not the greatest Metal band of all time. Seriously. They were the original Metal act, taking the heavier sounds of Zeppelin and Purple and twisting it into something satanic, and thus deserve their spot as Metal legends.


Iron Maiden

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Jesse Coy
[Starship Exile]

5. King Diamond/Mercyful Fate - I know that technically we are talking about two different bands here, but I'll just lump them together. Some of the later albums by both bands can be a little touch and go at times (a few less memorable.) But in general, considering the output, the storytelling element, the mood and atmosphere, and just plain metal evil of it all, the King (Diamond) really is a king of metal.

4. Helloween - I am mostly referring to the Michael Kiske era of this band. I know that's a much shorter time span, but I've recently given the their third singer (Kai Hansen of Gamma Ray singing on the first album, which is great, too) a chance through a DVD collection of videos from the band, and Andi Deris just doesn't do it for me. What made Helloween one of the best heavy metal bands? It's soaring, uplifting, and melodic heavy metal at its best.

3. Judas Priest - even if they didn't have such an impressive and influential output, just for the sake of their reinvention in the 90's with "Painkiller," an awesome track, that would do it for me. Even when they were somewhat cheesy (Check out that "Breaking the Law" video) there was, and still is, an abundance of heavy metal greatness. One of the best songs ever about Jack the Ripper, one of the best live albums ever (Unleashed in the East), and a vocalist that is as distinctive as they come. Judas Priest are shoe-ins.

2. Iron Maiden - How can you even think of one (Judas Priest) without the other (Iron Maiden)? I haven't been very fond of some of the band's more recent material, but throughout the 80's and early 90's, Iron Maiden was tops. Even their first two albums with Paul Di'Anno, there's lean heavy metal energy there. The band continued to expand, getting bigger with their sound and taking on more epic topics. The opposite of dumb heavy metal, Iron Maiden put substance in its songs. Now, Bruce Dickenson is flying the tour jet.

1. Spinal Tap - No band out there has done more for the genre, their influences going far beyond measure. Listen to almost any heavy metal or thrash act after them, and you'll undoubtedly hear a riff that has its roots or some structure indebted to this band. Arguably, there was no heavy metal before these guys. I'm sure that all the other writers with have them high on their list, so this one's no surprise, and uh, yeah, uh, you all know I mean Black Sabbath. I just thought it would be fun to make people think I was insane for a minute or two there.


Judas Priest

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Dan Haggerty
[The Mosh Pit, Fact or Fiction, News Reporter, Megalomaniac]

Since the question is "Top 5 Metal bands of all time", that means this will be my Top 5 bands based on history, impact, and recognition in the metal scene. My personal Top 5 would be slight different.

HR: Deep Purple (Their hard rock, so they're not on the list, but their metal moments helped create metal in 1970!), Thin Lizzy (we wouldn't have twin leads without them), Rush (defined progressive for metal and hard rock), AC/DC (great band, but really they are about as "boogie" and hard rock gets), Slayer (should be on this list, but the other bands begot them so they get an honorary 6th place - But really, we wouldn't have modern extreme metal without them)

5. Pantera - Never been a big Pantera fan like the legions of ardent supporters, but their is no denying the greatness of Cowboys From Hell and it's impact. This would soon be followed up with the fatal blow that was Vulgar Display Of Power. Pantera took what the great movers and shakers had done before, and turned the volume up into a hard killing machine. With Pantera, metal was defined for the 90's. Their sound, groove still being a primary influence today. But this was, for all intents and purposes, was the last mainstream "ratchet" upwards metal had taken. Pantera found that 11 on the dial within the context of mass appeal, and their descendants still define popular metal today.

4. Iron Maiden - The New Wave Of Heavy Metal had an imminent impact on metal, hard rock, and rock itself. The fusion of 70's metal and punk attitude, along with a lot of street cred took heavy metal and made it state of the art. Thrash was definitively influenced by it, but so was your Sun Set sleaze bands along with pop and glam metal. But further, the scene trickled through to influence many styles of music. Iron Maiden was ultimately the face that scene, and ultimately their licks and tricks embedded itself like DNA across the musical landscape.

3. Metallica - Iron Maiden might have made Metallica possible, but Metallica took that ball and pushed the envelope farther, impacted more bands for later generations, and ultimately was far more popular. Metallica's reach was to take the 80's underground and popularize it, become of the face of metal for their time, and be the sound that would evolve and stay dominant in the 90's. Pantera would not have been if not evolving Metallica's thrash sound into groove, while sounds like Metal core were hardcore applied to Metallica's template. It might seem odd to think of it that way now, with the reputation of the band and all, but trust me - Metallica was heavy metal in the 80's.

2. Judas Priest - Sabbath might have invented metal, but the mighty Priest gave it it's modern stainless steel sharpness and sheen. For four albums in the late 70's, from Sad Wings of Destiny to Killing Machine, the metal gods turned metal and rock inside out, and defined/distilled metal into the twin lead killing machine it would become. No other metal band had such a series of albums that in total constituted such impact. Add in their later albums and it becomes easy to see that no other band, save one, had such an imminent creative effect on music.

1. Black Sabbath - This is a no brain-er. Metal would not exist without Sabbath, as they gave us the darkness, the lyrics, the style, and the all mighty riff. Even the unbeliever must take stock of where they metal scene would NOT be without the damned four. Sure, Ozzy is a shadow of himself, and the music on those early albums can be a bit dated by today's extreme styles, but be it the Ozzy era, the Dio era, or even some great stuff from the later years, the bands fans are legion and the impact of their career is probably what killed the dinosaurs (if certainly not the hippie movement proper). Black Sabbath is metal.


Metallica

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Blake Lauderback
[Ask 411 Music, Reviewer]

5. Pantera - First off, I was born and raised just miles away from their hometown, so if I don't include these guys, they may take away my license to be a Texan, and if they ever go back to being their own country again (which anyone in the state will tell you could happen on a whim) I might not get to ever go home.

That being said, I am not typically of the mindset that "Speed = the end all measure of metal." I tend to over look speed metal as a result. However, I cannot omit these guys from the conversation. While they did rely heavily on speed, they were all very solid on their instruments, and few bands can match the level of power that they brought to the table. It is a shame that we will not have the opportunity to see them return to glory. RIP Dimebag Darrell.

4. Dream Theater - These guys are the perfect combination of the amazing orchestrations and concepts of progressive rock and the ear drum rupturing power of metal. Plus, for a group of insanely talented musicians, they seem to have a great sense of humor, and they prove that you can rock hard without being 100% doom and gloom. Plus, I can't pass up the chance to pay my respect to one of my favorite metal drummers (and fellow Beatles enthusiast), Mike Portnoy. He is an absolute monster on the kit.

3. Metallica - I may be alone in this, but I love Metallica's work. Not just some of it. Not just the 80's stuff. I like it all. Load, Reload, St. Anger… I think they are greats at their craft. Now I know that the band has upset their fans over the years by deviating from their classic, head-banging style and ruining Napster for all of us, but those things don't bother me. (First of all, Lars is right. The artist should have a say in how his or her music is being used, and they deserve to be compensated for the use of their work… even if they are already sitting on a pile of cash that rivals that of Scrooge McDuck.)

I believe that if the band's later works had been released by another band, they would have been praised instead of crucified. Instead, fans were infuriated because "their band" was doing something different. If we all want to claim that these guys are the true artists that they are, we have to be big boys and girls and handle it when their creative license takes them in a different direction than what we would like.

2. Judas Priest - Now, let be honest here. Priest isn't really my bag. I enjoy a good portion of their work, but I am far from their greatest fan. That said, I have to give them their due for reviving the genre. Too few people realize that we would be talking about metal in the same vain as disco and big band music these days if not for these guys. Plus, I laugh my ass off every time I think about how all of Priest's macho metal heads dressed up in leather get ups with spikes everywhere in order to emulate Rob Halford… who had picked it all up at gay S&M shops.

1. Black Sabbath - I hate to beat the proverbial dead horse with this less-than-shocking choice here, but there is no one else that I could name for this spot. I tried long and hard to convince myself to place Led Zeppelin on this list, but I just can't squeeze them in under the heading of metal. If it were a pure quality comparison, I would have to opt for Zep, as I think that they are the superior band in my humble opinion, but when it comes to metal, it can be no one other than Sabbath. There is not a single metal band in existence than can claim that they haven't borrowed something from Iommi and company, whether they realize it or not. Metal was born and perfected by four guys from Birmingham, England by the names of Ozzy, Tony, Bill, and Geezer.


Pantera

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That is it metal heads, our thoughts on the greatest bands to ever melt our faces off. It seems to be automatic… Black Sabbath reigns supreme over the rest of the dark forces. Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to vote for your favorite list!

Next week we will be taking on the Top 5 Punk Bands ever, so join us as we all put in our safety pins and hair dye and fight the establishment.

Until next time, keep it turned up to eleven.