The Greatest Metal Song Cup - Part II, Round 3, Matches 55-60

[LooseCannon]

Europe is counting down to not loving Type O Negative to death. Peering through the telescope at the heavens and I see a Blue Öyster Cult victory. Judas Priest doesn't suffer with an easy win. Bombers can't take out Primordial's coffin ships. It's the 21st century, King Crimson is no longer afraid of the dark! If you look over your head, you'll see a Porcupine Tree.

---

Part II, Round 2, Matches 118-123​

Group Stage - Round 2	Match 118​	Wrathchild Division​
Kyuss - Green Machine	vs.​	Black Sabbath - The Mob Rules​
Popoff 500, Rolling Stone 100	Nominators​	Popoff 500​
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0	Record​	0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

Group Stage - Round 2	Match 119​	Senjutsu Division​
Savatage - Power of the Night	vs.​	Helloween - The Dark Ride​
Popoff 500, Best Music Art 100	Nominators​	@Poto​
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0	Record​	0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

Group Stage - Round 2	Match 120​	Where Eagles Dare Division​
Alice in Chains - Man in the Box	vs.​	Judas Priest - Rising From Ruins​
Popoff 500, VH1 40	Nominators​	@Kalata​
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0	Record​	0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

Group Stage - Round 2	Match 121​	Rock in Rio Division​
Mastodon - Blood and Thunder	vs.​	Enforcer - Undying Evil​
Rolling Stone 100 @Mosh	Nominators​	@Perun​
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0	Record​	0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

Group Stage - Round 2	Match 122​	Best of the Beast Division​
Anthrax - Only	vs.​	Linkin Park - Crawling​
Popoff 500 @MrKnickerbocker	Nominators​	Youtube 50​
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0	Record​	0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

Group Stage - Round 2	Match 123​	Death of the Celts Division​
Within Temptation - Ice Queen	vs.​	Nazareth - Hair of the Dog​
Best Music Art 100 @KidInTheDark666	Nominators​	Popoff 500​
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0	Record​	0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

 

[Mosh]

Nothing from Firepower or Invincible Shield belongs in this game.

 

[LooseCannon]

Well, you should vote against it, then. I'd vote for the title track of the first album over some, but I don't necessarily think it belongs in the knockout round.

 

[Detective Beauregard]

Nothing from Firepower or Invincible Shield belongs in this game.

Actually, most of their old stuff bores me to tears (Painkiller excluded). I’ve never understood what’s so special about them. At least their last two albums have some punch to them.

 

[Mosh]

Well, you should vote against it, then. I'd vote for the title track of the first album over some, but I don't necessarily think it belongs in the knockout round.

I did.

 

[Diesel 11]

Nothing from Firepower or Invincible Shield belongs in this game.

Most of the songs in this game don’t belong in this game.

 

[Kalata]

The Mob Rules, no contest. One of my favorite BS songs. One of their best rockers. Classic metal.
Power Of The Night is one of my favorite Savatage songs (that riff), but it can't be compared with The Dark Ride. Top-notch epic, Helloween with one of their best songwriting pieces. I love the pre-chorus/chorus, the instrumental section and the many different parts.
Priest's Rising From Ruins, ofc. This song is like Maiden's Hell On Earth for me. It's every bit as good as the band's old classics!
Enforcer rule. Bring back the good old sound. The chorus is very catchy. Harmonies and solos too. Class. Well done.
Linkin Park's Crawling is effective, so my vote is for it. Anthrax's Only reminds me of Psycho Motel and 90's Metallica vibe.
Within Temptation's Ice Queen is really cool. Impactful vocals. Thanks for this nomination @KidInTheDark666

 

[Kalata]

Nothing from Firepower or Invincible Shield belongs in this game.

Is this a serious statement?? It's ridiculous.

Most of the songs in this game don’t belong in this game.

Good call, with the different genres and all.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

I'm not sure if Mob Rules really is the better song (honestly, it's one of the weaker tracks in the Rainbath era, very simplistic, were it not Butler playing base on the track, I wouldn't give it a second thought), but, well, band bias and Butler is Butler.

Helloween, Alice in Chains and Mastodon have quite inarguably provided the better song, Anthrax haven't, but that's some more of that band bias.

Finally, I like Nazareth more, but HotD is a tad overplayed (much as I like the track anyway) and... well, in short, I'm feeling like voting for Within Temptation today.

 

[srfc]

Didn't realise the last round was over, so just listened to a couple of the tracks, so may as well say how I would have voted,
The Final Countdown - obviously not cool, but great keyboard hook and solo.
Wild Side is one of the better Crue tracks but Astronomy is brilliant and far superior
Freewheel Burning
Bomber is decent but Coffin Ships is brilliant
I never heard the whole of Schizoid Man before, the hook is ubiquitous but the jazzy jam section clearly an influence on Sabbath, Y & T was actually great 80's hair metal, with a bit more modulation than I was expecting, I would have voted for it.
Didn't listen to last two, nor am I familiar with either band or track

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Green Machine is fine in the way that a solid band playing in your local dive bar is fine. It feels like one really simple riff hammered into your skull over and over again, but it's groovy and slightly fun. I wouldn't leave the bar, I guess? The Mob Rules is one of the greatest metal songs of all time by the greatest metal singer of all time featuring two of the founders of heavy metal. There is simply no competition here.

Power of the Night is fine, but also lame and mixed inside of a potato. The Dark Ride is overly cheesy, with some really bad lyrics, but mixed a lot better. I honestly don't care here, these are both pretty equal in my book. I'll go with Savatage as the underdog.

Man In The Box is, no doubt, a classic. It has one of the most iconic riffs ever, the groove is infectious, and the vocal harmonies are stellar as always. I simply have to follow my modern Priest bias, though, and vote for Rising From Ruins, which is one of the best songs the band has written in decades. A kick-ass, emotional heavier ballad that can stand up to any of their classics.

Enforcer has really fun guitars and wacky vocals. It's a competent song, it's a good time, but it's also quite a bit "try hard". I'm no big Mastodon fan, but this will be the only chance I get to vote for the illustrious Mr. Neil Fallon in this game, so I'll easily swing a vote towards Blood and Thunder.

Only is a perfect heavy metal song. From the epic drumming to the killer John Bush vocal hooks to the amazingly melodic guitar solo, there simply isn't a single element out of place. Even James Hetfield agrees! Crawling is more hip hop and pop than metal, but I guess the majority of folks around here are leaning real fuckin' hard into their junior high nostalgia, cause it being in the lead is a tragedy. ONLY.

Speaking of not metal, I don't get Within Temptation. I hear the talent, but it just sounds like Enya with some light distortion behind it. Nazareth is pure classic rock (I mean listen to that cowbell), but I think the overall vibe of the song skews more towards the genre definition of this game.

Nothing from Firepower or Invincible Shield belongs in this game.

Neither does anything from Linkin Park, but here we are voting for some mildly aggro repetitive yelling of the same exact vocal note on top of pop beats over fucking Only. So...*shrug emoji*

Linkin Park's Crawling is effective...

...at repeating the same exact notes and formula.

Anthrax's Only reminds me of Psycho Motel.

 

[LooseCannon]

Neither does anything from Linkin Park, but here we are voting for some mildly aggro repetitive yelling of the same exact vocal note on top of pop beats over fucking Only. So...*shrug emoji*

I think just from where it was on the charts and in pop culture, it deserves to be evaluated.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

I think just from where it was on the charts and in pop culture, it deserves to be evaluated.

 

[KidInTheDark666]

Neither does anything from Linkin Park, but here we are voting for some mildly aggro repetitive yelling of the same exact vocal note on top of pop beats over fucking Only.

There’s a reason why Hybrid Theory is the biggest hit album of the 21st century and Anthrax fell into obscurity when Mr. Bush joined.

 

[Siddharth]

Savatage - Power of the Night

vs.​

Helloween - The Dark Ride​

The toughest round! Power Of The Night and Hall Of The Mountain King are both riff fests and have awesome vocals but The Dark Ride has both feel and tight riffage and hence, has my vote.

Anthrax - Only

vs.​

Linkin Park - Crawling​

Used to blast Linkin Park during my College days. One of the first bands I got into. Had it been Papercut or Qwerty (a must check for Metal fans!), I would have simply voted for them but Anthrax is one of my faves and John Bush era has some gems here and there, including One (the guitar solo though)!

Fun fact: James Hetfield once said, Only is his favourite Anthrax song.

 

[KidInTheDark666]

Qwerty (a must check for Metal fans!)

Yeah, Qwerty is a superb track, they probably should've put that one on Minutes to Midnight.

 

[Jer]

There’s a reason why Hybrid Theory is the biggest hit album of the 21st century and Anthrax fell into obscurity when Mr. Bush joined.

 

[KidInTheDark666]

And I even like the Bush era, not as much as Belladonna's stuff of course! I'm not going to favor them over Linkin Park though lol.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

There’s a reason why Hybrid Theory is the biggest hit album of the 21st century and Anthrax fell into obscurity when Mr. Bush joined.

One was built by record labels to appeal to edgy adolescents at Hot Topic.

And, to be fair, Anthrax would have fallen into obscurity with anyone fronting them in the 90s. There's an argument to be made that his inclusion (and the style change) kept them alive a little while longer.

 

[Mosh]

Actually, most of their old stuff bores me to tears (Painkiller excluded). I’ve never understood what’s so special about them. At least their last two albums have some punch to them.

There’s a bit of discussion on this in the Priest discography thread, not sure if you followed that much but the punch of the new albums does make a difference for a lot of people. I think Priest wrote their best work in the 70s, but obviously were held back sonically. The production got better in the 80s, but they also got pulled into some questionable musical directions. There’s something to be said for the fact that Painkiller/Firepower/Invincible Shield have pristine modern production but also relentless heaviness. They are unique in the Priest catalog for that reason.

But the songs themselves sound so generic to me.