Technically, RNG did it, but with the prevalence of some bands in some genre, it was bound to happen.
The Greatest Metal Song Cup - Part II, Round 3, Matches 43-48
- Thread starter LooseCannon
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Valley Of The Kings vs. The Cage - Tony Kakko is almost the worst singer ever, and Valley Of The Kings is awesome anyway.
Duality vs. Before I Forget - Slipknot are fucking awful. I heard Duality years ago, so it gets my vote.
Love vs. Love Me Like A Reptile - Easily Motorhead.
Territory vs. Countdown To Extinction - Sepultura is an awful band no matter the era as both of their vocalists are shit. And CTE is an underrated Megadeth song.
Jump vs. All My Life - Neither song is metal so they shouldn't be here. Jump is iconic though, so it gets my vote.
Walk All Over You vs. Jailbreak - Again, neither song is metal, but Jailbreak is at least a great song.
Duality vs. Before I Forget - Slipknot are fucking awful. I heard Duality years ago, so it gets my vote.
Love vs. Love Me Like A Reptile - Easily Motorhead.
Territory vs. Countdown To Extinction - Sepultura is an awful band no matter the era as both of their vocalists are shit. And CTE is an underrated Megadeth song.
Jump vs. All My Life - Neither song is metal so they shouldn't be here. Jump is iconic though, so it gets my vote.
Walk All Over You vs. Jailbreak - Again, neither song is metal, but Jailbreak is at least a great song.
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
Probably the biggest L take ever on the forum.
Probably not.
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
I'll be sure to include only power metal and Dream Theater the next time.
Well, no, include what you like. Sometimes we will agree, sometimes not.
He reminds me of Blaze in some ways. His voice has a unique timbre to it, and if you don't like that sort of sound, you're never going to like him. I happen to like Tony Kakko's voice, but I would never put him in the pantheon of great vocalists, either.
IRYO but Blaze is Bruce compared to Tony Kakko.
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
Kakko is generally a pretty well regarded vocalist, usually the criticism against him is that he soon after stopped singing the way he did in songs like The Cage. I think I might these days prefer his more mature delivery on the newer albums though.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
it's gonna be something like
"Tony Kakko is better than Cookie Monster or Gollum vocals vomiting into the microphone"
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
And that's where he's exactly right.
Jer
A window to the west, a blazing star above
"Valley Of The Kings" is very good, verging on great. The vocal melodies are nice, Dirk is obviously having a good time after switching back to playing bass, and there are lots of nice little songwriting detours with great build-up and release. A couple of parts even have a vague disco feel to them, and even more bizarrely it seems to work. The synths aren't the best, but I've certainly heard worse. Kai's voice is a little rough in parts, and that falsetto can be a little painful; but there's so much to like about this song that it's hard to nitpick it too much. "The Cage" has some pretty aggressive synth action right out of the gate before settling into standard power metal tropes. I wasn't sure what to expect from the vocals here, but they seem reasonably competent aside from bad phrasing and a weird lilt of an accent that makes them feel a bit strange. The vocals are also phrased in a way where the singer sounds bored most of the time during the verses, like he's reading from a sheet of paper as he sings, which is certainly not unique to this band. (For the record, he sounds better than Blaze and way better than any garbage extreme vocalist, but he's nothing special.) I like the synth and guitar solos, and about half of the vocal melodies are catchy. Not bad, but sorry @JudasMyGuide, I have to go with @Black Bart's nominee here. Winner: Gamma Ray - "Valley Of The Kings"
"Duality" starts off like a bad Nine Inch Nails tribute, then gets into odd-rhythm masturbation that thinks it's much more clever than it actually is. The chorus has about half a hook in it. Jesus, I'm already checking the clock at the 2 minute mark. Yeah, OK. "Before I Forget" has an almost-interesting riff before slipping into bad Nine Inch Nails tribute again, then meandering off into yet another half-hook chorus. Oh hey, look, I'm checking the clock again after 2 minutes. The bridge is less bad, but not good. Well, that was unpleasant, but still not as bad as Limp Bizkit. I dislike these songs equally, so I'll go for the one that was shorter, and therefore wasted my time slightly less. Winner: Slipknot - "Duality"
"Love" has good energy and derivative but enjoyable harmonized guitars, but the whiny girl-punk vocals really get in the way here, and my eyes started to glaze over at the halfway mark. I liked the solos, at least. "Love Me Like A Reptile" is simplistic and repetitive, and the vocals aren't very good, but they're less annoying than their competitor's. Plus you get the same song title, but with four bonus words, which feels like a good value. Not a fan of either track, but the super-annoying vocals in the first song are enough to throw this over to @DJ James's nominee. Winner: Motörhead - "Love Me Like A Reptile"
I don't think I've ever heard a Sepultura song that I liked. It's all just very simplistic, unpolished garage thrash with lame vocals. An OK rhythm here, half of an interesting idea there, but mostly forgettable. I just can't take this shit seriously. "Countdown To Extinction" is an overrated song from an overrated album, but literally everything about this track is more polished, memorable, and better thought out than its competitor. (The linked video sounded worse than I remembered, so I'm guessing this was the Mustaine remix instead of the original Max Norman version.) Slam dunk for Megadeth here. Winner: Megadeth - "Countdown To Extinction"
"Jump" is a stone cold classic summer song with a killer synth hook, great vocal melodies, a short and pointed solo, and a sparse chorus that lets the synth do the talking. Gotta love that atmospheric synth interlude, too. If you don't like this song then you're just a burned out curmudgeon with no joy left in their life. "All My Life" makes some interesting harmonic choices, but the whispery opening runs on too long and the chorus doesn't pay off as much as it should. It's not bad, and it's kind of interesting, but if we're being honest here there's just no comparison. Winner: Van Halen - "Jump"
"Walk All Over You" has nice shifts between the peppy verse and the more laid back chorus, and there are some cool little melodic flourishes in the vocals. The rest is AC/DC being AC/DC, which is predictable, but generally good. This is one of their tracks that has always stood out a little bit from the pack for me, so I dig it. "Jailbreak" is...fine. Pretty much everything about it is unremarkable -- the riffs, the melodies, the half-singing on and off the rhythm. One thing the GMAC and GMSC have made clear to me is that I'm thoroughly underwhelmed by Thin Lizzy. So yeah, this one's an easy call too. Winner: AC/DC - "Walk All Over You"
"Duality" starts off like a bad Nine Inch Nails tribute, then gets into odd-rhythm masturbation that thinks it's much more clever than it actually is. The chorus has about half a hook in it. Jesus, I'm already checking the clock at the 2 minute mark. Yeah, OK. "Before I Forget" has an almost-interesting riff before slipping into bad Nine Inch Nails tribute again, then meandering off into yet another half-hook chorus. Oh hey, look, I'm checking the clock again after 2 minutes. The bridge is less bad, but not good. Well, that was unpleasant, but still not as bad as Limp Bizkit. I dislike these songs equally, so I'll go for the one that was shorter, and therefore wasted my time slightly less. Winner: Slipknot - "Duality"
"Love" has good energy and derivative but enjoyable harmonized guitars, but the whiny girl-punk vocals really get in the way here, and my eyes started to glaze over at the halfway mark. I liked the solos, at least. "Love Me Like A Reptile" is simplistic and repetitive, and the vocals aren't very good, but they're less annoying than their competitor's. Plus you get the same song title, but with four bonus words, which feels like a good value. Not a fan of either track, but the super-annoying vocals in the first song are enough to throw this over to @DJ James's nominee. Winner: Motörhead - "Love Me Like A Reptile"
I don't think I've ever heard a Sepultura song that I liked. It's all just very simplistic, unpolished garage thrash with lame vocals. An OK rhythm here, half of an interesting idea there, but mostly forgettable. I just can't take this shit seriously. "Countdown To Extinction" is an overrated song from an overrated album, but literally everything about this track is more polished, memorable, and better thought out than its competitor. (The linked video sounded worse than I remembered, so I'm guessing this was the Mustaine remix instead of the original Max Norman version.) Slam dunk for Megadeth here. Winner: Megadeth - "Countdown To Extinction"
"Jump" is a stone cold classic summer song with a killer synth hook, great vocal melodies, a short and pointed solo, and a sparse chorus that lets the synth do the talking. Gotta love that atmospheric synth interlude, too. If you don't like this song then you're just a burned out curmudgeon with no joy left in their life. "All My Life" makes some interesting harmonic choices, but the whispery opening runs on too long and the chorus doesn't pay off as much as it should. It's not bad, and it's kind of interesting, but if we're being honest here there's just no comparison. Winner: Van Halen - "Jump"
"Walk All Over You" has nice shifts between the peppy verse and the more laid back chorus, and there are some cool little melodic flourishes in the vocals. The rest is AC/DC being AC/DC, which is predictable, but generally good. This is one of their tracks that has always stood out a little bit from the pack for me, so I dig it. "Jailbreak" is...fine. Pretty much everything about it is unremarkable -- the riffs, the melodies, the half-singing on and off the rhythm. One thing the GMAC and GMSC have made clear to me is that I'm thoroughly underwhelmed by Thin Lizzy. So yeah, this one's an easy call too. Winner: AC/DC - "Walk All Over You"
DJ James
A coma stole my name.
Pretty easy round for me: Love Me Like a Reptile is my favorite song of all time. Perfect blend of punk, rock and metal. That opening riff from Fast Eddie is in contention for the best ever, and I love the lyrics! That’s the kind of song that really whips me into a frenzy every time I hear it either on a night out or just sitting in my bedroom. It’s about the sonic equivalent of a cup of coffee or a Jameson Red Bull, whatever you like more.
Other matchups, never got into Sonata Arctica, Slipknot sucks so a coin toss, Foo Fighters shouldn’t be here, and I like Thin Lizzy a lot more than ACDC. I’ll also take the classic Sepultura track over Megadeth here. If Territory was going up against Liar or Skull Beneath the Skin it might be a different story.
Other matchups, never got into Sonata Arctica, Slipknot sucks so a coin toss, Foo Fighters shouldn’t be here, and I like Thin Lizzy a lot more than ACDC. I’ll also take the classic Sepultura track over Megadeth here. If Territory was going up against Liar or Skull Beneath the Skin it might be a different story.
srfc
Ancient Mariner
Gamma Ray - Valley of the Kings vs. Sonata Arctica - The Cage
Both a similar standard of power metal that doesn't hold a lot of interest for me. Gamma Ray do not have ridiculous keyboard solos nor gear shift key change choruses so they take the win. Valley of the Kings
Slipknot - Duality vs. Slipknot - Before I Forget
Neither of these Slipknot tracks was as shit as I was expecting, but neither good enough for me to take interest. Before I Forget had the hookier moments and was better overall Before I Forget
Death Devil - Love vs. Motörhead - Love Me Like a Reptile
Death Devil reminds me of the song in South Park when Butters got a ninja star in the eye. Love Me Like a Reptile is more like an interesting album track than something I would nominate myself but still picks up an easy enough win. Love Me Like a Reptile
Sepultura - Territory vs. Megadeth - Countdown to Extinction
Territory is one of the best tracks on Chaos A.D. and gives Countdown to Extinction a run for it's money, but Extinction wins with the classic harmony part. I wonder does Musty stand over the lyrics these days, or does he think animal rights are an unamerican conspiracy? Countdown to Extinction
Van Halen - Jump vs. Foo Fighters - All My Life
All My Life is ok as Foo Fighters go, punky and energetic, the intro is a rip of of Ozzy's Desire, but Jump is just a much better example of a catchy mainstream hit. Jump
AC/DC - Walk All Over You vs. Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak
Walk All Over You is a good deep cut off one of AC/DC's best albums but Jailbreak is the title track of Thin Lizzy's biggest album, and the opener of the best live album of all time. Jailbreak
Both a similar standard of power metal that doesn't hold a lot of interest for me. Gamma Ray do not have ridiculous keyboard solos nor gear shift key change choruses so they take the win. Valley of the Kings
Slipknot - Duality vs. Slipknot - Before I Forget
Neither of these Slipknot tracks was as shit as I was expecting, but neither good enough for me to take interest. Before I Forget had the hookier moments and was better overall Before I Forget
Death Devil - Love vs. Motörhead - Love Me Like a Reptile
Death Devil reminds me of the song in South Park when Butters got a ninja star in the eye. Love Me Like a Reptile is more like an interesting album track than something I would nominate myself but still picks up an easy enough win. Love Me Like a Reptile
Sepultura - Territory vs. Megadeth - Countdown to Extinction
Territory is one of the best tracks on Chaos A.D. and gives Countdown to Extinction a run for it's money, but Extinction wins with the classic harmony part. I wonder does Musty stand over the lyrics these days, or does he think animal rights are an unamerican conspiracy? Countdown to Extinction
Van Halen - Jump vs. Foo Fighters - All My Life
All My Life is ok as Foo Fighters go, punky and energetic, the intro is a rip of of Ozzy's Desire, but Jump is just a much better example of a catchy mainstream hit. Jump
AC/DC - Walk All Over You vs. Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak
Walk All Over You is a good deep cut off one of AC/DC's best albums but Jailbreak is the title track of Thin Lizzy's biggest album, and the opener of the best live album of all time. Jailbreak
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
I love Valley of the Kings and would put it in my top 10 if not top 5 Gamma Ray songs. The main verses sound a bit awkward in places but that's really just a minor complaint. The post-chorus is such a catchy moment with tasteful keys, it gets stuck in my head all the time. I would really like to hear this song in person one day. The Cage as I mentioned is a major Sonata Arctica highlight and in my opinion their second best song after Wolf & Raven. My favorite keyboard player Jens Johansson played all the leads as a guest musician on Winterheart's Guild and you can immediately hear his impact in that explosive intro solo. The rest of the song is fantastic as well. It follows Sonata's typical impactful wolf themes and has a ton of amazing hooks all over the place. A certified banger which I wouldn't hesitate to call one of the greatest of all time.
Slipknot used to be a top favorite band of mine, but I don't listen to them very often nowadays. These two hit singles come from my favorite album of theirs, Vol. 3, which I nominated in the album cup, and they certainly are among the best tracks in Slipknot's catalog. Duality has one of the most memorable choruses of all time, and with those lyrics it's no wonder it became such a meme in the metal community. Before I Forget is a bit more complex and musically interesting. The bridge section (My end, it justifies my means...) is one of the strongest moments in the whole nu metal movement. Oh, and this song won a Grammy too!
K-On has been on my watchlist for years but I haven't seen it yet, however thanks to @DJ James noticing this song is from the show I might finally watch it. The song itself was decent but not enough to beat Love Me Like A Reptile here. It's a pretty close matchup though.
Sepultura just really isn't for me, and Countdown's title track was always a bit of a hidden gem. There are a lot of Megadeth songs I like more but this might be the strongest one from its album.
I generally prefer Foo Fighters to Van Halen, but Jump is an iconic song for a reason. One thing is certain, neither song is very close to heavy metal.
I also generally prefer Thin Lizzy to AC/DC, but Walk All Over You is one of the better Bon Scott-era tunes. I already forgot what Jailbreak sounds like.
Slipknot used to be a top favorite band of mine, but I don't listen to them very often nowadays. These two hit singles come from my favorite album of theirs, Vol. 3, which I nominated in the album cup, and they certainly are among the best tracks in Slipknot's catalog. Duality has one of the most memorable choruses of all time, and with those lyrics it's no wonder it became such a meme in the metal community. Before I Forget is a bit more complex and musically interesting. The bridge section (My end, it justifies my means...) is one of the strongest moments in the whole nu metal movement. Oh, and this song won a Grammy too!
K-On has been on my watchlist for years but I haven't seen it yet, however thanks to @DJ James noticing this song is from the show I might finally watch it. The song itself was decent but not enough to beat Love Me Like A Reptile here. It's a pretty close matchup though.
Sepultura just really isn't for me, and Countdown's title track was always a bit of a hidden gem. There are a lot of Megadeth songs I like more but this might be the strongest one from its album.
I generally prefer Foo Fighters to Van Halen, but Jump is an iconic song for a reason. One thing is certain, neither song is very close to heavy metal.
I also generally prefer Thin Lizzy to AC/DC, but Walk All Over You is one of the better Bon Scott-era tunes. I already forgot what Jailbreak sounds like.
Perhaps predictably, only the Slipknot matchup is close at this point.
And yeah, this is why I sought out a bunch of lists for both this and the GMAC, because it means we're all getting a surprise or two at some point.
I'm not sure if this is a compliment? But hey, sometimes we do weird things. The list stuff is kind of spread out intentionally to make sure we have lots of options, and some of it is really wild.
And yeah, this is why I sought out a bunch of lists for both this and the GMAC, because it means we're all getting a surprise or two at some point.
Jer
A window to the west, a blazing star above
They've played it at every Gamma Ray concert I've ever been to (from their first U.S. show in 2002), so if they ever tour again your chances are good!
This is hilarious, because as soon as the synths started in that song, I was like "who is this, Jens Johansson?", but then I remembered he went to Stratovarius after leaving Yngwie's band, so I assumed it couldn't be him. Nailed it, I guess...
I don't know, that Foo Fighters song sure sounds more metal to me than a lot of the proto-metal stuff that's rolled through the GMAC and GMSC. But we've already established that all hard rock is fair game, even the ballads.