The Greatest Metal Song Cup - Part II, Round 4, Matches 82-87

[Confeos]

First match is definitely the toughest. "Twilight of the Thunder God" is what I'd consider a modern classic of melodic death metal, while Oceanborn is my favourite Nightwish album, and even if it's not the track that I think stands out the most, "Passion and the Opera" is still great and one of the reasons I fell in love with Tarja's voice. Since it's currently losing, I'm going with Nightwish.

I'm not a fan of Pantera in general, but "Cemetery Gates" is one of a few songs that I genuinely like. I'm quick to hate on Phil Anselmo, but he sounds great here, and the vocal-guitar battle at the end is pure Blackmore/Gillan. Phenomenal. Meanwhile, Alter Bridge do nothing for me; Myles Kennedy does nothing for me, and "Blackbird" does absolutely nothing for me. Pantera.

Neither "Cult of Personality" nor "Christian Woman" is up my alley, but I suppose the former is a bit stronger, so I'll vote Living Colour.

When I was younger I listened to "B.Y.O.B." quite a bit; possibly the only SOAD song I can say I really liked. Now, years later, it doesn't quite hold up. I can still dig the chorus, but the rest is nothing special, and the screamed parts get annoying quickly. "Lights Out" is the exact opposite; besides a somewhat weaker chorus, everything else is quite stellar. Easy vote for UFO.

Look, I like Bathory and "Twilight of the Gods" very much, but against "Master of Puppets"? Just no. Metallica, obviously.

No, "Pull Me Under" is not Dream Theater's best song, but it's still miles better than anything AC/DC has ever put out. Dream Theater.

 

[Diesel 11]

As much fun as "Twilight of the Thunder Gods" may be, "Passion and the Opera" is an underrated track from early Nightwish. It's a brilliant Oceanborn blend with Emppu killing it on guitar and Tarja transcending space and time on the vocals. Easy vote here.

Alter Bridge have a fine song. Pantera bring one of their best - not just by their standards, but by metal standards as a whole. It's an incredible and visceral ballad that punches hard and leaves you drained by the end.

I love "Cult of Personality" and I won't be mad if it wins. It's a fantastically written song that transcends '80s hard rock and metal with powerful lyrics summing up the facade of the political leader. I still have to vote with my heart, though, and I think I like the heavenly seduction that Type O Negative offer just a little bit more. But this, to me, is a matchup of titans.

UFO's song is fun, but SOAD just bring so much more to the table in their over-charged, highly political lyrics that still ring out heavy as fuck.

I respect and salute Bathory but "Master of Puppets" might be my fave to win the whole game. There are a lot of great contenders here but when I think of "greatest metal song" immediately I think of "Master of Puppets". It manages to find a line within thrash that not only delivers to metal fans, but to mainstream interests as well. The riff is iconic, the verses iconic, the chorus iconic, even the quiet guitar lead after the second chorus is iconic. Everything about this song is iconic and even looking past the tints of fame, it's just such a powerful and dynamic epic that doesn't feel nearly as long as it is. It's the perfect metal song. Metallica, obviously.

Minor quibbles about LaBrie aside, "Pull Me Under" is an astounding opening statement from the band that put prog metal on the map. AC/DC are good enough, but they should've brought a better song to the table if they wanted to take down Dream Theater here.

 

[Siddharth]

Love UFO and they are totally my kind of stuff! But I went for BYOB for uniqueness and creativity.

Living Colour and Type O- was hard, considering I'm not much familiar with either of them. Christian Woman won by a MARGIN due to having more dynamics and atmosphere in their song. But Living Colours's awesome too!

Master Of Puppets, Pull Me Under and Twilight Of The Thunder God easily for me.

 

[Siddharth]

Just a reminder guys. We have one more awesome tournament going on. Come give it a shot!

Battle of Ballads - Round 1: Matches 1-4

Just came up with an interesting idea. Since the GMSC is already going on, I thought what about a power ballad cup? I've selected a total of 32 songs (ballads) for the game. I would like maximum participation from you, my friends to decide which song is the best! If it gets a good response, I've...

forum.maidenfans.com

 

[Spambot]

Match 43 - Amon Amarth
One of the reasons (probably biggest one) I didn't got into Nightwish was Tarja. Not that I think she is bad singer, quite the opposite, but I was always put off by her voice. For my taste, she just... too much. This song isn't any different, it's like blue collared riff with white collared vocals over it, just doesn't fit for me. Also, I confused this Amon Amarth song with different one from same album, "Guardians of Asgard". Fun lil' kids' song.

Match 44 - Pantera
I don't like Pantera, and "Cemetary Gates" isn't even my favourite song of theirs, but it's just so damn "big" it deserves to go into top 20. Alter Bridge is a band I wouldn't actively listen or go see a show, but I'd be glad if they were opening for some band I was planning to see and if they were on a festival I'm attending, I'd check them out.

Match 45 - Living Colour
"Cult of Personality" came on as I was driving home from work. At that moment, the road aligned with the train tracks. I actively searched for train that was coming by, but there was none. I think I failed as I heard voice in my head "You only had to follow the damn train, CJ". Then I realized that train line has been abandoned for years now. And I'm not CJ. And life isn't GTA: San Andreas. Unfortunately.

Match 46 - UFO
I didn't like BYOB when it came out, and it still irks me today when I hear it. Too much Daron and too-much-SOAD for me to enjoy it as a "normal song", but also not-enough-over-the-top-SOAD to enjoy it as a "fun song". UFO is boring, but at least it doesn't annoy me.

Match 47 - Metallica
Just the other day I had this urge to listen Master of Puppets. It still rocks. Definitely a contender to win this whole thing. I expected much more nominations from board members, it would be interesting to see how many nominations have the other two most popular Metallica songs (Enter Sandman and Nothing Else Matters).

Match 48 - AC/DC
I never understood what made "Pull me Under" a hit. Maybe because it was such a step up from debut, or maybe because there weren't that many prog-metal songs in the early 80s. Also, I haven't seen that many fans mentioning it, yet, it was almost a staple in their setlist. I wonder do DT fans look at this one the way Iron Maiden fans look at "Fear of the Dark". On the other hand, "It's a Long Way to the Top" is the rock-iest rock song I've ever hard, might be even my favorite song of theirs. AC/DC are the only people on this planet who made bagpipes sound cool.

 

[srfc]

Wont get a chance to listen to the ones I dont know

amon amarth
cemetery gates
living colour
lights out
puppets
it's a long way to the top

 

[Shmoolikipod]

Amon Amarth, but not by a long shot. It feels like huge melodeath done to a tee while Passion and the Opera has some tasty licks in the first part and a very unique second half.

You can't deny Cemetery Gates' greatness, even if you don't dig the Pantera sound. The songwriting is rock solid and Phil's performance, especially the belted notes at the end, is haunting. Blackbird is a very good song too, however it's not really expansive so it can't compare to the capital G Greats.

Wow, I just dug my own grave with that previous paragraph. I detest riffs like Cult of Personality's and I'll never want to listen to it, and at the same time it's lived rent free in my head since the GMAC. Type O Negative is a lot more my thing and this song is oozing with atmosphere.

B.Y.O.B is a certified childhood classic. Some of the transitions are a bit too instantaneous for me but this is peak SOAD otherwise. Damn, Lights Out is really good too. I'll stick with B.Y.O.B

I'll only say that it always amazes me how long MoP is. Could it be because every section is essential to metal? Something along those lines I guess. Twilight of the Gods is a great mid tempo atmospheric piece that sends you to another place. Master of Puppets isn't actually a favourite of mine but it wins this one.

Yay PMU! Obviously better than bagpipe AC/DC.

Don't like Pull Me Under much, personally, never understood why this of all their songs was a hit

I guess Another Day or Surrounded "make more sense", but it's not like Pull Me Under isn't punchy and addictive for DT.

 

[Jer]

You can't deny Cemetery Gates' greatness, even if you don't dig the Pantera sound.

For the record, I wholeheartedly and unreservedly deny it.

 

[Detective Beauregard]

First match is the toughest because I like both songs, but I figure that if it’s Vikings vs Tarja and Emppu (for that riff), the Vikings would win. Brutally. Amon Amarth.

Cemetery Gates, while not my favorite Pantera song, is a classic. Who is Alter Bridge again? Diamond Darrell and the Raging Anselmo.

I don’t care much for political-themed music, but Living Colour knock this one out of the park. No contest.

See above (RE: political-themed music) regarding SOAD. That pre-chorus riff and the chorus itself are quite good, but the rest of the song is annoying as shit. As @Spambot said above, UFO’s track isn’t the most exciting thing out there, but at least it’s not annoying.

I mean, come on. Master of Puppets has a shot at winning this whole tournament, and even though it’s no Symphony X, I wouldn’t mind if it did. Absolute classic beast of a song from Metallica’s prime.


Let’s be real here: I don’t know any Dream Theater fan who thinks Pull Me Under is their best song. In fact, it’s pretty mid-level in terms of quality within their entire catalogue. That said, it’s still stronger than most other metal songs, and this subpar AC/DC cut sounds like children compared to the prog metal greats. Terribly easy vote for Dream Theater.

 

[LooseCannon]

Passion and operas pale compared to the power of the thunder god as Amon Amarth easily defeats their Scandinavian brethren. A blackbird can fly over the cemetery gates, but Alter Bridge cannot pass through Pantera. What is it that the Christian woman has fallen into? Could it be Living Colour's cult of personality? Bring your own beer and go lights out for UFO. Bathory's gods twilight composition has its strings cut by Metallica's master! Master! Where's the dream that Bathory's after! There's a long way for AC/DC to go to get to the top in this tournament, and they're never gonna get there as long as Dream Theater is pulling them under.

---

Part II, Round 1, Matches 49-54​

Group Stage - Round 1	Match 49​	Tailgunner Division​
Scorpions - Blackout	vs.​	Lita Ford - Kiss Me Deadly​
Popoff 500, Best Music Art 100 @The Dissident	Nominators​	Rolling Stone 100​
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0	Record​	0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

Group Stage - Round 1	Match 50​	Adrian Smith Division​
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath	vs.​	Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun​
Popoff 500, Rolling Stone 100, DigitalDreamDoor 100, Radio EHS 100, Rate Your Music 100, Best Music Art 100 @____no5	Nominators​	@The Sentient​
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0	Record​	0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

Group Stage - Round 1	Match 51​	No Prayer For the Dying Division​
Alice Cooper - Poison	vs.​	Judas Priest - Hell Bent For Leather​
Popoff 500, Radio EHS 100, Youtube 50 @DJMayes	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 1	Match 52​	Doctor Doctor Division​
Pantera - Walk	vs.​	Blind Guardian - Into the Storm​
Popoff 500, Rolling Stone 100, DigitalDreamDoor 100, Radio EHS 100, Rate Your Music 100, VH1 40, Youtube 50	Nominators​	@Spambot​
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0	Record​	0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

Group Stage - Round 1	Match 53​	Heaven Can Wait Division​
Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath	vs.​	Morbid Angel - Immortal Rites​
Popoff 500, DigitalDreamDoor 100, Radio EHS 100, Rate Your Music 100 @Mosh	Nominators​	@KiDDo​
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0	Record​	0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

Group Stage - Round 1	Match 54​	22 Acacia Avenue Division​
Black Sabbath - Fairies Wear Boots	vs.​	Solitude Aeternus - Destiny Falls to Ruin​
Popoff 500, DigitalDreamDoor 100, Rate Your Music 100	Nominators​	@MindRuler​
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0	Record​	0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

 

[DJ James]

Sheesh, insanely strong round. Also I have listened to a couple Lita Ford albums, EXTREMELY underrated guitar player and her band is killer! Great hair metal with a pretty slick edge. Kiss Me Deadly is just great fun and such a classic.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

 

[LooseCannon]

I think I fucked up the nominators, I fixed a bunch but if it's still wrong lmk.

 

[Shmoolikipod]

Many black
Such Sabbath
Wow

 

[Mosh]

Blackout is a great Scorpions track, the entire album is solid as well (it's no Lovedrive, but it's close). A much stronger offering than some of the more popular tracks, such as Rock You Like a Hurricane. A gentle reminder that Scorpions were just as heavy as their peers at one point. Kiss Me Deadly isn't terrible, Lita Ford is a bit of a Metal Goddess despite mostly being known for some pretty cheesy pop metal tunes.

I think I like Black Hole Sun better than Black Sabbath (the song), but come on, you can't vote against Sabbath. There are very few instances where the invention of an entire genre can be traced back to a single song. And there are elements of this one song that other artists didn't even discover until decades later. Way ahead of its time.

Poison is a funny "going off chart success alone" pick. There's plenty of stuff off the next album (Hey Stoopid, Feed My Frankenstein) that at least has more of a metal edge to it. Poison is a decent slab of pop, but what's the point? Hell Bent For Leather is Metal royalty.

There's many who tried to prove that they're faster
But they didn't last and they died as they tried


Walk is fun for what it is and probably the best Pantera has to offer. Into the Storm is a solid BG track and much more deserving of moving ahead.

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is in my Sabbath top 3, insane track. So much musical progress between Black Sabbath (the song) and this in only a few years. A very early example of prog metal.

Going for Sabbath x3: Fairies Wear Boots. I did give Solitude Aeturnus a fair shake and enjoyed it, but it doesn't stand a chance.

 

[Detective Beauregard]

Scorpions, and it’s not close. I dig the chorus riff, even though the vocals are annoying. Not a great tune or anything, but I find Kiss Me Deadly to be quite annoying. I know little about Lita Ford, but I know I’ve heard her do better than this.

Sabbath have some pretty atmospheric iceberg metal going on until Ozzy enters with his annoyingly pedestrian voice. The bell is a nice touch. The song is sleep-including until 4:35, where the tempo picks up and then enter the wails of a dying goat. I kept waiting for a Geezer bass line that would propel the song forward, but it never came. What a slog. I’m not in love with Black Hole Sun, but at least it has things going on in it. Soundgarden.

Hell Bent for Leather is far from great, but I like the tail end of the chorus riff, which is more than I can say for Cooper’s tune. Halford sounds pretty lifeless here, though. Still, Priest.

Walk has that classic punchy riff and… not much else. The pre-chorus vocal “melody” is particularly weak. Meanwhile, I finally understand what @Jer means by calling things “video gamey,” as the intro to this Blind Guardian song is straight up Mega Man. Also, am I the only one who hears the lyrics “Give it to me, I’m a salad” right in the beginning? God, there’s so many Hansis here. The riff at 1:01 is sick. This song really should be called “Into the Seizure,” though, because that’s how I feel when listening to it. There’s just so much happening, and not in a good way. The production is horrible, too. Still, I have to give this one to Blind Guardian, as it contains more emotions than just the caveman-like urge to smash everything in sight.

Ozzy’s voice is utterly terrible in its upper register, but the music is good enough to make this the obvious choice over whatever the hell Morbid Angel is doing. Sabbath, obviously.

Honestly, this Sabbath song is more enjoyable than the other two in this round. It has this liquid smooth layer of bass which is fantastic, and great guitars and drums throughout. Ozzy sounds least annoying here. Nothing wrong with Solitude Aeternus, but I think Sabbath has the stronger offering here.

 

[Kalata]

Lita Ford's Kiss Me Deadly is cool and a lot of fun, but Blackout is a standout Scorpions song. Riff and verses are gold.
Priest vs Alice Cooper is a tough matchup. I like Hell Bent For Leather a lot - riff, verses, chorus, solo, all great and classic Priest, but Poison is AC's best song imo. There's something about the chorus of it.
Into The Storm, no contest for me. One of the best BG songs.
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. So much more interesting and classic sounding. One of their early songs that I can enjoy.
Fairies Wear Boots is cool, but although I didn't like the vocals, the music of SA was a nice surprise. The vibe is cool.

 

[JudasMyGuide]

Blackout as an album is already Scorpions in decline, i. e. - the path to housewivization, however, that's still more appealing to me than anything from Lita Ford I've ever heard, this included.

I love Soundgarden, but come on, Black Sabbath is such an awesome classic that I can't not vote for it.

Band/artist bias whispers in my ear I should vote for Coop even at his trashiest (I mean, he named the entire album Trash) and the slckness of corporate songwriting has certain appeal, I won't deny it, but 70s Priest are 70s Priest and Hell Bent for Leather, title aside, is an awesome song, with great driving energy and ridiculously enticing guitars.

I am more of a Pantera apologist than many people here, however no fucking way I'm voting for the dudebroish "RE! SPECT! YA TALKIN TO MAEAY!?!?" over Blind fucking Guardian, and a song from Nightfall to boot.

Title track from second best Sabbath album over any kind of Morbid Angel, sorry - and I quite respect the latter, musically.

I have voted for Sabbath enough in this round and while Fairies is good, overall Paranoid is among my least favourite albums with Ozzy (and I find it ridiculously overrated) - and besides that, bros before lists, so Solitude Aeternus it is.

 

[TheMercenary]

My votes in this round.

 

[Siddharth]

Blackout is classic Scorpions. Awesome song! While the Lita Ford song is good for what it is with that AOR hook but not outstanding comparatively. Even the guitar solo is in a fading out style.

Unpopular opinion: Black Sabbath's self titled song is possibly their most over-appreciated song. It may have been exceptional for its time with all the atmospherics but they went on to make much greater songs. Black Hole Sun may not be my favourite by Soundgarden but it has more dynamics in comparison, imo.

Love Judas Priest and Hell Bent is fun and all but a STANDARD Priest track. While, Poison has an awesome builtup, atmosphere and chorus.

I get why Blind Guardian and most Power/Prog/Symphonic metal is popular among Maiden fans. A good enough track but my bias for Pantera definitely comes into play here. Walk is just iconic and fun. A pretty unfair matchup, I will say.

I do appreciate Morbid Angel in terms of music but just think Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is a complete package here. The former has got great riffing but a full-fledged Trey Azagthot solo would have been better rather than just in a fading out intro, like Lita Ford's song. Wait, did I just say Morbid Angel and Lita Ford in a single line. Man, they shoulf totally collaborate LOL!

Again, Fairies Wear Boots has really good instrumentaion (you can actually hear the influence on For Whom The Bell Tolls in the outro ). I went for Solitude Aeternus. Good Epic Doom vocals and while the first half is typical of the genre, the later half, post-solo was a good surprise as it picked its pace with a great riff.