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

What is your favourite song in each match? Vote in all six matchups!

  • ----------------------------

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • ----------------------------

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • ----------------------------

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • ----------------------------

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • ----------------------------

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    8
  • Poll closed .
Not really one of my favorite songs of theirs, but the classic style of Queensryche wins it easily.
Enter Sandman, easily. One of my favorite songs from Metallica.
Gates Of Babylon is still one of the greatest metal songs. That's why I nominated it. Riffs, melodies, vocals, solo - everything is timeless.
Ozzy's Mr Crowley, no contest. The solo alone is enough to beat entire songs.
N.I.B. because of its vibe.
Let There Be Rock is one of the best rock songs of all time. That solo and riff! Ozzy's song is very nice though.
 
Excellent nomination of Secret Loser @MindRuler . Jake E Lee is my favorite Ozzy guitarist and I love The Ultimate Sin. Also gosh N.I.B. rules. I really never need an excuse to gush over that early Sabbath stuff, and sometimes it surprises me that those albums are as big as they are - it’s like but do you guys really know how good this stuff is?
 
Now, when we have Suite Sister Mary in the game, I might talk about the similarities I've always perceived between Operation: Mindcrime and Seventh Wonder's Mercy Falls. So, both are prog metal concept albums with incredibly melodramatic storyline which is just as much a pro (it gives it cohesion and the "more than a sum of its part" feel) and a con (it is quite often cheesy to the level of cringiness).

Both start with not one, but two introductory tracks before we get to the songs proper, both are somewhat uneven (with bland stuff like Revolution Calling or Breaking the Silence for O:M and Fall in Line and Destiny Calls for MF that are saved mostly by the cohesion of the whole and the strength of the other tracks), both have songs about breaking the silence and both have their pinnacle in the longest track, at first seemingly meandering and subdued, and the tracks immediately next to it (The Mission and Suite Sister Mary for O:M and Break the Silence and Hide and Seek for Mercy Falls).

I'd say the comparison between (Seventh Wonder's) Break the Silence and Suite Sister Mary is especially interesting - both are among the darkest tracks of their respective albums, both are rather subdued, building up to the incredibly poignant chorus, which is repeated only twice and which is at first the only part that is truly memorable on your first listen. Despite that, both are building up primarily atmosphere and both feel slightly musically clunky (Rÿche because they mostly play heavy metal and because they are trying a different musical structure to dabble in the prog genre they can't properly do, Seventh Wonder because much as I like them, they were doing these illogical, musical Frankensteins where you put everything into a pot without rhyme or reason long before The Great Escape, you know it's true). And yet, the atmosphere is brilliant.

I would almost be tempted to care about this overwrought dystopian concept full of 80s 'Murican hysteria with brainwashing, counterculture and pseudo-nuns... despite what I wrote in this cup before - crikey, a dystopian concept album, what a wonder to behold, much cleverity, so original.

This song is incredibly powerful, despite all its various misgivings and I won't be even wasting any breath (or, well, keyboard's maximum usage expectancy) talking about Bodies, for fuck's sake, Queensrÿche!

-----

And another absolutely unfair battle. Say what you will about Metallica "selling out", like or not the Black Album (I'm still not crazy after all these years, but whatever), Enter Sandman is a monster of a track and despite the simplicity, despite the certain silliness, it murders the wankers in Slayer outright. Tullica, duh.

-----

Since Rainbow are literally murdering their opponent (and I like the first album most anyway), I'll go with bros again and vote for Nocte Obducta, as a courtesy to my friend @Perun

-----

Mr. Crowley might be my least favourite track off Ozzy's debut, great album as it is, but it's still miles better than Stone Temple Pilots, which should be a surprise to no-one.

-----

And again, a great track by a great band vs. okay track by a mediocre band. Sabbath, no contest.

-----

Let There Be Rock is still probably my favourite AC/DC album, after all these years, so I'll throw a vote to the title track, despite me outgrowing the AC/DC phase a long time ago.
 
“Suite Sister Mary” is the pivotal story moment from Operation: Mindcrime. Great performances, great songwriting, and a gentle weaving of spoken word and atmospheric elements into the song in a way that deeply enriches it rather than detracting from it. Love the use of the choir, too. Excellent song. "Bodies" has an awesome main riff with the wah alternating in and out, and the clean callbacks following on. The verse and pre-chorus have great atmosphere and build-up, but the chorus is big and dumb. The bridge is OK. Pretty good song overall, and great background music for an action movie when the shit gets real, but this is no contest. An easy call for ____Pono2.5's nominee. Winner: Queensrÿche - "Suite Sister Mary"

"Enter Sandman" was overly simplistic by Metallica's standards up to that point, but it has great atmosphere, a buzzsaw of a main riff, and a career-making vocal performance from Hetfield. It also has strong, catchy vocal lines, a very good (albeit too wah-laden) solo, and an interesting multi-part bridge that builds back nicely into the chorus. Excellent song. "At Dawn They Sleep" thinks it's being clever with the rhythmic play at the beginning, but it doesn't sound very good. The main riff works much better. The mostly non-melodic vocals also aren't good, and the solos are predictably shitty. Feels like this song has already run its course around the halfway mark, but it just keeps on going. The escalating tempo part is interesting, at least, and the bridge is pretty solid. Still mediocre overall, and this is the easiest of calls for @Black Bart's nominee. Winner: Metallica - "Enter Sandman"

"Gates Of Babylon" offers a creepy eastern-tinged synth intro, rolling into a pretty dope eastern riff. The vocal lines are mostly great, and Dio sounds great as expected. Lots of epic moments throughout the track, and the eastern-flavored extended solo is great. Love the violin denouement too. Aside from a few vocal phrasing issues there isn't much to criticize here -- great stuff. "Und Pan spielt die Flöte (Desîhras Tagebuch Kapitel II)" has a pretty cool opening groove when it's not ruining it with cut time drumming. The verse that follows often sounds like completely random notes and pot-banging with non-melodic vocals before it finds its way back to something melodic. Oh great, now we get the full Cookie Monster, and then a "duet" between Cookie Monster and the throaty non-melodic guy. The pattern of simplistic but pretty good melodic grooves and interludes that fall back into often annoyingly drummed, horribly voiced sections holds up for the rest of the obnoxiously long track. If the song had actually lived up to its name and let me hear Pan play the flute instead, that would have almost certainly been more enjoyable. Sorry, @Perun, but MrKalatabocker's nominee just plowed through yours like a bullet train through balsa wood. Winner: Rainbow - "Gates Of Babylon"

"Mr. Crowley" has a nice synth pipe organ intro (always gotta give a bonus point for pipe organ in metal), and Ozzy delivers pretty strong vocal lines throughout. Nice embellishments on the guitar under the verse and pre-chorus, and the solos are great. The harmonized guitar bit rolling into the bridge is also very nice. Very good overall. "Sex Type Thing" is relatively simplistic and repetitive, though it's mildly catchy. I'm not a fan of Scott Weiland, but his me-too grunge vocals work well enough here. I wouldn't seek this song out on purpose, but I wouldn't turn it off if it were already playing. It's OK, I guess -- but that's nowhere near enough to take down @LooseCannon's nominee. Winner: Ozzy Osbourne - "Mr. Crowley"

"N.I.B." has a pointless twangy bass intro that gives way to a pretty good riff. The verse vocal works pretty well despite some phrasing issues, and the little instrumental break between the verses is good. I like the change in feel for the chorus(?), and the extended solo is actually very good. Good stuff overall. "Prince Kajuku" has nice guitar work, though the vocal lines are flat and boring. The song also has a dated feel that I normally wouldn't go for. It's OK overall, but I think the Sabbath track is noticeably better. Winner: Black Sabbath - "N.I.B."

"Let There Be Rock" has a simple but appealing riff. The spoken word verse is sort of interesting the first time through, but the repetitive two-note interlude that follows is a bit grating until the solo helps to cover it up. By the second verse I think the spoken word thing has worn out its welcome, and the solo over the second interlude isn't very interesting. By the time we start rolling into the third verse I'm pretty checked out, even with the introduction of a vocal melody there. The final solo is pretty good at least. An OK song overall. "Secret Loser" has a dope riff and great color work from Jake E. Lee. The vocal melodies are quite good, but the chorus lyrics are pretty hard to hear without busting out laughing. Great multi-part solo, great interlude. Chorus lyrics aside, this a great song -- and sorry, @The Sentient, but that's more than enough for @MindRuler's nominee to win this match-up. Winner: Ozzy Osbourne - "Secret Loser"
 
Queensrÿche - Suite Sister Mary vs. Drowning Pool - Bodies
Bodies is obviously memorable, but it's a bit shit. Suite Sister Mary is great, my one hesitation would be, does it stand up on it's own outside of the context of the album? Suite Sister Mary

Metallica - Enter Sandman vs. Slayer - At Dawn They Sleep

At Dawn They Sleep is great but not helped by the piss poor production of Hell Awaits. Sandman has all the trappings of a classic hit, I love the way that all the music in the song is pretty much a variation of the initial Hammett riff, again the only hesitation is the lyrics are really dumb, which I wouldn't normally care too much about, but given this is Heavy Metal's most well known song, I feel it confirms peoples prejudices about metal fans being brain deads. Enter Sandman

Rainbow - Gates of Babylon vs. Nocte Obducta - Und Pan spielt die Flöte (Desîhras Tagebuch - Kapitel II)

This is what I said about Nocte Obducta first time "Nocte Obducta is not something I would have much interest in listening to, but to give it it's dues I can clearly hear what's going on production wise and the entire genre could benefit from having that sort of production, there's some good parts too.", I didn't give it much of a listen this time, as it was clear quite quickly that Gates of Babylon would be picking up the win, but my initial impression of the sound being quite good held up on what I heard second time. Obviously, Gates of Babylon is one of Rainbow's very best. Gates of Babylon

Ozzy Osbourne - Mr. Crowley vs. Stone Temple Pilots - Sex Type Thing

Mr Crowley is probably the all time best guitar performance, can't believe that cunt had Zakk Wylde come in and overdub some pinch harmonics. Plus use a worse vocal take that what was on the original album. Sex Type Thing was alright Mr. Crowley

Black Sabbath - N.I.B. vs. UFO - Prince Kajuku

Prince Kajuku wasn't great, N.I.B. is N.I.B.

AC/DC - Let There Be Rock vs. Ozzy Osbourne - Secret Loser

Secret Loser is a pretty good deep cut, but Let There Be Rock is an all timer. Let There Be Rock
 
Bodies is good fun as a standalone song, whereas I wouldn't listen to the Queensryche song outside of the album.

Enter Sandman is (for me) easily the best song Metallica ever made and one of the frontrunners of the competition.

Gates of Babylon; it's not my favourite Rainbow track but it's still a really solid pick.

Mr Crowley is an easy pick here.

I don't care for either song in the fifth round but I'll go with Black Sabbath.

Let There Be Rock.
 
Suite Sister Mary is overwrought, overlong, and overly ridiculous due to mediocre voice acting. Granted, it’s nowhere near as bad as the voice acting in Mercy Falls, but that’s a pretty low bar. The song is fine. It’s got some cool parts and I enjoy it when Tate is not singing. The Latin section in the middle is neat. And it’s up against Bodies, so an easy win for Queensryche.

I never need to hear Enter Sandman again in my entire life. It has been overplayed beyond all extremes. But it’s overplayed for a reason. It is a band fueling their songwriting ability into a single massive hit (thanks to a good producer). At Dawn They Sleep is even more raw than most Slayer, and that’s never a good thing. An incredibly easy win for Metallica.

Gates of Babylon is a masterpiece. From the eastern tonalities to the scope and mystical aura of the whole piece, it’s just an absolute top tier composition and performance. Dio sounds out of this world, every layer works, and it rocks from start to finish. I love how Blackmore’s solo turns into a classically-inspired section before reprising the main riff. I don’t think any other song in the genre really sounds like Gates of Babylon. It’s just so fantastically unique. I really enjoyed the scope and melody packed into the extreme metal of Nocte Obducta’s track, but it has no chance against Rainbow here.

I’m not super keen on either song in this fourth match. Randy is the only bright spot on Mr. Crowley and he shines a lot. The intro doesn’t fit the song at all. The vocals and melodies do nothing for me. Sex Type Thing, however, just feels false. It’s a more enjoyable song than Mr. Crowley, but it also just feels like guys trying to be harder than they are. IDK. I never really “got” Stone Temple Pilots. There's a nice groove and Weiland sounds alright whenever he’s not overly faking his warbles. Both of these songs are so deeply entrenched in their decades. Crowley sounds like a microcosm of the entire 1980s, whereas Sex Type Thing could literally be the 90s in a blender. Eh, I’ll vote for Ozzy simply because of Randy, but I don’t really care here at all.

NIB is a really cool song despite Ozzy just singing the riffs. Prince Kajuka is pretty uninteresting despite the weird intro. Sabbath.

Let There Be Rock is that rare AC/DC song that doesn’t sound identical to literally ever other AC/DC song. It’s got a quicker tempo, a pure drum and bass verse, and guitars that step a bit outside the norm for their usual schtick. Overall the tune is a bit bare bones, but has really good movement and the band sounds all kinds of fired up. I actually quite like Secret Loser. It’s such a different vibe from Ozzy’s general solo singles and the guitar playing is top notch. Eh, you know what, I’mma gonna swing another Ozzy vote here.
 
Probably the easiest round yet.

Queensrÿche
Metallica
Rainbow
Ozzy
Sabbath
Ozzy


The other songs are just vastly inferior in each of the match-ups.
 
Bodies is highly enjoyable despite how stupid it is. Only the chorus is shit. Suite Sister Mary is leagues and leagues above it though.

I respect Enter Sandman, but it was never my favourite Metallica song, or even a favourite black album song. At Dawn They Sleep has good energy and riffs that kill. (KILL! KILL!) The bridge is quite long but I love the accelerating tempo at its end. Far from perfect but more my taste.

Gates of BabyLOL easiest vote ever. Danceable rhythms, incredible instrumental and magical vocals. This has better storytelling than the Rising duo if you ask me. I only rarely want to listen to music like Nocte Obducta's, I also don't understand German.

I like STP's noisiness, but Mr. Crowley is a better song.

Well, both of those have loud bass. Prince Kajuku has a great guitar solo but N.I.B is much more tasteful.

Unusually good AC/DC song, even with the cheesy spoken word verses. I'm loving discovering Ozzy with this game and Secret Loser is one of his least outstanding tracks so far. AC/DC
 
Lol. I’ve never been a big Queensryche fan, but they beat nu-metal by default.

Lol. Enter Sandman might be the most overplayed metal song of all time, but you’d have to have your head in the sand to think it’s a bad tune. The main riff is great, the chorus iconic, and the surprise punch at the end always gets me. Not to mention how well the song builds in its intro. Slayer simply can’t compare. Metallica.

Look, I can respect the compositional skills of the Nocte Abducta song, but otherwise it’s not my thing. Meanwhile, Gates of Babylon is one of Dio’s best tracks period. That funky-ish main riff gets me every time. Rainbow, and it’s no contest.

Mr. Crowley is a decent song, even if it has Ozzy. Sex Type Thing has a cool riff but never really goes anywhere. I like the neoclassical bits of Ozzy’s track more.

As much as I despise it when Ozzy plays sing-along with the riff (highlighting what a poor singer he is), N.I.B. completely overshadows this subpar UFO track. Sabbath.

I don’t understand this AC/DC song, and as weird as it sounds, I wish it sounded a little more… AC/DC. Secret Loser is not at all what I was expecting from Ozzy, because while his whiny voice sucks as it almost always does, the music is great. It’s super ‘80s, with that bass groove at around 3:00 really sticking out. In fact, I like that whole bridge section. Ozzy.
 
"Bodies" is a fun song. Is it better than "Suite Sister Mary" you ask? Sorry I've already voted for Drowning Pool.

"Enter Sandman" is perfect and a massive step up from everything on AJFA. Vs not one of Slayer's best I gotta vote Metallica.

"Gates of Babylon" sounds more like Voulez-Vous ABBA than 'win the Greatest Metal Song Cup' Rainbow but it is more fun than lengthy German black metal.

"Mr. Crowley" is fantastic. So is "Sex Type Thing", but in this game I gotta vote for Ozzy Randy Rhoads.

Black Sabbath.

"Let There Be Rock" is boring and even a lesser Ozzy Jake E. Lee song beats it.
 
Seems not, but that's for the best. Shutouts should be rare, and since this is a group stage, every vote a song gets matters. Never know what the tiebreak might look like.
 
Back
Top