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

[JudasMyGuide]

Quite an easy round.

Ozzy-era Sabbath are among my favourite bands, but early Tullica often strike gold and Fight Fire with Fire, although it isn't as great an opener as Battery, for example, is just awesome. Hectic, relentless, blazing. A very cool track.

Keeper was on my shortlist until I decided to nominate Halloween instead (wifey pushed for the latter and I took heed), Exodus don't really compare as a band, even on Bonded by Blood, one of the thrash bands I just don't vibe with (along with Testament)

As a huge Helloween fan I was actually suprised I've decided to go with Blood Ceremony in the end. Like the flute and the atmosphere, the female frontmanship is a nice touch. A creative song, glad I could discover them.

Into the Void, no contest; the brontosauric intro itself might be among metal's most stellar moments.

Voodoo Child has a killer riff and doesn't make me go

as Whitesnake do.

I like nearly all of Tullica's ballads (and definitely all the "heavy ending" ones), but I can't but go with blind tribalism here and vote for Lizzy; Cowboy Song - despite coming across as a misguided pastiche at first - is just beautiful. The guitar harmonies get me every time.

 

[____no5]

As a huge Helloween fan I was actually suprised I've decided to go with Blood Ceremony in the end. Like the flute and the atmosphere, the female frontmanship is a nice touch. A creative song, glad I could discover them.

Blood Ceremony is great. I overlooked them when I was compiling my list otherwise I would have included The Great Hod Pan in it. Great vocalist /personality she strongly reminds me Grace Slick at her peak.

 

[LooseCannon]

Can I squeeze in an update before 8 hours of meetings? Let's find out.

 

[LooseCannon]

I also get paranoid when I fight fire with fire. Black Sabbath. Exodus should have known no deliveries are gonna get anywhere if you don't have the keys. Any of them. Helloween wins in a cakewalk. The daughter of the sun can count Helloween's tears though. Dio knows that all the fools sailed away, into the void, but they are fools. Whitesnake goes again, Jimi Hendrix has no return. Thin Lizzy gets locked up in Metallica's sanitarium.

---

Part II, Round 2, Matches 4-9​

Group Stage - Round 2	Match 4​	Terry Wapram Division​
Megadeth - Angry Again	vs.​	Angel Witch - Angel of Death​
Popoff 500 @The Sentient	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 5​	Clive Burr Division​
Halford - Resurrection	vs.​	Slayer - Mandatory Suicide​
Popoff 500 @Spambot	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 6​	Women in Uniform Division​
Metallica - Hit the Lights	vs.​	Rush - 2112​
Popoff 500, Radio EHS 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 7​	Running Free Division​
KISS - I Was Made For Loving You	vs.​	Helloween - Midnight Sun​
Popoff 500, Radio EHS 100	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 8​	Ed Hunter Division​
Alice in Chains - Would?	vs.​	Rainbow - Man on the Silver Mountain​
Popoff 500 @MindRuler, @Jer	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 9​	Paul Todd Division​
Ghost - Cirice	vs.​	Children of Bodom - Lake Bodom​
@Mosh, @DJMayes	Nominators​	@Confeos​
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0	Record​	0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon	Links​	Youtube | Spotify | Amazon​

 

[JudasMyGuide]

Eh, apart from match 8, I'm going to have real trouble investing myself into this round.

 

[Kalata]

Easy wins for Halford's Resurrection (one of Rob's very best. Easily could have been a Priest classic song) and Man On The Silver Mountain (classic hard rock). Also, Hit The Lights with its speed over a 20-minutes song. It's one of my favorite Metallica songs. Love the riffs and the solos. Classic NWOBHM.

I like I Was Made For Loving You, and I could have thought if it was another Kiss song, but Midnight Sun is classic Maiden in power metal mode!

 

[Detective Beauregard]

A round where I know a song in every match but one! Huzzah!

 

[LooseCannon]

The point is to listen and become familiar!

 

[Confeos]

I really like "Angry Again". I don't know how liked or disliked it is in the general Megadeth community, but I find that chorus infectiously good. Meanwhile, "Angel of Death" is a bit of a mess and nowhere near as memorable as the eponymously titled Angel Witch song we had a few rounds back. So, easy vote for Megadeth.

I get that Resurrection is thought of as a true return to form for Halford, and I'm sure it's a fine album (I haven't heard it in full) but honestly, the title track isn't very good. It lacks any kind of memorable riff or hook, and Halford himself sounds strained and tired. The solos are alright, I suppose. "Mandatory Suicide" is basically the opposite - great riffing, cool chorus, and Araya's vocals sounds just like expected. The solos are sub-par, but that's how it is with Slayer, and they get my vote here.

Oh, more stuff from Metallica's debut. Still not fond of it. "Hit the Lights" has a good riff and great energy, but quality-wise, it's still lightyears away from any song on Ride, Puppets, Justice or even the Black Album. "2112" outclasses it in every possible way here. I guess the only argument you could make against it is that it isn't metal, but it doesn't matter. Rush, please.

Here's a confession: I think "I Was Made for Loving You" is a phenomenal tune. So cheesy, of course, but also so well-written and expertly performed. "Midnight Sun" is fine and includes basically everything that I like about Helloween, but y'know what? Listening to it, I still can't believe it knocked out Lovebites. Yeah, I'm still bitter about that, so I'm gonna vote Kiss, and I'm not even sorry.

"When?" is definitely the best I've heard from Alice in Chains. Their other songs have been so-so, but this is great. Ominous mood, heavy groove, and fantastic vocals. Really, here I finally understand the praise Layne Staley's been getting. So it's quite unfortunate for AIC that they're up against the power of early Rainbow in this match - "Man on the Silver Mountain" is easily one of my favourite songs of all time. "When?" puts up a worthy challenge, but the magical combination of Blackmore/Dio prevails again. Rainbow.

I still find Ghost overrated as hell. "Cirice" has a cool, foreboding intro, but never takes off and kinda just plods along. Meanwhile, "Lake Bodom" features Alexi Laiho at his very shreddin' best, and he single-handedly sweeps his opponent away with ease here. Children of Bodom.

 

[DJMayes]

Megadeth, Halford, Rush, KISS, Rainbow, Ghost.

This round reminded me of how frustrating COB can be; musically they are fantastic but vocally they lose me near instantly.

 

[Magnus]

Angel of Death, and Slayer.
#NoRush.
I still remember a party at the vocalist of my black metal band's place in the 90s when one of the guests asked if he could play "I Was Made..." and the immediate response, "my home is not a discotheque, fuck off".
#NoDio.
Rodom Od Bodom ftw.

 

[DJ James]

I wish Megadeth would’ve played Angry Again when I saw them this past summer. It has quietly become one of my favorites from them, and it’s surprising it never actually made it on to one of their studio albums.

 

[Detective Beauregard]

I wish Megadeth would’ve played Angry Again when I saw them this past summer. It has quietly become one of my favorites from them, and it’s surprising it never actually made it on to one of their studio albums.

I remember seeing them play it during the early '2000s "World Needs a Hero" tour, and it was great. Very underrated and catchy tune.

 

[____no5]

I still remember a party at the vocalist of my black metal band's place in the 90s when one of the guests asked if he could play "I Was Made..." and the immediate response, "my home is not a discotheque, fuck off".

It reminded me another story, a 90s party with 2 DJs myself scheduled to be the second.
The first one was a tip top DJ, putting all radio pop dance hits, carefully changing the songs one after the other, he was so focused not even having time to play with the many girls around him, super dedicated to his mission.

Then it’s my turn, first song I put the 17 minute epic In A Gadda Da Vida, by Iron Butterfly; I let the vinyl turn alone and go dancing it with my friends. You should see his face, facepalming in agony and desperately screaming “what the fuck he’s doing” and all that.
Destroyed his dream that night! With a bit of luck his life had changed forever

 

[DJ James]

I remember seeing them play it during the early '2000s "World Needs a Hero" tour, and it was great. Very underrated and catchy tune.

That’s awesome.

 

[KidInTheDark666]

Megadeth play Angry Again quite often actually. It's great song but I wouldn't really call it underrated, it's a pretty popular song among the fanbase. I saw them play it in 2022.

 

[Shmoolikipod]

Angry Again is good, I just think Angel of Death is way cooler.

Tough one. Halford is epic on Resurrection, but Mandatory Suicide feels better written. My instincts told me to pick Resurrection

Hit the Lights might be the best song on KEA, pure fun. 2112 is more hit and miss, but boy when it hits it hits good. Some respect for the long song.

I'm biased to vote for Helloween even when it's not their greatest song, I Was Made for Loving You is so catchy I'd be lying if I said it's the weaker song.

Sorry, every time I hear Would? I forget what it is five minutes later. Man on the Silver Mountain is very nice, maybe a bit overrated. Maybe one day I won't blank on Would?.

I agree with Confeos about Cirice not taking off. There are more than a few bridges here and it just comes back to the two riffs. It's basically this:

I'm not thrilled about Lake Bodom either, but it's more likely to grow on me and does have sick shredding. CoB also have one more cover of Oops I Did It Again than Ghost.

 

[Detective Beauregard]

I love Angry Again. Really good Megadeth deep cut that has a catchiness to it that surpasses a great deal of their other ‘90s output. Nothing against Angel Witch, but they’re heavily outgunned here.

Mandatory Suicide has the advantage of being on one of Slayer’s few good albums, but Halford’s song is simply more pleasing to my ears.

I don’t care much for Metallica’s debut album, but Hit the Lights is definitely one of the better songs on it. I also don’t care much for early Rush, and I’ve always found 2112 to be rather uninteresting compared to some of their other ‘70s stuff. The lyrics are silly and unlike other great 20-plus minute songs (see The Odyssey, A Change of Seasons, The Divine Wings of Tragedy) I tend to lose interest. However, Temples of Syrinx alone is on par with Metallica’s effort, so it would be wrong to not vote for Rush.

Kiske’s vocals are obnoxious, but it’s not KISS. Helloween by default.

I have nothing against Would?, but Dio’s track is a Rainbow classic. It might not stack up to Stargazer or Gates of Babylon, but it’s still a powerhouse.

Cirice is one of Ghost’s best tracks – it has riffage, melody, and catchiness. Meanwhile, Children of Bodom has those (as @Jer would call Gollum) vocals which kill an otherwise great neoclassical instrumental. Going with the Ghost.

 

[KidInTheDark666]

Kiske’s vocals are obnoxious, but it’s not KISS. Helloween by default.

Come on, Deris sounds absolutely nothing like Kiske on that song.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

I love the music in Angry Again, but the vocals veer a bit too much into Sweating Bullets territory (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Overall, it’s a killer tune. Catchy as hell chorus, too. Shame it never made it on a proper album. Angel of Death is a really cool song, too, I just wish it had better production and a more refined vocal. Still a good tune, but gotta go with Mustaine.

TBH I’ve never heard Resurrection before: what a kick in the ass! Halford just full on wailing like Painkiller over a pretty typical classic metal chord pattern, but in all the best ways. Great tune. Mandatory Suicide is on the better side of Slayer’s output, but no thanks, gotta go with the Metal God.

Over the years, I’ve come to find Hit The Lights to actually be one of the best tracks on Kill Em All. It’s great from start to finish in that very early thrash kinda way. Spirited song with spirited performances all around. On the other hand, we have Rush bias. Truthfully, I’m probably a bigger Metallica fan than a Rush fan, but we’re talking about an absolute titan of prog mastery vs. a pretty sweet opening track by a bunch of teens. There’s a lot of Rush songs that shouldn’t be considered metal, but I’d make an argument for 2112. No doubt, without this song, most of an entire genre doesn’t even exist. And it’s not just historical, it’s insanely memorable! From the Temples of Syrinx to the wacky, lame lyrics about a guitar, to the duet of Geddys facing off against each other: it’s nonstop character. I cannot help but vote for the far superior 2112.

I don’t like Helloween, and this song is no exception. But I Was Made For Lovin’ You is a disco song, people. Come on. Voting for the jumbled mess with poor vocals that is Midnight Sun.

Would is a great tune with a dark atmosphere and stellar vocals. Man On The Silver Mountain is an all-time classic with one of the catchiest hard rock riffs of all time, made a pillar of early heavy metal by Dio’s exceptional vocal melodies. Just pure class from start to finish. It’s astounding to me how fully realized Dio’s musical identity was here, on his first major release with a big name. Rainbow.

Cirice is a masterpiece of songwriting that simply oozes swagger. The riff is great, the melodies are great, it’s all great. A perfect song. Lake Bodom has good music, but it also has vocals. Really, really awful vocals. Ghost x1000.