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!

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The music in the original though... some of the coolest shit I've ever heard. Especially the polyrhythm build-back after Russell's choral spotlight. The whole song is just amazing musical composition, which Symphony X do again and again and again, but even so it stands out so much.

"Accolade II" is definitely more concise and has an amazing chorus, but I don't lose myself in the music quite as much as I do in the original.
 
Judas Priest - Love Bites vs. Megadeth - Washington is Next!
Not a mad fan of either of these tracks, the mid section of Love Bites is good but otherwise it's kind of shit. Washington is Next! is pretty good musically, but the lyrics are unhinged. Usually, I can turn a blind eye to bad lyrics/subject matter, it is Heavy Metal after all, but we've seen the real world consequences of brain deads swallowing this Fox News sort of bullshit and it's only getting worse these days, I can't condone it on a metal album, Musty has always veered towards paranoid ravings in his lyrics but that album as a whole is off the charts. Love Bites

Whitesnake - Still of the Night vs. Blind Guardian - Noldor (Dead Winter Reigns)

Solid enough stuff from Blind Guardian, one of their better tracks to have appeared in the game, while not spectacular. Also, you're on shaky ground if you're going to Middle Earth for lyrical inspiration, too cliche. Still of the Night, great riff and vocal delivery, mid section is shameless in it's ripping off of Whole Lotta Love, Zep can hardly point the finger though. Still of the Night

Van Halen - Runnin' With the Devil vs. Dream Theater - Breaking All Illusions

Standard DT song, some good riffs that they don't pay enough attention to, while the bulk of the track isn't really much different from anything else they do, you could cut and paste any random instrumental section and place it into any other random song and neither would be effected in anyway. Running With the Devil has always been revered in a way I don't think it deserves, but easy winner in this match up. Runnin' With the Devil

Tool - Sober vs. Rage Against the Machine - Guerilla Radio

Tool do their usual light and shade, hook free thing, but at least this time it's a manageable running time, coincidentally given this rounds opposition, the bass riff is just the wah part from Bulls on Parade. I'm not a huge fan of Rage when they replace the riffs with attempts to get the guitar to make hip hop noises, but this is still one of their better tracks that wasn't on the first album. Guerilla Radio

Sabaton - Carolus Rex vs. Tool - Schism

Not pushed on either track here, the Sabaton track is basically Euro Saxon, not bad but got my back up with that gear change final chorus, my biggest pet hate musical trope (along with fade outs). See Tool comment above, it's the same thing innit? Carolus Rex

Helloween - Eagle Fly Free vs. Symphony X - Accolade II

Helloween is an above average Power Metal track, they get kudos for being the originators of this style but that's about it. Symphony X, didn't do a hell of a lot for me, the guitar tone is good and the singer can sing, but Prog with glory and steel lyrics is probably ticking too many of my dealbreakers. Eagle Fly Free
 
Washington is Next is probably the new song I've spent the most time with so far. Aggressive and fun. Love Bites is great too.

Really liked Still of the Night, it has a lot of twists compared to your usual glam song.I'll have to vote for Noldor though so the show doesn't get postponed again. That buildup and outro are gorgeous.

Runnin' With the Devil was decent, but it doesn't compare to one of DT's masterpieces. Breaking All Illusions

No time to hear the rest (totally wasn't speedrunning the Nightwish discography), but I know most of these. Sober fucks, an emotional punch to the gut. Definitely better than RATM. Never heard Carolus Rex, Schism is very good. Eagle Fly Free is overrated. Accolade II
 
coincidentally given this rounds opposition, the bass riff is just the wah part from Bulls on Parade.
?

See Tool comment above, it's the same thing innit?
“Schism” has one of the most famous basslines in rock history so that should count for something IMO. The rest of the song took a long time to grow on me but it’s actually super good, great sense of rhythm and the music ties in with the song’s narrative of fixing a frayed relationship, which dips its toes into Shakespearean territory at times. Not my favorite song on Lateralus and if we were scoring these I’d probably give “Carolus” higher marks — but “Schism” has a way more interesting structure that continues to shift like the waves on a beach as it moves forward.
 
The music in the original though... some of the coolest shit I've ever heard. Especially the polyrhythm build-back after Russell's choral spotlight.
Easily my favorite part of the song. I love the way each layer is added in its own meter, doing its own thing but somehow sounding great together. Then when the rhythm section enters it just all gels.

But I also love the chorus, as simple as it is. I actually prefer it to the sequel’s chorus.
 
It's true, Washington just bites as this tie between Priest and Megadave proves. I thought that the dead winter reigned, but it was just Whitesnake's still of the night. Break your illusions, for once Maidenfans isn't running with the devil as Dream Theater wins. The sober among us knew that Tool would win their first matchup handily, but a schism has occurred as they lost the second to Sabaton of all people. Stupid Helloween! They should have known there'd be no accolades for letting the eagle fly free! Symphony X.





Part II, Round 2, Matches 106-111


Group Stage - Round 2
Match 106
Brighter Than a Thousand Suns Division​
Deep Purple - Pictures of Home
vs.
Dream Theater - The Glass Prison​
Popoff 500
@Poto
Nominators
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0
Record
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Group Stage - Round 2
Match 107
Live Chapter Division​
Def Leppard - High 'N' Dry (Saturday Night)
vs.
Scorpions - Dynamite​
Popoff 500, VH1 40
Nominators
Best Music Art 100​
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0
Record
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Group Stage - Round 2
Match 108
Infinite Dreams Division​
Sepultura - Roots Bloody Roots
vs.
My Dying Bride - The Crown of Sympathy​
Popoff 500
@Spambot
Nominators
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0
Record
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Group Stage - Round 2
Match 109
Somewhere Back in Time Division​
Halford - Silent Screams
vs.
Type O Negative - Everything Dies​
Popoff 500
@The Dissident
Nominators
Radio EHS 100​
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0
Record
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Group Stage - Round 2
Match 110
The Wicker Man Division​
Scorpions - Still Loving You
vs.
Rob Zombie - Dragula​
Popoff 500
@DJMayes
Nominators
Youtube 50
@KiDDo
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0
Record
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links

Group Stage - Round 2
Match 111
Martin Birch Division​
Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back In Town
vs.
Dream Theater - The Count of Tuscany​
Popoff 500, Radio EHS 100
Nominators
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0
Record
0-0-0, 0 pts, +0​
Youtube | Spotify | Amazon
Links
 
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"Pictures Of Home" pops from a drum solo into a pleasant-enough groove. The vocal lines aren't the best, and the guitar melodies are simple and not particularly compelling. The guitar solo is an uninspired, meandering improv affair, though the organ parts are better and the bass solo is sort of fun. Thoroughly serviceable dad rock overall, but not something I'd ever get the hankering to sit down and listen to. “The Glass Prison” has a lot of nice instrumental parts, and it’s not boring; but wow, do I hate it when LaBrie tries to sound “tough”, and the vocal phrasing is pretty awful in a lot of places. I can see how some people could legitimately love this song, but it actually reminds me of many of the reasons why I stopped listening to Dream Theater in the late 90s. Not a fan of either track, but sorry @Poto, I think @Mosh's nominee is more interesting despite its flaws. Winner: Dream Theater - "The Glass Prison"

"High 'N' Dry (Saturday Night)" has great riffs, strong vocal lines, and a big hooky chorus. Joe Elliot sounds a little unhinged at times during the verses, but that's theme-appropriate for the song. The solo is solid, with some nice accompanying rhythm work. Very good overall, and hilariously still one of the weakest tracks on its namesake album. "Dynamite" is a solid rocker with strong riffs and leads. The verse vocal lines are great, though the chorus is repetitive and doesn't make the same kind of impression. The solo's a bit of a mess, though it has its moments, and I like the rhythmic interlude bit afterward. The song seems to keep going on and on after its musical ideas have already run their course, and the scat singing at the end is cringe-inducing. While it's still pretty good overall, this one feels like it has the bones of a much better song, but it needed more time in the oven. An easy call for Leppard here. Winner: Def Leppard - "High 'N' Dry (Saturday Night)"

"Roots Bloody Roots" has a pretty mindless nu-metal groove, and the non-melodic vocals are terrible. The hints of native percussion are nice, but most of the rest of this is just hot garbage, including the non-solo. The little rhythmic break near the end is a welcome change of pace, but there's no salvaging this cowpie in the end. "The Crown Of Sympathy" has reasonably convincing but still not very good vocals. Not sure how I feel about the super-brief violin accents, but the longer violin passages work well. The atmospheric interlude with the bells is pretty good too. Everything seems to drag on and on, though, burning up way more time than the musical ideas deserve. But congratulations, @Magnus, because @Spambot put up such a weak competitor that your nominee takes this one in a walk. Winner: My Dying Bride - "The Crown Of Sympathy"

"Silent Screams" has an ominous clean intro and some very nice verse melodies. I'm not really sold on the chorus, though, with its icky backing vocals and less compelling melody. The first part of the bridge is strong, but the second part ("I am god...") doesn't work for me at all (and I could have sworn he sang "I'm the god that makes you fart" at one point!). Half of the song is great, but the other half is a problem. "Everything Dies" has a weird, queasy, fascist chant of an opening, then goes extremely gentle with some bursts of heaviness for the chorus and the bridges. I kind of like the vibe here, though it's a little repetitive. The outro is cool, too. Pretty good overall. Sorry, @The Dissident, but I think the list nominee is the stronger offering here. Winner: Type O Negative - "Everything Dies"

"Still Loving You" missed my own nomination list by just a hair, so I'm glad to see that it still made it into the competition. This is a killer ballad with great atmosphere and lead work, and excellent vocal melodies. It builds beautifully through its entire runtime to the climax, where Klaus finally starts belting the title lyric to drive the whole thing home. The linked video fades out a little early compared to the album version, and I think the album version works a little better overall, but you still get the idea. An excellent song for sure. "Dragula" has an undeniably great groove, but the song is a one-trick pony -- and sorry, @KiDDo, but it's completely outclassed by @DJMayes's nominee here. Winner: Scorpions - "Still Loving You"

"The Boys Are Back In Town" is pleasant, bouncy dad rock with decent vocal lines and a memorable chorus. The guitar harmony bits are predictable, but work well enough. Again, not something I'd ever get the urge to listen to on my own, but it's fine for what it is. "The Count Of Tuscany" (the YouTube link still points to "Accolade II", but the actual song is here) has pretty consistently great instrumental sections, but where it falls down a bit is with the vocal parts. Some of them are good, but the hard-panned panicked parts (e.g. "Let me introduce...") are downright cringe-inducing. Still, this is a pretty straightforward call for @JudasMyGuide's nominee. Winner: Dream Theater - "The Count Of Tuscany"
 
@LooseCannon your link for Count of Tuscany is a beautiful segment from the Odyssey, it served as Dream Theater's champion in this trial by combat :D

Deep Purple - Pictures of Home vs Dream Theater - The Glass Prison. Both great, Home is catchier.
Def Leppard - High 'N' Dry (Saturday Night) vs Scorpions - Dynamite. I don't like either: High'n'Dry is somehow the less evil
Sepultura - Roots Bloody Roots vs My Dying Bride - The Crown of Sympathy Both great songs, I only knew My Dying Bride by name, good discovery
Halford - Silent Screams vs Type O Negative - Everything Dies. Another hard and close call, I chose Halford only because I like him better than TON frontman.
Scorpions - Still Loving You vs Rob Zombie - Dragula. Extremely hard call. Still Loving You is a mega ballad, and I listened Dragula for first time now. But it takes my vote.
Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back In Town vs Dream Theater - The Count of Tuscany. I never liked The Boys, so Odyssey :D takes my vote.
 
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Purple's Pictures Of Home is one of their best and most interesting songs for me. The drumming, the verses and the solos/melodies are proto-metal. This ending, such a cool vibes.
Leppard's High 'N' Dry is solid, but Dynamite is better. Not that of a melodic, but typical Scorpions chorus and trademark riff and verses.
Halford's Silent Screams is a great modern metal from the early 2000's. Intro, verses, riff and especially middle part and that chorus are just so good. One of his best songs. I'm sure Roy and Bruce like this song ;). Edit: no solos, but it should have been a Priest song from 2005 or 2008. It's that good and it would have been a noticeable one in their albums.
Still Loving You, no contest. This is how you make a rock ballad! Timeless.
As a Maiden fan, I really really like the harmonies on The Boys Are Back In Town.
 
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Deep Purple - Pictures of Home vs. Dream Theater - The Glass Prison
The intro of The Glass Prison was superfluous, but it was generally decent in the vocal section, if a little overlong, the instrumental wig out at the end was great, although similar to the Red and the Black they'd have been better off finishing on a climax instead of going into the final vocal section. Pictures of Home is great Picture of Home

Def Leppard - High 'N' Dry (Saturday Night) vs. Scorpions - Dynamite

Neither of these are among my favourites from either band. The opening riff from High 'N' Dry is absolutely awful, and the rest is average at best with the chorus being somewhat memorable. Dynamite isn't a huge amount better but probably is picking up the win due to me being more familiar with the version from World Wide Live Dynamite

Sepultura - Roots Bloody Roots vs. My Dying Bride - The Crown of Sympathy

I haven't heard the full version of Roots Bloody Roots since probably when it was out. The chorus is memorable enough (and ubiquitous) but lets be honest, as a song it's not great. My Dying Bride is doing nothing for me though, and it's so long and slow that I think I'm going to vote for Sepultura Roots Bloody Roots

Halford - Silent Screams vs. Type O Negative - Everything Dies

Voting against Type O in vengeance for knocking my nominee Unto Others out on a tie breaker, but Silent Screams is way better anyway, great track Silent Screams

Scorpions - Still Loving You vs. Rob Zombie - Dragula

Not mad about Still Loving You but way ahead of this Rob Zombie track which sounds like if Frankie Goes to Hollywood were remixed by Rammstein Still Loving You

Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back In Town vs. Dream Theater - The Count of Tuscany

The Boys are Back is a brilliant, brilliant pop song, I was hoping I listened to this DT track the last time so I could copy and paste my opinion, but it wasn't too helpful "When I saw the runtime for DT I decided to give this one short shrift (I was on a tea break and 19 mins would take up most of it), we've heard what they do a million times, they seem to be in every tie, so I wasn't going to suddenly be caught off guard by a great track, and a couple of minutes was enough to see that this song isn't anything radically different from the sort of music they usually do, which hasn't interested me thus far." I've already given them 12 minutes today, and don't have another 20 when it's likely that I'm just going to vote for one of the best tracks and biggest hit, from one of my favourite bands, the best band from my own country no less. I mean no offence to @JudasMyGuide by not listening but I'm sure he'll agree my reasoning is sound. The Boys Are Back In Town
 
Pictures of Home is a decent enough blues rocker, but the solo is not good. Nice bass jam towards the end, though. Overall, it's fine, like most Deep Purple. The Glass Prison is my favorite Dream Theater song of all time. It does everything that Dream Theater can do, there's no wasted moments, and it just straight up kicks ass. It's a song so good they spent their entire next album trying to replicate it.

High 'N' Dry sounds like AC/DC but even lamer cause the lyrics have no double entendres. Lame "going out to find women" song. No thanks. Dynamite has equally silly lyrics, but at least there's an attempt at metaphor. Also, it's a much better song. Cool riffs, really nice driving rhythm, good vocals from Klaus, overall solid and quite fun.

Roots Bloody Roots is so fucking bad.
Default vote for The Crown of Sympathy, overlong and kinda boring as it is.

I've never actually heard Silent Screams before, but holy shit, it COOKS. It starts out decently as a semi-ballad and then halfway through becomes a typical Halford metal shredder and it rules! This is what Halford was doing while Priest were making Ripper albums?! Hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. This song rocks. The thin razor blade guitars and Halloween campiness of Everything Dies don't really do it for me, though it's an okay tune, I guess.

Still Loving You is a great power ballad, with a darker tone than most and great, reverb-laden guitar work. Dragula is fun, but I can't vote for it over Scorps here.

The Boys Are Back In Town is one of the greatest classic rock songs of all time and features one of the coolest guitar harmonies in history. The Count of Tuscany features the following lyrics:

Let me introduce
My brother
A bearded gentleman
Historian
Sucking on his pipe
Distinguished accent
Making me uptight
No accident
---
Come and have a taste
A rare vintage
All the finest wines
Improve with age

I love Dream Theater, but this would be a much better song if the lyrics contained more tales about the boys being back in town.
 
Unironically, I've always loved the lyrics to The Boys Are Back In Town. It does what it does masterfully. Idk who those boys are, but it must have been an insane hang.

And that time over at Johnny's place
Well, this chick got up and she slapped Johnny's face
Man, we just fell about the place
If that chick don't wanna know, forget her
 
Both musically and lyrically, "The Boys Are Back in Town" has to be one of the best written songs ever. The simple, but effective riffs; the wonderful harmonies that could easily be the blueprint for every single Maiden tune; and the fabulous lyrics that are so feel-good and that everyone can relate to at some level - Phil Lynott was a genius.

...and yet, somehow, 11 people would rather listen to John Petrucci's 20-minute story about how he felt uneasy around some dude and his brother in Italy. Man.
 
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