Top 20 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time

welcome to watch mojo and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 heavy metal songs of all time [Music] for this list we'll be ranking the most powerful enduring and definitive jams of the heavy metal world we realize there is a myriad of genres and subgenres of heavy metal and our list will be focusing on the most traditionally known and respected classics what's your preferred sound of heavy metal thunder let us know in the comments if you like what you're hearing be sure to check out the full song at the link below [Music] number 20 all we are warlock the landscape of mid-80s heavy metal wasn't exactly where one might expect to find one of the most dynamic female singers of her generation but then again doro pesch was nobody's wallflower instead doro pioneered heavy metal in her native germany with the band warlock before embarking upon a solo career that continues to this day all we are is a true heavy metal anthem taken from warlock's most commercially successful album triumph and agony [Music] doro's vocals are immense and charismatic while the song's arrangement balances the catchiness of hair metal with a riff attack that's burly enough to easily stand toe-to-toe with the boys [Music] all we are is a rallying call to arms that still gets us pumped number 19 balls to the wall except speaking of german heavy metal another formative act from that country was accept who laid plenty of groundwork for younger bands to follow in their wake [Music] [Applause] in fact accepts early speed and aggression heavily influenced the thrash metal scene thanks to rippers like fast as a shark metal hearts and our personal pick falls to the wall [Music] the track works in a mid-paced mold driving home a main riff that frankly defies you to not headbang to its earworm level catchiness meanwhile the middle section features multiple breakdowns chanting and enough base led sing-alongs to satisfy any heavy metal maniac [Music] oh and lead singer udo dirk schneider he has a voice that can peel paint from the walls which is always a plus in our book [Music] number 18 burn in hell twisted sister twisted sister was always sort of an outlier within the world of 1980s hair metal with the band's early material echoing their influences from 70s glam and glitter rock what do you wanna do with your life i wanna rock [Music] their 1984 album stay hungry was a breakthrough success combining that early aggression with streamlined and economic songwriting [Music] vernon hell also hit at the perfect time when the perceived satanic content of heavy metal was frightening parents across the united states burn in hell has its cake and eats it too playing coy with cheeky lyrical content while also possessing inspired riffing d snyder also proves underrated as a front man and singer absolutely belting it out from the first note to last take a good look in your heart and what do you say if this is hell then hell ain't a bad place to be [Music] number 17 abigail king diamond the legacy of danish singer and songwriter king diamond was secure after the dissolution of his former band merciful fate more on them in a minute with legions of fans flocking to the king's unique and idiosyncratic falsetto vocals [Music] the king diamond solo band however would delve into even more theatrical and conceptual storytelling with each studio effort working simultaneously as heavy metal arts and performance art [Applause] [Music] abigail is perhaps the most actualized of these efforts a fan favorite lp whose title track is bombastic melodic and even melancholic there's a profound sadness to the story told within the abigail album's lyrics while the song itself boasts perhaps one of guitarist andy lorock's most memorable riffs number 16 curse of the pharaohs merciful fate we just mentioned king diamond's previous band merciful fate earning some real deal fan recognition with their studio output how real deal you may ask well how about metallica [Music] [Applause] the heavy metal icons were profoundly influenced by merciful fate early on in their careers and even covered this track curse of the pharaohs in medley form on their album garage inc [Music] [Applause] [Music] it's easy to see why metallica were so impressed too because the guitar work from hank sherman and michael denner was truly on another level it's almost criminal how talented the pair was as a guitar team since not only does curse of the pharaohs contain an instantly catchy opening riff but harmony soloing and relentless rhythmic aggression it's truly one of the greats [Applause] number 15 witching hour venom behold and bear witness to the insidious roots of heavy metals darkest and most mysterious sub-genre black metal [Music] the new wave of british heavy metal from which venom first emerged was used to dabbling with occult themes but these lads from newcastle went all in with their satanic imagery [Music] [Applause] the band also shown subtlety in their tri-pronged attack operating in an intentionally hyperactive and crude some might say sloppy manner that sought to offend and excite in equal measure switching hour is blazingly fast for the time and merciless in its intent to pound you over the head and absolutely kick your ass meanwhile the theatrics of kronos mantis and abaddon would inspire legions of corpse-painted black metal bands to get even more extreme in their wake number 14. am i evil diamond head we couldn't have a more drastic contrast of styles from our last pick to our next entry diamond heads and my evil both songs arrived from the new wave of british heavy metal movement yet diamond heads influences and execution are clearly more indebted to the majesty of classic rock like led zeppelin than the simplicity of venom [Music] am i evil even opens up with a tribute to the classical piece the planets by gustav holst before breaking into a righteous heavy metal thunder [Music] head hang their hat on the song's epic main riff in brian tattler's guitar pyrotechnics while singer sean harris weaves a tale of true wickedness within the lyrics [Music] it's classy proper heavy metal at its old school best [Music] number 13 arise sepultura at the crossroads between death metal and thrash metal there you will find the sonic steel that is the classic sepultura sound these brazilian legends grew from an underground black metal career to surprising mainstream success with their albums chaos a.d [Music] it's the middle era that's the true sweet spot for sepultura fans however with the rise serving as its creative zenith the song is just five years removed from the groove metal of roots yet couldn't sound more different defining death slash thrash perfection in a little over three minutes max cavalera's vocals are guttural yet decipherable while his brother igor counteracts the ripping guitars with a simple effective groove not a second is wasted and every moment kicks maximum ass [Music] number 12. pull me under dream theater the world of progressive metal rarely if ever achieves crossover chart success [Music] however this is exactly what happened with pull me under a surprising hit single from dream theater's sophomore effort images and words [Music] the song was in the band's own words a fluke yet there's nothing surprising about the level of talent laid out on display here in pull me under it retains a constant level of excitement despite its eight plus minute running time with chugging heaviness contrasting with an amount of melody that's nothing short of anthemic the whole band works every angle fires every creative cylinder and drives home unlimited energy throughout every mini movement achieved by pull me under and its progressive metal mastery [Applause] [Music] [Applause] number 11 caught in a mosh anthrax there's traditionally a big four of the american thrash genre that come into the overarching heavy metal conversation so much so that a series of live events celebrating those four artists were held in places like new york city and the city of sofia in bulgaria [Music] anthrax opened up those shows and a number of songs were constant in their set list including this one caught in a mosh [Music] the track is taken from what's arguably the band's finest hour 1987's among the living and instantly catches listeners attention thanks to frank bello's iconic [Music] it's a thrasher piece of intense drumming hardcore influenced guitar riffs and a breakdown section that gets bodies moving every single time [Music] number 10 holy diver dio there are a million moments from the career of ronnie james dio that could have made this list from his stint fronting black sabbath to the mini movie that was the video clip for his song rock and roll children [Music] however the world would likely point to holy diver as one of dio's most commercially successful songs from what became a defining album for the singer [Applause] holy diver revels in the sword of medieval and magical atmosphere for which dio would become known [Music] to the point where a dragon slaying spot was once included in the band's stage show meanwhile the melody is set on full display while holy diver's mid-paced groove allows future def leppard guitarist vivian campbell to show off his amazing chops [Music] number nine cemetery gates pantera pantera was undoubtedly one of the most influential heavy metal bands of the last 30 years playing groundwork for the immensely popular power groove sound that would dominate after the group abandoned their hair metal roots [Music] cowboys from hell signified this sort of sonic rebirth an amplification of their previous album power metal and a true coming of age for pantera's still new singer philip and selmo [Music] the album's title track served as a fearsome call to arms but it's perhaps cemetery gates that's the best distillation of pantera's new and exciting sound [Applause] complete with the genius guitar work of dimebag daryl it's a rousing mixture of heavy metals past and future a power ballad that's all power yet retaining all of the emotion required to remain a stone cold classic number eight holy wars the punishment do mega death megadeth exists as perhaps the most technical example of thrash metal from the genre's big four axe a clinical exercise in how to perform the genre with surgical precision to further that end the band's fourth album rest in peace blew minds back in 1990 with exactly how complex and thoughtful megadeth had become as songwriters and rangers holy wars the punishment do is a prime testament to that idea as it's basically two songs in one the first being a fast and melodic speed metal exercise before getting very very heavy the punishment do section slows things down to a crushing mid-pace before picking things up with an array of mind-melding lead guitars [Music] we've never heard an ode to marvel's the punisher sound quite like this number 7. crazy train ozzy osbourne sometimes you've just got to give the people what they want [Music] [Applause] [Music] former black sabbath front man ozzy osbourne did this when he departed from the formative heavy metal legends for a solo career delivering the genre a fresh and commercially viable shot in the army crazy train is just one of those universal aussie songs that everyone knows yet it was elevated by the x factor that was the once in a lifetime guitar talent of randy rhodes rhodes classically influenced playing made the arrangement of crazy train iconic while at the same time being easily digestible for so many different kinds of people [Music] yet the actual work on display is so dizzyingly awesome and impressive there's no doubt that ozzie and randy were truly inspired when composing crazy train [Music] number six ace of spades motorhead [Music] motorhead is another band with such a rich musical history that it proved very difficult to choose just one song to stand out from the rest killed by death overkill iron fist and more all proved to be worthy candidates but sometimes your first instinct is the best and that instinct was ace of spades lemmy's blower base kicks the whole shebang off in classic fashion as phil filthy animal tailors double kick drums sound the call for fast eddie clark's riffing to take charge and lead the way to glory i know i'm going to lose my fools but that's [Music] it's a simple but outstandingly effective example of overdriven rock and roll done to xs and performed with charisma style and sleazy charm to spare [Music] number five angel of death slayer slayer's reign in blood is widely regarded as one of if not the finest examples of thrash metal ever recorded by one of the big four [Applause] it's easy to see why thanks to songs like reigning blood and our next pick angel of death the world wasn't ready when slayer unleashed this beast so unstoppable was their level of aggression [Music] it's not enough that the song rips out of the starting gate with a riff that instantly sets every nerve alive but then there's a matter of what occurs at about a minute 38 [Music] the bottom drops out of our world when angel of death lets loose with an earth-shattering breakdown before racing down to hell with frenzied soloing and drumming killer [Music] number four the trooper iron maiden the music of iron maiden is many things to many different people but one constant behind their creative process has always been the adaptation of historical events into their lyrics [Music] [Applause] [Music] the trooper might be the most beloved example of this a song that combines the bombast of heavy metal with the story of britain's infamous charge of the light brigade during the crimean war [Music] the trooper presents maiden's musical attack in a near perfect way [Music] the guitars of dave murray and adrian smith harmonize bassist steve harris gallops along with drummer nico mcbrain while singer bruce dickinson proves once again why he's on the short list of heavy metals all-time greatest front men number three painkiller judas priest speaking of that short list is there any heavy metal singer who quite exemplifies all of the trappings of the genre more than rob halford for many fans he's unequivocally the voice of metal with his band judas priests also serving as judge jury and executioner against any pretenders to the throne [Music] painkiller might be the band's heaviest moment too a reaction of the rising popularity of thrash metal and a promise that the old guard was not going to be left in the dust painkiller is overdriven and excessive with steel polished to a razor-sharp edge that cuts with killing rifts and a relentless rhythm alfred screams like a demon possessed announcing to the world that they were not going quietly into that good night [Music] number two master of puppets metallica knock knock say who's there surprise it's metallica with the greatest thrash metal song ever [Applause] [Music] bad jokes aside many metal fans would be hard pressed to argue against how master of puppets clocks in at nearly nine minutes in length yet never feels boring or drawn out instead every riff has its place and every place it's riff as metallica elevates thrash into a true work of art [Music] master of puppets possesses movements and mood taking listeners through a journey of one man's addiction via a song that's as aggressive melodic and memorable as anything offered by metallica's many peers and her sandman may be the band's biggest single but master of puppets laid down greatness back in 86 as a true thrash metal masterpiece before we name our number one pick here are some heavy honorable mentions stargazer rainbow proto-heavy metal at its finest [Music] i want to be somebody wasp la's kings of shock rock [Music] the toxic waltz exodus a thrashing mosh pit anthem ramstein new german hardness at its finest [Music] see you in hell grim reaper a crossover hit from the new wave of british heavy metal [Applause] before we continue be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos you have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them if you're on your phone make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications number one black sabbath black sabbath we can't imagine what it must have felt like to have dropped the needle on black sabbath's self-titled debut from 1970 and actually hear the birth of heavy metal right in front of our eyes and ears [Music] that was a very good year for the savs as songs like war pigs paranoid and iron man all burrowed their way into the dna strands of a fresh new genre [Music] but there's just something special about this opening track that continues to send shivers up our spines so many years later the tolling bells of doom that doomy pace tony iome's ominous riffs and ozzy's harrowing whale there's just no getting around it this is capital h capital m heavy metal oh lord yeah [Music] do you agree with our picks let us know in the comments and hey if you're a fan of the song playing right now be sure to check out the music video for it right how here more days

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Keywords: best heavy metal, best heavy metal songs, best heavy metal songs of all time, best metal, best metal songs, best rock songs, best rock songs of all time, best songs, black sabbath, dio, heavy metal, heavy metal songs, iron maiden, judas priest, list, megadeath, metal, metal music, metallica, mojo, motörhead, ozzy osbourne, pantera, rock, rock songs, slayer, top 10, twisted sister, watch mojo, watchMojo

Id: xeaQdgXQf78

Length: 29min 17sec (1757 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 24 2022