Define heavy metal by...

...only 10 songs. Mine, in no particular order except the first 3:


Judas Priest-Electric Eye
Heavy Load-Heavy Metal Angels
Pretty Maids-Back To Back
Picture-You're All Alone
Running Wild-Under Jolly Rogger
Armored Saint-March of The Saint
Saxon-20,000 Feet
Black Sabbath-Heaven And Hell
Loudness-Crazy Nights
Manowar-Kill With Power

Black Sabbath-Ironman
Diamond Head-Am I evil?
Iron Maiden-Futureal
Judas Priest-Freewheel burning
King Diamond-Sleepless nights
Megadeth-Holy wars...the punishment due
Motorhead-Overkill
Pantera-Walk
Primus-Mr. Knowitall
Quiet Riot-Metal Health

Schbopo wrote:

Black Sabbath-Ironman
Diamond Head-Am I evil?
Motorhead-Overkill
Quiet Riot-Metal Health

Among my fave songs ever, but Primus ain't metal

Trust me, that song is.

Mountain - Mississippi Queen
Cream - Crossroads
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Deep Purple - Speed King
Led Zeppelin - Rock and Roll
Van Halen - Runnin' With the Devil
Iron Maiden - Hallowed Be Thy Name
Judas Priest - You Got Another Thing Comin'
Metallica - One
Dio - Holy Diver

Schbopo wrote:

Trust me, that song is.

I had the first 3 Primus albums, kool band, but never thought of them as metal, but hey, everyone is entitled to its opinion

Well, most people here know I'm as big a Primus freak as Ult is an Aerosmith freak. I always thought of the first album as metal.

steel warrior wrote:

Schbopo wrote:

Trust me, that song is.

I had the first 3 Primus albums, kool band, but never thought of them as metal, but hey, everyone is entitled to its opinion

They're a weird funk metal-ish band, imo. I thought their cover of "The Thing That Should Not Be" was good.

xyz wrote:

steel warrior wrote:

Schbopo wrote:

Trust me, that song is.

I had the first 3 Primus albums, kool band, but never thought of them as metal, but hey, everyone is entitled to its opinion

They're a weird funk metal-ish band, imo. I thought their cover of "The Thing That Should Not Be" was good.

Ugggh, they cover the worst Metallica song from their peak era?? I think that was like sort of revenge for them not hiring him after Cliff's death. Like "my version sounds more badass than yours"

... but I do recognize that my definition of what is metal is quite narrow. Awesome bands like Van Halen, KISS, Led Zeppelin, etc, tough I love them, were never and will never be metal in my book.

Tyrant
Victim Of Changes
Sinner
Dissident Aggressor
Exciter
Beyond The Realms Of Death
Hell Bent For Leather
Killing Machine
Metal Gods
Rapid Fire

mc666 wrote:

Tyrant
Victim Of Changes
Sinner
Dissident Aggressor
Exciter
Beyond The Realms Of Death
Hell Bent For Leather
Killing Machine
Metal Gods
Rapid Fire

Well said.

Rob Rock - Holy Hell
Stryper - Co'mon Rock
Megadeth - Hanger 18
Queensrÿche - The Lady Wore Black
Metal Church - Badlands
Testament - Practice What You Preach
Nitro - Freight Train
Yngwie J. Malmsteen - 7th Sign
Saxon - Princess of the Night
Tourniquet - Drinking From The Poisoned Well

Not in any order

Helloween- Ride The Sky
Metallica- Disposable Heroes
King Diamond- Mansion In Darkness
Testament- Face In The Sky
Judas Priest- Painkiller
Kreator- Pleasure To Kill
Exodus- Toxic Waltz
Slayer- Angel Of Death
Anthrax- A.I.R
Iron Maiden- Run To The Hills

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

Exodus- Toxic Waltz

Good choice PRD.That would be one of my picks as well

Testament-Disciples of the Watch
Metallica-Sanitarium
Maiden-Number of the Beast
Sabbath-Heaven and Hell
Vengeance-Into the Abyss
Overkill-Hello from the Gutter
Priest-Dissident Aggressor
Slayer-Raining Blood
Ultimatum-Heart of Metal

Black Sabbath-Black Sabbath
Led Zeppelin-Whole Lotta Love
Deep Purple-Child in Time
Jimi Hendrix Experience-Are you Experienced?
Van Halen-Eruption
Slayer-Raining Blood
Iron Maiden-Killers
Judas Priest-The Ripper
AC/DC-Let There Be Rock
Venom-Welcome to Hell

mc666 wrote:

Tyrant
Victim Of Changes
Sinner
Dissident Aggressor
Exciter
Beyond The Realms Of Death
Hell Bent For Leather
Killing Machine
Metal Gods
Rapid Fire

When we meet in Vegas, first round is on me!!!

Any ten songs by Iron Maiden. I'm too lazy tonight to think of any!

Judas Priest - The Green Manalishi
Slayer - Crionics
Gehennah - Beat That Poser Down
Grim Reaper - Rock You to Hell
Black Sabbath - The Writ
Iron Maiden - The Flight of Icarus
King Diamond - The Family Ghost
Motorhead - Ace of Spades
Metal Church - Start the Fire
Mercyful Fate - Curse of the Pharaoh's

Into The Void - Black Sabbath
Into The Fire - Deep Purple
Emerald - Thin Lizzy
Dissident Aggressor - Judas Priest
Live Like An Angel, Die Like A Devil - Venom
Overkill - Motorhead
Phantom Of The Opera - Iron Maiden
Whiplash - Metallica
Metalstorm/Face The Slayer - Slayer
Restless And Wild - Accept

(ask me again in 5 minutes and I'll have a completely different list)

I skimmed and didn't look at anyone else's picks:

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell
Judas Priest - Electric Eye
Iron Maiden - Run To The Hills
Armored Saint - Reign Of Fire
Dio - We Rock
Queensryche - Queen Of The Ryche
Trouble - The Tempter
Fates Warning - Anarchy Divine
Metallica - For Whom The Bell Tolls

steel warrior wrote:

... but I do recognize that my definition of what is metal is quite narrow. Awesome bands like Van Halen, KISS, Led Zeppelin, etc, tough I love them, were never and will never be metal in my book.

We've had this discussion before on this board. I just recently had it again on another board when discussing whether or not Rammstein are metal. Here's what I said about that:

Quote :

scourge39 wrote:

'Heavy' doesn't always equal metal. I've never understood why both King's X and Lacuna Coil also are often considered 'Metal.' I'm a huge fan of both bands. Are they heavy? Yes, both bands have written some good hard rockin' songs, but nothing I'd consider metal. I think the term 'hard rock' has fallen out of use since the grunge phase, and now anything heavy gets classified as 'metal,' which is a gross misrepresentation of some artists' music.

The problem with this statement is that hard rock and metal were once the same thing. The terms were interchangeable. I can come up with quotes from 70's bands that most would now label "hard rock" but back then they were calling themselves "heavy metal". Magazines called them metal. The fans called it heavy metal. What's happened over time is that the term "metal" has been redefined over and over again so that people don't know what it is and what it isn't.

Yesterday I was reading an interview with Dave Hlubek of Molly Hatchet from Kerrang Magazine. The interview took place in 1984. He was asked about the history of Southern Rock.

Quote :

Then the Allman Brothers came along and made the sound heavier and started churning out these 15-minute songs. "Next, Lynyrd Skynyrd came along and refined that sound: made, it more powerful and crunchier. Then you had Marshall Tucker and Grinderswitch and they added a country flavor to it and then came Molly Hatchet and we were the first to put a heavy metal edge to it. That was the evolution of the things that were taking place then."

I doubt you will find many metal fans in 2008 that would agree that Molly Hatchet are even remotely heavy metal. However, you will find them in the Heavy Metal Collector's Guide Book. Go figure.

When you have teens and 20-somethings arguing that bands like Saxon, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath are "just hard rock", you know that heavy metal has been redefined. I was there in the 70's and 80's. I was wearing the denim and leather. I had both Queensryche and Anthrax painted on the back of my denim vest in 1984. We were metalheads.

In the 70's Aerosmith, Kiss, Ted Nugent, Black Sabbath, UFO, Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy, Blue Oyster Cult, etc. were the heavy metal bands. Then along came Van Halen who redefined how metal was played in the late 70's. Now they are all "just hard rock." In the 80's, Ratt, Stryper, Quiet Riot, Motley Crue, Ozzy, Def Leppard etc. were considered metal, as were Metallica, Armored Saint, Cirith Ungol, Lizzy Borden, Anthrax, Iron Maiden, etc. Quiet Riot were monumental in helping to get heavy metal back into the mainstream. Now there is this big fight among "true metal fans" to say that some of these bands were never heavy metal, while others are.

To modern metal fans, half the bands that came out of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement of the early 80's aren't even metal.

I personally don't think that Rammstein are "metal" but as I just stated, the term is now defined by the user, so whose to really say? It's all rock and roll to me.

Songs that define metal:
Queensryche - Queen of the Ryche
Accept - Fast As A Shark
Black Sabbath - Neon Knights
Iron Maiden - Wratchild
Judas Priest - Delivering the Goods
Metallica - Whiplash
Megadeth - Peace Sells...
Stryper - Surrender
Dio - Holy Diver

My term of what heavy metal is very broad, I consider Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, and AC/DC I consider heavy metal bands, as I do Quiet Riot, Ratt, and Motley Crue, even some bands that are sometimes listed as alternative I consider metal such as Stone Temple Pilots and Alice In Chains even Rammstein.

I agree with ULT statement, at one time metal and hard rock were one and the same, that is why in some reference books you see bands such as Journey and Cream listed as heavy metal bands. I guess one's definition of metal is depends on what time period they grew up in.

A lot of sense in what you said. But I would also add the geographical factor to the equation and also if you listened to heavier stuff before or after. I am 37, and began listening to hard rock/metal in 1977. First bands I listened were Sabbath, Deep Purple and Sir Lord Baltimore. Then I discovered KISS (one of my faves ever), Zeppelin, Whitesnake, Aerosmith, AC/DC and few others. Since I heard the heavier bands before, and those were undoubtly called metal, I found the later ones quite bland and took time for them to grow on me, and never were considered metal by me or by anybody else I knew. But I am from Puerto Rico, here back in the 70's early 80's we did not had the influence of USA TV, or radio. Hell, even only like 10% of the people had cable tv, hehe. So when the "glam metal" era began with all the MTV influence, I always cringed when hearing the glam acts called metal. Very similar to this is what happened in Brazil for example where the pioneering metal bands were real heavy stuff.

ultmetal wrote:

Songs that define metal:
Queensryche - Queen of the Ryche
Accept - Fast As A Shark
Black Sabbath - Neon Knights
Iron Maiden - Wratchild
Judas Priest - Delivering the Goods
Metallica - Whiplash
Megadeth - Peace Sells...
Stryper - Surrender
Dio - Holy Diver

Nice list, interesting also to note that only 1 song on the list came out prior to 1980.