February 24, 2012

Greg's Top Ten Favorite Metal Bands (6-10 Today, 1-5 Yesterday):

Before we get started here, I want to be clear that the metal genre is subjectively defined. Nobody, even those in the metal community, can definitively say who's metal and who's not. I don't believe bands like Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, AC/DC or Def Leppard belong on this list. Not because they aren't tremendous acts, but because I don't define them as metal, so if you notice a band missing from this list, it's possible I didn't qualify them as metal. Ok, enough of my blabbering...

6. Ozzy Osbourne: I'll always wonder what Ozzy's career could have been like had his prodigy guitarist Randy Rhoads not died an untimely death shortly after Osbourne's second record "Diary of a Madman" hit the shelves. Ozzy's first two records were, I dare say, better than a lot of his work with Black Sabbath. Songs like "Suicide Solution" and "Over the Mountain" might be some of the finest metal songs of all time. Though some of Ozzy's records suffered a bit in the post-Rhoads era, he rebounded nicely with his comeback album "No More Tears" in 1991 which featured current Black Label Society guitarist Zakk Wylde.

7. Alice Cooper Band: Before Marilyn Manson or Trent Reznor started using macabre imagery in their acts there was Alice Cooper. Cooper once said "Nobody ever tried to do what Alice did. Nobody every tried to be the sort of bizarre vaudevillian character. There are so many rock heroes. I wanted to be a rock villain." He certainly succeeded. Though I love songs like "School's Out For Summer" and "No More Mr. Nice Guy" it's his stage presence and live horror show that makes his legend even more impressive. His acts often included frightening imagery like decapitated bodies, guillotines and bloody corpses and paved the way for metal acts like Manson, and Rob Zombie to follow suit with their own brand of shock rock.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiTPL7t4Aq4&feature=related

8. Scorpions: It seems like Scorpions have always been a part of my life - as if their music has followed me around forever. The first time I heard "Loving You Sunday Morning" when I was in grade school I was hooked and that was before I had heard other massive hits like "Rock You Like a Hurricane" or "Blackout." They definitely became more pop in their prime with big top 40 hits like "Winds of Change" but, like Metallica, their more mainstream sound helped them reach a larger fan base that was mostly untapped before they hit it big.

9. Megadeth: One can't help but wonder what Metallica would have been like had Dave Mustaine not been booted from the band just before their debut record "Kill 'Em All" was released. I suppose his exit from Metallica might have been one of the best things to happen to metal because it opened the door for Mustaine to start his own band - Megadeth. Songs like "Peace Sells" and "Symphony of Destruction" are staples of heavy metal, featuring Mustaine's signature growling vocals. I'm sure Mustaine would rather he stayed with a more profitable act like Metallica, but fans of his are likely glad he was given the chance to make his own mark on metal.

10. Dream Theater: Simply put, there's no other band in the world quite like Dream Theater. Rolling Stone Magazine once called them the perfect mixture of progressive rock and heavy metal. They also might be the most technically proficient metal band on this list. Most people who aren't familiar with their work probably know the song "Pull Me Under" from their 1992 record "Images and Words." It's the song that got me started on their library of work when I was in high school. 11 albums later and they're still at the top of their game. Their 2011 album "A Dramatic Turn of Events" reached #8 on the Billboard Top 200, proving their staying power and elite status as one of metal's most beloved acts.