The Top Ten Heavy Metal Bands of All Time (According to the New Times Blog)
Saturday, October 3, 2009 at 12:01AM Once a week, I try to make a pass and see what other media outlets are saying about Metal acts. The New Times blog of Broward-Palm Beach, Florida just posted their picks for the ten best Metal bands of all times. Some of the picks make sense, some are just out of whack. Here's the list:
1. Black Sabbath
2. Metallica
3. Judas Priest
4. Slayer
5. Mastodon
6. Motorhead
7. Iron Maiden
8. Megadeth
9. Death
10. Pantera
Iron Maiden should be at the top of the list, then Black Sabbath. I'd keep Judas Priest in the number three slot. Who doesn't belong? Mastodon, Death and maybe even Slayer.
I'll give the writer of the post credit: each band included on the list is true Metal...still, there's one big act missing: AC/DC. I have to admit astonishment at any "best of Metal list" that fails to include the mighty AC/DC.
What say you?
Reader Comments (27)
Sorry, Sinbiner, you're talkin' to a Glam Metaller here. I could have actually taken a nap standing up during that Slayer show, to be honest. Hookless screamin' n' barkin', dude, that's all it was. Guess Rick Rubin saw somethin' in 'em, as well as all the other Slayer enthusiasts. Guess if there was one band in this veign that I actually kinda like, it's Overkill.
And note, I said, "kinda". And my fave by them is somethin' they didn't even write, "Sonic Reducer", by the Dead Boys. And speakin' of them, listen to the Dead Boys album, "Young, Loud & Snotty", if you really want to hear some badass Rock'n'Roll!
As far as self-important j*ckass, Eddie, goes, seen 'em lots back in the day, including when Van Halen blew Terrible Ted off the stage opening for him like two weeks after Van Halen's first album just came out. And I saw 'em off "Fair Warning".
They were completely killer and it's true, he is way up there, technically. Just never could get all the goof ball smiling and Fred Flintstonesque "running-in-place" routine he went through every night. I did like the custom paint jobs he did himself to those early guitars, too. But what an ass for what he's done to Anthony, though I will say he and his kid Wolfgang did each other a solid puttin' em back with Roth.
At least Anthony is experiencing some redemption with,
Chickenscratch, though that "supergroup" is a little suspect. Yeah, the chops are there, no doubt, but not much in the songwriting department. Stupid name. Nice Logo, tho.
It's true, he was a gig influence on countless guitarists but keep in mind, the guy truly is an ass, claiming Page to be and I quote, "All thumbs on live" on stage. Okay, Page has had his moments of inconsistency, but maybe Eddie Munster oughtta look at "Song Remains The Same" again. Plus I can't believe he trashed Page like that. What with Eddie boy bein' more or less a Zep cover band in L.A. with the earliest incarnations of Van Halen. You want influences? There would be no Eddie Van Halen without Jimmy Page.
That said, though you are right, he's no doubt a big influence on Ygnwie, Dime or Zakk. I actually like Pantera's first two albums when they were more Glam. They are kind of an unusual case, cuz it's kind of a reverse sell out, what they did, to save their careers. Still, no denying Dime was a helluva guitarist. In light of all the latest shootings, his senseless death and countless others should serve as a reminder that we've really got to get a grip on something other than guns in this society. Time to reign in the NRA and embrace real gun laws.
Speaking of guns, some other players among the infinite amount Van Halen inspired, no doubt...
Steve Clark
Phil Collen
Warren DiMartino
Robbin Crosby
Carlos Cavaso
Tracii Guns
Steve Vai
Satch
George Lynch
Chris Holmes
Gene Allen
Tony Matuzak
Joe Holmes
Eric Turner
Jeff Taylor
Wade Hays
Cripes, I could go on and on...
Better to just say he influenced practically every major and minor league player who heard Van Halen's version of the Kink's "You Really Got Me" and studied his every move from that point forward.
Still doesn't stop him from being a horse's behiney, however, unfortunately.
p.s. Remind me, if you guys don't mind, of other guitarists Eddie's influenced. I know there are countless especially from the L.A. scene... like Bulletboy's slingers (or, rather, Van Halen clones, right down to the producer), et al...
Knows About True Musicianship They Would Know.Iron
Maiden Is #1.
CHRISTIAN, I'M REFFERING TO YOU ON MOST OF THIS.
Eight, you people always judge bands on what their like NOW, not when they were at their prime. If i was like that i'd think Metallica was horrible, but if i judged them on their prime albums i'd think they should be in second place.