Perhaps no band is more synonymous with the ushering in of thrash metal than Metallica. They are the Mount Rushmore of the genre. Just them. Everyone else (Megadeth, Pantera…) are great but they aren’t Metallica. Metallica’s career can be divided into four parts; they are a four-leaf clover or a holy trinity plus one, if you will. 1 – Pre Black Album. 2 – Black Album. 3 – Post Black Album grunge era (why?). 4 – Recent return to thrash. This list will highlight the best of the best and some of the rest. On with the show, this is it.
10) Trapped Under Ice. This song makes the list because it hits you in the face so hard, so immediately, so powerfully, that you’d swear the opening wah-wah guitar solo was delivered by 1986 Mike Tyson. This is what Metallica was all about in the 80s. They were the antithesis of Michael Bolton. They were pure energy.
9) Turn The Page. Typically covers don’t fair too well. Not by anybody. It doesn’t matter how great the band or how great the song it doesn’t work (remember Guns N’ Roses doing Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, or Sheryl Crow doing Sweet Child O’ Mine? Sad.) But Metallica’s version of this Bob Seger canonized-classic was an instant success. They took the thematic sadness that Bob sings about and added their touch of creepy, and scary. And it worked.
8) For Whom The Bell Tolls. Found on the 1984 Ride The Lightning album this is the only thrash metal song ever recorded where Ernest Hemingway played lead guitar.
7) Nothing Else Matters. This was Metallica’s first attempt at power ballad. Though not quite Journey-esque in the ballad department it still proved emotional and powerful. This song also brought Metallica to a new legion of fans – girls. If you’re a guy it is tough to get your girl to listen to them while playing songs like Shortest Straw, but the ladies love this one. Best part of the song? Not the lyrics but James Hetfield’s guitar solo. His chops lived up to Kirk’s impossible standard. Impressive.
6) To Live Is To Die. Found on the impossible-to-describe-in-words-how-great album ...And Justice For All, this epic of instrumental madness is nothing short of sensory overload. The melodic lullaby nature of the opening fools you into thinking you are safe. It is the seat belt on a drunk driver of the thrash scene. What comes next smacks you like a cold water reality shower. If you’ve never heard this song you are in for a treat.
5) Fade To Black. Possibly the second greatest song ever recorded whose title ends with the word ‘Black. (AC/DC owns the best.) Many haters saw this song as a pro-suicide anthem or one that at least promotes it. Wrong, wrong, wrong. This song speaks of the pain that we all feel from time to time and it begs us to find a way to pull through. Turn the song into a positive. Be optimistic. It can motivate you to change.
4) St. Anger. Simply put this is the best Metallica song of the past 20 years; the post Black Album era. The simplicity of the lyrics are a driving anthem into the grey matter of sanity. It is a song to listen to just before you need to do something memorable.
3) Dyers Eve. Another of the Justice gems, this song may be the best thrash song ever written. The words ‘Dear Mother, Dear Father’ usher in one of the greatest verses ever put to music. This song makes people want to bench press Volvos. Every beat, every syllable, every note, every drop of sweat is utter testosterone-driven angst and force. It does not get better than this. If Taylor Swift were to cover this song the Earth may explode.
2) Enter Sandman. Second greatest intro in rock history (just behind Eye Of The Tiger – Survivor, admit it you love that one, too). This song took the whole universe by storm in 1991. Forget Nirvana’s Teen Spirit, this was the song that transformed the landscape of popular music in the 90s. Words cannot describe this song so…
1) One. What else could it be? Even the title of the song knows that it is their best song. This song is more than a song, it is a statement. It is a cry for mercy, not just help. Discussions about this song can vary from social-political to pop culture to pure rock power. There is no mistaking that this song is the voice of a generation. The song won the band their first Grammy for Metal Performance back in 1990; an award they should have won many times earlier. The video is one of the most important music videos ever made. If you don’t know the story of this song/video you need to discover it. All that aside, the guitar solo near the end might be the greatest in music history. Kirk does things that a four-handed guitarist couldn’t do. When the song goes into ritalin-fueled double time your speakers will devolve into mere pieces of plastic and wiring. Lars drumming complements the layering of guitars so well that we can almost forgive him for that whole Napster thing. Almost. Seven words – the best ever from the best ever.
