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The best metal songs of all time

Metal is strength and energy, as well as pure dynamism. The music magazine 'Rolling Stone' tried to make a ranking of the best 'metal' songs of all time.

To realise this ranking, the magazine made use of authors and critics who have been writing for 'Rolling Stone' for a long time, as well as authors of publications exclusively dedicated to this musical genre. 'Rolling Stone' evaluated around 300 songs, sticking to the canons for defining a song as 'metal', taking into account the differences with 'hard rock'.

Here are, according to 'Rolling Stone', the 10 best metal songs of all time, always keeping one thing in mind: music is a subjective experience and it is impossible to agree on everyone. Everyone has their own preferences and rightly so.

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The 10 best metal songs of all time according to 'Rolling Stone'
Metal is strength and energy, as well as pure dynamism. The magazine 'Rolling Stone' tried to make a ranking of the best metal songs of all time. To realise this ranking, the magazine enlisted the support of authors and critics who have been writing for 'Rolling Stone' for a long time, as well as authors from publications exclusively dedicated to this musical genre. The editorial team evaluated around 300 songs, sticking to the canons for defining a metal song, taking into account the differences with hard rock. Here are, according to 'Rolling Stone', the 10 best metal songs of all time, always keeping one thing in mind: music is a subjective experience and it is impossible to agree on everyone. Everyone has their own preferences and rightly so.
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10. Run to the Hills - Iron Maiden
Composed entirely by bassist Steve Harris, 'Run to the Hills' deals with the conflict between Native Americans and European invaders. The single was released on 12 February 1982 and anticipates the band's third studio album, 'The Number of the Beast'.
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9. Holy Diver - Dio
"Holy Diver" is the first single taken from the debut album by Dio, a band founded in 1982 by Ronnie James Dio, former Rainbow and Black Sabbath frontman. Released in 1983, "Holy Diver" contained the tracks "Evil Eyes" and "Don't Talk to Strangers" as b-sides.
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8. Raining Blood - Slayer
Tenth and last track on the third studio album 'Reign in Blood', this song was released on 7 October 1986. The song describes an apocalypse and is narrated in the first person, although it is not specified exactly who it refers to, but it all suggests the devil.
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7. Iron Man - Black Sabbath
"Iron Man" won a Grammy Award for Best Metal Song, while VH1 placed this track at the top of its list of the 40 best heavy metal songs of all time. The song has been covered by several bands, including NOFX and Metallica.
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6. Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne
"Crazy Train" is one of the most famous tracks of Ozzy Osbourne's solo career and has become one of the iconic heavy metal songs since 1980. The guitar solo, performed by Randy Rhoads, was ranked 9th among the best solos in music history according to 'Guitar World' magazine.
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5. War Pigs - Black Sabbath
In fifth position we find Black Sabbath with 'War Pigs', taken from the famous album 'Paranoid'. The lyrics of the song present many anti-war themes, and in particular against the war in Vietnam, and the final part of the song, called "Luke's Wall" features an iconic solo by Tony Iommi.
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4. Breaking The Law - Judas Priest
'Breaking the Law' is taken from Judas Priest's sixth studio album, 'British Steel', released in 1980. In a short time, this single became one of the group's most symbolic, and many other metal bands released their own interpretations of the song.
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3. Ace of Spades - Motörhead
Released on 27 October 1980, this song is one of the most famous of Motörhead's entire career. The single was also released in a Christmas version, on vinyl, and with a different cover in which the three band members were dressed as Father Christmas: this edition was limited to only 50,000 copies.
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2. Master of Puppets - Metallica
The meaning of the lyrics of this song is often interpreted as relating to drug abuse, but some critics have argued that the song instead contains political and literary references, particularly to Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Following the song's inclusion on the soundtrack of the TV series 'Stranger Things', Metallica released a lyric video of the song online on 27 July 2022, 36 years after the single's release.
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1. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
In first position we find Black Sabbath with the song of the same name, written in 1969 and contained on the band's debut album of the same name. Due to its dark and partly slow rhythms, this famous song is considered the progenitor of the doom metal subgenre. The song is said to have been conceived following a dream Geezer Butler had and then told to Ozzy Osbourne.
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