Unforgettable Riffs

AC/DC isn't known for expressing or inspiring a lot of sentimentality (remember: these guys honored their dead lead singer by unleashing Back in Black). Yet my heartstrings were tugged by this sweet video put together in tribute to the legendary Malcolm Young, who just left the band after 40 years due to dementia. Brazilian radio station 89 FM released this short video below of fellow dementia patients discussing how much rock n' roll means to them before listening to some of Malcolm's immortal riffs. Their reactions almost made me cry. For those about to rock, we salute you.

For Birthday Boy Rifkin

For Birthday Boy Rifkin

1. The Jesus Lizard, "Boilermaker"
2. Shining, "I Won't Forget"
3. Blur, "There's No Other Way"
4. Janet Jackson, "Rhythm Nation"
5. Alice Cooper, "Clones (We're All)"
6. AC/DC, "Riff Raff"
7. Q-Tip, "Move"
8. Pailhead, "I Will Refuse"
9. Goatwhore, "Apocalyptic Havoc"
10. Marsha Hunt, "(Oh, No! Not) The Beast Day"
11. Stevie Wonder, "That Girl"
12. Squeeze, "Goodbye Girl"
13. Tinie Tempah, "Pass Out"
14. Shuggie Otis, "Strawberry Letter 23"
15. Killing Joke, "Requiem"
16. Bill Withers, "Grandma's Hands"
17. David Axelrod, "The Human Abstract"
18. Living Colour, "Solace of You"
19. Ozzy Osbourne, "No More Tears"

Happy birthday, JR.

Steel Panther, "The Stocking Song"

Metal is perhaps important during the holiday season, when the umpteenth Muzak version of "The Little Drummer Boy" sends you right to Goatwhore's Carving Out the Eyes of God, or whatever your preferred means of blocking out Christmas music may be. I'm also in favor of busting out some of metal's Christmas best, whether AC/DC's "Mistress for Christmas," King Diamond's "No Presents for Christmas" or Spinal Tap's "Christmas with the Devil." Yet for all of metal's perks, the genre has yet to provide a truly excellent Christmas song, something on par with Run–D.M.C.'s "Christmas in Hollis" (although maybe that's setting the bar too high.)



Steel Panther come close this year with "The Stocking Song," possibly the most ribald Christmas double entendre song since Clarence Carter's "Back Door Santa." The music is just as uproarious as the lyrics, nailing the wimp-rock slush of Tesla, Extreme (yes, there are congas) and pulling out a melody that could have come directly from the '80s if it didn't sound a little like Boyz II Men. God rest you merry, gentlemen.

AC/DC, Rock or Bust

Rick Rubin couldn't change them. Replacing one of the greatest frontmen in rock history couldn't change them. And now that they've lost the guy who co-wrote every one of their original songs, did you expect AC/DC to change at all?



If you're enough of a fan to sit through more than one paragraph of an AC/DC review, you already know that the answer is no. AC/DC is like your favorite beer, and you always go back to it because you know exactly what you're going to get. People love to complain that all their songs sound alike, and that they never take any artistic risks (maybe those fans should listen to Metallica--you love it when they take risks, don't you?), but they can't forget that AC/DC thrives entirely on the power of their songs. There's no public squabbling, reality TV appearances, trend-hopping or celebrity guest spots, just another album of great songs that sound like all the other ones.

How do they do it? People have been replicating AC/DC's sound for almost as long as it's existed, but none of the Silvertides, Jets or Buckcherrys have been able to make it stick the way AC/DC do. AC/DC's biggest risk is that they're constantly imitating one of the most accomplished careers in music history, not to mention one of most imitated and easiest to imitate, and somehow making it sound fresh in their fifth decade as a band. Months away from Angus Young's 60th birthday, they're still doing it better than anyone else.

So how does it stack up against the previous sixteen records? If it's your first AC/DC album, you're going to want to pick up all the others (Hearing your first AC/DC album is kind of like seeing your first James Bond movie--"There's 20 more of these??"). If you've got all the rest, you've already memorized "Play Ball" and "Rock or Bust" for the world tour screamalongs, and might be hoping they'll play "Sweet Candy." If you haven't bought an AC/DC record since The Razor's Edge, or For Those About to Rock We Salute You you probably won't need to hear this one, but you'll be happily surprised if you do.

And yes, it's the first AC/DC album without Malcolm Young, the incomparable founder, songwriter and rhythm guitarist, who retired earlier this year to receive treatment for dementia. His influence, and reportedly his previously unused riffs, are still all over the band's songs, and replacement nephew Steve imitates his uncle's tones like a champ. Malcolm's retirement has convinced some fans that the band should quit, but on Rock or Bust it's clear that AC/DC is the implacable force we all knew they were. A lot of bands run until the wheels fall off, but thank Satan, AC/DC is going to rock and roll until the whole car explodes.

Richardpalooza 2014

Richardpalooza 2014

1. Beastie Boys, "Sure Shot"
2. Big Freedia, "Ya'll Get Back Now"
3. Lionel Richie, "All Night Long"
4. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, "Tha Crossroads"
5. Jane's Addiction, "Just Because"
6. Curtis Mayfield, "Superfly"
7. AC/DC, "Whole Lotta Rosie" (Live)
8. Jimmy Cliff, "The Harder They Come"
9. Nina Simone, "Pirate Jenny"
10. The Rolling Stones, "Brown Sugar"
11. The Allman Brothers Band, "Ramblin' Man"
12. Metallica, "Breadfan"
13. Janet Jackson, "Black Cat"
14. The Buzzcocks, "Orgasm Addict"
15. Cypress Hill, "Hand on the Pump"
16. The Five Stairsteps, "O-o-h Child"
17. Bruce Springsteen, "Atlantic City"
18. Rodrigo y Gabriela, "Stairway to Heaven"
19. Prince, "Batdance"

Happy birthday, dude.

AC/DC, "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)"

For Maxx, who was a great guy to experience the Black Ice tour with.

Motörhead, "R.A.M.O.N.E.S."

I'm a U2 fan, and I have not been enjoying the bad press they've gotten for Songs of Innocence's rollout. Tyler the Creator's meltdown and the applause he got for it represents American at its privileged worst--that's what you're getting mad about, kids? A free album from the world's biggest band in your media player (or, as Bono put it, "junk mail")?

However, as a U2 fan I hold them to high standards, and on initial listens Songs of Innocence does not reach them. First single "The Miracle of Joey Ramone" feels like a self-conscious effort from a media giant to hold onto its increasingly distant punk roots. It's more in line with a major rock star yelling "I'm not Justin Bieber" than anything on Rocket to Russia.

The best tribute to the Ramones remains this song, from another punk and metal pioneer.



Like the Ramones, Motörhead made an entire career off basically one fast, loud and catchy song, rewriting it album after album with mind-blowing consistency (other than AC/DC, there isn't another band that has gotten away with it for so long). On their excellent 1991 release 1916, Lemmy and the gang became one of the only bands to pull off a successful Ramones impression, honoring them with a song the Ramones liked so much they ended up covering it (with Dee Dee on lead vocals). Gabba gabba, see them go.

Hårdrockens Historia

For Malik Bendjelloul.

Ozzy Osbourne on AC/DC

"By the time the fire engines arrived, the flames had already burned themselves out. Randy was gone. Rachel was gone. I finally put on some clothes and took a beer from what was left of the fridge in the bus. I couldn't handle the situation. Sharon was running around trying to find a telephone. She wanted to call her father. Then the cops arrived. Good ol' boy types. They weren't too sympathetic.

'Ozzy Ozz-Burn, huh?' They said. 'The bat-eating madman.'

We checked into some shithole called the Hilco Inn in Leesburg and tried to hide from the press while the police did their thing. We had to call Randy's mum and Rachel's best friend Grace, which was horrendous.

All of us wanted to get the fuck out of Leesburg, but we had to stay put until the paperwork was done.

None of us could get our heads around the situation. Everything had been magic one minute, and the next it had taken such an ugly, tragic turn.

'Y'know what? I think this is a sign I ain't supposed to do this anymore,' I said to Sharon.

By then I was having a total physical and mental breakdown. A doctor had to come over and shoot me up with sedatives. Sharon wasn't doing much better. She was in a terrible state, poor Sharon. The one thing that gave us some comfort was a message from AC/DC saying, 'If there's anything we can do, let us know.' That meant a lot to me, and I'll always be grateful to them for it. You learn who your friends are when the shit hits the fan. In fact, AC/DC must have known exactly what we'd been going through, 'cos it had only been a couple of years since their lead singer Bon Scott had died from alcohol poisoning, also at a tragically young age."

From I Am Ozzy.

AC/DC, "Jailbreak"

I can't believe AC/DC is turning 40 this year. They still seem like the youngest classic rock band, eternal teenagers to grizzled old Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, every new hard rock band's cooler older brother. Never going to make an album with Allison Krauss, never going to be on reality TV, never even going to release a Greatest Hits album. If the past four decades are any indication, the upcoming studio album will sound much like the last 15, and the proposed 2014 tour will be as mind-blowing as anything you can experience in an arena.



It started back in1974, when a band called the Velvet Underground (Malcolm and Angus Young already knew there was another band called the Velvet Underground--they just didn't care) met professional miscreant Bon Scott and renamed themselves AC/DC. Their earliest recordings would take years to get released in America (probably because, like the first Motörhead albums, someone thought the music was too much for us to handle,) and by the time we got "Jailbreak" in 1984, AC/DC had already surpassed it with albums like Highway to Hell and Back in Black. But I still love hearing it today as one of the best ever rock bands on the long way to the top.

Bob Dylan once said of Elvis Presley, "Hearing him for the first time was like busting out of jail." It's a sentiment that AC/DC cembodies on "Jailbreak," and one they still carry today.

Richardpalooza 2013

Richardpalooza 2013

1. The Who, "Baba O'Riley"
2. Prince, "P Control"
3. Gloria Jones, "Tainted Love"
4. 2pac, "Hail Mary"
5. ZZ Top, "Just Got Paid"
6. The Doors, "Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)"
7. John Lee Hooker, "Boom Boom"
8. Eddy Grant, "Electric Avenue"
9. Talking Heads, "Burning Down the House"
10. Bill Withers, "Use Me"
11. Mobb Deep, "Shook Ones Part 2"
12. The Specials, "Nelson Mandela"
13. Johnny Cash, "Tennessee Stud"
14. Nine Inch Nails, "Head Like a Hole"
15. Iggy & the Stooges, "Search and Destroy"
16. Snoop Dogg, "Gz Up, Hoes Down"
17. Metallica, "Master of Puppets"
18. AC/DC, "Thunderstruck"

I've known Richard long enough where I can put something as ridiculous as "P Control" or "Gz Up, Hoes Down" on a birthday mix without getting judged. The latter song, which was cut from Doggystyle due to sample clearance issues (but the sexism was apparently OK), may have been a precedent for "Homies Over Hoes," the satirical Boondocks hit from closeted rapper Gangstalicious.
Looking forward to hearing what Richard thinks.

Happy early birthday, RAC.

Pantera, "Hellbound"

"Hell ain't a bad place to be," the polemicist Bon Scott tells us in his Let There Be Rock dissertation. As usual, he was being understated. Hell is the most metal place in the universe, as emphasized by Slayer's waiting, Venom's welcome and Stryper inviting the Devil there. Ozzy and Lemmy both went a-raising, right on the same song. Some of metal's finest documents start in the underworld, or at least right next door, including AC/DC's two best albums, Megadeth's most violent junkie dream and Guns N' Roses two-CD loose cannon. But no one ever made it sound louder or angrier than Pantera.

Pantera dominated the '90s as the world's best and biggest metal band, just as Black Sabbath ran the '70s and Metallica owned the '80s. They kicked off the decade by introducing themselves as the Cowboys From Hell, but bookended it by dragging us back home with them on their final album.



Even when Dimebag was still alive, there was much uncertainty as to whether we'd ever see another Pantera album. Every Pantera fan who read about them in metal mags (and if you were a Pantera fan, you absolutely read metal mags) knew that there was infighting between Phil Anselmo and the Brothers Abbott. It had been four years since The Great Southern Trendkill, years in which mainstream metal had been reoccupied by Korn and Limp Bizkit. But on the wonderfully preposterously-titled Reinventing the Steel, Pantera outsavaged not only the nu-metal legions, but more importantly their own storied career.

"Hellbound" is a band at their most ruthless, throwing all of their brutality into their last testament while still hanging on the the grooves. Phil Anselmo's banshee scream in the chorus is the stuff of immortals. He couldn't keep it much longer, as his voice settled into its present-day baritone, and the band couldn't even stay together after the Reinventing the Steel tour, with Phil Anselmo famously telling Metal Hammer "Dimebag Darrell deserves to be beaten severely." That quote was run on the magazine's cover one week before Darrell was killed by a gunman.

Pantera may have no longer been friends on Reinventing the Steel, but by Satan's graces they were still a band. If Hell really is other people, than I'm glad Pantera chose to leave the tape rolling.

Opinions vs. Observations

I could give you dozens of reasons as to why metal is better than reggae or techno. I'm happy to tell you why Death is better than Dååth, or why Suicidal Tendencies are better than Suicide Silence. At Governor's Ball last month, I watched Guns N' Roses utterly blow away Animal Collective and Kings of Leon. But in my heart of heart and brain of brains, I know that it's all just my opinion.

Then again, I don't. Consider, for example, that Trent Reznor is a better composer than Winds of Plague. This doesn't seem arguable. Understanding why something like The Downward Spiral is better than Decimate the Weak signifies an intelligent grasp of music, not an opinion. Who could argue that W.A.S.P. is better than Metallica? It would be like claiming that Dan Brown is a better writer than Kafka. I'm sure that some people actually believe it, but I'd hope that someday they'd mature enough to change their minds.

My concern about opinions and observations is where they start and where they end. There's a wide, blurry line between thinking that Nine Inch Nails is better than Animal Collective and knowing that they're better than Winds of Plague. Where does that line start and end? Is it when one artist stands the test of time? If so, how long is that? What constitutes as enough sense to decide what is an observation and what's an opinion? What gives me the authority to decide? Can observations change over time, as standards do?

The answer, my friend, is just your opinion.

The Badpiper, "Thunderstruck"

Alfred Hitchcock famously said, "I understand the inventor of the bagpipes was inspired when he saw a man carrying an indignant, asthmatic pig under his arm." I'm inclined to believe him, and normally I prefer to keep bagpipes even further away from metal than keyboards. But this video of the self-proclaimed "Badpiper" performing AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" has me shakin' at the knees. Much of the buzz this video's been getting centers around the fact that he shoots flames out of his bagpipes, but I think it's even cooler that he plays both the Angus Young and Brian Johnson parts. Enjoy below, along with the original.

Ten Metal Bands to See Before You Die: Iron Maiden

If heavy metal had a CV, Iron Maiden shows would go at the very top. Nothing comes closer to packing everything that's great about metal into one sitting than a stage with Eddie and his human counterparts. It's humorous, political and fantastical. Sometimes it feels raw and grandiose at the same time. Iron Maiden are likeable enough to sell out arenas all over the world, yet metal enough to do it with barely any mainstream press or radio. Iron Maiden may never make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and if they don't, it'll be another feather in their caps.



Iron Maiden doesn't have to be your favorite band, or even your 30th favorite band for one to see that what they do with an audience is breathtaking. None of the musicians, the youngest of whom turns 55 this summer, seem to have been affected by aging, narcotics or world-weariness at all. If anything, they've improved, hitting higher notes and faster rhythms than the ones reached on their classic '80s output. Even on their "hits" tours (the best way to see them, between "new album" tours), they never come across as a nostalgia band, but rather a band that's still getting better at playing their best songs. It's entirely possible that they've spent their entire musical careers preparing for the performance you're about to see on any given night.

In the must-see Rush documentary Beyond the Lighted Stage, Neal Peart tells an interviewer that he will never get tired of playing "Tom Sawyer," because it's always difficult to play, and therefore he always feels good whenever he pulls it off. One can imagine everyone in Iron Maiden relating. They never stop having a blast treating their international audience to workouts like "2 Minutes to Midnight" or "The Number of the Beast," or grinning enthusiastically while running and/or swinging their guitars. On Maiden's newer albums, sometimes they seem to be writing longer and more complicated songs just to rise to the challenge, but onstage they find that challenge in their greatest music, conquering it like the heroes of "Aces High." Songs that you skipped over on Fear of the Dark sound like they should have gone on Best of the Beast. I could sooner imagine Iron Maiden releasing a rap album than phoning in a show.

For a purely metal arena show, it doesn't get any better than Maiden. More metal than AC/DC, less mainstream than Metallica, more musical than KISS, more theatrical than Judas Priest, funnier than Black Sabbath and more agile than anyone this side of Shakira, Iron Maiden are consistently the greatest live metal band in the world. Heard and viewed from any seat in any arena, Bruce Dickinson is an electrifying frontman, punctuating each power metal riff and burst of flame and with vocals that always seem to defy the larynx without forgetting to carry the tunes. If he leaves the stage for a moment, it's for an elaborate set or costume change--you're not getting any extended solos or banter tonight. Even their encore breaks don't last long enough for a bathroom stop. Just hit after hit, with a few engaging quips and explosions in between.

With another band, Maiden's stage, props, pyro and zombie mascot might seem excessive. But part of Iron Maiden's magic is their ability to blend their bells and whistles into the show itself. Their stage sets seem simple, humble even, when fused with the exhilarating hooks of "The Trooper," "Wasted Years" or "Heaven Can Wait." The brutality, steadfastness and musicianship that drive Iron Maiden's best songs deserve the sphinxes, sarcophagi and Union Jacks.

Iron Maiden with a stage is as natural and necessary as Babe Ruth with a bat or Fred Astaire with a dance floor. When people talk about metal that takes rock n' roll to extremities, metal that confronts the worst of life and celebrates the best of it, metal as high art and something to bang your head and flash your horns to, this is what they're talking about.

AC/DC, "Stormy May Day"

Black Ice was expertly marketed as AC/DC's best album in years, and it worked, becoming the second highest-selling album of 2008 and earning grudging industry respect, including AC/DC's first Grammy and Rolling Stone cover. In truth, it was AC/DC's best release since The Razor's Edge, but it could have been better with minimal effort--basically, just cut the album to ten songs. Live, I never want an AC/DC show to end, but there's no reason for any of their albums to last longer than 45 minutes. Besides Motörhead, AC/DC are the only band who can keep putting out the same ten-song record and make it work. They should be proud of that.

In any case, Black Ice does have plenty of gems, including "Skies on Fire," "Smash 'n' Grab"and four songs with the word "rock" in the title. Then there's this one for today. Hearing Angus Young suddenly play slide guitar four decades into his career is kind of like the scene in The Princess Bride where Inigo Montoya says "I am not left-handed."



For J.A. and B.D.

Heavy Meddle

Like a lot of males, I was fascinated with Pink Floyd throughout middle school and high school. The Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall and Wish You Were Here were all beautiful and profound to me. But listening now, they sound thoroughly adolescent, and not in a cool, AC/DC-like way. It's more like a high budget version of the kind of well-meaning but self-serious art that you'd see in a high school talent show.

   

When people compare Pink Floyd to bands like Radiohead or Tool, I can only think that it's because they're both weird and arena-famous at the same time. When people compare Floyd to Porcupine Tree or Dream Theater, I can only think that it's because they're both boring. For lack of a better term, most of their songs leave me comfortably numb.

But listening to Dub Side of the Moon, the audacious Pink Floyd reggae tribute album that's somehow more enjoyable than most Pink Floyd or reggae, I was reminded that Floyd have some lovely songs. It's not really their music that I have a problem with--it's their heavy-handed delivery. Roger Waters compared himself to Picasso in Rolling Stone a few years ago, but anyone who'd ever made it to side four of The Wall could already tell he had an astronomical ego that his talents didn't quite live up to. Yet when removed of his band's self-importance and wankery, Pink Floyd's songs lend themselves well to interpretation. 

1. Voivod, "Astronomy Domine"

Pink Floyd got bigger without Syd Barrett, but they never released anything better than Piper at the Gates of Dawn, their 1967 garage-psych debut. The world was still catching up to it in 1989, when Voivod dropped Nothingface and crashed Headbanger's Ball with their version of "Astronomy Domine." I think Voivod's is more haunting than the original--playing the chorus melody on guitar instead of keyboards was a good idea, as was getting rid of the space rock sound effects. Had it not been for this song, Elektra Records might have never taken a chance on Kyuss.

2. Alice Cooper, "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" 

I'll take Alice Cooper's anti-school anthem over Pink Floyd's any day of the week--it's easier make the case that you don't like school when you don't sound like a child pretending to be an adult. But on his recent tours, Cooper's been slyly acknowledging his own influence on Floyd by quoting "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" at the end of "School's Out." It's amazing how much a little verve and humor transforms that song. There's not an HD version online, but the thrill of Alice's show could even come through on a shaky cell phone video.

 

3. Guns N' Roses, "Mother"

Like "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)," "Mother" is best heard in a small dose, out of context. I usually can't sit through it's overwrought lyrics, or David Gilmour's schmaltzy solo, but the melody is actually quite sweet, proven by the sparse, minute-long reading that Axl and Slash gave it near the end of their Use Your Illusion II video from the Tokyo Dome. Subtlety is not something that one usually equates with Guns N' Roses, but "Mother" proves that when called to the task, they delivered.

 

Ten Metal Bands to See Before You Die: AC/DC

If AC/DC just sat there onstage while a tape played "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," "T.N.T.," "You Shook Me All Night Long," "Back in Black" and "Highway to Hell," they'd still earn consideration for this list. But as anyone who has seen The Who this century can tell you, playing great songs does not make you a great live band.



40 years into one of the most incredible careers in audio history, AC/DC are still claiming metal's greatest dancer, swinging from the clappers of Hell's Bells, giving us a Whole Lotta Rosie and leaving everything in their wake Thunderstruck. Getting had, getting took and telling folks it's harder than it looks.

By working their way into the 200 Million Sold club without ever deviating from the harder-than-hard rock formula that made them famous, AC/DC makes success look as easy as "The Jack." Then again, nobody has ever played those three chords with the kind of gleeful punch that Angus gives them, not to mention the wildman blues-metal freakout solo that often takes over "Let There Be Rock." The most famous Keith Richards quote about his guitars ("Give me five minutes and I'll make 'em all sound the same") can be applied to Angus Young. But give his admirers four decades, and none of them will sound like him.

No great guitarist this side of Prince has made his instrument such an enthralling part of his performance, without taking away from the playing. Watching Angus Young with a Gibson is akin to watching James Brown with a microphone stand. "I'm a rotten guitar player if I'm standing still," Angus has said, and while I don't believe it, you can tell that he does.

AC/DC does not have many of peers, but even the ones who come closest are put to shame by AC/DC's show. They're not pretending to like each other (Aerosmith, Van Halen,) physically ravaged by their decades of drug abuse (Black Sabbath, Mötley Crüe) or dressing up their guitarist to look like the guy they kicked out (KISS, Guns N' Roses). AC/DC prefer to keep their drama beneath them, where it belongs. They continue to set examples for all younger artists, meaning nearly everyone, and meaning nobody who puts on a show like these guys do.

Rage Days

Andrew W.K., whom sometimes seems like the happiest person in the universe, recently tweeted "Sometimes the angriest music makes us feel the happiest." (His previous post was "PARTY TIP: Start your day with a big dose of Pantera.") To metalheads, generally the best-tempered fan base in all of music, those insights are no surprise, but fans of less extreme music tend to be shocked by this.

AG doesn't listen to a lot of metal or punk, but she told me that sometimes she has "rage days," something that I don't understand the point of having if you don't listen to a lot of punk and metal.



Rage Days

1. Metallica, "Battery"
2. Converge, "Dark Horse"
3. Nine Inch Nails, "Wish"
4. Black Sabbath, "War Pigs"
5. Faith No More, "Falling to Pieces"
6. The Stooges, "Search and Destroy"
7. Sepultura, "Refuse/Resist"
8. Slayer, "Angel of Death"
9. Lamb of God "Now You've Got Something to Die For"
10. Minor Threat, "Filler"
11. Suicidal Tendencies, "You Can't Bring Me Down"
12. Nirvana, "Heart-Shaped Box"
13. Mastodon, "Blood and Thunder"
14. Marilyn Manson, "The Fight Song"
15. Rage Against the Machine, "Killing in the Name"
16. Stiff Little Fingers, "Suspect Device"
17. Pantera, "Fucking Hostile"
18. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, "Stagger Lee"

As with any good introductory mix, I've included a few standards--I can't imagine anyone disliking "War Pigs," "Search and Destroy" or "Heart-Shaped Box." But I've also been making gateway metal mixes long enough to know that everyone who hears "Falling to Pieces" seems to enjoy it, or that most people in the 2000s seem to get into modern metal through Mastodon and Lamb of God. Maybe after this, AG will be ready for Goatwhore.

One thing I learned from putting together a specifically rage-based mix is how happy a lot of the best metal bands are. Even at their most belligerant, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, AC/DC, Van Halen, High on Fire, Motörhead, Ozzy and Amon Amarth are too gleeful to follow up songs like "Angel of Death" or "Dark Horse." Thus instead we get Metallica at their fiercest, Pantera at their most hostile and topping it all off, Nick Cave, to show that some of metal's most raging tracks can even hold up against "Stagger Lee."

Metal Injection's Top 10 Influential Heavy Metal Albums

"Most influential album" lists are always futile, seeing how there's generally only a few supremely influential artists that would fill up the most accurate lists. All "influential albums" lists aim for diversity, but if we're being realistic, the ten most influential metal albums of all time are the first five Black Sabbath releases and the first five Metallica albums.

Even with that in mind, Metal Injection's list of the most influential metal albums is bewildering. Venom's fun but dated Black Metal over Slayer's nonpareil Reign in Blood? Dream Theater in the top ten metal anything? Nothing from Motörhead, Judas Priest or Megadeth? Scream Bloody Gore may have been Death's debut, but did it really grab more ears and shape the direction of metal more than Human or Individual Thought Patterns?

All that being said, I love this list. For the past two weeks, I've been checking the latest updates at 5pm and rushing home from work to see what the Metal Injection and Metal Sucks staff (and other headbanging experts) have to say about albums by At the Gates, Iron Maiden and Pantera. This is metal in the strictest sense, which means no Led Zeppelin, AC/DC or Van Halen, but also metal in that the MI list sticks it to conventions. This isn't your average Rolling Stone list with Paranoid and Master of Puppets, neither of which appear here, but a fresh look at classic metal records from some fans with the kind of Wayne and Garth enthusiasm that your average Pitchforkers are missing. After this, maybe even Slaughter of the Soul will turn up in Rolling Stone someday.

Enjoy the full list here.