Iron Maiden, "The Ides of March"

Contrarians will ever be telling you that Iron Maiden was at their best in the Paul Di'Anno era, argument which deserves about as much ground as those from listeners who've convinced themselves that Sammy Hagar was Van Halen's best frontman. However, Steve Harris' songwriting prowess and the band's chops were already clear on the first two records, both of which have enough great moments to deserve Eddie on the cover.

Killers, the band's second record, is the only one with more than one instrumetal (sic), "Genghis Khan" and "The Ides of March." The latter is a war march-styled anthem that kicks off the album, alerting the world to a band that was about to slaughter and take over (but not betray) the metal landscape. It's more solo-heavy than Maiden's usual fare--maybe they were already eager to get Di'Anno out of them. But had they kept him on, or even if they'd broken up, songs like this would have secured their spot in metal history.

Black Sabbath, "The Mob Rules"

Ronnie James Dio was as great of a singer as Black Sabbath could have found after firing Ozzy Osbourne in 1979. While never as widely beloved as the Ozzman, Dio was irrefutably more musically talented than his predecessor, not to mention charismatic enough to be  a rock star in his own right, rather than just a technically gifted but bland singer trying to live up to a brilliant loose cannon (Sammy Hagar, Myles Kennedy).

Still, most Dio-era Sabbath doesn't hold up to the Ozzy years. It's good, and often great, but not All Time Top Five Metal Bands great. No headbanger could argue with "Neon Knights," but only a fool would rank it above "War Pigs" or "Iron Man." With Ozzy, I wonder how often the band felt like they were dealing with a savant--Dio was professional, musically versed, agreeable and maybe even better, but they could never sell as many records or sell out as many arenas as they did with hazardous old Ozzy.

Dio's best moment with Sabbath, and arguably the only one that stands on par with the Ozzy-era classics, is "The Mob Rules." First heard in the midnight movie classic Heavy Metal, it's one of the only Dio songs that swings instead of marches. Set to a Motörhead-worthy gallop and sung with an exuberance that would open up an entire career for Jack Black years later, "The Mob Rules" proves that Dio could live up to Sabbath's reputation while taking them in a dramatic new direction.

Song of the Day: Dio, "Rainbow in the Dark"

When Das Racist, who just announced their break-up, first grabbed my attention, one thing that impressed me was their tribute to Dio's "Rainbow in the Dark". It's not a well-known song among non-metalheads, and with many music fans still dismissing Ronnie James Dio as being Black Sabbath's Sammy Hagar, I was thrilled to hear the alternarap trio give the man his overdue props (this was before Dio's passing in summer 2010).



Almost 30 years later, that synth riff still grates. It sounds a little like Journey, and you can hear why Dio didn't want to include "Rainbow on the Dark" on Holy Diver, or why he delegated more attention to the guitars when he played "Rainbow in the Dark" live. But you can also hear exactly why he's Jack Black's favorite singer. That impassioned, slightly goofy fury is a line that few singers ever walked so well, and the combination of Dio's usual fantastical lyrics with his then-discouragement over leaving Black Sabbath treated the world to one of metal's best performances.

Song of the Day: AC/DC, "Hell's Bells"

Here's a better hurricane song than anything that the Scorpions ever came up with.



It's hard to imagine in 2012, but picture one of the biggest bands in the world also being one of the best. Imagine that band losing their lead singer right at the peak of their success--i.e., Radiohead following up OK Computer without Thom Yorke. That's the position that AC/DC were in months after Highway to Hell's release, when Bon Scott succumbed to "misadventure" (the coroner's words.)

The band found a flat-capped Englishman named Brian Johnson and put him in the unenviable position of replacing the guy who sang "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap." He rose to challenge on the first song on his first album with AC/DC, introducing himself thusly: "I'm rolling thunder, pouring rain/I'm coming on like a hurricane."



Every AC/DC song is famous for sounding just like every other AC/DC song. But this one doesn't. Angus and Malcolm Young almost never play at this subdued a pace, but even at their slowest they have that signature AC/DC explosiveness. I also wonder if bell in the intro (presumably belonging to the Inferno) inspired Metallica's "For Whom the Bell Tolls."

Brian Johnson left one of the best first impressions in rock history by kicking off Back in Black with "Hells Bells." He also set a bar that Ronnie James Dio, Sammy Hagar, Blaze Bayley, Ripper Owens and Paul Rodgers never lived up to. Or nearly anybody else.