#99 - Satan's Fall - Mercyful Fate - Melissa (1983)

From Mercyful Fate's debut album, this is the centerpiece of that classic album. Clocking in over eleven minutes, Satan's Fall is powerful and epic. Mercyful Fate is one of those bands who peaked early, with their first and second albums being their best. Satan's Fall is only one of many great tunes on these two albums; but for me it is one of their best.

When I first heard this album, and this track in particular, I was blown away at the intensity of it, I could not believe how dark this whole album was, and I was in awe of the mood of the whole thing. I am unsure if you can call it black metal, because it sounds nothing like today's black metal, but I call it a great metal song, from a great metal album.

# 100 - Doctor Doctor - U.F.O. - Phenomenon (1974)

OK - a couple of points. I decided to do one hundred, because I couldn't cut it to forty and include everything I wanted to, so it is a top hundred.

Second - the list is only metal (i.e. no Rush).

So, I have broken the rules already since this song is not really metal, and the list is only metal. But, this song is here not really for itself anyway. Like many great songs, its greatness is partially due to an association with something else.

Any Iron Maiden fan reading this understands.

Picture the scene; you are in a crowded concert venue waiting for Iron Maiden to hit the stage. There is the usual milling about, you hear some music through the house PA, the air may even be a little smoky. Then suddenly you hear the eerie guitar intro to Doctor Doctor, and you realize you are only moments away from the main event.

I always get chills whenever I hear this song, and even though it's greatness if due to an association with another band, the song itself is still awesome, and a perfect begining to this list.

Top 40 - T-Bone Style (cue Casey Casem cursing sound byte)

VH1 recently did a show counting down the top 40 metal songs of all time, their list is below:

40-Breaking the Law -Judas Priest
39-I'm Eighteen - Alice Cooper
38-Balls to the Wall -Accept
37-Smoke on the Water -Deep Purple
36-Wait and Bleed -Slipknot
35-Metal Health -Quiet Riot
34-Paranoid -Black Sabbath
33-High 'N' Dry (Saturday Night) -Def Leppard
32-Thunder Kiss '65 -White Zombie
31-Rock You Like a Hurricane -Scorpions
30-Epic -Faith No More
29-Caught in a Mosh -Anthrax
28-The Beautiful People -Marilyn Manson
27-Run to the Hills -Iron Maiden
26-Refuse/Resist -Sepultura
25-Cowboys From Hell -Pantera
24-Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap -AC/DC
23-Freak on a Leash -Korn
22-Enter Sandman -Metallica
21-Paradise City -Guns N' Roses
20-I Wanna Rock -Twisted Sister
19-Man in the Box -Alice in Chains
18-Slave to the Grind -Skid Row
17-Live Wire [Kick A** '91 Remix] [Mix] -Mötley Crüe
16-Walk -Pantera
15-Bulls on Parade -Rage Against the Machine
14-Toxicity -System of a Down
13-Rainbow in the Dark -Dio
12-Bring the Noise -Anthrax
11-Peace Sells -Megadeth
10-Ace of Spades -Motörhead
9-Crazy Train -Ozzy Osbourne
8-Raining Blood -Slayer
7-The Number of the Beast -Iron Maiden
6-Detroit Rock City -Kiss
5-You've Got Another Thing Comin' -Judas Priest
4-Back in Black -AC/DC
3-Master of Puppets -Metallica
2-Welcome to the Jungle -Guns N' Roses
1-Iron Man -Black Sabbath

While this list is not a total insult to us tr00 metal fans, there are some on this list that are just plain silly. Appetite for Destruction is a really good record, but it is not metal. Anyway, to right their wrong in my own warped little universe, I have decided that I am going to do my own countdown of the top 40 metal songs of all time. While the VH1 list has some good tunes in there, only one song in their illustrious top 40 will be on my top 40 (hint: it is NOT Bring the Noize).

The Gay Nineties (Not that there's anything wrong with that)

(and I mean gay like the kids say gay)

The top tens are temporarily dead. I tried doing a top 10 for 1992, but there were so many bad albums that I lost interest. I mean Dream Theater's Images and Words is one of the greatest albums of all time, and would far and away be the number one album of that year. Also, there were a couple of other good albums that year like Running Wild's Pile of Skulls Alice in Chains' Dirt. Maiden's Fear of the Dark has some bright spots and Sabbath's Dehumanizer was listenable.

Outside of that I really can think of one good album from 1992. What would be number 6? Triumph of Steel by Manowar? No thanks. I'll pass.

Anyway, I plan to pick up the top tens again, but I will certainly skip 1992 and probably 1993 as well.

Primordial - The Coffin Ships

Every once in a while, a song comes along that is so awesome that you feel your head is going to explode. Primordial's song "The Coffin Ships" from their album The Gathering Wilderness is one of the best songs I have ever heard. It is dark and epic and it has so much feeling to it, words cannot do it justice.

The song is about the Irish emigration during the famines of the 19th century. I recommend this to anyone reading this blog. This may be the song of the decade.