Bang Your Head

Three things are in play here:

First, I tend to get hooked on VH-1 music specials of any kind. You know...the Behind the Music, 100 Greatest Teen Stars of All-Time, 40 Celebrity Bad Hair Moments, etc. I'm not sure why.

Second, I'm a self-confessed Metal-Head from my high school days. My high school album collection--which was huge as I traded free movie entrances for both free yogurt and "not for public sale" records in the underground Hoover Square Mall employee underground economy--was littered with bands that you'd see on Beavis & Butthead t-shirts.

Third, I love lists and rankings.

So the perfect storm came up in a 4-part series called "40 Greatest Metal Songs." So, as a public service, I'll save you all the trouble of watching the 2 hour special and give you the highlights.

How does any Slipknot song get listed ahead of "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple? And don't even get me started on how White Zombie got ahead of "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath...which, by the way came in at #34. C'mon.

And, get this: Skid Row and a one of the worst Motley Crue songs ("Live Wire") finished ahead of "Enter Sandman" by Metallica AND "Paradise City" by Guns 'N Roses. C'mon.

One other mild observation: "Mother" by Danzig can't even find the list? C'mon.

Some notable absences from the list: Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, Ted Nugent.

Anyway, here's the top-10:

10) "Ace of Spades" by Motorhead. No argument here.
9) "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne. Again, no argument here.
8) "Raining Blood" by Slayer. Okay. What the heck is Slayer doing even on the list, much less at #8. Ever hear of a song called "Cat Scratch Fever" by Ted Nugent who didn't even make the list?
7) "Number of the Beast" by Iron Maiden. Not too bad, but I'd gone with either "Aces High" or "Run to the Hills."
6) "Detroit Rock City" by Kiss. No argument.
5) "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" by Judas Priest. No argument.
4) "Back in Black" by AC/DC. This is more like it.
3) "Master of Puppets" by Metallica. A little high for my taste, and certainly not my favorite song by this band. I was wondering if the folks at VH-1 might've forgotten a little group that went by the name of LED ZEPPELIN that sang at least 10 songs better than this one. I'd have gone with "Living Loving Maid." And, oh by the way, any metal list that didn't include Led Zeppelin should be immediately thrown into suscpicion.
2) "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns 'N Roses. Yep. Good call.
1) "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath. I've always thought this song was over-rated but it's hard to argue with, really. It's a classic, although my list would've put this at #4, with Back in Black being my #1.

Just one more service The Diner provides.