1) Death, this is the quintessential death metal band that made death metal famous. Sure, they didn't officially start death metal, but their music speaks for itself. It is hardcore or extreme metal that deserves the name Death, which is a really brutal name for a metal band. Although I don't like their early stuff, I have to say their later stuff (like 1998) is really amazing. I know that by then Chuck's vocals were a lot higher pitched than your usual guttural death metal style vocals from the late 80's, but I prefer it over their first couple records. In addition, I think the music got better as they progressed as a band and had several line-up changes. Their guitar playing is phenomenal and learning how to play it wouldn't be easy and would require down tuning. Songs like Crystal Mountain, Suicide Machine, The Philosopher, Flesh and The Power It Holds, and Spirit Crusher are standards that every death metal fan must know. This is a must listen to band if you like death metal, maybe even just metal in general. They are definitely one of the best metal bands of all time.
2) Megadeth, this is just one of my favorite bands of all time. The music never gets old to me. The reason why I love this band so much is that I've always liked Dave Mustaine and Marty Friedman working together. Marty is my guitar sempai, I love everything he plays, and every things he's ever played on. He's probably my favorite guitarist of all time, maybe even above Hendrix and Jeff Beck! I would say Megadeth is the greatest thrash metal band of all time, above Metallica, even Slayer, and definitely above Anthrax. I've seen Slayer and Anthrax so I can attest to know that Megadeth is better than them live at least. Songs like Hangar 18, Holy Wars, Peace Sells, and Mechanix are all standard thrash metal songs that every thrash metal fan would know, and again maybe every metal fan in general would know these songs as well. They are one of the best and they haven't changed at all since the 90's, they've kept the same gun metal gray aggressive player but only had changes in lead guitars and drums, the two Daves staying together until the very end it seems. Check out Rust in Peace and Peace Sells, those are their best recordings. That's a picture of Megadeth up top.
3) Black Sabbath, one of the most influential metal bands of all time. Although I don't think they were considered metal at that time in 1969 when their first album came out. The first album was a sort of blues rock thing with a lot of power chords, but they really developed into a super heavy band after that first bluesy rockish sort of album. Toni Iommi is one of the greatest guitar players in metal history, and guitar history too! He created the idea that all you need is pummeling riffs over and over again to make a great song. He got rid of the idea that you had to be a Jimi Hendrix or a Jeff Beck. Although he was no slouch when it came to lead guitar either! This band had so much influence on me and my guitar playing. When I first started all I would play is the Ramones and Sabbath, that's how I learned guitar basically. All of their songs are metal anthems, even the Dio period was great in my opinion. Ozzy doesn't have the best voice, he has 'thee' voice, a great voice for what Sabbath does, which is pummel you with great riffs over and over again. If I had to rate this band I would give them a 10/10. They are probably the best metal band of all time.
4) Deep Purple, while some peeps might not consider Purp metal I do, mainly because of the influence they had on metal musicians and rock music in general. They're like Zeppelin (who will be on this list too), they didn't necessarily play metal but they inspired it to the point that they might as well be metal. What's great about Purp is the great songs like Smoke on the Water, Burn, Space Truckin', and Child in Time. Not only did they have great vocals and songs but they had a great lead guitarist with Richie Blackmore, who is so skilled that I would say he might have been near Hendrix's level at his peak. He inspired Ywngie Malmsteen, one of the greatest shred guitarists from the 80's. Blackmore often incorporated classical style runs into his solos as well as bluesy rock licks. He's one of the best in the business. Also, Purp stood out from the other heavy bands at the time because they had Jon Lord on organ. Cool stuff.
5) Led Zeppelin, again its hard to argue that Zep is metal but I would say that because of the influence they had on metal music and rock in general, I deserve the right to call them heavy metal. Their music is rooted in blues rock and black blues especially but Jimmy Page just took the blues and made it his own thing. He's one of the greatest songwriters and guitar producers of all time. He isn't a Hendrix or a Jeff Beck but he wrote some of the greatest riffs and solos in recorded history. His live guitar work is a little bit sloppy but his recordings are amazing. Also, this band is the musicians band. Every musician loves Zeppelin, drummers, bassists, guitarists, and singers. How can you not like John Bonham (drums), John Paul Jones (bass), Page, and Robert Plant (vocals). They really did it all. There seemed to be a trend with heavy rock music coming from England in the late 60's, early 70's.
6) Back to the real metal, fuckin' Slayer! Slayer is just one of those metal bands that every single metal fan loves. I've never met anyone who said Slayer sucks or anything like that. It's one of those standard bands that everyone knows. Like Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax (the big four), they all started back in the 80's and made a big name for themselves from there, resulting in probably millions of fans all over the globe. Their songs are all standards but I really like God Hates Us All and Reign in Blood. What I think makes them so good is that they play such super fast riffs all together and never mess up haha. They play really simple stuff but they do it so effectively over Tom Araya's bass and vocals. Kerry King has become a legend on the guitar too. He's gotten better at guitar since their early recordings, but he's no guitar god. I really like the albums Reign in Blood and South of Heaven, from the early part of their career.
7) Metallica, to be honest I never really liked Metallica but I have to give them credit where credit is due. They are one of the biggest metal bands of all time and they've written some great songs and records in their career. The main reason I don't like Metallica is because they aren't consistent with great songwriting or staying with a particular style. They like to experiment a lot in their music. They're kind of like the pop metal fan's dream band because they change their style to what is popular and they play that because they know it will sell. In some ways I think Metallica has sold out but that doesn't change the fact that they've written and recorded some great shit. I think Kurt Hammett's guitar playing is garbage, especially when he overuses the wah pedal, his favorite pedal.
8) Van Halen, this is another band I picked because they had a huge influence on me, especially when I was in high school and the very short time I spent in college. Eddie's guitar playing just blew me away. Not only did they have great guitar playing and technique, but the songs were super catchy and memorable. The first time I heard Eruption was when I was in high school. It changed my life because it changed the way I viewed guitar. Before that I thought guitar was all blues licks, Hendrix, and Eric Clapton. Eddie showed me the way to 80's guitar god mode. He's still great but he went through a great ordeal in his life. At his peak he was probably the greatest guitarist since Hendrix.
9) Kiss, while I think Kiss's music sucks and they don't play very good music at all, I do like how catchy their songs are, the costumes and facepaint, and Ace Frehley's guitar playing. Ace showed me that you don't have to be Hendrix or Jeff Beck to be a guitar god. All you need to do is master the pentatonic scale and master a few good licks and make them your own. Anyone who can do that can play in a band really. I loved how Ace always stole the show in Kiss videos. He's one of my favorite guitarists mainly for the way he looked, and how he played his shit with emotion and bravado. Not a great technician but someone who makes due with what skills he has.
10) Well, the last band has to be a great band that everyone knows about right? I'm going to have to go with a newer band and say Steel Panther. They rock! Satchel (lead guitar) is one of the best guitarists in the business. His playing rivals Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, and Eddie Van Halen at their peaks, it's really amazing. Not only that but Steel Panther are a funny parody band of an 80's metal band. I really like their song Asian Hooker. This band doesn't take itself seriously. Sometimes you don't need all the Satanism of Black Metal in your metal, although I do like some black metal bands, like this one called Ghost. Anyways, that concludes the list. Comment and tell me what metal bands you love.
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