Top 50 Metal Songs List, Readers Poll Revealed

With today’s announcement of the Top 10 Metal Songs, Gibson.com’s list of the greatest metal songs is complete. Below, you can check out the entire list in order. For more information on each entry, click here for #50-41, #40-31, #30-21, #20-11 and #10-1. Again, we’d like to thank all of the Gibson.com editors and writers who participated and, most importantly, the readers.

On that note, you can scroll down to see the results of the Readers Poll, which included some very interesting choices. Further down the page, you can check out the “repeat offenders” on Gibson.com’s Top 50 Metal Songs, and see which band landed the most songs on the final list.

Gibson.com’s Top 50 Metal Songs of All Time

1. “Master of Puppets,” Metallica
2. “Ace of Spades,” Motörhead
3. “Crazy Train,” Ozzy Osbourne
4. “Iron Man,” Black Sabbath
5. “The Number of the Beast,” Iron Maiden
6. “War Pigs,” Black Sabbath
7. “Paranoid,” Black Sabbath
8. “One,” Metallica
9. “Hallowed Be Thy Name,” Iron Maiden
10. “Breaking the Law,” Judas Priest
11. “Children of the Grave,” Black Sabbath
12. “Welcome to the Jungle,” Guns N’ Roses
13. “Black Sabbath,” Black Sabbath
14. “Hells Bells,” AC/DC
15. “The Trooper,” Iron Maiden
16. “Painkiller,” Judas Priest
17. “Stargazer,” Rainbow
18. “Enter Sandman,” Metallica
19. “Back in Black,” AC/DC
20. “Runnin’ with the Devil,” Van Halen
21. “The Hellion/Electric Eye,” Judas Priest
22. “Run to the Hills,” Iron Maiden
23. “Let it Go,” Def Leppard
24. “Epic,” Faith No More
25. “Hangar 18,” Megadeth
26. “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” Iron Maiden
27. “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’,” Judas Priest
28. “Fear of the Dark,” Iron Maiden
29. “Raining Blood,” Slayer
30. “Walk,” Pantera
31. “Holy Diver,” Dio
32. “Highway to Hell,” AC/DC
33. “Heaven and Hell,” Black Sabbath
34. “Bulls on Parade,” Rage Against the Machine
35. “Fade to Black,” Metallica
36. “Angel of Death,” Slayer
37. “Peace Sells,” Megadeth
38. “Freak on a Leash,” Korn
39. “Them Bones,” Alice in Chains
40. “Cemetery Gates,” Pantera
41. “Detroit Rock City,” KISS
42. “Devil’s Child,” Judas Priest
43. “Run with the Wolf,” Rainbow
44. “Would?,” Alice in Chains
45. “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” Twisted Sister
46. “Hell Bent for Leather,” Judas Priest
47. “Beyond the Realms of Death,” Judas Priest
48. “Bomber,” Motörhead
49. “Unchained,” Van Halen
50. “10,000 Days (Wings, Part II),” Tool

Readers Poll – Top 25 Metal Songs

Although they share some commonalities, the Readers Poll and final list vary a lot from each other. For instance, the readers showed love for old-school hard rockers Mountain (“Never in My Life” at #4) and for newer metal acts such as Slipknot and Lamb of God (at #14 and #11, respectively). They also got the Led out with a couple of Zeppelin classics – “Whole Lotta Love” and “Stairway to Heaven” – that weren’t included on the final list.

1. “Hallowed Be Thy Name,” Iron Maiden
2. “Paranoid,” Black Sabbath
3. “Master of Puppets,” Metallica
4. “Never in My Life,” Mountain
5. “Iron Man,” Black Sabbath
6. “Enter Sandman,” Metallica
7. “One,” Metallica
8. “Black Sabbath,” Black Sabbath
9. “Crazy Train,” Ozzy Osbourne
10. “Ace of Spades,” Motörhead
11. “Laid to Rest,” Lamb of God
12. “The Number of the Beast,” Iron Maiden
13. “Bang Your Head (Metal Health),” Quiet Riot
14. “Psychosocial,” Slipknot
15. “Children of the Grave,” Black Sabbath
16. “Run to the Hills,” Iron Maiden
17. “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” Iron Maiden
18. “Stairway to Heaven,” Led Zeppelin
19. “War Pigs,” Black Sabbath
20. “Creek Mary’s Blood,” Nightwish
21. “Whole Lotta Love,” Led Zeppelin
22. “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,” Black Sabbath
23. “Mr. Crowley,” Ozzy Osbourne
24. “Peace Sells,” Megadeth
25. “Seek and Destroy,” Metallica

Repeat Offenders

If you were to judge by the amount of entries on the Top 50 Metal Songs of All Time, Judas Priest would be the supreme metal gods for all eternity. Rob Halford and the band beat out fellow metal greats Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Metallica to land a staggering seven songs on the countdown. If you don’t think Priest deserve such an honor, you’ve got another thing comin’.

Judas Priest – 7 (“Breaking the Law,” “Painkiller,” “The Hellion/Electric Eye,” “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’,” “Devil’s Child,” “Hell Bent for Leather” and “Beyond the Realms of Death”)
Iron Maiden – 6 (“The Number of the Beast,” “Hallowed Be Thy Name,” “The Trooper,” “Run to the Hills,” “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and “Fear of the Dark”)
Black Sabbath – 6 (“Iron Man,” “War Pigs,” “Paranoid,” “Children of the Grave,” “Black Sabbath” and “Heaven and Hell”)
Metallica – 4 (“Master of Puppets,” “One,” “Enter Sandman” and “Fade to Black”)
AC/DC – 3 (“Hells Bells,” “Back in Black” and “Highway to Hell”)
Pantera – 2 (“Walk” and “Cemetery Gates”)
Slayer – 2 (“Raining Blood” and “Angel of Death”)
Megadeth – 2 (“Hangar 18” and “Peace Sells”)
Rainbow – 2 (“Stargazer” and “Run with the Wolf”)
Alice in Chains – 2 (“Them Bones” and “Would?”)
Van Halen – 2 (“Runnin’ with the Devil” and “Unchained”)
Motörhead – 2 (“Ace of Spades” and “Bomber”)



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