Shocking and Sticky Heavy Metal and Hard Rock Songs

The "WTF" and "Turn it Up!" Criteria

There are two standards that make a song memorable, and exceptional as opposed to being "just a good song."

First, there is the "WTF Standard": a song that makes me stop whatever I am doing and say "What the f--- was that?" by the time it ends.

Then there is the the "Turn it Up" factor. A truly exceptional song will make me turn it up every time I hear it and have control of the volume, no matter how many times it gets airplay.

The Songs (not listed in any particular order)

1. Man in the Box by Alice in Chains

The first time I heard this genuinely original, disturbing and despair ridden song, filled with melodies and guitar riffs that stayed in my head from then on, my jaw dropped and I said, out loud "What the f--- was that?

Also Notable by Alice in Chains

Them Bones, The Rooster,

Junkhead

We Die Young Columbia Records

2.Funeral Bell by Black Label Society

Lyrics I relate to very personally combined with a pure and highly distilled metal product, and a short concise hyper-drive blues lead solo by legendary Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wyld, whose personal project is appropriately named "Black Label Society," make Funeral Bell a song that's always in my head.

"The loss of oneself, inside the wheel of doom, genocide is coming way too soon...the undying fear, the strength of one's demise, broken strung out, you wave yourself goodbye."

3. Enter Sandman by Metallica

This may not be Metallica's greatest song or even close, but the guitar riffs were so off the hook and completely atypical of Metallica or anyone else, that it made the grade by the WTF standard. It still makes me stop and listen

Also Notable by Metallica

The Four Horsemen

Creeping Death

Blackened

4. Jackson Mississippi by Kid Rock

The majority of what Kid Rock comes up with grabs my attention and holds it, but this song, not one of his biggest hits, was exceptional.

The bravado and candor with which Kid Rock describes his lifestyle and his blatant and unrepentant descriptions of his own drug use are aspects of the Kid's personality that I respect, even if he's not a great role model for your kids.

The song Jackson Mississippi breaks the pattern. The brain twisting blues guitar playing and vocal melodies of the song deliver lyrics that describe a feeling of pollution, addiction, and inability/unwillingness to change any of it, with the resulting despair.

"....I could say I'm trying to change, but that's just another lie, it's been a day and half, and I'm still high....and I feel like Jackson Mississipi....a river running through my veins...."

It's one of the best metaphors for feeling completely toxic and polluted on a physical and spiritual level that anyone has ever come up with.

5. Two Minutes to Midnight by Iron Maiden

I've always argued with the liberals and folkies that metal is a superior medium for the antiwar protest song, this being established by Black Sabbath's "War Pigs," a tie for first place with Bob Dylan's simple, bitter and equally powerful "Masters of War," using no more than a voice an and acoustic guitar. Most protest folk cannot deliver with the impact of Dylan's work though.

Back in 1983, as I was coming of age, this song connected with my own vision of the world I'd been born into. I observed this world closely from the age of four on, believing nuclear annihilation was imminent, and watching this thing called "authority" leaving a trail of atrocities and disasters in its wake.

"The killer's breed or the demon seed, the glamor, the fortune the pain, gone to war again, blood is freedom's stain, don't you pray for my soul anymore..."

In the time of the Ronald Reagan, the Hollywood Antichrist who set the course to ruin for America and the world, spouting the lines fed to him by his greed-driven and bloodthirsty handlers, Two Minutes to Midnight captured the feeling of the era perfectly.

"Two minutes to midnight, the hand that threatens doom, two minutes to midnight, to kill the unborn in the womb..."

The Eye of Horus figures prominently in the original video; this is appropriate, as some authors(such as the late Robert Anton Wilson) claim that the eighties was the dawn of the age of Horus, the Egyptian Hawk-God whose jurisdiction includes war. I've found much of Iron Maiden's work throughout their career to be enjoyable, well thought out, and their musicianship is always at the highest level. But Two Minutes to Midnight is the song that sticks in my head, and even 25 years after I first heard it, I need to hear it again and again, at high volume.

The final verse leaves no room for doubt what the song is about and where the blame lies:

"The body bags and little rags of children torn in two
And the jellied brains of those who remain to put the finger right on you.
As the madmen play on words and make us all dance to their song,
To the tune of starving millions to make a better kind of gun."

Watch the video here! www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE4FHolkO94

6. No Shelter by Rage Against the Machine

Once again, this song made me stop and say "WTF was that?" I'd been a fan of Rage for a while, but this eerily prophetic 1999 hit somehow stands out even from Rage's groundbreaking metal-rap, that defined the sound and vocabulary of "Rage Rock," even for less political and more nihilistic artists.

Zack DeLa Rocha, along with the Harvard educated Tom Morello discovered that metal-rap was an ideal medium for hard-line left-anarchist agitprop. I don't agree with everything they say, but they used a medium formerly disdained by leftist intellectuals to reach more people than academic writers could ever even dream of connecting with.

"There'll be no shelter here, the front line is everywhere...." Although this was easy enough to see back in 1999, the 9-11 attacks drove this point home for everyone. There would be no shelter for anyone, not from the authoritarian structures responsible for the attack (and yes, I believe that the Bin Laden Network was responsible for the attacks, although it's suspicious how much the recently departed gang of thugs, weapons dealers, looters and traitors profited from it; the first suspects in any crime are those who profit most from it), or from the government that failed to protect us, and then attacked the very foundations of the republic in the name of our "security".

Also Notable by Rage Against the Machine

Bulls On Parade

Sleep Now in the Fire

Testify

7. Bad Religion by Godsmack

I'm not a hardcore fan of Godsmack, however this song made the grade by the WTF standard too. I actually used it as a ringtone for a while. The single chord body slams that start the song and define it, and the lyrics from the first words "Can you feel I'm not like you anymore..." to the chorus "It's a bad religion, from a broken nation...." grabbed me and made this song a permanent part of my "turn it up list".

Another song that also made the grade was Godsmack's "Voodo," equally unique if lacking the brutal impact of Bad Religion, it also makes me stop and listen every time the radio plays it.

8. Some Heads are Gonna Roll by Judas Priest

A warning by from the radical and militantly gay Rob Halford to the "Power-mad freaks who are ruling the earth..." also emerged from those from those frightening early Reagan years, this made the grade, in a way no other Priest song of the era did.

Recently, Halford, now balding but as leather clad, gay and intransigent as ever, reunited with Priest after some solo ventures gave another such warning with a song titled "Revolution"

He starts with the words "If you think it's over, you better think again!" and the chorus is a clear battle cry "Here comes the revolution, time for some retribution..." This song caught my attention too, but for some reason the radio doesn't play it. I wonder why?

9Welcome to the Jungle by Guns 'n Roses

Welcome to the Jungle was the first G 'n R song that brought their existence to my attention, and remains, along with Civil War, one of the songs I never tire of hearing.

"Welcome to the jungle, we got fun and games, we can get anything you want, and we know the names, we are the people who can fin, whatever you may need, if you go the money honey we got your disease..."

This seemed to relate directly to my life when it came out too.

Along with Welcome to the Jungle and Civil War, another favorite of mine worth mentioning is "Dancing with Mr. Brownstone." It's like Dr. Suess for junkies:

"I used to do a little but the little wouldn't do it so the little got more and more..."

10 Half Life by Local H

Local H makes songs that get stuck in people's heads, but their overall gloominess and lack of aggression have in my opinion kept them from achieving the level of recognition that their talent deserves.

Half Life breaks out of their sound into a short, concise, very angry song about working class angst, and working class life (or lack thereof). The video, which uses a demolition derby as an allegorical backdrop for the performers, who appear both as musicians and drivers is somehow perfect for the song.

Watch the Video Here! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcJ1Ym4_g30

References and Credits:

Alice in Chains

Man in the Box- Columbia Record 1990, Lyrrics by Layne Staley, Music by Jerry Cantrell

We Die Young-Columbia Records 1990, by Jerry Cantrell

Them Bones- The Rooster, Columbia Records 1993, Jerry Cantrell

Junkhead- Columbia Records 1992, Layne Staley, Jerry Cantrell

Black Label Society

Funeral Bell-Spitfire Records, 2003 Zakk Wyld

Godsmack-Bad Religion, Label EK Records 1998
Voodoo, Republic-Unversal 1999

Guns ' Roses- Welcome to the Jungle, 1987, Geffen Record
Civil War, 1990, Geffen Records, written by Slash, Duff McKagan

Iron Maiden

Two Minutes to Midnight-Label, EMI 1984 by Adrian Smith, Bruce Dickinson

Judas Priest

Some Heads are Gonna Roll, Columbia Records, 1983
Revolution 2005, Judas Priest Media Ltd.

Kid Rock

Jackson Mississipi-Label- Atlantic, 2004

Local H-Half Life, Label -Plm2001

Metallica

Enter Sandman -Label, Elektra 1991, Kirk Hammet, Jame Hetfield, Lars Ulrich

The Four Horsemen-Label, Megaforce, 1983 James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Dave Mustaine

Creeping Death -Label, Vertigo, 1984, Kirk Hammet, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Cliff Burton

Blackened-Label Elektra, 1988, Lyrics, James Hetfield, Music, Lars Ulrich, Jason Newsted

Rage Against the Machine

No Shelter, Sleep Now in the Fire, Testify, Album The Battle of Los Angeles , Epic Records 1990

Bulls on Parade, Album Evil Empire, Epic, 1996