Top 20 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time

Let down your hair, turn your speaks up to 11, and prepare to have your face melted! For this list, we’ll be ranking the most powerful, enduring, and definitive jams of the heavy metal world. Our countdown includes “Curse of the Pharaohs”, “Pull Me Under”, “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due”, "The Trooper", “Master of Puppets”, and more! What’s your preferred sound of heavy metal thunder? Let us know in the comments!

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#Music
#Rock
#HeavyMetal
#Pop
#Songs
#Metallica
#IronMaiden
#BlackSabbath
#JudasPriest
#Slayer

[WatchMojo]

What’s your preferred sound of heavy metal thunder? Let us know in the comments!

[globetrekker]

Although it’s an instrumental track, “Orion” is the fine wine of metal music

[muhammadrouhan]

Hallowed Be Thy Name is metal perfection. The soaring vocals, the riffs, everything.

[gelanzl]

20. All we are - Warlock
19. Balls to the Wall - Accept
18. Burn in Hell - Twisted Sister
17. Abigail - King Diamond
16. Curse of the Pharaohs - Mercyful Fate
15. Witching Hour - Venom
14. Am I evil? - Diamond Head
13. Arise - Sepultura
12. Pull Me Under - Dream Theatre
11. Caugth in a Mosh - Anthrax
10. Holy Diver - Dio
09. Cemetery Gates - Pantera
08. Holy Wars...The Punishment Due - Megadeth
07. Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne
06. Ace of Spades - Motörhead
05. Angel of Death (Reign in Blood) - Slayer
04. The Trooper - Iron Maiden
03. Pain Killer - Judas Priest
02. Master of Puppets - Metallica
01. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

[mcvltib]

first heavy metal song that i heard was iron maiden - aces high. from this song started my love for metal

[DariusKhan]

If anyone reading this hasn't seen Black Sabbath live in Paris 1970, it is well worth watching. An amazing gig - hard to believe it's 52 years ago. War Pigs is incredible.

[bertieblack]

I was so shocked when Master Of Puppets only got to #2 - and then I saw who was picked for #1. Yeah, fair enough :')

[EMal-mfpc]

Personal Top 10
- Metallica 'For whom the Bell Tolls'
-Iron Maiden 'Hallowed Be Thy Name'
- Metallica 'Master of Puppets'
- Iron Maiden 'Trooper'
- Metallica 'Enter Sandman
- Iron Maiden 'Run to the Hills'
- Pantera 'Cemetery Gates'
- Dio 'Holy Diver'
- Black Sabbath 'Paranoid'
- Black Sabboth 'Iron Man'

[Michael-gfdy]

There are so many amazing songs, that a Top20 doesn't do it justice.
This list is also contains no Power-Metal with classics like "Helloween - I want out", "Manowar - Battle Hymn" and "Running Wild - Port Royale".

[christophergase]

Hey WatchMojo,
Your list was way better than I expected. Thanks

[nitro_newman]

Black Sabbath may be the beginning of heavy metal, but Judas Priest is what developed it into the 80’s and beyond. They made the fashion, the look, and the duo lead guitars. They even motorcycles a symbol of metal. They were hell bent for leather.

[FariesWearBoots]

Without Black Sabbath, a lot of these bands, songs, and genre's wouldn't exist now
🥀💜💜🥀

[apolodord]

So happy to see W.A.S.P. and Grim Reaper in there! They’re both sooo underrated!

[TiagoNomad]

Happy to see Sepultura getting some recognition. They’re freaking legends.

[DimashCastellucci]

I would love to hear these for the first time again…
No particular order.
Tool- Lateralus
Tool - 46 & 2
Metallica - One
Metallica- Master of puppets
Metallica - Orion
Porcupine tree- Arriving somewhere but not here
Dream theater- Dance of eternity
Therion - Clavicula Nox
Haken - Cockroach king

[kassyh]

Most of these songs are songs of my childhood and teenage years
Some parents make you listen to soft stuff... and there's my father who put on Metallica, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest to wake me up to go to school and whose ringtone was Rammstein's Du Hast
The reaction during parents-teachers meetings in my private catholic school when his phone vas ringing was priceless !
Best songs ever and best dad ever !

[kellywiebe]

Mine:
#5 - Metallica - Master of Puppets
#4 - Iron Maiden - Flight of Icarus
#3 - Judas Priest - Screaming for Vengeance (Though Painkiller, Hellion/Electric Eye, and a FEW others JP tracks could hold that slot)
#2 - Slayer - War Ensemble

Honorable Mentions:
Celtic Frost - Morbid Tales
Cro-Mags -Malfunction
Heaven and Hell - Cover of Black Sabbath's Heaven and Hell (totally counts)
Rainbow - Man on the Silver Mountain
GWAR - Sick of You
KISS - God of Thunder

#1 - Black Sabbath - War Pigs.

[digitalatom]

I'll be honest: if somebody asked me: "what's heavy metal?" I'd immediately put on Painkiller and tell them: "If you want to listen to good heavy metal, this is your standard candle right here." Because Judas Priest have always been the gatekeepers to the genre. They have some songs that are more digestible and easy to listen to, like Electric Eye or Breaking the Law, but if you want to get to the real heavy stuff, that's the song you gotta listen and headbang to. And once you got that, a whole world opens up, and you may gain an ear for the big 4 and many other related bands, included in this list and outside of it. And it's at that point when you hear people covering these songs in much softer styles and just stick out your tongue in disgust and immediately change the radio channel, saying that those people don't get what it's all about and they're just butchering the original. In most cases, anyway, IMO.

[jeffkuipers]

i saw Dio in concert in 1985 as a sophomore in high school and still listen to them today.

[chaosapiant]

SO damn happy to see Toxic Waltz by Exodus on here! Also glad to see Master on here instead of Sandman. Overall, I usually have complaints with these types of lists, but this is a very solid top 20.