Sage there exists good metal today too! Hell, I prefer Iron Maiden's post 2000 albums to their old stuff. You just haven't heard the right stuff.

He meant "Nu Metal", not "New" Metal.

I'd agree with you except he was naming the decades after he said that, I think because he named the decades he was talking about "new metal."

Um, during the part where he was listing off decades, did you happen to miss his mention of 2000s prog metal?

until you referred to "The Big four" of metal being Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth, and Metallica.

As much as I love them, anyone who thinks Slayer and Anthrax are more popular or revered than Sabbath, Maiden, hell even Judas Priest or Pantera.

The rest of the review was spot on though. Good Job.

If I recall, those 4 artists have been referred to as that whenever they get together. It's not that he thinks those are the most popular(though that's still debatable)

Popularity's arguable at best, but that's not what the "Big 4" refers to. Those were the 4 that all broke out (roughly at the same time) in the US Thrash scene back in the day, and thus were called the "Big Four" at the time.

Sabbath, Priest, and Maiden though, are kind of in their own era, separate from the Thrash crowd.

Actually those 4 bands are officially known as the Big 4 of Thrash Metal. They've even performed concerts together as The Big 4.

Exactly.

When I first heard Gwen Stefanie's "Hey Baby" I seriously didn't think that was her singing that, I thought it was some other pop singer until I saw her perform it on SNL.


Man, was I in a shock.

The Big four is OFFICIALLY Slayer Megadeth Anthrax and Metallica.

why? because the full name is "The Big Four Thrash Metal Bands"
PanterA is groove metal, Sabbath and Maiden and Priest are NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal)

Man people need to learn some history about Metal.

Also the term 'Nu metal' has been bastardized by middle schoolers and mainstream talkers who dont really understand what experimentation is. and ill defend Korn and slipknot to the grave.

FINALLY SOMEONE FUCKING GETS IT! I never understand why every band since 1992 has been referred to as "nu metal" to the point where it's just a meaningless term and not a genre.

Those aren't the "Big 4" of metal in general. Those are the "Big 4" in thrash metal.

That's the only huge error I found in the video, though. It's a good list, except I can't help but feel nostalgic whenever I hear Hey Baby. Must be me, though.

While we're speaking of metal, though... As someone who's into every form of metal, I can understand why someone wouldn't like the general modern metal scene. If it isn't death/black metal trying to sound demonic, it's metalcore all sounding like the same pop song with screaming in it. Of coarse, that's through the eyes of someone who would probably prefer the Maiden and Sabbath days of metal.

Made me try to remember my password just so I could comment. That was a good list though it may have focused a little too much on the 80's-90's. It is understandable considering Sage's age but the historian in me would have enjoyed one that went back to the 50-70's range.

I also feel that the topic of this list was quite original and hope to see more such lists from Sage in the future.

Hmmm... 70's metal, 80's speed metal, alternative metal... but do you like BLACK METAL???

One might wager someone with a name like "Sage" could possibly be kvlt.

Personally i think black took death metal...and ignored what made a lot of death metals good parts and went with a laughable over the top and (lets be honest) silly style.

Death metal has gotten a little better with the rise in Melodeath metal. less tremolo picking and more arpeggios please!

I agree! At its worst it can sound like Cookie Monster after 4 cans of redbull.

And yet again I seem to be the only person in my age group on this entire planet that doesn't particularly care for metal. Neither old nor new. :/ Feels like high school all over again...



Anyways, interesting list. Though I can't say I've heard of many these songs. Incidentally, the Dire Straights are one of my mum's favorite bands, and she is pretty certain Twisting by the pool was meant as a parody. xD


Lastly, I can't help but think No Doubt's Hey Baby is what inspired 90% of all bad Black Eyed Peas songs...

Incidentally, you have a pretty metal name and avatar.

I wouldn't be surprised if alot and I mean ALOT of Mexican-Americans tried to protest the song "Illegal Immigrant" espically the part with the pimping your sister.


Or that it recieved some negative backlash from them.

You bring up No Doubt in this just on the coattails of their new single comeing out, Settle Down...it is far worse then Hey Baby. There isn't any tone consistency with Gwen Stefani's voice and the rhythm is trying to go back to the Jamaican beat but ends up having too many beats to keep the song going, always starting and stopping. If this is them trying to return as a band then it's a sickening return.

Don't really have a list of my own like this, but there are a few songs I have issues with from artists I like:

"Song for Nina Simone" by Zatopeks
"Even for an Eggshell" by The Menzingers
"Disconnected" by In Flames
"Fun Time" by A Wilhelm Scream
"Always have Paris" by The Apers
"There's a Skeleton in my Military Industrial Closet" by Cobra Skulls
"Heads Up Dusters!" by The Dopamines
Most songs off of The Offspring's last 2 albums.
Oh, and anything Ben Weasel's put out in the past decade.

In defense of "The Miracle", I think you're forgetting the context the song was written in. When he wrote the song, Freddie had only recently found out that he had AIDS, which was a death sentence back then, so I've always thought it was about how he began to cherish life more as a result.

Come to think of it, the lyrics may actually be a Mercury/Deacon collaboration. Starting with The Miracle, the songwriting credits simply went to "Queen", so the true writers weren't revealed, but I can hear some of Freddie in it, but some of the sappier moments sound more like John's lyrics.

I read something completely different into The Miracle, that Queen were almost denouncing the grand concept of the miracle.

The opening is about people asking for a miracle to solve their problems, that the problem is so huge and complex that it requires devine intervention to fix it and you then you get Queen essentialy saying STFU.

"You want a miracle? Fine Open heart surgery, manmade fucking miracle. Taj Mahal, manmade fucking miracle. Being able to have a nice cuo of tea on a Sunday morning (especially if you are a Brit) is a God damn fucking miracle in and of itself. Everyday someone creates some sort of "miracle" so we donty need divine intervention, we make the "miracle" happen".

I felt that the St. Anger album was where Metallica was on its peak of mainstream success, but became the shit stain in the millions of underwear worn by Metallica fans. Every song on the album is weak as hell. They were trying to go for some post-grunge, nu-metal, rock sound that did not work for them. Their previous albums made in the 90's prior were better than St. Anger.

But the madness doesn't stop there. Like Sage says, the album was a big attempt to return to their original roots while in their mainstream form. By having a big MTV celebration of St. Anger and the band itself (yeah the album was that good it needed a fuckin' celebration). The first half of the celebration consisted of widely popular artists at the time to cover some of their songs. ie. Sum 41 covered Master of Puppets and Enter the Sandman (I think), Avril Lavigne covered Fuel, Korn covered One (which was actually not bad considering it was short), and finally, Snoop Dog covering Sad But True.......Fucking Snoop Dog.....of all people covering Metallica.......It's worse than when Nickelback did their take on the song. Overall, St. Anger is the worst Metallica album of all time.

Ah, yes, Tin Machine. A mediocre project formed on the heels of the WORST period of Bowie's career, which found him pitted against uninspired songwriting and bland presentation to form what amounts to a rather blasphemous combination, considering his inimitable streak of unwavering awesomeness between 1969 and 1986.

Always nice to catch a reference to Echo & the Bunnymen in this type of list as well... can you tell I'm a fan?

hey sage. have you been hunting for ideas off of ranker? because I have made a list on there that was same subject as this.
http://www.ranker.com/ list/the-worst-songs- from-great-acts/kaylive

just say its a bit more resent but same idea. I guess i know how you feel.

Why no love for new metal? You should go check bands like Devil´s Blood, Blood Ceremony, Royal Thunder and Vektor. You can thank me later!

When he says that, I believe he's referring to "Nu Metal", not new metal. He even said he loved a lot of Prog metal from the 2000's.

That would be more understandable, that genres not exactly filled with highlights :p. Though i love Deftones.

NU metal. not NEW metal.

NU metal is a wrongfully generic term for a genre of metal that was closer to rap rock because it used rapping, djs, and other no traditional instruments. Like Limp Bizkit.
personally i divide Nu metal into 2 groups

True Nu Metal (slipknot, Korn, Otep, Kittie, Powerman 5000, rob zombie)

And Bastard Nu Metal (limp Bizkit, alien Ant farm, any band with a damn number in their name)

the difference being True Nu metal has similarities to Groove metal and is pretty awesome.

Bastard Nu metal (which unfortunately out numbers true) is complete bull shit and sounds terrible.

I can only stand two Nu metal bands, and I love them, but that's because they're a bit more prog rock. SOAD and Disturbed. I never even considered them metal until I learned what Nu metal was.

Okay. In the Queen song, "Miracle", why do I suddenly want to say, "@*#&$^% magnets: how do they work?"

I wouldn´t call songs like Fixxxer and Outlaw Torn a sellout move. Load and Reload features lots of intricate songs, brilliant albums and actually not really that mainstream, except for the singles.

St. anger was pretty bad though (except for songs like dirty window and a couple of other tracks. There´s some good stuff in most of the songs, but it´s buried under lousy and drawn out song structures), same goes for Death magnetic and Lulu... I miss Newstead.

I should have guessed that No Doubt would pop up, love that band, but damn Rocksteady was dreadful (except for a couple of good tracks). And the new single is pretty bad too :(. Luckily i just discovered the band Dexys midnight runners, they sound like a mix of good No Doubt and The Cure.

Death Magnetic is acclaimed by critics and fans alike as them returning to more thrash roots.
how is it bad?

I think the songs are overly long with to much copy pasting of mediocre riffs and subpar segues between riffs. And what happened to Kirk Hammett? He used to write good solos, on this album i thought most of his solos were somewhat bland.Hetfield sings like shit and the production (both the loudness and the flat tones on both lead and rhytm guitars) is awful to me. I really don´t have much good to say about the album, i´ve tried to like it but the more i listen to it, the more i hate it. There´s a couple of good moments, such as the beginning of The Day That Never Comes, and i like most of All Nightmare Long.

I think it´s just bland, and i know they can do better. I guess it´s just differing opinion, but for some reason i actually rank this as one of their absolute worst albums.

"Acclaimed" is a rather strong way of putting it. It's abit more of a return to metal form, but it still has problems. I enjoy it, but it's still not there.

No. It isn't. At all. It might be acclaimed by you, but I've never heard any other metalhead say they like Death Magnetic.
Besides, you barely understand the fact that Nu Metal wasn't really metal, it was just alternative rock trying to sound like Groove. So I don't really think you're the best person to voice your opinion on the topic.

Is it wrong that I sang along to half of these songs on the top ten list? *blushes*


I....kinda like St. Anger to be honest.

*flinches at the beer bottles that will be thrown her way*

ill defend St. Anger...any other metal band and it would have been acceptable. but metallica was going through trouble and Jason Newsted just left and ect.
And while its kinda clunky and the poorest of Metallica, it isnt totally untenable.
plus ill argue that if the album St. Anger was rerecorded it would sound pretty damn good.

luckily we dont need that because Death Magnetic was when they realized they needed to step up their game. And by god they did. In fact the Big Four's albums released from 2008 (Death Magnetic) 2009 (World Painted Blood) 2010 (Endgame) and 2011 (Worship Music and Thirteen)
Actually restarted the Thrash Metal trend. Dont believe me? Go to youtube and just search.

No they didn't restart the Thrash Metal trend, it had actually come back pretty hard before that with a great uprising of new thrash bands like Evile, Skeletonwitch, Municipal Waste, and others. Before all of those albums, there was a huge surge of thrash and is actually nicknamed The New Wave of Thrash Metal. The Big Four put the big stamp down on it, basically bringing it to the pinnacle by having the legends get together for the first tour that ever had them all together.

WHat i meant was that the success of those albums helped make thrash BOOM regardless of what band came out when.

Eh, have yet to listen to a single reviewer I have the same taste in music with.

Don't know much about Dire Straights, except that the people who did the animation for that video also did ReBoot. Now they're stuck doing tripe like Strawberry Shortcake, those poor sons of b**ches. ::head shake::

As soon as the vocalists start singing, all songs become mumbling gibberish to me, probably because I grew up listening to music in 7 different languages. When you say a song is bad because of the lyrics, if agree that song is bad, it's because I either hate the tune or think the vocalist doesn't have a singing voice. Lyrics just don't mean s**t to me.

Like it or not "We Didn't Star the Fire" seems to be on every "greatest of the 80s" CD I've ever seen in a store.

I will agree with you that 90s Bowie's is "meh" though. It's like when Gackt left Malice Mizer & went solo; still has a great voice but the music beyond the first album just doesn't hold your attention. (I used Gackt because everyone calls him the Japanese David Bowie). Bowie was a gorgeous man with a sexy voice, but his best album was the soundtrack to Labyrinth.

Lol, just last night, Josh on an old podcast of Lost in the Static was saying that "Metallica sold out."

Okay...I did totally own No Doubt's first album.

Mmm...Can't really think of any REM or Phill Collins songs from the 80s that annoy me. Now Phill...I always secretly suspected that he wasn't singing in English.

As average as We Are All on Drugs is, I'm shocked you didn't mention anything off of Rattitude (If You're Wondering if I Want You To[I Want You To], I'm Your Daddy), especially the first one. I personally rather listen to Make Believe all day before Rattitude. Rattitude is the definition of selling out. What made you pick We Are All on Drugs over the two singles on Rattitude?


(so are all the Linkin Park songs made after Bay had them do a song for Transformers). Though calling them a good band is a challenge and I'd understand arguments for the negative.

Your account of Bowie in the 80's (and thus your choice for his worst song), is pretty seriously flawed. In truth, after 1980's Scary Monsters album, Bowie's supposedly "awesome" 80's reputation rests *solely* on the first three (admittedly spectacular) tracks from 1983's Let's Dance album: the title track, Modern Love, and China Girl. That's it. The rest of that album is utterly forgettable, and 1984's follow-up Tonight was a huge disappointment aside from the pleasant enough single "Blue Jean" (which seems to have been largely forgotten as well). Aside from a couple of soundtrack songs which may have stood out in their movies but would have never passed muster on a "real" album, the only other 80's Bowie product we got before he disappeared into Tin Machine was the utterly abominable Never Let Me Down, featuring the true nadir of his career, the heavily hyped & tragically bad single "Day In-Day Out". That single, album & tour were all such a (deservedly) high-profile disaster that even the mediocre-at-best Tin Machine was recognized as a clear step up.

... Bowie being a personal role model since the age of two, but I'll try my best.

I wouldn't say flawed... biased, maybe. Sage has stated that Bowie, in the nineties, did a completely different type of music than he used to in the eighties- in my opinion, though, the biggest turning point happened between the seventies and the eighties. Music, as well as the way it was percieved by the audience, was changing dramatically fast (adapting into a format which was likely to be played in clubs, seeing a new kind of artists privileging the rhythm, the sheer beat, over lyrical and musical ingeniosity emerge, and such.) Bowie had to adapt in order to continue attracting people. And people, keen to dance and forget all the drama, reacted well.

Thus the so-called "dance trilogy", which, while it gave him an even bigger exposure (and yes, he was really hype in the eighties)- is the weakest point on his career for me as well. What I found missing there was his capacity to experiment, to look for original sounds and atmospheres, which is kind of his trademark... That's why I like Tin Machine. True, it was over-hyped and built as the perfect dream team, but with Tin Machine at least, Bowie had space to try on things, and I could mention some remarkable songs -once again, only by my very personal point of view- as You Belong in Rock'n'roll, Amlapura or Baby Universal to name only a few...

The nineties were a time of violent contrast with the past decade, for the very reason he kept on experimenting, and made music more subjective than all of his eighties hits- up to the point that some complained. When "Outside" came out, a significant part of those which had been Bowie fans beforeward were turned off and gave up the ship, saying it was "too dark for him".

Only a matter of taste, I assume. But they should've said "too dark for them"

(Speaking of taste- where do you put Cat People? Sage's right, that song is way too good for the movie that played it!)

Love Sage but as my name suggests theres one bit I disagree with, still good video

Say what you will about "We Didn't Start the Fire," but Billy Joel really knocks it out of the park when he plays it live. Witness a rendition in concert and it might (somewhat) change your mind.

Edited to add:
Good call on #1. While I've never been an REM fan, I have heard enough of their material to find "Shiny Happy People" fairly baffling in terms of its style. I know the band has done up-tempo songs before, but I always thought they should've just given this particular track to Kate Pierson's group (the B-52's) rather than have her collaborate with them.

St. Anger was the inevitable result of the path Metallica had been on since the Black album. You aren't a hipster for calling Metallica sellouts, they've called themselves as much and wear the badge with pride. Shitheads.

The main difference between the first no doubt album and the rest is that Gwens brother who was main cowriter on the songs died between albums. This is an interesting list and it breaks my heart to see a Queen song there but I cant disagree with you.

No no, he didn´t die, he left because he was fed up with the whole process, too many producers medling with his vision and Gwen Stefani hogging all the atention.

That´s how i understood it, anyway.
I think he works with animation these days.

Hey sorry its been ages since you replied to my comment i didnt get any notification of a reply. I stand corrected though. He isnt dead. Their music went downhill most after he left though still. Thanks for the correction.

OK list except i didnt understand top 3.. In my opinion those songs are normal for those bands, nothing different from theirs other songs... Thought i dont like any of those bands...

Lastly... Metallica suck hard i never liked it's one of the worst bands i ever heard. Whole band have just 2 good things:
1. I heard that they are breaking up.
2. Best thing is that they kicked Mustaine and he formed Megadeth, which is one of the best bands i know.

If your hating on Metallica purely on their post-2000 releases, your sorely missing out on damn good metal lol And no, Metallica isn't breaking up, and yes Megadeth kicks ass clearly cause of my avatar lol

I'm a little disappointed you didn't mention Dennis Leary railing on rem for happy shiny people! And if this were my list i would have put st. anger at no. 1 because i've never held any esteem for no doubt any shiny happy people has never really bothered me too much. I'm a little curious tho, why did you single out 90s bowie as bad when 80s bowie was just as bad? wasn't scary monsters and super creeps the last good album he put out................

I'm there with ya on a couple bands. Judas Priest, a band I only got hooked too in the past few years (beyond their hits) and that album is such a departure from everything. About the only good thing that came from it, was that it drove Priest to make the most badass metal record they could with Painkiller :D

St. Anger was another disappointment, coming out at a time when I was still in my early metal stages. I had the love for Metallica and Megadeth, and many others and hearing they were gonna be doing another "metal" album had me excited. I bought that album and definitely regretted it. I can stand maybe...2 songs on it, but there were so many poor choices with that album. From tone, to drums, to lyrics, to a lack of solo's, it was so sad. Death Magnetic made up for abit of it, but that album has some faults of it's own to work out if they want to make a truly great new album.

If there is anything I love about No Doubt, it's Tragic Kingdom. That album was fantastic for me. It's really the only thing I knew of the band, but seeing them do dance pop like Hey Baby is just crushes my heart. I don't think I could call Tragic Kingdom the best of the 90's, but it is definitely an album I immediately think of from that time in my life.

You should check out Beacon Street collection, the album that came prior to Tragic Kingdom. Same style and lots of great songs, try listening to Snakes in the Basket, Total Hate 95 (especially the awesome reggae breakdown) or Greener pastures.

I will! I've been meaning to check out their older stuff to see if it compares to Tragic Kingdom, so I'll give it a listen :D

It´s not as consistently good as Tragic, but the highlights are great. The first one also has it´s charm, though it´s very different.

I would also recomend checking Return of Saturn, if you haven´t heard it, though it´s a departure from their usual style, it´s still a very good record.

I hate to be that guy. I really really do. The offspring did have like 2 or 3 ska songs, but they were a punk band. But yeah, bands like Mighty mighty bosstones, Reel big fish, & No Doubt were big in the 90s, and it was pretty rad.

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AHHHH not Rush 'Time Stands Still'!! Take it away! I'm a big Rush fan and even seeing those little clips between the choices make me cringe. Shame that some people were put off Rush by their synth era, because 'Signals', 'Grace Under Pressure' and 'Power Windows' are pretty good (especially 'Signals').

Anyway, yeah interesting list. To be fair, you had to go with Tin Machine for Bowie. What WAS he thinking? Though I'm not sure if I agree with your assessment of 80s Bowie - sure Scary Monsters was excellent and Let's Dance is a fun record, but didn't he record 'Tonight' and 'Never Let Me Down', probably his two worst albums before Tin Machine? Meh whatever ;) He was in 'Labyrinth' so that redeems them I suppose!

Man I remember listening to 'Turbo Lover' for the first time and I still feel insulted. How could the artist that made 'Sad Wins of Destiny', 'British Steel' and Screaming for Vengeance' make this? At least Judas Priest redeemed themselves (with Painkiller and EVENTUALLY with Angel of Retribution).
And I'm glad you are flying the flag for Dire Straits. They are strangely underrated. :)

Thanks Bennett, I had totally put 'Illegal Alien' out of my mind! XD

I do truly despise 'St. Anger', not just the song, but the whole album. Metallica probably are my favourite of the Big Four, but for their first five albums only. I feel the other bands never quite reach the heights of those albums (well maybe 'Reign In Blood', 'Among the Living', 'Peace Sells' and 'Rust in Peace' come close). I really do love 'The Black Album' - people seem to forget that while there are a couple of more mainstream, softer songs, a lot of them are VERY heavy (just see Sad But True, Hoiler Than Thou, Of Wolf and Man etc). 'Load and 'ReLoad', while they did have some decent songs, were marred by piss-poor production and over indulgence. 'St. Anger' is just irritating and doesn't work - at all. For the record, I think 'Death Magnetic' is a pretty average record. ALL the new albums by the other members of the Big Four eclipse it (especially Anthrax's 'Worship Music').

And great number 1 choice. I love R.E.M., but this just makes me feel sick :|

Anyway, great list I do enjoy your music videos :)

#10 This song inspired me to write my own song, it goes something like this "This song is so lame, it almost killed my brain".
#5 I didn't expect to see Queen in this list, but yeah, this has to be their worst song.
#3 Why why why why why WHY DOES THIS SONG EXIST!? Fuck you Metallica! You suck!
#2 KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!
#1 So that's what they were showing to Alex in the Clockwork Orange. No wonder why he was screaming in agony.

I haven't signed in to this site in AGES but I have to rally in defense of Rush's 'synth' period. It's bashed way too much amongst the 'metal head' types of fans who think that Tom Sawyer and 2112 are the only good Rush songs. Grace Under Pressure is my favorite Rush album, Power Windows is awesome, and they STILL play 'Time Stand Still' at their live shows, so they must have done something right.

Now if we're talking about worst videos... yeah, Time Stand Still is kind of embarassing looking back on it now. Still, it's better than Stick it Out. Guy tied to a chair sitting on top of a pole for most of the video... oh you 90s wierdo grunge videos!

I don't think he was bashing Time Stand Still, he just needed some song to play between entries.