Essential Metallica: Their 30 greatest songs, ranked
As the metal titans release their 12th studio album, 72 Seasons, here's a look at the tracks that define their four-decade journey
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Metallica may have started out as thrash titans, but over the course of more than 40 years the band has explored a wide range of music, even venturing into more commercial arenas. Not surprisingly, the passionate (and sometimes vehement) debates among fans over Metallica’s best work depends on what those fans love most about a band that matured rapidly and frequently pushed themselves beyond their comfort zone.
Now with 12 studio albums under their belt—the band’s latest, 72 Seasons, was released last week—and a two-year worldwide tour launching later this month, it’s a good time to look back at the best tracks from Metallica’s extensive catalog. Not every song here would necessarily be expected by all fans, but that’s in keeping with Metallica’s own restless journey as one of the world’s foremost metal bands.
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Respect for not defaulting to One or Master of Puppets at the top of this list, but Stranger Things got it right: Master of Puppets should be 1.
Creeping Death is a little unoriginal as I can’t hear the lyrics without thinking it’s the thrash version of DeMille’s Ten Commandments via Sunday School lesson.
That’s probably because they wrote the song after watching the Ten Commandments on TV.
heck, respect for not defaulting to enter sandman.
i agree intellectually that master of puppets is a ‘better’ tune, but i can’t deny – creeping death was the tune that blew my 7-year-old mind.
Metallica is undoubtedly one of the most iconic and influential heavy metal bands of all time. However, they are also known for their strong opinions and willingness to speak out against things they dislike. One of the things that Metallica has publicly expressed their distaste for are AVClub slideshows. Here are 10 things that Metallica hates about AVClub slideshows.They’re ClickbaitMetallica has publicly criticized AVClub slideshows for being clickbait. They believe that the slideshows are designed to lure people in with sensational headlines and then force them to click through multiple pages to see the content.They’re AnnoyingMetallica has also criticized AVClub slideshows for being annoying. They believe that the constant need to click through multiple pages to see the content is frustrating and time-consuming.They’re DisrespectfulMetallica has expressed their belief that AVClub slideshows are disrespectful to their fans. They believe that their fans deserve to have access to their content without having to jump through hoops or be subjected to annoying advertisements.They’re UnprofessionalMetallica has criticized AVClub slideshows for being unprofessional. They believe that the slideshows lack the necessary level of quality and attention to detail that their fans expect.They’re InsultingMetallica has also criticized AVClub slideshows for being insulting. They believe that the slideshows treat their fans like they are not intelligent enough to read an entire article or view a piece of content in one place.They’re A Waste of TimeMetallica has publicly stated that they believe AVClub slideshows are a waste of time. They believe that their fans would be better served by having access to their content in a more efficient and user-friendly manner.They’re DistractingMetallica has criticized AVClub slideshows for being distracting. They believe that the constant need to click through multiple pages and be bombarded with advertisements takes away from the overall experience of consuming their content.They’re FrustratingMetallica has also criticized AVClub slideshows for being frustrating. They believe that the slideshows are intentionally designed to frustrate their fans and force them to spend more time on the website.They’re ClutteredMetallica has expressed their belief that AVClub slideshows are cluttered. They believe that the slideshows are filled with unnecessary content and advertisements that detract from the overall experience.They’re OutdatedFinally, Metallica has criticized AVClub slideshows for being outdated. They believe that the slideshows are a relic of a bygone era of internet content and that their fans deserve something more modern and user-friendly.In conclusion, Metallica is a band that is known for speaking their mind and not being afraid to criticize things they dislike. Their criticism of AVClub slideshows is just one example of their willingness to speak out against things they believe are harmful to their fans and the overall user experience. While some may disagree with their opinions, it’s clear that Metallica is a band that truly cares about their fans and their experience of consuming their content.
Leaving off “Enter Sandman” is bold. I wouldn’t have done it, but you know what? Slow clap.“Sad But True” was ruined forever by Kid Rock.“…And Justice For All” might be my favorite song of theirs. It feels a little derivative of “Master of Puppets” but I think it’s actually more mature and musically far more interesting.
I’d say that’s an even more performative omission than Stand on the REM list.Anyway, where’s Thick as a Brick?
Possibly, but I think it’s feasible for someone to hate all of the black album except the three songs they did choose.As for “Stand”, that’s like their novelty hit in my book. Even the band has called it (deliberately) inane and stupid.
Check out The Hu’s version of “Sad but True.” Arguably better than the original, and that’s my favorite song on the Black album. Do agree with leaving Sandman off. Kind of their “Born in the USA.” Not bad, but not even in the top half of their catalogue.
St Vincent did a really good cover of “Sad But True” – it’s a menacing yet sexy version of a very dumb song (by contrast, Metallica’s cover of “Loverman” was a very dumb version of a menacing yet sexy song).I would say that And Justice For All is derivative of Master of Puppets, not just the song but the entire album. But I like how distinctive the arrangements and production are – as much shit as the production gets, that album sounds different.
Yet “Nothing Else Matters” is in the top 10. Every Guitar Center wanker ruined Sandman for me, but the track is still significant enough to be in the top 10, if not top 5.
This list essentially says “Frantic” is better than “Enter Sandman”. I don’t know how anyone could agree with that. Yes, Enter Sandman is way overplayed, but it’s still a great tune. I also haven’t regularly listened to anything outside of my own music collection in ~10 years, so I can enjoy some of the more overplayed songs again.
It’s bold the same way that leaving Stairway to Heaven off a Zeppelin list or Satisfaction off a Stones list is bold. Just because they’re overplayed doesn’t mean they’re not great songs.
True, but “great” and “30 greatest” are not the same thing.
Are you honestly going to tell me that Fixxer, Frantic, or Junior fucking Dad belong on this list more than Enter Sandman?
Me? No. Bryan Reeseman is. I’ve never heard those songs.
As someone that decries metal gatekeepers, I’d still probably have almost exclusively tracks from their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th albums, with one or two tracks from the 1st and 5th. And then nothing. I won’t say they stopped being good when the songs simplified, but I personally think they stopped being interesting or exciting and that the quality dropped from the soaring highs that came before
At this point people have been bashing the quality of Metallica’s “new stuff” for more than 30 years, so lists like this one exist in a weird space. You can’t just rehash their three best albums the 80s, and I appreciate that they found some love for weird shit like Lulu and the back half of Reload. Reload was my first Metallica album as a tween in the 90s, so I have a lot of affection for it. Still, I couldn’t tell you how “Fixxxer” goes, even though I just listened to it (“Low Man’s Lyric” is the much, much better deep cut from that period). I wonder if young people who got into Metallica 10 or 15 years ago have similar affection for their (IMO) unlistenable 21st-century albums. I can think of very few things I’d enjoy less than listening to St Anger or Death Magnetic, but I’m sure there are people who love them.
At this point people have been bashing the quality of Metallica’s “new stuff” for more than 30 years, so lists like this one exist in a weird space.
Same sort of story with Iron Maiden. There are plenty out there now who will cheerfully deny that they’ve released anything good since about 1988.
Me, I love it when bands try to do things differently now and again. They can’t all be AC/DC.
Those are people that have never listened to The Wicker Man. That song could have come straight off any of the 80s Maiden albums.
It’s my ringtone.
The last two albums have been a little self-indulgent, but there’s still plenty of great stuff released by them since 2000. Paschendale off Dance of Death is quite possibly the best thing that they’ve ever done.
“Same sort of story with Iron Maiden. There are plenty out there now who will cheerfully deny that they’ve released anything good since about 1988.”Brave New World was great. Especially “Blood Brothers”—-man, I love that song.But they kind of lost me after “Dance of Death”. It seems like the last few releases have been a lot of the same just not quite as good or energetic (they are getting old).
Im one of those who loves St Anger, but I guess only because it was my first Metallica album. Teenage bias is strong. I don’t really mess with the two albums that followed, though each has a few good cuts (namely the ones mentioned in this list and the title track Hardwired). As for 72 Seasons… what a painful and long listen. I’d say only Lux Aeterna survives from that.
If I had to replace Fixxxer with something from the Load/Reload era it would probably be a toss up between The Outlaw Torn, Devil’s Dance or, if need be, Better Than You. But that’s just my opinion.
I think to your point, the fact that’s it’s been fashionable to bash Metallica’s new stuff long enough for it to have had kids really messes with things. It’s sort of meant that musical discussion has always been married to the idea of “the later stuff” is bad, it just depends on you when that “later stuff” was. That’s a lot of different people who are going to disagree about when Metallica was “past their prime.”
I see downthread someone talking about Fixxxer which is one of my favorite songs. I think ultimately the later stuff says far more about James Hetfield than the early stuff did. That’s probably why I tend to play the later stuff more over time.
Even the most hardcore Metallica fan will admit the drop in quality was abysmal after the black album.
They’ve come back a bit in the last 5-10 years. The lyrics aren’t as strong, the riffs aren’t as exciting, but they still get your head banging.
I’m surprised The Call of Ktulu isn’t on the list.
It’s not quite as good as “Orion,” but then again the list includes “Trapped Under Ice,” which is the second-lamest song on that album. Personally, I’m sad that “Sanitarium” isn’t on the list, because those solos are awesome and you can sing any five syllables along with the chorus. For example, “We’re Metallica.” Or “time to brush your teeth.” Or, my favorite, “Take the garbage out.” It makes taking the garbage out much more dramatic.
The inclusion of That Was Just Your Life alone makes this list great. That song is criminally overlooked, esp. in comparison to Spit Out the Bone (which people seem to think is the only “true” Thrash song Metallica has released in the 2000s, which is just asinine).
Also, My Apocalypse from that same album.
I mean, the album is pretty solid, all said. Spit Out the Bone is fire though.
“Wherever I May Roam” missing? lol
You know, you don’t have to include EVERY album on lists like these. Two songs from Reload seems like two too many. And I think we can all agree only the fart-sniffingest Metallica fans have reverence for Lulu …
The fact that there’s a single song from St. Anger is a fucking meathook abortion of a choice. Metallica’s shitty nu-metal phase.And instead – HOLY FUCKING CHRIST, THIS HAPPENED, THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED – of a song off Lulu……if you wanted a song that had a classic singer on it, where’s “The Memory Remains” with Maryanne Faithfull? Not strictly metal, but a damn good slab of 90s rock. Or the excellent cover of “Whiskey In The Jar” – a song who’s film clip is mostly notable for poor Kirk looking bored as fuck because he’s stoking the engine room and let James take the solo?
concurred! ‘the memory remains’ is an awesome song; weird that it was left out.
Seconding the love for The Memory Remain.
Thirding, though I’d opt for the S&M version.
A song about faded Hollywood fame on a pop culture site? Not on the LA AV Club’s watch, apparently.Plus, killer clip:I’m a sucker for the “filmed in a small grungy room with old furniture” postmodern aesthetic of so many songs from the 90s. Oasis’ “Morning Glory” comes to mind, or the Aussie version of Silverchair’s “Tomorrow”, or Prodigy’s “Breathe”.
You’re not the first person to post the “Whiskey in the Jar” video, so I’m going to reiterate that late-90s fashion really suited James Hetfield. [Wolf whistle] Garage Inc is a weird one though – none of the songs are all that different from the originals, and it’s hard to like any of them more. I guess their arrangement of “Sabbra Cadabra” is clever, and their cover of “Tuesday’s Gone” is memorably weird, but “Whiskey in the Jar” is just a Thin Lizzy song with noisier production and a worse singer. Ditto “Die Die My Darling.”
If they were going to include a song from every album, we’d have No Leaf Clover and something from Garage, Inc. (Whiskey in the Jar, Die Die My Darling or the Mercyful Fate medly would get my vote). Instead we get Frantic and whatever fucking song they did with Lou Reed that six people have listened to.
I know this list is of Metallica’s original songs, but I have a great appreciation for all their cover tunes as, especially Stone Cold Crazy, So What and the entire Garage Days EP.
Garage Days, especially “Last Caress”, was legendary in middle school before I even started listening to Metallica.
Cover of Turn the Page is fantastic.
Metallica is an all time great band and their covers illustrate their musicianship and a love of music that is infectious. There are so many good ones but Whiskey in the Jar is my favorite.
This is a standard for when I go out for drinks.
That video was so generic it was almost experimental back in the late 90s. More importantly, though – I’d forgotten how James Hetfield could fill out a tshirt 25 years ago. God damn. Kirk Hammett’s suit, on the other hand…
“Blitzkrieg” and “The Wait” deserve to be on this list too, but I understand why he only went with original compositions.
“Am I Evil” as well. It was always a staple of their live set
My favorite cover is So What. That’s the angriest of angry songs, and I fucking love it when I need it.
Well who cares, who cares? YOU DO!
So this prompted me to dig into Holocaust (“The Small Hours”) today. Their earliest album on Spotify, The Nightcomers, is kind of generic rock, but wow, is the influence there, especially the song “Death or Glory”. The 1992 album Hypnosis of Birds, I liked a lot. It has “The Small Hours”, though obviously Metallica heard it much earlier somewhere.
Blackened ranked so low is ridiculous.
Not much love in general for Metallica’s arguably best or second best album, AJFA. My rank would be MoP, AJFA, RDL, KeA the black album. The remaining albums are mostly unforgettable garbage.
Not much love in general for Metallica’s arguably best or second best album, AJFA. My rank would be MoP, AJFA, RDL, KeA the black album. The remaining albums are mostly unforgettable garbage.I would agreed with your ranking, but maybe switch Ride for AJFA. I saw Metallica with Cliff for the MoP tour and only saw them one other time for the AJFA tour with Jason. Both times they were great (Lars was even a decent drummer then), but I think the band died with Cliff to be honest. I think AJFA was just the residual heat left over from when Cliff was still in the band.
I’m not a fan of the Black album, but I don’t begrudge anyone for liking it – at least the production was good. Why Metallica has released so many sonically bad albums after that is a head scratcher.
I wasn’t a big fan of the black album either, but has grown on me over the years…especially after attempting to listen to the albums that came after. I vividly recall trying to stomach my way through Load and Re-Load when they came out during high school years.
Yeah, that’s a top 5 song on my list for sure…
No Leper Messiah?? Denied!
At a certain point the list can’t be all the songs from Master of Puppets interspersed with songs from other albums, even though that’s the only reasonable way of doing it. They peaked so high with that album they’ve been riding the down-slope for 37 years.
“The Day that Never Comes” is a hack job of their past epics with recycled riffs and generic rhythms. Wouldn’t put in anywheres near the top of any Metallica list.Heck, its not even the best song on that album, that being “That was just your Life”. I’d even argue “Cyanide” and “My Apocalypse” are better written.“Sweet Amber” from Taint Dangler deserves more love. But, at least you didn’t include the awful lyric’d title track on this list.
I really like Sweet Amber and The Unnamed Feeling. Frantic is not good, though. I don’t get how that one made the list.
I like Frantic. Its one of the few songs on that album that flows pretty well, IMHO.
Right on. I guess “not good” was too strong. I just can’t handle the lyrics and Hetfield’s voice on the song.
To be fair, the lyrics on the entire album are pretty embarrassing.
Yes to “Sweet Amber”. And the remixed/edited “Some Kind of Monster” is good too. Maybe not “Top 30 songs” good but… let’s face it, with so many albums and tracks, which includes several unquestioned classics, the “real” Top 30 was probably all going to be the exact same songs we all expected (and so it should have been).A better article would have been “best/most underrated deep cuts”, for which I would propose “Wherever I May Roam” (though I’m not sure if anything from that album can really be considered a “deep cut”… still, its lack of inclusion is unforgivable), “Astronomy”, and “King Nothing” as tracks which deserve a second (and third, and fourth) look.
“Through the Never” is as close to a perfect pop metal song ever written.
“One” is still my favorite.
Same! Especially live.
I ping-pong between Battery And One as my fave, but One is definitely the better song.
Oh, come on…Dyers Eve belongs in the top 10, which should be mostly songs from Master of Puppets and AJFA.
Damage, Inc. and Harvester of Sorrow should be on here. At least top 15 for me. Also Metallica’s last great song, No Leaf Clover.
You’re wrong, Frantic is better than Damage Inc and Harvester. Somehow. In some universe…
Man, I forgot about Harvester, there were so many other bad choices already. Fuck this list.
I guess you are the authority here. Thanks for correcting me. I forgot how much I loved the drum snare on Frantic.
In all seriousness to me the most frustrating thing about St. Anger to me is that it (IMO) had the potential to be a good album. The bones of good songs are there, but they aren’t fully fleshed out. Add the horrendous production on top of that and it never had a chance. Recent live performances of some of those songs show that it could have been much better.
Yes I agree with you on St. Anger being potentially being a good album if it had better production. I actually like St. Anger more than Hardwired and definitely more than 72 Seasons. You can find some remasters on Youtube where the “fixed” the drum sound. This is how I prefer to listen to St. Anger.
I could live with the terrible production if there was actually lead guitar on that album, that’s what really kills it for me. There are some decent riffs, but when you play them ad nauseum with no interesting leads or solos to break them up they get old real fast.
You don’t even need to do that—-the original cd shipped with a DVD of the “studio live” performance of the entire album, and it sounds MUCH better than the actual CD.
How have I never seen this rehearsal video? I wish they would do a proper remaster and fix the awful drum sound. It really just kills it for me. Such a shame a great song like Frantic is made worse because of it.
There was no rescuing that album from the horrific lyrics.
Eh, I give a bit of a pass to them simply because it seems like something Hetfield needed to do to get through that time of his life. It’s not an album I revisit often though. When I do it’s only to see if it’s as bad as I remember it being. It is.
I’m sad No Leaf Clover didn’t make the list. I think it’s my all-time favorite.
One of Kirk’s best solos, but I was a bit let down when I found out that he never played it the way you hear it on the original album track—-its apparently a mash-up of two nights.Kinda like finding out that Mike McCready ripped off the legendary solo from “Alive” from BOTH Ace Frehley (“She”) and Robbie Krieger (“Five to One”).IIRC, he outright said it in a Guitar World article “I basically just copied Kiss’ “She””
That’s a shame to hear. I’ve been hoping for a definitive studio version of it on an album since S&M first debuted, and 23 years later…nothin’. However, a band from the UK called Damnation Angels does a pretty solid cover of it.
Very good list. Good to see Disposable Heroes and Ain’t My Bitch get a well deserved mention… The former would probably be up there in my own top 30, vying for the top spot. Orion’s ranking is well deserved, too. Not so sure about Jump In The Fire…
I think they put the wrong “fire” song on the list, as Fight Fire With Fire is absent. You almost have to pair it with RTL, what a killer 1-2 opening to an album.
Putting anything on this last past the Black Album is laughable.
I agree with you, and I’m someone who enjoys their post Black Album work (sans Anger) quite a bit.
Nah, there’s some worthwhile stuff. Even skipping the stuff on the list here, you should see something from Garage Inc, plus No Leaf Clover, and All Nightmare Long.
There’s some good shit on Load and DM. I’m especially fond of “The House that Jack Built”. Its such a desolate song.
I mean, there is no real doubt this was written by an AI, right?
To Live Is To Die and Bleeding Me are the big omissions for me.At this point I think Metallica could use an editor. I think there are some really good songs on the later albums, but there’s also too much junk. Did Hardwired really need to be a two-disc album? Did seemingly every song conceived during Load and Reload need to be released? 75+ minutes isn’t necessary.
I agree with your point 110%, and I think it’s something that effects many artists in the digital age, not just Metallica. Hardwired could have been a phenomenal album if they’d been forced to edit it down to ~60 minutes. I just finished my first playthrough of 72 Seasons, and I’d make the same comment about it.
Also of note—-part of “To Live is To Die” is the entire reason Mikael Akerfeldt was inspired to start making metal music. Or so he says.
Opeth is best metal band still touring now. I’ve seen them live twice now and they keep getting better as musicians.
Axe just left—they got a new guy now, supposedly a little more loose like Lopez used to be.
I think Axe is a good drummer, but he never had the groove that Lopez had. I think he got better the longer he was in the band though. I think that was the best lineup of the band was when Lopez was behind the kit. I haven’t heard the new drummer yet, but I’m sure he’s awesome.
I agree. I’m a huge fan of Lopez—-I followed him to Soen. His feel and sense of dynamics was always something I felt Axe lacked, even if Axe was a technical monster.
One song in, and fuck this list.
With thirty songs, you can and should drop in entire albums (basically anything on the first 5 albums, and most of the Black Album), before you get to fucking “Frantic”. It’s not a bad song, but compared to what came before, it’s not even in the same league.
Alright, back to reading.
Ok, finished reading. I stand by my original statement: fuck this list.
No Sandman at all? Is it overplayed? No doubt. Is it still one of the most badass riffs of all time? Sure is.
Puppets is number one. If I squint on the right day, I could maybe see Creeping Death falling in there, but I think if you took a poll right now- or even a year ago, before Stranger Things boosted it up, Puppets would win.Oh, and leaving off No Leaf Clover and Garage Inc so you could toss on the song from Lulu, Frantic and Fixxer?? I repeat- fuck this list.
Creeping Death is certainly a great Metallica tune, but I agree that ranking it ahead of MoP is laughable. I get the impression you’re also a big Metallica fan. If you met someone who had never heard a single note of Metallica’s music before, what song would you use to introduce them? It’s easily MoP. It pretty much shows everything that’s great about Metallica in 9 minutes.
Probably Puppets, yeah. Maaaaybe Four Horsemen, because that’s the first song I heard and what got me hooked, but Puppets is the king. It’s still the first thing my fingers want to play if I get a guitar in my hands.
While opinions certainly differ, this list is objectively wrong for having Frantic in the top 30. St. Anger is just a god-awful record. I’m not a person who hates on modern Metallica, I enjoy and defend a lot of their post Black album work. I will say that some of the St. Anger songs are pretty good live, but they are terrible as they appeared on the record. This list says that Frantic is a better song than Fight Fire with Fire, The Shortest Straw, etc etc. Shit, I just listened to 72 Seasons for the first time, and while my opinion may change with time, as of now I’d say every song on that album is better than Frantic.
I like Metallica in theory. I really like Hetfield’s rhythm guitar. I just can’t take his singing. It’s like he actively trying to sound angry. I always think “Is this Randy the Macho Man Savage trying to sing?” I would go see them for free, though.
He has a pretty impressive voice but he too often goes for the “Hey yeayayaaaah! Whoa! Nyaahahahahaha!” style. “One” has excellent voice work, flowing between the smooth, quiet verses and the growly chorus, without all the excess whooping.He also sounded better before he hit puberty, which sounds like was some time around Justice.
Hero of the Day dismissed. Not surprised.
I can’t be the only of whom this is true, right?I thought I was a Metallica fan. But I think I was actually a Cliff Burton fan.
“Jump in the Fire” at number 7? I don’t dislike the song or anything, but I’ve never seen anyone give it this much love before.
I don’t think anyone ever has. It’s… fine, but there’s multiple better songs on that album alone, to say nothing of any number of songs on RtL, MoP, AJFA, and more on the Black Album.
I said it in another comment, but they listed the wrong “fire” song. Fight Fire With Fire is absent from this list, which is a crime IMO.
Yeah, I don’t get that one either. Its fine, but not one I’d put in the top rankings.
I think my favourite composition of Metallica’s is “What The Fuck Is Napster And How Do We Sue It Into Oblivion?”
Welcome Home (Sanitarium) not making this list at all is criminal.
I only know of two Metallica songs and one of them, “Enter Sandman” isn’t even on the list.
I think I’m on the younger side of Metallica fans (came in at Black) but I’m old enough to say – why the f does Miley get to do all these cool things like sing with them on Stern? Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Cause she’s a very talented singer who likes good music?
Oh my. Imagine actually posting this in a public forum. Embarassing.
Enter Sandman not in the top 20? C’mon…