Top 7 Best Metallica Songs of All Time
When you think of enduring thrash metal acts, only a handful of bands come to mind. Leading that small pack, obviously, is none other than Metallica. Lead by Lars Ulrich on drums and with James Hetfield on rhythm and vocals, Kirk Hammett on the lead guitar and Robert Trujillo on bass, Metallica is both the most influential and the most commercially successful heavy metal band of the 80s.
What makes Metallica a truly phenomenal band is the fact that its music evolves and the people that make up the band are not afraid to explore the limits of their music. Metallica’s sound in its early years was fast, aggressive and loud, typical of the thrash metal genre. However, it has long since crossed borders, focusing not just on thrash metal but also blues and hard rock.
Which songs from Metallica’s compilation can be considered as their best seven songs of all time? Here is a list we compiled.
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7. “…And Justice for All” (…And Justice for All, 1988)
It was 1988 and it was two years after the tragic death of Cliff Burton in an accident, when the Metallica tour bus tipped over and pinned him. It was the first album that Metallica released since the tragedy and you can feel the anger in the nihilistic lyrics of the title song. Though unconfirmed, it was said that this anger and this negative view towards the justice system was a result of the needless death of the band’s resident bass genius.
It is also a very long and very ambitious song. Clocking in at just a few seconds under ten minutes, “…And Justice for All” features shifting moods, alternating between clean rhythms and just angry beats – a true head-banger and heart-thumper.
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6. “For Whom the Bell Tolls” (Ride the Lightning, 1985)
The song, a work from the early days of Metallica when the band’s original bassist Cliff Burton was still alive, is a nod to Ernest Hemingway’s novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, but the storytelling in this song is nowhere near as refined as it is in the novel.
But you would not listen to this song for its lyrics anyhow. You would listen to it for its mad, mad riffs both at the beginning and at the end of the song. Through this song, the late Cliff Burton showed the world through this song that he is a genius when it comes to the bass guitar. Never mind the nonsense of the lyrics, just listen to your heart thump wildly as you listen to the guitar-and-drum instrumentals that start and end the song.
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5. “Sad But True” (Metallica, 1991)
Reportedly inspired by Anthony Hopkins’ schizophrenic character in the 1978 movie Magic, “Sad But True” is a song about someone suffering from dissociative identity disorder. The story told in that song is narrated from the point of view of an evil personality; the tale conveyed is disturbing but eerily poetic.
Aside from the eerie poetry of the song’s lyrics, the song is made more marvelous by the tight and angry riffs created by Kirk Hammett. You get to enjoy this even more in the minute-long guitar solo that neatly divides the song into two sections.
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4. “Nothing Else Matters” (Metallica, 1991)
Being in love and being separated from one’s beloved is not a typical subject for any song of any heavy metal band. And yet, here is Metallica with “Nothing Else Matters,” probably the only love song in their discography. The story goes that James Hetfield was supposed to have composed it for a girlfriend and did not really want to publish the song. Nonetheless, the track made it to the Metallica album.
It is not a trippy-happy love song, however. “Nothing Else Matters” is a rather slow and mournful song, a departure from the fast and furious melodies that are staples with Metallica’s music. It is nonetheless very stirring and very creative, a true masterwork.
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3. “The Unforgiven” (Metallica, 1991)
“The Unforgiven” is the first song composed by Metallica that reveals the band’s versatility and capacity to cross boundaries in genres. The basic heavy metal rhythm that is uniquely Metallica’s is still there, but one cannot say that it is a strictly heavy metal song. It has a blues feel to it, and it has a slow and heavy tempo.
The narrative of the story in the lyrics is also exquisite. There is angst and anger – two of the emotions that define heavy metal and thrash metal – but it is more subtle and less violent. It nonetheless underlies the intensity of the emotions carried through by the song.
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2. “Enter Sandman” (Metallica, 1991)
This is arguably one of the most recognisable songs of Metallica. It is the band’s first foray into the mainstream, and although the band retains its heavy metal roots in the song, it is almost pop enough to be palatable to non-fans of heavy metal.
With most of the band’s early work more oriented towards really mad guitar riffs, “Enter Sandman” marks Metallica’s slight tweaking of their original sound. With this song, the band becomes more focused on the bass and on the drums. The lyrics are also simple enough to understand with one pass, and yet they do not lose their complexity of meaning – which is about nightmares and the fear they generate.
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1. “One” (…And Justice for All, 1988)
Based on the novel and the movie Johnny Got His Gun, “One” must be the Metallica song where the imagery is most vivid. It tells of a person imprisoned in his own body and with his own thoughts for company, having been injured horribly so that he lost all his limbs and his capacity to see, hear, speak or even smell. All he feels is pain and he cries out to God for death.
The song is fast, aggressive and horrific in a positive way. Most of the members of Metallica’s fandom claim this song to be the one that sticks most closely to your memory. The song also marks a lot of firsts for the band; for this song, Metallica won its first Grammy Award and its first spot on the Billboard Top 40.