Metal Reviews

An MTV panel of heavy metal "experts," consisting of "nine die-hard, longtime fans," recently came together to compile a list of the "Greatest Heavy Metal Bands of All Time." "In part one [of the process], we reached out to the most passionate and knowledgable metal fans working at MTV and asked them to send us their individual picks for the 10 greatest, with the only criteria being 'whatever greatness means to you,' " MTV.com's Jon Wiederhorn explains. "Some feel that the influence a band had on others is the most important factor in judging greatness; others say the strength of the albums is the primary concern; and some believe the power of a band's live performance is the ultimate measure. We did not care what each participants criteria was; we only asked them to vote from their hearts.

"Once we had all the lists, we did a little math. Every time a band was ranked #1 by someone, it received 10 points; #2 rankings received 9 points, and so on. When the points were added up, we had a list that represented the collective wisdom of the voters ... in theory, anyway.

"In part two, we gathered everyone together, showed them the results, and asked them to either stand by it, or change it as they saw fit, the only rule being that a majority had to vote in favor of every change. The discussion and debate over the rankings is what you see in the Overdrive show."

Read more at MTV.com.

"Top 10 Greatest Heavy Metal Bands Of All Time," according to MTV.com's panel of "experts":

01. BLACK SABBATH
02. JUDAS PRIEST
03. METALLICA
04. IRON MAIDEN
05. PANTERA
06. SLAYER
07. AC/DC
08. MOTÖRHEAD
09. KISS
10. MÖTLEY CRÜE

Metal's honorable mentions:

ALICE IN CHAINS
ANTHRAX
FAITH NO MORE
IN FLAMES
MEGADETH
MERCYFUL FATE
MINISTRY
SEPULTURA
SYSTEM OF A DOWN
TOOL
VAN HALEN
VENOM

Voting Members:

Jem Aswad - senior editor, MTV News
Dana Bove - producer, MTV Radio
Nova Calise - Chelsea Television Studios
Roger Coletti - senior director, MTV Networks Radio
Rick Ernst - supervising producer, MTV2
Jennifer Guyre - metal programmer, Urge
Chris Harris - reporter, MTV News
Jamey Jasta - host, "Headbangers' Ball"
Robert Mancini - editorial director, MTV News
John Ostrosky - host, VH1's "Talking Metal at Rock Honors" podcast
Rodrigo Perez - producer, MTV News
Alexander Smith - managing editor, MTV News
Jon Wiederhorn - freelance writer, MTV News

I don't know if I'd consider Tool and Alice In Chains "metal" (or, for that matter, AC/DC). Nevertheless, I'll admit I've seen worse lists than this.

Where was Burzum, Darkthrone, Emperor huh?

For a mainstream list compiled by utter asshats, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest do deserve to be there.

Pantera only inspired core kiddies, so they can get right off that list.
And metallica cannot be on there after so completely selling out and ruining all respect they had in the metal world.

ac/dc and motorhead are cool, but not really metal.

And kiss and motley crue can fuck right off, cos they suck.

Meh... none should really care about lists like this.

agreed. someone write to MTV and threaten them with an invasion.

We gotta admit that for MTV fags that's a pretty good list.

I agree. I was expecting to see some really shit bands on there, like Manson and Korn.

Where some of you come up with this nonsense is beyond me. Pantera are one of the fucking greatest (opinion) and influential (fact) metal bands to ever walk this planet! I have no problems with people disliking a band, but saying things like they only inspired core kiddies is simply ridiculous and 100% contradictory to fact.

And Metallica belong on EVERY Top Metal Bands list! When did they sell out? When you turn 30 and you're listening to female piano rockers, then maybe you'll understand why bands evolve. Metallica never sold out, they evolved. There is a world of difference.

Well evolving in a piece of shit is not a good thing.

That list is ass.

Agreed. Maiden>>>>>Priest

You know although Im not a big fan of Maiden, Im going to have to agree with you.

Name drop for me Kenny! Theres a whole lot of shitty hardcore bands with Anselmo-alike singers, Machine Head, ? Influential maybe, but on good bands? Not that i can see.

And i think metallica turned shit, so therefore they dont belong on tha list just cos they did some great stuff in the past.

Machine Head are an entirely different kind of band and they're not hardcore at all. They're post-thrash. I hate to pull a leee here, but you can't change history. Pantera were THE metal band of the 90s. If it weren't for Phil being a fuck-up Pantera would still be a top 5 metal band out there. Their influence extends to all areas of music. Good bands? Absofuckinglutely! Are you kidding me?


Metallica has one bad album! It doesn't matter if Load and Reload are heavy rock albums, they were both good for what they were. And even if they sucked, Metallica's first 4 albums are all classic metal albums. Undisputable! They belong on that list, as does Pantera.

The only band I like out of all of those is Tool, who I don't really consider a metal band. I liked Faith No More and Ministry like a year ago. The rest are boring as hell.

I hear Pantera in Strapping Young Lad, so I guess they influenced some good bands.

PS. No Metallica is good. I haven't heard one song of theres that has kept my attention for more than 3 minutes; it's a good thing they realized their limitations and shortened them.

+1

Metallica deserves to be on there so you all can shut the fuck up about that.

Pantera, meh. I don't love them and I don't hate 'em. They have some awesome riffs but most songs get boring 1-2 minutes through. Either way they were huge in the 90's.

Most importantly, IT'S FUCKING MTV!!! DO YOU REALLY EXPECT TAAKE, BURZUM, AND THE SUPERKVLTNECROS TO BE ON THE DAMN LIST? So shut up and stop complaining. As said earlier this aint bad for the MTV ass hats.

P.S. - Who really cares about this damn list.

Well I dont love them or hate them either, but cmon man, awesome rifss? Pantera has the worst riffs in metal history, even their best riffs are just average and uninspired.

and to think that dimebag wrote a book called "riffer madness"... pantera are boring..

i think Pantera kicked ass, but hey, to each his own, right??

and with all due respect to Burzum and Emperor, for all their influence, you can't say it extended it as many genres as bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden. tons of people like Emperor, but most of them don't show that influence in their music.

you know?

just because they fucked up later in their career doesn't mean that their brilliant past didn't happen. face it, tons of metal bands today (sonata arctica, cannibal corpse, exhumed and pantera, to name a few) were influenced by them, and their old albums are classics in their own right, like it or not.