10 Best American Metal Bands

[RP-29]

Loudwire released their list. http://loudwire.com/best-american-metal-bands/

1. Metallica
2. Slayer
3. Pantera
4. Megadeth
5. System of a Down
6. Tool
7. Anthrax
8. Slipknot
9. Death
10. Lamb of God

Thoughts? Changes?

 

[RP-29]

Personally, I like the list through 8. I think 9 and 10 should be Disturbed and Korn, though, due to the deeper fan bases and greater commercial successes.

 

[Ojb81]

Loudwire released their list. http://loudwire.com/best-american-metal-bands/

1. Metallica
2. Slayer
3. Pantera
4. Megadeth
5. System of a Down
6. Tool
7. Anthrax
8. Slipknot
9. Death
10. Lamb of God

Thoughts? Changes?

System of a Down?? They blow.

Iced Earth should be on that list. As should Testament

 

[RP-29]

System of a Down?? They blow.

Iced Earth should be on that list. As should Testament

I like System. They do have a HUGE fan base and are very widely beloved among their peers. All five of their albums went Platinum and Toxicity went triple. I don't have a problem with them being on the list.

 

[Ojb81]

I like System. They do have a HUGE fan base and are very widely beloved among their peers. All five of their albums went Platinum and Toxicity went triple. I don't have a problem with them being on the list.

Their popularity speaks to the lack of quality mainstream metal during the 2000's. I honestly cannot stand them

 

[thedddd]

Fan of Exodus and Sepultura. Never was a big fan of Megadeth.

And I agree Iced Earth does deserve mention.

 

[jakedog56]

Loudwire released their list. http://loudwire.com/best-american-metal-bands/

1. Metallica
2. Slayer
3. Pantera
4. Megadeth
5. System of a Down
6. Tool
7. Anthrax
8. Slipknot
9. Death
10. Lamb of God

Thoughts? Changes?

First off, define "metal". Is Alice In Chains metal? How about Faith No More? Melvins? If you go to any of these bands (and other similar) concerts you will hear lots of metal songs but you will also hear lots of non-metal songs. Many bands have lots of metal influence but walk the line between metal and hard rock. Also, there are many genres of metal.

That being said, I will stick with the list for purposes of simplicity.

Also "best" is a matter of personal opinion, whereas this list is severely flawed as it seems to be based more on popularity.

My commentary/critique:
1. Metallica- If this poll was from 1991, then I could agree as they were a groundbreaking force in thrash, with many great classic albums but their metal standing went to ground after Cliff died. As it is they have been The Rolling Stones of metal for the last 27 years, releasing mediocre albums with questionable musicianship (how does Lars, who was passable but never great even in the early days, consistently get seemingly worse on the drums with each passing year?!?). Are they even truly metal anymore? Probably, but a hard-core metalhead might vehemently disagree. They shouldn't be ranked so high.

2. Slayer- Speed metal ain't really my fav, but they stick to their guns and keep cranking it out. 2 is probably a bit high in my opinion but they certainly deserve a high ranking. Great musicianship within their slightly limited style.

3. Pantera- Genre defining, consistently heavy, great musicianship. The only real downside is sometimes Phil's lyrics stumble around. Is it a good thing that they didn't stick around to tarnish their rep like Metallica did? Personally I might have moved them to #1 on this list.

4. Megadeth- Say what you will about Megadeth but they never have strayed from their path and continue to to put out solid metal albums to this day. They had one album (Risk) that failed from a metal standpoint and a couple of others that were a bit too pop-metal for hard-core fans (like Youthinasia) but generally has stuck to their guns and produced hard, fast, and heavy songs with solid musicianship. Mustaine's vocal conversion to Christianity a few years back might have rubbed a few metalhead the wrong way though.

5. System Of A Down- They certainly are genre breakibg and original, but are they truly metal? Probably but they are certainly not straightforward. Interesting and complex song composition combined with intelligent politically fuelled lyrics are highlights but odd (Serj) and whiny (Daren) vocal stylings can be off putting to many.

6. Tool - Again, are they even metal? Probably, but not 100%. Complex themes with highly intelligent lyrics and even more complex song structures backed by top notch musicianship highlighted by possibly the best drummer in rock move them towards the top of this list in my admitably biased opinion. Just wish they had more than one album per decade in them.

7. Anthrax- What is to say about the court jesters of thrash? Love much of their work but they do stumble at times. 7 seems about right.

8. Slipknot- I am a little torn on them. Their albums are hard but repetitive. However their live performances can be top notch. Can't argue too much with the 8 seed.

9. Death - We suddenly diverge from popularity and into the true hardcore. Death might have broke open the death metal genre but mainstream acceptance has never really been in the cards. Can't really argue with their placement on this list but their inclusion (and #10) makes me question the judgement criteria. Is this list about best, popular, genre impact, true metal, other??

10. Lamb Of God- Again, can't argue too much with it, just question the list itself. These guys rock hard!

Others that possibly deserve mention on this list: The aforementioned
Disturbed
Korn
Alice In Chains
Iced Earth
Faith No More
Melvins
Testament

as well as:
Biohazard
Mudvayne
Suicidal Tendancies
Cannibal Corpse
Mentors
Blue Cheer
Manowar
Riot
Morbid Angel
Metal Church
Exodus
Shadows Fall
Malice
Black Label Society
Corrosion Of Conformity
Ministry
Vanilla Fudge
Killswitch Engage
Queensryche
Machine Head
Avenged Sevenfold
Spinal Tap
Mastadon
All That Remains
Savatage
Five Finger Death Punch
Trivium
As I Lay Dying
Godsmack
Bullet For My Valentine

 

[jakedog56]

Fan of Exodus and Sepultura. Never was a big fan of Megadeth.

And I agree Iced Earth does deserve mention.

Sepultura is Brazilian though......

 

[Ojb81]

First off, define "metal". Is Alice In Chains metal? How about Faith No More? Melvins? If you go to any of these bands (and other similar) concerts you will hear lots of metal songs but you will also hear lots of non-metal songs. Many bands have lots of metal influence but walk the line between metal and hard rock. Also, there are many genres of metal.

That being said, I will stick with the list for purposes of simplicity.

Also "best" is a matter of personal opinion, whereas this list is severely flawed as it seems to be based more on popularity.

My commentary/critique:
1. Metallica- If this poll was from 1991, then I could agree as they were a groundbreaking force in thrash, with many great classic albums but their metal standing went to ground after Cliff died. As it is they have been The Rolling Stones of metal for the last 27 years, releasing mediocre albums with questionable musicianship (how does Lars, who was passable but never great even in the early days, consistently get seemingly worse on the drums with each passing year?!?). Are they even truly metal anymore? Probably, but a hard-core metalhead might vehemently disagree. They shouldn't be ranked so high.

2. Slayer- Speed metal ain't really my fav, but they stick to their guns and keep cranking it out. 2 is probably a bit high in my opinion but they certainly deserve a high ranking. Great musicianship within their slightly limited style.

3. Pantera- Genre defining, consistently heavy, great musicianship. The only real downside is sometimes Phil's lyrics stumble around. Is it a good thing that they didn't stick around to tarnish their rep like Metallica did? Personally I might have moved them to #1 on this list.

4. Megadeth- Say what you will about Megadeth but they never have strayed from their path and continue to to put out solid metal albums to this day. They had one album (Risk) that failed from a metal standpoint and a couple of others that were a bit too pop-metal for hard-core fans (like Youthinasia) but generally has stuck to their guns and produced hard, fast, and heavy songs with solid musicianship. Mustaine's vocal conversion to Christianity a few years back might have rubbed a few metalhead the wrong way though.

5. System Of A Down- They certainly are genre breakibg and original, but are they truly metal? Probably but they are certainly not straightforward. Interesting and complex song composition combined with intelligent politically fuelled lyrics are highlights but odd (Serj) and whiny (Daren) vocal stylings can be off putting to many.

6. Tool - Again, are they even metal? Probably, but not 100%. Complex themes with highly intelligent lyrics and even more complex song structures backed by top notch musicianship highlighted by possibly the best drummer in rock move them towards the top of this list in my admitably biased opinion. Just wish they had more than one album per decade in them.

7. Anthrax- What is to say about the court jesters of thrash? Love much of their work but they do stumble at times. 7 seems about right.

8. Slipknot- I am a little torn on them. Their albums are hard but repetitive. However their live performances can be top notch. Can't argue too much with the 8 seed.

9. Death - We suddenly diverge from popularity and into the true hardcore. Death might have broke open the death metal genre but mainstream acceptance has never really been in the cards. Can't really argue with their placement on this list but their inclusion (and #10) makes me question the judgement criteria. Is this list about best, popular, genre impact, true metal, other??

10. Lamb Of God- Again, can't argue too much with it, just question the list itself. These guys rock hard!

Others that possibly deserve mention on this list: The aforementioned
Disturbed
Korn
Alice In Chains
Iced Earth
Faith No More
Melvins
Testament

as well as:
Biohazard
Mudvayne
Suicidal Tendancies
Cannibal Corpse
Mentors
Blue Cheer
Manowar
Riot
Morbid Angel
Metal Church
Exodus
Shadows Fall
Malice
Black Label Society
Corrosion Of Conformity
Ministry
Vanilla Fudge
Killswitch Engage
Queensryche
Machine Head
Avenged Sevenfold
Spinal Tap
Mastadon
All That Remains
Savatage
Five Finger Death Punch
Trivium
As I Lay Dying
Godsmack
Bullet For My Valentine

Lol morbid angel.

Also, i consider Youthanasia to be one of Megadeth's better albums

 

[jakedog56]

Lol morbid angel.

Also, i consider Youthanasia to be one of Megadeth's better albums

I don't disagree as I enjoy it. But it might be their (or should I say Dave's since Megadeth is essentially him) most mainstream album, so it can easily alienate metalheads.

 

[handicappers]

i would rank Megadeth higher than Metallica and Slayer.

I don't understand why "Neurosis" isn't on this list.

 

[RP-29]

First off, define "metal". Is Alice In Chains metal? How about Faith No More? Melvins? If you go to any of these bands (and other similar) concerts you will hear lots of metal songs but you will also hear lots of non-metal songs. Many bands have lots of metal influence but walk the line between metal and hard rock. Also, there are many genres of metal.

That being said, I will stick with the list for purposes of simplicity.

Also "best" is a matter of personal opinion, whereas this list is severely flawed as it seems to be based more on popularity.

I absolutely agree with you here in both points.

Given the list Loudwire produced, I perceived their criteria to be predominantly commercial successes. I think they sprinkled influence in there for Death's inclusion and Slayer's #2 ranking. If you're talking commercial successes, I thought Disturbed and Korn seemed more appropriate at that 9 & 10 spot.

I didn't even consider Alice In Chains because I automatically grouped them into the grunge genre because they came out of Seattle during the grunge peak. Loudwire probably did the same thing. Even so, I would probably have Disturbed and Korn over them because AIC only had 3 albums that hit platinum within a 5-year period and 1 gold after that of 5 albums. Disturbed has gone platinum on 4 and gold on 2 in 6 albums. Korn has 7 platinum and 1 gold on 12 albums (8 of 13 platinum if you count their 2004 greatest hits album).

 

[jakedog56]

I absolutely agree with you here in both points.

Given the list Loudwire produced, I perceived their criteria to be predominantly commercial successes. I think they sprinkled influence in there for Death's inclusion and Slayer's #2 ranking. If you're talking commercial successes, I thought Disturbed and Korn seemed more appropriate at that 9 & 10 spot.

I didn't even consider Alice In Chains because I automatically grouped them into the grunge genre because they came out of Seattle during the grunge peak. Loudwire probably did the same thing. Even so, I would probably have Disturbed and Korn over them because AIC only had 3 albums that hit platinum within a 5-year period and 1 gold after that of 5 albums. Disturbed has gone platinum on 4 and gold on 2 in 6 albums. Korn has 7 platinum and 1 gold on 12 albums (8 of 13 platinum if you count their 2004 greatest hits album).

If commercial success was the criteria then they certainly did bend the rules by including Death and Lamb of God over the likes of Disturbed and Korn, as you so rightly noted.

If commercial success is the criteria, then bands such as Godsmack, Ministry, Avenged Sevenfold, etc. deserve a closer look.

If true straightforward metal and influence is the criteria, then bands such as Biohazard, Machine Head, Cannibal Corpse, Metal Church, etc. deserve more consideration.

If overall musicianship is the criteria, then bands such as Faith No More, Queensryche (early stuff when they were still metal), and many, many others should be checked out.

Hard to pin down with the criteria being better defined.

 

[jakedog56]

i would rank Megadeth higher than Metallica and Slayer.

I don't understand why "Neurosis" isn't on this list.

Good call. Add Neurosis to my earlier list.

 

[tnapucco]

METALLICA UP UNTIL THE BLACK ALBUM, GREATEST EVAR AND WORTHY OF MAKING THEM #1 EVEN THOUGH I HATE THEIR FUCKING GUTS NOW. No comparisons, no contemporaries, unparalleled, unrivaled.

 

[jakedog56]

METALLICA UP UNTIL THE BLACK ALBUM, GREATEST EVAR AND WORTHY OF MAKING THEM #1 EVEN THOUGH I HATE THEIR FUCKING GUTS NOW. No comparisons, no contemporaries, unparalleled, unrivaled.

While I generally can't disagree with this comment, I have to take their entire body of work into account and unfortunately everything went to shit with Cliff's demise.

 

[beardown07]

Lamb of God? Meh


I'll take Ministry any fucking day over LOG.


Mastodon should be on there somewhere too.

 

[YankeeRebel]

Loudwire released their list. http://loudwire.com/best-american-metal-bands/

1. Metallica
2. Slayer
3. Pantera
4. Megadeth
5. System of a Down
6. Tool
7. Anthrax
8. Slipknot
9. Death
10. Lamb of God

Thoughts? Changes?

I was never able to get into Metal, just a bit to raucous for me but that damn Enter Sandman is a song I absolutely love.

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

I was never able to get into Metal, just a bit to raucous for me but that damn Enter Sandman is a song I absolutely love.

Me either. Very few metal bands that I love, other than the occasional tune here and there.

I have a co-worker who is into some real alternative metal bands. He made me a CD once, some of the stuff on it I liked but it still wouldn't be anything I rushed out to buy. Groups that none of you have listed yet, and probably have never even heard of.

 

[darken65]

JMO of course, I have Megadeth on top based on the work prior to the first retirement. Haven't bother listening since. Metallica was good in the early years but flat out sucked after Justice. Saw them twice and they just sucked live ,a problem with me when a band can't play their music in a live setting. Avenged Sevenfold and Slayer round out my top three. All three bands nail it out of the ballpark live. New Metallica isn't bad but won't bother to see them attempt to play any of it.