The Good Doctor’s Top 10 Metallica Songs

With it being a mere 20 days until Metallica invades St. Louis, playing The Dome at America’s Center for not just one, but two nights, Nov. 3 and 5th, why not put out a list of my top 10 favorite songs from James Hetfield and the boys.

It’s actually pretty difficult to take a 40-year career and whittle it down to just 10 songs, as Metallica has released 12 studio albums, but I’ll give it the old college try.

10. Seek & Destroy– This nearly seven-minute song is my favorite track off of the Kill ‘Em All album and is a must-hear at any Metallica show. This is also a perfect song for flying down the highway without a care in mind when it comes to the speed limit.

9. For Whom the Bell Tolls-This was an original Cliff Burton bass track. It’s one of the finest metal songs ever written in my opinion. Scholars who have read the Ernest Hemingway wartime novel from 1940 will know that the song is an allusion to the story.

8. Fade to Black– The lyrics “Getting lost within myself/Nothing matters, no one else” still haunts to this day. This song has a stripped down and raw sound to it that make it really grab the listener.

7. Master of Puppets– I forgot how good this song actually was. Thanks to the season 4 finale of Stranger Things, Metallica’s heavy metal classic was back on Billboard charts. This is the band’s most performed song of all-time and is Cliff Burton’s final appearance with the band, as he was killed in a bus crash not long after Master of Puppets was released.

6. One– Metallica’s first music video, and it was a doozy. This is still one of the more haunting music videos I’ve ever seen. The song is about a soldier who is badly wounded during the Great War. His limbs and jaw have been blown off as he lies in bed, begging to die. I cannot listen to the song without thinking of the video, which haunted me as a young child.

5. Sad But True– This song is undeniably driven by Lars Ulrich and Jason Newsted’s drum and bass combination. Hetfield’s lyrics, “I’m your eyes while you’re away/I’m your pain while you repay!” are nothing short of brilliant. I can forgive the band for allowing Kid Rock to use a sample of the song.

4. Enter Sandman– The lead track and single from Metallica’s best-selling album, The Black Album. This song turned the band from a heavy metal band to international success. It’s undoubtedly the song that Metallica is recognized for the most among casual fans. Virginia Tech’s football squad uses the song for it’s entrance and it remains the greatest entrance in all of sports.

3. The Day That Never Comes– I could almost consider this a sequel to ‘One’, as the song picks up speed and aggression as it builds, but while ‘One’ focused on the horrors of war, this song is about a father and son reconciliation. One of my favorite Metallica songs, as I feel it shows the band’s range.

2. Wherever I May Roam– This may not be high on a lot of folks lists, but this is one of my all-time favorite Metallica songs. It was the fourth single off the Black Album, which is nearly unheard of these days. Hell, most albums are lucky to have one good single, much less four! The video featured footage of Metallica’s tour during 1991-1992.

1. Nothing Else Matters-“Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica is widely considered one of the greatest songs of the 20th Century. What’s crazy about this song that actually moves some folks to tears is that it was never actually supposed to be released. I guess that goes with the old saying, “One man’s trash, is another man’s treasure.”

While this list may be met with a lot of debate and argument, it’s not meant to. Any fan of Metallica can agree that the band has so many great songs. Given the fact that the band is playing two nights of two completely different shows, Metallica obviously has enough loved material that spans the band’s 40-year career.

Tickets are still available for the band’s concerts at The Dome at America’s Center on Nov. 3 and 5th at Ticketmaster.com.