Metallica have plenty of heavy metal songs that could be considered 10/10. Across a career that has included riffs and lyrics of the highest quality, Metallica have risen over the decades to become legends within the genre. After all, it's fair to say Metallica became the biggest and most successful heavy metal band of all time based on the quality of their songwriting.
Despite getting their flowers, Metallica is underrated for their varied approach to songwriting. Across the examples below, Metallica cover a significant amount of ground for a band that largely exists restricted to one genre. Building their reputation on more than just power and heavy metal clichés, these are the eight Metallica songs that are basically perfect from their 40+ years as a band.
8 Creeping Death
Ride The Lightning (1984)
Fast, powerful, and with more incredible riffs than most bands can manage in an entire album, "Creeping Death" is the pinnacle of Metallica's early thrash output. Its thunderous intro has been regularly used in the early part of Metallica live shows, alternating with the title track to Master Of Puppets as an ode to the band's early thrash days and an acknowledgment of that period's ability to start pandemonium. Put it next to Iron Maiden's "Powerslave" and decide which one sounds more like a thrilling, heavy metal adventure through a cursed desert.
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Indeed, the creative Egyptian-themed thrash energy in "Creeping Death" is savage, and it saves its greatest moment for a globe-conquering chant-along. Tens of thousands of Metallica fans shout the word "die!" in unison (a moment where Jason Newsted's contribution to the band is missed the most), as James Hetfield talks of a curse that moves throughout the land, killing firstborn men. Every riff lands like a scud missile, and the song's gigantic crescendo with a young James Hetfield cackling over the top of roaring guitars and blistering drums is basically perfection.
7 No Leaf Clover
S&M (1999)
It speaks to the more Spinal Tap element of heavy metal that the peak of sophistication is considered "whacking some strings on top of things," but Metallica's S&M collaboration with composer Michael Kamen was sensational. Seeing the grandiose and complex song structures and pounding riffs that make Metallica such a well-respected outfit, Kamen used orchestral flourishes to enhance songs like "The Memory Remains," "Hero Of The Day," "The Call Of Kthulu" and "For Whom The Bell Tolls." However, it's on one of two original numbers that the collaboration of composer and band reaches its crescendo.
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From its imperial intro to a chorus that's among the most emotional of Hetfield's whole career, "No Leaf Clover" is a grinding, monolithic metal anthem from their late '90s period. While Load and Reload may have tripped people out with the length of their hair and how much the band liked Alice In Chains, "No Leaf Clover" felt relatable to Black Album fans who hadn't understood the band's Lollapalooza period in the mid-to-late '90s. It is the highlight of the entire S&M experiment and of the band's entire career.
6 The Thing That Should Not Be
Master Of Puppets (1986)
Over the course of their first four albums, Metallica perfected thrash metal. Fast as a meth-addict on a motorcycle and just as unhinged, the major highlights of this period are hooked on an avalanche of riffs, sprawling track lengths, and epic song structures. On Master Of Puppets, however, Metallica perfected their heavier take on hard rock earlier than most realize on this HP Lovecraft-inspired rager.
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Concentrating on atmosphere and eeriness from the band's ominous, plucked intro to the main riff's Godzilla-sized emergence, "The Thing That Should Not Be" is pure cosmic horror. The song contains one of Kirk Hammett's best and personal favorite guitar solos, a cascading cacophony of squalling wah sounds and cinematic imagery being conjured with six strings and a guitar pick. There are faster, harder, and more popular songs on one of metal's best albums, but none more important to the band's creative growth.
5 One
...And Justice For All (1988)
There is no hyperbole in suggesting that Metallica's "One" might be the best song in the history of heavy music. A war-torn epic that begins life with a simple, somber guitar line, some inventive leads from Kirk, and Lars Ulrich's stuttering, off-kilter drumming, it is the first song Metallica ever made a video for. Shunning the Van Halen and Bon Jovi worshiping alter of MTV for their first three albums, Metallica's bleak cinematic video for the song perfectly captures the song's themes of death and isolation in wartime.
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It earns its place on this list for potentially having the heaviest moment of Metallica's entire career. Building on the band's ability to build a track to boiling point, Ulrich's rapid-fire double-kick drum ushers in one of the most primal and iconic riffs in metal history. Momentarily shorn of the finesse and guile that make those early albums sophisticated examples of heavy metal, "One" puts its foot to the floor with violent and reckless abandon, as Hetfield conjures up imagery of darkness and the loneliness felt in the face of impending enemy attacks. It is a moment where Metallica justify every positive word that's ever been said about them.
4 Wherever I May Roam
Metallica (1991)
There are more obvious picks on The Black Album, but "Wherever I May Roam" is Metallica at their arena-conquering best. Built on an Eastern-inspired riff that starts on a Sitar, "Wherever I May Roam" has gusto and confidence in abundance. Maybe it's that it was the perfect soundtrack to the band's endless touring cycle for the success of The Black Album, but it's an ode to the life of a touring musician set to a driving hard rock soundtrack.
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Simply put, "Wherever I May Roam" is beyond Metallica's capabilities on their first four albums. It has a craft and precision to it, with Ulrich's fills perfectly accentuating the song's thick riffing and Hetfield's new trademark bark on full display. It's patient and knows when to pull its punches, bobbing and weaving on its solo section, and building to more fun than should be possible at singing the word "wander" over and over again.
3 Moth Into Flame
Hardwired...To Self-Destruct (2016)
Even as a writer who loves Metallica more than you love your mother, it felt as though the band's ability to pen world-class thrash was something they'd left behind long ago. After dipping their toes back into the epic songwriting that they made their forte on their first four albums on Death Magnetic, James and the gang went full throttle on its follow-up album. "Moth Into Flame" is Metallica's best thrash song they've written since their glory period, rolling back the years to present a devastating masterclass in stadium-sized heavy metal.
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Feeding on the excitement the band are clearly feeling in the moment, "Moth Into Flames" features the kind of call-and-answer vocals that make "Blackened" and "The Four Horsemen" such a blast. The blistering lead guitars and Hetfield's iron right arm powering the whole thing, and the section that James ushers in by spitting "BURN!" contains the kind of hard-riffing that most had thought Metallica didn't have in them anymore. It's the best song Metallica have written in the 21st Century, and its competition is not even close.
2 Bleeding Me
Load (1996)
It's very much just this writer's opinion, but Load and Reload remain two of metal's most misunderstood albums. Based on sinister energy and vibes more than out-and-out heaviness and playing within metal's rule book, "Bleeding Me" perfectly captures the evil, unclean feel of Metallica's most unfairly maligned period. Sharing the same sophisticated take on horror that makes it sound like the weirder, long-lost cousin of "The Thing That Should Not Be," it's the most underrated song in Metallica's canon.
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As a vocalist, James Hetfield has developed as a storyteller over the years. James is a man who is more honest in his music than he is in his interviews, and his road-worn and wailing performance on "Bleeding Me" is elite. The oppressive and weighty vocal is the center of the song, and as the sky turns blacker, and he snarls "I am the priest that feeds the beast" on the song's blasphemous and malevolent final act, it's Metallica at their evocative best.
1 Seek And Destroy
Kill 'Em All (1983)
It is fair to say that Metallica and "Seek And Destroy" long outgrew their humble beginnings. It ought to be illegal for a band to come this correct out of the gate, but Metallica were world-class from their debut album onward. The next time you see a clip of Metallica playing a show to tens of thousands of people, or the song's iconic opening riff accompanying WCW legend Sting to the ring during his most popular era, that "Seek And Destroy" was written by an unsigned band. It is unfathomable how ridiculous an achievement that is.
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Of all the possible reasons for their popularity, Metallica's ability to write anthems set them apart from The Big Four. The catchiness and quality of the vocal melodies in the verses, a chorus that is designed to be bellowed from the pit of the stomach, and a riff from the gods to hang it all on was just more ambitious and of a higher standard than their peers. "Seek And Destroy" excels at everything Metallica does at the highest level. Drink it in and bang your head.