Rolling Stone Says The Greatest Metal Song of All Time Is…

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Corey Taylor: Dirs at it.wikipedia (Irene Sassu), CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons / Ozzy Osbourne Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images / James Hetfield Photo by Gina Wetzler/Getty Images
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Rolling Stone has published a feature naming what they believe to be the 100 best heavy metal songs of all time. The feature contains a plethora of classic songs ranging from throughout heavy metal’s history.

But in all the decades that metal has existed, which song does the publication consider to be the greatest of all time?

Well, that song is none other than the 1970 self-titled track from Black Sabbath.

Per the blurb provided alongside this entry:

“Heavy metal was born, fittingly enough, in a nightmare. ‘I was asleep and I felt something in the room, like this weird presence,’ bassist Geezer Butler once recalled of the origins of the song ‘Black Sabbath.’

“‘I woke up in a dream world, and there was this black thing at the bottom of the bed, staring at me. … It just freaked me out.’

“Butler’s band, then known as Earth, had been trying to make it on Birmingham, England’s heavy blues scene for a couple of years when they concocted the idea to write songs that would frighten listeners like horror movies.

“Guitarist Tony Iommi struck three chords with a sinister quality, and Osbourne reacted to them by imagining Butler’s demon peering at him: ‘What is this that stands before me?’ he bellowed. They called the song ‘Black Sabbath’ in deference to the like-titled Boris Karloff fright flick and decided they liked it so much that they renamed themselves Black Sabbath, too.

“Finally, they had a song that was truly heavy and after producer Rodger Bain added a thunderstorm and a knelling church bell to the song’s intro, ‘Black Sabbath’ became a true metal original. Today, ‘Black Sabbath’ exudes the same raw, infernal majesty; it’s both scary and fun at the same time. It’s the feeling all metal bands have been chasing ever since and it still reigns supreme.”

What do you think of Rolling Stone’s pick? Do you agree that “Black Sabbath” is the greatest heavy metal song ever created? Somewhat recently, the publication also named a particular Metallica album as one of the worst albums ever.

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