Signature Songs 06: Heavy Metal Edition Quiz

Answer: Motörhead

Released October 27, 1980, Motörhead's "Ace of Spades" has long been held as their definitive song. They released a live version in 1988. The album "Ace of Spades" is also highly esteemed critically as well.

Answer: Scorpions

"Rock You Like a Hurricane" appears as the second song on the 1984 album "Love at First Sting". Reaching number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song strongly propelled the album to success. They made a new version in 2000 called "Hurricane 200" for the "Moment of Glory" album.

The song also featured "Still Loving You" which appeared at Number 22 on VH1's 25 Greatest Power Ballads list. The album had two different covers, a "clean version" and a not so clean cover due to a complaint from Wal-Mart.

The clean shot was simply the band photo that appeared on the inside of the album.

Answer: Skid Row

Although the song did not chart in the US, "Slave to the Grind" has long been held among metal fans as one of the definitive signature songs of the genre. It is drawn from Skid Row's second studio album of the same name. "Slave to the Grind" marks the first time a heavy metal album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, paving the way for other number one metal albums such as "Far Beyond Driver" by Pantera, Metallica's "Black Album", and "Use Your illusion II" by Guns N' Roses.

Answer: Judas Priest

"Breaking the Law" comes from the 1980 album "British Steel", one of the defining hard rock albums of the 1980s. Scott Ian said in an interview that it was "British Steel" that really defined heavy metal, because it stripped away all references to the blues and even the title was classic heavy metal. The song made VH1's Top 40 Greatest Metal Songs as number 40. The song was frequently referenced in the "Beavis and Butt-head" series.

Answer: Metallica

"Johnny Got His Gun" is a a novel by Dalton Trumbo regarding a young soldier in World War I who is blown up and loses his arms, legs, sight, and all ability to communicate, but mentally he is sound. Ultimately he is able to communicate using Morse Code by banging his head against the pillow so his doctors can understand what is happening in his head.

"One" is based on this novel, and is Metallica's first Top 40 hit, despite receiving almost no radioplay though it did get heavy exposure on MTV. It is also the first video ever shot for the band. The band was determined not to let their material be mined out to MTV unless the video was artistically justified to the song's content. The video features footage of the film version of "Johnny's Got His Gun" and the band were very happy with the way the video turned out.

"One" has long been a permanent fixture in the Metallica live shows.

Answer: AC/DC

"You Shook Me All Night Long" is one of AC/DC's signature song from their most critically and commercially successful LP, the 1980 "Back in Black". The track has been a live staple of their shows since its release, and along with "Back in Black" and "Highway to Hell" are considered their signature songs.

The song was later re-released on "Who Made Who". "Who Made Who" is the soundtrack to the Stephen King movie "Maximum Overdrive". The album features three new songs: "Who Made Who" and two instrumentals, "D.T." and "Chase the Ace". The song placed Number One on VH1's greatest AC/DC songs of all time. AC/DC re-released the song internationally as a single in 1986 in support of the "Who Made Who" album.

There are two main videos for "You Shook Me All Night Long", one made in 1980, the other in 1986.

Answer: Marilyn Manson

"The Beautiful People" made Marilyn Manson a household name. The song comes from their 1996 album "Antichrist Superstar", which was very controversial due to its antagonistic stance toward Christianity. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails actually produced the album. The album references the Antichrist and Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Jesus Christ Superstar". The album is a concept LP, based on the philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche.

Manson performed the song during the MTV Video Music Awards. Manson, flanked by supposed United States Secret Service Agents, gave the following dialogue before he began the song:

"My fellow Americans:

We will no longer be oppressed by the fascism of Christianity! And we will no longer be oppressed by the fascism of beauty. As I see you all sittin' out there trying your hardest not to be ugly, trying your hardest not to fit in, trying your hardest to earn your way into Heaven, but let me ask you: Do you want to be in a place that's filled with a bunch of [expletives]?"

Answer: Dio

Originally released in the 1983 album "Holy Diver", Ronnie James Dio was initially so displeased with the recording that he almost obliterated the tape. The band dissuaded him from this act of destruction, luckily. The recording what later go on to become their signature song. According to Dio, the lyrics reflected his life after he left Black Sabbath.

"Holy Diver" is also Dio's debut album, and is considered an essential album in the heavy metal genre. The demon that appears on the album cover is Dio's mascot, and is named Murray.

Answer: Pantera

"Walk" comes from Pantera's sixth studio album, "Vulgar Display of Power". The album was the first in the band's discography to obtain the "Parental Advisory" label warning on the album. The title comes from a line in the 1973 "The Exorcist". "Walk" contains some of the guitarist's Dimebag Darrell's most definitive work on that instrument. "Walk" is ranked Number 16 on VH1's Best Top 40 Metal Songs.

Answer: Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath recorded the song "Iron man" for their second LP "Paranoid", first released in 1970. Ozzy Osbourne came up with he title and Geezer Butler wrote the lyrics. The original title was "Iron Bloke". The song deals with a villain who sees visions of the future in which Armageddon takes place.

He wants to return to the present to warn the people of the upcoming apocalypse, but he cannot speak or communicate. This so angers him he goes on a killing rampage, which ultimately results the chain events that lead to the Armageddon or apocalypse he saw in the future.

This is a good example of the "Predestination Paradox". [Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Alice Cooper]