Posted 19 February 2014

Pinside is abuzz, and has been for quite some time, with friendly nudges to Stern on the Metallica code update. This week, Stern is asking fans to vote on which songs to add to the twelve song playlist. All you have to do to vote is sign in with your email address and you are directed to a website where you can select two songs. The choices are listed by album and those already included in Metallica are listed but marked off.

Now as I've mentioned in previous blogs, I'm NOT a Metallica fan, however if there is an opportunity to vote for new songs, perhaps there are better choices. Enter Sandman is the only hit that is tolerable in my opinion. So to determine what votes we will put in for Mezel Mods, I went to 'The Google' to see what others suggest as the top Metallica songs.

What I found is many of the songs on the top 10 lists are already included in the machine. Instead of just scanning the top lists, I did a comparison of ten lists on the world wide web to see just how much agreement there is on the Metallica greats. Here are the results:

Not one single song was consistent across the ten lists. 'One', 'Master of Puppets' and 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' each appeared nine times. 'Fade to Black' and 'Creeping Death' both appeared eight times. 'Enter Sandman' and 'Seek and Destroy' appeared on seven of the ten lists. All others (twenty three songs in total) appeared four or less times.

or less times. Of the tunes currently on Metallica, 'Fuel' came in the lowest appearing only twice. Surprising as that is one with a catchy lyrical phrase.

The next most popular candidates are '...and Justice for All', 'Nothing Else Matters', 'Welcome Home (Sanitarium)' and 'Orion' all appearing on four of the lists. Are these contenders?

My favorite 'Turn the Page' made it on to only one of the lists... but I only like it because I really like the original by Bob Seger.

At the end of the day, I still don't like Metallica and probably never will as long as it's playing in the wee hours or during Olympic Ice Skating. Left to my own, the songs would all be changed to Triumph, Rush, ACDC or Led Zeppelin. Some have suggested I enlist CallMeSteam's help and change them all to Lady Gaga just to see what the reaction might be.

Here are Stern's poll results so far. What do you think?

Here are the best of the sources used:

Top 10 Metallica Songs of All Time, by Anne Erikson 11/5/12, gibson.com

10 Best Metallica Songs, by Chuck Armstrong, loudwire.com

The 100 Greatest Metallica Songs of All Time, by Guitar World Staff, 9/27/13, guitarworld.com

Metallica's Top 10 Songs, by Jon Hadusek, 9/19/13, consequenceofsound.net