Metal Ballads: Personal Favorites

As my last post left me in a bit of a gloomy mood about the subject of Metal music, I shall start these posts off with metal ballads. I will try to not mention the absolutely obvious ones. In this case, you will not find Nothing Else Matters here, for example. If you wanna hear it, go listen to it elsewhere. It is really hard to condense this and I may end up adding stuff later in a moment of "WTF!!! How could I forget about this one?!?"

I'll start with one of my absolute favorites by Bruce Dickinson, that he wrote for his solo career that he started during his hiatus from Iron Maiden.

"Navigate the Seas of the Sun" from the album "Tyranny of Souls"

The next one, I want to mention here, because it was a very courageous attempt and, in my humble opinion, the result is stunning. Kreator, one part of the German Thrash Metal triumvirate (Sodom and Destruction being the other two) attempted to slow down a bit for their album Endorama. When Mille and his companions hammered this one out, I felt it is one of their best albums to date, but many of the die-hard fans were understandably taken aback a little. Many may not call this song a ballad, but if you know any other songs by Kreator, you may agree with me ;)

"Chosen Few" from the album "Endorama"

This next song holds a special place in my heart, as it is "my wife's and my" song. We played it at our wedding ceremony and whenever I listen to it, it makes me smile. Sadly, after Criss Oliva's untimely death, Savatage didn't exist for much longer and Jon Oliva does his own thing now. I didn't know this at the time, but I was fortunate enough to see them live once at the Wacken Open Air Festival in 2002. My very first festival.

"Believe" from the album  "Believe"

Everyone who knows me, won't be surprised to find this one in this compilation. "The Bard's Song - In the Forest" by Blind Guardian is another special song to me. During my time in Scotland at school, everytime after a vacation when it was time to pack the bags, some people would play "Leaving on Jetplane" by John Denver, but not me. For some reason the melancholic chorus and the lyrics felt right during that time.

Tomorrow will take us away
Far from home
No one will ever know our names
But the bards' songs will remain

"Bard's Song - In the Forest" originally from the album "Somewhere Far Beyond"

This one is another unlikely ballad. Written by the Melodic Death Metal pioneers from Gothenburg, At the Gates. I encountered this band fairly late, but given the sheer brutality of their other songs such as "Nausea", this instrumental caught me unawares. It is also impossible to play on guitar, by the way. Close your eyes and enjoy.

"Into the Dead Sky" from the album "Slaughter of Souls"

Whatever people may think of their antics, Manowar (or better Joey deMaio) know(s) how to write a good metal ballad. This one is an instant classic. No questions about it. Unfortunately, the much awaited moment I saw them live for the first time, left me as a non-fan. I was completely underwhelmed. This will, however, never take away from the quality of many of their songs. I chose this one instead of "Heart of Steel", as most people in Europe don't seem to know this one all too well. Apparently it became a hit in the US after 9/11...

"Courage" from the album "Louder Than Hell"

Another melodic death metal legend, In Flames. I loved many of their albums and their music was my step into melodic death from Gothenburg, Sweden. Awesome, awesome band. All the more surprising to find such a song on one of their albums. Many bands have one ballad per album, but you'd be hard-pressed to find another one here.

"Dawn of a New Day" from the album "Reroute to Remain"

My first and only song sung in German is, how else could it be, Rammstein. Yes, they also wrote a ballad. Apart from being pretty much the only Industrial Metal Band that I like musically, I really appreciate Till Lindemann's lyrics, too. The way he finds double entendres within the German language and the way he constructs his lyrics are befitting a master wordsmith. My hat's off to the man.

"Ohne Dich" from the album "Reise, Reise"

We're nearing the end of my selection and for a change, I wanted to put in a classic rock ballad. The Canadian Thrash Metal band Annihilator (yes, I know the names are a little funny) around Jeff Waters came up with this. I chose this as a representative as I have always had the feeling that US American Heavy Metal with a classic Rocker Hardass theme is what people see as typical Heavy Metal. Oh how wrong they are. Anyhow, without further ado from the guys that also wrote the brilliant song "Alison Hell"

"Phoenix Rising" from the album "Set the World on Fire"

I was looking for a good ballad to close out this small selection. I chose the band HammerFall as it is one of the few ones that to this day, I enjoy seeing live and they are also fantastic writers of ballads. "Glory to the Brave" is from their first album and I appreciate the raw emotion of it. It is not as clean as the productions in following albums. Like the entire first album, this song is fantastic and I don't get tired of listening to it. Enjoy.

"Glory to the Brave" from the album "Hammerfall"

This concludes my little selection. Honorable mentions go to Manowar's "Heart of Steel", Helloween's "Keeper of the Seven Keys" and "If I could Fly", Tiamat's "Carry your Cross" and Iced Earth's "When the Eagle Cries".

I hope anyone who read this and listened, enjoyed it as much as I did compiling the selection. I could go on for awhile on this topic, so it was an easy and enjoyable start. Depending on my mood, I shall carry on with a specific genre fitting my state of mind at the time. Ciao for now and good night!