Top 10 song intros of metal/rock genre

Not so long ago I gave a shot at listing the top 10 song outros of the metal/rock world.
You can find it here. 


I'm going to do the opposite this time. 
By definition, introduction or "intro" is a passage which opens a movement or a separate, in music.


Some songs have a definitive intro, cut out separately which makes the song stand apart from others, while some intros are simpler and usually form the main riff in the song. 
There are a myriad of songs whose intros are special. I'm going to list MY favorite ones.


Let's delve in..


When the Levee Breaks (Led Zeppelin IV) - Led Zeppelin
Phew.. This was almost a tie. But what can I say; Mother of god, this song is a masterpiece.
This song is a re-worked cover of a blues song. The drum sounds are post processed, but it doesn't change the fact that this song rocks!
The most interesting thing is that, John Bonham, plays the drums at the bottom of the stairwell, while the stereo mike was on the second floor of this three storied hall. What a fuckin' idea!! The wailing guitar and the drumming in the intro also makes it stand out from any other intro. Now, go get some Led OUT!
Notable intros of Led Zeppelin: Stairway to Heaven, All My Love, Kashmir, Whole Lotta Love, Going to California


Dead Skin Mask (Seasons in the Abyss) - Slayer
ONLY Slayer could give such a tough competition for the #1 spot. The intro is lyrically, musically, psychologically, haunting. The guitars are tuned half step down. Tom Araya's vocals are grim throughout, King and Hanneman keep their guitars in perfect sync, while Dave "Drum God" Lombardo (did you know he was inspired by Led Zeppelin?), does his usual god-like stuff with the drums! This band is an unparalleled, unwavering, thrash monster. Hail SLAYER! \m/
Notable intros of Slayer: Raining Blood, The Antichrist, Die by the Sword, Jihad, Disciple


The Unforgiven (Metallica) - Metallica
The most influential thrash metal band. EVER. I owe it to Metallica for having the right influence on my musical interest. My passion for metal was fueled by this album. It also won them a grammy for Best Metal Performance in 1992. The intro is an utterly simple acoustic composition, played over some percussion played by Ulrich. It is truly special to me because it's one of the first things I learnt to play on my guitar. You must have already figured. This is my personal favorite of the list. This song forms, which is perhaps the best trilogy of the metal world.
Notable intros of Metallica: Nothing Else Matters, Master of Puppets, The Unforgiven III, Fade to Black, Seek and Destroy, The Four Horsemen


Cemetery Gates (Cowboys From Hell) - Pantera
Anyone else would have chosen the title track for it's intro. Not me. I chose this because, the intro justifies the song. The guitar playing complements the pain in Phil's vocals. The song is about desolation. By the time the song is done, you will see that it's actually about getting out of that anguish. Pantera empowers through music. A rare breed of musicians, who started off writing shit, but evolved into  a pioneer band, whose legacy speaks for itself.  
Notable intros of Pantera: Cowboys From hell, Walk, Drag the Waters, Hollow


Wasted Years (Somewhere In Time) - Iron Maiden
Can't get enough of Maiden. This is the only song from this album which does not have any synthesizer use. The beauty of this song cannot be explained. The lyrics will do it. Now, the intro.. Funnily enough, I don't know what words to use to capture it's essence. It's probably impossible to put in words..Just listen to it. The intro is also the outro of this song..
Notable intros of Iron Maiden: The Number of the Beast, Children of the Damned, The Evil that Men Do, Brighter than a Thousand Suns, Transylvania, Phantom of the Opera


Dreamer Deceiver (Sad Wings of Destiny) - Judas Priest
New. Wave. Of. British. Heavy. Metal. Put these six words together, and you cannot go wrong.
This is my favorite Judas Priest song. Phenomenal vocals, perfect acoustical bridges, divine lyrics and a melodic solo..a truly out of the world experience. The intro verse is mysterious. Listen to it and try to understand the depth in those words..This song later segues into "Deceiver", another masterpiece, a fitting end to this heavenly composition.
Notable intros of Judas Priest: Ram It Down, Beyond the Realms of Death, Electric Eye, Leather Rebel, Prophecy


Walk With Me in Hell (Sacrament) - Lamb of God
This is a controversial pick. If you listen to Lamb of God, you'll find out that these guys really take their music seriously. Each part of the song, is crafted with diligence. This band is the epitome of lyrical enigma. If you think the intro itself is intricate enough, listen to the entire song. I've seen them live and they play their songs to utter precision. The reason why I said controversial, is because, I chose this by instinct, from 30 or more of their songs with such genius intros.
Notable intros of Lamb of God: Vigil, Blacken the Cursed Sun, Redneck, Choke Sermon, Remorse is for the Dead, Confessional, Beating on Death's Door, Omerta, Laid to Rest, Ghost Walking, Black Label


Be Still and Know (Unto the Locust) - Machine Head
Okay.. I was not into Machine Head as much as I am now. That is because their earlier albums are Nu metal. It is the brain child of two extremely talented musicians, Robb Flynn and Adam Duce. This band has got a definitive fan base who proudly call themselves "Machine" heads. This song is from their latest album and almost every fan will agree that this is their best work yet. The intro is an epic opener to a perfect groovy thrash song, with a tight solo. This may be the best thrash metal album of 2011.
Notable intros of Machine Head: Slanderous, Beautiful Mourning, I Am Hell[Sonata in C#]


Take No Prisoners (Rust in Peace) - Megadeth
Megadeth deserves a standing ovation for writing this album.This is what happens when musically adept, inventive and dedicated musicians get together and have fun. In my view, it's their best album, yet! The intro is composed of pure skill. It starts off with a classic thrash riff, drums join in, and before you know it, segues into the verse. This album featured one of my favorite guitarists, Marty Friedman. 
Notable intros of Megadeth: In My Darkest Hour, Rust in Peace...Polaris, Addicted to Chaos, Peace Sells, Moto Psycho, Dread and the Fugitive Mind, Of Mice and Men


Windowpane (Damnation) - Opeth
I'm a fan of the softer Opeth. I do like their progressive death stuff. But to me, Damnation was a work of art. This song, like the rest of the songs from the album, is a beautiful composition. It's a sad song. The lyrics indicate that it's about child abuse and the emotional scars they leave behind. The opening passage is filled with acoustic guitar, and soft drums..
Notable intros of Opeth: Harvest, I Feel the Dark, Patterns of the Ivy, The Drapery Falls


Bonus 
Gasoline (Audioslave) - Audioslave
Before I used to listen to Audioslave, my friends used to tell me, these guys write the best driving songs. So, I dumped the Audioslave album in my ipod and put it on shuffle while riding my bike and man oh man, when this song came up, I swear to god, I "involuntarily" pulled back the throttle. This intro defines speed. It makes you want to "burn that gasoline"...The lyrics are deep and they'll stir up self-assessing thoughts. This is a must have album, my friends. 
Notable intros of Audioslave: Show Me How to Live, Be Yourself, I am The Highway


Compiling a list like this is hard. One, because there are a lot of songs to chose from. Two, because I might not have even heard songs with better or equally awesome intros. So, I did the best I could...Sharing is caring! 
I leave you off with some wise words...


"So understand. Don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years. Face up...make your stand and realize you're living in the golden years"
- Wasted Years (Iron Maiden)


*Ends*   

Top 10 song outros of metal/rock genre

After dedicatedly listening to different genres of metal/rock for over 6 years, I thought I should start writing posts about a universal language. Music. And, promise to keep it regular. My intent is not to turn this into a music blog, but to share my musical interests and write about to minor quirks and subtleties in each song which makes what it is.

By definition, "outro" is the conclusion of a piece of musical composition. Below, I list 10 of my favorite song outros which have left an impression on me!

Closure (Damnation) - Opeth

There is no argument on this one. One of the reasons why I wanted to even write about this topic, is this song. It is by far, my most favorite musical composition of Opeth. Mikael Akerfeldt is a master composer. His musical proficiency is respected not only in the progressive metal world, but also by many other famous musicians. Coming to the outro in particular, I can describe it as "hauntingly beautiful". I'm using this term because, I know that once you listen to it, you'll never stop..

Notable tracks from the same album: Windowpane, In My Time of Need, Hope Leaves

Folklore (Heritage) - Opeth

There you go. Another one of Opeth's classics from their latest album. It came out in the fall last year and it's already highly favored by critics and fans. Although, this song starts slow, the music takes a whole new turn by the time it reaches it's end. Just listen and you'll agree that it's just plain, "orgasmic"!

Notable tracks from the same album: I Feel the Dark, The Devils Orchard, Nepenthe, Pyre

Astronomy (Garage Inc.) - Metallica

Damn...Metallica is brilliant when it comes to covering songs. This "Blue Oyster Cult" cover is my favorite. I've heard the original and I don't care what others say. It's BETTER than the original. These guys transformed this song into a piece of heaven. Hetfield repeats this phrase "Astronomy.. a star" throughout the outro, over Hammet's awesome guitar solo. The song fades out...

Notable tracks from the same album: Turn the Page, Tuesday's Gone, Am I Evil?, Whiskey in the Jar

High Hopes (The Division Bell) - Pink Floyd

Yep. It's about goddamn time. The masters of progressive music. Pure, unadulterated musical masterpieces have been churned out by these guys. This is one of them. The song is so beautiful that it makes me want to cry! I'm warning you all. Do not listen to this song if you are in a sad mood. You WILL cry. I don't know if it's because of the song's build up, or the high pitched guitar solo, or the lyrics, but you want this outro to last forever..

Notable tracks from the same album: Coming Back to Life, Marooned, Cluster One

Beyond the Realms of Death (Stained Class) - Judas Priest

Metal is my religion, Judas is my priest. I worship these guys. In the world of classic heavy metal, there's no one better. This song is a mixture of simple acoustic and distortion riffs, perfectly tailored with two mind-blowing guitar solos! The last one in particular, holy shit! I bow to these musicians..The only time the song title is mentioned (sang) is in the end.

Notable tracks from the same album: Exciter, Savage, Better By You, Better Than Me

Freebird (Lynyrd Skynyrd) - Lynyrd Skynyrd

Ah..finally. A more popular song. Almost every rock fan has heard this song and instantly loved it. Not me. It took me some time to like it. It took me exactly 4 minutes and 53 seconds.. Haha..That's when the fucking solo begins. Oh man! I was blown away by the guitar skills Gary Rossington possesses. The solo is how the song ends. and it's for 5 minutes!! It's one of the most intricate musical compositions in my view. I wonder, if one day I end up learning it, my fingers would melt if I played the entire thing in one stretch.

Notable tracks from the same album: Tuesday's gone, Gimme Three Steps, Simple Man 

Floods (The Great Southern Trendkill) - Pantera

Where do I begin for this one..This song is a class apart. It's a very unique composition of Pantera. That's because it has acoustic bridges, drag solos, doom riffs. You want it. You got it. The outro stands out because the song mutates into whole new psychedelic experience. It's just a simple guitar bridge over the sound of raindrops hitting the ground. Dime, I really don't know how you do it. R.I.P

Notable tracks from the same album: 13 Steps To Nowhere, Drag the waters, Suicide Note Pt. I

The Dark Eternal Night (Systematic Chaos) - Dream Theater

Now we're talking! The pioneers of progressive metal. These guys are so good when it comes to musical composition, that they always better themselves with every new album. Freakin' geniuses! I can't explain this song in words. Really. You'll just have to listen. The outro riff is delightfully simple, but totally noteworthy.

Notable tracks  from the same album: The Ministry of Lost Souls, Forsaken, Constant Motion

Fear of the Dark (Fear of the Dark) - Iron Maiden

I had to. I just had to include a song of my favorite band in the world. This song, to this day, is the only song of this album, played in almost every live performance while fans chant in unison "Fear of the dark". The song outro is awesome because the intro verse is repeated at the end, but the lyrics are switched. "When I'm walking a dark road, I am the man who walks alone". Almost every time I listen to these lines, I feel a chill down my spine.

Notable tracks from the same album: Afraid to Shoot Strangers, Wasting Love, Judas Be My Guide

Alive (Ten) - Pearl Jam

I feel like you cannot go wrong with a song which ends with a guitar solo. Especially, when the guitarist composes the song's music. Vedder does an excellent job with the singing on this one. The extended solo starts off after the third chorus and it's just perfect! The drummer should get credit too as he supports the guitarist to the very end.

Notable tracks from the same album: Black, Jeremy

This post,in no way, means an exhaustion to this list. There are many more songs which I might have missed because I haven't even heard them. So, please keep sharing!

"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything." - Plato

*Ends*