It’s mid February and love is in the air! With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, we thought it’d be a good idea to narrow down our Top 10 Heavy Metal Love Songs. The key word here is “love”, not lust. There’s a zillion lust songs. Some of the bands on this list have mastered the art of the “lust song”. But true heavy metal love songs are far and few in between. These are the 10 finest.
10. Manilla Road – “Feeling Free Again”
When one thinks of Manilla Road, the first thing that comes to mind is multi-faceted opuses chronicling epic battles and phantasmic fantasy. A poppy, upbeat love song? Not so much. However, that’s exactly what Manilla Road stuck in the middle of their 1983 masterpiece, Crystal Logic. “Feeling Free Again” has all the sugary charm of a Cheap Trick song, only hidden under the epic metal cloak of Mark “The Shark” Shelton’s guitar and vocals. It’s proof that Shelton could indeed write a pop song and a damn good one at that. If this song doesn’t turn your frown upside down, I don’t know what will.
9. Motörhead – “Love Me Forever”
Motörhead: A band who prided themselves on no ballads and no bullshit…that is until 1916 (1991). As promised, there was no bullshit to be found on this stone cold classic album. But as for ballads, 1916 featured the band’s very first, “Love Me Forever”. Leave it to Lemmy to write a song that’s so exquisitely beautiful, yet so skull crushingly heavy. This is the type of ballad that if you lived next door to it, your lawn would die.
8. Scorpions – “Still Loving You”
Scorpions are as known for their power ballads as they are for their arena shaking anthems. And no Scorpions power ballad is more powerful than the final track on Love at First Sting (1984), “Still Loving You”. It doesn’t matter whether this song plays over a sports bar loudspeaker or your car stereo. As soon as Klaus Meine’s desperate cries for a second chance begin, a lighter will instantly materialize in your hand. You know damn well to wave it back and forth for the entire 6 and a half minutes of this masterpiece.
7. High Spirits – “I’ll Be Back”
Ah yes, the “long distance” love song. From Golden Earring’s “Radar Love” to Judas Priest’s “Desert Plains”, this has long been a staple of hard rock and heavy metal. The best example of this archetype in recent years is “I’ll Be Back” by High Spirits. Mastermind Chris Black can write 70s and 80s inspired rockers in his sleep. “I’ll Be Back” is yet another work of melodic genius that should be on every heavy metal lovebirds’ playlist.
6. Krokus – “Screaming in the Night”
“Screaming in the Night” is not the only Krokus song that’d fit on this list. Matter of fact, I almost included “Our Love” instead. But while “Our Love” rules in all its pop metal glory, “Screaming in the Night” is just too epic. With its fantastical lyrics, you’d think this would be the type of love song Manilla Road would write. I guess you should never judge a book by it’s cover. That said, I can’t help but feel we deserve a sequel to this song; a “Screaming in the Night” 2: Electric Boogaloo, so to speak. Did Marc Storace ever get the revenge he swore as he held his lover’s lifeless body in the air? These are the things that keep me up at night folks.
5. Judas Priest – “Fever”
I’ve always found it funny that “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin'” became not just the biggest hit off Screaming for Vengeance (1982), but of Judas Priest’s career. This is partially because there’s two songs on this album that were clearly written to be “the single(s)” and are far superior. The first is the Bob Halligan, Jr. penned “(Take These) Chains”. The second is this one. It never ceases to amaze me that “Fever” has been relegated to “deep track” status. Your average rock band…hell, your average pop singer…would sell their soul to write a song like this. The record execs at Columbia must’ve been smoking crack to disregard this passionate love song. “Oh how strange fate is.”
4. W.A.S.P. – “Hold On to My Heart”
There’s an ongoing debate whether or not “Hold On to My Heart” is truly a love song. If we’re examining the song at surface value with no context, it’s easy to assume that it is indeed a love song. When we take into consideration that it’s one piece of the puzzle that is The Crimson Idol (1992), it becomes a desperate plea for help from the mentally broken protagonist, Jonathan Steel. Maybe it’s both, maybe it’s neither. The only one that knows for sure is Blackie Lawless. So Blackie, if you’re reading this, feel free to hit me up so we can have an in depth discussion about your music. I can’t find your publicist’s contact info for the life of me, otherwise I would’ve reached out by now.
3. Def Leppard – “Lady Strange”
Every heterosexual dude has encountered a “Lady Strange”. Men, you know the type of woman I’m talking about. Even if you can’t be with her for reason or another, you “want” her and “need” her, just as Joe Elliott screams at the end of this 1981 classic. Also, get a load of that twin lead intro riff. Something tells me a young John Sykes must’ve been shaking the first time he heard it, knowing full well it was the best riff he had never written. I’m not sure what took more of a nosedive: the dude on the cover of High ‘n’ Dry or Def Leppard’s songwriting abilities. At least we’ll always have “Lady Strange” as a reminder of what once was.
2. UFO – “Love to Love”
*gong hit* Now that I’ve got your attention, please kindly direct your eyes and ears to the video embedded above. What can I say about “Love to Love” that hasn’t been said already? It’s the power ballad to end all power ballads. If every hard rock band had given up writing power ballads after this one (and maybe they should’ve), we’d avoid an entire decade of syrupy fodder. Seriously, what on earth could Poison or Slaughter or any other big haired bozos offer that wasn’t already available on this song? It’s got beautifully crafted lyrics, larger than life strings, soulful vocals, atmospheric acoustic guitars, and a solo from Michael Schenker that rivals only his solo on “Rock Bottom”. Need I say more?
- Y&T – “Forever”
Fact: Dave Meniketti is the most underrated singer/songwriter/guitarist in heavy metal. Exhibit A: “Forever”. Once upon a time, outside a local haunt, in the old days when shows were still a thing, a friend of mine drunkenly called this “the greatest metal song of all time”. We all say stupid things when we’re drunk, but I think if he was sober his opinion would be the same. “Forever” has all the makings of the “perfect” metal song: an intro to die for, ultra heavy riffs, blistering leads, honest lyrics, powerful vocals, thunderous bass, and explosive drums. And that my friends is why it’s the greatest heavy metal love song of all time. Jill Meniketti is one lucky woman!