Headbangers ball cd in Heavy Metal Music

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"MTV2 Headbangers Ball, Volume 2" (09/28/2004) Heavy Metal Various Artists, Roadrunner Records (USA)Recording information: 2004. This second installment of MTV's HEADBANGERS BALL compilation series features a daunting 40 tracks that splinter off into numerous jagged branches of the metal tree circa 2004. Iowan ensemble Slipknot kicks things off with the riff-loaded yet surprisingly melodic "Duality," revealing (along with their peers Korn) that the rap aspect of nu metal has essentially been buried. The metal-core sub-genre makes a strong showing with tracks by Killswitch Engage ("Rose of Sharyn") and Eighteen Visions ("Waiting for the Heavens"), while European acts are well represented by the glam-goth of Finland's HIM ("Your Sweet Six Six Six") and the dynamic attack of the Swedish band In Flames ("The Quiet Place"). Elsewhere, Megadeth's Dave Mustaine shows the youngsters how it's done on his band's blistering "Kick the Chair." The true highlight of the double-disc set, however, is the Black Sabbath-inspired "My Tortured Soul," a rare live performance by Foo Fighter Dave Grohl's Probot project, featuring Trouble's Eric Wagner. Harking back to early-1980s metal, this song effectively provides a bridge from that era to the heavy rock of the 21st century.

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"MTV2 Headbangers Ball" (10/07/2003) Heavy Metal Various Artists, Roadrunner Records (USA)In ye olde days of the 1980s, true metalheads hoping to catch videos of their favorite bands had to stay up late for the original HEADBANGERS BALL, MTV's bastion of all things long-haired, leather-clad, and too heavy for the network's regular rotation. In the new millennium, when extreme metal of every sort reached the mainstream on a weekly basis, the faithful ironically still turned to HEADBANGERS BALL, this time on MTV's music-intensive--and, oddly enough, less popular--sister network MTV2. As the title suggests, MTV2 HEADBANGERS BALL collects the program's best moments, which range from the chart topping alt-rock metal of Staind (here represented by "Price to Play," the first single from 12 SHADES OF GREY) to lesser known, far more demanding fare such as Unearth's pile-driving "Endless." The two-disc set even gives a nod to a few of metal's most influential pioneers, Anthrax and Slayer (the latter contributes an absolutely ferocious live version of the classic speed metal anthem "Raining Blood"), acknowledging both the roots of the genre and the artists that made the original HEADBANGERS BALL so compelling.

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"MTV2 Headbangers Ball: The Revenge" (04/11/2006) Heavy Metal Various Artists, Roadrunner Records (USA)Recording information: 2004 - 2006. This is the 2006 volume of MTV2's HEADBANGER'S BALL series, the previous volumes of which have been certified gold. The folks at HEADBANGER'S BALL know a thing or two about metal, and THE REVENGE shows it. A near-definitive overview of the genre in the early 2000s, this two-disc set collects an array of contemporary heavy metal and alternative metal under one cover. Experimental bands like the progressive, gothic-influenced Italian act Lacuna Coil are included, as are theatrical rap-metal acts like Slipknot, thrash metal acts like Bullet for My Valentine, and industry veterans like Iron Maiden. The stylistic range is impressive, and there is plenty of intensity and thunder on every track, making this a great bet for even the most casual metal fan.