What (In your opinion) songs are just perfect?

[Palabra de Dios]

So I was listening to Sanctuary in the car the other day and realized "Battle Angels" is just perfect. Plenty of songs are good to my ears, but some songs are just perfect and never get old after repeated listens. I'll list some songs that I think are just perfect from start to finish, and I want to see what you guys come up with as well:

Power metal:

Blind Guardian - "Nightfall"
Nocturnal Rites - "Avalon"
Falconer - "The Clarion Call"
Sabaton - "40:1"

Prog metal:

Opeth - "The Leper Affinity"
Symphony X - "Inferno (Unleash the Fire)"
Circus Maximus - "For the Glory of the Empire"

Traditional heavy metal:

Sanctuary - "Battle Angels"
Riot - "Thundersteel"
Mercyful Fate - "Black Funeral"
Slough Feg - "Vargr Theme / Confrontation (Genetic Prophesy)"

Doom metal:

Electric Wizard - "Funeralopolis"
Saturnus - "Christgoodbye"

Thrash metal:

Overkill - "Elimination"
Destruction - "Nailed to the Cross"
Havok - "Unnatural Selection"

Death metal:

Impaled - "Raise the Stakes"
Bloodbath - "Breeding Death"
Amon Amarth - "With Oden on Our Side"

Black metal (all subgenres):

Darkthrone - "The Claws of Time"
Dimmu Borgir - "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse"
Venom - "Countess Bathory"
Bathory - "Enter the Eternal Fire"

Viking/folk/pagan metal:

Ensiferum - "Into Battle"
Moonsorrow - "Kylän päässä"
Windir - "The Spiritlord"
Tyr - Hail to the Hammer"

Oddball:

Mercenary - "Lost Reality"
Amorphis - "My Kantele" (Among others. This band has several perfect songs)
Soilwork - "Let This River Flow"
In Flames - "Moonshield"
Orphaned Land - "Halo Dies (The Wrath of God)"

 

[Random Axe]

That's quite a list. For me, perfection represents the absolute pinnacle of the musical experience and there might only be four or five in my entire lifetime. Only two songs immediately come to mind.

Pull Me Under - Dream Theater

Eyes of a Stranger - QR

Both of those represent a time in my life I was most open to musical ideas. The QR song was the first song I'd heard from them and I was and am still floored by the sheer power and depth. Pull Me Under showed me, a then 23 year old college student, what was possible to achieve through music. That opened up whatever boundaries I previously had and also opened up the musical universe for me.

A perfect song should always have a deep-rooted meaning, and inner connection.

 

[Nidstang]

Opeth- The Moor
Rush-The Fountain of Lamneth: In the Valley/Didacts and Narpets/No One At
Kamelot-Elizabeth I.II.III
Blind Guardian-The Curse of Feanor
Becoming the Archetype- Elegy
Ne Obliviscaris-And Plague Flowers The Kaleido
Enslaved- Midgards Eldar
Candlemass-At Gallows End

 

[Kez]

Vanden Plas - Fire Blossom/Rainmaker, Phoenix

Shadow Gallery - All of Tyranny (wouldn't change a note on it)

Triumph - Headed for Nowhere (from Surveillance)


Just random from the archives in my brain on spur of the moment.

 

[Mardoch]

Prepare yourself for a long freakin list. I'm not going to genre break it, because it's too many. My definition of a perfect song is something like, at or near pinnacle for genre, never "gets old", impactful content (lyrics and/or just the tune itself), etc. (the criteria is super subjective and hits as many data points as there are bones in the body), so I predict that a lot of people will "cough bullshit" at a lot of items, but hey, whatever. I restricted it to metal, or metallic type artists, and I've no doubt left off a lot of things that would meet my criteria because I'm "at work" and just working off of my playlist instead of plumbing the depths of memory.

Andromeda - Extension of the Wish (Fremburg vocals)
Andromeda - Two is One
Angra - Waiting Silence
Anubis Gate - Circumstanced
Anubis Gate - Never Like This (A Dream)
Arch Enemy - Revolution Begins
Ayreon - The Two Gates
Circles - Responses
Circus Maximum - Silence from Angels Above
Coronado - Flicker
Darkwater - The Play (I and II as a pair)
David Maxim Micic - Smile
Destiny Potato - Blue Sun
Destiny Potato - Walls of Thoughts
Disperse - AUM
Disperse - Enigma of Abode
Disperse - Profane the Ground
Disperse - Unbroken Shiver
Dream Evil - Fire! Battle! In Metal!
Dream Theater - A Fortune in Lies (LaBrie vocals)
Dream Theater - Under a Glass Moon
Dreamscape - Short Time News
Drowning Pool - Sinner
Eumeria - Dreaming of Death
Evergrey - A Touch of Blessing
Evergrey - Ambassador
Evergrey - Dark Waters
Evergrey - In Confidence
Evergrey - Madness Caught Another Victim
Fortiori - In My Sight
Fortiori - Sun
Hubi Meisel - Lost in the Waters of Sargasso
Iced Earth - Dante's Inferno
Iced Earth - Gettysburg (the whole thing as one piece)
Ihsahn - After
Ihsahn - The Barren Lands
Ill Nino - Unframed
In Flames - Colony
Intervals - Mata Hari
Jakub Zytecki - Euphoria!
Jakub Zytecki - Portal's Wall Above Us
Jakub Zytecki - Satya's Diary
Jakub Zytecki - Time Impact
Joe Satriani - Always With Me, Always With You
Joe Satriani - War
Kadinja - Shades
Kamelot - Abandoned
Kamelot - Alexandria
Kamelot - Center of the Universe
Kamelot - Karma
Kamelot - Rule the World
Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son
Lalu - Night in Poenari
Lalu - Potboy: The Final Fantasy
Leprous - Cryptogenic Desires
Leprous - The Valley
Make Me a Donut - Olson
Megadeth - Ashes in Your Mouth
Megadeth - Hangar 18
Megadeth - Tornado of Souls
Megadeth - Victory
Monuments - Saga City
Mudvayne - Not Falling
Mudvayne - World So Cold
Myrath - Sour Sigh
Myrath - Wide Shut
Nevermore - Dreaming Neon Black
Nevermore - Final Product
Nevermore - Insignificant
Orphaned Land - Halo Dies : The Wrath of God
Orphaned Land - Ocean Land : The Revealation
Pagan's Mind - Back to the Magic of Childhood (both pieces)
Pain of Salvation - A Trace of Blood
Pain of Salvation - Idioglossia
Pain of Salvation - In the Flesh
Pain of Salvation - Inside
Pain of Salvation - This Heart of Mine (I Pledge)
Pain of Salvation - Used
Pantera - A Mouth for War
Pantera - Cemetary Gates
Pantera - Cowboys from Hell
Pantera - Fucking Hostile
Pantera - The Art of Shredding
Periphery - Erised
Periphery - Ow My Feelings
Periphery - Racecar
Periphery - The Bad Thing
Persefone - Upward Explosion
Protest the Hero - Blindfolds Aside
Protest the Hero - C'est la Vie
Protest the Hero - Mist
Protest the Hero - Tandem
Queensryche - Eyes of a Stranger
Queensryche - Queen of the Reiche
Queensryche - Revolution Calling
Red Circuit - Homeland
Red Circuit - The World Forgotten Sons
Redemption - The Fullness of Time (the whole suite)
Redemption - The Origins of Ruin
Redemption - Walls
Riverside - I Believe
Riverside - Rainbow Box
Sabaton - 40:1
Sabaton - The Price of a Mile
Satariel - The Springrise
Satariel - Vengeance is Hers
Savatage - Beyond the Doors of the Dark
Savatage - Hall of the Moutain King
Savatage - He Carves His Stones
Savatage - Of Rage and War
Savatage - Sammy and Tex
Savatage - Welcome
Scar Symmetry - Deviate from the Form
Scar Symmetry - The Illusionist
Serenity - New Horizons
Serenity - The Heartblood Symphony
Sevendust - Damaged
Sevendust - Redefine
Sevendust - Shine
Shadrane - Temporal
Shattered Skies - As the Sea Divides
Shattered Skies - The End and the Rebirth
Skyharbor - Allure
Skyharbor - Guiding Lights
Skyharbor - Maeva
Skyharbor - Miracle
Soilwork - Distortion Sleep
Soilwork - If Possible
Soilwork - Long Live the Misanthrope
Soilwork - Overload
Soilwork - Parasite Blues
Soilwork - Tongue
Soilwork - Two Lives Worth of Reckoning
Solution .45 - Gravitational Lensing
Stride - Imagine
Sybreed - Dynamic
Sybreed - Posthuman Manifesto
Sybreed - Take the Red Pill
Symphony X - A Lesson Before Dying (I wish they would rerecord this song, it's so great)
Symphony X - A Winter's Dream (both parts)
Symphony X - Candlelight Fantasia
Symphony X - Evolution (The Grand Design)
Symphony X - Wicked
Tesseract - Eden
Tesseract - Of Matter: Resist
Tesseract - Of Mind: Exile
Textures - Awake
Textures - Reaching Home
The Contortionist - Language (both parts)
The Ralph - Space Hobo
The Safety Fire - Old Souls
Tomorrow's Eve - Amnesia
Tomorrow's Eve - Optimization
Tool - 46 & 2
Tool - H.
Tool - Parabol/Parabola
Tool - The Grudge
Twilightning - In the Fervor's Frontier
Twilightning - Isolation Shell
Twilightning - Train to Bedlam
Vanden Plas - Silently
Volumes - Affirmation of Ascension
Volumes - At the Edge of the Earth
Volumes - Intake
Voyager - Hyperventilating
Voyager - Seasons of Age
Voyager - The Meaning of I
Wastefall - Dance of Descent
Wastefall - Summerlonging Angels
Wastefall - The Muzzle Affection
When Giants Collide - Mustard Tiger

 

[TheLongshot]

Dream Theater - Lines In The Sand
Blind Guardian - Sacred Worlds
Symphony X - The Accolade
Rush - Marathon
Rush - Mission
Rush - The Garden
Eluveitie - King
Porcupine Tree - Halo
Porcupine Tree - Arriving Somewhere But Not Here
King Crimson - Starless

 

[Comic Book Dude]

Tad Morose- Anubis
Savatage- Hall Of The Mountain King
Judas Priest- Freewheel Burning
Van Halen- Dance The Night Away
Jorn- Rock And Roll Angel
Kansas- Icarus (Borne On Wings Of Steel)
Eagles- The Last Resort
Billy Joel- New York State Of Mind

 

[General Zod]

I don't think I could even begin to scratch the surface of constructing such a list. The four songs that most immediately come to mind, simply because they are both flawless and epic:

Queensryche - Suite Sister Mary
Redemption - Memory
Symphony X - Communion and the Oracle
Zero Hour - Demise and Vestige

 

[Mardoch]

Already found two I forgot, damnit.

Dream Theater - To Live Forever
Rush - YYZ

 

[Fire breath]

I'll choose a few that come to mind.

Death - Perennial Quest
Iced Earth - Stormrider
Lost Horizon - Pure
Iron Maiden - Hallowed Be Thy Name
Judas Priest - Painkiller
Megadeth - Holy Wars...The Punishment Due
Testament - Disciples of the Watch
Van Halen - Jump
Scorpions - Rock You Like A Hurricane
Slayer - Angel of Death
King Diamond - Welcome Home
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Metallica - Blackened
At The Gates - Blinded By Fear
Morbid Angel - Immortal Rites

 

[Mardoch]

Jump is a good call. I can't think of many songs that herald "fun times" more than Jump. Perfect happy metal piece.

 

[VenomGA]

Ozzy-Crazy Train
Slayer-Angel of Death
Dio-Rainbow In the Dark
Yngwie Malmsteen-Dreaming (Tell Me)
Scorpions-No One Like You
Dream Theater-Pull Me Under

 

[NorseBlood]

I have listened to so much music over such a long span of time but no one has the right answer with such a question. Music is so personal and is surrounded by the times when it was created and your place in time when you heard it. So I will start my list, but I'll have to update it a couple of times as I think of stuff. Some of this stuff, like me, will be really old. So here goes. I'll keep it short, and I'll throw in a few I really like that will be in our next ProgPower in September.

Hendrix - Machine Gun - (Live at the Isle of Wight)
Black Sabbath - Symptom of the Universe - (Sabotage)
Scorpions - They Need a Million - (Fly to the Rainbow)
Rory Gallagher - Bad Penny - (Stage Struck)
Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush - He's Calling - (Real Live)
Savatage - Hounds / Thorazine Shuffle - (Live Devastation)
Savatage - Morphine Child - (Poets and Madmen)
Nightwish - Deep Silent Complete - (Wishmaster)
Opeth - Blackwater Park - (Blackwater Park)
Ensiferum - Mourning Heart / Tale of Revenge - (Iron)
Iced Earth - The Hunter - (Dark Saga)
Loudness - Shadows of War (Live) - (8186 Live)
Sabaton - 7734 - (Heroes)
Anubis Gate - The Re-Formation Show - (Anubis Gate)
Falconer - Lament of a Minstrel - (Chapters from a Vale Forlorn)
Hibria - Nonconforming Minds - (Blind Ride)

 

[BlindPanzer]

Pain of salvation - undertow. I don't think they will ever again match the intensity and simplicity of that song.

 

[TribunalRecords]

RUSH - Red Barchetta. Best rock song, ever.

I actually used to get mad because it fades out and they are still jamming. It wasn't until watching a recent making of the album that it revealed where they stopped playing on the actual session tape, so the fade out itself, was also, perfect.

 

[TechDave]

Some off the top of my head:

Judas Priest- Beyond the Realms of Death
Judas Priest- Painkiller
Black Sabbath- Heaven & Hell (really the whole H&H album is practically perfect, but the title track is my favorite)
Rainbow- Stargazer / Light in the Black
Dio- All the Fools Sailed Away
Rush- Witch Hunt
Rush- Between the Wheels
Iron Maiden- Flight of Icarus
Bruce Dickinson- The Magician
Queensryche- London
Iced Earth- Dracula
Zero Hour- Strategem
Control Denied- Believe
Fates Warning- The Apparition
Nevermore- Dreaming Neon Black
Feinstein- Third Wish
Blind Guardian- The Script for My Requiem
Symphony X- Communion and the Oracle
Circle II Circle- Burden of Truth

 

[Pellaz]

If I think about this for any lengthy period of time I'll just keep coming up with songs, but a few songs come immediately to mind.

Fear Factory, "Resurrection"
Old Man's Child, "The Soul Receiver"
Equilibrium, "Mana"
Ayreon, "Welcome to the New Dimension/Isis and Osiris"
Ozric Tentacles, "Ayurvedic"

Nevermore- Dreaming Neon Black

^^ and that one.

 

[Palabra de Dios]

A perfect song should always have a deep-rooted meaning, and inner connection.

I get what you're saying, but in a way I disagree because sometimes a song is just really fun or catchy. I don't think I could argue that I have a "deep connection" to Impaled - "Raise the Stakes," since the lyrics of the song are basically about insane surgeons who harvest organs from patients and then eat them. But I can say that the riffs are fucking great, and I can't get enough of that song even 10 years after hearing it for the first time.

 

[sccaldwell]

First one that comes to mind for me is Circus Maximus' "Sin," but there are plenty of others...

Enchant's "My Gavel Hand"
Seventh Wonder's "Walking Tall"
Pain of Salvation's "Used"
Triumph's "Never Surrender"
Rush's "2112"
Alter Bridge "In Loving Memory"

....for starters. Musically and lyrically, all of those really hit home with me.

Craig

 

[DADRocks]

Haken's "Visions"
Kamelot's "March of Mephisto"
Kingcrow's "In Crescendo"
Pain of Salvation's "Chain Sling", "Ashes", + a bunch others
Redemption's "Sapphire", "Memory", + a bunch others
Seventh Wonder's "Great Escape"
Symphony X's "The Odyssey"
Threshold's "Pilot In The Sky of Dreams"
Vangough's "Rabbit Kingdom"
Dream Theater's "The Glass Prison", "Solitary Shell", & the entire Scenes From a Memory album... & "The Silent Man"
Testament's "Disciples of the Watch", "The Preacher", "Practice what You Preach"