Ten ‘out of the world’ metal/rock songs you don’t want to miss

Ever felt an unreal enlightenment while listening to a song? A feeling that cannot be described by words, but makes you feel you are in a place where there’s just music surrounding you and nothing else. A song that makes you forget that there is a world around you, freeing you of burdens, worries and everyone else. Now, that is an out of the world experience.

Here is my list of ten such songs that give you the same feeling, songs that don’t need any drugs to amplify any feeling. Just pure music.

Voice of a soul - Death

If there was ever a voice of the soul, this would be it. The song opens with an acoustic guitar intro which literally sends chills up my spine every time I listen to the song. Now as soon as the melody comes in, you die. No seriously, you die. You are now sailing in the dead sea of notes that comfort you, slowly  floating a first but gradually rising up to a storm of  extreme feelings, inspirations  and ecstasies you might have ever felt in your life. Before you know it, you are waking up from a dream, a dream which you have never ever had before.

For the love of God – Steve Vai

If you don’t know this already, Steve Vai is a very spiritual human and he wrote this song while on a seven day fast and recorded it one take. The song is one of his most famous works and it has earned its fame. The guitar is all that sings in this masterpiece and it certainly sings a majestic opera for your mind. This song could as well be the elevator music to heaven, if there is one.

Dreamer Deceiver – Judas Priest

Rob Halford, I bow down to thee. The key changes in the vocals are just unreal in this ballad and nobody else can do this better than Halford. The song gets you high, so high that you lose sight of the ground of reality. The solo takes you beyond the realms of the exosphere, into space, the space of the universe called bliss.

Count of Tuscany – Dream Theater

Such a song is only possible by Dream Theater. This 20 minute epic is one of the best pieces of music ever written.  The intro is pure magic. It is layered with sounds of beautiful acoustic passages, keyboard and guitar solos. The heavy riffing that follows only amplifies the experience so far. The lyrics narrate the story of a man revealing a near death experience after meeting a Count in Tuscany. The song then transcends into spellbinding and captivating acoustic strumming. The man in the narration is finally let free and the song trails into a mix of haunting and atmospheric sounds. The song not only generates a lot of unknown emotion in you but also forces you to live the narration. Soothing beach sounds finish the masterpiece which leaves you feeling content, joyous and free. 

Always with me, always with you – Joe Satriani

Some say this song is a musical counterpart to the act of making love. I would not disagree. The song flows from the delicate ‘muted’ moments of falling in love, the gradual blooming of feelings to each other and the animal attractions that follow the song into an orgasmic tapping solo. The guitar slowly recedes back into the intro melody, gently reminding the origination of love and finally fades out like an afterglow.

Planet Caravan – Pantera

Firstly, respect to Black Sabbath. This is their song and Pantera covered it.

Ever imagined flying in endless space. Watching the countless stars as you pass by, still not losing sight of the beauty of the sapphire earth below you, with a purple haze around it. You hear the black night sighing, the moon smiling through the canopy of space as you endlessly fly through the universe. Listen to this song; you don’t need to imagine this anymore.

Return to Serenity – Testament

The title should tell you enough. This song does exactly what it says. I can’t count the number of times I really returned to serenity after going through a lot of tense phases. The song takes you to the most peaceful place in your head which you have never travelled to. The solo is my favorite solo of all time and I think it is useless trying to find words to describe it.  Not saying more, here is an excerpt from the song itself;

Now that I've taken you to a place far from here
I really must go back, Close your eyes and we'll disappear.
Won't you come with me, salvation we'll share
Inside of my head now, there's a room for us there.

Marooned – Pink Floyd

I might as well put the whole discography of Pinky Floyd here. This band is the epitome of psychedelic music. I haven’t met a single person who says they listen to Pink Floyd and not lost their self in thought and in time.

Marooned is like an island. An island everyone wants to go to, alone. An island where there are calm beaches, hammocks, flying gulls and most of all, an island that is devoid of the burdens we carry all the time with us. All of us will agree that it will be wonderful to drop this burden for five minutes at least. So go ahead free you mind and make a trip to this island called Marooned.

Black Star – Yngwie J. Malmsteen

Any guitarist who wills to reach the upper echelons of technical guitar playing is bound to be inspired by YJM at some point through his life. Listening to Yngwie is like listening to a composer in all his glory. Whether you like his music or not you are bound to be absorbed by it. Albeit being one of the softer compositions of Yngwie, this is song is definitely the most intense.  It’s like matrimony between orchestral music and metal, combing the finest elements of both. Perfect. Just perfect.

Dance of Death – Iron Maiden

The holy grail of Iron Maiden’s music. There is not one song that can parallel this epic in the quality of storytelling. The song is beautiful, haunting, horrific, spellbinding and out of this f**king world. I’ll go so far and tell you that I was inspired to write this review because of this song. I was frozen still when I saw them play this live. It was as if there was a ritual happening right on stage and you are involuntarily a part of it. Iron Maiden is one of my favorite bands of all time and their music will continue to inspire me all my life. This song is only an epitome of all what Iron Maiden stands for and signifies each and every element of their musical genius.