Singles going heavy

Jimi Hendrix, “Purple Haze,” Are You Experienced, 1967: Chops, bombast, charisma—Hendrix had it all.

Black Sabbath, “War Pigs,” Black Sabbath, 1970: Vietnam-era protest song as relevant today as it was then.

Blue Oyster Cult, “Hot Rails to Hell,” Tyranny and Mutation, 1973: Classic metal’s heaviest, and lyrically strangest, band.

Ramones, “Blitzkrieg Bop,” Ramones, 1976: Guitarist Johnny Ramone injected speed into the mix.

Van Halen, “Eruption,” Van Halen, 1978: Enter Eddie Van Halen, the original shredder.

Black Flag, “White Minority,” Jealous Again, 1980: West Coast Punk’s hardest and fastest band.

Iron Maiden, “The Number of the Beast,” The Number of the Beast, 1982: British lads complete the fusion between punk, metal and demonology.

Slayer, “Hell Awaits,” Hell Awaits, 1985: Drummer Dave Lambardo pushes metal past the 200-bpm mark.

Metallica, “Master of Puppets,” Master of Puppets, 1986: With Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax—thrash metal’s Big Four.

Pantera, “Walk,” Vulgar Displays of Power, 1992: The late Dimebag Darrell Abbott single-handedly kept speed metal alive in the 1990s.

Strapping Young Lad, “Oh My Fucking God,” City, 1997: Vancouver, B.C., grindcore outfit delivers the goods via warp speed.

Lamb of God, “Walk With Me in Hell,” Sacrament, 2006: Formerly known as Burn the Priest. What’s in a name, anyway?