I have also seen several of these songs in music video form. They are: "Straight Out Of Line", "This Is Now", "Price To Play," "Stupid Girl," "Hexagram," "This Is The New *hit," "World So Cold," "Smothered," "Fixation On The Darkness," "Inhale," "Safe Home," "Rainig Blood" Live, "Dead In Hollywood," "Destroyer Of Senses," "Sun Doesn't Rise," "Ruin," "We Will Rise," "Down Again," "You Broke Like Glass," "Sworn Enemy," "Mannequin," "Down," "Mandibles," "Botchla," "Rejection Role," "Relentless," and "Rational Gaze." As you can see, I watch the show plenty!


Edited, But It's Still Good   May 12, 2005
 9 out of 10 found this review helpful

This was the CD that got me into the New Wave of American Heavy Metal and real metal in general. Anyways, I started listening to Hatebreed, Killswitch Engage, Pantera and Chimaira before I bought this a month after it came out, but it's still a great compilation. The flaws are the edits, but you can't really recognize that on the second disc. Here's what I think of each track on this disc.

DISC 1

1. "Straight Out Of Line" by Godsmack (3/5) Extremely overplayed...
2. "This Is Now" by Hatebreed (5/5)
3. "Price To Play" by Staind (0/5) Anything after "Dysfunction" sucks.
4. "Stupid Girl" by Cold (4/5) Great track from an underrated band.
5. "Hexagram" by Deftones (5/5) Deftones rule.
6. "This Is The New *hit" by Marilyn Manson (1/5) Edited version sucks, and I don't like Manson that much...
7. "Separate" by Sevendust (2/5) Replace that track with "Enemy"...
8. "When It Cuts" by Ill Nino (3/5) Replace with "How Can I Live"...
9. "World So Cold" by Mudvayne (4/5) This track rules...it would have gotten a 5/5 if it weren't the radio edit...
10. "Smothered" by Spineshank (5/5) This is some good stuff there...
11. "Destroy All" by Static-X (3/5) "Shadow Zone" wasn't that great of a CD, but this is a decent song...
12. "Fixation On The Darkness" by Killswitch Engage (5/5) This is the version with Howard Jones on vocals. The original is as good as well.
13. "Inhale" by Stone Sour (3/5) Mediocre song from Corey Taylor's side project.
14. "Pride" by Soil (1/5) This song sucks, but the rest of the CD is pretty good.
15. "Safe Home" by Anthrax (4/5) Screw "St. Anger", Anthrax can still produce good albums in 2003, not Selloutica!
16. "Raining Blood [live]" by Slayer (5/5) The studio track is great, and the live version kicks ass as well.
17. "Dead In Hollywood" by Murderdolls (4/5) One of the only good tracks off their CD.
18. "Destroyer Of Senses" by Shadows Fall (10/5) What can I say? It's Shadows Fall!
19. "Sun Doesn't Rise" by Mushroomhead (5/5) Great track from an up-and-coming band.
20. "House Of 1000 Corpses" by Rob Zombie (-9999999999999999/5) The only Rob Zombie worth listening to is off "Hellbilly Deluxe".

DISC 2

1. "Ruin" by Lamb Of God (5/5) LOG rules.
2. "We Will Rise" by Arch Enemy (5/5) I'm amazed a chick sings for this band.
3. "Clouds Connected" by In Flames (4/5) It's new In Flames, but that's not an excuse for how great the track is.
4. "Down Again" by Chimaira (20/5) Practically the reason I bought this CD.
5. "You Broke Like Glass" by Eighteen Visions (5/5) It grew on me.
6. "Heaven's A Lie" by Lacuna Coil (5/5) F*ck Evanescence. Lacuna Coil plays TRUE gothic metal.
7. "I Could Care Less" by DevilDriver (4/5) It's not Coal Chamber, but it will do.
8. "Sworn Enemy" by Sworn Enemy (3/5) One of the only good tracks off their CD.
9. "At The End Of August" by 36 Crazyfists (5/5) Great band with great material.
10. "Mannequin" by Cradle Of Filth (2/5) It's off their P.O.S. "Damnation and a Day"...
11. "Infected" by Demon Hunter (4/5) Didn't catch me at first, but I got into it.
12. "March Of The Fire Ants" by Mastodon (5/5) Amazing track.
13. "Down" by Motograter (4/5) It's good.
14. "Mandibles" by E.Town Concrete (4/5) Rap metal done right.
15. "Botchla" by Poison The Well (5/5) Poison The Well rules...
16. "Rejection Role" by Soilwork (3/5) It's decent.
17. "Endless" by Unearth (4/5) Great track from a great band.
18. "Relentless" by Strapping Young Lad (5/5) Devin Townsend is a musical genius.
19. "Forever" by As I Lay Dying (5/5) Addicting...
20. "Rational Gaze" by Meshuggah (5/5) Holy schnikies, this is gold!

It's a great CD to get you beyond the nu-metal realm, especially the 2nd CD with the more underground bands. Recommended.


AWESOME!!!   November 9, 2003
 8 out of 9 found this review helpful

ahh, Headbanger's Ball,, one of the best shows ever to exist.. no wait, THE best show ever to exist- I wish I could have been old enough to see the original one.. I'm 19, I was only like 5 when the original one was on... I have MTV2 and I watch the new one on occassion- it's ok- too many commercial breaks and a lot of the same videos over & over. But nonetheless I still wanted to pick this up, and it's a very good cd. It has one disc of mostly mainstream stuff and one disc of more underground stuff.

The first disc is actually pretty good- my only complaints are the Staind song(i like Staind but not that song- would've been better if they put "Just Go" or "Mudshovel") and "Stupid Girl"(so sick of that song, well I never really liked it anyway- if they were going to put a Cold song they could have put on "Go Away")... other than that, good disc- great tracks from Godsmack, Deftones, Hatebreed, Sevendust, Manson, Ill Nino, and even a live Slayer song :)

The second disc is simply amazing- a cd that says MTV on it that actually has IN FLAMES??? and ARCH ENEMY??? and MESHUGGAH??? and DEVIL DRIVER???? WOW! Also has some great tracks like Motograter's "Down" and Chimaira's "Down Again".

Definitley the best hard rock/metal compilation released in 2003! Great for scaring those who listen to "NOW Thats What I Call Music!" or "The Best of TRL Pop"

KEEP IT HEAVY!


good thing it wasnt TOTAL crap   November 12, 2003
 8 out of 12 found this review helpful

alright i normally despise MTV b/c of all their mainstream crap, but im glad they got two good christian bands (demon hunter, as i lay dying) on there. and killswitch engage. it gives you a good glimpse into the realm of christian hardcore and metal, the true metalheads who know that you dont have to cuss to be hardcore. if you dont believe me download inferno by extol, or ember by extol, or undeceived by extol, or time stands still by extol, etc...or soul embraced, zao, living sacrifice, still breathing (female vocalist), crimson moonlight, crimson thorn, acoustic torment, the list goes on.


Amazing metal compilation   March 3, 2004
 5 out of 9 found this review helpful

This is one of the better metal compilations i've heard. It has a few weak songs, particularly on the first disc, but overall, it is incredible.

1) Godsmack - Straight Out of Line: **** Good song, but the I don't like this guy's voice.

2) Hatebreed - This is Now: ***** Excellent song, heavy, in yourface, characteristic of hatebreed. Great chorus.

3) Staind - Price to Play: **** Good for a mellow song, kind of catchy.

4) Cold - Stupid Girl: * Very characteristic of Cold... BORING

5) Deftones - Hexagram: ***** Excellent song. The Deftones can do no wrong.

6) Marilyn Manson - This is the New S---: **** He's had better songs, but this is pretty cool anyhow.

7) Sevendust - Separate: *** An average song, doesn't really hold interest, and pales on a CD this good.

8) Ill Nino - When it Cuts: ***** Great song, fast, energetic, and with good vocals. Simple guitar, but it sounds good anyways.

9) Mudvayne - World so Cold: ***** Great mellow song, content editing doesn't really bother this song too much. Great vocals, lots of meaning.

10) Spineshank - Smothered: ***** Not the heaviest that Spineshank has done, but great nonetheless.

11) Static X - Destroy All: ***** I personally prefer Static X's older stuff, but this is the best of their new songs. Very energetic, and heavy enough too.

12) Killswitch Engage - Fixation on the Darkness: ***** KSE owns everyone. This is far from their best material, but it's still one of the better songs on disc 1. I would've been happier with a song like "Numbered Days" or "Self Revolution" though.

13) Stone Sour - Inhale: ***** They've had heavier and faster songs, but I love this song anyways.

14) Soil - Pride: ***** This is a great, energetic song.

15) Anthrax - Safe Home: ** Old school metal, but part of the worse old school metal. Extremely boring.

16) Slayer - Raining Blood: ***** I loved the original, and having a live version is awesome. Great guitar work as usual from Slayer.

17) Murderdolls - Dead in Hollywood: *** Weird song. Interesting style.

18) Shadows Fall - Destroyer of Senses: ***** Incredible and heavy, like everything else Shadows Fall does.

19) Mushroomhead - Sun Doesn't Rise: ***** Great mix of singing and yelling, sounds really cool. Good intro to Mushroomhead for n00b metalheads.

20) Rob Zombie - House of 1000 Corpses: * Terrible song. Doesn't belong on this compilation at all.

DISC 2

1) Lamb of God - Ruin: ***** Amazing. Great guitars.

2) Arch Enemy - We Will Rise: ***** Gothenburg metal... always great.

3) In Flames - Cloud Connected: ***** One of In Flames' poorer efforts, but great anyways.

4) Chimaira - Down Again: ***** Melodic sometimes, hardcore sometimes, incredible song.

5) Eighteen Visions - You Broke Like Glass: ***** What can you say about these guys? Everything they do is awesome.

6) Lacuna Coil - Heaven's A Lie: * Doesn't belong with the other stuff on this disc. Too much like Evanesence to be good.

7) DevilDriver - I Could Care Less: ***** I hate this guy's voice, but the music owns.

8) Sworn Enemy - Sworn Enemy: ***** Intense song, with good lyrics IMO.

9) 36 Crazyfists - At the End of August: ***** Off of "A Snow Capped Romance" due out March 16. Cool to have a preview of the CD. Not as brilliant as original 36CF material, but its great nonetheless.

10) Cradle of Filth - Mannequin: * This song sucks. I hate CoF.

11) Demon Hunter - Infected: ***** Great effort from an up and coming band. Has a melodic chorus.

12) Mastodon - March of the Fire Ants: ***** Kind of a weird song... but incredible to listen to.

13) Motograter - Down: ***** Very electronically driven, but its a cool song with superb vocals.

14) E. Town Concrete - Mandibles: **** Cool guitar on the intro, but I hate the rapping in the verses. The killer bassline makes up for it though.

15) Poison the Well - Botchla: ***** One of the best songs ever written IMO.

16) Soilwork - Rejection Role: **** Melodic and heavy parts. Great like everything else Soilwork does, but surprisingly mellow.

17) Unearth - Endless: ****** That's right, SIX stars. Quite possible the greatest metalcore song of all time. Even better than the PtW song. Guitars fly all over the place, with a lot of variation (it changes completely about every 40 seconds). It even has a little melodic vocal part in the song, which too me feels like the climax. VERY intense.

18) Strapping Young Lad - Relentless: ***** The name really describes the song well, especially in the second half when the guitars go insane.

19) As I Lay Dying - Forever: ***** Great lyrics, with the vocals reaching a merciless howl. The guitar work are interesting.

20) Meshuggah - Rational Gaze: *** I don't really like Meshuggah... I find it a little dull.