Metallica: 10 Best Hard Rock Songs

10. Hero Of The Day

I'll meet the hardcore metalheads halfway here with the band's more commercial release Load. While the album has a lot more bright spots than you might remember, the drastic shift towards alternative rock was a bit too much for most fans to stomach.

On the flip side, when Metallica decides to just write a simple song, you get gems like "Hero of the Day." The opening guitar strains are very pretty and almost...*gasp* inviting on a Metallica track. Whereas most of the band's early work cut right to the chase when hitting you over the head, this song plays it cool as it shows the struggles that afflict anyone who is down on their luck.

Just the way James Hetfield croons as he talks with his mother about the pain that he feels going through life seems genuinely heartfelt. In addition, this is most likely the only Metallica song to be written almost entirely in a major key. For many metalheads, major keys are no good unless your name is Iron Maiden, but this song does an exquisite job at marrying the heavy side of the band's sound with a more rootsy hard rock approach.

Though this may be a prime candidate to show Load's flaws, "Hero of the Day" is probably one of the most mainstream Metallica releases that could get non-metalheads initiated.