8. Five Finger Death Punch - Far From Home
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvKmMADJtr0 Five Finger are essentially the new Limp Bizkit. Woah wait, come back! I meant it in a good way, like how everyone used to know every word to something as big and plain stupid as Break Stuff, many now do the same with Five Finger's The Bleeding, and loads of others. Named after a move in Kill Bill, and with a solid relationship between their fans and overseas soldiers, these guys have a heart of gold and are writing some of the biggest most fun tracks of the last decade. All that being said though, singer Ivan Moody has (at least on their second album, when they had the ability to write a slow song without it being so tongue-in-cheek there'd be an exit wound) the knack of turning things down to do a well-meaning and passionately-sung ballad. Ever since Metallica laid the groundwork with Nothing Else Matters, the 'metal ballad solo' is a category in itself. Luckily Five Finger's twin guitarist-combo of Zoltan Bathory and Jason Hook (clearly born to be a guitarist) know how to compose an uplifting progression, and the Far From Home solo is one of their best. Starting with some slower notes that call to mind the Western lone-wolf 'one-man-against-the-world' ideology, it quickly builds into a fantastic crescendo that welcomes Moody's chorus vocals with open arms. A cracking song, and a even more cracking solo.