Avantasia – “Avantasia”
From the album: Avantasia: The Metal Opera – Part I

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Why this song doesn’t suck:
Sure, power metal has a tendency to be over the top and corny at times, but if done right it can be some of the most (for lack of a better word) powerful music ever perceived by human earholes. In 1999, Edguy frontman, Tobias Sammet, began writing the songs for what would become his Avantasia side project’s first release, 2000′s aptly titled The Metal Opera. This album contained some of the best power metal to be released in recent memory, my favorite of which happens to be the band’s self-titled track, “Avantasia”. This is power metal done right.

Sonata Arctica – “It Won’t Fade”
From the album: Unia

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Why this song doesn’t suck:
Unbeknown to me, Sonata Arctica’s album Unia holds some kind of strange psychic hold on the part of my brain that enjoys music. I’ve listened to this album dozens upon dozens of times, and for some strange reason, I never manage to grow sick of it. From the album-opener “Black & White” to the closing track and everything in between, I find Sonata’s style of heavy power metal to some of the best the genre has to offer.