The official website for Gibson guitars has released what they perceive to be the top 50 metal songs of all time. Gibson.com’s writers and editors worked on compiling the list over several weeks, releasing 10 entries at a time, and recently released the top 10, which declared the number one metal song to be “Master of Puppets” by Metallica.

In some ways, the number one spot for Metallica is fitting, considering 2011 is the 25th anniversary of the release of their Master of Puppets album. Having said that though, metalheads are notorious for having fierce and strong opinions about what they consider to be their “top songs,” on top of their fierce and strong opinions about what bands are or are not even metal.

The MP3 deal of the day over at Amazon today is Pantera‘s Vulgar Display Of Power for only $2.99.

Here’s where I explain to you why you should part with three bucks: This album is fucking amazing. That’s right, I cursed for emphasis, and I’d do it again… fucking amazing. There’s not one bad song on the whole album, but here’s three songs that are worth the $2.99 alone: “Mouth For War,” “Walk,” and “This Love.” There, done.

Like metal? [And you don’t already own this album? :::gasp:::] Vulgar Display of Power is a must-have in your collection.

Pantera was a four-piece metal band from Texas whose 1990 crossover album Cowboys From Hell was their breakout effort, solidifying their place in the metal pantheon. Vulgar was their even heavier follow-up in 1992 and is, in my opinion, their best album. Some of you might remember Pantera from their iconic guitarist, the shred master Dimebag Darrell Abbott, who was gunned down by a deranged fan in December 2004 while performing with Damageplan (the post-Pantera band he formed with his brother, Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul). On vocals is Phil Anselmo, who performed in numerous side projects like Superjoint Ritual and is currently fronting Down.