Top Ten Songs by Zakk Wylde

The Best of Metal's Wooly Mammoth Madman

Zakk Wylde slaved away in New Jersey rock bands until landing a spot with the metal madman himself, Ozzy Osbourne. Wylde's bare bones style of a Les Paul played loudly through a Marshall amp helped Ozzy to score some of his biggest hits, including a Grammy for "I Don't Want to Change the World". 

It wasn't until Wylde formed his own band; Pride & Glory that the world got to see the range he possessed. A solemn acoustic album followed and Wylde has since been pulverizing the world with Black Label Society and stands as the lone guitar hero on top of the rock and roll mountain. 

Each Zakk Wylde led album has highlights for rock fans and guitar purists. Here are ten of Zakk's best tracks, not to mention the classics he wrote as part of Ozzy's band. 

"Horse Called War" from Pride & Glory – Wylde wastes little time tearing the roof off the barn and plowing through five minutes of blinding Sabbath meets southern rock and roll. 

"Between Heaven and Hell" from Book of Shadows - The solemnity of Book of Shadows is broken by the almost cheery harmonica on this song. This isn't the best example of Wylde's ferocious guitar playing, but it is one of his most finely crafted songs. 

"Bored to Tears" from Sonic Brew - Black Label Society delivers its crushing blow to rap rock. The riff is massive and the groove is a monster. Hold on or get out of the way. 

"Counterfeit God" from Stronger than Death - Wylde pulls a trick out of Ozzy's hat and condemns the hypocritical televangelists that can't get past rock and roll being the cause of their kid's issues. Slap on a pulverizing riff and it becomes crucial BLS. 

"Stronger than Death" from Stronger Than Death - Wylde has used the BLS name to promote several things, mostly beer and heavy metal, but also strength, perseverance, honor and quite a few other morally acceptable ideas. It's also loud, rude and primed for performance in front of thousands of Ozzfest kids. 

"Speedball" from 1919 Eternal – This is just Wylde being a showoff. In a less than one minute instrumental he demonstrates why no other popular guitar player today can touch him.