Our top ten Volbeat songs list looks at the work of a Danish rock band who’s music is a unique mix of modern metal and traditional rock n roll who were first formed in Copenhagen in 2001. They were first formed after frontman Michael Poulsen left his previous band Dominus who were a death metal and he had become tired of the death metal scene. The band’s name came after Dominus’s third album Vol.Beat. After recording a demo tape called Beat the Meat which sold over 1000 copies, they signed a deal with Rebel Monster Records.
Their full length debut The Strength/The Sound/The Songs was released in 2005. It was successful in Denmark where it reached number eighteen in the national charts. It also received generally positive critical reviews. Their next album Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil was released in 2007 and got to number one in the Danish top forty. After supporting the likes of Metallica over the next year, they released their third album Guitar Gangsters and Cadillac Blood in 2008.
2010 saw the release of their fourth album Beyond Hell/Above Heaven. The next three years saw some very extensive touring which included being the opening act on the Big Four of Thrash shows which featured Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax. Then in 2013, their fifth album Outlaw Gentlemen and Shady Ladies was released. Soon after the completion of this album, it was announced that former Anthrax guitarist Rob Caggiano had joined the band as their second guitarist.
In 2016, Volbeat released their sixth album Seal The Deal and Lets Boogie. The next couple of years saw them embark on several tours which once again included opening for Metallica, with whom they share their nationality with drummer Lars Ulrich. Their most recent album Rewind, Replay, Rebound was released in 2019.
Volbeat are a band with their own style who mix contemporary rock and metal styles with that of rock n roll as well as psychobilly and rockabilly. Although this might sound like something that should work on paper, Volbeat are a band who manage to pull it off. They have a diverse range of influences that range from classic rock and metal bands such as AC/DC and Metallica as well as people such as Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. They are also inspired by punk bands such as Social Distortion. Here is a list of their ten best songs.
# 10 – The Devil’s Bleeding Crown
Kicking off our top ten Volbeat songs list is this track that is their most recent single taken from their sixth album Seal the Deal and Let’s Boogie released in 2016. It was the band’s fifth number one single on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart. It has an old style- Iron Maiden vibe to it with its galloping guitar sound.
# 9 – The Garden’s Tale
Up next is this track from the band’s second album Rock the Rebel/Metal The Devil released in 2007. It is one of the few songs in Volbeat’s discography that is sang in Danish. It is a melodic and emotive song that features guest vocals from Johan Olsen, the vocalist of fellow Danish rock band Magtens Korridor.
# 8 – Maybelline I Hefteholder
This next track is from the band’s third album Guitar Gangsters and Cadillac Blood released in 2008. It is about a stalker who falls in love with a stripper called Maybelline. Hefteholder is the Danish word for Girdle. In 2015, Volbeat released a live video of this track; despite the fact that the title of this song is in Danish, the lyrics are sung in English.
# 7 – Lola Montez
Next on the list is a song from the band’s fifth album Outlaw Gentlemen and Shady Ladies. It was the third single to be released from the record and is about a famous historical figure named Eliza Rosanna Gilbert who was the Countess of Landsfeld and also a famous dancer. It got to number one on the US Mainstream Rock Charts.
# 6 – Rebound
Ending this first half of this is a cover of a song by American Pop Punk band Teenage Bottlerocket that was featured on Seal The Deal & Let’s Boogie . The two bands had toured together in 2013 and this cover was done as a tribute to Teenage Bottlerocket drummer Brandon Carlisle who died two years later.
# 5 – For Evgit
This is another track taken from Seal The Deal and Lets Boogie that also features Johan Olsen on guest vocals. The title of the song mean “forever” in Danish. In the band’s native Denmark, it is their biggest hit to date, where it reached number three on the Danish national charts. The album as whole was more melodic and less heavy than any of the band’s previous albums.
# 4 – Soulweeper
Here we go all the way back the band’s first album The Strength/The Sound/The Songs released in 2005. The song is rather reminiscent of “Saturday Night” by The Misfits, with its chugging riff and almost fifties-style rock n roll vibe. The album was not widely distributed outside of Denmark and it did not receive much attention from either critics or chart lists outside of the country as a result.
# 3 – The Hangman’s Body Count
At number three is this track that is also taken from Outlaw Gentlemen and Shady Ladies. The song is one of the most out and out metal sounding song’s in the Volbeat back catalogue. It was the second single to be released from the album. An animated lyric video was created for it and it got to number one on the US Mainstream Rock Songs Chart.
# 2 – Sad Man’s Tongue
Just off the top spot is this track that is also taken from Rock The Rebel/Metal The Devil where Michael Pouesen truly shows his love for Johnny Cash. The song sounds very much like a Cash song that is given a modern metal twist. In the band’s live shows the song is performed after the band perform a Johnny Cash cover.
# 1 – Still Counting
Topping off the list we have what is probably this band’s most well known song that was originally on Guitar Gangsters and Cadillac Blood and was later included as a bonus track on some editions of their fourth album Beyond Hell/Above Heaven released in 2010. Four years later in 2012, it was released as a single. It was a big radio hit in the US, where it reached number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart. It was the band’s second single to achieve this.
Top 10 Volbeat Songs article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2021
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