My favorite is "Widowmaker," but "Bang Your Head" is an icon. "The Headless Children" isn't going to make anybody bang their heads, but it was a decent song and a surprisingly good observation on what was (and still is) wrong with America. We saw W.A.S.P. back in the day, with Billy Squier as the opening act. Quite a double bill!
They're still out there. My friend's son's death-metal band opened for them at a bring-back-the-metal fair last year.
I've been listening to a lot of old metal, lately. Seriously, put on a mix of W.A.S.P., Dio, GnR, and so on, and it really is a blast from the past.
Nothin' like old metal. Triumph, Yngvie Malmsteen, Baker-Gurvitz Army, the Cult, Deep Purple, Television, AC/DC, Blue Oyster Cult (before they sold out and got "Don't Fear the Reaper" on AM radio). Of course Black Sabbath (the original lineup) has no peer. Even Ozzy's first couple of solo albums are classics. Def Leppard lost their way pretty quickly, but while they were hot they were sure hot, with that snare-drum-from-hell sound.
Kingdom Come showed some promise before vanishing. Dream Theater is a prog band on record, but their live shows are strictly for metalheads.
European bands tend to just dabble in genres, but they're really disciplined and Krokus and the Scorpions did some killer metal while they were in the mood for it.
I have always regarded Cream as the first heavy metal band, although the term hadn't been coined yet. "Sunshine of Your Love," "Strange Brew," "SWLABR" (she was like a bearded rainbow)--is that metal or what? Hendrix was into it too.