Greatest Pop Metal song ever

If by "Pop Metal" you mean a heavy metal song that gets played on popular (non-rock/metal) radio stations, then there's only one clear winner.

The Rock & Roll National Anthem

asterisk8 said:

Good one!

By pop metal I mean a heavy metal song with pop music sensibilities, by "greatest" I mean a phenomenal display of song structure, lyrical content, instrumental and vocal prowess, a song that transcends its genre and era.

The KISS song is a great contender. It definitely transcends its time and genre, and definitely belongs on any Top 10 list, but I don't think it's all that brilliantly composed. Lyrically and structurally it's awfully simplistic, like a nursery rhyme. The solo is pretty uninspired too. But its iconic status is beyond dispute, probably because you can sing along halfway through the first time hearing it.

Being a lifelong KISS fan, I'm somewhat biased, but regarding your technical/musical evaluation of it, I beg to differ.  I think the brilliance of it is in its simplicity - you DON'T NEED to listen to it over and over to be able to sing along or perform it yourself.  Don't judge the solo section of the song because that's a little unique to each performance, and even more unique depending who played it as the lineup changed over the years - Ace Frehley, Vinnie Vincent, Bruce Kulick, Tommy Thayer.

Besides that, it's just a plain fun song.  The band has freely admitted to not trying to write deep, philosophical, multi-layered lyrics - well, except for Music From The Elder, but that's a different discussion.  Their first concern with if it's a good song or not is if the audience feels good when it's finished.  If they do, then the song is successful - radio play and music awards be damned.

There have been greater Def Leppard songs (Animal, Let's Get Rocked) and as for KISS, Crazy Crazy Nights had greater success over here in the UK.

I would never be able to choose a "greatest song ever", the best I could do is maybe a top 20.

Up the Irons!