Heavy Metal, the music so hard it hurts, has had over thirty-two thousand bands attempt to define its style over the past 47 years. Yet, only a chosen few have proven the stamina necessary to achieve total dominance and unrivaled excellence in their field.

Plenty of un-metal people have tried to unlock the code, but all have failed, miserably. As Y! Music's Senior MetaList, I was called upon to make the final decision. I consulted with my dozens of heavy metal albums to determine who should attain the rank of greatness.

Here are the results. In the end, it could not have gone any other way.

Thy greatness speaks its name.

Photos:Tom Copi/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images; Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Delta Air Lines)After reading through the thousands of emails from readers just like you, all telling me how much you enjoyed that first 'Experiment In Sound' where we put up three songs that sounded quite a bit like three other ones, I realized that there was a 'sincere hunger' for more items like this. If you enjoyed checking out three soundalikes, you'll really love checking out five soundalikes! Because five is more than three!

I went back into the Y! Music vault and there between the data telling me where everyone who works here lives and the data telling me how much my co-workers are paid and which part of the Yahoo! compound they are legally entitled to when they turn 65, I found the information regarding every song ever recorded. I spent the new few weeks listening to every song in the database and discovered just how much I like The Incredible String Band and 1980s-era Rod Stewart.

In the meantime, these songs came screaming to my door. Thy name might not be ripoff, per se, but the results are uncomfortably familiar.

[Photo: Hiroyuki Ito/Getty Images]On March 3, 2013, Robyn Hitchcock will turn 60 years old and his new album Love From London will be two days away from being officially released. Though most of the living, breathing world barely knows of him, if at all, the hardcore musical elite, who honor such things as creativity, silliness, pop songs, British accents and mediocre record sales, consider Mr. Hitchcock to be an artist of considerable greatness.

In honor of his continuing life, I though it would be touching to round up his ten best albums. It beats writing a blog about Michael Bolton!

As always, the order could be thrown together differently in another hour. Certain choices could be moved for others at another time of year. I avoided live albums. And if you're wondering what got cut at the last minute: Respect (1993).

The rule for inclusion is simple: one (1) Top 40 Pop Hit. No Alternative hits, no Adult Contemporary charts, no Country, no Jazz, no R&B, no Anglo-Saxon Hardcore, no Canadian charts. No #67 hit single, which is essentially "Big In Japan." No hits with five other supergroups where you stood in the background and made faces for the camera.

I also don't care if you've had ten albums hit #1 on the Album Charts. That's a different level of success.

Most importantly? No second Top 40 hit that cancels out your One-Hit Wonder Status!