Written by Howie Abrams and Sacha Jenkins, the book harkens back to the pre-blog era where fanzines were a crucial part of the metal ecosystem. Jenkins knows his way around a list: He's was the coauthor of Ego Trip's Book Of Rap Lists, but he's a well-rounded guy, and knows his way around metal. He and Abrams love the genre, but never take it too seriously. There's a lot of reverence for the founders of metal, namely Black Sabbath, who top several lists including Best Metal Band, Best Metal Album (for their 1970 self-titled debut), Greatest Guitarist, Greatest Bassist, Best Guitar Tones, Best Bass Tones and two entries on the Greatest Voices (Ronnie James Dio topped the list, while Ozzy Osbourne came in at #19), and two entries on the Greatest Drummers (Bill Ward came in at #2, Vinnie Appice at #20), Best Songs (a tie between the Ozzy-era "War Pigs" and the Dio-era "Heaven And Hell").

On the other hand, Metallica, who get their due as a huge influence (they're rated at the third best metal band ever, after Sabbath and Iron Maiden) are also called to task: a two page feature called "The Very Best Qualities Of Metallica's Load and Reload Albums" is entirely blank.

M�tley Cr�e is defended as a choice for the Top 20 Metal Bands Of All Time (on the list, they note, "YES � M�tley Cr�e"). In conversation with Radio.com, Abrams defends that decision: "M�tley Cr�e being on our top metal bands list, I hear about it all the time! How could they not be on that list? Every band takes twists and turns. When that band formed and they did Too Fast For Love, all the ingredients were heavy metal. With Shout At The Devil, I would say the same thing. After Shout At The Devil, it went in a different direction." Meanwhile, includes Guns N Roses, Led Zeppelin and Alice In Chains are on the "20 Bands Often Considered 'Metal' But Simply Are Not!" list.