Iron Maiden

[Harrison]

I would personally say the two are too different to compare them directly as the style and sound of IM changed quite a lot when Bruce joined them. Bruce is definitely a better singer by far, a great front man who can command the crowd and get them involved in the performance. The only man who could beat him in that respect has to be the great Freddie Mercury. But DiAnno managed to generate more raw and original energy in his vocals and IM as a whole were much rougher with a different intensity and energy when he was with them.

It's very similar to comparing the different front men of AC/DC as their style changed in a very similar way from a very rough and raw sound to a more technical studio sound as their line up changed. Except of course AC/DC didn't have any choice in needing to find a new singer at the time as Bon Scott had died of alcoholism.

[LowercaseE]

The only man who could beat him in that respect has to be the great Freddie Mercury.

I don't know, Rob Halford and (as much as I hate to admit it) James Hetfield are up there too.

[Demon Cleaner]

I still like James Hetfield and think that he's still the only real metal head of Metallica. His vocal and guitarist improvements over the first albums were huge, and I also think that he is one of the better front men.

[Harrison]

James Hetfield definitely did front Metallica well when I've seen them live but I'm not sure he has real stage presence or the ability to command the audience in quite the same way. As for the Judas Priest front man, he definitely does have the ability to get the audience going but I think that is more stage performance than stage presence. Although I've not seem them perform live yet.

If you went outside of Heavy Metal there are definitely some other lead singers who can command the audience well, but we won't go there

[Toasty667]

I don't know, Rob Halford and (as much as I hate to admit it) James Hetfield are up there too.

Halford rocks harder than head butting a land mine. Saw him live during his first album with the band 'Halford' and he was amazing. Plus I've seen Judas Priest. That classic moment where he rides in on the Harley has to be seen by ever metal head.

[LowercaseE]

/\ Agreed. Priest live is truly something to behold, and the Harley entrance is the icing on the cake.

Probably one of the greatest frontmen for any metal band was Paul Baloff. You want to talk about whipping a crowd into a frenzy, that dude was the one to do it. There's a reason Exodus was/is known for their particularly violent shows and that reason's name is Paul Baloff.

[Harrison]

It was sad when Paul Baloff died. Especially as he had only reunited with Exodus for a few years and they were planning a new album at the time.

Another for pure intensity on stage has to be Philip Anselmo.

[Demon Cleaner]

And not to forget Mike 'Cyco' Muir. I was at a gig of Suicidal in Nancy (France), and during the whole show, the guy just went up/down the stage, not 1 second pause.

[LowercaseE]

Mike Muir is annoying as hxll on stage. The last time I saw ST, all he did was sit in a corner and whine about how life sucked and how "the man" kept him and his people down and how his parents treated him like crap. Seriously, there was at least 5-10 minutes of this banter between each song.

[Harrison]

I used to really like ST around the time of the Controlled by Hatred album and saw them live supporting Slayer many many years ago. I've not listened to them for some years now though.

I always thought Mike Muir would get on well with Jello Biafra.