Some rock and metal bands know their classic literature, evidenced by all of these songs named after popular books!
Seriously, it would be surprising to learn that some of these bands didn’t have their noses buried in books while on tour.
READ MORE: 23 Books That Inspired the Names of Big Rock + Metal Bands
Take Iron Maiden, for example. They have enough songs named after popular books that they could fill an entire album.
Metallica could very well pull it off someday as well. Ride the Lightning alone featured two tracks named after books.
Here is a look at 27 times big rock and metal bands named their songs after popular book titles.
‘Moby Dick,’ Led Zeppelin (1969)
Album: Led Zeppelin II
Book it’s named after: Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (1851)
‘Behind the Wall of Sleep,’ Black Sabbath (1970)
Album: Black Sabbath
Short story it’s named after: Beyond the Wall of Sleep by H.P. Lovecraft (1919)
‘Childhood’s End,’ Pink Floyd (1972)
Album: Obscured by Clouds
Book it’s named after: Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke (1953)
‘Frankenstein,’ The Edgar Winter Group (1972)
Album: They Only Come Out at Night
Book it’s named after: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)
‘Lord of Light,’ Hawkwind (1972)
Album: Doremi Fasol Latido
Book it’s named after: Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny (1967)
‘1984,’ David Bowie (1974)
Album: Diamond Dogs
Book it’s named after: Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (1949)
‘Anthem,’ Rush (1975)
Album: Fly By Night
Book it’s named after: Anthem by Ayn Rand (1938)
‘Damnation Alley,’ Hawkwind (1977)
Album: Quark, Strangeness and Charm
Book it’s named after: Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny (1969)
‘Phantom of the Opera,’ Iron Maiden (1980)
Album: Iron Maiden
Book it’s named after: The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (1909)
“Charlotte Sometimes,” The Cure (1981)
Album: Faith
Book it’s named after: Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer (1969)
‘The Call of Kutlu,’ Metallica (1984)
Album: Ride the Lightning
Book it’s named after: The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft (1928)
‘For Whom the Bell Tolls,’ Metallica (1984)
Album: Ride the Lightning
Book it’s named after: For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway (1940)
‘The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner,’ Iron Maiden (1986)
Album: Somewhere in Time
Book it’s named after: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner by Alan Sillitoe (1959)
‘The Shining,’ Black Sabbath (1987)
Album: The Eternal Idol
Book it’s named after: The Shining, Steven King (1977)
‘The Invisible Man,’ Queen (1989)
Album: The Miracle
Book it’s named after: The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells (1897)
‘Pet Sematary,’ Ramones (1989)
Album: Brain Drain
Book it’s named after: Pet Sematary by Stephen King (1983)
‘The Unforgiven,’ Metallica (1991)
Album: Metallica
Book it’s named after: The Unforgiven by Alan Le May (1957)
‘Lord of the Flies,’ Iron Maiden (1995)
Album: X Factor
Book it’s named after: Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954)
‘The Trick is to Keep Breathing,’ Garbage (1998)
Album: Version 2.0
Book it’s named after: The Trick is to Keep Breathing by Janice Galloway (1989)
‘Malleus Maleficarum,’ AFI (1999)
Album: Black Sails in the Sunset (1999)
Book it’s named after: Malleus Maleficarum (1486)
‘Brave New World,’ Iron Maiden (2000)
Album: Brave New World
Book it’s named after: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932)
‘Of Mice and Men,’ Megadeth (2004)
Album: The System Has Failed
Book it’s named after: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (1937)
‘House of Leaves,’ Circa Survive (2005)
Album: Junturna
Book it’s named after: House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski (2000)
‘The Longest Day,’ Iron Maiden (2006)
Album: A Matter of Life and Death
Book it’s named after: The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan (1959)
‘Catcher in the Rye,’ Guns N’ Roses (2008)
Album: Chinese Democracy
Book it’s named after: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (1951)
‘Alice,’ Ice Nine Kills (2015)
Album: Every Trick in the Book
Book it’s named after: Go Ask Alice by Beatrice Sparks (1971)
‘Grapes of Wrath,’ Weezer (2021)
Album: OK Human (2021)
Book it’s named after: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (1939)
Of course, there are also those acts that took their love of literature to a new level and named their band after a book title.
Keep reading for a look at more than 20 big rock and metal bands with the same name as a well-known book.
23 Rock + Metal Bands Named Named After Literary Works or Characters
Gallery Credit: Rob Carroll
