Check your list
The lead singer of Avenged Sevenfold was the latest interviewee for Rolling Stone, which has been asking various names in Metal to list their 10 favorite albums. The magazine questioned the musicians during the process of compiling its list of the 100 best Heavy Metal albums of all time.
Rolling Stone also requested lists of Lars Ulrich , Rob Halford , Ozzy Osbourne , and Corey Taylor of Slipknot .
Check out the list of Shadows:
At the Gates, 'Slaughter of the Soul' (1995): “For me, most Black Metal riffs aren't that good, but this At The Gates album was playing on my car radio for a whole year, I showed it to everyone I could. I think we used a lot of their influence in Avenged.”
Dream Theater, 'Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory' (1999): “I loved the story. I loved everything about Dream Theater on this album. I love their entire discography, but this album changed everything for me because it was the first time I heard a story on an album.”
Helloween, 'Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II' (1988): “This album is what really made me like the melodic side of Metal. You don't have to be vulnerable like Korn or insane like System. This is just straightforward, almost Punk Rock in terms of tempo. But it's smooth and has incredible songwriting for me.”
Iron Maiden, 'Number of the Beast' (1982): “This album changed everything for me. I remember taking it to Brian and Zach [guitarists from Avenged Sevenfold] and saying, 'Man, this guitar duo is amazing. Listen to what they're doing here.' In Flames does that, but it's very different. It's different. I remember that album changed a lot for us.”
Korn, 'Korn' (1994): “This was a big moment for me because I had never heard anything like it. I guess people call it Nu Metal, whatever, it was just different to me. It was kind of funky. It sounded torturous. There were several elements that I had never heard before.”
Megadeth, 'Countdown to Extinction' (1992): “I remember hearing 'Sweating Bullets' on the radio. It was like, I didn't know what had happened. Like, 'what was that?'. This guy narrating over this sinister song. So I bought 'Countdown to Extinction' the next day.”
Metallica, 'Master of Puppets' (1986): “'Master of Puppets' has a composition and a Thrash element that I had never heard in my life. If I could show someone who asked me what Metal is, I would play 'Master of Puppets'.”
Pantera, 'Far Beyond Driven' (1994): “I always liked this album more than the others, even though 'Cowboys' and 'Vulgar' had great songs. For me, 'Far Beyond Driven' had an overwhelming weight and was pure aggression. I always liked that. I always thought it was daring, it was always my favorite Pantera album.”
Queensryche, 'Operation: Mindcrime' (1988): “You can show this album to anyone, even those who don't like Metal will like this album. It's that good. It's incredible.”
System of a Down, 'Toxicity' (2001): “It surprised me how melodic, schizophrenic, and intense a band can be at the same time. They made it appealing to a general audience. And it had that Eastern energy that I had never heard before.”