Check your list
Slayer frontman Kerry King was interviewed by Rolling Stone and listed his 10 favorite metal albums. The magazine surveyed various musicians during the process of compiling its list of the 100 greatest heavy metal albums of all time.
The magazine asked for the lists Lars Ulrich , Rob Halford , Ozzy Osbourne , Corey Taylor of Slipknot , Bill Ward and M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold .
See Kerry King's list:
AC/DC, 'Highway to Hell' (1979): “This album is really well done. And it has a very dark energy. 'Walk All Over You' is a very dark song. 'Highway To Hell' is very dark. 'Night Prowler' is very dark. I think that's why it appeals to me so much, I don't know, but a lot of this album is great .
Black Sabbath, 'Sabotage' (1975): “While I was choosing albums I thought about choosing the ones I would listen to if I was exercising or driving, and this is my choice for Black Sabbath.”
Exodus, 'Bonded by Blood' (1985): “There are great songs on Bonded by Blood, like 'Piranha', 'Bonded by Blood', 'And Then There Were None'. They're all winners. There isn't a single song to skip on that album, I listen to the whole thing from beginning to end .
Iron Maiden, 'The Number of the Beast' (1982): “I had a hard time choosing an Iron Maiden album because I love the first three equally. I went with 'Number of the Beast' because it was Bruce's first, and he simply destroyed everyone on this album. Bruce came in and crushed everything he thought Iron Maiden was. And Iron Maiden was great before that. Just like I chose the Judas Priest album, I chose the album that made the band find the sound they would have for decades .
Judas Priest, 'Stained Class' (1978): “For me, historically, it feels like a complete Judas Priest album. I love the intro to 'Stained Class'. And Halford is my all-time favorite vocalist, right above Ronnie James Dio, who is right above Bruce Dickinson .
Mercyful Fate, 'Melissa' (1983): “I almost forgot to talk about Mercyful Fate. I was looking at my albums and thought, 'My God, Mercyful Fate.' And 'Melissa' in particular was Mercyful finding their sound. And that's how the band would sound today if they had stayed together. It has great songwriting. I love the guitar duo of Michael Denner and Hank Shermann. And King Diamond has a unique singing style that you either love or hate. Anyone would have a hard time finding a flaw in Melissa. It's absolutely well done .
Metallica, 'Master of Puppets' (1986): “I thought, 'Which album would I put on if I were exercising?'. It would be Puppets because it has one of my favorite Metallica songs – probably my favorite Metallica song of all time – which is on this album, it's 'Damage Inc.', the best song they ever wrote.”
Ozzy Osbourne, 'Diary of a Madman' (1981): “I had a hard time choosing between Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary of a Madman. And actually, I could have chosen either one with Zakk Wylde, because he's a star. Ozzy's first solo album [Blizzard of Ozz] was great, it was the first taste we got of Randy Rhoads, but Diary didn't seem as keyboard-influenced. It seems heavier to me, with 'Over The Mountain' starting the album. That song is super heavy .
Rainbow, 'Long Live Rock 'n' Roll' (1978): “Ronnie James Dio is – or rather, was unfortunately – a great singer. I never saw him with Rainbow, but when I saw him with Black Sabbath, he was exactly like that. Exactly what you heard on the album. He was that good. And I've been listening to a lot of Ritchie Blackmore recently. He wrote great songs that don't get the credit they deserve. For me, 'Long Live Rock 'n' Roll' has more headbanging. There are great things on this album, it's very heavy .
Venom, 'Black Metal' (1982): “I chose Black Metal because Venom got better with time. They were the best rotten band of all time. And in Black Metal you could see the improvement. There are great songs .