M. Shadows Quotes

The devil that stayed with me most vividly was the one from the cover of Iron Maiden's 'Number of the Beast' album.

When I was younger, and Iron Maiden and Def Leppard and all that stuff was coming out, I was learning all those songs and trying to play guitar and develop my chops. I was a big fan.

Motley Crue was actually my gateway to heavy metal.

'Wages Of Sin' was the first metal album I ever bought, and it was love at first listen.

Metal is easily my favorite thing - Exodus and Anthrax and Megadeth - so it just kind of organically came through in the standup act.

I got into Dio when I was still quite young. I remember seeing the video for 'Rainbow In The Dark' on MTV. That was my first taste of Dio. It wasn't until years later that I realized he had this whole career with Rainbow and Black Sabbath and even going back to Elf. When I saw that video, it instantly became one of my favorite songs.

Japan has really great fans for all kinds of music. I think they're keeping metal alive.

The guitar influence that affected my songwriting came from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.

As iconic a band as Metallica has become, I think sometimes we forget just how raw they were in the beginning of their career, and to a 15-year-old kid like me, it was just shattering. I mean, it was beyond.

Well, I didn't really grow up playing or listening to metal, like many of the kids I went to school with. I only got into it in my late teens, so when Marilyn Manson formed, it was at a time when I was still excited about approaching music from that angle.

If I'm ever feeling uninspired, all I have to do is go see Exodus or Arch Enemy, and think 'Oh yeah, that's what we're doing this for.'

I remember this vividly: It was 1977, and I was in Sears with my mom. And I saw this display, and it was for 'Love Gun.' I bought the record just because of the look of that display. Because I really loved monsters.

I believe the enthusiasm to BABYMETAL is universal.

Sure, some tracks are not as good as others, but we've written some really strong, classic stuff, like 'The Number of the Beast,' 'Hallowed Be Thy Name,' and 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner.'

I was such a big Kiss and Van Halen fan, Yngwie Malmsteen, Racer X... all that stuff. I loved everybody.

Iron Maiden and Metallica are bigger now than they ever were. They're playing stadiums across the entire planet. Even though it seems like their heyday was back when MTV and the radio played their songs all the time, the truth is that they've gotten bigger now because they play all the time, and people know they're going to get a great show.

When I first heard Korn, they blew me away, and I've been a fan ever since.

I got into music around the age of eight years old, and I think the reason why was because I discovered the Spice Girls. I fell in love with them, and it was the first time I ever felt like the music was just directed to me.

Metallica is a big, huge influence and inspiration. That's who Babymetal aspires to become some day.

I was a total metal-head as a teen. I still love it, too.

For the most part, metal has been underground. It's too dangerous for mom and dad and schools. It will probably always be that way.

I sort of found King Diamond in second grade, but I didn't become a devoted Satanist until a few years later, but that was very much part of my adolescence as well.

I go to a lot of metal shows when we're home. I don't know why, but it takes me back to when I was 17 and going to the local metal shows in Pennsylvania. I go right back to that mentality.

My biggest inspiration was always early Iron Maiden, because it was the only band I knew for some time, and, as we all know, Iron Maiden is great.

I was really into metal when I was growing up. It was just something I thought I could do and wanted to try.