"I didn’t come into that record until about two years after it was made - I think I was about 34 and my wife and I were having kids and I was going back to school. In the late nineties rock music was kind of awful and you really had to search, there were a few bands out there doing different stuff but it was kind of an awful time for rock music, so I think I chose the right time to go back to school and have kids. Anyway, it took me two years but someone finally switched me onto the record and it blew my mind. Then I found out the band had split up - I went to see The (International) Noise conspiracy but it wasn’t Refused, so I thought really I missed my chance to see that band ever. But I finally got to see the band a few weeks ago in Seattle. There are gigs you go to on your own, ‘cos it’s not a social event, you don’t want to talk to anybody you just want to go and do your thing and it was really one of those moments where the gig was better than the record. That gig fortified everything I love about that record, that’s probably a top five record for me. Actually that record influenced a lot of the first Velvet Revolver record, we would listen to that band a ton"

"This is just double bass, drums and some kind of keyboard at some point. I chose this album for the opening track. The rest of the album is alright, but it sounds a bit dated. The opening track though is great. The start with the saxophone, or whatever it is, is quite dark, and then it teases with the synths. I used to have it on and think, ""Oh, this is fucking great."" This came out in 1996. I was living with a guy who bought it. I would have never have bought it but he was a bit of a fashionista, you know. I was living in Nottingham. I had split up with my girlfriend and was lodging with this guy. He bought it and I got really into it, this album and Photek, which I chose as well. They started to get my mind thinking about electronica, although Red Snapper was essentially a live act, to me it sounded like electronica, all instrumental. He asked me to do some singing for him, the guy from Red Snapper. But I couldn't do it. He wanted me to do one song and I said I could do it, and then he said ideally he wanted me to do two and I was like, ""Hold on, come on."" I just didn't have the time, I said I'd have to let him down. Though the stuff he sent me over was quite good."

"Many of the bands on this list are British. I was heavily influenced by British bands. At that particular time [Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, etc. were releasing music] there was just an overwhelming amount of great music from across the Pond, from The Beatles forward. There was so much quantity and quality. All of these bands, in one way or another, either spurted out each other or inspired each other or created a split for somebody to go a different way. That sort of environment, using my own experience, with what happened in our small town with a handful of bands, it was a healthy level of respect and competition at the same time that kind of spurred the growth of all our bands. I'd assume it would be the same for a lot of these UK bands. To all metalheads, British Steel is one of the flagship records of all times. I dunno how many times I've been hanging with Dimebag [Darrell] and Vinnie Paul [from Pantera and Damageplan] and be cranking that record. You know, Dime always had a razor blade [pendant] around his neck and that's because of this record. These are some of the first riffs I started really learning how to play. K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton are one of the all-time great dual guitars in metal, for sure, and Rob Halford is just the best. There's nobody like him."