Rick Florino from Artist Direct caught up with a number of members from the metal community to discuss when they discovered METALLICA. A few excerpts follow:

Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS N' ROSES): "I first discovered Metallica when they came out with their first EP. Metallica has always been one of my favorite heavy metal bands. I think that they are one of the most versatile metal bands that came out in the '80s. They are also one of the most creative. I think that James Hetfield is one of the greatest heavy metal guitarists to ever walk this earth."

Kerry King (SLAYER): "I imagine it was at The Woodstock in Orange County when Dave Mustaine was in the band. I instantly became a fan. I couldn't believe Mustaine was ripping these incredible leads way back then and not even looking at his fingers. I still fucking looking at my fingers [Laughs]. There were no records then it was just seeing them. I think Metallica might've just been on the Metal Massacre compilation or something."

Scott Ian (ANTHRAX, THE DAMNED THINGS): "I was actually at Johnny Z's record store, Rock'n Roll Heaven, in New Jersey. He played me the No Life 'Til Leather demo so that was the first time I had ever heard any Metallica. It was pretty mind-blowing to hear for the first time. One of the coolest feelings about hearing it was just knowing there was another band out there on the West Coast that had the same mindset. Certainly, we didn't sound alike at the time. Just the fact that they were playing their own music and had their own thing going on was how we felt about what we were doing as Anthrax in New York. It's not like we had the Internet back then and you could find out what people were doing all over the world. We didn't know there were other bands doing their own thing. It was hard to find out back in the day unless you were tape trading and things like that. I heard Metallica and thought, 'These guys have the same mindset that we do. We're obviously all into the same music.' It was a really good feeling to know that there were other people out there like us."

Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT, STONE SOUR): "I actually talk about when I discovered Metallica in my book—The Seven Deadly Sins: Settling the Argument Between Born Bad and Damaged Good. That's how big it was [Laughs]. I remember hearing Master of Puppets at a friend's house. That line at the end of 'Damage Inc.'—"Fuck it all and fucking no regrets"—was the one that every metal head waited for with baited breath. When it came, you'd jump up and scream along to it. It was amazing. Metallica will always be important to me!"

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