SHADOWS FALL Frontman Brian Fair Shares His Top 5 Favorite Albums Of All Time

Shadows Fall might bring the metal. They might bring some core too. But, Brian Fair says on tour he mostly brings the classics and instrumental rock to soothe his moshed out soul. After an interview with roving reporter Justina Villanueva, Brian Fair (the dreaded scream machine) discussed what he puts to his ears when he's not on stage or in a recording booth.

Metallica, Master of Puppets

Master of Puppets probably the most perfect record. That one stands the test of time. The first time I heard Metallica was Kill Em All, but Master Of Puppets–by that point I had already been a fan. That was the perfect record. It had the fast crazy song to open it, the 8-minute epic next, by the end there is the half ballad. They were the masters of the half ballad. Sanitarium and One and all those types of songs. And they also had slow dirge-y songs, like Things They Should Not Be. They had everything. They had everything that I liked about metal in one record. It's like goddammit–that's the record that you wanted to write. But, its like shit, they already did it. You can throw [Master Of Puppets] on today and it sounds just as fresh. Some metal records you can hear in history why they are awesome, but now you might be like, eh that didn't really survive. But, that record is always going to survive.

Bob Marley, Exodus

Exodus is one of my favorite records of all time. It has the greatest songs ever written. And he's one of the best singers/lyricists ever. I probably discovered that one the same time I discovered herb. I could still put that on anytime. I could put on most Bob anytime.

Bad Brains, Rock For Light

Rock For Light is another record that is a HUGE influence on me. It showed me the aggression of hardcore but they played as good as metal dudes, which is something that separated some of the hardcore back then. Usually a lot of hardcore bands played that style because they were limited musically. Bad Brains ripped and had that energy. And with having one of the craziest singers ever. H.R.'s voice was just inhuman back then. That record I can still throw on anytime.

Spiritualized, Lazer Guided Melodies

One that is definitely not metal, Spiritualized's Lazer Guided Melodies. It's a desert island record. It's one of the greatest records to fall asleep to. It's one of the greatest records to just chill like I can watch the sunrise to. It fits so many moods that if you just had that record its like 3 out of 5 emotions are covered just by having this one album. It's really an ambient, spacey, weird, drug-soaked record. It's great.

We used to have a rule, especially in the van, after the show there was a no distortion rule. Because its like your ears are bleeding. You've been at a metal show for the last five hours. And at soundcheck before that. Like alright, its time for Johnny Cash. When you're on the bus, you have your own headphones you can listen to what you want, but when you're in the van, that tape deck does not get loud after midnight.

Led Zeppelin, Four/Houses of Holy

Four and Houses Of Holy are the co-tie for [my] Zeppelin record. Basically because they're Zeppelin. Some of the best songs ever. Those records are legendary and will stand the test of time forever. It's very rare that rock records like that come out anymore. There's always a few every generation. You got Zeppelin Four, Appetite For Destruction–there's only a few that everyone in the world has heard of at least once.

So if I had those five records I'd be pretty stoked.

So is that what keeps you going on tour or do try not to listen to too much music?

You may spend time listening to other more random music, especially if you're out on just a metal tour. But, that's one of the best things about touring with a bunch of different bands. There's so much i-pod sharing and everyone's got their harddrive out. You're just stealing music from each other. It's so great to have people be like, "if you're into that, have you ever heard of these dudes." So, on tour I usually come home with tons of music. When you're chilling afterwards, you have to have the dance party music. Someone has to turn on the 80's rock to get the drunk sing-a-longs going on in the front lounge of the bus. Sometimes when you're ears are ringing maybe you just need silence for a minute.

Is there any new music, bands that you are into?

I've been on a real instrumental music kick. I've been listening to a lot of Explosions In The Sky and Russian Circles is another great band. Some of the older instrumental stuff like Mono. Maybe its because I'm a singer and I've been working on lyrics so much over the last few months. Now I'm just like I just want to listen to the instrumental shit because I'm so sick of thinking about singing.