In a new interview with Letty Sharp of The Smashing Skull Sessions, former IRON MAIDEN and current WOLFSBANE frontman Blaze Bayley was asked to name his favorite METALLICA album.

He responded: “That's such a difficult question...

I really wish you hadn't asked that.

It's gotta be 'Ride The Lightning' and 'Master Of Puppets'.

I'm stuck on [those two].” Bayley explained, “it's one of those… I'm interested in brain function,\u2026” He suffers with depression sometimes, bouts of depression, and is interested in brain function and what you can do to help yourself when you're in a funk.

One of the things he found from a doctor was if you have a song that makes you start tapping your foot, nodding your head, put that in your head,\u2026” Bayley revealed, “Start moving, start dancing, start moving, and this is something to help you get out of that funk.\u2026” He credits 'Master Of Puppets' as one of his go-to songs for when he's feeling down.

Last spring Blaze embarked on a European tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of his first post-MAIDEN release, “Silicon Messiah”.

On this tour, Bayley played songs from “Silicon Messiah”, previously unperformed songs from his most recent album “Circle Of Stone” and classic IRON MAIDEN songs from his era with the band.

Bayley fronted IRON MAIDEN from 1994 until 1999.

The two MAIDEN albums he appeared on, “The X Factor” and “Virtual XI”, sold considerably less than the band's prior releases and were their lowest-charting titles in the group's home country since 1981's “Killers”.

Since leaving IRON MAIDEN in 1999, Bayley has released a number of albums, including several under the moniker BLAZE and more than a handful under his own name.

He also appeared on 2012's “Wolfsbane Saves The World“, the first album of new material by WOLFSBANE since the group's self-titled 1994 effort.

Bayley's latest solo album, “Circle Of Stone“, came out in February 2024.

The now-62-year-old musician underwent a quadruple bypass surgery following a heart attack in March 2023."