What's the best gift you've ever given someone that you were more excited to give than anything you've ever received.
"We don't really try, we just do it and look at it later and say, "That sounds good.". M. Shadows on their song writing habits. Interview 2008
"These people, well...it reminds me of when I was thirteen years old and used to call bands sell outs. And to me...we just write what's in our hearts and do the best thing possible. We're not Microsoft, we're not trying to make Ipods and cater to every person. We're gonna write what's in our hearts in our souls for people to listen to and just enjoy it. That's what we're here for . We're just a band, we're just five kids having a good time and putting our hearts on the line. And we would never, in a million years, put something out there that didn't come from our hearts, just to put it out there. When kids call us "sell outs", they're usually young or they're confused or just mad because it doesn't sound like the record before. Maybe one day they'll get older and think, "Wow, this is actually a band that's the farthest thing from a sell out that I could possibly imagine." We've always done what we wanted and the label's never going to tell us what to put on an album. So, maybe one day they'll grow up and realize they didn't like the album but they don't need to call us "sell outs". I guess being called "sell outs" is a normal everyday thing. People are going to call you "sell outs", regardless of what you do." 2008 interview
"I just want to say we support the troops and we love every one of them. Even if they...I know a lot of my friends that are in the military that they don't agree with...Some of them are total, total liberals or this or that, whatever they are and I just want to say that we love all the troops. We don't care what they believe in, they're defending our country and we love them for that. And they're the biggest bad assses...in the world and we just want to thank you. We hope they enjoy the music and we'll keep pumping it out and just keep staying bad asses!" -M. Shadows message to the troups in 2008-
"I don't think what I say is important. We're a metal band. We're not going to say the things that are always politically correct, we're going to say what we really feel." 2006 Kerrang issue #51
"I think we are always going to get that. I sorta like it. When people stop talking about us and start talking shit, then it kinda takes the fun out of it. But I think if we put out a record with a completely different name a lot of those people would probably give us a chance. It think the problem is that most of the metal crowd don't like our fans. They are so passionate about the band. I mean, I love our fans. They are the best in the world but it's one of those things. If you get a certain amount of popularity, people will start ot hate you." Referencing why A7X isn't accepted so readily by the "metal fans" 2010 Big Cheese
"I feel guilty moving on you know? Jimmy started this band with us. Why do we have the right to move on without him? Then I think he wouldn't want us to stop. He'd want us to go on and rock out." 2010 Big Cheese
"Axl Rose is a genius. He can piss off everybody and storm off stage in the middle of a concert, but they're still his fans." - 2006
"I've always seen us as a metal band but alot of punk attitude involved. That's from growing up in a punk environment." - 2006 -
"We have alot of friends in metalcore bands, but I think sometimes we get upset and say stuff, and it gets taken really seriously. When you write an album like "City of Evil" and people say you're a metalcore band you're like fuck you." - 2006 -
"I don't like that term [Republican] because I like to make decisions based on the actual subject." In 2006, M.Shadows was attacked as well as other members of the band based on their party affiliations. An article published in a popular magazine made them out to have improper views and their party affiliation ruling their decisions and support of certain unpopular views.
"Censorship, telling people how to live their lives I completely disagree with." - 2006 -
"We stand for musical individuality. That's all we stand for." - 2006 -
"We might not be as bad as people make us out to be but we do still like to have fun." - 2006 -
"We definitely learned a lot about living every day to the fullest and loving the ones you have because you never know when you're going to leave this place. No matter what you do in life that's the most important thing because it could end just like that." Referencing what Jimmy's loss has taught the band about life.
"I'll play hold'em if I'm sober and blackjack if I'm drunk."
"The first Metallica record I ever got was "And Justice For All". The video for one was my dad’s favorite. He got me the tape and I just flipped out. I went out and bought the entire back catalog."
"To do this tour let alone sing onstage with Metallica in Berlin it's something you can't even imagine when you’re just starting out in a garage. It's insane, it's a dream come true. You can't even put it into words."
"We have come to a spot where we have confidence in our own musical judgment and we are going to write a record that's truly us. “Referencing the album Avenged Sevenfold
"Yeah we're cocky, because we have confidence in what we do. We believe in what we do, and we've been successful at it."
