Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor spoke to Metal Hammer in 2011 about the ten albums that shaped him as a musician and person, ranging from his childhood introduction to heavy metal through to more introspective solo-era influences. The piece offers a personal, career-spanning insight into how Taylor's tastes evolved from the arena metal of his youth to the more soul-searching material he later drew on with Stone Sour.

Taylor traces his musical awakening to Iron Maiden, naming both Powerslave (1984), the first album he ever owned, gifted by his grandmother one Christmas alongside Mötley Crüe's Girls, Girls, Girls, and Somewhere in Time (1986), prized for its gatefold artwork. He goes on to describe how Slipknot's self-titled debut represented pure chaos, while Stone Sour's album marked a more personal, soul-baring departure, with further picks reportedly including artists as varied as Depeche Mode and Ray LaMontagne.