Five Albums That Changed My Life: Matthew Leone of Madina Lake

To say that Madina Lake bassist Matthew Leone has had an eventful past couple of years would be a gross understatement. On June 30, 2010, Leone was trying to aid a woman who was being beaten by her husband when the assailant assaulted him from behind. The 33-year-old attacker was caught and arrested, but Leone suffered head injuries and was hospitalized in critical condition.

Although his road to recovery was long and difficult, the bassist not only survived the attack, he's since recorded and released a new album with Madina Lake and toured in support of it. "If I had one piece of advice for anyone going through something similar to what I went through is to not take everything so seriously," Leone told Noisecreep in an interview earlier this year. We're honored to feature him as our latest musician in our 'Five Albums That Changed My Life' series.

'Master of Puppets,' Metallica (1986)

"This album would change anyone's life – even the Dalai Lama. If someone managed to pump 'Battery' through the meditation temple during morning prayer, I wouldn't be surprised if Dalai mustered up some devil horns and sent those things pumpin' over his head. I was about 10 when I first heard it. While the radio was playing MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice, my face was pleasantly melted when my sister gave me this record."

'Siamese Dream,' Smashing Pumpkins (1992)

"I could write an essay on this record. When I first heard it, I knew I was in for years of audible heaven. The mastery of how the lyrics and their delivery, were hammered home with the dramatic crushing guitars, between whimsical verses, created chemical peptides in my brain that produced serotonin and made me happy. Each song is a journey, covering a broad slice of the emotional spectrum, and reserving a front row seat for you to plunge in."

'The Downward Spiral,' Nine Inch Nails (1994)

"I'm guessing most radio program directors wouldn't have wagered that the #1 most played song that year would feature "I wanna f--- you like an animal" as its chorus hook. That record invented sounds and programming, that drove a musical stake into your soul.And left you forever effected – for better or worse. For me, it landed on the former."

'Sailing the Seas of Cheese,' Primus (1991)

"Les Claypool created an entire universe around the least appreciated, almighty bass guitar. He's imbued w superhuman abilities to create rhythm, leads, and percussion simultaneously, with one instrument."

'Rain Dogs,' Tom Waits (1985)

"Tom Waits has this ability with his words and musical landscape, to tell a story with vivid, often dark, intriguing imagery. He talks about the subjects of love, loss, and booze, like no one else. When I discovered him in college, it was felt like I stumbled into an underworld sub-cult of absolutely brilliant artistry that I didn't know existed. He's an acquired taste that's worth the investment."

Madina Lake's 'World War III' is out now via Razor & Tie.