BobDylan

The list of metal bands who'll tell you they're big in Japan is extensive, but no band could ever claim to be bigger in Japan than Dir En Grey. Just walking through the city's frenzied Shibuya business district, among the meticulously-manicured and flamboyantly-dressed Harajuku girls, it seems as though every other person is wearing one of the band's shirts...

"I think the band wanted a name that was evocative, visual," Flying Machines guitarist John Wlaysewski explains to Noisecreep. "Flying Machines has that effect. People picture what they will when they hear the name, and I hope they get a sense of our music ambitions, our desire to 'take off,' both creatively and otherwise...

It's a good thing metal bands don't ask to see musicians' iPods before auditions. If they did, Testament might never have invited guitar whiz Alex Skolnick to be a part of their legacy. Obviously, iPods weren't around when Skolnick tried out in the mid '80s, but you get the point...