Exodus guitarist Gary Holt recently opened up about his favorite non-metal albums, revealing his admiration for Ted Nugent’s music in a feature published by Revolver Magazine. Despite Nugent’s controversial political stance, Holt explained why the rock icon remains one of his biggest influences.
Holt pointed to Nugent’s Double Live Gonzo as a standout record, citing it as a defining piece of guitar-driven rock that shaped his own playing.
“While we’re on the subject of live albums, I would have to go with Double Live Gonzo,” Holt said. “Love him or hate him, he is one of my heroes; he made me pick up a guitar.”
Holt went on to acknowledge the political divide between himself and Nugent, while making clear that their shared appreciation for tone and technique transcends their differences.
“Ted Nugent and I don’t agree on very much at all, but we agree on the beauty of a Gibson Byrdland electric plugged into a wall of Fender Twins,” he continued. “It’s a fucking phenomenal live record. People wanna talk shit, or they wanna rage about this shredder or that shredder; but dude, listen to Ted’s solo on ‘Wang Dang Sweet Poontang.'”
Holt also spoke to the raw technical difficulty of Nugent’s playing, using his own attempts as a benchmark.
“I try to play it and my hands are tired halfway through, and he’s just shredding — it’s just ripping rock guitar playing from start to finish,” Holt said. “He’s kind of insane now, so it’s hard to explain to someone who wasn’t there back in the day. But Ted Nugent ruled my high school; he was Number One above all else.”
The comments were made as part of a broader conversation in which Holt discussed six non-metal albums he recommends for metal fans.
Holt’s praise carries particular weight given his standing in the world of heavy music. His admiration for Nugent speaks to how the hard rock of the 1970s laid the groundwork for the thrash metal generation that followed — a lineage Holt has been part of for over four decades.
Holt has been the only continuous member of Exodus since 1982. As Osiamo reported, he has appeared on 15 albums for the band. That kind of longevity makes his perspective on guitar influences especially telling — the players who shaped him early on clearly left a lasting mark.
The album at the center of Holt’s praise, Double Live Gonzo, was released in 1978. It became one of Ted Nugent’s best-known records, helping define his late-’70s hard-rock peak. Loudwire noted that Nugent’s high-energy, aggressive lead style has long been cited as a direct influence on hard-rock and metal guitarists — a reputation the album did much to cement.
Nugent’s playing style, characterized by raw aggression and relentless energy on stage, made Double Live Gonzo a benchmark for live guitar performance in rock. For a generation of young guitarists like Holt, hearing that record was less a listening experience and more a call to action.
Holt’s broader career also reflects the depth of that early influence. As The Metal Voice highlighted, Holt served as a member of Slayer from 2011 to 2019 in addition to his work with Exodus. That trajectory — from a teenager inspired by Ted Nugent’s fretwork to one of thrash metal’s most respected names — is precisely the kind of story Holt was telling in the Revolver feature.
