Eric Church ascended to country's top tier by assimilating an eclectic batch of inspirations. You can hear the heavy-metal crunch of Metallica and Pantera in the raw, rocking riffs of Church's harder-edged tracks. Outlaw country icons like Waylon Jennings informed Church's bad-boy attitude, and trace elements of Americana tale-spinners such as Ray Wylie Hubbard can be found in Church's more lyrically intense tunes.