Megadeth's David Ellefson revealed he "was not a big fan of the Ozzy years" of Black Sabbath as he recalled his early heavy metal tastes on an episode of Do You Know Jack: The Podcast last week (June 25).

But that's no diss on Ozzy Osbourne, it would seem. It's only because the bassist and Megadeth co-founder preferred another period of Black Sabbath entirely, mostly determined by the era in which it was released. Asked at what age he first heard Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, Ellefson got down to brass tacks about his favorite albums from the influential rockers. Listen to the interview down towards the bottom of this post.

"You know, I didn't hear Geezer until I was quite a bit older," Ellefson responded. "I mean, I guess I probably heard 'Paranoid' 'cause I played it in one of my bands when I was probably 13, 14 years old. But honestly, I was not a big fan of the Ozzy years of Sabbath."

What Black Sabbath lineup does the Megadeth member prefer? The answer aligns with the musician's own introduction to metal, which came at a time when Sabbath was fronted by the late Ronnie James Dio.

"Paranoid is my favorite Sabbath record from the Ozzy era, but when I really got tuned into Sabbath was when Ronnie James Dio joined the band on the Heaven and Hell album," Ellefson said. "That was really my era of Sabbath. In particular, that album and Mob Rules. Those were the two."

He continued, "It's because that's the age I was at when I was being introduced to the current heavy metal that was going on around me. Sabbath was cool with Ozzy, but it was kind of more of a throwback into Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin…and quite honestly, that was kind of a generation before me. My music I grew up on was KISS, Styx, Cheap Trick and Van Halen, Boston. And then as I started to heavier stuff, you know, began that Ronnie Dio era of Rainbow, Sabbath, Scorpions, Iron Maiden, Motorhead. That was really more my generation."

Megadeth is currently at work on their sixteenth studio album, despite frontman Dave Mustaine's recent cancer diagnosis. Ellefson's own "Basstory" tour sets out this summer behind his upcoming book More Life With Deth (out July 16) and accompanying solo album Sleeping Giants (out July 19).

See David Ellefson in the Top 66 Hard Rock + Metal Bassists of All Time

More From 98.7 The Bomb