-Avenged Sevenfold is the best rock/metal band from 2000 to now
-Eddie Vedder's voice is better than Chris Cornell's (or any other grunge singer's, even Lane's)
Same kind of. I like a lot of their instrumentals, but Plant's voice bothers me. I appreciate his range and ability, but just hate the sound of it.
I think everyone who knows anything about music recognizes that blues is one of the most influential/important parts of modern music history
I think Shinedown's sounds comparable to the original. David Draiman undoubtedly did an outstanding job on Sound of Silence. You have to give the originals a ton of extra credit for writing the song, though.
Corey Taylor is an outstanding vocalist. I'm not ready to conclusively put anyone above Dio, though. Plant isn't my cup of tea, but definitely a great singer. Bruce Dickinson was a beast. Axl Rose had some fucking pipes in his prime, as well. He always seems to get left out of that conversation. You've got Rob Halford, King Diamond, Phil Anselmo, and many many more. There are a lot of great vocalists in metal history.