When introducing friends to metal, my approach is to choose the most prolific musicians among my favorites, like Devin Townsend or Dan Swanö and then play their most accessible projects/albums. It has worked well.
and aren't approaching metal from the same perspective, so really you just have to figure out something that would be palatable to an individual person you're dealing with. I think there are better choices out there.
good selections - I think Images and Words is a great idea, for example - but perhaps a little lacking in revelation. Plus there's always the issue that "people who aren't into metal" don't all listen to the same kind of music
popular because they're palatable to more than just hardcore fans and they have a lot of reach and listenability, so that's what you want, but on the other hand, it does make the list a very obvious one. Not to say there aren't
Lyrics 