The Top Albums of 2021

2021 was not quite as strange as 2020 as things started to get back to normal. I got out to see a couple concerts and back to digging in the record stores and even went in to the office a few times.  Covid pushed back a lot of albums in 2020 and they finally came out in 2021. Some were worth the wait and well, some weren’t.  But there were some great releases and I am sure I missed a number of great albums and if you look around the web, there will be tons of Top Album lists you can get a pretty good idea of what you should check out in case you missed any of these.

This year I am doing things a little different.  I am only doing one list post, but that list will be centered around my Favorite Rock Albums of the year.  At the end I’ll give you my Top 5 Non-Rock Albums of the year as I didn’t listen to a ton of new releases this year as I was focused so much on my Kiss, Judas Priest, Queen and now Cheap Trick & Aerosmith Series.  That took a lot of time.

Also note, these are MY FAVORITES!!  These are not the most popular or trendy albums.  You won’t find the cool trendy bands, because they are usually here today gone tomorrow.  These are the albums that I connected with during the year and I kept coming back to again and again.  And without further adieu, here are the Top Rock Albums of 2020:

THE TOP ROCK ALBUMS OF 2021:

#10 – Eclipse – ‘Wired’:

71-t49UrImL._SX522_ Eclipse is a melodic rock / glam rock /hard rock band out of Sweden and let me tell you Sweden knows how to pump out these bands. I think there are more rock bands in Sweden then there are people.  It is just a guess.  The two original guys, Erik Martensson and Magnus Henriksson. are back with their 9th album and they keep delivering.  Erik’s vocals are killer and Magnus can lay down some riffs.  The three opening tracks, “Roses On Your Grave”, “Dying Breed” and “Saturday Night (Hallelujah)” just suck you in and you know you are in good hands and just along for the ride at this point. Continue reading “The Top Albums of 2021”

Friday New Releases – September 17, 2021

Happy Friday!! You made it through another week so congratulations are in order! And as an award you have an abundance of new releases to pick through and hopefully something will catch you eye. We have the 2nd week in a row with over 50 albums to choose form. I also want to give a shout out to my beautiful wife and wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Today she is ??? I ain’t going to tell you her age, that would be rude!! Now back to the show, I am really excited about one and somewhat about others and I have highlighted all my choices in Blue. Let me know what you want to hear and what albums I may have missed as it does happen. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

  • 715uK7Xdr5L._SX522_  Billy Idol – The Roadside E.P. – (BFI Records / Dark Horse Records / BMG): I am so excited about this release as I have been a fan for a long time and I did a whole series of over 20 posts on his career. It was a blast. His new song “Bitter Taste” is actually amazing and I can’t wait to hear the rest. The only disappointing thing is it is an E.P. and only 4 songs, but I will take what I can get at this point. My autographed copy should be here soon.
  • 81cHmnu+D6S._SX522_  Daughtry – Dearly Beloved – (Dogtree Records): It has been 3 years since his last release but feels like longer. I like his style of rock as it is pretty damn catchy and he has some great choruses and I like that. I did get oversaturated with him, but I am ready for some more as I feel it has been longer than it has actually been. Here’s to hoping for a good album!!
Continue reading “Friday New Releases – September 17, 2021”

What to Expect in New Music for 2021!!

2021 is upon us and it is always fun anticipating what new albums are and will come out in the year. There are quite a few we already know about, but some haven’t been officially announced or even a date set yet.  

Last year, there were a few artist I was hoping would release an album that might have or might not have released one.  It is always fun to hope for new music from these bands, but were disappointments.  Here is who I was hoping for new albums from last year and what actually happened…

  • Def Leppard – We did get the Def Leppard Box Set for The Early Years and the Live Box Set London to Vegas, BUT NOPE!! STILL NOTHING NEW!!
  • KissNOTHING!!
  • Van HalenNO! Sadly, this won’t happen with Eddie’s passing. I am now hoping for archive music.
  • The Winery Dogs NOTHING!! Still keeping my hopes up
  • Guns ‘N RosesNOTHING!!! Rumors, Rumors, Rumors!!
  • Talisman – after getting a song to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the death of Marcel Jacob in 2019… NO ALBUM, we did get more Jeff Scott Soto music though.
  • AC/DC YES!! We got POWER UP and it is awesome!!
  • Motley Crue – I thought with a Big Tour in 2020 with Def Leppard & Poison…is a new album far behind??? NOPE – No Music, No Tour thanks to Covid!!
  • Poison – Same as Motley statement above!!! No Music, No Tour thanks to Covid!!
  • Aldo Nova – He kept talking about a 2CD set, but he never got around to releasing it?? NOPE..still talking. He has released some songs, but still no album!!
  • Matt NathansonNo New Music but we got a Live album and a Christmas album
  • NeedtobreatheYES!!! We got the incredible OUT OF BODY and it was one of their best!!

Okay, are there albums I want to see this year from some of my favorite bands that haven’t been announced or in some cases even rumored?  Of course there are.  These are the bands I want new albums from this year…but it might not happen.

  • Def Leppard – I don’t care if I get new music, but give me The Collection Volume 3 at least!!!
  • Kiss – I will keep this on the list until I die!!
  • The Winery Dogs – Still keeping my hopes up
  • Guns ‘N Roses – Rumors, Rumors, Rumors!!
  • Aldo Nova – He keeps talking about a 2CD set, but will he get around to releasing it??
  • Matt Nathanson – Loved what we got last year, but time for new music!!! I believe he finished recording it, but haven’t heard anything for a long while.
Continue reading “What to Expect in New Music for 2021!!”

Daughtry – ‘Cage to Rattle’ – Album Review

Chris Daughtry and his band are back with their first album in 5 years.  5 years is a long time to be out of the public eye.  Now before we get in to the review, I have a few questions to ask…

What is the difference between a Garbage Man or Sanitation Worker?

Custodian or Janitor?

Ghost or Spirit?

The answer is there isn’t really any difference.  I mean there is, but it is so slight that people know what you mean with whichever one you say.

Now another question…What is the difference between “Daughtry”, “Leave This Town”, “Break the Spell”, “Baptized” and the new album “Cage to Rattle”?

The answer is the same as above…very little difference.  All the albums sound the same.  I mean they really do.  It is like Chris took the playbook from Nickelback and Bon Jovi. He found a formula for his songs that worked and he has continually regurgitated that same song over and over again with different song titles.

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Continue reading “Daughtry – ‘Cage to Rattle’ – Album Review”

Friday New Releases – July 27th

Finally!  A week with a few releases I am actually interested in.  There is still not a ton of releases, but hopefully something you like.  My choices are highlighted in Blue.  At work, I am in the middle of budget season and my time is limited, but I will find time for a few of these selections.  Let me know what I missed and what you are interested in listening to this week.  Thanks and have a great weekend.

  • 616DTDnRtSL._AC_US436_QL65_  Dee Snider – For the Love of Metal – (Napalm Records):  Dee Snider’s last release, We Are the Ones, was exceptional.  This one is supposed to be harder and better so we will be popping it on first on the way to work.  Let’s hope another great album has been made.  If the below song is any indication, it will be.

  • 817yyfE8W5L._SX522_  Halestorm – Vicious – (Atlantic Record):  Lzzy Hale and the boys are back in full force.  It feels like it has been ages since new music, but it has only been 3 years since the last album and a little over a year since the last E.P., but that is too long for me.  When this band turns it up, watch out, they will blow your ears off and this sounds like it will do just that.

Continue reading “Friday New Releases – July 27th”

The Top 10 Overused Song Titles

I was going through my iTunes music library and damn there are a lot of repeat song titles.  Always looking for new post ideas, it hit me.  What are the most over used song titles?  Now I have a post idea and so I am going to bring you the Top 10 Overused Song Titles in music…or at least my musical library.

Now there were several that barely missed the cut.  They were the following titles: “Free”, “Forever”, “Without You”, each with 12 titles in my library.  And several with 11 songs including “Stand Up”, “Someday”, “Scream” and “Save Me”…a lot starting with “S” apparently.

10. “You”:  I have 12 different songs in my library with this title.  The artists are rather varied with The Afters, Black Stone Cherry, Bonnie Raitt, Buckcherry, Candlebox, Collective Soul, Elliott Yamin, Gotthard, Marvin Gaye, Richie Kotzen, Safetysuit and Keith Urban.

Continue reading “The Top 10 Overused Song Titles”

#TBT – My Favorite Albums from 2013

2013 was an interesting year for me with the music that came out.  Either I listened to an album over and over or it just didn’t get listened to but a couple times and I was done.  This list are the albums that I just couldn’t get enough of during the year.  Based on my picks this year, I would say Rock had a great year!!  Here we go:

Scott Stapp: Proof of LifeScott Stapp – “Proof of Life” – This was my album of the Year for 2013. Yes, the man from Creed delivered an album that was both very personal and very relatable.  I enjoyed this album immensely and have just devoured it since the day it came out.  I can’t say enough positive things about this album.  It had great flow from beginning to end and every song moved me in some way.  He was not afraid to talk about Jesus and his faith in this album and I applaud him for it.  It was the album I never knew he was capable of delivering.  My favorite songs were “Only One”, “Jesus is a Rockstar”, “Slow Suicide”, “New Day Coming” and “What Would Love Do”…honestly they are all awesome.  I hope he gets his act together and releases more music.  Give this one a listen!!!

Continue reading “#TBT – My Favorite Albums from 2013”

#TBT – Favorite albums of 2009

For Throwback Thursday, I am going to look back to the year 2009 and my favorite albums from that year.  These might not have been the most popular or the best selling albums, but they are what I enjoyed most that year.  So here are my favorites (in no particular order):

51znVwcqQQL._AC_US160_W.E.T. – W.E.T.: A perfect melodic rock album from members of Talisman, Eclipse and Work of Art. Great flow from beginning to end. Jeff Scott Soto is the lead singer and I have been a fan of all of JSS’ solo work and his work with Talisman and now with SOTO (see my artist profile on him here).  Highlights are “One Love”, “Brothers In Arms” & “Comes Down Like Rain”.

Continue reading “#TBT – Favorite albums of 2009”

American Idol Farewell

Did you ever watch American Idol? I am sure at sometime over the last 15 years you had to have seen some shows.   I probably watched the first 4 seasons in full and then would only watch when they got down to the Top 10 in the next 4 seasons and then I would just watch when I could.

However, I did watch the final season, mainly to see who they bring back, and I actually enjoyed watching it.  There were a few standouts and their final 4 were all pretty decent. My daughter loved MacKenzie Bourg and I was a fan of Trent Harmon and La’Porsha Renea (who I thought was going to win until Trent’s performances on the finale). And Dalton had some pretty good moments (I love his cover of “Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol)

Watching the final season reminded me that they really did have some good artists even though most of them were crap. I also found it funny that some of the people that lost did better than the winners – can we say Chris Daughtry & Adam Lambert. Of course everyone knows some of the winners were spectacular – Kelly Clarkson (3 Grammy Awards) and Carrie Underwood (7 Grammy Awards). And one even won an Academy Award – Jennifer Hudson (also 1 Grammy).

Continue reading “American Idol Farewell”