Live: MC Chris with Whole Wheat Bread

Six times.

That's how many times I've seen MC Chris live now, and I have to say I still enjoy it. I went in to this show not really excited, not expecting too much, I was going to hang out with my friends. In the almost-three years that I've been going to MC Chris shows, we've ended up getting a nice little following. Every time there are the 3 or 4 people who have seen him before, and the 3 or 4 people that we drag out to the show. It's a constant cycle. But I was happily surprised with the entire night.

The opener was some nerd-core white rapper, in the same vein as MC Chris. I didn't catch his name (well I did but I forget it), and I really don't care. The problem with going to a rap show is that if you don't know the words to the songs it's pretty boring. The music isn't good enough to keep you entertained and it's almost impossible to understand the lyrics at most venues, so the show devolves to the guy coming out making a joke, mumbling along to some blaring repeating house music, then making another witty comment, and back to the tunes. Nothing great. I'm sure if you knew the guy and his works it would have been much more enjoyable.

Next up was Whole Wheat Bread, a punk rock band with rap/hip-hop undertones, oh and did I mention that it's an all-black punk band? I had never heard of them before this nigh, and I only knew that they existed because my old roommate had one of their albums. But these guys kicked ass. All of their songs had a nice groove, I didn't know most of the words (some songs had a chant or a sing-a-long) but I still enjoyed it - a big difference between rap and rock. They played originals and covers, and their live show sounded just like their albums, just a little heavier, something I enjoyed quite a bit. During the middle of their set, they took a break and sang two or three rap covers, just the lead singer/guitarist and the drummer (who sang) and a looping-track. After that it was back to the rock. During the second half of the show a pit formed, and my friends and I couldn't let that go. I like going to punk and ska shows and going into the pit, because often times the people at these shows are not aggressive. Alot of metal shows have really militant people slamming into each other, but at this show it was skinny kids with Mohawks and tight jeans - not a scary crowd. One thing I found funny was that some of the people in the crowd started shouting the Wu Tang Clan chant, except tuned for Whole Wheat Bread: "Whole Wheat Bread ain't nothin' to fuck with! Whole Wheat Bread ain't nothin' to fuck with!" I laughed pretty hard and chanted with the rest.

After WWB were done MC Chris came out and did his thing. Before he got on stage, he opened with some mixed track of weird sounds and songs, something I see at alot of shows. It never makes sense to me, this soft open, often times the music/sounds have nothing to do with the show, and this show was no exception. But the music played and MC came out... and then the music cut quickly, to the surprise of MC Chris, and he left the stage and tried again. He was attempting to film a DVD, so I assume he wanted a solid opening, but I found it very annoying, and unnecessary.
Finally he began to sing, he said his voice was shot, but I didn't notice, as he belted out my favorite songs. It was great, his first six songs were all of my favorites, and the couple after that I knew (but not a favorite). The first half of his set done, and I knew every word to every song. Oh and he sang "Fuckin' Up My Christmas" my favorite song of his! I have seen him half a dozen times now and this is the first time he busted it out. Made my night right there. After his 30-45 min of old material he moved into his new music. I haven't heard his latest album, MC Chris Is Dead, except for one song, and he also sang from his upcoming albums, Part Six Part One and Part Six Part Two, music I have never heard, so most of it was lost on me. It was the same problem I had with the first guy, I didn't know the lyrics of the music so I was bored. This went on for about five more songs. Then MC sang another older song (I forget which one), and left the stage. The lights didn't come up, so we knew there'd be an encore, but to be fair we would have stayed and chanted til he came back out anyway, so at least they were prepared. After a minute or two not only did MC Chris come back to the stage, but he was joined by the gentlemen of Whole Wheat Bread! They all jammed out to "Fette's Vette" off of MC Chris' first album, Life's a Bitch and I'm Her Pimp. It was great. A rap song with heave drums and bass, and a continual guitar solo mixed it, it was like Rage Against The Machine without the guilt-trip. Fabulous way to end the show.

All-in-all it was a good show. I've seen MC Chris with alot of different openers from alot of different genres, but Whole Wheat Bread was by far the best. Their style of rap/punk complimented MC Chris' style, while still keeping to their own devices. I'd happily go see this show again.

Current Trend: Stoner (Sort Of...)

Now I've been talking for the past few weeks about how I was getting into stoner rock/metal and was going to donate some time to this genre. but it just hasn't happened that way. I spent a few days listening to random stoner songs, a la Last.FM, and decided to acquire some albums for myself. I got the discographies of Dozer and The Atomic Bitchwax, and cued up some Monster Magnet, Orange Goblin and Electric Wizard, for future playing. I was excited!
I began with The Atomic Bitchwax, listening to most of their four albums (I'll probably finish off the last album, just to be thorough), it was pretty enjoyable, I liked the groove sections and the vocals were pretty blurred with the music, but nothing too bad. But it was a tad redundant, good for an occasional listen, but not something I'd really want to spend all day listening too. I then began listening to a little of the Electric Wizard I already had, but I got bored. It just wasn't thumpin enough for me. I needed something with rhythm and soul...something funky. And I found it.

For the past few months I've been wanting to get into classic funk music, you know, the stuff from the late 60's and 70's. Recently I found a new way to search and acquire music, and using this method, I was able to expand my collection greatly, and have begun working my way through it. This stuff I am enjoying greatly. This time I mean it - my next Current Trend will be all about the Renegades of Funk!

New Band: Elf

Recently I have been listening to the "Recommendations" of my Last.FM account. It's their compiled list of bands that are similar to the majority of your library, but not artists that you've listened to alot. I use this station to find new bands in the same genres of the artists I already love. That's how I originally discovered power metal, three years ago, and how there were more doom bands than Type O Negative. Now, I use it to expand my knowledge of power, thrash, folk, and stoner bands (the stoner is the most recent, expect a Current Trend to appear).
Every now and then an artist pops up that I had heard of before, but I haven't seen much of their stuff over the years. Just the occasional song, or cover song, nothing to sink your teeth into, just a teaser. That's how it was with Elf.

First let me star off by saying, Elf is a fantastic band! While they only released 3 albums in their short tenure, every disc is chock-full of great songs, and catchy rhythms.

History
The act was founded by singer and bassist Ronnie James Dio (of future solo and Black Sabbath fame), keyboardist Doug Thaler, drummer Gary Driscoll, and guitarists Nick Pantas and David Feingstein, both of who were Dio's cousins. Originally called The Electric Elves, then shortened to The Elves, then just to Elf in the beginning of the 70's.
Elf's self-titled debut album was produced by the members of Deep Purple, who saw the group auditioning in 1972, and for the next few years, Elf had a steady gig opening for Deep Purple's world tour. It was during this time that Elf released their next two albums, Carolina Country Ball in 1974, and Trying To Burn The Sun in 1975. Also in 1975, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple with the intent to release solo works. He liked Dio's soulful voice, and thought he would be perfect for his latest project, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. Following their band leader, the rest of Elf helped record Blackmore's then-solo project, taking time from touring and recording their own music. After the album was recorded, Blackmore decided to scrap his solo effort, and instead created Rainbow into a full-fledged band, replacing all of the Elf members except for Dio. Without a singer, and without the support of Deep Purple, the members of Elf parted ways, and the band was no more.

Discography
Elf (1972)
The band's first album, and truly their only true album. After this release the band began being influenced by Deep Purple, and because of this, their other releases sounded more like a bluesy-Deep Purple and less like the boogie-rock Elf that was founded.
This is the album that I heard when I was younger, so when I began my trek through the track list, I recognized a few of the songs off the bat. "Hoochie Koochie Lady" is my favorite off the album with "First Avenue" a close second. It's work like this that make me wish that the group had released more albums, at least one more before being discovered by Deep Purple.

1. "Hoochie Koochie Lady" – 5:32
2. "First Avenue" – 4:23
3. "Never More" – 3:50
4. "I'm Coming Back For You" – 3:27
5. "Sit Down Honey (Everything Will Be Alright)" – 3:48
6. "Dixie Lee Junction" – 5:09
7. "Love Me Like A Woman" – 3:47
8. "Gambler, Gambler" – 4:26

Carolina Country Ball (1974) - Released as L.A./59 in the US and Japan
This is the album where the sound starts changing, not that it's a bad thing, it's just different. Elf's sound started becoming more complex and layered (the Deep Purple influence), and was more rock-oriented then their debut album, for better or worse.
The best song is the title track, I really liked the groove of the entire song, I was pleasantly surprised at the sudden change of styles from the previous album - at least for this song. After the first track, the other songs I enjoyed were the more original-sounding material, "Ain't It All Amusing" and "Rocking Chair Rock 'n' Roll Blues," both classics.

1. "Carolina County Ball" - 4:46
2. "L.A. 59" - 4:21
3. "Ain't It All Amusing" - 5:01
4. "Happy" - 5:28
5. "Annie New Orleans" - 3:01
6. "Rocking Chair Rock 'n' Roll Blues" - 5:36
7. "Rainbow" - 4:00
8. "Do the Same Thing" - 3:10
9. "Blanche" - 2:31

Trying To Burn The Sun (1975)
Elf's final release, this album made the full jump to rock with blues undertones, very little straight blues in the entire album. Again, this doesn't make it a bad album, just not the sound of the original Elf. Make your own decision whether it's good or bad.
This album had a lot more songs that I enjoyed overall, the only two I didn't really like were the somber, slower melodies of "When She Smiles" and "Wonderworld." They were just too slow and teary-eyed for me. Again, the first track was the best ("Black Swampy Water"), followed by "Shotgun Boogie."

1. "Black Swampy Water" - 3:43
2. "Prentice Wood" - 4:37
3. "When She Smiles" - 4:54
4. "Good Time Music" - 4:30
5. "Liberty Road" - 3:22
6. "Shotgun Boogie" - 3:07
7. "Wonderworld" - 5:03
8. "Streetwalker" - 7:07

So there you have it, the history and works of one of the best unknown bands of all time. While they didn't have the impact of Deep Purple, or even their follow-up act, Rainbow, Elf was still an amazing band. One I plan on listening to until I am 60, by that point the music will be over 70 years old. It'll the the "oldies of the oldies" and I'll embarrass my grandkids every day. Good times...

Video: GWAR "School's Out" (Alice Cooper Cover)

I'm not a huge GWAR fan, they make a few good singles and I hear their live show is amazing, but that about it. Although their newest album had this version of Alice Cooper's "School's Out," which is fantastic. It's so good it made my list of 20 Cover Songs That Are Better Than The Originals, from a few months ago. I like the heavier feel of the song, and I really enjoy the extra psudo-verse they add right at the end. It makes me laugh every time.

Enjoy ("Schools out for summer Kiddies...")

Albums Listened To In April

Finals are over! Which means I finally have some free time to myself again (although I am still writing this at work). I have a plethora of half-finished articles to bang out here int he coming weeks, so hopefully this site should see alot of updates in May.

Starting this month, my goal was to listen to nothing but new albums, I was doing very well until I re-listened to Mael Mórdha's Gealtacht Mael Mórdha. I had rediscovered them (I have a ton of music, I forget about bands all the time), so I listened to their two albums - completely forgetting about my want to listen to only never before heard stuff. And then a few days later I began listening to the catalog of Evergrey, and after listening to their Recreation Day album, I remembered that I had heard this album before. It was almost 5 years ago at this point, but that's the only reason I even knew about that band (thanks be to Mike!), so obviously I couldn't overlook this. I know what some of you must be saying, "Why not just lie or leave it out?" Well I can't do that. I have a certain level of professionalism with this project (...a little), and I also like to see my progress month to month (and I've impressed a few ladies with my lists). So I will continue to dictate what I listen to, as it happens. For my adoring public!

The best albums of the month are the works of Elf (I listened to them all at the end of April, so the other albums are on the list for next month, but Elf will be one of the best then too). I love this blues-rock oriented band from the future voice of Rainbow and Black Sabbath. I'm working on a stand-alone article for them as well. I also enjoyed Dark Hours by Lion's Share, for being very Dio-ish. I'm going to try and locate some more of their albums and listen more thoroughly. Another great new band (keeping with the Dio trend) is Heaven & Hell, their album The Devil You Know was amazing. Check out my full review. The Decemberists, one of my favorite non-metal folk bands, released a new album, The Hazards Of Love, and it was great. A concept album with several singers and a twisted storyline. It's like the classic Who and Pink Floyd concepts with a folkish theme. A great idea if I've ever heard one. Also, Psychostick's two albums, We Couldn't Think Of A Title!, and Sandwich, were both hilarious and pretty decent. Give them a try.

Not too much on the negative end this month, 30 days of new music and only two albums that stood out, not to bad really. The first bad album was Cruachan's Tuatha Na Gael. Now I have heard Cruachan's later works (this was their first album) and I enjoyed the Celtic metal quite alot. But this album was more viking then folk (use of death growls and grunts), not my preferred style. I was planning on listening to more Cruachan albums, but this one turned me off from their other, early works. The second wasn't really bad, just boring. Hammers Of Misfortune are a progressive band with two singers, one male one female. The albums I listened to, Fields/Church Of Broken Glass (double disc), was an odd collection of both. The first few songs were solely a male voice, then a couple that was female only, then the rest that were a mix between. The music was long and drawn out, no real climaxes throughout their songs, just one droning melody to another. The only song that I did enjoy was the instrumental piece close to the end, it was their only piece that had any excitement to it.

All in all it was a good month for music, several new bands, 32 new albums. Not a great month for numbers, but a superb month for quality.
For May, I just "acquired" the complete works of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, so look forward to that popping up here then. And I'll probably be re-listening to alot of albums, as songs pop up on my iTunes of iPod when it is on random of bands that I haven't heard from in a while. It's time to get back to the basics. Also, I have begun to listen to some stoner rock/metal through my Last.FM and plan on finding full albums and working through that. So my next Current Trend may be stoner focused.

1. Battlelore - The Last Alliance - Newly Listened!
2. Circus Maximus - The 1st Chapter - Newly Listened!
3. Circus Maximus - Isolate - Newly Listened!
4. Cruachan - Tuatha Na Gael - Newly Listened!
5. The Decemberists - The Hazards Of Love - Newly Listened!
6. Deep Purple - Bananas - Newly Listened!
7. Dio - Intermission (Live EP) - Newly Listened!
8. Dio - Sacred Heart - Newly Listened!
9. Elf - Elf - Newly Listened!
10. Evergrey - Monday Morning Apocalypse - Newly Listened!
11. Evergrey - Recreation Day
    
12. GWAR - Violence Has Arrived - Newly Listened!
13. Hammers Of Misfortune - Fields/Church Of Broken Glass (2 Discs) - Newly Listened!
14. Heaven & Hell - The Devil You Know - Newly Listened!
15. Holy Martyr - Hellenic Warrior Spirit - Newly Listened!
16. Infectious Grooves - Mas Borracho - Newly Listened!
17. Infectious Grooves - Pneumonia (EP) - Newly Listened!
18. Lazarus A.D. - The Onslaught - Newly Listened!
19. Lion's Share - Dark Hours - Newly Listened!
20. Mael Mórdha - Cluain Tarbh - Newly Listened!
21. Mael Mórdha - Gealtacht Mael Mórdha
    
22. Mechanical Poet - Eidoline: The Arrakeen Code - Newly Listened!
23. Mechanical Poet - Ghouls (EP) - Newly Listened!
24. Mechanical Poet - Who Did It To Michelle Waters? (2 Discs) - Newly Listened!
25. Psychostick - Sandwich - Newly Listened!
26. Psychostick - We Couldn't Think Of A Title! - Newly Listened!
27. Queen - Hot Space - Newly Listened!
28. Scorpions - Lonesome Crow - Newly Listened!
29. Scorpions - Love At First Sting - Newly Listened!
30. Steve Reynolds - The Carnival Papers - Newly Listened!
31. StormWarrior - Northern Rage - Newly Listened!
32. StormWarrior - StormWarrior - Newly Listened!
33. Warren Zevon - The Wind - Newly Listened!
34. Yes - Close To The Edge - Newly Listened!

Video: Clutch "Electric Worry"

The single from the newest Clutch studio album, From Beale Street To Oblivion. I love the blues sound throughout the song and the drum fill at the end.
Enjoy

While looking up the links for this post I found out that Clutch has a new album due out in July of this year, Strange Cousins from the West. I now have something to look forward to!

15 Awesome Instrumentals

Sometimes it's more about the music then the lyrics. I love a good instrumental in an album, and while listening to an entire album of nothing but instrumentals bores me after a while, one or two songs thrown in helps mix it up. Also, I'm not talking about the minute long intro or outro songs on most power metal albums (as well as several other genres). I'm talking about the songs that are tracks 4 and 8 in a concept progressive metal album, nothing really to do with the story, but it helps move it along.

1. 3 - Bramfatura
2. The Bakerton Group - Old Bait and Switch (this song is from an instrumental band, but I really like this song as a stand alone)
3. Circus Maximus - Biosfear
4. The Corrs - Toss The Feathers (Not metal at all, but nice violin and drum work)
5. Dream Theater - Overture 1928 (They have alot of great instrumentals, but this one is one of my favorites)
6. The Edgar Winter Group - Frankenstein
7. Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Fanfare For The Common Man (An electric keyboard and drum heavy re-imagining of the classical piece)
8. Firewind - The Fire And The Fury (Great beginning and middle, but the ending gets kind of boring, but still an amazing song)
9. Iced Earth - 1776
10. Iron Maiden - Transylvania (Iced Earth also does an amazing cover of this song, but I didn't want to put the song on here twice, but Iron Maiden did write it)
    
11. Led Zeppelin - Moby Dick (Couldn't be a serious list without this one)
12. Liquid Tension Experiment - Acid Rain (Another exclusively instrumental band, but almost every song on their two albums is simply amazing)
13. Rush - La Villa Strangiato (An Exercise in Self-Indulgence)
14. Sum 41 - Grab The Devil By The Horns And Fuck Him Up The Ass (An amazing metal song by a punk rock band. I was just as surprised)
15. Van Halen - Eruption (Less of a song, more of an extended guitar lick, Eruption still is some amazing finger-work)

New Band: Heaven And Hell

I am currently finishing up the new album by Heaven & Hell, The Devil You Know, and I must say it is a really good album. For those who don't know, Heaven & Hell is basically the Ronnie James Dio-era of Black Sabbath, under a new name. They do this, because Black Sabbath is still officially headed up by The Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne (again). But after the Heaven & Hell reunion tour in 2007, the guys decided that they wanted to create some new material. The project started just to write two or three new songs for a compilation album Black Sabbath: The Dio Years, but during their tour they decided to add to these songs and release an album of completely new material. So they got together over the next year and put together some of the best music from a classic metal band that I have heard in a while, not to mention the bitchin' artwork.

Video: Psychostick "BEER!!"

A funny video by a funny band.

Psychostick - BEER!!

Why Last.fm Is Awesome

I forgot to bring my iPod to school yesterday, which means that I have 7 hours without music, and went slightly insane. But for at least 2 hours I was on a computer so I signed into my Last.fm account (add me) and cycled through my "Recommendations" playlist. Now for those who don't have a Last.fm - get one - after you've listened to a bunch of music from your library, it will make a "Recommendations" playlist, music that you haven't heard, but that is close to the music you do listen to on a daily basis. It's a great way to find new bands that you will like, and alot of times you find side projects of bands you love that you didn't know existed. In this 2 hour session I made a list of artists to research and "acquire," most of which I didn't know about at all.

The Company Band (side project of Clutch frontman Neil Fallon)
Circus Maximus
Threshold
Fair To Midland (Which apparently, looking through my iTunes, I already have their album)
Shadow Gallery
Blood or Whiskey
The Real McKenzies (I had heard of these guys before, but never any of their music)

Most of these are progressive metal, with the last 2 being Cletic Punk. There was also alot of folk metal/viking metal that came up on the playlist, but I either didn't like it, or I already had heard of them.

Albums Listened To In March

Well, I'm a few days behind but that doesn't change the fact that another month has passed us by. I'm a little older, a little wiser, and a little more prepared for the inevitable clash of the Devil and Jesus for our souls and an epic rock-off to end all time!

Anyway... this month didn't see to many new artists or new albums. Only 18 out of the 40 are new, which by itself is kind of impressive, but compared to my past few months of almost 3/4 of the list being new, it's a tad depressing. Instead of new music, I focused on Old Bands With New Music, which I wrote about in my latest Current Trend segment. Also I re-listened to the most of the discography of 3, my favorite prog-funk-metal band, and several Queen albums. One new group that I listened to considerably was Mechanical Poet. They are a progressive symphonic folk metal band from Russia. I'm working on a more in-depth article, but I really enjoyed their first EP, but haven't enjoyed their subsequent releases as much. I still have 2 more albums and another EP to listen to before I render my final judgment, but it was all enjoyable.

One of my favorite albums for the month of March is Heading Northe by StormWarrior. It was a nice mix of power metal with a touch of folkish influences. Another good one was Diablo Swing Orchestra's singular release (thus far) The Butcher's Ballroom. It was another bizarre mesh of symphonic and gothic, alot of the album I thought was a little boring but a handful of songs made up for it (chief among them is "Balrog Boogie"). And, as I already have said Mechanical Poet's debut EP, Handmade Essence, was a creative combination of symphonic progressive metal with folk strewn about.

As far as least favorite for this month is concerned, there really wasn't anything too bad. The only thing that I can think of would be the couple of albums which weren't really in my bag. They weren't bad albums by any means, just not something I would ever really listen to again. Among them is Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen, Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols by (you guessed it) The Sex Pistols, Crógacht by Suidakra and the new Les Claypool release, Of Of Fungi And Foe, which was pretty good, but was so weird that it'll be hard to re-approach it.
One album that I was expecting to be at least decent, that was not, was Queensrÿche's Take Cover. It is their latest release (with American Soldier to come out sometime this year), and was a cover album. Now, I normally love a cover album, but Take Cover was dull and listless, nothing that I'd ever spend time listening to again.

1. 3 - The End Is Begun
   
2. 3 - Paint By Number
3. 3 - Summercamp Nightmare
4. 3 - Wake Pig
   
5. AC/DC - Black Ice
   
6. Alestorm - Captain Morgan's Revenge
7. Alestorm - Leviathan (EP)
8. Alice Cooper - Along Came A Spider
9. Ayreon - Actual Fantasy - Newly Listened!
10. Baroness - Red Album
11. Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska - Newly Listened!
12. Diablo Swing Orchestra - The Butcher's Ballroom - Newly Listened!
13. Dream Evil - Gold Medal In Metal: Bronze - Newly Listened!
14. Dream Theater - Scenes From A Memory
    
15. Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels - Newly Listened!
16. Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy - Newly Listened!
17. Hellmouth - Destroy Everything, Worship Nothing - Newly Listened!
18. Iron Maiden - A Matter Of Life And Death
19. Judas Priest - Angel Of Retribution
20. KoЯn - Follow The Leader
21. Les Claypool - Of Fungi And Foe - Newly Listened!
22. Mechanical Poet - Creepy Tales For Freaky Children - Newly Listened!
23. Mechanical Poet - Handmade Essence (EP) - Newly Listened!
24. Mechanical Poet - Woodland Prattlers - Newly Listened!
25. Metallica - Death Magnetic
26. Mötley Crüe - Saints of Los Angeles
27. The Offspring - Americana
28. Queen - The Game
29. Queen - Jazz
30. Queen + Paul Rodgers - The Cosmos Rocks
31. Queensrÿche - Take Cover - Newly Listened!
32. Rush - Snakes & Arrows - Newly Listened!
33. Sammy Hagar - UnBoxed
34. Seawolves - Dragonships Set Sail - Newly Listened!
35. StormWarrior - Heading Northe - Newly Listened!
36. Suidakra - Crógacht - Newly Listened!
37. The Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols - Newly Listened!
38. The Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist
39. Type O Negative - Dead Again
40. Týr - Land - Newly Listened!

Bands I've Seen Live

So posts have been slicking of late, alot of reasons for that leading off with that I have the plague. I'm not going to go into the rest, as this is not my own personal bitch session. So here is a half-assed article I've been working on. It's a list of all the bands that I've seen live, that I can remember. I started collecting my ticket stubs from shows when I began college (4 years ago) and alot of these are from that time. Some of the older shows I tried to remember, but I can't quite get the full line ups. I'm working on looking up all the tours I'm not sure about, and will amend this list as they come up.
I'd love to see how many shows any of my readers have been to. I know I'm starting to get some semi-regulars, and many of you are concert goers like me. I realize that some lists would put mine to shame, but I was actually a little surprised with how many bands I have actually seen. And of course I will add to this list over the upcoming months and years.

1. AC/DC
   
2. Alestorm
3. Alice Cooper
   
4. Ankla
   
5. Arch Enemy
   
6. As I Lay Dying
   
7. Bad Actor - 2 Times (Maybe a third in this upcoming week)
   
8. Behemoth
   
9. The Black Dahlia Murder
   
10. Black Label Society
    
11. Black Sabbath
    
12. Black Tide
13. Blue Öyster Cult
14. Brand New Sin
15. Bury Your Dead
    
16. Celtic Frost
17. Cheap Trick
    
18. Chevelle
    
19. Chthonic
    
20. Cinder - at least 10 times (I toured with these guys for 6 months as a roadie/merch salesman)
    
21. Circus Diablo
    
22. Clutch
23. Daath
    
24. Deadsy
    
25. DevilDriver
    
26. Dir En Grey
    
27. Disturbed - 3 Times
    
28. Eddie Money
    
29. Empyrean
30. Foghat
31. Gizmachi
    
32. Grand Funk Railroad
    
33. Hatebreed
    
34. The Haunted
    
35. Heaven And Hell (Black Sabbath with Dio)
    
36. Hinder
37. In Flames
    
38. It Dies Today
    
39. In This Moment
    
40. Killswitch Engage
    
41. KoRn - 3 Times
    
42. Lordi
    
43. Mastadon
    
44. MC Chris - 5 Times
45. Mötley Crüe
46. Mudvayne
    
47. Nile
    
48. Papa Roach
49. Puddle of Mudd
    
50. Queensrÿche
51. Rob Zombie
    
52. Shadows Fall
    
53. Shinedown
    
54. The Showdown
    
55. Soapy Tuna - At least 10 times (The alter ego of Cinder, whenever they didn't want to pay their company to play a gig)
    
56. Soilwork
    
57. Static-X
    
58. Styx
    
59. Suidakra
60. The Sword
61. Theory of A Deadman
62. Tool
    
63. Trivium
    
64. Type O Negative
65. Týr
66. Velvet Revolver
67. Wicked Wisdom

As a side note, I have been working on articles, just not finishing them. I am 90% complete with my Týr concert experience as well as working on some new band articles (teaser: one is progressive symphonic folk metal). So have no fear! Updates are in the works.

Current Trend: Old Bands With New Music

Moving away slightly from my last trend, I have been listening to alot of folk rock recently, but still mixing in the folk metal, and I have also been listening to new albums by old bands - bands that haven't released much in the past decade (or more), but have a new album out within the past few years.
The folk is just a continuation from last time, except a little softer. Most of them are celtic punk, but I found a couple of new ones that are reminiscent of Simon And Garfunkel, mixed in with indie rock (Sun Kil Moon and Great Lake Swimmers). Kind of nice, nothing I'll listen to much, but a nice sound to listen to if you're winding down for the night.
I have been pretty disappointed with the new music by old bands, most of it has been very ho-hum, nothing is too exciting. I don't know why I was expecting more, most of these bands are over 30 years old at this point, and have lost their edge. It's not bad, but I wouldn't call any of it 'metal' per se. Most of the bands are the grand-daddies of metal sub-genres, but now it falls mostly into hard rock.

Metallica - Death Magnetic

• The long-awaited album by thrash gods Metallica. I like to pretend that St. Anger never happened, and it seems so does the band. Death Magnetic is very different then their previous attempt at the new market, much better - not as good as The Black Album or previous, but way better then Load or Re-Load. I've already said something about this release, but now that I've heard it a few times (and that I don't remember what I put the last time) I'll weigh in again. You can tell that they listened (at least partially) to the numerous complaints from St. Anger, although the production quality is still in the gutter. Death Magnetic tried to mix the thrash days of old, with the hard rock times of now. Almost every song is over five minutes, and has several different segments and breakdowns, a throwback to their older days. Again, not a bad album, by far their best in almost twenty years, but not great. I'd like to see them work on this formula and perfet it for their next release.

Rush - Snakes And Arrows

• Snake And Arrows is one of the only albums this month that is both by an old band and that I haven't listened to before. I can't say anything negative about it, being a Rush fan I hear all the things I love about them, the intricate drum work (Neil Peart is God) and the flowing guitar and bass. But I also haven't really enjoyed a Rush album sense Moving Pictures, released way back in 1981. Every release after '81 has been...well I don't know really, its been kind of boring. My friend Sloth (check out his blog) would disagree, as Rush is his favorite band, he could go on for hours about how "this song means such-and-such" and why Geddy Lee should be the next president (if he weren't Canadian), but not me. Actualy this past statement isn't 100% true, I did like Rush's cover EP, Feedback, that came out in 2004. But as I said, if you are a Rushophile (Rush lover, get it?) then pick it up, but if you feel, as I do, that they haven't released anything amazing in 20+ years (aside from Feedback) then you might want to pass this one over.
  

Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy

• Ah, which brings me to The Axl Rose Project, oh wait no - it's Guns N' Roses (I can't take credit for that name, it was my friend Krotch). So I walked into this album, trying to keep an open mind, but it was difficult. The only song I enjoyed off of the album was their single, "Better," and that's probably only because I've heard it 50 times on the radio at work. The album would be alot better if you don't think of it as a GNR album, if you look at it as The Axl Rose Project, it seems to get better. Unfortunately, I can't get passed what a dick Axl has been. I loved classic GNR, I liked Velvet Revolver (which just shows that the rest of the guys still have it), but this album just falls flat. Rose tries to do too much with too little, the album cris-crosses genres randomly, it has too many "guest performers" to count (If you can even call them guest performers, it's just a list of people that were "members" of GNR over the past 20 years, who then Axl got angry at and fired).
  

Iron Maiden - A Matter of Life And Death

• Another of my favorite bands that's new album really doesn't match their heyday. As the same with Rush, I don't think that Maiden has released anything great sense Fear of The Dark, in 1992, and again I have a friend who would hit me if he heard me besmirching their good name. But oh well, you can't please them all. A Matter of Life And Death is, well a so-so album. I got the promo for "The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg" months before the album came out, and as such it is the only song I enjoyed on my re-listen to the album. It's not a bad disc, it's just kind of boring, nothing really stands out in any way. The songs are all long in length, with only one under five minutes, but most don't need to be. They seem to just go on and on for no reason other then they can. Actually, going back and looking at my Rush paragraph, these albums are surprisingly similar, well in the aspects of my reviews at least. If you're a fan, buy it, it you're a weekend warrior (casual listener) it's easy enough to forget about.

So there you have it, the albums and bands that have been occupying my time of late. Of course there are more, lots more, but I haven't posted in a while and I didn't want to wait for me to finish these other albums to write about them, maybe I'll write a part two eventually.
Other bands and albums on my list:
AC/DC - Black Ice
Alice Cooper - Along Came A Spider
Judas Priest - Angel Of Retribution
Mötley Crüe - Saints of Los Angeles
Ozzy Osbourne - Black Rain

Guest Post: Gryphyn Bloodheart - Tyr/Alestorm Concert

Another guest post from my friend Gryphyn Bloodheart, about the concert we went to, at the small local venue BackBooth. The band lineup for the show was (in order of performance) Empyrean, Suidakra, Alestorm, and Tyr.

"Look out Johan! Heri Joensen is in town!
And I did, in the very end, get a kiss from him -- just a peck on the cheek, but still, I was giddy over it. I don't know if he hesitated at my request because he's married, or because he saw the monster in the pit with the matching facepaint and fearfully assumed I belonged to him. (Though Heri's kinda buff -- he might be able to take my boyfriend.)Okay, okay, I'll shut up about my obsessive infatuations long enough to talk about the actual music... *sigh* Okay, so Empyrean opened strong, and had a good set, though I thought it rather short. Mind, the whole show felt rather short but I'll get to that more in a bit. I would probably like Empyrean a lot more if it weren't for the vocals. Granted, I have to give him kudos for playing while sick, but I don't like his vocal style, and the band could have carried on without him because their music is great by itself. Aside from the vocals, it's good prog, and Vincent is a fucking monster on that bass! On the last song, he literally looked like he was playing while fucking possessed!
Suidakra bothered me a little when they came on, because I found it a little tacky that almost all of them were wearing their own merchandise. Maybe it's just me, but I find it tacky when bands wear their own stuff while performing. I'd really rather see them wearing band names they love besides themselves. All in all, they were okay, but I wasn't entirely moved by them. They're supposed to be Celtic folk metal from Germany, but sometimes I can hardly hear what makes their music "Celtic folk", besides maybe some of the lyrics.
Alestorm came on, two playing bare-chested, the other in a kilt looking much like a good ol' Scotsman. Man, Scots are tiny! It'd take three of them to match a single Faroese! Anyway, they performed greats like "Captain Morgan's Revenge", "Wenches and Mead", and "Nancy the Tavern Wench", and played them well despite some technical difficulties, so I was quite pleased. By this time I was up at the front, and every time Chris wanted us to pump our fists and chant "HEY HEY HEY!", I was afraid I might HIT HIM. It was also during this performance that the guy next to me, who was pumping his fists quite fanatically, clocked me in the back of the head with his elbow when I was coming up from headbanging.Then Tyr came on. Immediately I noticed what a nice ass Heri has -- SORRY! SORRY! MUSIC! MUSIC! -- Anyway, they performed great in the beginning, but about the middle of the show the guitarist came unplugged suddenly and had to stumble a bit to correct the problem in mid-song. Turned out the plug was a bit loose and would shake out with the vibrations of the stage. A guy at the front with me kept lunging onto the stage to secure the plug to help out, which seemed to work. Until Heri's mic kept cutting out during the songs, which he was visibly pissed about. Heri also kept walking up to the stage right in front of where I was to strut his guitar work. He was so close I could have grabbed his junk if I really wanted to be inappropriate, so it was kind of like getting a lap dance. He did this several times, and when he turned around to stand back behind the mic, I got to see his cute butt again. XD About halfway through the show I stopped headbanging and just got mesmerized by Heri, and how sexy he looked in that leather and the -- FUCK! THE MUSIC! THE MUSIC! -- Anyway, any awesomeness missing from their performance was less about TÝR's inadequacies, and more about equipment failures and a lousy venue. This was my first time at Backbooth, so my first impression was that, like the Dungeon, it would be a very personal, close performance. Unfortunately, it just felt like it was too insufficient for the act. I really would like to see these guys at Firestone or House of Blues instead -- it would definitely be more respectable. One thing I will say I didn't like about their performance; they played an awful lot of songs in Faroese. While a lot of their songs ARE in Faroese, I think they should have catered to their audience and played more of their English songs, which they do have plenty of. They should have limited the Faroese songs to one or two. While it is arguable that one might miss a lot of great songs that way, I like singing along with the band and knowing what they're talking about. As much as I'd love to learn Faroese or any other Scandinavian language, it's not a likely learning project in the near future. To their credit, I will say I love the sound of Faroese when sung, even if I can't read it, and it does add to the overall folky feel of the music to hear them barding away in their native tongue. And, to be fair, even in the Faroese songs, there were some folks who were singing along.

And the show should have been longer. When Tyr left the stage, it felt rather sudden, and we kept chanting for an encore. But, alas, the lights rose and they did not return even to toss us a fucking pick. Perhaps they'd become too frustrated with the inadequacies of the show, or perhaps they were annoyed by the noise coming from the club next door. Whatever it was, the ending was disappointing. Vengefully, I scavenged a drumstick from the stage and threatened to whack them with it til they came back to play "The Hammer of Thor" for me. At least they were hanging around the venue for a while after their performance, so we all had a chance to ogle them, get signatures, chat in German, and steal kisses.

I really can't lay blame on the bands for the problems with the performances; honestly, Backbooth just sucks. They can't keep a mic running, and the dicks next door play crappy music, and also I can't parallel park to save my life. Ultimately, I was pleased with the bands and just displeased with Backbooth."

Bands I Love: Clutch - Part 2

So I love Clutch, and rather then write a long story about my love for them (which I will get to eventually) I am just going to post a list of my favorite songs of theirs. Now by favorite I mean about 40, they have so many amazing songs.
(The bolded songs are my choices)
By Album:
Pure Rock Fury
Pure Rock Fury continued on the path of their previous album, Jam Room, although with added success. It still holds onto the raw rock/metal sound, but is much better produced. Still in the vein of stoner rock, this album is the stepping stone to the groove-oriented band that they become with their next few releases. "Pure Rock Fury" is a balls-to-the-wall shout-at-the-top-of-your-lungs kind of song. "Open Up the Border" and the updated version of "Sinkemlow" are nice groove songs. "Careful With That Mic..." is Clutch's only(to date) rap song. It sounds odd to say, but it is actually quite good. It's all about how other bands rely on repeating lyrics and catchy gimmicks to make it big, while bands like Clutch are constantly re-inventing themselves. A very true statement, looking at the next three releases.

1. "American Sleep" – 4:18
2. "Pure Rock Fury" – 3:21
3. "Open Up The Border" – 3:45
4. "Careful With That Mic..." – 3:27
5. "Red Horse Rainbow" – 5:58
6. "The Great Outdoors!" – 3:47
7. "Smoke Banshee" – 3:33
8. "Frankenstein" – 5:41
9. "Sinkemlow" – 3:55
10. "Immortal" – 3:39
11. "Brazenhead" – 6:28
12. "Drink To The Dead" – 5:58

Blast Tyrant
Blast Tyrant was the first Clutch album to fully embrace rock and funk into it's sound. This is one of my favorite albums by them, as you can see almost every song is good. The entire album is in the same key and overall groove sound, and as such it is easy to pick out songs off of this album. Some stand-outs include "Profits of Doom," "The Mob Goes Wild,' "Cypress Grove," "The Regulator," and "Ghost." "The Regulator," and "Ghost" are in battle for my favorite Clutch song, each one is amazing. I love the opening tri-guitar riff in"The Regulator," and I love the lyrics in "Ghost." Too difficult to choose.

1. "Mercury" – 3:00
2. "Profits of Doom" – 3:12
3. "The Mob Goes Wild" – 3:32
4. "Cypress Grove" – 2:45
5. "Promoter (of Earthbound Causes)" – 3:14
6. "The Regulator" – 5:25
7. "Worm Drink" – 3:13
8. "Army of Bono" – 4:36
9. "Spleen Merchant" – 2:38
10. "(In the Wake of) The Swollen Goat" – 3:01
11. "Weathermaker" – 0:47
12. "Subtle Hustle" – 2:46
13. "Ghost" – 4:37
14. "(Notes from the Trial of) La Curandera" – 5:49
15. "WYSIWYG" – 5:45

Robot Hive/Exodus
song I heard, thanks to my Dad's Robot Hive/Exodus was the first Clutch album that I owned, and the song "10001110101" was the very first song I heard, due to my Dad's Sirus Satellite Radio. And although this album has less memorable songs then Blast Tyrant, it is my favorite album by them. Listening to every song back-to-back is more of an experience then their other discs. Robot Hive/Exodus seems to be more religiously oriented than any other Clutch CD, with the songs "Burning Beard," "Gullah," and "Mice And Gods" touching on some sort of religion either explicitly or implicitly. This is also the first album that features keyboards, having added the instrument to the band. Because of this new instrument, the keyboards are very heavy in some of the songs, something that I think goes well with the subject matter on this album. "10001110101" is a whimsical song about nothing. All of the lyrics are random, and have no purpose. But it still is a great song.

1. "The Incomparable Mr. Flannery" – 3:43
2. "Burning Beard" – 4:00
3. "Gullah" – 4:24
4. "Mice and Gods" – 3:55
5. "Pulaski Skyway" – 4:09
6. "Never Be Moved" – 4:04
7. "10001110101" – 5:00
8. "Small Upsetters" – 2:38
9. "Circus Maximus" – 3:42
10. "Tripping The Alarm" – 2:25
11. "10,000 Witnesses" – 3:29
12. "Land Of Pleasant Living" – 4:06
13. "Gravel Road" – 5:18
14. "Who's Been Talking?" – 3:46
    

From Beale Street To Oblivion
Their most blues-oriented album, From Beale Street To Oblivion, was the first Clutch album to be released while I was a fan (the others being released prior to my knowing that the band existed). This album is my Dad's favorite (yes my Father is a Clutch fan too), because of the heavy blues lines and slower songs. While Robot Hive/Exodus favored the keyboard, From Beale Street To Oblivion favors the vocals. Many of the songs are stripped down to their bear minimum, with very little distortion on the guitars. The stand-out hit of the album, and also the first single, is "Electric Worry." This song reminds my Dad of Frank Zappa and The Mothers, with the deep vocals and the lone guitar-lick segments. I don't know much about Zappa, except for one or two of his albums, but I enjoy it for the song's music and lyrics. It's a love song of sorts, or a song after the love has ended.

1. "You Can't Stop Progress" – 2:40
2. "Power Player" – 3:06
3. "The Devil & Me" – 3:57
4. "White's Ferry" – 5:24
5. "Child of the City" – 3:53
6. "Electric Worry" – 5:14
7. "One Eye Dollar" – 1:23
8. "Rapture of Riddley Walker" – 4:09
9. "When Vegans Attack" – 4:56
10. "Opossum Minister" – 4:28
11. "Black Umbrella" – 4:05
12. "Mr. Shiny Cadillackness" – 5:11

Spring Break!

So, as of yesterday at 8pm I am on Spring Break! That means a full week of sitting on the beach drinking every kind of liquor I can get my hands on. So needless to say, updates will be sporadic at best.
Tomorrow I will post the second installment of my list of The Best of Clutch, and eventually I'll write about the concerts I've been to this week, and probably a list of all the bands I've seen in my relatively short life.
Oh that's right, I went to two concerts this week (would have been three but I have to work tonight, and miss Flogging Molly). On Monday I saw Týr with Alestorm, Suidakra and Empyrean, and last night I got a free ticket to see Mötley Crüe with Hinder, Theory of a Deadman, and The Last Vegas. So I have to to finish my reviews of those shows, but they probably wont be up here until late next week.

I wish everyone a good couple of weeks, whether you are working, partying or just living.

Bands I Love: Clutch - Part 1

So I love the band Clutch, and rather then write a long story about my love for them (which I will get to eventually) I am just going to post a list of my favorite songs of theirs. Now by favorite I mean about 40, they have so many amazing songs.

(The bolded songs are my choices)

Translational Speedway League: Anthems, Anecdotes, and Undeniable Truths

Translational Speedway League was the first full album of Clutch's that I had. What appealed me to this album, and would eventually repel me as well, was their stoner-metal feel. At the time I was busy discovering new music (Spring 2006) and I liked what I heard. After I got their other albums and started enjoying their funk/blues feel, Translational Speedway League fell to the wayside. So while I used to listen to this album alot more frequently, I now am bored by it

1. "A Shogun Named Marcus" – 2:52
2. "El Jefe Speaks" – 3:49
3. "Binge and Purge" – 6:29
4. "12 Ounce Epilogue" – 2:49
5. "Bacchanal" – 4:11
6. "Milk of Human Kindness" – 4:17
7. "Rats" – 2:45
8. "Earthworm" – 4:31
9. "Heirloom 13" – 5:34
10. "Walking in the Great Shining Path of Monster Trucks" – 3:43
11. "Effigy" – 5:09

Clutch
Their next, self-titled, release was alot more laid back, falling into the stoner rock/metal category. It has an over-exposed, heavy feed-back feel. And although I do like this one more then Translational Speedway League, it doesn't compare to what Clutch would become. I like "Big News I" and "Big News II", especially back to back, where their similarities and differences can be easily discernible. "Texan Book of the Dead" is a great song, and the chorus makes me laugh every time; it uses the tag lines from children's' songs, like "BINGO" and "Nick-Nack-Paddy-Wack."

1. "Big News I" – 5:13
2. "Big News II" – 2:23
3. "Rock n' Roll Outlaw" – 2:59
4. "Texan Book of the Dead" – 2:57
5. "Escape from the Prison Planet" – 4:53
6. "Spacegrass" – 6:33
7. "I Have the Body of John Wilkes Booth" – 4:27
8. "Tight Like That" – 4:49
9. "Animal Farm" – 2:01
10. "Droid" – 4:43
11. "The House That Peterbilt" – 3:32
12. "7 Jam" – 6:18
13. "Tim Sult vs. The Greys" – 4:11

The Elephant Riders
The Elephant Riders continues on the stoner feel from their self-titled album, but also Incorporated the more whimsical sound and lyrics that would become prevalent in later releases. It still has the lead singer shouting more than singing, but also starts integrating heavy bass lines and groove rhythms. "The Elephant Riders," "Eight Times Miss October," and "The Dragonfly" all have the same feel and sound to them, making it easy to tell they are off the same album. "Ship of Gold" I like alot because of the off-beat of the drums, with the hi-hat(the cymbal sound) constantly in the background. "Green Buckets" is a song that seems quite different from the rest of the album; it's a song in three parts. Part 1: A song about a man who is tired of being alone in his house, and his hunt for a wife for the winter. Part 2: The man's disbelief at the concept of recycling (hence the name (green recycling buckets)). Part 3: The man finds a woman and tries to convince her to move in, by showing that he has alot of food and beer and how he can make anything she needs, they won't have to leave the house for a full year. Very odd to say the least.

1. "The Elephant Riders" – 3:50
2. "Ship Of Gold" – 4:22
3. "Eight Times Over Miss October" – 4:21
4. "The Soapmakers" – 2:57
5. "The Yeti" – 4:59
6. "Muchas Veces" – 5:44
7. "Green Buckets" – 3:52
8. "Wishbone" – 3:43
9. "Crackerjack" – 5:10
10. "The Dragonfly" – 10:16 *Contains a Hidden Track*

Jam Room
Jam Room was a limited-release album, produced off the band's own label. This was between major label releases, and it shows it. The album has a grittier sound then Clutch or The Elephant Riders. While recording-wise it sounds closer to Translational Speedway League, the songs themselves, in music and vocal sense, were closer to The Elephant Riders. I was fairly disapointed with this album. The only stand-outs are "Release The Kracken" (which sounds close to "Open Up The Border" off of the next album, Pure Rock Fury), and "Sink 'Em Low" (which was later re-recorded with different lyrics as "Sinkemlow" on the Pure Rock Fury Album as well). "One Eyed Dollar" was also re-recorded for From Beale Street to Oblivion.

1. "Who Wants to Rock?" – 1:24
2. "Big Fat Pig" – 4:53
3. "Going to Market" – 2:00
4. "One Eye Dollar" – 1:13
5. "Raised By Horses" – 3:20
6. "Bertha's Big Back Yard" – 0:26
7. "Gnome Enthusiast" – 3:14
8. "Swamp Boat Upside Down" – 3:24
9. "Basket of Eggs" – 4:58
10. "Release the Kraken" – 3:35
11. "The Drifter" – 4:29
12. "I Send Pictures" – 3:35
13. "Sink 'Em Low" – 3:56
14. "Super Duper" – 2:58
15. "Release the Dub" – 3:44

Albums Listened To In February

So the shortest month is now over, and I have almost the most music played this month (if not the most)! I'm not really sure how this has happened, but I think it's because of all the classic albums I listened to. I have those entire albums on my iPod, so I could travel and play.

The best album of this month is definitely Wizard with Thor. I liked the heavy power metal feel (well they are power metal, so that's to be expected) with their themes. I have a couple more of their albums, and I will need to listen to them in March.
Runner up, I loved Hindu Love Gods's only album. A bunch of old blues covers done in a more modern theme. A great showing of Warren Zevon and friends.

The worst by far: Empylver - Wood Woud Would. This album was horrible. I had really high hopes too. As of late I've been listening to alot of folk music, and Empylver is folk metal from China, a first for my collection. I was expecting all sorts of Chinese themes and instruments, but I was let down. Instead it sounded like a industrial band who tried mixing folk themes into their music. The music was boring, the singing (what little of it there was) was more muttered over then anything else. I would say to stay away from this band.
Runner up is Meshuggah with obZen. Not necessarily because the album was bad, but because it's not my style and I couldn't get into it. (see more here).
Another close one was Doomy Ballads by Big Boss. Again, not for any real reason, except that it was boring. There was only one up-beat song on the album, which should have been apparent from the title, but I like doom metal, and to me this was a poor showing.

As a side note, I noticed half way through the month that the albums I was listening to were falling very nicely into the Alphabet. By February 15th I had 18 of the 26 letters covered. So I decided to go the entire way with it. If you look you'll see that from 'A' to 'Z' every letter has an artist. Mostly this was by accident but a few artists I had to struggle with. The Xandria album I had to get just to make it work, I have no other 'X's' in my library. And I'll probably never listen to it again, but I needed it.

1. 16 - Bridges To Burn - Newly Listened!
2. 3 Doors Down - 3 Doors Down - Newly Listened!
3. Abstrakt Algebra - Dactylis Glomerata: Abstrakt Algebra - Newly Listened!
4. AC/DC - Back In Black
5. Alestorm - Captain Morgan's Revenge
6. Alestorm - Leviathan (EP) - Newly Listened!
7. The Answer - Everyday Demons - Newly Listened!
8. The Bakerton Group - El Rojo - Newly Listened!
9. Baroness - The Red Album
10. Big Boss - Doomy Ballads - Newly Listened!
11. The Blues Brothers - The Blues Brothers Soundtrack
12. Boston - Boston
13. Bruce Springsteen - Working On A Dream - Newly Listened!
14. Crooked X - Crooked X - Newly Listened!
15. Deep Purple - Purpendicular - Newly Listened!
16. Empyrean - EP
    
17. Empylver - Wood Woud Would - Newly Listened!
18. Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand - Newly Listened!
19. George Thorogood & The Destroyers - Haircut - Newly Listened!
20. Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion II
    
21. HammerFall - Masterpieces - Newly Listened!
22. Hindu Love Gods - Hindu Love Gods - Newly Listened!
23. Holy Dio - A Tribute To The Voice of Metal: Ronnie James Dio (2 Discs) - Newly Listened!
24. Holy Martyr - Still At War - Newly Listened!
25. Iron Man - Submission (EP) - Newly Listened!
26. Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways - Newly Listened!
27. Kamelot - The Black Halo
    
28. KoЯn - Untouchables
    
29. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
30. Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell
31. Meshuggah - obZen - Newly Listened!
32. Nativity In Black I: A Tribute To Black Sabbath
33. Nativity In Black II: A Tribute To Black Sabbath
34. Orange Sky - Dat Iz Voodoo - Newly Listened!
35. Pink Floyd - The Wall (2 Disks)
36. Queen -A Day At The Races - Newly Listened!
37. Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime
38. Rebellion - Miklagard - The History Of The Vikings Vol. 2
    
39. Rebellion - Sagas Of Iceland - The History Of The Vikings Vol. I
    
40. Reel Big Fish & Zolof The Rock & Roll Destroyer - Duet All Night Long
    
41. Reel Big Fish - Turn The Radio Off
    
42. Regina Spektor - Soviet Kitsch - Newly Listened!
43. Rodney Carrington - Live: C'mon Laugh You Bastards
44. Stone Gods - Silver Spoons & Broken Bones
45. Styx - The Grand Illusion
46. The Tossers - On A Fine Spring Evening - Newly Listened!
47. Transatlantic - Bridge Across Forever - Newly Listened!
48. UFO - Lights Out - Newly Listened!
49. Van Canto - Hero - Newly Listened!
50. Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy - Newly Listened!
51. We're A Happy Family: A Tribute To Ramones
52. Wizard - Thor - Newly Listened!
53. Xandria - India - Newly Listened!
54. Yes - 90125 - Newly Listened!
55. Zimmer's Hole - When You Were Shouting At The Devil...We Were In League With Satan