#10. Spider - Spider

An album you've never heard of by a band you've never heard of. The only things they are known for these days is having future David Letterman (and current Joe Bonamassa) drummer Anton Fig, and future *very* successful songwriter Holly Knight as members. But I liked them a lot. I liked them so much that I wrote them a fan letter. And they replied with an autographed photo! Years later I would exchange emails with Fig, Knight, and the lead singer, Amanda. Spider was my pet band.

#9. The Moody Blues - Nights In White Satin

This is one of those stories where a kid is secretly listening to a transistor radio under the covers of his bed late at night when he's supposed to be sleeping. He's listening to a far-away radio station and hears this song. It's rock but...not, and it blows his mind because his musical universe just expanded a lot. If you put a gun to my head and demanded that I pick a favorite song, it would be this one.

#8. Metallica - Metallica

Heavy metal peaked as a thing around the Summer 1991 release of this album. It was so good to be a headbanger, though it would all fall apart just a few years later.🤘

#7. Ennio Morricone - Bluebeard Soundtrack

If you have heard of Ennio Morricone at all, it is because of his music for "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly". That was me in 1982 when I caught this old movie on TV. It had an odd but interesting soundtrack. I saw the composer's name during the credits and made a mental note to pick up that album. Turns out that soundtracks of weird European B-movies by Italian composers weren't easy to find in those pre-Internet college days. I did eventually find it...a year or two later...in L.A. That was the gateway album which led to more Morricone albums. Much more. A few hundred, actually.

#6. King Crimson - In The Court of the Crimson King

Regarding the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey", John Lennon was quoted as saying that the film should be shown in a temple 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That is how I feel about this album.

Or, as a reviewer on Amazon wrote back in 1998: "This is, as a matter of fact, not opinion, the single greatest musical achievement ever produced for the priviledged men and women of this planet whom can hear audible noise. BUY IT, IT WILL CHANGE YOUR PITIFUL LIFE AS YOU DARE NOT IMAGINE."

#5. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody - Wayne's World Soundtrack

Wait, what? Frankly, I don't even own this album. What gives?

When you're living in history, you usually don't realize it until it's far away in your rear-view mirror. Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a case in point. I grew up with it so it was always around and one just took it for granted. As it and Queen faded from view, Wayne, Garth and their buddies' headbanging scene somehow gave it the proper perspective and made me realize that, yeah, it really is a fantastic song and that it might be the best single ever.

#4. Edwin Starr - War

Besides being one of the best vocal performances ever recorded and containing one of my favorite lines ("Induction, then destruction. Who wants to die?"), when the US launched its bullshit invasion of Iraq in 2003, I listened *only* to this song for a solid week.

#3. Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive!

My first rock album, received as a Christmas present. There is no better live album.

#2. Van Halen - Van Halen

Not many times where things really change. This is one I got to experience. There was rock guitar before the first Van Halen album. Then there was rock guitar afterwards.

#1. Kiss - Calling Dr. Love

This post and the nine that follow came out of one of those Facebook challenges during the COVID-19 downtime. The original challenge was to post the covers of 10 albums that were "influential" to you. I didn't care for that so I made a few adjustments...

Okay, I'll finally bite...but my way (because I'm a terrible person). 10 recordings (albums or singles) that were pretty important to me, posted whenever I need a break from coding, with comments.

This single unlocked something in my brain and I fully embraced heavy metal (yes, we called it that even back in the 70s, kids) the instant I heard it on the radio for the first time. Seriously.

Disturbed - Ten Thousand Fists

To me, the third album by Disturbed was going to be a make-or-break moment. It was either going to be great album, signalling that they were to be around for a while, or it was going to be a mediocre, repetetive affair highlighted by singer Dave Draiman leaning on his bag of monkey vocal tricks like a crutch. I don't mind telling you that I was giving even money on both outcomes. I am happy to report, though, that Ten Thousand Fists is a mighty fine album. Bookended by my favorite tracks, Ten Thousand Fists and Avarice, (so nice to not end an album with filler), the band proves that they are here to stay. Draiman does such a great job that I daresay he is turning out to be one of the finest voices in heavy metal, nicely filling the void that James Hetfield left when Metallica went all sucko on us. Disturbed even do a rocking, albeit straightforward, cover of the Genesis song Land of Confusion (of course, the original rocked, too).

Antimatter - Planetary Confinement

If ever an album cover matched the material inside, this is the one. Gray skies and barbed wire. That's the new Antimatter album in a nutshell. It's called Planetary Confinement and while I would hesitate to call it rock, just calling it music seems inadequate. Gray skies and barbed wire is much more descriptive. My introduction to Antimatter came a couple of years ago when they released an album, Unreleased 1998 - 2003, only on the internet and for free. It was hard to get a handle on the album at first. Finally I just had to stop and let the music sink in. Spare to the point of lonely, it is what it is. Now that Autumn is just around the corner and the top is on the convertible, my thoughts turn to quieter music that I am once again able to hear in my car. This is a good start. Check out Legions.

Heavy Bones

A few months ago on VH1 Classic's "Metal Mania" show, I saw a video I had never seen before by a band I had never heard of before. I'm watching it and it's all one long shot--no cuts. That was interesting and then I saw that the drummer kinda looked like Frankie Banali (Quiet Riot, W.A.S.P.) but it couldn't be him, could it? Turns out that it was him and on guitar was Gary Hoey. What the heck is going on? How did I miss these guys? Well, those two musicians and two other fellows did get together and formed a band called Heavy Bones. The album they released is pretty good. Some really good cuts and some filler--definitely a product of its time. So why had I not heard of them? Because the album came out in 1992 and these guys were not wearing flannel. They weren't a hair band but traditional hard rock quickly went out of fashion in '92 and Heavy Bones was one of the casualties. Again, this isn't some great masterwork but it's a good hard rock album from the era that you might not have heard of before. Unfortunately, it's a bit of a rarity so it can get pretty pricey at both Amazon and eBay. Here are a couple of tracks to check out. 4:AM T.M. was the video I saw. The Light of Day is my other favorite track.

Mediæval Bæbes - Mirabilis

The Mediæval Bæbes are back with their special style of Mediæval period-influenced music. Their new album, Mirabilis, is my favorite of the five I have. I've gone back to the other four to try and figure out why. I thought maybe it is because the vocals are more upfront and less atmospheric. Problem with that is my favorite song on the album, Lhiannan Shee, is as atmospheric as you can get. Maybe it is just the newness. Whatever the reason, it is good stuff. If your ears are looking for a rest from all that rocking out, and your brain would like to lose itself some lush and very feminine sounds, the Bæbes have what you are looking for. Check out Trovommi Amor.

Krumble - thirteen

In my last CD Baby order the bonus disc was Thirteen, the 2001 debut by Cleveland band Krumble. These bonus discs, as you might imagine, tend to suck but I always give them a listen because you just never know. Turns out it's pretty good stuff. Rocking sound with an edge. Solid female singer. A good first effort from a local band. I wanted to find out more about them so I went to CD Baby to read the album's page. No band listed there by that name. Huh? I tried a few variations but nothing came up. Odd. I did the Google thing and came up with their site. Turns out the lead singer on that album, one Theresa Carroll, has been replaced but you can click to listen to a couple of tracks with their new lead singer. Problem is, the link is broken. Search on Theresa Carroll--nothing. The band does have thirteen for sale on their site, so it appears that that is the only game in town. Problem is, I go to write this tonight and the band's site is pretty much gone now, replaced by a The future home of Krumble page. So here's this local band with some potential and, for whatever reasons, just disintegrates. I don't get to hear them get better. I don't get to hear their lead singer develop. Even CD Baby doesn't carry their album anymore and they carry anybody's album. For some reason it just struck me as sad, that's all. Take a listen to Vow and Awful Truth to hear what you missed.

UPDATE 2020: Theresa Carroll was also in a band called Spider Lilies around the time she was in Krumble. They reunited a few years ago and have an album called Everything on iTunes.

Avenged Sevenfold - City of Evil

There's been a lot of hype and noise surrounding City of Evil, the latest released by Huntington Beach's Avenged Sevenfold. "The most anticipated release of the year" or some such nonsense reads the sticker on the CD. "Sellout" and "I'll never forgive them for stealing Overkill's bat!" (which they did) reads postings on the message boards of heavy metal sites. I picked the album up and...it's okay. Nothing revolutionary. It doesn't suck. It's okay. This album is a slicker affair then their previous two albums, Waking the Fallen and Sounding the Seventh Trumpet, but I really question whether moving from screaming to singing is selling out or whether it is trying to stand out from the crowd. Have you seen Headbangers' Ball lately? Hardcore, death metal, and Pantera/Machine Head wanna-be's are wall-to-wall. How do you stand out from that? By sounding like every other band on the Ball or do you swing the pendulum the other way and try singing for a change? These are things I think about while fast-forwarding my DVR through most of HBB. Back to Avenged Sevenfold, the vocals, at times, reminded me of somebody but it took a while to figure out who: a less raspy John Bush (Anthrax, Armored Saint). Not always but on cuts like Blinded in Chains he sure does. City of Evil is a heavy, interesting album that you should check out and not just blow off based on what you've read on the boards. Check out Bat Country.

AFI - Sing the Sorrow

I saw a video on Headbangers' Ball that really caught my eye. It was for AFI's song The Leaving Song Pt. II. Very interestng video--keeps you off balance. So I do some digging on the band and get their latest CD, Sing the Sorrow. First off, this was released in 2003 and yeah, yeah, yeah, this isn't exactly a cutting edge article. So sue me :-). This album is quite a departure from AFI's previous albums, which were definitely punk. That's a drag for their old fans (with the expected cries of "Sellout!") but to my ears this sound better suits AFI. Their punk sound was more Offspring than hardcore, and I don't much care for The Offspring (not enough edge). This new sound is edgy enough for rock and with the punk influence still there, it's a fresh sound. Also check out Miseria Cantare - The Beginning and I promise that the next time I write about AFI, it will be more timely.

Candlemass - Candlemass

I was able to see doom metal pioneers Candlemass on their last tour of the U.S. back in 1991. Good stuff. The band broke up after that tour. Well, technically, singer Messiah Marcolin left the band which, for me, means the band broke up. Then, a few years ago, Messiah re-joined the band for a reunion tour. Things looked good for a new album, some demos were cut...and then the band broke up...only to get back together several months later. What did all that turmoil produce? How about the best album of their career, the self-titled Candlemass. Messiah's voice, for the unwashed, is this quasi-operatic force of nature. The first time I heard it I didn't know what to think but I was definitely drawn to it (I actually went back to the CD store to sample Ancient Dreams several times before I finally bought it). Now that you have been forewarned, the new album is filled with the band's trademark doomy sound but it is even heavier than before. If you are a fan, don't worry, just get the new album. If you are curious about the band, this is a great place to start. Check out Black Dwarf and Witches.

Life of Agony - Broken Valley

When New York's Life of Agony released their debut album, River Runs Red, back in 1993, it was really something. Not quite hardcore, not quite thrash, but definitely heavy and dark, it was a unique sound at an interesting time. Both Metallica and Nirvana were peaking, in one way or another, and this album flew in the face of all that. When the follow-up, 1995's Ugly, came out, it was...unexpected. LoA had made a 90-degree turn with their sound but the results were mixed. Despite what some may say, heavy metal can be a progressive genre (Black Sabbath, anyone?). However, this was a bit of a disjointed mess. Their audience was confused and after one more album, Life of Agony was no more. A few years ago they decided to give it a go again and the result is Broken Valley, which is what Ugly should have been ten years before. The new album is still a big departure from River Runs Red but it's a more natural progression than a forced one. Album opener, and single, Love to Let You Down (video here) is plenty heavy but in a different way than the past. Progress, even in heavy metal, is a good and welcome thing (however, bad is not progress, it's just bad). Broken Valley is a great return for LoA. Check out Justified for more.

The Capes - Taste

Riding the wave of the current British pop revival, we have The Capes from South London. Their American debut is a mini-LP called Taste. Full of catchy songs that remind me of The Kinks at times, though I have to admit that the upbeat songs are much better than the slower ones. Check out Galaxy Fraulein and Regional Heats.