#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.