Hair Band Friday - 1/31/20

1.  "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" by Def Leppard


2.  "Fits Like a Glove" by KISS


3.  "Life in the Real World" by FireHouse


4.  "2 Late 4 Love" by Tesla


5.  "You're No Different" by Ozzy Osbourne


6.  "When Will It Rain" by Jackyl


7.  "Standing in the Shadows" by Britny Fox


8.  "Sunday Afternoon In the Park" by Van Halen


9.  "China White" by Scorpions


10.  "Rock Me" by Great White

Retro Video of the Week: "California Girls" by David Lee Roth

Tuesday marked the 35th anniversary of the release of David Lee Roth's first recording since parting ways with Van Halen, a covers EP called Crazy From the Heat.  If nothing else, Roth showed that he didn't need the band to be successful, as two of the four songs from the EP hit the Top 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, including his cover of the Beach Boys' classic, "California Girls," which went all the way to #3.  

His cover was pretty faithful, and he even had Beach Boy Carl Wilson on backing vocals (as well as Christopher Cross).  And, of course, the video is expectedly full of T and A, weirdos, ethnic stereotypes, and midgets, as was the style at the time.

Tuesday Top Ten: Favorite "Super" Songs

I meant to post this yesterday, but, well, beer.  With the Super Bowl coming up this Sunday, it is more imperative and imminent than ever that you know my ten favorite songs with the word "super" in the title.  I shall delay no longer.  Here they are, in reverse alphabetical order by song title.

1.  "Superfly" by Curtis Mayfield
Soul legend Curtis Mayfield performed the soundtrack to the 1972 blaxploitation film Super Fly, and the title track was a Top 10 hit in the U.S.  Fun fact:  Mayfield's soundtrack is one of the few soundtracks that outgrossed the movie for which it was made.  That, in itself, is superfly.


2.  "Supernaut" by Black Sabbath
This is an underrated Sabbath gem with a wicked riff that maybe you're not expecting after the high hat intro.  But you should have been expecting it.  It's Black Sabbath, for Christ's sake.  This song is a blistering metal masterpiece that begs the question:  why aspire to be an astronaut when you can be a supernaut?


3.  "Lost in the Supermarket" by The Clash
One of the more poppy selections from the band's 1979 iconic album London Calling, "Lost in the Supermarket" has always confused me, since supermarkets are generally well-organized and set up very intuitively.  That's what makes them supermarkets, as opposed to just regular markets, whose labyrinth aisles and dead ends have suffocated many a man, woman, and child.


4.  "I Ain't Superstitious" by Howlin' Wolf
With one of the greatest voices ever laid down on record, blues legend Howlin' Wolf has one of those "oh shit" moments when he's thinking, Well, actually, I might be superstitious.  But then again, is this a self-fulfilling prophecy?  Like, what if I didn't know that a black cat crossing my trail is supposed to be bad luck?  I sure as shit wouldn't be singing this song.


5.  "Superstar" by The Carpenters
Long one of my all-time guilty pleasure songs, "Superstar" is a just a great fucking song.  That chorus gets me every time.  Say what you will about the tenets of debilitating eating disorders, but they certainly didn't hold back Karen Carpenter on this one.  Then again, this song was released during her "heavy" phase.


6.  "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder
This is an all-time classic with one of the best and most-recognizable funk intros ever.  And I think we all believe in things that we don't understand, like reincarnation or quantum physics or morning wood.


7.  "Super Bowl Shuffle" by The 1985 Chicago Bears
Performed by inarguably the greatest football team in NFL history, the "Super Bowl Shuffle" is so '80s and so great.  I played the part of Mike Richardson in my second grade talent show, and I still remember all of his lines.  The best part is that the team recorded the song almost two months before they demolished the Patriots in Super Bowl XX.  The song was even nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group, but was beating out by Prince's "Kiss" for the award.  And when Sweetness says "we're just doing this to feed the needy," he wasn't lying.  The profits from the song and video -- hundreds of thousands of dollars, mind you -- have been donated over the years to help Chicago families in need.


8.  "Super Soaked" by Be Your Own Pet
Nashville-based punk and garage rockers Be Your Own Pet was one of my favorite bands of the 2000s.  Sadly, they broke up in 2008, but not before providing us with some great music, like "Super Soaked," a breakneck song that I assume was inspired by some pretty intense squirt gun fights.


9.  "Super Bad" by James Brown

"I got soul / And I'm super bad."  That he did and that he was.

10.  "Supersonic" by Oasis
It was a toss-up between this and Oasis's other "super" song, "Champagne Supernova," but I went with "Supersonic" because I like songs that reference gin and tonics that were released when I still drank gin.  Also, I miss the Concorde.


Honorable mention:  "Super Trouper" by ABBA; "Supersoaker" by Kings of Leon; "Superunknown" by Soundgarden; "Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication" by Parliament; "Super-Charger Heaven" by White Zombie; "Superhuman" by Velvet Revolver; "Superfreak" by Rick James; "Champagne Supernova" by Oasis

Hair Band Friday - 1/24/20

1.  "When I Look Into Your Eyes" by FireHouse


2.  "Billy" by Blue Murder


3.  "Tattooed Dancer" by Ozzy Osbourne


4.  "Kickstart My Heart" (demo) by Mötley Crüe


5.  "Runnin' With The Devil" by Van Halen


6.  "Higher and Higher" by Winger


7.  "Nobody's Fool" by Cinderella


8.  "Kiss Me Deadly" by Lita Ford


9.  "Action" by Def Leppard


10.  "Get the Fuck Out" by Skid Row

Retro Video of the Week: "King of Rock" by Run-D.M.C.

Yesterday was the 35th anniversary of the release of rap and hip hop pioneers Run-D.M.C.'s second album, King of Rock.  Produced by legendary hip hop producers Russell Simmons (yes, the Russell Simmons) and Larry Smith, King of Rock was the first rap album that was ever released on CD.  

The group wanted to broaden its musical abilities and broaden its audience, and Smith helped the group live up to the album's name, using his group and session musicians to add drums and guitars to certain songs to give them more of a "rock" feel.  The result was a classic rap album that pushed Run-D.M.C. closer to the brink of superstardom and mainstream success -- which they would achieve with their next album, 1986's Raising Hell.

But let's bring it back to King of Rock.  The album went platinum in the U.S., and it featured several songs that made it into the Top 20 on the Billboard R&B charts:  the title track (#14), "You Talk Too Much" (#19), and "Can You Rock Like This" (#19).  For this week's Retro Video of the Week, I'm picking the title track because, not only is it a great song, but it has a great video featuring loveable Letterman mainstay Calvert DeForest -- better known as Larry "Bud" Melman -- as a security guard at a rock and roll museum who tries to tell Run and D.M.C. that they "don't belong in here," before they prove otherwise.

Tuesday Top Ten: Civil Rights Songs

With yesterday being MLK Day -- and what would have been Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 91st birthday -- I had Civil Rights Era songs on my mind, in particular Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come" and The Impressions' "People Get Ready."  So then I thought I should do a Tuesday Top Ten featuring civil rights songs.  Admittedly, I thought it would be tough, but thankfully Peter Rothberg of The Nation -- for which King served as the civil rights correspondent from 1961 to 1966 -- beat me to the punch, posting his list of "Top 10 Civil Rights Songs" yesterday in hone of Dr. King.  I was glad to see that the two songs I mentioned above were on the list, though I don't know how any list of civil rights songs could leave those out.  My only possible substitution would perhaps be another Bob Dylan song instead of "The Times They Are A-Changin'."  I certainly think that's a great song, but I would probably put one of his songs that's a little more politically charged on the list, like "Only a Pawn in Their Game," "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll," "Oxford Town," or even "Blowin' in the Wind."  But anyway, click on the link above and listen to the songs.  They're all great.  Any, most importantly, be nice to everyone no matter what they look like or where they're from.

Hair Band Friday - 1/17/20

1.  "All Lips 'N' Hips" by Electric Boys


2.  "Uh! All Night" by KISS


3.  "Ballad of Jayne" by L.A. Guns


4.  "Madalaine" by Winger


5.  "Don't Shoot Shotgun" by Def Leppard


6.  "Big Talk" by Warrant"


7.  "Piece of Me" by Skid Row


8.  "Goin' Crazy" by David Lee Roth


9.  "Way Cool, Jr." by Ratt


10.  "Edison's Medicine" by Tesla

New Book: Black Sabbath: Symptom of the Universe by Mick Wall

Shortly after the New Year, finished reading Everything's Eventual:  14 Dark Tales by Stephen King.  As the name implies, this was another collection of King's short stories, written between 1995 and 2001.  It's the third collection of his short stories that I have, with Night Shift and Bazaar of Bad Dreams being the others.  Everything's Eventual wasn't all horror, but also some sci-fi, drama, humor, and suspense (sometimes all wrapped into one).  The stories were all good, although admittedly, I didn't read one of them that was 98 pages because it related to the Dark Towers series, which I haven't read.  However, the other stories were all quite enjoyable.  One of them, 1408, was made into a movie in 2007, starring John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson.  I haven't seen that, but the story was good!

I have since gone my to my old stand-by:  music biographies.  I'm now about a hundred pages into Black Sabbath: Symptom of the Universe by Mick Wall.  I know a middling amount about Black Sabbath -- their Birmingham roots, how Tony Iommi lost the tips of his fingers in an industrial accident, how their eponymous song was conceived, that Dio replaced Ozzy in 1980, among others -- but I have never done a deep dive into their history.  Wall is one of rock's most famous journalists, and for you GNR fans, one of the journalists Axl calls out in "Get In the Ring."  Anyway, so far so good.

Books Read in 2020:
-Everything's Eventual:  14 Dark Tales by Stephen King

Retro Video of the Week: "Nightshift" by The Commodores

Thirty years ago today, The Commodores released Nightshift, their eleventh studio album (and second since Lionel Richie's departure).  It would prove to be the group's last big album, hitting #12 on the Billboard album charts and #1 on the Billboard R&B album charts.

The title track to the album was also a huge hit, reaching #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the Billboard R&B charts, and the Top 10 on the charts in several other countries.  It was the group's first Top 40 hit in the U.S. since "Oh No" hit #4 in 1981, and it ended up being the group's best-charting song since "Still" hit #1 in 1979.  Unfortunately, it was also the group's last Top 40 song in the U.S.

"Nightshift" is a tribute to two giants of soul and R&B who died in 1984:  Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson.  Gaye -- a former label mate of the Commodores at Motown -- was killed the day before his 45th birthday by his own father, who shot Gaye in the chest on April 1, 1984 after Gaye jumped in the middle of a fight between his parents.  Wilson died at 49 of pneumonia on January 21, 1984, after over eight years of incapacitation after he had a massive heart attack on stage in 1975.

Lead vocals are shared by drummer Walter Orange and Richie's replacement, J.D. Nicholas.  The first word of the song -- the echoing "Marvin" -- harkens the "father" with echoes at the beginning of Gaye's 1970 hit "What's Going On," which is itself mentioned later in the song, as are several Wilson songs.  "Nightshift" won the Grammy in 1985 for Best Vocal R&B Performance by a Duo/Group.

Tuesday Top Ten: Favorite Albums of the 2010s by Year

Last week, we took a look at my favorite songs of the 2010s by year, and this week, I'm upping it to my favorite albums of each year of the 2010s.  Again, this is not a "best albums of the 2010s" list.  It's my completely subjective list of my personal favorite albums of the last decade, year by year.  Like last week's list, there is a pretty wide variety of genres, though admittedly (and unsurprisingly), it's dominated by hard rock and metal, but there's plenty of soul, garage rock, pop, blues, glam, bar rock, art rock, indie rock, punk, and many other genres.  Some albums are by well-established and well-known bands and artists, and some are more under the radar or one-off projects.  There are a lot of repeated bands and artists, and a lot of bands and artists for which I only own one album.

By my count, I acquired over 230 albums released between 2010 and 2019.  Whether I bought a CD, a digital album, or a vinyl record (I don't believe I purchased a cassette tape last decade), it's included here, with a couple caveats.  Here are some rules for this list:

• I am only including albums that I own in total, so if I only have a song or a handful of songs from an album, it's not included.
• I am excluding compilations and greatest hits albums, although albums by various artists are included as long as the album was recorded in the 2010s.
• Reissues or albums of previously unreleased material (assuming songs were recorded prior to 2010) are excluded because that just wouldn't be fair.  Otherwise, this would be a list dominated by Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and The Rolling Stones.
• No live albums
• No EPs -- which I define as an album of fewer than seven songs.

Here's how it's gonna go.  For each year, I'm going to list my favorite album and tell you a little bit about it and provide a YouTube video of my favorite song from the album.  Then I'm going to list my remaining nine favorite albums released that year, in order from 2-10 (without any commentary).  Then I'm going to list the remaining albums released that year that I own (in alphabetical order by artist), so that you can see what I excluded.

As you can see, there are a lot more albums on the list in the first half of the decade than in the second half, as I've obviously had more time to accumulate albums from years that are farther away from the present time than years that are more recent.  For the love of Odin, don't hold that against me.  And I have to give a shout-out to The Darkness, who released four fantastic albums this decade, but each one was barely edged out by another album, so they have four #2s on my list.  But they're still the best live band out there not named The Hives!

1.  2010:  J. Roddy Walston & The Business - J. Roddy Walston & The Business

It should come as no shock that one of the bands that I saw in concert most last decade would have an album that would top my list in one of the years.  Baltimore's J. Roddy Walston & The Business's eponymous 2010 album is a rock and roll gem. There's not a bad song on the album, and there are fast-paced, foot-stomping rock songs, sing-along choruses, and excellent ballads.  It was tough to pick a favorite song.

Favorite song:  "I Don't Wanna Hear It"


Other albums in Top 10:
2.  The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang
3.  Slash - Slash
4.  The Black Keys - Brothers
5.  John Legend & The Roots - Wake Up!
6.  Foxy Shazam - Foxy Shazam
7.  Taddy Porter - Taddy Porter
8.  Everybody Was in The French Resistance . . . NOW! - Everybody Was in The French Resistance . . . NOW!
9.  Gary Clark, Jr. - Gary Clark, Jr.
10.  American Bang - American Bang

Remaining albums I own:
22-20s - Shake, Shiver, Moan; Best Coast - Crazy You; Codeine Velvet Club - Codeine Velvet Club; Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards; Fitz & The Tantrums - Pickin' Up the Pieces; Greenhornes - ****; Harlem - Hippies; The Head and The Heart - The Head and The Heart; The Hold Steady - Heaven is Whenever; JEFF The Brotherhood - Heavy Days; The Joy Formidable - A Balloon Called Moaning; Kings of Leon - Come Around Sundown; Living Sisters - Love to Live; Matt Pond PA - The Dark Leaves; The Postelles - The Postelles; Grace Potter & The Nocturnals - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals; Robert Randolph & The Family Band - We Walk This Road; Eli "Paperboy" Reed - Come And Get It; Saint Jude - Diary of a Soul Friend; Weezer - Hurley; The Whigs In the Dark

2.  2011:  Those Darlins - Screws Get Loose

Those Darlins were a quartet, with three females up front and a male drummer.  Taking a cue from The Ramones, all three of the females took on pseudonyms with the last name "Darlin."  If you mixed The Ramones, Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, The Raveonettes, The Andrews Sisters, '60s girl groups, and The Detroit Cobras together, the result might be Those Darlins.  They played good, catchy garage punk, sprinkled with a splash of Nashville and a splash of humor.  Screws Get Loose was their sophomore album, and it's pretty much what I just described.

Favorite song:  "Hives"


Other albums in Top 10:
2.  Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears - Scandalous
3.  Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
4.  The Black Keys - El Camino
5.  Township - One More Summer
6.  Diarrhea Planet - Loose Jewels
7.  Vintage Trouble - The Bomb Shelter Sessions
8.  Rival Sons - Pressure and Time
9.  Admiral of Black - Blood & Fire
10.  JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound - Want More

Remaining albums I own:  The Answer - Revival; Arctic Monkeys - Suck It and See; Art Brut - Brilliant! Tragic!; The Black Lips - Arabia Mountain; Cage the Elephant - Thank You Happy Birthday; Dum Dum Girls - Only in Dreams; JEFF The Brotherhood - We Are The Champions; Manraze - Punkfunkrootsrock; The Sheepdogs - Learn and Burn; The Strokes - Angles; Super Happy Fun Club - Go Fun Yourself; The Vaccines - What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?; Various Artists - A Very Metal Christmas; Various Artists - Son of Rogue's Gallery:  Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys; Wild Flag - Wild Flag

3.  2012:  The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten

As I mentioned last week, The Gaslight Anthem is one of my favorite bands of the last decade, and my favorite song from 2012 -- "'45'" -- is from their Handwritten album, a fantastic album full of great, heartfelt, Jersey rock and roll, blurring the lines of hard rock, bar rock, punk, and power pop.  The songwriting is great, and like Springsteen before them, the band writes and performs songs that have universal themes that we can all relate to -- and that you can bob your head to.  Since I already gave you my favorite song last week, I'm going to go with my second-favorite song from the album.

Favorite song:  "Blue Dahlia"


Other albums in Top 10:
2.  The Darkness - Hot Cakes
3.  Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls
4.  Jack White - Blunderbuss
5.  Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators - Apocalyptic Love
6.  Foxy Shazam - The Church of Rock and Roll
7.  The Hives - Lex Hives
8.  Gary Clark, Jr. - Blak and Blu
9.  Halestorm - The Strange Case Of . . .
10.  Rival Sons - Head Down

Remaining albums I own:  Delta Spirit - Delta Spirit; Craig Finn - Clear Heart Full Eyes; Garbage - Not Your Kind of People; JEFF The Brotherhood - Hypnotic Nights; Mumford & Sons - Babel; Soundgarden - King Animal; The Last Vegas - Bad Decisions; Van Halen - A Different Kind of Truth

4.  2013:  Black Joe Lewis - Electric Slave

Whether crediting his backing Honeybears or not, Black Joe Lewis is a great talent.  If there is such a genre as garage soul -- which I would describe as a combination of garage rock and Memphis soul -- I have to think Lewis is at the forefront.  If that sounds like something you would like -- and it should -- immediately go out and buy all of his records.  Or maybe just download them.  Hell, I don't know what you kids do these days.  Electric Slave is a collection of fuzzed out guitars, horns, wailing vocals, and toe-tapping beats.  Own it.

Favorite song:  "The Hipster"


Other albums in Top 10:
2.  Ghost - Infestissumam
3.  J. Roddy Walston & The Business - Essential Tremors
4.  Scorpion Child - Scorpion Child
5.  Diarrhea Planet - I'm Rich Beyond Your Wildest Dreams
6.  Cage the Elephant - Melophobia
7.  So So Glos - Blowout
8.  Kate Nash - Girl Talk
9.  Various Artists - Sound City:  Real to Reel
10.  Black Star Riders - All Hell Breaks Loose

Remaining albums I own:  The Answer - New Horizon; Arctic Monkeys - AM; Black Sabbath - 13; JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound - Howl; Cream Pie - Unsigned 2.0; Fitz & The Tantrums - More Than Just a Dream; Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action; The Fratellis - We Need Medicine; Iceage - You're Nothing; Kings of Leon - Mechanical Bull; Pearl Jam - Lightning Bolt; The Strokes - Comedown Machine; Those Darlins - Blur the Line; The Virgins - Strike Gently

5.  2014:  The Pretty Reckless - Going to Hell

The Pretty Reckless is a great metal band, fronted by Taylor Momsen, who some people may know better as Cindy Lou Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Jenny Humphrey in Gossip Girl.  Thankfully for metal lovers, she hung up her acting shoes -- and I assume actors have special shoes -- and traded them for black leather and studs.  Going to Hell was the band's sophomore album.  It hit the Top 10 in the US (#5), Canada (#5), and the UK (#8), and it features three songs top the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts:  "Heaven Knows," "Messed Up World" (real title "Fucked Up World"), and "Follow Me Down," making The Pretty Reckless the first female-fronted band to top the Mainstream Rock charts twice, much less thrice.  

Favorite song:  "Going to Hell"


Other albums in Top 10:
2.  Royal Blood - Royal Blood
3.  The Hold Steady - Teeth Dreams
4.  Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways
5.  Black Pistol Fire - Hush or Howl
6.  The Strypes - Snapshot
7.  The Gaslight Anthem - Get Hurt
8.  Benjamin Booker - Benjamin Booker
9.  Twin Peaks - Wild Onion
10.  Jack White - Lazaretto

Remaining albums I own:  AC/DC - Rock or Bust; The Black Keys - Turn Blue; Bleachers - Strange Desire; Cage the Gods - Badlands; Catfish & The Bottlemen - The Balcony; Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else; De La Soul - Smell The DA.I.S.Y.; Neil Diamond - Melody Road; Ace Frehley - Space Invader; Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas - Secret Evil; Kaiser Chiefs - Education, Education, Education & War; The Last Internationale - We Will Reign; Jodee Lewis - Whiskey Halo; Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal; Rival Sons - Great Western Valkyrie; Sleeper Agent - About Last Night; U2 - Songs of Innocence; Weezer - Everything Will Turn Out All Right In The End; Pharrell Williams - G I R L 

6.  2015:  Ghost - Meliora

This was a really tough choice, as you can consider Last of Our Kind by The Darkness a 1a, but Ghost's Meliora slightly edged it out.  Led by a demonic pope character that changes his look with every album and backed by the Nameless Ghouls, Swedish metal band Ghost wear costumes to mask their true identities.  The fact of the matter is that the costumes would seem like more of a gimmick if the music didn't stand up.  But it does.  Meliora is the band's third studio album, and it is full of creepy metal anthems.  Since "Cirice" was my favorite song of 2015 and I already gave you the video last week, I'm picking "From the Pinnacle to the Pit," which is a driving metal song that starts off with a crunchy bass intro and then explodes into melancholy.

Favorite song:  "From the Pinnacle to the Pit"


Other albums in Top 10:
2.  The Darkness - Last of Our Kind
3.  Leon Bridges - Coming Home
4.  Bully - Feels Like
5.  Cage the Elephant - Tell Me I'm Pretty
6.  Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats - Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
7.  JEFF the Brotherhood - Wasted on the Dream
8.  Low Cut Connie - Hi Honey
9.  Iron Maiden - Book of Souls
10.  Palma Violets - Danger in the Club

Remaining albums I own:  The Answer - Raise a Little Hell; The Arcs - Yours, Dreamily; Blackfoot Gypsies - Handle It; Def Leppard - Def Leppard; Eagles of Death Metal - Zipper Down; Elle King - Love Stuff; Gary Clark, Jr. - The Story of Sonny Boy Slim; Colleen Green - I Want to Grow Up; Judith Hill - Back In Time; The Sonics - This is The Sonics; Vintage Trouble - 1 Hopeful Rd.; York Album Project - We Are The Music

7.  2016:  The Struts - Everybody Wants

The Struts kind of burst onto the scene in 2016 and were ready to bring arena rock back to the world.  Their 2016 debut album, Everybody Wants, is a fun, top-to-bottom rock masterpiece, with elements of glam, the Stones, and Queen, all the while sounding original.  As you learned last week, "Put Your Money On Me" is my favorite song of 2016, so I'll give you "The Ol' Switcheroo," a catchy little ditty about wanting to swap girlfriends with your best friend, for a night anyway.  Also, if they come to your city, do yourself a favor and see their live show.

Favorite song: "The Ol' Switcheroo"


Other albums in Top 10:
2.  Metallica - Hardwired. . . To Self Destruct
3.  The York Album Project - This Is Amateur
4.  Diarrhea Planet - Turn To Gold
5.  The Pretty Reckless - Who You Selling For
6.  So So Glos - Kamikaze
7.  The Amorettes - White Hot Heat
8.  Wolfmother - Victorious
9.  Scorpion Child - Acid Roulette
10.  The Regrettes - Feel Your Feelings Fool!

Remaining albums I own:  The Answer - Solas; BadBadNotGood - IV; Cheap Trick - Bang Zoom Crazy Hello;The Last Shadow Puppets - Everything You've Come to Expect; The Rolling Stones - Blue & Lonesome; Weezer - Weezer (The White Album) Rob Zombie - The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Collaboration Dispenser

8.  2017 - From the Fires by Greta Van Fleet

Don't try to tell me I shouldn't like Greta Van Fleet because they sound like Led Zeppelin.  Everyone has their influences, and some bands wear their influence on their sleeves (or leather vests, as it were) more than others.  Plus, maybe the world needs more bands -- certainly ones comprised of four teenagers from Frankenmuth, Michigan -- that are influenced by Led Zeppelin.  From the Fires is classified by some as an EP, but it has eight songs, so fuck that.  Plus, it won the Grammy for Best Rock Album, so there.

Favorite song:  "Safari Song"


Other albums in Top 10:
2.  The Darkness - Pinewood Smile
3.  Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Backlash
4.  J. Roddy Walston & The Business - Destroyers of the Soft Life
5.  Black Pistol Fire - Deadbeat Graffiti
6.  Royal Blood - How Did We Get So Dark?
7.  Ron Gallo - Heavy Meta
8.  Japandroids - Near To The Wild Heart of Life
9.  Foo Fighters - Concrete and Gold
10.  Cheap Trick - Christmas Christmas

Remaining albums I own:  Craig Finn - We All Want the Same Things; Robert - Plant Carry Fire; Tennis - Yours Conditionally

9.  2018:  Ghost - Prequelle

Yes, this is a second Ghost album on the list, and yes, it deserves to be here.

Favorite song:  "Dance Macabre"


Other albums in Top 10:
2.  The Struts - Young & Dangerous
3.  Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - The Difference Between Me & You
4.  Razorlight - Olympus Sleeping
5.  Andrew W.K. - You Are Not Alone
6.  Art Brut - Wham! Bang! Pow! Let's Rock Out!
7.  Greta Van Fleet - Anthem of the Peaceful Army
8.  Jack White - Boarding House Reach
9.  The Vaccines - Combat Sports
10.  York Album Project - York Album Project 2018

10.  2019:  The Hold Steady - Thrashing Thru the Passion

I love The Hold Steady and have seen them live more than any other band or artist.  They released Thrashing Thru the Passion, their seventh studio album earlier this year, and it is everything I love about the band.  Great songs with great stories, and the kind of music you wish was on every bar jukebox.

Favorite song:  "Denver Haircut"


Other albums in Top 10:
2.  The Darkness - Easter is Cancelled
3.  The Black Keys - Let's Rock
4.  The Raconteurs - Help Us Stranger
5.  Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars