It’s been a fantastic year thus far for Hard Rock album releases. No, make that super fantastic. The obvious trend I’ve seen with all these incredible Hard Rock albums of 2011 is: A majority of these albums are from seasoned or old school bands. There have been many comeback albums released so far this year that absolutely ROCK… hello King Kobra, The Cars, Warrant, Mr. Big and Nelson, to name a few.
Many of these bands can easily be tagged as 80’s Heavy Metal, Hair Metal, Glam Metal, Classic Rock or Arena Rock and I’m down with that. Deciding which Rock genre a band nestles into comfortably is not difficult. Heck, it’s not like figuring out calculus or some insane Food Network recipe. Many bands are often placed into multiple genres anyways. Metal be thy name.
Realistically, I cannot possibly listen to every Hard Rock album that’s been released at this point in the year, therefore this list of MUST OWN albums for this Summer of 2011 may not correspond with your favorites in parts or in whole. As we approach the midway point of 2011, these are the Hard Rock albums that have ROCKED my brains out! In my Metal opinion, these are five albums worth your hard earned money to buy and crank up LOUD during this coming Summer of 2011… and beyond.
* Metal Odyssey Note: This list is in no particular order and it is Part I of a series. All of the albums chosen are 2011 releases. You have to wait for the “Metal Odyssey Best Of 2011” lists that come out around Christmas/New Years for a definitive list. Be patient, that time will come quicker than we all know!
KING KOBRA – Yes, King Kobra is back. Why? Well, cause Carmine Appice says so. Plus, this self-titled comeback album from King Kobra ROCKS like every day is F’n Friday. Metal be thy name, Carmine should have given this album a title after all… and named it Feel Good. Carmine assembled the original King Kobra lineup once again for this 2011 edition… only the lead singer is the exception. Paul Shortino (Rough Cutt & Quiet Riot) has taken over the vocal lead now. Why? Well, cause Carmine asked him to that’s why. Plus, as a bonus, Paul can sing pretty damn good. (King Kobra was released on Frontiers Records).
WARRANT – No, no, no. And no again. This is NOT the Warrant you remember from 1989, 1990 or even 2006. Nope. This Warrant can kick any of those Warrant’s asses. Why you ask? Cause this Rockaholic album (Frontiers Records) kicked my ass into next wednesday. Except at lead vocals, an “original” Warrant lineup is in place on Rockaholic. This third vocalist for Warrant has turned out to be their BEST, in my crazed Metal opinion. Robert Mason (Lynch Mob) and a “less cheese is more” approach has made this Warrant album smoke, from start to finish. (Rockaholic was released on Frontiers Records).
JOURNEY – Somewhere along the line, someone told Neal Schon to make a Journey album that would psyche-out Stone over at Metal Odyssey to the point of ridiculous Hard Rockin’ ecstasy. Neal and his band did just that… and it’s titled Eclipse. Thank you Neal. By the way… this new Journey album, excuse me, I mean CD, is a Walmart exclusive. It’s o.k. to go to Walmart and buy this new Journey CD. For Metal sakes, Walmart is not going to bite you in the ass and give you an infection if you go there to buy Eclipse.
FAITHSEDGE – For those of you who recognizes this Faithsedge album cover from being at the top of this post, well done. This Southern California Hard Rock band not only released their self-titled debut this year, they’ve also made one of the BEST Hard Rockin’ albums I’ve heard all year. Melodic, contagious and simply 100% memorable is this Faithsedge album. By the way, remember this name: Giancarlo Floridia. Why you query? Cause this Rockin’ dude is more than likely the next Joe Lynn Turner of Hard Rock. (Faithsedge was released on Scarlet Records).
REV THEORY – Whoa. Uh, was Rev Theory beamed up by space aliens, only to arrive at Planet Kick-Ass Hard Rock? I think they were. Cause upon returning to this round ball of 75% water that we call Earth: Rev Theory have released their third studio album Justice, one that thunders along like an out of control micro-cell in the hot, humid, Summer sky. Not one song on Justice can I ignore, this album is that damn consistent with it’s Hard Rockin’ intensity. What you need to do here is: buy Justice, play it LOUD and get psyched-out. After that, you may thank me for a month of Saturdays.
* For more info on the bands and their albums listed above, just click on the very cool links provided below:
www.myspace.com/officialkingkobra
KING KOBRA – Official facebook
www.myspace.com/frontiersrecords
LONG LIVE HARD ROCK.
The word “nestles” was used in this post.
Stone.
When it comes to Rock and Hard Rock Music, I always have put Journey on my listening rotation. I am guilty of not keeping up with the purchases of new CD’s over the years from Journey, “Arrival” is a perfect example of this. After the 1986 album “Raised On Radio”, I never picked up “Trial By Fire”, “Arrival” (until now) or “Generations”. You betcha I did grab a copy of “Revelation”… the Walmart 2 CD/1 DVD version too. It is not as if I totally forgot about Journey, these albums are just victims of the hordes of releases out there I have always wanted to buy… financially it is impossible to buy everything. Man, I am impressed by this Journey album… more than that, I cannot believe it took me this long to land “Arrival” into my music collection. I guess after each listen to “Arrival”, all I can really say to myself is what was I waiting for and thinking? (I should have just bought this album years ago and stop worrying about how much money I spend on music!). I can’t comprehend how this album has not sold over a million copies? What gives? If “Arrival” was fronted by the legendary Steve Perry and released back in the 1980’s, it surely would have been multi platinum… wouldn’t it? Who knows, we shall never know, it is all make believe speculation on my part. All I do know is that “Arrival” is chock full of Rock and Hard Rock songs that are premium quality, in my Metal opinion. The song writing on “Arrival” is so outrageously good, I shake my head and thank the fact Journey is still around Rocking today.
Journey, the Rock icon of a band. Journey “Evolution”, an album that is now referred to as a Classic Rock masterpiece… by me anyways. What else can one say about this incredible Rock album? Quite a bit can actually be said, this album established Journey, solidified them atop the Rock Music world for many, many, years. There could never be another Steve Perry, his vocals alone gave Journey their signature sound. In my opinion, there are lead singers that have vocals so breathtaking, they are the most important musical instrument in their respective band. I had felt this way about Steve Perry, with his years with Journey. Steve Perry’s vocals can never be duplicated, nor will he ever be forgotten by me as the lead singer for Journey. I will always appreciate Journey as the band they are today too. With that said, this is an article where I am celebrating the brilliance of a moment in time, one that can be listened to time and again, that moment was Journey’s “Evolution”, (released in 1979).
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