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1983: Dio - Holy Diver

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  I love this album.  This little muthafucka Dio had the perfect mix of unbelievable vocal chops and grit and a flare for being dramatic.  Holy Diver was my first real introduction to Ronnie James Dio.  I went on to check out his Sabbath and Rainbow stuff and it was good. The songs are thumpin'.  The rhythm section of Vinnie Appice and Jimmy Bain is tight and slammin'.  I love Vivian Campbell's guitar playing.  He is one of my favorite shredders from the 80's based on this album alone! Some song highlights: Stand Up and Shout - A great rocker out of the gate, yeah, let's go! Holy Diver - You may have heard it, a great slow chugging riff, great for slaying dragons! Don't talk to Strangers - Neato, dynamic song, shredalicious lead guitar! Straight Through the Heart - One of the best head bobbing songs ever, try not to move some part of your body to this one, I am so glad I listened to this again after many years! Invisible - Ballsy and these guys ju...
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1980: Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables

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I love this album, really fast, frenetic vocals, fuckin' Jello Biafra!  Everything is better with JELLO!  If you wanna hear another great album with Jello, he did the Never Breathe What You can't See album with The Melvins in 2004, phenomenal!   Every song on Fresh Fruit jumps right into it, bam-blam!  There are a lot of dynamics.  It is punk at it's best but there is a sophistication to the arrangements.  I love the jangly guitars and the dissonant chords. Lots of bands have been influenced by 'em and covered songs from this release.  Hi/Jack does a bang-up cover of California uber alles.  Drug Me reminds me a lot of System of the Down.  I would be happy if The Night Howls covered any of the songs on Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables.  People are probably most familiar with Holiday in Cambodia. Thanks Dead Kennedys!
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1979 : Led Zeppelin - In Through the Out Door

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  It's the last album from the legendary Led Zeppelin, In Through the Out Door (other than Coda, released in 1982, which was a collection of outtakes and unused tracks...I really dug Coda!) In Through the Out Door is a great album!  John Paul Jones was the star of this album, showing his keyboard, bass and writing chops big time.  To be as big as Led Zeppelin, every member has to be great.  I think bass players often don't get the respect they deserve.  Michael Anthony from Van Halen is another example.  You have to be a solid bass player to be in a band like Van Halen with all them licks and solos.  You have to know how to sit right in the mix and Michael was a HUGE part of the background vocals.  He hit the high parts, kind of like Roger Taylor of Queen.  Back to John Paul Jones, Great!  Who would have thought he'd be playing with Them Crooked Vultures 30 years later! In Through the Out Door , the tracks: In the Evening : Starts with...
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1978: Van Halen - Van Halen

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  The first album from Van Halen, just wow!  This is one of those albums that makes me wish I was born 7-10 years earlier so that I could have experienced it when people were hearing it for the first time!  I think it would blow my mind!  Even the cover, I would say, "Whoa, these guys look cool!" followed by a Butthead type laugh!  They had the rock chops along with so much groove, bounce and swagger!  Eddie was able to tame a very saturated guitar tone with great muting of string noise and techniques that would change electric guitar forever!  Michael Anthony's bass playing complimented the guitar nicely.  David Lee Roth had the perfect charisma for this band.  Let's go through the tracks... Runnin' With the Devil : Starts out with that bass thump and the song pulls you in to the album to come.  It is a solid opener.  Eruption : Starts with a killer drum fill and goes into one of the most famous guitar solos ever.  You got tha...
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1977: Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols

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Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols , it's just a kick-ass rock 'n roll album!  It's got lots of attitude, big power chords and Chuck Berry inspired riffing.  The songs are catchy and John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) has a snarly vocal that has influenced many a punk and non-punk since.  Many of the songs on Bollocks have been covered by other bands over and over, songs like Holidays in the Sun, God Save the Queen, and especially Anarchy in the U.K. The Sex Pistols only toured the US once on a short 2 week tour of the deep south in 1978.  It was a crazy tour that Noel E. Monk managed.  Noel went on to manage Van Halen from 1978 to 1985.  This a spoiler alert for a future blog... Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols was important in shaking up the mid-seventies music scene.  I think it was a similar shake up to the "grunge movement" of the early 90's, more on that later.  Some of my favorite music ever came out of the...
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1976: Aerosmith - Rocks

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  If you read my list of my 30 most influential albums and my blogs so far on loved albums from each year of my life, it should be apparent, more than anything, I like ROCK!  I listen to blues, jazz, bluegrass, ect...sometimes but the ROCK is what moves and inspires me and elicits catharsis.  Rocks is my favorite Aerosmith album and as the name implies, it just rocks! Rocks starts out with Back in the Saddle which is very cool, Steven Tyler's high vocals at the end, insane!  Last Child is very groovy.  Rats in the Cellar, a good, fast rocker.  I always loved the heaviness of Nobody's Fault, big drums!  Get a Lead Out, a cool melody.  Lick and a Promise, another rocker! I haven't listened to Aerosmith in years but they are one solid-ass rock n' roll band!  They have a great attention for detail which pushes songs over the top.  I forget sometimes how great a vocalist Steven Tyler is.  People think about Robert Plant for those high 70...
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1975: Nazareth - Hair of the Dog

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  Hair of the Dog is the 6th album from the Scottish band Nazareth.  It's a good listen.  Stylistically, they fit in with bands like Aerosmith, Bad Company and AC/DC.  Vocalist Dan McCafferty has a gritty, high pitched approach reminiscent of AC/DC's Brian Johnson.  Let's go through the tracks: Hair of the Dog : So iconic, non-stop cowbell, talkbox solo, "Now you're messin' with a son of a bitch!"  My band The Night Howls covered it our very first show as a 2-piece.  See link: https://youtu.be/CMHZYL_vk8g Miss Missery : A nice mid-tempo rocker, tempo speeds up at the end Love Hurts : An Everly Brothers cover, a ballad with some tude, love it! Changin' Times : Influenced by Black Dog by Led Zeppelin, a head-bobber, nice mood change for solo section during last part of song. Beggars Day : Good rock, some synth at the end. Whiskey Drinkin' Woman : Lamenting about being in a relationship with a hard drinkin' lady, nice lead guitar Please Don't...
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