October has been great month for album releases. The albums from The Answer, Burning Rain and The Quill to name a few. It also saw a number of great debut releases. A few that blew me away were releases by The Winery Dogs, the band featuring Richie Kotzen, Billy Sheehan and Mike Portnoy. The Black Marbles from Sweden and Jim Wilson formerly of Mother Superior/Rollins Band and Pain Savior featuring Tracy G. formerly of WW III/Dio.
These are my Top 10 listens for this month. Some new stuff along with a few classics that sound better today than when they were originally released. So here they are....
1. Thunder & Lighting by Thin Lizzy
- Any album by Thin Lizzy is a great. Thunder & Lighting' was the band's heaviest release. It also introduced John Sykes to the band. The title track, "Cold Sweat", "Bad Habits", " Someday She's Gonna Hit Back" and the powerful, "The Sun Goes Down", this album simply ROCKS!
2. Made In Concrete by The Black Marbles
- The Black Marbles serves up a heavy dose of rock and roll swagger that is guaranteed to rock and roll your soul for days. The Black Marbles embody everything that Rock And Roll stands for: loud guitars, thumping bass lines, kicking drums and swagger! A throwback sound that brings the blues/soul/rock style all together and ties it up in a nice bow. If your into band's like Grand Funk Railroad, Free and The Faces you are going love this band.
3. New Horizon by The Answer
- 'New Horizon' is a terrific ride of an album that shows how joyful and exuberant music can and should be experienced. Classic Rock is alive and well in the 21st Century! Welcome back boys, so good to hear from you again!
4. Rising by Rainbow
- It's amazing; this album only has six songs on it, and totals only about 34 minutes. But Rainbow's "Rising" is far more than the sum of its parts. It conjures up such mystery, imagination, and wonder that it goes way beyond its songs to create such a beautiful panorama of images for the mind to enjoy!
5. The Winery Dogs by The Winery Dogs
- 2013 release, the debut album from the Rock supergroup featuring guitarist Richie Kotzen, bassist Billy Sheehan and drummer Mike Portnoy. While all three have Hard Rock and Progressive Rock backgrounds, The Winery Dogs are working towards a Classic Rock sound influenced by Led Zeppelin, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Grand Funk Railroad and others.
6. Sladest by Slade
- Vastly overlooked and underappreciated apart from the UK and Europe, Slade were true rock originals and very influential, most of all on the success of Quiet Riot in the early 80's. The original 1973 "Sladest" album contains the cream of the crop of the band's seminal early 70's work, but this CD differs somewhat as several songs are missing and replaced by more obscure single B-sides.
7. Head Down by Rival Sons
- A raw and aggressive sound that doesn’t hold back any punches. A throwback to the vintage rock sound of the 60′s and 70′s. Truly a Classic Rock band for the 21st Century. Rival Sons are a game changer. An evolution of greatness and if they can keep it together they will without a shadow of a doubt make their mark, big time!
8. Blood From Stone by Dare
- I am a huge Dare fan. This is the band's second album and easily their heaviest and most commercial sounding album. "Wings Of Fire", "We Don't Need A Reason", "Chains" and "Live To Fight Another Day", this album is loaded with rockers. Founder and front man Darren Wharton (Former keyboard player for Thin Lizzy) has an incredible voice. Vinny Burns' guitar work is out of this world!
9. Tribe Of Gypsies by Tribe Of Gypsies
- Tribe Of Gypsies is a band that follows in the line of many great Latin based rock bands like Santana, Azteca and Malo, but with a more aggressive sound that is uniquely their own. The only question I have is, why haven't Tribe Of Gypsies made it big here in the States? Come on you've got Roy Z. on guitar! Enough Said.
10. Peace by Anders Osbourne
- Anders Osbourne is the best Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter, guitarist that you have never heard of. I have feeling after people hear his latest release, 'Peace', Anders Osbourne will break to an even wider audience and becomea household name. It's powerfully raw, bringing to light the ups and downs of modern life with his amazingly guitar work. This album will touch you on so many levels.
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