Top 5 Rock Videos of 2009

I decided to make it a list-filled week here at Bring Back Glam! Music videos just aren't as important as they were in the 80s. Bands don't need MTV for publicity anymore thanks to the Internet but video clips are still great marketing tools. With that, my picks for the best rock videos of 2009:

05. Papa Roach - "Lifeline"
04. Green Day - "21 Guns"
03. Halestorm - "I Get Off"
02. Shinedown - "Second Chance"
01. Slipknot - "Sulfur"

Agree? Disagree? What are your favorite rock videos from 2009?

Some of My Favorite Albums from the Past Decade

It’s impossible to make a “best of the decade” list coming  just from my perspective. It would be inaccurate and unfair. I decided, instead, to list some of my favorite works from the past decade. The albums below are the ones I always come back to and enjoy spin after spin. The list may be disproportionately heavy on the second half of the decade, but for good reason: I graduated college in 2001 and was preoccupied with finding a job. I also had no money for music. Then the cycle started again with grad school, cutting my time and money for music way down. Having said that, I’ve always made it a general practice to scan new release listings and read album reviews of all genres. In short, the second half of the 00s was better for me musically. With that said, here’s my list. I eliminated compilation and live albums from my selections. These 12 albums below were nearly impossible to rank as each one means quite a lot to me.

12. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss – Raising Sand (2007)
11. Black Tide – Light from Above (2008)
10. Damone – Out Here All Night (2006)
09. Guns n’ Roses – Chinese Democracy (2008)
08. Britney Spears – Circus (2008)
07. Bullet for My Valentine – Scream Aim Fire (2008)
06. Crashdiet – Rest in Sleaze (2005)
05. Michael Jackson – Invincible (2001)
04. Avenged Sevenfold – Waking the Fallen (2003)
03. Lynam – Slave to the Machine (2006)
02. Alison Krauss and Union Station – Lonely Runs Both Ways (2004)
01. Slipknot – All Hope is Gone (2008)

Slipknot is also my band of the decade. From Iowa to All Hope is Gone and everything in between, the ‘Knot has developed a unique brand of heavy metal meets stagecraft. Their shows are part brutality, part survival of the fittest, part theatre of the absurd. They may be geniuses or just a collection of insane gents who can really play the hell out of their instruments, I'm not sure. Whatever the case, All Hope is Gone may be one of the best metal albums of all time, not just the decade.

I won’t spend time writing about each release. In most cases, I’ve already done that at some point on this website. Still, if you’re so inclined, you might check out Alison Krauss and Union Station. I quite enjoy bluegrass music, which seems to mystify people. The guitar parts are technical and the songs tell a real story – and the vocalist needs a good set of pipes. You get all that and so much more on Lonely Runs Both Ways. The album won a slew of Grammys and for good reason: it’s brilliant. Tone and control take refinement and practice. Krauss delivers both effortlessly.

Invincible is Michael Jackson’s last true studio release. It happens to include my favorite MJ single “You Rock My World.” That song was nominated for a Grammy and was the last music video ever to feature MJ. The song is also my ringtone.

So, that’s it for me. Some of my favorites from the past 10 years. I still can’t believe we’re about ready to switch over to 2010. I must be getting old!

As we wait for the year to roll on by, please take a minute to tell me some of your favorites from the past decade. I can’t wait to compare notes. The chances of any two people having the same list is so slim, it’s a fascinating look into what makes us all tick.

Check out some other "best of" lists at these fine websites:

Heavy Metal Addiction -- http://hardrockheavymetal.wordpress.com/
Hard Rock Hideout -- http://hardrockhideout.wordpress.com/
Heavy Metal Time Machine -- http://metalmark.blogspot.com/
Rock and Roll and Meandering Nonsense -- http://rnrnonsense.toomanyvoices.com/
All Metal Resource -- http://allmetalresource.com/
Imagine Echoes -- http://www.imagineechoes.com/
Metal Excess -- http://metalexcess.wordpress.com/
The Ripple Effect -- http://www.ripplemusic.blogspot.com/
Rock Of Ages -- http://rockofages.wordpress.com/
The Metal Minute -- http://rayvanhornjr.blogspot.com/

Bring Back Glam! Picks the Best Straight Metal Albums of 2009

As promised, today we’ll look at the top straight metal releases of 2009. Yeah, I can flip from Poison, to Mayhem, to Britney Spears to Alison Krauss to Goatwhore without missing a beat. Don’t hate. These records rule and you should own them – even if you don’t like it particularly heavy, give props for the artistry. Here’s the list of seven because there wasn’t even 10 straight metal albums I liked enough to write about. I think 2008 was better for straight metal, but every other critic is gushing at how great the year has been, so be it. With that, my top seven:

07. Megadeth – Endgame
06. Heaven and Hell –  The Devil You Know
05. Slayer – World Painted Blood
04. Goatwhore – Carving Out the Eyes of God
03. Saxon – Into the Labyrinth
02. Queensryche - American Soldier
01. Alice in Chains – Black Gives Way to Blue

Notice Mastodon isn’t here. I don’t dislike Mastodon. I’ve never met the band, never interviewed them, have nothing against them. I guess I just didn’t like Crack the Skye as much as every other metal writer on the planet. Sometimes it takes some major cojones to break from the pack. It seems like every list I saw also hated the new Queensryche, but not me. I think the Seattle band regrouped with American Soldier and made one of their best albums since Mindcrime. Opinions make the world ‘go round I guess.

What say you?

Tomorrow, a look back at the music of the decade.

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The Best of the Best: Bring Back Glam! Picks the Most Awesome Albums and Songs of 2009

Well, it’s that time of the year again. Yep, time for the best Glam of 2009.  A few weeks ago I asked for your input and many of you sent me your lists for the top ten Glam releases of the year. I’ve looked at all the ballots and compiled the winning list below. Some of you also had some off-the-wall choices, which helped me expand my musical horizons. For this list, we’re staying strictly Glam. Later on we’ll look at the best Metal of 2009 and toward the end of the week, a look at the best music of the last decade.  The only rules for the lists below were 1) all music must have been released in 2009, including radio-ready singles, 2) no compilations were allowed, 3) no re-releases were allowed. When there were ties in the lists you submitted, I broke them based on my opinion.

Without further adieu, the Bring Back Glam! best albums of 2009:

10. Chickenfoot – S/T
09. Dirty Penny – Young & Reckless
08. Charm City Devils – Let’s Rock-n- Roll
07. Winger – Karma
06. Billy Sheehan – Holy Cow
05. Europe – Last Look at Eden
04. The Last Vegas – Whatever Gets You Off
03. Vains of Jenna – Art of Telling Lies
02. Papa Roach – Metamorphosis
01. Steel Panther – Feel the Steel

Just because a band didn’t make the best album cut doesn’t mean they didn’t have some great songs.

Here’s the Bring Back Glam! best songs of 2009:

10. “Flatine” – from the album Sick by Duff McKagan’s Loaded
09. “Let’s Rock n’ Roll (Endless Road)” – from the album Lets Rock n’ Roll by Charm City Devils
08. “Aftermath” – from the album For Your Entertainment by Adam Lambert
07. “I’m Bad” – from the album Whatever Gets You Off by The Last Vegas
06. “I Get Off”  -from the album Halestorm by Halestorm
05. “100 in a 55” – from the album Lipstick on the Mirror by Pop Evil
04. “Lifeline” – from the album Metamorphosis by Papa Roach
03. “Enemy in Me” from the album Art of Telling Lies by Vains of Jenna
02. “Death to All But Metal” – form the album Feel the Steel by Steel Panther
01. “I Almost Told You That I loved You” – from the album Metamorphosis by Papa Roach

Well, there you go. What do you think? Agree? Disagree? I’m not surprised by the outcome. From the first listen of both the Papa Roach and Steel Panther albums, I knew they would be the top of my year-end list. Basically, the vote was dead even for both and I sat for a long time, debating which band deserved the top spot. Steel Panther is a parody act, but the guys in the band really do live as professional musicians and they are awesome at their craft. Papa Roach has the more radio-friendly songs and flat out rock live. I decided to pretend it was 1989 and gave the best album award to Steel Panther because, well, they wear spandex on stage.

Oh and if you're keeping score at home, you'll notice that KISS, Ace Frehley, Bon Jovi and Queensryche didn't make the list.  Yes, some of you voted for them - but not enough to make a difference in the countdown.

My Problem with the 'Rolling Stone' "Best of 00s" Issue

Last week, I received my copy of Rolling Stone's "Best of 00s" issue. The magazine features sections on the decades best songs and albums and things like that. So I read the entire edition cover to cover - because Rolling Stone has beautiful writing - but the feature left me mad.

The best of the best went to the same people Rolling Stone always picks: Bob Dylan, U2, Springsteen. I'm not denying that these are great, legendary acts...but come on. I'm certain the Rolling Stone editors picked the same artists as "the best" at the end of the 90s and the 80s too. Isn't there room for some new blood? Some innovators? Some metal?

I'll agree with the sections of the magazine that spoke about the recording industry imploding over the past decade - it sure did. When I finished college, everyone was still buying CDs by the truckload. We all know that is no longer the case.

For the best albums, Rolling Stone's "expert" panel selected a mix of rock and country and rap - anything them deemed worthy, which is fine. Again, I just feel like it was the same people over and over.

The panel selected Radiohead's Kid A as the number one album of the decade. The Strokes, Wilco, Jay-Z, The White Stripes, Arcade Fire, Eminem, Bob Dylan, M.I.A. and Kanye West rounded out the top ten. 

Over and over, the magazine mentions the "return of guitar rock" over the past decade...but where is that reflected in the above bands? I mean, truly reflected. I'm aware Motley Crue was never going to make Rolling Stone's "best of" list...but that is guitar rock, no?

The "best songs of the decade" list isn't much better. The voting panel selected "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley as the best tune of the 00s. A whole lot of other crap made the top ten including "Seven Nation Army" (White Stripes), "Maps" (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and "Beautiful Day" (U2). I like U2 well enough - I just think "Beautiful Day" is one of the band's weaker tracks.

The looking-back segments are the best part of the special 00s edition of the magazine. We're reminded that the 00s gave us American Idol, the iPod and major American festivals like Lollapalooza. I''ll agree the iPod is the invention of the decade.

My main problem with Rolling Stone in general is that the magazine tries so painfully hard to be...hip. Why chase trends? Rolling Stone can afford to be above any trend. Just because a lot of whiny college kids like indie rock doesn't mean the rest of America - and the world - does. Nay, the rest of the world likes real rock and pop music. Crap that isn't so complicated it can't be enjoyed...or so pretentious it's unapproachable.

I've wanted to write for Rolling Stone since like...forever but the magazine always infuriates me. Would it be so criminal to do a real feature on the return of rock, dare I say Glam? A two sentence mention in the outdated news section doesn't count, either. There are real stories about money and middle America tied up in 80s bands that I could pitch until I'm blue in the face, but the editorial team doesn't care. I guess that's why print media is dying as more and more of us migrate online to talk about what we really like.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised or offended. Everyone knows the best music isn't played on the radio or on television - it isn't mainstream. We seek out what we like, so bands like Lynam and Crazy Lixx and Brother Firetribe may never make a Rolling Stone list...but that doesn't make them any less awesome.

You can read the special segments and check out the entire "best of" lists online at Rollingstone.com

Tomorrow - my top ten of 2009 and later this week...a look back at the best music over the past decade. 

Sammy Hagar Sunday!

A cold Sunday is a perfect day for Sammy Hagar! Just listening to the red rocker makes me think of Cabo, the sun and tequila. Here's hoping Sammy plays some festivals this summer - either as a solo act or with Chickenfoot. I haven't seen Chickenfoot live, but I know Sammy's shows with the Wabos are a big party. Here are some of my favorite Sammy clips.

"Give to Live."

"Little White Lie"

"Mas Tequila"

The week ahead on Bring Back Glam! will be a big one. I'll reveal the top 10 Glam releases of 2009, look back on the best metal of the past decade and rip apart Rolling Stone's weak attempt at a "best of 00's" issue. See you tomorrow!

Alice Cooper Knows How to Record a Christmas Song

If you're anything like me, you despise Christmas music. Naturally, the annoying songs are everywhere these days: the mall, cafes, bookstores, the doctor. Still, every once in awhile, a Christmas song breaks through that doesn't make me want to pull out my hair. Enter Alice Cooper's version of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." If you're not familiar, the song is included on the album We Wish You A Metal XMas...And A Headbanging New Year! In addition to Cooper, the album also includes songs by Geoff Tate ("Silver Bells"), Stephen Pearcy ("Grandma Got Runover by a Reindeer") and Lemmy Kilmister ("Run Rudolph Run").

Here's the Alice Cooper tune. Let me know your thoughts.