10.  “Bittersweet” Grip Inc. Hostage To Heaven

Former Slayer drum king Dave Lombardo formed Grip Inc. in the 90’s after leaving the band circa “Diabolous In Musica” and formed a heady and sometimes moodier mix of metal with Waldemar Sorychta on guitars and former punk vocalist Gus Chambers.  “Bittersweet” comes from their 2015 EP of unreleased cuts and is a sweet mix of acoustic interplay with heavy, melodic guitars and Lombardo’s laid back drumwork with an understated vocal from Chambers, who died in 2008 after an accidental mix of alcohol and medication.

9.  “All Night Long” Junior Kimbrough You Better Run: The Essential Junior Kimbrough

I’ll admit that my gateway to Junior Kimbrough was through The Black Keys and North Mississippi All Stars, two bands certainly entranced by the hypnotic boogie of this Hill Country bluesman.  Take a heaping dose of John Lee Hooker and other blues stomps and mix in a dose of non-stop groove and you’ve got a winner.  The blues is a feeling and this song is a great intro to a unique artist that would be certainly at home in a sweaty juke joint down South.  Just give in to the irresistible groove of “All Night Long” and let it soak in.

8.  “Coming Home” Spiritual Beggars Return To Zero

If you dig 70’s rock in the vibe of Deep Purple/Uriah Heep/Whitesnake/UFO then Spiritual Beggars should be part of your collection.  Led by Arch Enemy head man Michael Amott, the Beggars features a coterie of great musicians from various European hard rock and metal bands taking a break from their day jobs to put together some great hard rock in honor of their influences.  “Coming Home” is one of their more melodic cuts, riding a fairly simple but banging riff to allow lead throat Apollo Papathanasio to break out his inner David Coverdale for us all.

7.  “Mr. Recordman” Ugly Kid Joe America’s Least Wanted

The Ugly ones came in at the tail end of hair metal and grooved it up a bit, but this cut sounds like it could have fit on a Lemonheads record or other alt-rock band soon to pop up post grunge.  Likely a bit of tongue in cheek here based on the lyrics and overall delivery and certainly nothing like their more amped up hits.  All that side, this is a fine little ditty that we should all be singing around the campfire as we toast marshmallows and knock back a few cold ones.  Also includes a nifty little solo midway through.

6.  “Swingtown” Steve Miller Band Book of Dreams

Man, The Space Cowboy could write a hit.  “Swingtown” is a full on classic with a great melodic hook and great backing musicianship; one of those songs you can recognize immediately due to that swingin’ drum intro and bumping bass lick.  “I can name that song in two notes!”  Funny that something like this comes out during the height of the disco era as this song has some of those elements rhythmically but does its fair share of rocking.  Miller has such an easy cool vocal on everything he does that these songs are so much fun to sing.  Had this thing on 8 track back in the day which would fade out early in the cut so it could switch tracks (what’s an 8 track Mommy?).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbXx2ag6L4I

5.  “Legions In Hiding” Testament Low

The Low album is a bit of an underrated return to form for Testament as Alex Skolnick and Louie Clemente exit and the band brings back the heavy, with “Legions” a bit of a thick and chunky groover.  Chief Chuck starts to get a little more guttural with the vocal and he’s perfect for it, lots of low roar to go along with the tribal stomp.  The guitar team of newboy James Murphy with Testavet Eric Peterson drop in a dual lead as fill in sticksman John Tempesta and bassist Greg Christian fill out the bottom end.  Solid production on this as well and a good intro to those that fear Cookie Monster type vocals.

4.  “Murder On My Mind” The Hellacopters Rock & Roll Is Dead

Holy cow Batman, what is in the water over in Sweden?  The Hellacopters are a great, great garage rock band that is a mix of something you’d hear from the 60’s topped with some of your more melodic rock bands from the late 70’s and early 80’s (pre-hair era).  “Murder” features a great hook throughout the verse and the chorus as it rides some Stones-y cum KISS rock chords atop some Keith Moon drums with just a hint of keyboards.  And don’t just listen to what I say, none other than Springsteen side man Stevie Van Zandt (or Silvio Dante, for you Sopranos fans).

3.  “Some People Say” Eddie Spaghetti Old No. 2

Taking a break from his day job with the Supersuckers, Mr. Spaghetti treats us to the simply sweet and countryesque “Some People Say” featuring some basic acoustic strumming o’er top a 4/4 drum beat.  Ol’ Ed has always been a country fan and this is certainly more old school country crossed with something like The Byrds or Tom Petty in overall delivery with maybe a hint of Mexicali thrown in as well.  If you know the Supersuckers, this is FAR removed from that.  Keep Eddie Spaghetti in your prayers as he is battling stage 3 oropharynx cancer.

2.  “I’m Not Blind” Presto Ballet The Lost Art Of Time Travel

Presto Ballet leans quite heavily to 70s AOR/Prog, sounding a lot like radio ready bands a la Styx or Kansas.  “I’m Not Blind” sounds like it could easily fit on The Grand Illusion as lead singer Scott Albright sounds similar to Dennis DeYoung plus the keyboard and guitar interplay hearkens back to the glorious 70s.  Lots of melody here with some beautiful guitar and keyboard interplay in the intro before Albright dives into the verse.  Guitars are a little more crunchier than their influences, especially since Metal Church main man Kurdt Vanderhoof is at the helm of this band.

1.  “Fly” Blind Guardian A Twist In The Myth

Blind Guardian’s brand of power metal is a little different than, say, Hammerfall or Helloween in that it adds a bit more keyboard interplay along with the heavy riffing.  I’m not a Blind Guardian expert but I do have a handful of their cuts and “Fly” is quite enjoyable, a melodic, adventurous journey led by the dramatic and layered vocals of Hansi Kursch backed by some seriously symphonic rocking band interplay.  If you’ve ever wanted to dive headlong into some catchy and ornate Eurometal then Blind Guardian may be your bag.

Fave cut this time around would be “Swingtown”, followed by “Coming Home”.  Happy listening!