Rankings

This has been a season of change for yours truly. After 30 years of writing non-stop about hard rock and metal, I semi-retired this summer. For the first time in three decades, I didn’t close out there year with dozens of album reviews…

This list was especially difficult to create since 2019 brought some incredible music. I wrote and rewrote my list numerous times, while listening to each and every one of these albums over and over to attempt to give it my best. Since this…

Not that I suspect anyone is keeping track (or cares), but I wrote a paltry 3 album reviews for Metal Nation in 2019.  In no way, shape, or form is this an indication of the quantity and quality of this year’s releases—quite the opposite…

One of the biggest things in music this year has been the announcement and subsequent arrival of the new Tool album, Fear Inoculum.  Thirteen years after their last studio album, 10,000 Days, the band also released their discography on…

Usually in preparation for ranking an artist’s catalog of original studio albums, I go back and listen to them all again. I try and gain fresh perspective and revisit my original feelings about each record. I also talk to a lot of fans to…

It’s 2019, and the blue-collar bruisers in Overkill are about to drop album number 19. It seemed the appropriate time to rank the band’s massive canon of thrash-n-roll. Picking and choosing what goes where on a list like this is always a…

Best of lists have always been a challenge for me.  Call me fickle, but I feel like my interests are constantly fluctuating based on mood, life events, patterns, etc.  It seems an ever changing dynamic playlist sometimes even tailored to…

ROCK & ROLL IS DEAD. I’m not sure exactly how many times I’ve heard that proclaimed over the last few years, but I’ve heard it plenty—and as it pertains to the relevance of rock & roll in the mainstream, I tend to agree. The…

That time of year is again upon us where our fearless leader/editor pulls me off the Corporate America merry-go-round to bring you my TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2018.  My tastes are eclectic ranging the full spectrum of metal and rock music and this…

Every year we seem to talk about how strong the onslaught of new headbanging releases has been. While 2018 has  had its share of amazing efforts overall, it has certainly turned out to be an exceptional year for fans of stoner, doom, and…