1)   Black Country Communion – Afterglow The Best band you’re not listening too. Change that today!

2)   Rush -- Clockwork Angels  Another fantastic album from the Canadian trio. One of their most ambitious albums in years.

3)   The Mars Volta -- Noctourniquet. Are you a Rush fan? Then dive into one of the best prog rock bands of the next generation.

4)   The Darkness – Hot Cakes.  Long known for their one hit (I believe in a thing called love) This band came back after a 5 year break up with one of the best melodic rock albums of the year.

5)   Down -- Down IV Part I: The Purple EP. 6 songs of down and dirty, southern fried Sabbath metal from Phil Anselmo and co.

6)   Tracer – Spaces in Between With a sound reminiscent of 90′s grunge/stoner rock mixed with the bravado of 70′s classic rock, Tracer is a great new band you have to check out.

7)   Deftones -- Koi No Yokan. Picking up where 2010’s “Diamond Eyes” left off, long time Deftones fans will not be disappointed.

8)   Graveyard --Lights Out .If you like Sabbath and early Deep Purple, you need to check out this awesome stoner rock band out of Sweden. This may be their best album yet.

9)   Prong -- Carved Into Stone. After reforming in 2007, this album finds lead singer/band leader Tommy Victor in prime shape. Chugging riffs and great production. A return to form for a band that fell on hard time with their last few releases.

10)               The Sword -- Apocryphon. Another band that seems to have been weaned on nothing but Black Sabbath records. Great riffs and dark lyrics.  Their 4^th album is a must have.

Reissue of the year- Judas Priest – Screaming for Vengeance 30^th anniversary edition  Finally! Video/DVD footage of the Judas Priest performance from the US festival!  A must have! Plus, the re-mastered album sounds like it was recorded yesterday. Hope in your I-Roc and crank this one to 11!

Worst Album of the year?

Steve Harris ---British Lion.   You’d think that the man/song writer behind such classics as “Run to the Hills” and “Number of the beast”  would deliver a solo album that, maybe not an instant classic, but at least in the same league as some of his best stuff. Not so. Poor songwriting and poor production makes the album destined for the bargain bin.