Best of the 2010s, Part 3: Sturgill Simpson through Rob Zombie

And finally, we come to the final installment of my favorite records of the 2010s...


STURGILL SIMPSON – HIGH TOP MOUNTAIN (2013): I’m not sure there was a better traditional country album released in the past decade than High Top Mountain. With his later albums, Simpson became far more experimental. Some of that worked for me and some didn’t, but this is the place I’d like to see him get back to one day. The music is very much old-school country, with plenty of Waylon-style honky tonk and some shots of bluegrass, but there’s a definite rock ‘n’ roll attitude to songs like “You Can Have the Crown” or “Some Days.” Though I really like Metamodern Sounds in Country Music and Sound & Fury, this remains his shining moment to my ears.

Best of 2017: Alestorm, Hellbound Glory, White Light Cemetery, Bob Wayne, Savage Messiah

It was, honestly, a pretty lousy year for music to my ears. Not a lot grabbed my attention and even less held it. So, rather than puff up two or three albums that I didn't feel were all that great to round out a Top 10, I've opted to keep it to five and cut a couple that I do feel are deserving.


5. Savage Messiah, Hands of Fate. This spot was by far the toughest call on the list, and I wavered for a good long while between this one and albums from Firewind and Alice Cooper. In the end, though, Savage Messiah just spoke to me more. On previous outings, the band has leaned more toward speed metal and thrash, but Hands of Fate is the kind of fantastic, old school, straight-up heavy metal album that we don’t get much anymore. At the same time, though, it doesn’t sound like a dated imitation of bands that have come before. It’s full of awesome riffs and great hooks, and if the title track doesn’t get your head banging, it may be time to hang up the horns.

Playlist 2017 Week 3: Firewind, Bob Wayne, Living Colour, Iced Earth, Alestorm

For week 3 of the playlist, we've got hard rock sounds, country, a little funkiness and a late pirate attack.


Firewind, "Back on the Throne" from Immortals. Guitarist Gus G may not have gotten to record an album with Ozzy Osbourne, but he was clearly writing for it. There's some great classic rock riffage that will certainly remind listeners of both Jake E. Lee and Zakk Wylde. This tune's a little different from the rest of the record, but very cool.

Review: Bob Wayne, "Hits the Hits"

Gambling is a dangerous game. Just ask Bob Wayne. You could go from refusing to perform covers, to doing a silly cover song because you lost a bet, to doing a whole album of covers. It’s a slippery slope.

Wayne’s latest, Hits the Hits, all started with a lost bet that found him performing a cover of Meghan Trainor’s “All About that Bass,” his first ever. A few months later, and we have a 13-song collection of covers from the DIY country singer.

Don’t expect any Johnny Cash or Waylon Jennings, even though they’d seem to fit his style more. On this collection, Bob Wayne puts his own spin on classic rockers like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Ozzy and Guns N’ Roses, along with some much stranger pop choices — like Adele, Rihanna and Gnarls Barkley. There’s even a Bob Marley tune in the mix.

Best of 2014: Country and Southern rock

Unlike my Best of 2014 list concentrating on hard rock and metal, not a whole lot changed from my mid-year picks for country and Southern rock. There was a little bit of shuffling and a new entry or two, but precious little from the second half of the year managed to unseat anything from my early Best of 2014 list …


No. 10 — MATT WOODS – WITH LOVE FROM BRUSHY MOUNTAIN: Woods is a really good songwriter, an underrated art in country music today. That’s really what makes this record stand out for me. It’s about the songs and stories.

Best of 2014: Reader picks

Before I get into my personal picks for the best records of 2014, I want to give my readers the spotlight.

To tabulate this list, I looked at all the posts to this blog for the year. I tossed out all of the Saturday Shuffles which tend to get quite a bit of traffic and focused just on the reviews. These are the Top 10 most viewed articles of the year.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you again in 2015.


10. Metallica - "Lords of Summer." Published April 8. A new tune from Metallica that may or may not make their next record. I liked it despite its flaws.

Best of 2014: Mid-year country and Southern rock

Wow. Here’s a first: Over the few years that I’ve been doing a Southern rock and country list, I’ve once or twice had to struggle to get 10 albums at the end of the year.

Hard rock and metal is my first love, so I don’t always dig into the country and Southern rock genres with the same vigor.

This year is a bit different, though. I’ve heard a little more and explored a little more, and I’ve got a Top 10 at midstream, all of which I’ve really enjoyed. I’m interested to see what this list looks like at the end of the year …


No. 10 — WILLIE NELSON – BAND OF BROTHERS: This record is not quite as much fun as his 2012 outing Heroes, but it’s still Willie Nelson. He penned most of the songs on this record, which has been a change from recent years, and no one can match the phrasing of Nelson’s performance.

Saturday Shuffle: 5FDP, Aerosmith, Kiss, Staind, Bob Wayne

Strange mix this week. A couple of bands I don't really listen to, a couple of classics from 1976 and a country tune ...


“The Way of the Fist,” Five Finger Death Punch. From the album The Way of the Fist (2007). So the lyrics are not exactly the stuff of poetry, and there’s a lot of uber-macho posturing. Still, this tune is fantastic to crank to the max after a bad day at the office and scream along.

Review: Bob Wayne, "Back to the Camper"

After a two-album stint with metal label Century Media, DiY-country artist Bob Wayne heads Back to the Camper for his latest record. The title references his early years of making his own records and hand-burning them in his John Deere motor home.

Wayne, who is still signed to Century Media’s People Like You imprint in Europe, went back to basics for the album, and the results are fantastic. While Wayne’s two Century Media albums focused more on the rowdy side of his personality, with loud and brash tunes — many re-recorded versions of earlier songs — Back to the Camper is a quieter and more thoughtful affair.

It has the feel of one of his earlier self-released albums, only with better production values, and features easily some of his best songwriting to date. The focus rests firmly on Wayne’s storytelling in these songs, and he spins some good tales.

Saturday Shuffle: Amorphis, Pinnick Gales Pridgen, Annihilator, Dangerous Toys, Bob Wayne

A little bit of heavy, a little bit of funky and a little bit of country with a metal flavor ...

Amorphis, “Three Words.” From the album The Beginning of Times (2011). I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything Amorphis has done since vocalist Tomi Joutsen joined in 2005. This song hits what the band does best. It’s beautiful, melancholic and dark, and Joutsen is one of those rare vocalists that impresses both with his clean vocals, which are primarily on display in this song, and his growls.

Interview: Bob Wayne

Though his music is very much set in the world of traditional country, filled with banjos, fiddles and, for the most part, nary a distorted guitar to be found, Bob Wayne is not what you’d call a traditional country musician.

He curses like the proverbial sailor, sings songs about the party life, rubs elbows with heavy metal bands and really doesn’t care what anyone thinks about him. He’s a songwriter that lives for the story and a wanderer that lives for the road. Pick a night, and you’ll find him in a dive bar on the corner, or maybe opening for a metal band in a larger venue. He’s on stage 300-plus nights a year and wouldn’t have it any other way.

Best of 2012: Country and Southern rock Top 10

Editor's Note: This is the fourth in a four-part series covering my favorite releases of 2012.

This is the first time that I’ve ever enjoyed enough records from the country and Southern rock genres to put together a list. Maybe I’m getting old and turning into that country music-loving guy that my relatives always told me I would when I “grew out of all that crazy stuff and realized what good music was.” Then again, have you seen my other list?

No. 10

CHELLE ROSE – GHOST OF BROWDER HOLLER: At times mean and ugly, at others downright beautiful. At times strongly reflecting her Appalachian roots, at others blowing the speakers out like a rocker girl. Chelle Rose’s debut was easily one of the more interesting releases of the year in country music.

Review: Bob Wayne, "Till the Wheels Fall Off"

There could be no better way to open Bob Wayne’s upcoming album than with the title track, “Till the Wheels Fall Off.”

If you don’t know anything about Wayne going into this song, you’ll know everything you need to know about him once it’s over. It pretty much sums up how the former guitar tech for Hank III approaches music and life.

The song starts with Wayne making loud train whistle noises. It’s a warning that the album is chugging down the rails at you like a runaway locomotive. The ride begins with this rocking, uptempo country anthem to Wayne’s love of life on the road and his dedication to keeping it going “till the wheels fall off this motherfucker.” It tells you up front what you’re getting with Till the Wheels Fall Off, and Wayne fans would expect no less.

Best of 2011: Top 10

As I look back over 2011′s releases, I realize that maybe it wasn’t quite as good a year in the metal world as I thought. For the past few years, I’ve had as many as a couple dozen candidates for this list, and it’s been difficult to winnow them down to 10. This year, the records that were good were really good, but after that things start to drop off pretty quickly.

10. Three Thirteen, Full Tilt: I love surprises from independent artists, and Three Thirteen delivered a great little retro hard rock package this year. I was drawn in by the physical product, which had a little more thought put into it than the average CD these days, and the fun, hell-raising rock songs on the record held me. The record is a tip of the hat to the classic acts the band grew up on, with a heavy late-1970s, early-1980s rock feel. There are no sappy ballads or thinking-man’s songs here. It’s a party from start to finish. It’s the perfect record for popping the t-tops out of your Trans-Am and heading out on the highway.

Review: "Southern Independents Vol. 1 and 2"

Over the past few months, Shooter Jennings has released two free compilations for his unfortunately named XXX movement, which are both still available for free download at http://www.givememyxxx.com/.

For those not familiar, Jennings hopes to create a genre called XXX to help promote some original artists, a commodity that doesn’t get much recognition in the mainstream these days. It’s an amalgam of musical styles, ranging from hardcore classic country, to Southern rock, to even some harder rock sounds. The qualifications to be part of the genre are a bit hard to describe, but it’s one of those things where you kind of know it when you hear it. The main points are that the musicians are doing their own thing on their own terms and no matter where the acts take the music, it’s all rooted in Southern and country tradition. The XXX moniker comes from the three x’s that appear on moonshine jugs in old cartoons and drawings. Obviously, that’s not what most people these days think of when they see XXX, which is a strike against the movement from the beginning.

Review: Bob Wayne, "Outlaw Carnie"

I understand that there are people on both sides of this one scratching their heads a little. The metal crowd is probably wondering why Century Media signed a country artist. The country crowd is probably wondering why Bob Wayne signed with a metal label. To me, though, it makes perfect sense.

The first thing that the metal crowd should know about Bob Wayne is that his music isn’t the overproduced pop bullshit that you hear on country radio. It’s honest. It’s real, and it’s got a lot in common with metal, in spirit if not in sound. Like the best metal being made today, the best country (and not much, if any, of it is on a Nasvhille label) is about making the music you want to make and to hell with trends and marketing. Wayne also has personal connections to metal, citing Black Sabbath, Pantera and Neurosis among some of his favorite acts. His music, on the other hand, has more to do with David Allan Coe, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash, all guys with the spirit of metal in their own right.

Freebies: Bob Wayne, Lazarus A.D., Social Distortion

Since I'm constantly getting notices about free streams of new records and the occasional free download from bands, labels and publicists, I thought I'd start trying to share them when I can. Everybody likes hearing music for free, right? So here's the first installment.

Streaming the full album of self-made outlaw country artist Bob Wayne's "Outlaw Carnie," due out Tuesday. And come back here for a review of the record in the next few days.

Stream thrashers Lazarus A.D.'s upcoming record "Black Rivers Flow" in its entirety.

Listen to Social Distortion's "Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes" in its entirety.

Enjoy, and drop me a note in the comments to let me know if you'd like me to keep it up.