Best of 2013: Hard rock and metal

Any time my year-end list starts with more than 20 candidates, it's been a pretty metal year for me. That was the case for 2013, and I had a few tough calls on who would make the list, and even tougher calls on what order they'd make the list.

It was a year of comebacks, with great records from Suicidal Tendencies, Tom Keifer, Skid Row, Carcass and, of course, Black Sabbath. All made the list in one form or another.

It was a year of surprises as a couple of albums that I would have predicted to be neck and neck for my top spot slid down, while a couple of unexpected ones moved up.

It was a year of two albums from bands named Queensryche, neither of which, it turns out, were really the best Queensryche album of the year. But more on that a little later.

So, without more blather, here are my favorite hard rock and metal records of 2013 (order subject to change) ...


10. Pamela Moore -- Resurrect Me. I'm a latecomer to this album, and I fully expect it to rise higher in this list. Moore, who performed the part of Sister Mary on Queensryche's classic Operation: Mindcrime record, delivers a fantastic album in the vein of that release. So far, I haven't found a song on the record that I dislike.