Crashdiet
THE SAVAGE PLAYGROUND

For 80s metalheads, there are two types of people. There are the type that stand firm by the explosion of Nirvana onto the scene as the moment when all future music stopped being good, and there are those that are always looking for new and exciting music that maintains that melodic, fun spirit that the 80s produced. For me, I fall into the latter category. Any band that's trying to recapture that fun, rockin' spirit that the 80s unleashed on the world will always get my ear. There's good and bad for these newer bands. On the bad side, there's always the old bands that prove that they've hung on too long, or new bands that poorly recreate the look and don't have the music to back it. Then there are some really good bands out there that really capture it without becoming a spoof band like Steel Panther. Crashdiet are one of those bands that get it. While many wrote them off with the death of vocalist Dave Lepard, this band has really put it back together. Their latest, THE SAVAGE PLAYGROUND, is about as solid a classic metal sounding release as you will ever hear.

Blue Sky Riders
FINALLY HOME

The term "supergroup" is thrown around very loosely these days. In the most general terms, most people associate that term with a collection of "name" players. By name, we generally mean famous. Certainly, if a band was formed featuring Mick Jagger, Joe Perry, John Paul Jones and Neil Peart, that would qualify in the broadest terms as a "supergroup". That said though, peripheral fame is all relative, while a collection of unquestioned talent that has had tremendous success in the music industry should also be considered as a "supergroup". For many reasons, Blue Sky Riders are a musical supergroup. They do have a very name player in Kenny Loggins, but probably more impressively they have a unheralded in public yet legendary songwriter in Country Music Hall Of Famer Gary Burr, and a tremendous, well heard songwriter who's written massive hits for other artists in Georgia Middleman gracing this group.

Soundgarden
KING ANIMAL

Soundgarden were one of those grunge bands that really just "got" it. Unlike bands like Nirvana who put their desolate life imagery in front of their music, Soundgarden was always musical first, attitude second. Without question, vocalist Chris Cornell portrayed a lot of pain and passion in his soul, but he also was quickly regarded as one of the best vocalists of the era. While they were always pretty good musically, they were a band though that was erratic at best in the live setting. I saw the band at least 12 times, and I'd say they were 50/50 good to bad live. They played masterfully at the greatest concert of my lifetime (Day On The Green '91 with Faith No More, Queensryche and Metallica), and they played absolutely horribly at times (most notable - Lollapalooza tour). Still, even when they went away, their albums BAD MOTERFINGER. SUPERUNKNOWN and DOWN FROM THE UPSIDE have stayed in fairly recent rotation in my iPod.

Incite
ALL OUT WAR

Any time you put the "Cavalera" name on a project, I'm always going to be willing to give it a chance. Sure, I know that this is not Max or Igor Cavalera, but it's still a Cavalera, and metal with that name on it has yet to truly disappoint me. Max Cavalera's son Richie has emerged with the band Incite - a band that's been given every break the Cavalera tree can give it in order to gain some traction in the underground world. While I'm yet to see any real buzz come of that, it's very clear that growing up as part of the Cav Clan has shown young Richie just what it takes to create powerful modern extreme metal. ALL OUT WAR is a solid collection of tunes, and a good sophomore effort for a band that's going to have to overcome the stigma of association with a metal legend in order to make their own mark. So far, so good.

Slash
APOCALYPIC LOVE
(Best Buy Collector's Edition)

Make no mistake, I'm a Slash fan.  The guy writes and plays music I like, and he has proven it in multiple bands.  While I'm sure it's more the record company's decision than the band's, this is the third version of this release that I've purchased.  There was the original, then the "deluxe" with two bonus tracks, and now the Best Buy Exclusive Collector's Edition with a bonus acoustic show and a live DVD.  Seriously, is the industry hurting so bad that they have to fuck the hardcore fans into purchasing the same music three times?  Apparently so.