Top 20
01. Exodus – Persona Non Grata
Whilst my LP didn’t arrive until December I was fortunate enough to get the download prior so I could hear it incase my record didn’t arrive by the years end. This album does not disappoint. It is everything you’d expect and more. This is Exodus at its most brutal.
02. The End Machine – Phase 2
I loved the debut by this Dokken-less Dokken. Now with “Wild” Mick’s younger Brother behind the kit they return with PHASE 2. Killer LP from start to finish.
03. Flotsam & Jetsam – Blood In The Water
04. Night Ranger – ATBPO
05. KK’s Priest – Sermons of the Sinner
06. Alice Cooper – Detroit Stories
07. Todd LaTorre – Rejoice In Suffering
08. Iron Maiden – Senjutsu
09. Mammoth WVH
10. Dee Snider – Leave A Scar
11. Dead Daisies – Holy Ground
12. Artillery – X
13. Rob Zombie – Lunar Injection Kool-Aid
14. LA Guns – Checkered Past
15. Tomahawk – Tonic Immobility
16. Smith/Kotzen
17. Michael Schenker – Immortal
18. Accept – Too Mean To Die
19. Thunder – All The Right Noises
20. Lee Aaron – Radio On!
Best EP
Billy Idol – The Roadside EP
Best Live Album
Trapeze – Live ’72
Coney Hatch – Live at The ElMocombo
Best Covers Album
Deep Purple – Turning To Crime
Best Metal Book
Eve of Darkness
Best New Band/Artist
MammothWVH
The Norseman Company
Best Comeback of 2021
KK Downing. The former Judas Priest guitarist has been away too long and his new LP is absolutely amazing.
Favourite non-metal releases from 2021
01. Billy Gibbons – Hardware
02. Cheap Trick – Another World
03. The Alarm – WAЯ
04. Brian Setzer – Gotta Have That Rumble
05. Paul Stanley’s Soul Station – Now & Then
Disappointments of 2021:
Loss of Mike Howe and Jeff LaBar
The Beatles – Let It Be set. The “Rooftop” concert should have been included as should Glyn Johns’ 1970 mix of Get Back. A missed opportunity.
George Harrison – All Things Must Pass reissue. The audio quality was subpar. It sounded muddy and lifeless. The “Outtakes and Apple Jams” were all that saved it as the mix & mastering of the original album was terrible.
Hopes for 2022
The VanHalen One Step reissues by Mobile Fidelity. Really looking forward to these 2LP versions of the Classic VH albums. Wish they would have included ADKOT as well.
New albums by Scorpions, Slash, and Sven Gali
