Crazysam

That's possible, but I don't see the Packers going in to SF and winning. Beating Seattle at home is one thing, especially with the injuries Seattle had to their O-line and at RB. It was mostly Russell Wilson making some great individual plays to keep them in it yesterday. And while Seattle defense is solid it isn't anywhere near as good as it was a few years ago. The 49ers are a much more balanced team and present match-up problems for GB on both sides of the ball. Titans/KC could go either way. As Titans are playing with confidence and Henry and their defense have really stepped up. I just think KC has too many weapons and will pull it out in the end.

I enjoyed the NFL much more in the 80's and 90's myself. But I'm curious, what about this season/post-season makes you feel things were so rigged? The first time in seemingly forever we don't have to watch Brady/Belichik in another championship game (thank goodness). You can't tell me the league wouldn't have loved to showcase media darlings Lamar Jackson vs Mahommes in the AFC championship? Or have Drew Brees win it all and ride off into the sunset. There weren't even any glaring missed calls that directly lead to one team beating another this weekend, like was rightly debated last year.

I'm looking forward to this one as well

Good points, as you mentioned, they were one of the bands that helped establish hard rock as a commercially successful genre and others tried to replicate that formula. I think we're mostly on the same page. I was thinking more or less after Pyromania really started to take off. The guys saw what they could achieve if they followed Mutt's guidance and if they wrote songs that appealed to a wider audience. There was a time when I wondered if they would have kept more of an edge had Pete remained. But years later I heard the Roadhouse album and Girl's music and started to believe the change in guitarist was likely less of a factor.

I am a big fan of the H&D album as well. And I used to think the same as far as Collen vs. Willis. Then later on I thought about Collen coming from Girl and Willis returning to the scene with a very polished, more AOR style band like Roadhouse. Not to mention Vivan's input starting with Slang and him writing much mellower music than he played with Dio. The change in guitarists over the years understandably shaped their overall sound. But I think going in a more commercial direction was more of a decision made as a band especially after Mutt Lange got involved and they realized the success that could be achieved.

Hard to narrow it down to just 10 as they were one of my favorite bands between 1981 and 1991. And on a given day I could probably swap a few out with some other songs that just missed the cut. Photograph Another Hit and Run Die Hard The Hunter Animal Foolin' Hysteria Stagefright Let It Go Gods of War Wasted

thanks for sharing Geoff, had otherwise not heard of these guys, I gave it a spin last night and outside of the track Knuckle Sandwich thought it sounded pretty good

Nice lists guys, as has been said, overall a rather disappointing year. I had high hopes for some new albums from older artists but many were let downs or average. I agree Glen, some really nice singles for upcoming 2020 albums and I am hoping that's a sign of better things to come for next year. 2019 Top 10: 1. The Defiants - Zokusho 2. Cats In Space – Daytrip to Narnia 3. Pretty Maids – Undress Your Madness 4. Rain or Shine – The Darkest Part of Me 5. The New Roses – Nothing But Wild 6. Lovekillers – S/T 7. Crazy Lixx – Forever Wild 8. Work of Art – Exhibits 9. Roulette – Now! 10. Forever – S/T Honorable Mentions: · 91 Suite – Starting All Over Again (EP) · Darkwater – Human (Progressive Metal) · Flotsam & Jetsam – The End of Chaos (Heavy Metal/Thrash) · H.E.R.O – Humanic (Modern Pop/Rock Band) Other releases I enjoyed and think are worth checking out: Gathering of Kings – First Mission, Nitrate – Open Wide, First Signal – Line of Fire, Find Me – Angels In Blue, Whitesnake – Flesh & Blood, DeVicious – Reflections, Deaf Rat – Ban the Light, Temple Balls – Untamed

sad news indeed, those Roxette albums were filled with wonderfully catchy pop songs, she will be missed by many fans around the world

Now that rocks, nice tune!

I'm a big fan of TNT and Tony as well and agree with your overall take. There are some really good tunes. "Hurricane" and "Higher Again" remind me the most of TNT. While Heavily Broken, which doesn't really sound like TNT, might be my favorite. I think what initially takes this down a notch for me is the track order itself. The two tracks ("Ball and Chain" and "Who Can We Run To") that I really didn't get into are placed one right after another. I also thought there are too many slower paced tracks (most noticeable with Across the Ocean being followed by Bring Me Back). I'll need to give it another spin but similar to you, I think this one might make it's way into my top 10, purely on how much I enjoyed, what I'd consider to be, the standout tracks.

Nice choice once again. I actually just gave this a spin last night. If I recall correctly I first heard them on a local radio station in Milwaukee, WI back in '92. New, melodic rock releases were becoming scarcer at that point, so I rolled the dice and purchased it and was not disappointed. The album became one of my favorites from that year.

Jesse Strange - S/T Melidian - Lost In the Wild

I enjoyed the album Tales from the Strip with Phil, Steve and Stacey Blades. But without both Phil and Tracii this time around I have a hard time even associating this with the L.A. Guns band name. We'll see, not sure what to expect, maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

solid tune, wasn't this new album supposed to be out about a year ago? I wonder what caused the delay

Slaughter's debut has some great tunes on it, but I guess over time I've grown less fond of Mark's voice, so that is why I'd give a slight edge to my fave album from CL

interesting, I may be reading too much into the way the lineup reads or overestimating their popularity, but otherwise I'm surprised they'd go on second

Good point, with the exception of a few of the scheduled acts it is only 1 or 2 original (or long term) members. Which makes me wonder if LA Guns is going to be Steve Riley's version? Because otherwise I'd have thought they'd be later in the performances that day, assuming the bands are listed in order of who goes on first/last

Haha! ok, fair enough, I'll take the opposite approach, of the band's scheduled to perform I would prefer to listen to my favorite album from Crazy Lixx over what I'd consider the best albums from Little Caesar, Slaughter and Doro Again, don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of several newer bands, but when we're talking preference of listening to album's of band's in their prime, I'd usually select ones by bands from the 80's & early 90's.

I agree it would be great to add a few newer bands to the lineup, like Andrew has done with MRF. As far as strictly a live performance, bands like H.E.A.T and Eclipse match or exceed most of what these classic era bands are capable of doing now. But there are likely cost/travel factors where some bands from outside of the USA may not even be able to/or want to make the trip for just one festival. I know M3 has had newer regional bands like Station, Tempt and Wildstreet (mostly at the M-Pre Party events). I'd also agree that most hard rock/melodic rock fans, especially in the US, aren't even aware of many of the newer bands we discuss on the forum, which is a shame. I'd have to disagree though with the point about these newer bands putting out way better music than most of the 80's bands did in their prime. To each their own of course and just a matter of taste/preference. But man, as much as like H.E.A.T. and Eclipse I'd be hard pressed to say I'd prefer any album from them over my favorite albums from the 80's and early 90's from bands like Night Ranger, Tesla, Ratt, LA Guns, Tyketto, etc.

What a start for Simmons Records, House of Lords, Gypsy Rose and this one. All should have been bigger than they were, in my opinion. Not sure if it was of lack of promotion/support or if they just got overlooked due to all the other great albums during that era. Several co-writes with Paul Sabu leads to an understandable comparison to Only Child's debut, but I prefer this one as the songs had better hooks and it rocked harder. While Silent Rage's own debut (Shattered Hearts) had some solid tracks on it, I found this follow up to be a big step forward for the band. The album is full of good tunes, but the title track is probably my favorite.

thanks for sharing the info, between the promo tracks released so far, the band's comments on direction of the music and those potential song titles, I'm thinking this might be their best album yet

I still regularly keep an eye out on discogs, ebay and at resale shops for cds I have on my want list. And there are some on that rarities list I'd be thrilled to add to my collection. Maybe I'll find them one day, but then again I don't know if I could bring myself to ever spend that much money on a used cd. I know when I first started learning about bands, through sites like HH, that weren't big in the USA (during the early 2000's) and I bought some cds, I learned over time some weren't official versions. Ever since that realization I am very cautious who I buy from and do my best to verify through photos and asking questions. It is crazy to me how many unofficial versions of cds are out there nowadays.

I think Tygers sticks to a more traditional 80's hard rock/metal sound than Diamond Head did on their latest, just my opinion though. I enjoyed White Lines more the second time through and that track along with the melodic Love Will Find A Way would be my favorites. While Spoils of War, the ballad Words Cut Like Knives, and the lengthy mid-tempo closing track Sail On didn't really appeal to me. Overall a solid album though.