‘Peacemaker’ probably would have been fun without the interesting musical choices, but its glam-metal soundtrack makes the HBO Max series so much better.

Fred Phillips’ Best of 2021 Hard Rock and Metal also includes Black Label Society, Durbin, Ad Infinitum, Cody Jinks, Unto Others and Iron Maiden, among others.

This compilation arrived 10 years ago today with few surprises for diehard Judas Priest fans. The intriguing part was who chose which song – and why.

The Black Album arrived 30 years ago today, hurtling Metallica into the mainstream. It felt like something sacred had been taken away.

Live music was back, Anti-Mortem was back and, for at least a few hours, all was right with the world.

This year has been lousy for a lot of reasons, but as this Best of 2020 list shows, hard rock and heavy metal were not among them.

Yes, Durbin came from ‘American Idol’ – and yes, I’m banging my head and throwing horns with a big, stupid grin on my face because it’s glorious.

At times, Amaranthe’s ‘Manifest’ is so poppy that I feel almost embarrassed to crank it up, but then it swings around and punches you square in the face.

Anti-Mortem’s “Old Washita” and “STFU” have given me more joy lately than is probably sane and healthy for an adult.

I’m not sure what made me click on ‘Child’ from ‘Hunter Gatherer’ after steadfastly ignoring Avatar for years, but I’m glad that I did.