As you go through my Best Hard Rock and Metal of 2016 list, you’ll see why I’m calling it the year of the classic thrash band.

Across four careers that leave nothing left to prove, Holland, Potter, Harland and Loueke look to each other for further inspiration on ‘Aziza.’

On the powerful and unrelenting ‘Process and Reality’, Yoshida’s thunderous drums provide the adrenaline as Pinhas and Merzbow supply the clinical soul.

A very topical album, a group of overlooked Southern rockers and the return of a country legend highlight this Best Country and Southern Rock of 2016 list.

Lush, attenuated and unpredictable soundscapes by looping and effects guitar masters make ‘Mu’ a major entry in the celebrated catalogs of both Pinhas and Cleveland.

Alphonse Mouzon was a seminal force in the birth of fusion, and also had a notable impact on rock.

Preston Frazier’s Best Jazz of 2016 list crosses a striking number of musical boundaries from straight-ahead jazz to vocalists to fusion.

The music from Happy Place’s ‘Northfield’ wouldn’t readily be described as cheerful, but it’s intended as a cathartic release, and that’s just what it achieves.

Heart’s ‘Live at the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’ shows a jubilant band obviously thrilled at the prospect of performing in such a storied venue.

Not always tuneful but unfailingly engaging and playful, ‘Hearts and Minds’ exemplifies the best qualities of adventurous Chicago jazz.