‘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.

Asked to pick five favorite Yuletide songs (and only five), our panel of holly-jolly musical enthusiasts offered some occasionally offbeat suggestions.

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.

A key track from Savatage’s ‘Streets: A Rock Opera,’ released 30 years ago this week, made all the difference in the world for one troubled fan.

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.