Zakk Wylde’s “Sleeping Dogs” makes a good promise for ‘Book of Shadows II.’ Here’s hoping the rest of the album delivers on it.

Picking a Best of 2015 list wasn’t easy. A few albums were outstanding, but I sometimes had a hard time finding new music that connected.

Uncompromising, unafraid and utterly cool, the late Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister embodied the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll.

‘Condition Human’ marks the full return of the Queensryche that I know and love.

Experimental French quartet Louis Minus XVI’s ‘Kindergarten’ is easier to like because it’s harder to pin down.

The campy Halloween film ‘Trick or Treat’ doesn’t hold up so well anymore. But Fastway’s original soundtrack? That’s another matter entirely.

‘The Pale Emperor,’ more than any from Marilyn Manson in the intervening years, seems like the natural successor to ‘Mechanical Animals.’

Kiss’ ‘Sonic Boom,’ released on Oct. 6, 2009, was packed with hooks, anthemic choruses, and a lifetime supply of innuendo. What’s not to like?

Does ‘Repentless’ match Slayer’s classics? Not really. But it’s probably the best complete album they’ve done in decades and, for me, that’ll do.

Savatage’s classic ‘Hall of the Mountain King,’ released on Sept. 28, 1987, was an eye-opening experience for first-time producer Paul O’Neill.