Frankly, not a lot of music has excited me through the first half of this year. That is, until Alestorm’s ‘No Grave But the Sea’ arrived.

‘Fight for the Rock’ almost put Savatage’s career in a coffin before we got their best work.

A failed attempt to make Motley Crue relevant again, ‘Generation Swine’ is just a bad all-around record.

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.

Celtic Frost was one of the pioneering bands of what would become death and black metal. Then came 1988’s ‘Cold Lake.’

With everything working against it, why do I actually like Metallica’s ‘St. Anger’?

In recent years, I’ve said some pretty negative things about Anthrax frontman Joey Belladonna. I’d like to use this opportunity to take all of those things back.

The biggest letdown with ‘Mixtape’ is that it’s an EP, rather than a long-anticipated album. Still, any new music by Living Colour is cause for celebration.

Arriving at the end of the party-hearty 1980s was a stroke of bad luck for Jackyl. No matter what, though, Jesse James Dupree has stuck to his guns.

Now featuring one-time Motley Crue frontman John Corabi, the Dead Daisies may have found their best lineup on their third record.