New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ RoadRunner Records) We hope you've enjoyed reading all the Top 10 lists we've been posting on our dedicated page, but one stood out for us and demanded special attention.
Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn is so passionate about what he loves, and offered such great write-ups of every record, that we had to spotlight his Top Ten here. Check it out!
10. Darkest Hour, The Human Romance
"Stop sleeping on this album!! Metal done at its finest, by a bunch of dudes who are serious music freaks, and might be the craziest bunch of party animals alive. Do yourself a favor and buy this now."
9. Anthrax, Worship Music
"I wasn't expecting much out of this to be honest, the long public train wreck that unfolded with our friends was a bummer. Plus, I really liked John Bush's voice, but man, this record is just so unbelievably good it stopped me in my tracks. Great songs, great production, great lyrics, and fuck me if Belladonna didn't deliver the vocal performance of his life. Hands down the best he has ever sounded, and the freedom he was allowed (insisted on?) made it all the better, soaring vocal harmonies, power, the quality of his vocal tone, dude had to deliver a Hail Mary and he did. 'In the End' and 'Fight 'Em Til You Can't' are two of the best songs
Anthrax have ever written. GREAT job dudes!"
8. The Beatles, iTunes catalog reissues
"I've heard every one of these songs a million times, and yet getting them all together made me fall in love with the
Beatles all over again. The guitar tone at the beginning lf 'Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band' is one of the heaviest, raunchiest things ever put down in history. And while many bands have tried to cover 'Helter Skelter' and make it heavier, none have come close to the apocalyptic proto-punk, garage-rock feel they captured. 'Eleanor Rigby,' forget it, retarded!"
7.
Jay-Z & Kanye West, Watch the Throne
"I love my mainstream hip hop, I can't help it. What makes this record so freakin' good though, and also why I love Ye's last album, is the production. Going back to the "sound collage" style of early '90s East Coast rap, this record sonically was incredible. Ridiculously good rhymes from both rappers, and the dark political undertones only deepened the beauty of it all."
6. Trivium, In Waves
"Best album since Ascendancy hands down, and probably a better album overall. Great songwriting, great production, great hooks. 'Watch the World Burn' is amazing. Love it."
5. Tyler the Creator, Goblin
"Sick, sick, SICK man!!! So dark, and fucked up. Underground rap at its finest. Thank you Mark from Chimaira."
4) All Shall Perish, This Is Where It Ends
"'The Past Will Haunt Us Both' is simply incredible. They just might be putting the nail in the coffin of this genre at the same time, while they transcend into something greater."
3.
Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs, God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise
"Normally I hate this kind of music, but our drummer Dave McClain turned me onto to this, and it's seriously an absolutely incredible folk/Americana record, I could not stop listening. Ray's voice has so much ache and sadness, 'This Love is Over' is a masterpiece."
2. Ghost, Opus Eponymous
"It took me about four listens, but when I 'got it,' man, it hit me like a ton of bricks, this record simply RULES."
1. Times of Grace, The Hymn of a Broken Man
"This record is unreal. Un-fucking-believable album. SO inspiring. Goosebumps throughout. The passion, the vocal harmonies, the lyrics, SO meaningful and real. Songs about LOVE on a metal record...and they're great??!! Crazy! And when it's pissed, man, look out. What I've always loved about
Jesse Leach'svoice is that it sounds like dude has PROBLEMS!! And I relate. I was really disappointed with where music was going when this came out... and this record literally saved me."
"Honorable mentions: Behemoth, 'Lucifer' video (this video blew my fucking head off. In one fell swoop Nergal just changed the reason metal bands make videos); Dane Cook, Retaliation (SO late to the DC party, just heard it this year, hilarious)."
