Happy New Year

I first saw Matt Mays live in December 2004 at Dolan's Pub. My brother, who was working at The Fox at the time, invited me to attend the fundraising event. I had no idea who Matt Mays was at the time, and I don't remember who else performed that night, but over the years I've jumped at every chance to see Matt Mays live: 2005 and 2008 at the SUB Ballroom with Sam Roberts, the CFB Gagetown 50th Anniversary show with the Trews in 2008, the FredRock Festival in 2009 and 2012, and awesome acoustic performances at the Capital Complex in 2011 and the Tide & Boar in Moncton last December.

I'm excited to be bringing in 2015 at the Casino in Moncton with my wife as Matt Mays opens for Big Wreck, who put on a blistering show at FredRock in 2013. I saw Ian Thornley perform at UNB with the Trews back in 2004, and he absolutely blew me away - mixing in Big Wreck songs with his new solo material and tossing in interludes of classic rock songs like Another Brick in the Wall and Won't Get Fooled Again, I was amazed at how talented he was, and I wasn't surprised at all to learn he was askd to join Velvet Revolver years later. Thornley refused when the band requested he put down his guitar and handle vocal duties only.

Thanks to the folks at 105 FM The Fox for the tickets for tonight's show. Should be a dandy.

1980

Top 10 Hard Rock / Heavy Metal LPs in My Collection

Hard rock faced an uncertain future as the 1970's came to a close. Ronnie James Dio had left Rainbow, Ozzy Osbourne was ousted from Black Sabbath, and Kiss was experimenting with the sounds of disco. And before the 1980's were even two months old, AC/DC would lose its front man to the excesses of the rock 'n roll lifestyle. But when all was said and done, 1980 was one of the finest years for hard rock releases. Here are my favorite hard rock / heavy metal albums from 1980 that are in my LP collection:

10. Van Halen - Women and Children First (March 26, 1980)

Van Halen delivers another blistering performance but doesn't quite match up to the standard set on Van Halen I and Van Halen II.

9. Scorpions - Animal Magnetism (March 31, 1980)

German rockers pack a punch here but the album falls short of its predecessor Lovedrive and its successor Blackout.

8. Rose Tattoo - Rose Tattoo (October 1980)

Released in 1978 in the band's homeland of Australia, Rose Tattoo's debut album contains blistering blues with heavy doses of slide guitar.

7. Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden (April 14, 1980)
Iron Maiden's classic debut album featuring original lead singer Paul Di'Anno. Just a sign of great things to come from the band.

6. Def Leppard - On Through the Night (March 14, 1980)

Before selling millions of copies with Pyromania and Hysteria, Def Leppard were New Wave of British Heavy Metal pioneers. The band never rocked quite as hard as they did here on their debut disc.

5. Judas Priest - British Steel (April 14, 1980)

Classic Priest album features shorter and more commercial-sounding metal than previous releases, which helped the band reach mainstream success.

4. Black Sabbath - Heaven & Hell (April 25, 1980)

Ronnie James Dio joined forces with Tony Iommi, originally with the idea of forming a new band, but after rehearsing with the other members of Sabbath, Dio was hired as Ozzy's permanent replacement in the band.

3. Motorhead - Ace of Spades (November 8, 1980)

Lemmy and company pound out a metal masterpiece.

2. AC/DC - Back in Black (July 25, 1980)

Bon Scott's alcohol-related death in February of 1980 didn't stop the band from producing one of the best selling albums of all time with new lead singer Brian Johnson.

1. Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz (UK - September 20, 1980, North America - March 27, 1981)

After being fired from Black Sabbath, Ozzy was nearly broke and in a downward spiral of whiskey and cocaine. But after teaming up with former Quiet Riot guitarist Randy Rhodes, the Prince of Darkness released one of the best metal albums of all time.