Blue October's Foiled released in 2006 is certified platinum but that's not why you should or shouldn't listen to it. The music created by this Texas band is what should get your attention. It's heartfelt, honest and though somewhat surreal, its very easy to connect with. My personal favorites from this album are "X Amount Of Words" and "Drilled A Wire Through My Cheek". Placed next to one another on the album, these 2 songs will cut you with their groovy and soulful edges. There are of course many other good songs on this album but I have to request that if you don't listen to any other songs on this album, just listen to these two. I'm done explaining it, JUST GET IT ALREADY! : )

Ministry ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ {Psalm 69}

Ministry's ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ also known as Psalm 69 is an album that is likely in any industrial fan's collection. ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ, which is printed directly on the record, is Greek for "leader". Ministry has so many great albums I had a difficult time choosing which to talk about but this is one of their best in my opinion. "Jesus Built My Hotrod" which features The Butthole Surfers' Gibby Haynes on vocals is a classic & probably one of Ministry's most well-known. Another one of my favorites on this album is "TVII", I can never get enough of this song and I've been listening to this album for about 13 years. "Scarecrow" is another of my favorites, the long, drawn out vocals and guitars make this a dramatic song and the lyrics bring in darkness that connects: "Staring in the face of condemnation.... Laughter fills the sky instead of rain..... Scarecrow.....". The whole album is great, I really can't narrow it down. If I don't stop here I'll go through every song. My point is: This album is worth listening to from beginning to end many times over. Pick it up now and get started!

Sublime's Album 40 Oz. To Freedom is an album I ended up not hearing until years after the death of Bradley Nowell in 1996. In fact the first Sublime I heard was on the radio since I was so far away from where the music originated in Southern California. The first songs I heard were off the Sublime self titled album (well after Bradley's death). When I heard those few songs I grabbed the album as soon as I could and listened to it over and over until I was burnt on it. I love Sublime. When I first heard 40oz To Freedom I didn't even know there was another album by sublime. Little did I know they have dozens of bootlegs out there in the scene. When I got my hands on a copy of this cd I overplayed it as well. I played it until it wouldn't play anymore. I had never heard music like this and haven't since. 40oz Remains untouched in my book. This album is one that not only is good for listening from beginning to end but also many times over. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up now! Also you may or may not know that one of the many bootlegs out there is called "The Missing Shit" its the missing songs from 40oz To Freedom. If you're very lucky you can find them in the same place. I've made it easy for you. Grab this one now and get it in your cd player a.s.a.p.!

Black Label Society Shot To Hell

Black Label Society's Shot To Hell 2006 album was not my introduction to BLS but it was the first album I ever owned by them. Blessed Hellride was actually my introduction to this awesome metal band, when I heard that cd for the first time I knew this band was something I was going to like. Then I found out that the brains behind the band: Zakk Wylde, was the guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne on his solo projects. No wonder this guy's so good, he's got some real experience in the scene. Zakk Wylde is a great guitarist who really knows what sounds good where & he puts it all together beautifully too. ...So I got this album not having heard it before but something was telling me it would be worth it. Well... what an understatement. This album is fucking excellent! From start to end this album is a keeper and it stays near my cd player at all times. I like to point out one song on an album for this blog but this one has a few I'm going to name. "Sick of it all" the slow song and "faith is blind" a more upbeat song, are my favorites on this album, but I don't skip forward to them I just let this one play all the way through and you should too. Pick it up now!

Jimi Hendrix Experience Axis - Bold As Love

Axis - Bold As Love is a great record by any standard. But this album goes in by blog mainly for the track: If 6 Was 9. I originally heard this song on the movie "Easy Rider" and loved it, from then on I searched until I found the original album it was released on: Axis- Bold As Love. This one, like any Jimi album is good from beginning to end. Every album has it's strengths and weaknesses but this one is pretty solid. If 6 Was 9 rocks my ass every time I hear it. Pick it up!

ohGr Welt

Welt is ohGr's debut album released in 2001. Just in case you don't know who Ogre is, he was in the influential & groundbreaking industrial band Skinny Puppy. In Skinny Puppy he was known as Nivek Ogre, but his real name is Kevin Ogilvie. ohGr is Ogilvie doing his own thing and he does it unlike any other, producing sounds like you've never heard and music that cannot be easily defined but is so damned groovy it keeps your attention. I love ohGr and this album was my introduction to the real Kevin Ogilvie and what he is capable of. Welt originally stood for {when everyone learns truth} and is a project Ogilvie had been trying to get out to the public for quite a while but had some difficulties doing so. I'm glad it finally got straightened out because the world wouldn't be the same without this album, get it now!

Stevie Ray Vaughan The Sky Is Crying

Stevie Ray Vaughan's The Sky Is Crying is a posthumous compilation that was released in 1991 about a year after Stevie's untimely death in 1990. Stevie's Electric Blues style is unmatched by any other and his heavy influence by psychedelic artists of early classic rock and blues shows through in this compilation. This album contains some of the most amazing songs I've ever heard. SRV's cover of the Jimi Hendrix tune "Little Wing" won a grammy but that's not why you should listen to it. It's simply an awesome song. Grab this album and put it on VERY loud. Whether you play guitar or not, whether you like blues or not... SRV will get your attention and keep it.

Johnny Cash American IV: The Man Comes Around

Johnny Cash's The Man Comes Around is the final album by legendary Johnny Cash and he went out with quite a bang. This album says something to our generation that will never be forgotten. The Man In Black is still The Man In Black. Cash only wrote one song for this album and that's the title track. In fact, only three songs on this album were written by Cash, the rest are cover songs done only the way he could to them. Covering some great songs from a completely new generation, he makes the statement that if you're good, you're good. If you're good enough, your music will move through the generations smoothly instead of fading away like so many others. The title song on this album is probably my favorite but this album is good all the way through. Pick it up.

Chemlab Suture

Chemlab's Suture is an album with some surprises for you. If you have some Chemlab albums already and don't have this one, you'd better grab it now. Labeled as Coldwave Industrial by many, Chemlab has an industrial sound unlike any other. I've met Jared Louche, {the brains behind Chemlab} a couple of times and I can tell you that as long as he's alive his twisted mind will always make some of the most unique and groovy industrial music out there. Get it!

Pigface Fook

Pigface's Fook is one of Pigface's best albums and one of my favorites. This album is fucking great all the way through and Martin Atkins is a god in the industrial scene, he's been doing it for as long as anybody and it shows with his amazing live shows and excellent album releases. Pick this one up and add it to your Pigface collection. If you don't have a Pigface collection... you'd better get started.

Puscifer V Is For Vagina

Puscifer's V Is For Vagina is a result of what happens when Maynard James Keenan (Most notably of the bands A Perfect Circle & Tool) is left to his own devices. Something great of course. Even if you don't like Tool you need to get this because Puscifer stands on it's own apart from Tool in every way. MJK has collaborated with numerous talents and released something of his own. Maynard is the brains behind this interesting band name so you can rest assured its good stuff. In fact its fucking excellent. The song "Sour Grapes" is one of my favorite songs but this album is very enjoyable from beginning to end. Pick it up and enjoy Puscifer's unique flavour.

Pink Floyd The Wall

Pink Floyd's The Wall speaks for itself. Not much needs to be said about this album, I'm posting this for you young'ns out there who may like some of the other tunes on this blog but wouldn't touch classic rock with a ten foot pole because your parents like it. Ignore what your parents like and get this album. It's a must have for anyone. If you need a more visual and visceral experience also check out the movie of the same name. Its chock full of great animated visual sequences and psychodrama and is a must see for anyone who likes psychedelic or classic rock music.

Haloblack Tension Filter {out of print}

Haloblack's Tension Filter, Now out of print, is an album that's hard to find even used. It's a great and very rare industrial album from 1994. Haloblack has been associated with acts such as Chemlab, Hellbent, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult and others, not that that means anything in terms of the music made by this band. The fact is this is an excellent industrial album on its own and if you like industrial music this should be in your collection. Pick it up and enjoy the dark sounds of this rare electronic album. We all look forward to the re-release of this album which I've heard is in the making.

Hank III & Assjack This Ain't Country {Unreleased}

Hank Williams III & Assjack's This Ain't Country is definitely an album worth having. Unfortunately this album has not been released. It can be only be found on underground sites or filesharing communities as far as I know. Don't let this one slip away, this album is fucking great. A strange but excellent mix of dirt road music and heavy metal punk, this album is unmatched in its originality. Hank 3 has it in his blood: he's a goddamned good performer. Hank 3 Rocks ASS! Pick up this album and share it with everyone you know. Make sure to look for it when it finally is released and buy it. Support the artists you appreciate.

White Zombie Let Sleeping Corpses Lie

Let Sleeping Corpses Lie is a 4 disc set by White Zombie. This album encompasses their entire career all the way back to the 1980's. Yes they were active then, you just didn't know it unless you were in their area. That area was New York. They were playing shows with a noise rock sound then. Along the line they switched a few musicians and the band evolved to the groove based metal sound they became known for in their later years. The band broke up in 1998 when lead singer Rob Zombie released his Debut Solo Album: Hellbilly Deluxe. Pick up this timeless Zombie collection and add it to your shares.

Deadboy & The Elephantmen If This Is Hell Then I'm Lucky

If This Is Hell Then I'm Lucky, released in 2002 is the first album by a band called Deadboy & The Elephantmen who I became interested in because the lead singer of Acid Bath & Agents Of Oblivion is the man who started the band. While I originally wanted to hear this because I was very curious and anxious to hear the next thing the talented Dax Riggs was ready to give us, I quickly found it was good enough to stand on its own and not be associated with Acid Bath or Agents Of Oblivion at all. The only thing that may remind you of Acid Bath or Agents is Dax's songwriting, which is perfectly okay with me because that is what attracted me to Acid Bath in the first place. Dax hadn't released anything of his own since "Agents of Oblivion" in 2000 and this album once again amazed. Pick this one up and enjoy the haunting and psychedelic songs from start to end.

Gov't Mule Dose

Gov't Mule's Dose will enlighten you to just how great blues metal can be. If you don't have it yet, pick this album up now! I first heard the track "John The Revelator" long before i got the album. I wondered who this amazing song could have been performed by for a year or two until i found out it was Gov't Mule. Some amazingly talented and fully seasoned musicians. Warren Haynes, a member of Allman Brothers Band for many years is the Vocalist, Guitarist and songwriter for this excellent southern rock/blues group. This album is great from beginning to end. A feat not many albums achieve. Songs like "Blind Man In The Dark", "Raven Black Night & the cover of traditional blues/gospel call-&-response song "John The Revelator" make this an album that will never be far from my cd player. Pick this one up and share it with everyone. While many artists have covered the ancient song "John The Revelator", Gov't Mule's version stands out the most to me. But that's just one of the great songs on this album. Though it may sound like a christian thing, it's not. Its just a blues thing. The song "Blind Man In The Dark" starts this album off and that's all it will take to keep you listening, this excellent song will pull you in. Get it now!

I, Parasite On This Cold Floor

Just when you thought industrial was dying a cold, lonely death you find something like I, Parasite's On This Cold Floor . Released in 2003, I can't believe i just found this album last year in 2008. It's a great industrial album. The title track "Cold Floor" became one of my favorite industrial tracks the first time i heard it. Grab this album, put it on, and turn it up VERY loud. If you have a taste for electronic or industrial music I think you'll enjoy it.

Requiem For A Dream Soundtrack

The Requiem For A Dream Soundtrack is one soundtrack you shouldn't let slip by. I don't know if you've seen the movie but if you did have the guts to watch it through you probably noticed its a very real movie with a very surreal soundtrack. This is Darren Aronofsky, Clint Mansell and Kronos Quartet doing their thing, and I tell you what: they do it mighty well. If you pick up this album you'll listen to it over and over, it's fucking amazing.

Nine Inch Nails Halo 08DE The Downward Spiral Deluxe Edition

Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral Deluxe Edition (Halo 08DE), released in 2004 is packed with a load of extra goodies that the original does not have. The Deluxe Edition of this album is a 2 disc set. On the second disc is one of my favorite NIN songs: "A Violet Fluid". Originally from the "March of the Pigs" single this song is an instrumental tidbit made by Trent and his multi-talented buddies that goes largely overlooked. Except by me. The March of the Pigs single was the first single I ever bought of Nine Inch Nails' so I listened to it a lot, and as you may well know there are a lot of NIN singles to be found. I have always liked The Downward Spiral from the first time I heard it. "A Violet Fluid" just didn't make it to the final cut. Since it showed up as a b-side to "March of the Pigs" though, I just happened to get my hands on it. Pick this album up and check out some songs you may not have heard before.

Screamin' Jay Hawkins Voodoo Jive

Screamin' Jay Hawkins' Voodoo Jive is a must have. If you haven't heard this crazyman do his thing then you haven't heard anything. Screamin' Jay Hawkins was one of the first shock-rockers ever and his amazing showmanship and wild singing talents still heavily influence many artists after so many years. "Frenzy" is one of my favorite songs of all time. Make sure to pick this one up & give it a listen.

Alice In Chains Dirt Special Edition

Alice In Chains' Dirt Special Edition is a must have for any Alternative, Metal or Alice In Chains fan. "Dirt" is likely the best AIC album ever released next to the "Jar Of Flies" EP. This album is full of great songs from beginning to end. I'm sure you've heard many of the songs already and if you are already familiar with the album, the Special Edition version has a few extras that the original did not have. Pick this up for sure.

Acid Bath - When The Kite String Pops

Acid Bath's When The Kite String Pops is an amazing psychedelic metal album with excellent dark and beautiful imagery and plenty of variation in each song through the entire album. Rotten Records has a gem in this one as Acid Bath are no more and will never be. Pick this one up and keep it around... even if you don't listen to it for a while. There is other material to be found by Acid Bath if you look hard enough too. They have a second album called "Paegan Terrorism Tactics" which is also amazing in every way. They have a DVD called "Acid Bath Double Live Bootleg" which can be found. Underground P2P, Torrent and other filesharing sites will always have other hard to find and rare bootleg performances in digital audio formats. If you keep an eye out you can find them. Pick this up and enjoy!