Breezy's Top 15 of 2014! Pt.1

Hello all!  The world's worst blogger is back!  It's been a while since I've done a post in the Quarry, but thought I'd better get around to doing my Top 15 of the year.  I was going to try to blog more this past year, but life gets in the way.  At any rate, there was a lot of great music in 2014, and here is my Top 15.  Starting at the bottom...

#15. Night By Night - NXN

Young English upstarts Night By Night arrive on the scene this year with a brilliant album that harkens back to the rocking 80's.  There are a lot of comparisons to Def Leppard, but I hear a bit more an American sound in them ala classic Stryper and Dokken. Regardless, I love that there are bands that still carry the torch and do it with sincerity.  NXN is full of melodic hard rock and big choruses.  Fave tracks include Holding Onto Holding On, Can't Walk Away, and lead off video, A Thousand Lies.  These guys have the chops and talent to run with the big boys, and hopefully they can land a nice opening slot on a tour to bring their brand of melodic hard rock to the masses.  Def Leppard's Canadian tour might be a good place to start ;)  Great stuff.

#14. Gamma Ray - Empire Of The Undead

I've been a fan of Gamma Ray for a long time, but have lost track of them the past few years. I picked up the Master Of Confusion Ep leading up to this record, and was blown away.  I knew Gamma Ray had a monster on their hands.  Empire Of The Undead is classic Gamma Ray: tons of melody, ripping guitar solos, and all the majesty you'd expect.  This record sounds a bit more stripped down than past efforts, and that's a good thing. Check out epic opener, Avalon, the groovy Born To Fly, and the speedy title track. Also of note, the two covers on the Ep are fantastic (Sweet's Lost Angels and Holocaust's Death Or Glory), maybe will be added as bonus tracks on this record at some point. For fans of classic power metal, check this out.

#13. Buzzcocks - The Way

I've always enjoyed a wide variety of music, as long as it is guitar driven, and has some passion and power behind it.  Buzzcocks are one of the original punk bands from the UK in the 70's.  Albums like Another Music In a Different Kitchen and Singles Going Steady have always been in my collection, but I had no idea they were still going. This was my surprise of the year.  Still led by Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle, The Way is an amazing rock record. Tracks like Chasing Rainbows/Modern Times and Keep On Believing wave the punk flag high with great melodies and energy.  Lots of variety in that In The Back has a hint of Bowie, and Virtually Real has a great sci-fi vibe.  A great album, I'm glad I stumbled across it.

#12. Ace Frehley - Space Invader

The mighty Ace Frehley has returned. Finally.  My fave guitarist of all time has released his first record in five years.  I'll be honest, the clips I heard before the album was released didn't really impress me, but after picking up the album and giving it multiple spins, Ace has released his best record since the first Frehley's Comet album. This album is full of Ace's signature guitar riffage, and his spacey vocals.  What Every Girl Wants and I Wanna Hold You (both of which show how important his sound was in the original KISS lineup) are two of the best tracks he has ever written. Ace stays true to his roots, and shows a bit of variety in tracks like Change and a cover of Steve Miller's The Joker. There's talk of another record coming soon, and I'm already looking forward to it! Ack!

 There's my opening batch of fave records from this year!  Lots more to come, and I will do my best to have them all up by the end of the year.  I'd like to promise that I'll blog more in the coming year, but I've said that before!  Enjoy the music, and remember to support the artists and buy their albums!