Blog Post

After plowing through eleven Mercyful Fate albums in the course of four days, you might think that your faithful scribe would have had enough of material featuring King Diamond. But with the reissues of Diamond’s first albums recorded for Roadrunner being released, as well as the earliest Mercyful Fate albums, as well as the promise of a new album (The Institute), it seemed like the right time to tackle Diamond’s vast discography and attempt to rank them, worst to best. Please note: I started writing this prior to the reissues coming out, so the opinions are based on the releases…

With the suggestion of a new King Diamond album forthcoming, as well as a reissue of all King Diamond and Mercyful Fate albums which used to be on Roadrunner (and which have been long out of print), it seems to be the right time for a “worst to first” list for both. For this particular list, I’m only focusing on Mercyful Fate; King Diamond will follow soon after. Since there are precious few albums in Mercyful Fate’s discography, I am choosing to include EPs, as well as select compilation albums, as long as they include a significant amount of material…

They have been opening their concerts for over 40 years now with the line, “You wanted the best, you got the best!” But, how many studio albums from the legendary hard rock group Kiss can actually live up to that bold statement? There is no denying that the recorded output from Kiss has been cyclical over the years; some albums are met with near universal acclaim, while others are almost completely reviled. But what albums truly contain the best work of this band? That's where I come in; presented for your perusal (as well as certain disdain I'll get from…

When MCA died of cancer in 2013 and the Beasties were put to bed, it was a very sad time for music fans. In the ensuing years, Ad-Rock and Mike D have put together a truly excellent coffee table book of their career and an even better audiobook where they had friends and famous fans read various stories from the book. Then, in 2019, it was announced the guys would be staging live shows directed by longtime friend Spike Jonze where they recounted in-person various stories from the book and the highs and lows of their career. One of these…

This is the type of article I never knew I wanted to write! This is my actual playlist on my iPod, and it’s something I continually update and revise when new songs come into my head. Having written two books and working on a third and putting together my own dissertation has allowed me more access to music and has given me more to time digest and enjoy everything under the sun. These are the best songs I’ve come across in my 34 years, stuff I never get tired of regardless of how many times I hear them. These runner-ups…

“Big Big Train is the antithesis of an overnight success story.”– BBT Manager Nick Shilton, January 2020 Being a music writer of a certain age means having an established set of tastes and expectations and artists whose work pushes one’s buttons. That history and context makes it that much tougher for anyone to storm the gates of the high-walled keep known as “My Favorite Artists.” Progressive rock collective Big Big Train made it inside those walls in 2009 after first coming to my attention in 2007, a decade and a half into the band’s existence, at a time when I’d…

I tried hard to keep this to 101 songs but found myself unable to cut any more from my shortlist of over 150. Some of these songs mean a great deal to me and some mean nothing other than I just love to hear them. I did employ the rule of one song per artist in an effort to give a broader overview of my tastes – I could easily have filled this list with Dylan, Stones and Beatles songs. I also omitted a lot of more recent songs (from say the last ten years) as I haven’t lived with…

When Duke originally pitched this concept to the Vault Staff, there were so many ideas that were floating around in my head in terms of the best way to approach it.... as an official ranking? Could I have multiple songs from the same artist? Are we talking guilty pleasures, the “best 100,” my personal favorite....IT WAS TOO MUCH!So after consulting the oracles, reading the auspices, visiting multiple fortune tellers, and shaking the Magic 8 Ball, I chose a path. This list is my personal favorite songs for a particular artist.... but I did ramp up the difficulty level and only…

I realized several things while contemplating my favorite songs. First, I’m really getting old. Second, I prefer older music. Third, I am somewhat mainstream, but there are exceptions. Fourth, my tastes have changed with the passage of time.I have approached this article by years beginning with the first record I purchased with my own money. That means nothing before 1964. So here is my 57-year journey of favorite songs.1964Jan & Dean -- “Little Old Lady From Pasadena”The first record I ever bought with my own money, so it has to be on the list.Roy Orbison  -- “Oh, Pretty Woman”The first…