Bring Back Glam! Best Albums of 2011

It's that time again!

It's hard to believe it's the end of the year and before you know it, we'll all be ringing in 2012. To mark the end of the year, Bring Back Glam! is happy to present the best albums of 2011. Like last year, Christian and Brian helped me compile this list. Here's the list in no real order... except for the top spot of course!

The Pretty Reckless - Light Me Up (Allyson's selection)
Nickelback - Here and Now (Allyson's selection)
Anthrax - Worship Music  (Brian's selection)
Primus - Green Naugahyde  (Brian's selection)
Don Jamieson - Live and Hilarious  (Brian's selection)
Black Veil Brides - Set the World on Fire (Christian's selection)
Chickenfoot - III (Christian's selection)
Alice Cooper - Welcome 2 My Nightmare (Christian's selection)
Steel Panther - Balls Out (Allyson's selection)

Drumroll please...

What was the best record of 2011 (according to Allyson)? This was a no brainer. Asking Alexandria released Reckless and Relentless in April. After I saw the band at Rock on the Range (with guest performer Sebastian Bach) I was pretty much hooked. Asking Alexandria has gotten me through a lot of really hard runs these past few months and Reckless and Relentless (along with the band's other releases) has made me very happy. I haven't listened to any other album - from any year, genre or band - more than Reckless and Relentless in 2011.

Please visit these other fine websites to check out their best of 2011 lists!

The Crash Pad of Ray Van Horn, Jr. - http://www.rayvanhornjr2.blogspot.com/

All Metal Resource - http://allmetalresource.com/

Hair Metal Mansion - http://hairbangersradio.ning.com/

Hard Rock Hideout - http://hardrockhideout.com/

Hard Rock Nights - http://hardrocknights.com

Heavy Metal Addiction - http://heavymetaladdiction.com/

Heavy Metal Time Machine - http://metalmark.blogspot.com/

Imagine Echoes - http://www.imagineechoes.com/

Layla's Classic Rock - http://laylasclassicrock.blogspot.com/

Metal Excess - http://metalexcess.com/

Metal Odyssey - http://metalodyssey.wordpress.com/

The Ripple Effect - http://www.ripplemusic.blogspot.com/

Check Out This Awesome Kix Audio from 1985

My friend Todd (you know him as KixRules) sent me an email last week about an awesome Kix concert (audio only) posted on YouTube. The concert is from 1985 and took place at a club called the Sandbar in Pasadena, Maryland. Spend some time and have a listen. You won't regret it!

"Midnite Dynamite"

"Cold Shower"

"Walkin' Away"

"Bang Bang Balls of Fire"

"Restless Blood"

Van Halen Tour Time

Did Santa put a little money in your stocking for Christmas? If so, you might want to swap that green for some Van Halen tickets. The band is going on tour in 2012 and tickets go on sale January 10.

The tour announcement trailer was shot last month at the Roxy in Hollywood. In the clip below, the band is apparently performing a new song... but all we get are snippets of "the classics." Van Halen will (apparently) release a new record in February to coincide with the tour. On the announcement art (left), the date is listed as 2-7-12. That's either the first date of the tour, or the album release. Maybe both.

So the important question: will you go to this tour? I'm on the fence. I saw the Van Halen reunion tour twice last go' round - and those tickets were not cheap. I'll need some more information before I plunk down a ton of cash again. That said, I'm excited for the new album. I'm just hoping it's an album of all new material - and not a couple of new songs with greatest hits mixed in.

ShipRocked 2011 Flashback Video

If you didn't sail on ShipRocked last month, you might want to check out what you missed. You can go ahead and pre-book ShipRocked 2012 now... and after watching the clip below, I'm pretty sure you'll want to... just saying.

ShipRocked 2011 Flashback from ShipRocked on Vimeo.

Your next chance to get ShipRocked is November 27-December 1, 2012 once again aboard the MSC Poesia. Start planning.

Merry Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas, Glam fans! It's hard to believe it is Christmas day once again. This calls for Christmas music! Who better to sing a traditional carol than Spinal Tap?! Here's their beloved classic "Christmas with the Devil."

Gotthard Will Play Sweden Rock Festival

Gotthard has a new singer now... and the band has just announced a slot at the 2012 Sweden Rock festival. It has dawned on me that Gotthard would be yet another great band to play M3. Maybe the promoters of M3 are reading my site and taking hints? 

Anyway, here's the Sweden Rock announcement.

1992 seemed like the worst possible year to be a traditional, melodic hard-rock debutante. Still, Swiss band Gotthard were an instant and tremendous success. From their second album ”Dial hard” (1994) and onwards, all their records hit the #1-spot – all in all eleven (!) of them. After over a million albums sold domestically, it was obviously time to look abroad, including memorable appearances at SRF. Everything was brought to an abrupt and tragic halt in October 2010, when singer Steve Lee died in a traffic accident. The support of their fans and the blessing of Steve’s parents encouraged the surviving members to continue. After auditioning a multitude of candidates, Nic Maeder has been chosen to take Gotthard into the future. A new album will be released this spring, and SRF 2012 represents a cherished reunion for band and fans alike – the new Gotthard’s first appearance on Swedish soil.

Around 70 bands will perform on our 5 stages next summer. The following bands have been confirmed so far:

MÖTLEY CRÜE
SOUNDGARDEN
LYNYRD SKYNYRD
MOTÖRHEAD
SEBASTIAN BACH
BLUE ÖYSTER CULT
DIMMU BORGIR
SYMPHONY X
GOTTHARD
EDGUY
GAMMA RAY
DANKO JONES
EXODUS
ELECTRIC BOYS
SLADE
TYGERS OF PAN TANG
GIRLSCHOOL
PENTAGRAM
SAINT VITUS
BONAFIDE
KATATONIA
HELL
SACRED REICH
GRAVEYARD

Merry RATT-mas

Our favorite RATT n' Roller Stephen Pearcy tweeted an awesome "back-in-the day" Christmas card last night. It's so epic I just had to post for all of you! This may well be the coolest Christmas card of all time. Check out Robbin! And Warren! Rejoice.