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The Best of 2007!

In addition to my top picks for 2007, you can also read the top 5 picks from Mike, Pete, and Ty. Since we all have different tastes, it makes more sense to see different folks' opinions.

• Dan's Picks
• Mike's Picks (whiplash 1972)
• Ty's Picks (T-Bone)

Dan's Picks for the Best of 2007

This year was tougher to do than some previous years. There were plenty of excellent releases, but none that stood head and shoulders above the rest, as is normally the case. Trying to rank my top 5 was a major task... I could easily have reordered the top 5.

The Also Rans

Action - S/T
Adrenaline Factor - S/T
Allen-Lande - The Revenge
Alterbridge - Blackbird
American Angel - Vanity
Aska - Absolute Power
Big Guns - Stick Em Up!
Blackboard Jungle - Welcome to the Blackboard Jungle
Blind Guardian - Another Stranger Me EP
Break Point - First Serving
Cage - Hell Destroyer
Kevin Chalfant - Fly Freedom
The Codex - S/T
Compilation - Rock the Bones, Vol. 5
Cornerstone - Two Tales of One Tomorrow
Fahrenheit - Talking 'Bout Love
Fashion Police - A New Minority
Fashion Police - Callin' All the Shots
Fashion Police - Plug It In
Fatal Charm - Looks Like Trouble
Frederiksen-Denander - Baptism by Fire
Goodbye Thrill - S/T
Gotthard - B-Sides
HIM - Venus Doom
Halford - Metal God Essentials Vol. 1
Harem Scarem - Human Nature
House of Lords - Live in the UK
House of Shakira - Retoxed
Gary Hughes - Veritas
Iced Earth - Framing Armageddon
Terry Ilous - Here and Gone
Jaded Heart - Sinister Mind
Keldian - Heaven's gate
Kid Rock - Rock 'n Roll Jesus
Kidd Havok - Roll the Dice
Richie Kotzen - Mother Head's Family Reunion
Lana Lane - Red Planet Boulevard
Load Point Pull - Down in Flames
Meldrum - Blowin' Up the Machine
Paganini - Detox
Pink Cream 69 - In10sity
Ted Poley - Smile
Pretty Vacant - Walkin' on a Tilt
Primal Fear - New Religion
Quade - Rock in Motion
David Readman - S/T
Paul Sabu - Strange Messiah
Sequel - Back
Seven Tears - In Every Frozen Tear
Slash Puppet - No Strings Attached
Sonic X - Thirteen
Soul Doctor - Blood Runs Cold
Switchblade - Rock 'N Roll 4Ever
TRW - Rivers of Paradise
Threshold - The Ravages of Time
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Wal-Mart EP
Joe Lynn Turner - Second Hand Life
Two of a Kind - S/T
Voices of Rock - MMVII
Voyeur - Spank or Be Spanked

Honorable Mentions

Blind Alley - Destination Destiny. A westcoast AOR release on Perris Records??? Yup. And a darned good one too.
Compilation - Lehigh Valley Rocks! Great compilation of local bands from the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton region of Pennsylvania back in the day. Some excellent vintage material from some bands who never appeared on the national stage.
Eden's Curse - S/T. I picked this one up at the MelodicRock.Com 10th Anniversary Concert in october, after hearing Michael Eden perform as part of the opening act. This is exceptional hard rock, strong points being the vocals and production quality.
Gotthard - Domino Effect. Not the absolute gem that Lipservice was, but an incredibly strong album in its own right.
Human Zoo - Over the Horizon. This would have been my 6th place CD for 2007. Excellent German hard rock in the vein of Frontline, older Jaded Heart, and Fair Warning. Very melodic, and Dennis Ward's influence gives it top notch production.
Pride of Lions - The Roaring of Dreams. Opinions seem to be divided on this one, but I hear nothing but classic AOR performed wonderfully. Full of hooks.
Shakra - Infected. This one surprised me. I thought that their previous efforts were adequate, albeit nothing special. Production and song quality is ramped up a notch on this one.
Tyketto - The Last Sunset: Farewell 2007. A surprise release this year, that was immediately sought after by Tyketto fans. While the production quality varies, this is excellent vintage Tyketto.
Within Temptation - The Heart of Everything. Long awaited follow-up to The Silent Force, but not enough standout tracks to vault it to the top.

Dan's Winners

5th Place

The Poodles - Sweet Trade. I missed the debut CD, so I figured I would pick up the sophomore effort to hear what all the hubbub was about. Bottom line: these poodles have a bit of a bite. At times it has more of a Power metal "Gamma Ray" vibe than anything AOR, but the choruses are unmistakeably melodic rock.

4rd Place

Threshold - Dead Reckoning. It's no secret that I'm a big Threshold fan. Their previous CD, Subsurface, was my second place pick for 2004 CD of the year. While most prog is somewhat dry and inaccessible, the vocals and choruses that Threshold puts forth makes their material much more listenable for someone who isn't a prog diehard. Dead Reckoning continues in that tradition of melodic choruses and impeccable production, while adding something a little new in the occasional death growls done by Dan Swano

3rd Place

Nightingale - White Darkness. This band was a discovery for me this year. It's been around for ages, the brainchild of Swedish death metal growler Dan Swano (Edge of Sanity, Katatonia, Bloodbath). Now hold on, before you dismiss it, the vocals on the Nightingale albums are clean and surprisingly melodic. Think of a darker-edged progressive melodic rock with vocal stylings ala Gordon Lightfoot. Don't take my word for it, give a listen to the title track (12MB).

2nd Place

Circus Maximus - Isolate. What??? Another melodic prog CD (do you sense a trend)? But Dan! You [b]hate[/b] prog music! Yeah, I usually do... but 2007 turned out some *REALLY* good accessible prog CDs, and this one is the best of the best. Imagine well-produced prog rock ala Images and Words-era Dream Theater, but with Tony Harnell from TNT on lead vocals. The vocals are what sell this CD. Highly listenable with great replay value. Check out my favorite track, Wither (8.8 MB).

Dan's Pick for 2007 Heavy Harmonies CD of the Year

Scorpions - Humanity Hour 1. There are comeback albums... and then there's Humanity Hour 1. 2004's Unbreakable was ok but hardly memorable. It looked as if Klaus and the boys were playing the role of aging rockers to perfection and just riding off into the sunset... NOT! There is not a bad song on this CD, and the songwriting and execution may rank this disc in the top 5 albums of their 38-year career. The choruses are heartfelt and memorable. I honestly didn't think they had an album like this left in them. The production is phenomenal, thanks to melodic rock mainstay Desmond Child. This CD also contains my favorite song of 2007, You're Loving Me to Death (7.5MB)

Mike's Picks for the Best of 2007

The Also Rans

Action - Action
Amaran's Plight - Voice in the Light
American - Angel Vanity
Sebastian Bach - Angel Down
Big Guns - Stick Em Up!
BlackBoard Jungle - Welcome to the Blackboard Jungle
Black 'n Blue - Rarities
Bon Jovi - Lost Highway
Compilations - Lehigh Valley Rocks: The Best Of 1984 - 1994
Crashdiet - The Unattractive Revolution
Crossfire - Dirty Games
Crystal Ball - Secrets
DC4 - Explode
Dirty Penny - Take It Sleezy
Dokken - From Conception: Live 1981
Fatal Charm - Looks Like Trouble
Frankie Banali and Friends - 24/7/365: The Tribute to Led Zeppelin
Glamour - The Mood
Glorious Bankrobbers - The Glorious Sound of Rock n Roll
Goodbye Thrill - Goodbye Thrill
Great White - Back to the Rhythm
House of Lords - Live In The UK
Terry Ilous - Here and Gone
Jaded Heart - Sinister Mind
Keldian - Heaven's Gate
Kelly Keagy - I'm Alive
Kidd Havok - Roll the Dice
Koritni - Lady Luck
Jorn Lande - Unlocking The Past
The Lec Zorn Project - It Began in the Underground
Letter 7 - Salt Of The Earth
Lillian Axe - Waters Rising
Los Angeles - Los Angeles
MPG - Road To Salvation
Mariah - III
Million Dollar Reload - Anthems Of A Degeneration
JK Northrup - Wired In My Skin
The Order - Metal Casino
Ozzy Osbourne - Black Rain
Pink Cream 69 - In10sity
Poison - Poison'd!
Queensryche - Take Cover
REO Speedwagon - Find Your Own Way Home
Redline - Ignition
Roadstar - Glass Mountain
Roulette - Pull The Trigger / Reloaded
Saliva - Blood Stained Love Story
Shakra - Infected
Shannon - World of Desire
Shylock - Devotion
Silent Force - Walk the Earth
Slash Puppet - No Strings Attached
Sonic X - Thirteen
Soul Circus - Dirty Little Habit
Soul Doctor - Blood Runs Cold
Stiletto - Stiletto
Sweet F.A. - The Lost Tapes
Tesla - Real to Reel
Tommy Had A Vision - Scarred for Life
The Undecided - III
Tyketto - The Last Sunset: Farewell 2007
Union Mac - Lost In Attraction
Voices of Rock - MMVII
White Wolf - Victim of the Spotlight
Wig Wam - Live in Tokyo
Winger - Demo Anthology
Winger - Winger - Live

Honorable Mentions

Burn - Global Warning.Great comeback from UK rockers Burn; narrowly missed my top 5!
CC-Rock - EP. Cool little release of ultra catchy, slightly modern melodic rock; "Angel" is a GREAT song!
Kevin Chalfant - Fly 2 Freedom. Superbly done tribute to Journey
Dismantle - More Rock and Roll. Kickass, dirty, sleaze-tinged hard rock from Detroit.
Eden's Curse - Eden's Curse. Awesome debut from Michael Eden, Paul Logue and company
Frederiksen-Denander - Baptism By Fire. "Right Heart, Wrong time" is one my favorite songs of 2007; a very strong release!
Gotthard - Domino Effect. Not quite up to the lofty standards set by "Lipservice", but another great Gotthard release nonetheless!
Harlequin - Waking The Jester. This one was a big surprise for me; fantastic bluesy melodic rock!
Hell N' Diesel - Passion For Power. Excellent freshman release from these Swedish sleaze rockers; "Sweet Sister" and "Crosses" simply ROCK!
Loverboy - Just Getting Started. Totally unexpected and totally awesome comeback from Loverboy; a must own!
Night Ranger - Hole in the Sun. A more modern sound on the majority of the songs, but well done for the most part; "There is Life" and "Revelation 4 AM" are quite excellent!
Axel Rudi Pell - Diamonds Unlocked. THIS is how you do a covers album; take good songs and add your own touch to them!
Ted Poley - Smile. I like Ted's previous release "Collateral Damage" a bit better, but still, another fine effort from the D2 frontman.
David Readman - David Readman. Far better than the latest PC 69 offering IMO; "New Messiah" is one of my favorite tunes of 2007!
Redrum - No Turning Back. Another fine vocal performance from the one and only Michael Bormann; it's a shame this one has been given little to NO promotion.
Rob Rock - Garden of Chaos. My favorite melodic metal release of the year; "This Time is the Last Time" SMOKES!
Rockarma - Bring It! Super catchy tunes like "Badjune", "Get Me Out of This Hole" & "Lets Go" have this late 2007 release nearly sneaking into my top 5! Killer stuff!
Scorpions - Humanity Hour 1. It pains me to omit this one from my top 5, but due to the "sameness" of several tracks, it just barely misses. Still, a killer release from the Scorps nonetheless!
The Screamin' Lords - Long Live Me. Take Fastway & Funny Money, throw 'em in a blender, and you've got the sound of The Screamin' Lords; "Gladrags & Limozenes" is a fantastic tune!
Shaw/Blades - Influence. Again, a covers album can work well if good song choices are made, and the covering artist(s) adds their signature sound/touches to them!

Mike's Winners

5th Place

Stormzone - Caught In The Act Released early in 2007, I have come back to this little jewel time and time again throughout the year. Fans of Whitesnake and Deep Purple will find plenty to enjoy on this release, as well as those who simply enjoy the "classic" hard rock sound done well. I can't wait to see what Harv and the guys come up with on their sophomore release!

4th Place

Crazy Lixx - Loud Minority. With killer tracks like "Hell or High Water", "Dr Hollywood", "Want It" and "Heroes Are Forever", Crazy Lixx have delivered what is easily the best sleaze release of the 2007! Capturing the same energy and vibe of fellow Swedes CrashDiet from their 2005 release "Reast in Sleaze", Crazy Lixx have set the standard for sleaze this year! Keep it up guys!

3rd Place

Human Zoo - Over The Horizon. Somehow, I missed out on Human Zoo's 2006 release "Precious Time", but thankfully, I picked up "Over the Horizon" earlier this year, and have loved it ever since! From hard rockers like "Over the Horizon" & "Communicate", to lighter fare such as "Be the One" and my personal favorite, "Lovin You", this is one killer release. Check this one out asap if you have not already done so; you will not be disappointed!

2nd Place

Kid Rock - Rock n Roll Jesus. Ok, I know some site regulars are probably going "Kid Rock, WTF?", but trust me, if you've never given Kid a chance before, now is the time to do so, as you're missing out on a GREAT CD! From slower efforts such as "Amen" and "Blue Jeans & a Rosary" to the all out rock of "So Hott", the rap-rock of "Sugar", and the absolutely infectious "All Summer Long", this CD features a little something for just about everyone. Check it out!

Mike's Pick for 2007 Heavy Harmonies CD of the Year

The Poodles - Sweet Trade. Oddly enough, the first time I listened to "Sweet Trade", I wasn't overly impressed. I thought it was a decent enough follow-up to "Metal Will Stand Tall", but nothing had really grabbed me as I listened to it. But then, with each subsequent listen, I found myself enjoying the hooks, choruses, & musicianship more and more, and before I knew it, I was listening to the CD every few days, and loving it more each time; this CD is a true "grower" if ever there was one! From excellent rockers like "Flesh & Bones" and "Seven Seas" to the absolutely beautiful ballad "Shine", The Poodles have crafted a truly SUPERB release, and I can not wait to hear what they follow this one up with. FANTASTIC release guys; well done!

Ty's Picks for the Best of 2007

The Also Rans

Crashdiet - The Unattractive Revolution
Great White - Back To The Rhythm
Fatal Charm - Looks Like Trouble
Ozzy Osbourne - Black Rain
Mad Max - White Sands
Pretty Vacant - Walkin On A Tilt
Axel Rudi Pell - Diamonds Unlocked
Dirty Penny Take It Sleezy
Kidd Havok - Roll the Dice
Jaded Heart - Sinister Mind

Honorable Mentions

Action - Action. Great production and vocals. 80's Flashback!
Eden's Curse - S/T. Michael Eden has a great voice. This CD is a MUST HAVE!
Sebastian Bach - Angel Down. Sebastians voice sounds even stronger now than back in the Skid Row days. Well worth the 6 year wait on this cd.
Ted Poley - Smile. Another Ted Poley masterpiece. Continues right where Collateral Damage left off
Loverboy - Just Getting Started. Wow! I didn't think Loverboy could play or write like this anymore. Proved me wrong!
Kevin Chalfant - Fly 2 Freedom. Excellent job covering the Journey material. He definitely does Journey justice.
Ronnie Borchert - Change. The Trixie mainman shows off his solo material and does a great job. I really liked this CD.
Crazy Lixx - Loud Minority. Catchy hooks and guitarwork.
Crystal Ball - Secrets. Another Crystal Ball masterpiece. They also seem to follow a specific formula, and it works out well!
Scorpions - Humanity Hour 1. Another release that I wasn't too sure of until I heard the samples. The Scorpions can still rock with the best of them!
Shannon - World of Desire. After hearing their 2003 Self Titled release, I figured I'd give this a try. Good material, but a 10+ song release would have put them further up the chain.

Ty's Winners

5th Place

Redrum - No Turning Back. After hearing one tune from these guys that appeared on the MelodicRock.com Sampler, I waited anxiously for the full CD's release, especially with Michael Bormann on vocals. Bormann never seems to let me down no matter what he sings on, and this was no exception. Well worth the wait.

4th Place

Shakra - Infected. This one took me by surprise. Their last effort, "Fall", wasn't too bad, but also didn't really knock me out like some of their previous releases. I heard some of the samples of their new CD before its release and they were pretty catchy, so I decided to take the plunge and get it. After I got it, it stayed in my player for a long time. Catchy was an understatement. This CD just plain floored me!

3rd Place

Gotthard - The Domino Effect I became a Gotthard fan when I heard the first three CD's. After those, they seemed to lose a little of their hard rock edge in favor of more smooth melodic type music. Although the mid-years were decent, it just didn't seem like Gotthard to me.. Until last years Lip Service came out. They once again regained their harder rock sound that I love, and this CD continues on that path like a Swiss freight train! Excellent production, vocals and guitar work here.

2nd Place

David Readman - S/T. Another Dennis Ward produced CD that comes out shining. David Readman has one of the most versatile voices in rock and although he's the PC69 mainman, he also shows what he can do as a solo artist. Great songs and musicianship, as well as an All- Star line-up!

Ty's Pick for 2007 Heavy Harmonies CD of the Year

Pink Cream 69 - In10sity. What can I say? Pink Cream 69 uses a tried and true formula for their material and again, they come out winners. Songwriting and musicianship are great, and only 2nd to Dennis Wards production wizardry.

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