Top 10 Rock & Metal Albums of 2010...And Top 3 E.P's

1) Fozzy - Chasing The Grail

Anyone who read my end of year review on Rocksins (read that here) would know that I picked Fozzy for my album of the year, narrowly over Alter Bridge. The groove metal / heavy rock of Chasing The Grail never left my car cd player or iPod from the moment I acquired the album and grew on me with every listen. Martyr No More is one of the all time classic groove metal songs with one of the finest main riffs I've ever heard and the song live incites a crowd reaction something like a bomb going off. Other awesome tracks include Let The Madness Begin and God Pounds His Nails. The album is one big highlight from start to finish and would appeal to fans of bands ranging from Pantera to Metallica to the Foo Fighters and everywhere in between. Having a multi time WWF/WWE world champion as your singer and frontman doesn't do the band any harm either as Chris Jericho is unsurprisingly one of the most entertaining band frontmen of all time. Please go out and get this album, you won't be disappointed. If you want further info on Chasing The Grail, please read my review at Rocksins.

2) Alter Bridge - AB III

Fans of the previous two Alter Bridge albums such as myself feared number 3 would never happen when the Creed reunion was announced, but happily AB III surfaced, and with the band now signed to Roadrunner Records, they delivered the album of their career so far (read my review of AB III over on Rocksins for more details). AB III is huge stadium rock from start to finish combining fantastic riffs and solos with a vocal range from Myles Kennedy that can be matched by very few rock or metal singers from this or any other generation. It is very tough to pick out top tracks by Ghosts of Days Gone By stands out along with album opener Slip Into The Void and Wonderful Life, guaranteed to get every lighter/mobile phone being swayed around a live audience. A top 10 smash here in the UK, it should be in everyones collection.

3) Red Sparowes - The Fear is Excruciating But Therein Lies The Answer

Red Sparowes are not the household name they deserve to be, arguably being the leaders of what is known to some as "post metal" or ambient metal with the retirement of their longtime peers ISIS. Finding their recording home on Sargent House, The Fear is Excruciating... deviates somewhat from the bands two previous albums but does not offer anything less than a complete sonic experience thanks to magnificent tracks like A Swarm and A Hail of Bombs. Anyone who likes instrumental music and heavy music will love this as Red Sparowes often a great combination of both. I don't want to repeat myself too much about the album so again, you are more than welcome to read the review at Rocksins. Another top notch LP.

4) Avenged Sevenfold - Nightmare

This was by far the most surprising entry in this list for me. I've never particularly rated Avenged Sevenfold aside from one or two tracks up until 2010 but was completely blown away by Nightmare, the album which nearly didn't see the light of day after the death of Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan. The first half dozen tracks in particular are a fantastic modern metal experience and M Shadows' vocals in particular which I found a bit too nasally on previous albums sound perfect for the music, in particular on the tital track and on Buried Alive. Welcome to the Family is an incredibly catchy metal song, and So Far Away will be one of the metal ballads of the next ten years as the bands main tribute to The Rev. I was hugely pleasantly surprised by Nightmare, so if Avenged Sevenfold are a band who've never quite done it for you before, check out Nightmare, you may be VERY surprised.

5) Chimp Spanner - At The Dream's Edge

Paul Antonio Ortiz, otherwise known as the fantastic Chimp Spanner, was a one man band / wizard for his debut album, At The Dreams Edge. Another wholly instrumental album, the musicianship on this is quite frankly jaw dropping considering all the instruments were played by one man. I find it very difficult to pick highlights as I think the whole album is fantastic from start to finish. Another artist who may not be on many people's radars, I urge everyone to investigate the mighty chimpspanner, especially since Mr Ortiz has turned Chimpspanner into a full band for live purposes and is on tour across the UK next month (April 2011).

6) Lostprophets - The Betrayed

The album that I'm sure will cause the most "oh jesus christ" reactions from some people since BFMV didn't make the top 10, I think The Betrayed is a fantastic rock album. People have long accused the prophets of "selling out" but they weren't exactly Immortal or 1349 in the first place to begin with. The Betrayed is a great album that zips through its dozen or so tracks leaving some great tunes and rock fun in its wake. DYSTYR/DYSTYR and Next Stop Atrocity are two of the heaviest Lostprophets songs in a very long time while tracks like A Better Nothing and For He's A Jolly Good Fellon are guaranteed singalong time in a live environment. An album that helped keep Lostprophets at the top of the UK rock scene, and one of my favourites and most played of 2010.

7) Fear Factory - Mechanize

When the legal fallout of Christian and Raymond vs suddenly best buddies again Burton and Dino was rumbling on, none of us were ever sure if there would be a conclusion, another Fear Factory album, or in what shape or form it would take and who would be on it. The answer, Mechanize, combined Burton and Dino with Strapping Young Lad Behemoth's Gene Hoglan and existing FF/SYL colleague Byron Stroud for a brutal, pounding album with some tracks that brought back echoes of Fear Factory's glory days from the 1990's. Mechanize, Powershifter, Fear Campaign and Christploitation were all great tracks highlighting all the good parts of the Fear Factory sound while album closer Final Exit was partly reminiscent of the haunting side of Fear Factory e.g. Timelessness from Obsolete. A great comeback, lets hope it can be maintained.

8) A Day To Remember - What Separates Me From You

The UK's favourite pop-metallers A Day To Remember landed album no4 What Separates Me From You in late 2010 and carried on from where they left off with a vibrant collection of catchy choruses, bellowed verses and double bass drums and breakdowns in considerable numbers. Things hadn't changed too much from 2008's Homesick, but there was plenty of good tracks to be had and enough evolution in the sound to show ADTR were not standing still. All I Want is one of the catchiest songs anywhere in any genre or sub-genre for a very long time while 2nd Sucks is among my favourite heavy tracks for 2010. An album that continues ADTR's ascent to the top of the pile in the mainstream rock/metal world. For more info, again, please read the review at Rocksins.

9) Torche - Songs For Singles

Torche are definitely the wildcard of this top 10, offering very eclectic music on their latest album released on the brilliant Hydrahead records. This is by far the shortest album of the ten, only 2 of the 8 tracks clock in at over three minutes meaning the album definitely has a feel of being over before it has begun. What there is is undoubtedly brilliant, if a little on the crazy side. My one major complaint (as stated in the review on Rocksins) is that if it had been longer this album had the potential to be much higher up this list. Regardless, please go and check it out.

10) Negligence - Coordinates Of Confusion

Rounding off my top 10 was this fantastic collection of modern thrash metal from the depths of Eastern Europe from (on my part) the previously unknown Negligence, who find their home on Metal Blade. Fans of thrash bands from the old hands like the big four, Testament and Exodus through to modern thrashers like Evile and Savage Messiah (in addition to fans of the likes of Sylosis and Trivium) will find plenty of things to suit their musical palate here. A collection of tracks showing exactly how to do modern thrash well, lets hope Negligence make it to the UK for some shows this year.