I took a lot of time to think about this. Finally, I realized that the music I listened to this year was mostly live Phish downloads, live bootleg recordings from dime-a-dozen, and a lot of classic rock (I'm old, eh). I like pretty much all types of music. When it came to compiling my top ten favorites of the year, the task was easy. That's because I only bought 10 new releases this year! In no particular order, here they are: Neil Young - le Noise This one got mixed reviews around here, but I love it. Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier It took a while to grow on me, but was worth the effort. Heavy rotation on the car stereo this year. Robert Plant - Band of Joy Plant has surrounded himself with excellent musicians and has mellowed with age. Ozzy - Scream Strong release from the crazy one. Every song is good. Halford - Made of Metal I might be including this because Judas Priest was one of my favorite bands years ago, but this solo album rocks! Bachman & Turner More "geezer" rock. These brand new tunes are catchy! Randy is great on guitar. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs Does including this give me any "indie cred"? This album rules. Blue Coupe - Tornado on the Tracks Two former members of BOC with Alice Cooper's old bass player. Some great songs, including "Angel's Well" written by the late Jim Carroll. Black Country Communion - self-titled release Jason Bonham is the drummer, but the real strength in this band is the soulful rock singing of veteran Glenn Hughes. Jimi Hendrix - Valleys of Neptune Not really "new" but some of the songs were never released before. And it sounds awesome!