This Week's Playlist

Final one for this year.  Going to the rocking side of things:

1.   "Honest Man" by The Gracious Few.  Great new stuff by former Live and Candlebox.
2.   "My Kinda Girl" by Chickenfoot.  Another "supergroup" with Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony from Van Halen, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani.  A basic, straightforward rock song very well executed.
3.   "The High Road" by Broken Bells.  This duo created one of my favorite songs of 2010.
4.   "Hard to Handle" by The Black Crowes.  I fell in love with this song when it first came out in 1990 from this Atlanta band.
5.   "Shape I'm In" by Arc Angels.  A little heralded bank, the Arc Angels put together a great album of core rhythmn and blues songs.  This is as basic R&B as you can get.
6.   "Dream On" by Aerosmith.  Great song by great band.  Enough said.
7.   "Bringin on the Heartbreak" by Def Leppard.  The early song that established this Sheffield band as the soundtrack of my middle and high school years.
8.   "Run Back to Your Side" by Eric Clapton.  Eric Clapton's latest single gets back to his famous roots.
9.   "This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race" by Fall Out Boy.  Great writing, well played and and fantastic hook.
10. "High" by Jimmie's Chicken Shack.  From Annapolis Maryland, this band got some early play on MTV but have pushed on.  This was their first really big hit and still gets me pumped up.
11. "I Just Wanna Rock" by Joe Satriani.  One of my favorite artists ever, this is not one of Satch's best songs, but it is a fun song and he does different things with his guitar in this song.
12. "I'm Bad" by The Last Vegas.  With a 80/90's sound, and high quality musicianship, this song got me hooked on the Chicago fivesome.
13. "Back in Black" by Living Colour.  One great band (ironically) covering one of the greatest rock songs ever.  Brilliantly done and Vernon Reid rocks the solos.
14. "Holier Than Thou" by Metallica.  My brother liked Metallica long before me, but the "black" album got me hooked.  My Navy roommate and I played this CD until I thought we would burn it out.
15. "State of Love and Trust" by Pearl Jam.  I got in to Pearl Jam thanks to a girl I knew in the Navy.  This song is just encapsulates this band.
16. "Synchronicity II" by Queensryche.  the "thinking man's metal band" covers the Police.  Supremely well done.
17. "They Say" by Scars on Broadway.  I was never a big fan of System of a Down, but this song by Scars was something that just struck me.
18. "Sin With a Grin" by Shinedown.  One of my favorite new bands, and one of the best bands to come out of Jacksonville Florida since Lynyrd Skynyrd, they simply rock.  This is one of their harder, faster songs, and I love the title.
19. "Riot Act" by Skid Row.  A much older song by Skid Row, but off an album that, from first song to last, demonstrates that a band that a lot people simply didn't credit with much had some musical and songwriting chops.
20. "Black Rain" by Soundgarden.  This band getting back together was good news.  After a solo career and time with Audioslave, Chris Cornell shows that he still has the pipes and this song's hook just drew me in.