Top Ten Album Releases for 2009

Porcupine Tree: (l.r.) Colin Edwin, Richard Barbieri, Steven Wilson and Gavin Harrison

Well here it is, the first of what is hopefully many year-end top ten lists here at The Hair Whip. We hope you are all having a festive and metallic holiday season. So here's some stocking stuffers for the metalheads on your list. (Non-Metalheads need not worry--there's some prog and old-fashioned rock and roll on here too.

1. Porcupine Tree--The Incident
   Their best album yet looks back to the band's psychedelic past while surging ahead with powerful songwriting and a concept about the horrible experience of being squarely in the center of the media spotlight.
   
   
2. Mastodon--Crack the Skye
   Brilliant, heavy and searching. This is a heavy metal head trip par excellence that has something to do with the life and death of Russian mystic/Hellboy villain Grigori Rasputin. Mastodon keep getting better and better.
   
   
3. Alice In Chains--Black Gives Way to Blue
   I am still stunned every time I cue up the new AIC and the raging chords of "Check My Brain" cause my own to melt. New singer WIlliam DuVall fits Jerry Cantrell's songwriting style perfectly.
   
   
4. Heaven and Hell--The Devil You Know
   The renamed Dio-era Black Sabbath re-sell their souls for rock'n'roll on this crushing, heavy effort. Bassist Geezer Butler is the real hero here, his nimble fingers lending support to Tony Iommi's crunch and Ronnie James Dio's howls from the depths of the abyss.
   
   
5. Slayer--World Painted Blood
   Tom Araya regains his trademark howl of rage on this solid Slayer set, the band's best record in many years. WPB recaptures the power and fire of classic Slayer and takes the band in dark new directions.
   
   
6. Queensrÿche--American Soldier
   Geoff Tate and band come up with another concept that works: a blow-by blow examination of life in the military. Finally free from the twin-guitar format, Michael Wilton whips off a dizzying display of axe-work. Disquieting and heavy, this is classic Queensrÿche.
   
   
7. Steven Wilson--Insurgentes
   Brilliant, spacy solo album from the songeriter/guitarist/writer/producer who fronts Porcupine Tree when he's not otherwise occupied with his umpteen side projects. Steven Wilson is the Jack White of prog rock, always forging ahead with new music and new alliances.
   
   
8. U2--No Line On the Horizon
   This is a difficult U2 record, but rewarding in its multiple textures and global approach to songwriting. Influences from Ireland to America to Africa are processed through Larry Mullen's powerhouse drumming and the Edge's shifting, shimmering guitar work.
   
   
9. Masters Of Reality--Pine/Cross Dover
   Probably the most unexpected new release on this list, this brilliant pair of mini-albums finds the Masters metamorphing again and re-discovering their Black Sabbath roots behind Chris Goss' sweet tenor.
   
   
10. Megadeth--Endgame
    How Dave Mustaine Got His Groove Back. And all he needed was to get pissed off and find another great young guitar player, Chris Broderick. Endgame proves that once in a while, Dave can smoke his former bandmates when it comes to quality speed metal.

Honorable Mentions Go To: Dream Theater--Black Clouds and Silver Linings; Devin Townsend Project--Ki and Addicted; Marillion--Less Is More; Chickenfoot; God Forbid--Earthsblood; Them Crooked Vultures; Bruce Springsteen--Working On a Dream; Chimaira--The Infection; Dååth--The Concealers; Trans-Siberian Orchestra--Night Castle