Although Styx is now shorthand among music snobs for cheesy '70s arena rock (heavy on the syrupy ballads, please), there was a time that this wasn't so.  Released before they broke big in America, 1975's Equinox marked the creative apex of the band's early period.  On this album they did a much better job at melding their prog rock aspirations with the crisp, straightforward hard rock they were much better at handling. Other than the excellent music contained therein, Equinox is notable for ... Read on, Daddy-O

From Idolator via the AV Club comes a pretty cool music meme - compile a list of your favorite albums, with one for each year you've been alive. Sounds easy enough, but some years are positively stacked with music I love.  Forcing me to choose among my musical children is just so...cruel. For me the most bountiful years were 1975-1978, 1980, 1982-1984, 1990, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2006, and 2007. 1975 - Kiss, Alive! 1976 - Led Zeppelin, Presence 1977 - Rush, A Farewell to Kings 1978 - ... Read on, Daddy-O

Being an Ace Frehley fan is not without its frustrations. His last studio album, Trouble Walkin', was released nearly 19 years ago and relatively little had been seen or heard from him since he left Kiss (again) in early 2002. What he's been up to during the last 6 years - other than recording a yet-to-be released solo album and rocking executive meetings across America - is anyone's guess, so it came as a pretty big surprise late last year ... Read on, Daddy-O

So this is pretty cool - a recent Foo Fighters show in Toronto was elevated to legendary status thanks to a guest appearance from two-thirds of Rush.  Witness "YYZ" with Taylor Hawkins, Geddy Lee, and Alex Lifeson... [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1Ramu397UQ[/youtube] Read on, Daddy-O

Looking back, mixtapes sure were a pain in the ass to put together. But man, were they fun. So for just a minute, let's imagine iPods don't exist (I know, scary) and we are putting together a new one. The ground rules for the songs on this mixtape are: Each song was released as the B-side of a commercially available single. The songs did not appear on a regular album (at least not at first). No more than one song per band. I ... Read on, Daddy-O

Today I'm reviewing two new albums that could not be more different - The White Stripes' Icky Thump and Tomahawk's Anonymous. Well, they are alike in one key respect: they are both the end-result of artists who clearly care about their craft and go to great lengths to create music that will be anything but disposable. First to the White Stripes. If I had to guess, I'd say Jack White was revitalized by his work with The Raconteurs. While the ... Read on, Daddy-O

Chris Cornell's first post-Soundgarden release, 1999's Euphoria Morning, was an artistic triumph and a commercial flop. Apparently, most of the fans who loved him in Soundgarden didn't care for his more introspective side. Perhaps in response, Cornell hooked up with three quarters of Rage Against the Machine to form Audioslave. Anxious to get to work on his second solo album, Cornell left Audioslave after three albums last February. Prior to the official breakup, Cornell surfaced as a solo artist with ... Read on, Daddy-O

Here's my stream of consciousness review of Snakes & Arrows, written as I listen to it. "Far Cry" - This is the only song I heard prior to the album release. This is much in the same vein as Test for Echo and Vapor Trails. It has a really catchy chorus, and crackles with more life than all of TFE. And of course there are the Hemispheres-era chord changes, which are sweet. "Armor and Sword" - A little plodding, but ... Read on, Daddy-O

I'm sure you have been coming here every day for months, wondering what happened to me. Kind of like opening the refrigerator 20 times in a night in the hopes that something new and delicious will have appeared since the last time you checked. Well I have no new ham or salad for you - just some old hot dogs. Read on, Daddy-O