TOP 5 ALBUMS OF 2011: Quin White (Amarionette)

http://amarionette.com/

Hopefully you've all heard of one of Las Vegas' best local bands, AMARIONETTE....but if not, click that little link above this text and feast your ears on the sounds of a band that only keeps getting bigger and better!  Quin White is his name and he has a voice like no other....which keeps Amarionette in a league of their own.  While their recent 'Chapters EP' is a lesson on how a young band can produce a top notch recording all on their own and make it sound excellent....it's their upcoming second EP that will definitely take them to the next level!  Look for it in early 2012.

Quin took a few moments to give us his thoughts on his personal TOP 5 ALBUMS OF 2011.

Sleeping With Sirens-Lets Cheers to This: I dig the mash up of genre they always seem to accomplish, its got hardcore, pop punk, screamo and r&b throughout the whole album. Favorite song: if you can't hang

 A Day To Remember-What Separates Me From You: one of my favorite bands, and you can't help but blast their songs...this albums no different; favorite song: 2nd sucks

Life On Repeat-Struggle + Sleep: introduced to them early this year, blown away! Djent, poppy melodies, sexy guitar riffs, METAL nuff said. Favorite song: struggle+sleep

Pierce the Veil-Selfish Machines: to me Pierce never gets old and the musicianship keeps getting better. "Selfish machines" was hands down one of the BEST rock albums to come out this year...Michael Jackson meets pop punk/hardcore. You'll sing along even if don't know the words yet! Favorite song: Caraphernelia

Of Mice & Men-The Flood: oh my God this band! Their live show got me...plus its got the best part of old attack attack vocalist Austin Carlile!! First album good...the flood SOO good, way more layers as a rock band...and the officially make breakdowns a tad interesting and fun again. Favorite song: O.G. Loko

TOP 5 ALBUMS OF 2011: Corky Gainsford (Otherwise)

www.weareotherwise.com

When it came down to the wire, we just didn't have enough space to feature all of our friends fantastic words for the TOP 5 ALBUMS OF 2011 feature in the December issue of Vegas Rocks! Magazine.  The one thing I couldn't do is keep these great reviews from some of your favorite artists in the vault!  So, while Corky Gainsford, who just so happens to pound the skins for Vegas' OTHERWISE, got his picks in the issue....HERE is Corky's expanded version!  Enjoy Wise Onez!



1) Foo Fighters - Wasting Light - Foo Fighters rolled over the competition and left them to waste with this album, crushing all doubters in their path. The analog recording techniques used to make this gave it a unique sound, and set this band apart from everything else I heard all year.

2) Five Finger Death Punch - American Capitalist - This album is pure heavy metal hip hop, with a mix that pushes the vocals and drums on top of the furious metal that lies underneath. The production of Kevin Churko (with help from his son Kane) is crisp, clean, and top notch. The songs hit you straight in the skull, and the drums are unrelenting throughout. If you're a drummer and want a lesson in double-kick technique, try playing along to this one...

3) Steel Panther - Balls Out - We play a monthly show with these guys at Green Valley Ranch, and their show is always over the top. See them for free while you can people, because they won't be playing free shows for long... Since their on-stage banter/improvisation/comedy is often their main selling point, their top notch musicianship is often overlooked. What a shame. This album shows how much they really kick ass. Hear The Panther roar.

4) Falling In Reverse - The Drug In Me Is You - Ronnie Radke is back with a vengeance. I've never met the guy, but I'm glad he didn't waste his time in jail pouting and feeling sorry for himself. He came out swinging when he returned with this album.

5) Mack - Pay To Play - Some friends of mine recorded this album in an incredibly lo-fi studio, but the musicianship and power still shines through in these songs. If you want some KISS-influenced rock to roll through your soul, this album may do the trick.

Honorable Mention) James Durbin - Memories of a Beautiful Disaster - I just got this album a few days ago, and it blew me away. James was "the rock/metal guy" on the most recent season of American Idol, and he can sing his ass off. His record label pulled together a myriad of crafty song-writers for this album, and it shows. The songs are top-notch, James sings like a champ, and the production is killer. Get it.

Top 5 Albums of 2011: Paul Gargano

If you grew up in the late 80's/ early 90's you knew Metal Edge Magazine and it's leader Paul Gargano!  In the December issue of Vegas Rocks! Magazine, I took a page right out of the Metal Edge legend:  The Top 5 Album Picks of 2011.  It seems natural that the man who inspired me get his words to the readers of Vegas Rocks!  While only Paul's 'edited' version of his picks made it to the printed page....here is Paul's full list in all it's glory!  I cannot thank Mr. Gargano enough for his time and his amazing take on his top 5 albums of 2011!  Be sure to visit Paul at www.paulgargano.com

1.       ANTHRAX ‘Worship Music’ (Megaforce Records)

I was discussing my love for this album with a co-worker and he asked if I was a “hardcore, old-school, East Coast Anthrax apologist” – and the answer is no. At least to the “old-school” and “apologist” parts. I didn’t discover Anthrax until ‘Among the Living,’ so I can’t be old-school. And I’m hardly an apologist. What I am is a huge Anthrax fan – they’re my favorite metal band – and ‘Worship Music’ is right up there with ‘Persistence of Time’ atop my list of their favorite albums. Joey Belladonna delivers the best vocal performance of the band’s rich vocal history, Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano are as titanic a force as any guitar duo out there, and Frank Bello and Charlie Benante are my favorite bottom end in all of music. ‘Worship Music’ is the penultimate Anthrax record, compressing where they’ve come from, everywhere they’ve been and wherever they may go into a massive wrecking ball of kinetic, frenetic metal… much like the cover of Stomp 442, but without that naked guy.

2.       MEGADETH ‘Th1rt3en’ [Roadrunner Records]

Megadeth run a close second to Anthrax on my list of favorite metal bands, but I’m hardly biased – I have a Queensryche tattoo, and you won’t find their latest release on any Best Of from me in 2011. A big fan of the last two Megadeth albums, I was admittedly bummed to hear that lucky number ‘Th1rt3en’ would be a hodge-podge including leftovers from previous albums and sessions – I was expecting an effort that was phoned in, but instead was met by a release as dialed-in as anything in the band’s formidable catalog. Dave Mustaine’s snarl is as savage as ever, Chris Broderick is my favorite in the long line of Mega-shredders, and having Dave Ellefson back in the fold makes the proceedings all the more Deth-defying. Given it’s mish-mashed background, the album’s true magic lies in its seamless, cohesive flow – with lyrics ranging from fierce politics to interpersonal observations, and music running the spectrum from the punk bite that laced ‘Peace Sells’ to the progressive hammer that slammed ‘Rust In Peace,’ ‘Th1rt3en’ is pure Megadeth.

3.       AMEBIX ‘Sonic Mass’ [Easy Action / Amebix Records]

This album came out of left field and spun my musical universe on end. Don’t let the band’s history confuse you – yes Amebix formed in 1978, and yes their roots are just as punk as they are metal, but ‘Sonic Mass’ is remarkably fresh and all about heavy. I’m not talking paint-by-numbers heavy, either. This is heavy like a solar eclipse, the type of heavy that imprints your psyche and leaves you dwelling on what just was. Think Tool, then keep thinking, spinning, pounding and turning... The vocals are a crusty amalgam of Lemmy and Al Jourgensen, the music a landscape of depressed tones and blitzing beats, and the results are a doom-drenched soundtrack that bellows to the heavens as hellfire singes its soul. The first Amebix studio album in nearly 25 years, ‘Sonic Mass’ calls the dark territory I had hoped ‘Lulu’ might explore home – and succeeds on every front where the latter fails.

4.       JOLLY ‘The Audio Guide to Happiness (Part 1)’ [InsideOut Music]

I started a full-time gig at Century Media Records this fall, and as I was immersing myself in the rosters of the two imprints I’d been named Product Manager of – InsideOut Music & Superball Music – Jolly reached out and grabbed me like no other band in my expansive catalog. Calling InsideOut home, they no doubt bear the markings of a progressive rock band, but only in the most literal – and not the scary/intimidating – sense of the word. While their arrangements are lush and expansive, their music is warm and inviting, the songs on ‘The Audio Guide to Happiness (Part 1)’ spanning a musical landscape that blurs the lines of distinction between more established acts like Dream Theater, Seether, H.I.M., Big Elf and Godhead. There are moments of pure pop bliss, but there’s also so much more – this is an album for fans of music in the more provocative depths of the word.

                                                                                                                                   

5.       JASON CHARLES MILLER ‘Uncountry’ [Count Mecha Music]

If anyone had told me a decade ago that I’d have a country album on my Best Of list in 2011, I’d have laughed at them. But tastes evolve, and that’s the enduring allure of music. Jason Miller is the lead singer of the band Godhead, and this is his full-length solo debut – it’s a far cry from the haunted tones and pasty goth flavor of his longtime band, but the new suit fits the frontman just fine. This isn’t cheesy country, it’s Johnny Cash country, and Miller makes a strong case for being the new man in black, many of the songs featuring little more than the singer/songwriter, his acoustic guitar and a left-of-center, backwoods accompaniment. Then there are just as many songs that rock. Hard. Call it country, call it Americana, call it singer/songwriter, call it roots rock, call it folk, call it what you want – great music transcends genre lines, and ‘Uncountry’ is no exception.