10 Greatest Rock & Roll Frontmen Ever

13 - Steven Perry - Journey is underrated in my opinion. Because they were pop-rock most of the R&R mainstream snubbed them for being 'girly'. They can say what they want but Perry's amazing vocal range is undeniable.


12 - Bret Michaels - not a fan of Poison and after watching one of his 'reality' shows where he proves he's a sexiest child (Hey Bret - women are more than their bust size) - you can't deny his vocal range. That gruff, sexy voice is pretty damned hot.

11 - Ronnie James Dio - Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Dio - When it comes to the classic heavy metal voice - this man is it. Don't believe me? Go find a copy of his 1983 (Dio) Holy Diver and listen to Rainbow in the Dark - nuff said.

10 - Ozzy Osbourne - Black Sabbath wasn't the same without him.


9 - Axl Rose - Okay, he is a self-centered egotistical butt-wipe, but his voice was memorable. But JC, he's not dead... No he isn't but he might as well be. Chinese Democracy? Puhleeze...


8 - Tom Petty - I'm a huge fan of Petty even though he sounds like three miles of bad road. He's also a brilliant songwriter.


7 - Chester Bennington (Linkin Park) - excellent voice and amazing stage presence.


6 - James Hetfield - Metallica, what more can I say?


5 - Elvis Presley - I'm not an Elvis fan but you can't deny his vocal talents. Overlook the rock and roll he did and take a listen to the gospel songs. Utterly fabulous.


4 - Steven Tyler - That man is STILL hot and his vocal range is impressive. Any man who can hit those notes and not have to cut off his balls to achieve it - he's aces in my book.

3 - Robert Plant - Led Zeppelin need I say more? Stairway to Heaven wouldn't be the same without his voice.

2 - Rob Zombie - The voice is meh...but his stage presence is worth the cost of a ticket.

1 - Chad Kroeger (Nickleback) - Probably one of the best voices out there today.

Who else should be on (or off) the list?

Teenage Anthems

Music has always been very important to me and if you've read my bio, you already know that I travelled with an alternative rock band in the 90's. I can't imagine my life without music and almost every hour of the day I will be listening to something.

Welcome To My Nightmare - Alice Cooper - A true legend of rock and roll - my mother was appalled when I bought this album. Of course scaring my parents was part of the appeal of AC. :)

Back In Black - AC/DC - Classic rock & roll. First release with Brian Jones as the singer - it was an instant classic.

Cum On Feel The Noise - Quiet Riot - It was a mix of hair/pop/heavy metal. The song is a cover of the original by Slade and I used to just crank this sucker up - drove Mom crazy. The lead singer Kevin DuBrow died in 2008 of a cocaine overdose and it was sad. He was a consumate showman.

Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles - First song played on MTV - just a fun, bouncy song.

Breaking The Law - Judas Priest - The Godfathers of Rock and Roll - I heard this song and that was it - I was hooked. I saw them in concert twice and they were most excellent.

Love Hurts - Nazareth - I can't say much about the band as I don't remember anything else they did. When I began going to concerts in the late 70's and early 80's it seemed that Nazareth opened for every heavy metal show there was.

More Than A Feeling - Boston - It came out several years before I really got into music but the vocal range of this singer just stunned me. Brad Delp passed away in 2007. One of my favorite mix CDs contains a selection of songs with Boston - just fun bouncy music.

Kashmir - Led Zepplin - Another song that came out before my rock and roll heyday but the moment I heard it I was hooked. Physical Graffitti is, in my opinion, one of the greatest rock and roll albums of all time.

Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppellin - LZ was a pivotal band for me. What a sexy song!

Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd - The Wall is one of the greatest rock albums of all time. I spent many hours of my life zoning out to The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon. Roger Waters is one of the greatest song writers of all time.

Dirty Deeds - AC/DC - I cried when Bon Scott died. I was a huge fan and had seen them twice live before I was 16. This song is what turned me on to heavy metal and I've never looked back.

Photograph - Def Leppard - Fun music, I still grin when I hear any of their hits - Pour Some Sugar On Me, Foolin', Armageddon It, Let's Get Rocked - good old fashioned rock and roll.

I Love Rock and Roll - Joan Jett - Who knew women could rock? Watching her was an eye-opening event for me.

Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen - In sixth grade we had a music class that started out exploring all types of music. We were asked to bring in our favorite records (45's actually) and most kids brought in the Carpenters and Captain and Tenille - I showed up with this song. Says a lot about me doesn't it? Freddie Mercury died in 1991 and the music world has yet to recover.

By-Tor and the Snow Dog - Rush - From their first album Fly by Night - this song made numerous appearances on various albums. This was the first band I ran into that was as much about the music as it was the lyrics. Full of mythical themes - I loved the stuff.

Run To The Hills - Iron Maiden - Easily the precursor to speed metal, this song is one of the most difficult to master due to the blistering speed of the guitars. Many guitar players said learning this song gave them cramps in their fingers. :)

Running With The Devil - Van Halen - Eddie Van Halen is a guitar legend and his riffs are among some of my favorites. I saw VH in concert 3 or 4 times and to this day I will say they had one of the best stage shows of the 80's.

Paranoid - Black Sabbath - Ozzy and Sabbath - the first heavy metal band (its either them or Judas Priest) of its kind - they started a revolution.

Rock You Like A Hurricane - Scorpions - When I bought my first car stereo (1984) I had the tape of this album (Love At First Sting) and I had it queued up to this song as my 'first' song on my new stereo. I got in my car and just blasted it. I'm surprised my car didn't fall apart from the vibrations. :)

Last Child - Aerosmith - If you're looking for pure vintage American Metal - this song and this band is it. Raw, shocking evocative - I've been an Aerosmith fan ever since.

Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne - It's Ozzy, what can I say?

A Musical Commentary

Recently I discovered that my cable service has The Best channel EVAH! It is VH1 Classic. They play tons of videos that were big when I was a teen and completely addicted to MTV. This morning I spent several hours chuckling over the polyester stretch pants and way big hair.

Ah, fond memories.

While enjoying this blast from my past, I came up with a few comments that I'd like to share.

Van Halen - the moment David Lee Roth left they blew chunks.

Ann and Nancy Wilson from Heart have two of the most beautiful voices in music

The Police - after they broke up Sting had a few moments of brilliance then lost his mind and musical way

Eddie Van Halen wasn't nearly as hot as I remembered.

Warrant was one of the worst hair hands there was.

Michael Jackson was stupidly talented

U2 rocked both then and now!

Eric Clapton is one of the best guitar players in the history of recorded music

AC/DC was the BOMB both with and without Bon Scott

Metallica turned the Heavy Metal world on its ear when they made their arrival

Steven Tyler of Aerosmith is still incredibly HOT!

Why the Pet Shop Boys did a song called 'West End Girls' when it was pretty obvious they had little to no interest in women is beyond me...

Twisted Sister was one ugly band

Iron Maiden - how did they play music with all that hair?

Poison - no thanks - did nothing for me both then and now

REM was THE BAND then they went commercial in the nineties

I just loved Pop Up Video - it was fab.