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Blind Guardian - Imaginations from the Other Side I'm a huge Savatage fan, so it pains me to choose anything before their albums (especially before Wake of Magellan), but Blind Guardian's Imaginations is an epic heavy metal masterpiece.

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow Rainbow - Long Live Rock'n'Roll The Cult - Love There's three awesome albums, all among my favourites. You need to own them. If you're really going all out getting CD's, here's three more good albums I can recommend: Deep Purple - In Rock Deep Purple - Machine Head Rush - Moving Pictures I also own some Whitesnake, Blue Öyster Cult, Bon Jovi and Boston, but I'd pick those 6 (especially the first three) ahead of anything else.

I'm going to do you a favour and introduce you to the greatest band on the planet: Anyone into intricate, intelligent and progressive heavy metal, check out these promo videos on youtube: One Child Handful of Rain Gutter Ballet Edge of Thorns Gutter Ballet (Live '98) Hall of the Mountain King Enjoy.

Yes, I'm a Hawks fan. Ever since 91-92. Steve Larmer and Denis Savard are my all-time favourite players. It's also great to see how Savard has made the Hawks powerplay click this season (including preseason). Jeff Hamilton was a good signing to help the PP. There hasn't been much to cheer for in the past ten years, and the team will probably finish near the bottom again this season, but the potential, especially on defense, is real good. Add in prospects Skille and Toews for offense and the team might just be a contender in two or three years time. Current Hawk lines: Martin Havlat - Michal Handzus - Radim Vrbata Denis Arkhipov - Bryan Smolinski - Tony Salmelainen Rene Bourque - Patrick Sharp - Martin Lapointe Reed Low - Jeff Hamilton - Mikael Holmqvist Jassen Cullimore - Adrian Aucoin Duncan Keith - Jim Vandermeer Lasse Kukkonen - Brent Seabrook Nikolai Khabibulin Brian Boucher Healthy scratches: Matt Keith and Adam Burish Injured Reserve: Tuomo Ruutu, Cam Barker, Patrick Lalime First line is dangerous as everyone has seen by now, but I'm also really happy with the checking line of Bourque/Sharp/Lapointe. My favourite line at the moment. Cullimore isn't doing very well, so I wouldn't mind seeing one of the young Admiral trio (Byfuglien, Richmond or Wisniewski) up soon. Too many youngsters may not be the best way to go though. Sophomores Keith and Seabrook give away the puck too many times as it is. Arkhipov and Salmelainen haven't shown much yet, and I don't know if I want them to come back next year. There's better guys coming in from juniors, and I think this year Jeff Hamilton has been better so far. He lacks physical play and is a liability 5-on-5, but as a powerplay specialist he's been great. There may be use for Salmo's speed in the penalty kill though. There's also better guys coming in from juniors. Hawk drafting has never been great, but you can only have so many high first round busts before real gems start appearing. And the Blackhawks have certainly been getting plenty of those high picks in the last few years. I'm also starting to hope Ruutu will be traded at some point. He is awesome when healthy, franchise player material, no doubt, but I'm getting this feeling he will never play a full season in the NHL. There's also no excuse for having Khabibulin for closer to 7 million dollars per year. The team is young, with an inexperienced defense and will be losing a lot again this year. Khabibulin provides nothing for this team. He could be an asset to a winning team (not that even that would justify his astronomical salary), but for Hawks anyone can do what he has done so far. Last year his stats were abysmal.

There's a lot of has-been 80's glam rock vocalists in California, if they ever decide to search for a replacement there.

Khabibulin played good for once. I guess he's too inconsistent to suck in every game. Hawks beat the Predators for the second time already.

The article is too long to copy and paste, just click on it: JUSTIN HAWKINS has sensationally revealed he blew more than £150,000 on cocaine in the past three years A bummer. Who is left to sing about sex, drugs and rock'n'roll now? I don't know how they can continue without Hawkins either - he was the main man in the band. A shame really. They have been one of the best glam bands of the recent years. I saw them live in 2003 and picked up their debut album, too. Reading the article, their own lyrics fit the occasion pretty well: My mamma wants to know Where I'm spending all my dough Honey, all she does is nag, nag, nag But I won't apologise I'd inject into my eyes If there was nowhere else to stick my skag All I want is brown And I'm going into town Shooting up as soon as I'm back My friends have got some good shit All I want is some of it Gimme, gimme, gimme that smack Well I've ruined nearly all of my veins Sticking that fucking shit into my arms Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Givin' up, givin' up givin' a fuck Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Givin' up, givin' up givin' a fuck Getting off my face There's a dragon I must chase Honey, I'm the scourge of all mankind And everyone but me Is destined just to be Slaves to the remorseless grind But I found myself an easy way out Sticking that fucking shit into my arms Into my arms Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Givin' up, givin' up givin' a fuck Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Givin' up, givin' up givin' a fuck The Darkness - Givin' Up

My top ten power metal albums: 10. Star One - Space Metal (2002) Theme album about sci-fi movies by the dutchman Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Space Metal is melodic and has lots of keyboards (much like Ayreon), but what I really like here are the very metallic riffs. A bit old-school there - 70s and 80s style. I also like the use of many different type of vocalists here. "Perfect Survivor" must be my favourite track off it. One of the more recent entries to my list of Totally Kick-Ass Power Metal Albums. 9. Nightwish - Wishmaster (2000) Not as heavy as Century Child or Once, but with faster and more metallic songs. Vintage Nightwish with great keyboard passages, speed and a few nice softer songs. Nothing wrong with Tarja Turunen's singing either, though at times it gets a bit too operetic. Lead guitar is excellent. Tough to call a favourite track, but "Dead Boy's Poem" could be it. 8. Children Of Bodom - Follow The Reaper (2000) The most melodic of all Bodom albums, and thus my favourite. You could argue the band themselves aren't power metal, but the melodies, keyboards and especially the guitar solos here are totally awesome and in the best power metal vein. As usual for Bodom albums, it's heavy and brutal but this time with more keyboards and catchy tunes. "Mask Of Sanity" is the strongest track here. 7. Avantasia - The Metal Opera (2001) Bombastic power metal at its cheesiest! Tobias Sammett is a genius when it comes to making catchy songs. The guest musicians and vocalists bring a lot to an already fine set of songs. Very symphonic and often times over the top. Just the way I like it. Best tracks are "Avantasia" and "Sign Of The Cross" -> seriously, if that song doesn't get you, you should consider moving on to jazz instead of heavy metal. 6. Stratovarius - Visions (1997) Great vocals (with a bit of a funny accent), but especially brilliant guitar work. Awesome solos and lots of quality riffs. Stratovarius' songwriting is at its best on this album. "Black Diamond" is my favourite track, but "Paradise" has also become sort of an anthem for them. 5. Angel Dust - Enlighten The Darkness (2000) The best album from this great underrated band. In my opinion, Enlighten The Darkness is among the best albums ever released in heavy metal - fan of power metal or not. There's a good amount of fast power/thrash metal tracks in the first half of the album, then a few gloomy ballads - but the way it kicks back to sweet, heavy tunes to headbang to is awesome: "Cross Of Hatred" starts right after "First In Line" and it's among the greatest transitions in heavy metal I've heard. Another one that comes to mind is Judas Priest's "Here Come The Tears / Dissident Aggressor". My favourite track from Enlighten The Darkness is "Let Me Live", the opener. 4. Gamma Ray - Land Of The Free (1995) Gamma Ray has four other albums I could have mentioned, but this one takes the cake - so catchy it beats any 80s pop act. But in a heavy metal way. You could hear the Iron Maiden influence with the twin guitar harmonies and the gallop. Straight up power metal - I love it. Favourite track is "Rebellion In A Dreamland". 3. Iced Earth - Night Of The Stormrider (1992) The only American band here, Iced Earth has certainly delivered in a bunch of their CDs, but Stormrider still remains my favourite. It's fast, heavy, aggressive and evil. "Travel In Stygian" is among my favourite songs of all time. Totally wicked. 2. Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys 2 (1988) Just a tad better than the predecessor, the first Seven Keys album. I prefer the fast songs here and the singing of Michael Kiske is just jaw-dropping on this one. Helloween are the originators of the genre and here you can hear the influences - early 80s New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, late 80s thrash metal and the catchy, cheesy Scorpions. "Eagle Fly Free" is my favourite track here. 1. Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side (1995) A symphonic power metal album, but without any orchestration. Pretty amazing. Magnificient songwriting, great guitars and wonderful singing. I love the aggressive vocals of Hansi Kursch, but he can also sing with the most beautiful voice when it comes to slow, folky parts in songs. Imaginations has so many time changes you could consider it being progressive, but it's still earnest and kicks major ass. Takes a few listens to get into, but this has got to be the ultimus discus power metallus. All of the songs are highlights, but the title track is my favourite. Also "Bright Eyes", "A Past And Future Secret", "Born In A Mourning Hall" and "Mordred's Song" all get played in concerts even now that they've moved on to playing an even grander and more bombastic style of music.

Quite liked the album, but it's the live shows where it's at. Seen them twice. First time in 2000, got the CD after I saw them the second time in 2004.

CD's for me. I usually order online, though if it's something more popular that I'm buying and can find it in record stores, I get it from there.

How about those Hawks? 8-6 over Preds, the team everyone expects to win Central, and in Nashville. Martin Have-a-lot and Rene Bourque were awesome. And what a season opener - two fights, fourteen goals, unbelievable upset win. Gotta love it. Keith, Aucoin and even Lapointe were good too. Only guys that weren't very good were Hamilton, Salmelainen and Cullimore. Glam to see powerplay clicking again - 2/2. <3 Denis Savard. I still expect them to miss the playoffs, but at least things are looking up from the last couple seasons. Now only if Khabibulin would stop sucking. Hawk lines: Michael Holmqvist - Michal Handzus - Martin Havlat (The Triple H line) Bryan Smolinski - Denis Arkhipov - Radim Vrbata Rene Bourque - Patrick Sharp - Martin Lapointe Reed Low - Jeff Hamilton - Tony Salmelainen Jassen Cullimore - Adrian Aucoin Duncan Keith - Jim Vandermeer Lasse Kukkonen - Brent Seabrook Nikolai Khabibulin Brian Boucher scratched: Adam Burish, Matt Keith You can catch the Reed Low/Jordin Tootoo and Martin Lapointe/Scott Nichol scraps here.