2011

Hesitate by Stone Sour

This power rock ballad showed us a side of Corey Taylor i had not yet heard in his previous work with Slipknot and Stone Sour. While it was a quieter, more vulnerable song than Slipknot's core fan base would like to hear; many others loved this song from the band's second album 'Audio Secrecy'.

 

Isolation by Alter Bridge

The members of Creed cleverly replaced Scott Stapp with a more talented/like-able vocalist named Myles Kennedy. On their third recorded outing, cleverly named 'AB III', Myles Kennedy even stepped up to handle some lead guitar duties. Pretty impressive to play lead with phenom Mark Tremonti standing to your left. The new album's subject matter was much darker than previous efforts and the first single 'Isolation' is a good representation of the descent.

Last Man Standing by Pop Evil

Grand Rapids' Pop Evil started out this year strong on the wings of this track from the upcoming album 'War of Angels' (due out July 5th). The Dirt Fest performers look to follow up the breakout success they enjoyed with their debut 'Lipstick on the Mirror'. If having 2011's best rock song so far is any indication, they are well on their way to exceeding those hopes.

Lies of the Beautiful People by Sixx A.M.

With mostly negative reviews of Motley Crue's current tour, it's a good thing Nikki Sixx has this band to fall back on. While the Crue probably rakes in much more cheddar, Sixx A.M. still makes music that is relevant to today's audience. Their sophomore record 'This is Gonna Hurt' was accompanied by a book of the same title, much like their debut; 'The Heroin Diaries'. Someone should tell Nikki he doesn't have to write a book every time Sixx A.M. does an album.