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L.A. Guns Leopard Skin Album Review
L.A. Guns have been on a roll in the last eight years.
They have released five great albums: The Missing Peace, The Devil You Know, Checkered Past, Black Diamonds, and now Leopard Skin.
Singer Phil Lewis, guitarist Tracii Guns, and the rest of the band (guitarist Ace Von Johnson, bassist Johnny Martin and Adam Hamilton plays drums on the albums and Shawn Duncan plays drums in concert) continue to put out stellar albums and I so wish that all my other favorite bands/artists were as prolific as L.A. Guns are.
Every song is really good and if you are an L.A. Guns fan, you should not be disappointed.
Get their new album Leopard Skin, as well as the last four albums they released.
Rock on everyone.
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Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo/The Vindys Concert Review
- Date of Concert: Saturday, May 24, 2025
- Location of Concert: Centennial Terrace in Sylvania, OH
- Opener: The Vindys
I went with Mariah and her parents to see the legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Pat Benatar and her husband/guitarist/pianist/songwriter/producer Neil Giraldo.
We saw them at a nice venue in Sylvania, Ohio called Centennial Terrace.
A band from Youngstown, Ohio called The Vindys opened the show.
Mariah and I saw The Vindys in 2024 and we really liked them a lot, so it was great seeing them again.
They’ve been around about 11 years, but are still fairly young and I really think and hope they have a bright future.
All of the band are great.
The singer, Jackie Popovec, is especially PHENOMENAL.
The rest of the band includes guitarists John Anthony and Rick Deak, bassist Brendan Burke, drummer Owen Davis, and keyboardist Nathan Anthony (last time we saw them they had a horn section, which included trumpet player Kyle O’Donnell, saxophone player Garrett Kuchmaner, and trombone player Brian Mayle).
They only played about 30 minutes, but they were great and as I said, I hope their future is bright and will become much bigger of a band.
OK to the headliner.
I had never seen Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo before, but I knew they would be great. And they were.
Pat’s voice is still very powerful and Neil’s musicianship has always been great.
They truly are a great couple.
They’re still playing lots of classics, but also a new song not yet released (I hope this means a new album is coming), which is really good, as well as deep cuts!!
They and the band sound really good and tight and what can I say? They rock!!
Another show for the books.
We all had a great time.
Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo Set List:
- All Fired Up
- Invincible
- Ties That Bind
- Promises In The Dark
- Go
- In These Times (w/Jackie Popovec of Vindy’s)
- We Belong (w/Jackie Popovec of Vindy’s)
- Come Together (New Song)
- River Of Love
- Shadows Of The Night
- Hell Is For Children
- You Better Run
- Love Is A Battlefield
- Encore: Disconnected
- Everybody Lay Down
- Heartbreaker/Ring Of Fire/Heartbreaker continued
The Vindys Set List
- Don’t Tell Me, Just Love Me
- Electric
- Bang
- Save Me
- Morning Light
- Chasin’/War Pigs
Photo Gallery (click on thumbnail to view larger image)
Video Gallery (click on thumbnail to play video)
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Guns N Roses Discography Rankings
I didn’t think I would rank this band’s discography because quite frankly, there’s not much there.
But Guns N Roses has been one of my favorite bands since I was a kid so I have to.
They may not have released much music, but it is important music to me and to a lot of people.
They are as big today as they’ve ever been and that is a wonderful thing.
It’s been a wild ride over the years, but they’re in a great place now with 3/5 the classic lineup of singer Axl Rose, guitarist Slash, and bassist Duff McKagan.
Their debut full length album, Appetite For Destruction, is one of the biggest selling albums of all time and deservedly so.
GNR came out during the so called “Hair Metal” period and really turned the music world upside down and became the biggest rock band in the world for a little while.
But as with many bands, there were problems and breakups along the way.
Some of the members pursued solo careers and/or started other bands or in the case of Axl went into seclusion for many years.
But as I said, they’re in a mostly great place now and are still a stadium/arena act, which is phenomenal.
I wish they would put out a new album (they’ve put a few songs out in the last few years) but either way, GNR are forever etched in rock music history and that’s not a bad thing.
- Use Your Illusion II
- Use Your Illusion I
- Appetite For Destruction
- GNR Lies
- The Spaghetti Incident
- Chinese Democracy
- Live Era 87-93
- Hard Skool (Single)
- Oh My God (Single)
- Perhaps (Single)
- The General (Single)
- Absurd (Single)
Not the biggest discography, but some classic stuff though.
Also, check out Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy And The Conspirators, Duff McKagan’s Loaded band and Duff’s solo albums. Great stuff. Also check out their books too.
Also Velvet Revolver, featuring Slash, Duff and former GNR drummer Matt Sorum, put out two solid albums.
GNR guitarist Izzy Stradlin has released several solo albums too.
And GNR drummer Steven Adler released an album called Back From The Dead under the moniker Adler and released a good book.
Rock on everyone.
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David Crosby Discography Rankings
First off, I miss David Crosby.
Definitely my favorite member of Crosby, Stills, and Nash (and Young and The Byrds.
I love both of those groups and his later bands CPR (Crosby, Pevar, and Raymond), and his Lighthouse and Sky Trails groups.
He made a lot of great music with all of these people, worked with a lot of other people on their work, and did his own work too.
I know I’m not including everything here, but I’m ranking of David Crosby’s work with some of these people, as well as his own work.
- American Dream (CSNY)
- Croz
- Lighthouse
- Sky Trails
- Here If You Listen
- For Free
- Crosby, Stills, and Nash
- Deja Vu (CSNY)
- Wind On The Water (Crosby/Nash)
- Byrds (The Byrds)
- If I Could Only Remember My Name
- CSN (CSN)
- Looking Forward (CSNY)
- CPR (CPR)
- Daylight Again (CSN)
- Thousand Roads
- It’s All Coming Back To Me Now
- David Crosby & The Lighthouse Band Live At The Capitol Theatre
- After The Storm (CSN)
- Live It Up (CSN)
- Oh Yes I Can
- The Notorious Byrd Brothers (The Byrds)
- Fifth Dimension (The Byrds)
- Younger Than Yesterday (The Byrds)
- Turn! Turn! Turn! (The Byrds)
- Mr. Tambourine Man (The Byrds)
- Crosby & Nash (Crobsy/Nash)
- Graham Nash/David Crosby (Crosby/Nash)
- Whistling Down The Wire (Crosby/Nash)
- Just Like Gravity (CPR)
- Live At The Wiltern (CPR)
- Live At Cuesta College (CPR)
- 4 Way Street (CSN)
- CSN 2012 (CSN)
- Deja Vu Live (CSNY)
- Allies (CSN)
This is really tough because I think all of these are great.
I can always change my mind about where I rank them, but the whole point of me doing this is to document it.
It’s all great and I will always love David Crosby and I wish he was still here.
I know he made another album and he said it was done, but it’s yet to be released and I’m not sure if it ever will be.
If it is, I will definitely get it and post it here too.
I miss you sir and thank you for all the music and for following me on Twitter and replying to me sometimes.
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Slayer Discography Rankings
SLAYYYYYYYYYYEEEEERRRR!!
If you’re a fan, you get it.
Slayer are definitely the heaviest and darkest of “The Big 4” of Thrash Metal bands.
If you are a Slayer fan, you mostly know what you are going to get.
They’re like AC/DC in that sense.
They’ve mostly maintained their sound over the years.
Some have called them evil or satanic, but as vocalist/bassist Tom Araya once said in a Slayer documentary “I consider what we do art. And art can be a reflection of society”.
It took me a little while longer to become a fan of theirs. I liked a couple of the albums (Diabolus In Musica and God Hates Us All), but when I heard two of their classic albums (Reign In Blood and Seasons In The Abyss) I was hooked.
I’ve seen them in concert several times and there is no such thing as a bad Slayer show.
They always deliver and if anyone says otherwise, they are wrong.
Here is my ranking of their heavy discography.
- Reign In Blood
- Seasons In The Abyss
- God Hates Us All
- Christ Illusion
- Repentless
- Diabolus In Musica
- World Painted Blood
- Divine Invervention
- Show No Mercy
- South Of Heaven
- Hell Awaits
- Live: Decade of Aggression
- The Big Four: Live From Sulfia, Bulgaria (Live album/DVD set with Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax)
- Haunting The Chapel EP
- Live Undead EP
- The Repentless Killogy
- Soundtrack To The Apocalypse (Box Set)
What a collection. Slayer is definitely not for everyone.
They are not mainstream at all, but if you are into them, you’re into them for life. And that’s not a bad thing.
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Anthrax Discography Rankings
Anthrax is one of “The Big 4” of Thrash Metal bands.
Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer are the other three.
What “The Big 4” means is that they are the four biggest bands of that genre of Heavy Metal.
Anthrax have been around for 44 years and are still going strong.
They’ve had a few lineup changes, especially in the vocal department (their singer Joey Belladonna has been in the band three times or technically four times), but they’ve always kicked butt and I think all their albums rock.
I’ve seen them three times in concert and they’re always great live.
Here is my ranking of Anthrax’s discography.
- Persistence Of Time
- Volume 8: The Threat Is Real
- We’ve Come For You All
- Stomp 442
- Worship Music
- For All Kings
- Among The Living
- Sound Of White Noise
- Spreading The Disease
- State Of Euphoria
- Fistful Of Metal
- Armed And Dangerous EP
- Music Of Mass Destruction (live album)
- Anthems EP
- Alive 2
- The Big Four: Live From Sulfia, Bulgaria (Live album/DVD set with Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax)
- Attack Of The Killer B’s
- Return Of The Killer A’s
- The Greater Of Two Evils
- I’m The Man EP
I’ve been a fan of Anthrax since high school and I always will be.
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Twisted Sister/Dee Snider Discography Rankings
Twisted Sister are forever known for two songs and videos.
We’re Not Gonna Take It and I Wanna Rock!
I love both songs and their videos, but to me, Twisted Sister are more than that.
Their albums and songs really speak to me and singer/songwriter Dee Snider especially is one of my favorite singers and people ever.
I’m ranking Twisted Sister’s albums here, but I’m also ranking Dee’s albums too because all of it is just as important to me.
- Stay Hungry
- Under The Blade (Secret Records Version)
- Love Is For Suckers
- Come Out And Play
- You Can’t Stop Rock N Roll
- For The Love Of Metal (Dee solo)
- We Are The Ones (Dee solo)
- Leave A Scar (Dee solo)
- For The Love Of Metal Live!
- Never Let The Bastards Wear You Down/To Hell And Back (single)/Inconclusion (song from Dee’s movie Strangeland, which also includes a PHENOMENAL new Twisted Sister song called Heroes Are Hard To Find. I’m putting all of these together.)
- A Twisted Christmas
- Under The Blade (Atlantic Records Version)
- Still Hungry
- Live At The Marquee
- A Twisted X-Mas: Live In Las Vegas
- Club Daze Volume 1: The Studio Sessions
- Widowmaker Blood And Bullets (Dee)
- Desperado Ace (Dee)
- Widowmaker Stand By For Pain (Dee)
- Dee Does Broadway (Dee)
- Van Helsing’s Curse (Dee)
- Metal Meltdown (Live)
- Live at Hammersmith
- Live at the Astoria
- Never Say Never…Club Daze Volume 2
- Dee Snider’s SMF’s Live Twisted Forever
- Twisted Forever (Twisted Sister tribute album featuring TS covering AC/DC’ Sin City, as well as Dee appearing on another song and the rest of TS on another song)
This band means the world to me and Dee is without a doubt the nicest famous person I have ever met.
I love you all!!!
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Poison Discography Rankings
Poison are one of the biggest bands from the 1980s.
Especially from the so called “Hair Metal” era.
Singer Bret Michaels, guitarist CC Deville, bassist Bobby Dall, and drummer Rikki Rockett have made some really good albums and still occasionally get back together to tour.
And every time they do, they are very successful.
I keep hoping they will make more music together someday, but if not, I’m glad they’ve made as much as they have.
And they are very fun to see in concert.
- Power To The People
- Look What The Cat Dragged In
- Open Up And Say…Ahh!
- Native Tongue
- Crack A Smile…And More!
- Hollyweird
- Flesh & Blood
- Poison’d!
- Swallow This Live
- Seven Days Live
Sometimes Poison do not get the credit or respect they deserve, but to me, they’re huge and I think they’re great. No apologies.
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The Who Discography Rankings
The Who are one of the biggest bands of all time.
They’re right there with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
They were once in The Guinness Book of World Records as the loudest band in the world.
Singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist/songwriter/keyboardist/singer Pete Townshend, bassist/singer John Entwistle (RIP) and drummer Keith Moon (RIP) are hugely influential and have made such an impact on music.
Roger and Pete are still going strong as I type this.
Here is my ranking of their discography. I’m not going to include every live album because there are quite a few. They’re all good, trust me, but I’ll include a few. I’m mostly focusing on the studio albums
- Who’s Next
- It’s Hard
- Quadrophenia
- Who Are You
- Tommy
- The Who By Numbers
- Face Dances
- The Blues To The Bush (live album)
- A Quick One (While He’s Away)
- Endless Wire
- WHO
- The Who Sings My Generation
- Live At Leeds (live album)
- The Who Sell Out
Seek out these albums. All of the members of The Who have done solo albums too and seek out those too.
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ZZ Top Discography Rankings
That Little Ol’ Band From Texas, ZZ Top!!!
Billy Gibbons (Vocals/Guitar), Dusty Hill (Vocals/Bass), and Frank Beard (Drums)
They have made so much great music.
Here it is.
- ZZ Top’s First Album
- La Futura
- Recycler
- Live: Greatest Hits From Around The World
- Mescalero
- Eliminator
- Afterburner
- Rio Grande Mud
- Tres Hombres
- Antenna
- XXX
- Fandango
- El Loco
- Deguello
- Tejas
- Rhythmeen
- Live From Texas
- Raw
Seek out this great discography from this great band.
ZZ Top!!!
