#SkidRow . “Quicksand Jesus.” 1991. The song belongs to Sebastian Bach. Doesn’t matter who he is as a person, doesn’t matter who wrote the music —lead vocals will always personify the song, doesn’t matter the singer. Replace Bach, it doesn’t work. Replace the band, it still works.

The plural of vinyl is vinyl 🤓

#Queen . “Under Pressure.” 1992. Wembley. Annie Lennox became a queen this day 👑

#Queen . “I Want It All.” 1992. Freddie Mercury Tribute. Wembley. A couple of friends strolling on to the stage — how cool is this… 👑

#IronMaiden . “The Prisoner.” 1982. Hammersmith. Brian May once described those dramatic pauses between the chords as “hot space”. Neal Peart literally relearned the drums to fully appreciate the space between the beat. The swing of it all. Similarly, Iron Maiden did it here…

#Voivod . “Nothingface.” 1989. Musique Plus TV. For a supposed ‘thrash’ act, this era concluded the 80s progression -where tbf the War & Pain debut wasn’t exactly ‘orthodox’ thrash to begin with - a band yearning to separate themselves & drop you into an interdimensional vortex 🌀

#Rush . “YYZ.” 1984. Toronto. I gotta share this — yes their reputation precedes them but just look at this example of a band in perfect harmony — and that seamless pivot into “Temples of Syrinx”… I can’t emphasize enough how much peak musicianship is going on here

#Heart . “There’s the Girl.” 1987. There was a time I would have killed for Nancy Wilson. That Bad Animals era. Nobody did those leg kicks better! ❤️‍🔥

#Megadeth . “Tornado of Souls.” 1992. Hammersmith Apollo, London. Well it’s been a minute so here’s when Marty Friedman made the most perfect metal solo of all time juuuust a touch more perfect

#Rush . “Tom Sawyer.” 2002. Rio, Brazil. I remember watching this on TV with my mother and she was so taken aback, she was convinced the messiah wouldn’t come to us as a king, queen, political leader, or military general, but a musician to unite & celebrate the world like this 🕊️

#IronMaiden . As soon as Bruce says “so it shall be written, so it shall be done..” you have precisely 2 minutes to go pee or get another beer before the song gets good again 🤪

#Megadeth . “Good Mourning.” 1987. Albany, NY. That intro lead up to “Black Friday” — I’m telling you, Chris Poland came to us from another dimension. His scales are interplanetary 🪐

#NewModelArmy . “I Love The World.” 1996. Amazing track. For a deep cut this tune gets some mileage — thanks also to the brilliant #Anacrusis cover. Justin Sullivan on vox here - so intense & focused on the audience. That chorus is a real ear worm too. Crank this 🌎

#FrankZappa . “Stevie’s Spanking.” 1981. NYC. Steve Vai was Frank’s understudy from 80 - 83. He’s only 21 in this clip. Goes to show that his extraterrestrial space-brain fusion style actually went on hold w/ Alcatrazz, DLR & Whitesnake until he went solo in the 90s 👁️⃤

#AliceInChains . “Down in a Hole.” 1996. Unplugged. Honestly, it’s hard to watch now. That depressed gaze. The heroin coursing through his veins. “Bury me softly in this womb… I’d like to fly but my wings have been so denied” 🕊️

#Ozzy . “Killer of Giants.” 1986. Forget the aquanet & sequins — my eyes are bleached — it’s all about THAT guitar solo. Who writes something like that?? Not Ozzy anyway. Jake sounds crystal clear here — next level genius 🦇

#Loudness . “Speed.” 1983. Tokyo. Outro song on the The Law of Devil’s Hand album from ‘83. If Loudness ain’t sung in Japanese, it ain’t Loudness! I can’t imagine how frickin loud this show must have been — look at Akira Takasaki’s wall of Marshalls 🔊 🇯🇵

#Savatage . “Sirens.” 1986. Oh damn that Criss Oliva guitar tone here — and Jon’s obligatory “ha! haa! ha! haa!” wails in the outro. 80s Savatage >>>