This year was surprisingly a decent year for music. What albums this year that I think were the best? The list is below, I’ll name 10 of them.

1. Jeff Beck “Emotion & Commotion”

(This was such a beautiful album, all the way through. I’ve been a Jeff Beck fan for many years. He has always been unrecognizable and unnoticed, for a better word, underrated. Jeff has been releasing solo albums for many years, ever since the ’60’s. He is still going to this day. Jeff’s albums, “Wired” and “Blow By Blow” are indeed essential classics, don’t get me wrong, but I think “Emotion & Commotion” was the best album he’s ever done. He does a great job putting a classical orchestra on this album and blending it with his full band full of rock, jazz, and fusion. There are even covers of “I Put a Spell On You” and “Over the Rainbow”. Special guest singers such as Joss Stone and Imelda May make the record. There are of course, instrumentals. Jeff’s guitar playing really speaks to you. This is why I put Jeff Beck’s album as my no. 1 of 2010.)

2. Slash – self titled debut

(This is another one of my favorite albums of 2010. It really was a mind blowing record and as usual Slash, never disappoints with his amazing guitar playing. There are great choices of singers on this album too from Ian Astbury to Ozzy to Chris Cornell to Andrew Stockdale. This is a fun album to listen to and it’s also one of the most played albums on my Ipod. It’s such a great album. It’s so different than Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver. Slash wanted to show the world that he can sound like himself on the guitar and of course, he achieved that goal)

3. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers “Mojo”

(Again, I’ve been a long time fan of Tom Petty music, and this is so far, the best album he’s ever done. This is a great guitar record. Better guitar playing than he’s ever had in the past. The songs are longer, there’s more improvisational jams and it’s more psychedelic then his past albums. This album is addicting to listen to. The songwriting itself is actually great. What I loved the most about this album is that Tom really stayed away from pop radio hit songs which is what he’s known for and just concentrated on the serious songwriting process. This album is amazing!)

4. Neil Young “Le Noise”

(Neil Young is back with another killer record this year. I love this album so much. It’s just him and his electric guitar. He only has two acoustic songs on it. How is he able to successfully make a studio album with just him and his electric guitar alone? Well, he plays a hollow body electric guitar. A hollow body electric guitar is almost like an acoustic, so if you play a hollow body electric guitar you don’t really need a band. Neil proves that you can play electric guitar without a full band backing him up, plus the songs on the album itself are just absolutely amazing)

5. Katy Perry “Teenage Dream”

(People are going to hate me for including this album on here, but I don’t care. I just love this album. I can’t stop listening to it. Whenever I listen to my Ipod, I always find myself listening to this album, yes, Katy is that addicting. She is one pop artist that I love and she does have the talent. She has personality and a great stage presence, good looks. Her songs are fun)

6. Johnny Cash “Ain’t No Grave”

(Rick Rubin and the American label released Johnny Cash’s final album before his death. It was released on February 23rd of this year, three days before his 78th birthday. This is not the best of the American series, “American IV: The Man Comes Around” will always be the best one, but I did like “Ain’t No Grave”. Johnny sticks with his usual gospel, country and bluegrass songs, along with a few cover songs of other artists. It’s a good album to listen to)

7. Iron Maiden “The Final Frontier”

(the gods of metal & prog rock, Iron Maiden, returns with another explosive album. I have followed Iron Maiden’s career for years. This is not their greatest album, I like their older stuff more of course, but the “Final Frontier” was a fun listen. Bruce’s singing has gotten better and the guitar playing is different than the older albums. The songs are more emotional too. I liked this album and find myself listening to it quite a lot)

8. Black Label Society “Order of the Black”

(This isn’t my favorite BLS album but it is a really good one. There is a usual mix of metal, shred, acoustic, slow piano ballads, etc. like all BLS albums have. This was a fun album to listen to,that’s all I can say about that )

9. Ozzy “Scream”

(Ozzy came back with a new solo album this year and debuting his new guitarist, Gus G. I was really impressed with Gus G.’s style, he is really quite good, but of course, he is not Ozzy’s best guitarist. Randy Rhoads will of course, always be the best, no one could top Randy. I would say this though that Gus G. is definitely better than Zakk Wylde and Jake E. Lee. This was a pretty fun album and there are some tight songs on it. Ozzy’s singing is still the same, of course, I just like Gus G’s guitar playing)

10. Eminem “Recovery”

(This isn’t Eminem’s best work, his older stuff is better, but this new album is definitely a huge improvement than his last few albums. This album is really great. I’ve always been a fan of Eminem’s music. This album is pretty good. Glad he’s back at the top of his game where he belongs)

There’s the list. I wanted to put more but only had room for 10. Maybe I’ll do the top 10 Best Movies list later tonight and if not, definitely tomorrow. Enjoy.

Kev