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2025 Wrap Up
Another year has come and gone. Lot's of events went down this year, for me personally and on a more broad scale. The loss of Ozzy Osbourne and Ace Frehley were huge impacts on the genre and in ways brought some interest back to this style of music. There were others as well. You know, as we get older, so do our favorite musicians, actors, etc.  We are bound to lose some big names and unfortunately it won't stop here. I feel that it is as important as ever to get out and support, listen, check out shows, etc. before we lose many more. Embrace them while we still have them.

Musically, this year was a lot like last year and will probably continue with next year. You used to see things evolve and new styles in the genre pop out. It's definitely harder to do that, but sometimes some interesting things take shape. For me personally, I enjoyed what I always do, but also branched out quite a bit into some more extreme Metal like Orbit Culture. I also dipped into some more modern sounds related to metalcore with bands like I Prevail and more melodic modern stuff like Dayseeker. I will always listen to everything that I always did. My new sounds are in addition to the classics at each end of the specturm. 

My concerns. AI is at the top of it all. Avoid this. I watched a video with Rick Beato where he showed how simple it was to create AI music using software and a couple of sentences. Keep in mind, AI basically is a quick research software. AI music is created using many different known elements created by humans. This whole thing has the potential to do tremendous damage to the music scene. I will not support this type of thing and hope artists will refrain from relying on it to support the songwriting process. Let's keep it natural the way it was meant to be. I guess at the end of the day, I have enough music to keep me going for the rest of my life. No need to dabble in this nonsense.

Musically, I think 2025 was a decent year. Many good things across the spectrum and am hoping 2026 will offer much more. Definitely some cool things coming down the pipeline. We'll get down now to the best of 2025 from my ear's point of view. Spent a lot of time with the following titles and they may be worthy of your time as well. I decided to go with 11 this year instead of 10, because, why not? Happy New Years 2026 folks. As always keep it safe!

In closing. just wanted to say I will miss you Mom and Dad, and Steve as well. We love and miss you. RIP
Metal
1. Orbit Culture-Death Above Life
2. Dream Theater-Parasomnia
3. Amorphis-Borderland
4. Testament-Para Bellum
5. Helloween-Giants & Monsters
6. Dirkschneider & The Old Gang-Babylon
7. Primal Fear-Domination
8. Machine Head-Unatoned
9. Crowne-Wonderland
10. Arion-The Light That Burns The Sky
​11. A-Z-A2Z² 
Rock
1. Alice Cooper-The Revenge Of...
2. Treat-The Wild Card
3. Sleep Theory-Afterglow
4. The Switch-No Way Out
5. W.E.T.-Apex
6. Dayseeker-Creature In The Black Night
7. Streetlight-Night Vision
8. Harem Scarem-Chasing Euphoria
9. Giant-Stand And Deliver
10. FM-Brotherhood
11. Babylon A.D.-When The World Stops