ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 15, 2005 By Steve Newton Both young upstarts and grizzled old-timers made my Top 10 this year, proving yet again that good rock 'n' roll transcends generational boundaries. And needs lots of guitars. Audioslave Out of Exile With the help of producer Rick Rubin and mixer Brendan O'Brien, former … Continue reading Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2005
Category: top 10s
Newt’s Top 10 Albums of 2018
By Steve Newton This year I picked some instrumental rock, some hard rock, some southern rock, and some Beatles, but the underlying thread running through most of this stuff is the blues. You just can't beat the blues. Joe Satriani What Happens Next Bay Area guitar wizard hooks up once again with Langley producer Mike Fraser … Continue reading Newt’s Top 10 Albums of 2018
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2017
By Steve Newton Welcome to the old-rocker department. You won’t find much in the hip-and-happening realm here, but it’s not all about the kids, ya know. Gregg Allman Southern Blood One of the hardest-hitting musician deaths this year was southern-rock legend Gregg Allman’s passing in May of complications from liver cancer. But he left his millions … Continue reading Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2017
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 1991
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 1991 By Steve Newton Rap and dance music made strong inroads in 1991, but the year wasn’t a total write-off. The sacred power of the electric guitar could still be heard above the soulless clatter of MC Moronitis and DJ Jerkaround. Danny Gatton 88 Elmira St. Fellow scribe … Continue reading Newt’s Top 10 albums of 1991
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 1990
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 1990 By Steve Newton A good portion of my album picks for the year turned out to be from ageing rock veterans. Maybe 1990 wasn’t a great year for new artists—or maybe I just missed ’em—but the tunes that really got me going were by artists I’ve followed … Continue reading Newt’s Top 10 albums of 1990
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 1986
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 19, 1986 By Steve Newton Steve Earle Guitar Town Catchy country-rock with a down home feel that sounds fresh even after repeated listenings. Eurythmics Revenge Irresistible little rock gems that make you hum whether you want to or not. Brian Setzer The Knife Feels Like Justice Stray Cat … Continue reading Newt’s Top 10 albums of 1986
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2016
By Steve Newton Please, God, don’t let any more of my rock heroes die this year. Jeff Beck Loud Hailer The world’s greatest living rock guitarist isn’t resting on his laurels at the age of 72. With Loud Hailer—another term for “megaphone”—Beck delivers a fresh-sounding blast of intense, politically minded rock. His fretwork has never … Continue reading Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2016
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 1983
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JAN. 13, 1984 By Steve Newton Stevie Ray Vaughan Texas Flood “Texas Flood is by far my most played album these days. It’s one of those rare albums where every song is a winner…if your’re a fanatic of electric blues guitar, you’ve got to have this record.” Gary Moore Corridors … Continue reading Newt’s Top 10 albums of 1983
Newt’s top 10 albums of 2003
By Steve Newton In a fucked-up music world where turntables pass for musical instruments, thuggish recording “artists” are judged by how many bullets they’ve taken, and the week’s top seller is directly related to whichever surgically altered and heavily made-up tart has the skankiest video, it’s no wonder I’m such a cranky bugger when the … Continue reading Newt’s top 10 albums of 2003
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2008
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, DEC. 10, 2008 By Steve Newton I still like the sound of guitars the best. Martone Clean Local rock-guitar instrumentalist Dave Martone aims for the stratosphere with his self-produced debut on the New York specialty label Magna Carta. His band includes primo bassist David Spidel and drummer Daniel Adair, who no doubt … Continue reading Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2008
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2006
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, DEC. 20, 2006 By Steve Newton Throughout 2006, as in the previous few years, an American idiot named George inspired recording artists everywhere to lambaste his putrid foreign policies. Others just wanted to rock out. Neil Young Living With War Although it includes a couple of duds, Young’s antiwar offering is … Continue reading Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2006
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2010
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, DEC. 15, 2010 By Steve Newton Drive-By Truckers The Big To-Do “Birthday Boy” has to be the greatest rock song of the year, and it’s no surprise it was written and sung by the underrated Mike Cooley. The other main DBT tunesmith, Patterson Hood, does his part as well, especially on the booze-fuelled … Continue reading Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2010
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2011
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, DEC. 14, 2011 By Steve Newton It wasn’t a great year for humanity, what with Fukushima and all, but at least there was some good music released along with the hot particles. Foo Fighters Wasting Light The Foos went back to the garage on their seventh studio album, and lucky for us … Continue reading Newt’s Top 10 albums of 2011