Best of 2011: Part 3 - The Gigs

So here it is.

Part three.

The main bit.

At RTM I concern myself mostly with gigs. Live music is what I love and that is why I go to so many gigs.

79 last year and I hope more in 2012.

Here are the best 20.

1.Dream Theater	Wolves Civic	23rd July
2.Cinderella	Shepherds Bush Empire	25th June
3.Thin Lizzy	Wolves Civic	14th Jan
4.Dan Baird	The Musician	9th December
5.Iron Maiden	Nottingham Arena	27th July
6.Deep Purple	LG Arena	27th November
7.Iced Earth	Acedmy 2	5th November
8.Wolfsbane	Academy 3	3rd Dec
9.Alice Cooper	NIA	27th October
10.Dimmu Borgir	Academy 2	26th November
11.Ghost	Civic Hall	2nd December
12.Marillion	Institute	13th Dec
13.The Hold Steady	Academy 2	6th Feb
14.Europe	Academy	18th Feb
15.Rival Sons	Slade Rooms	7th November
16.Symphony X	Robin 2	23rd March
17.Gentlemens Pistols	Academy 3	9th May
18.Electric Boys	Rescue Rooms	8th October
19.Holy Grail	Academy 3	16th March
20.Saxon	Wulfrun	18th April

Best of 2011: Part 2 - The Albums

So following on from yesterday's best 25 songs, here are the best 25 albums of 2011.

I heard over 370 albums from 2011, and picking the best wasn't easy.

The worst were Glamour of the Kill and Metallica/Lou Reed, but here, in reverse order are the 25 that really floated my boat!

As always, feel free to argue, thats what Twitter is for.

So in reverse order are the top 25:

25.Neonfly	Outshine The Sun
24.Black Country Communion	II
23.Graveyard	Hisengen Blues
22,Whitesnake	Forevermore
21,Lazarus AD	Black Rivers Flow
20.In Solitude	The World.The Flesh. The Devil
19.The Treatment	This Might Hurt
18,White Wizzard	Flying Tigers
17,Rival Sons	Pressure And Time
16,Malefice	Awaken the Tides
15,Morbid Angel	Illud Divinum Insanus
14.Exit Ten	Give Me Infinity
13,Dream Theater	A Dramatic Turn Of Events
12,Michael Monroe	Sensory Overdrive [UK version]
11.Sylosis	Edge Of The Earth
10.Electric Boys	And Them Boys Done Swang
9.Evile	Five Serpent's Teeth
8.Saxon	Call To Arms
7.Megadeth	TH1RT3EN
6.Iced Earth	Dystopia
5.Black Spiders	Sons Of The North
4.Gentleman's Pistols	At Her Majesty's Pleasure
3.Anthrax	Worship Music
2.Mastodon	The Hunter
1.Symphony X	Iconoclast

The End of Year Awards: Part One - The Songs

Its that time of year when all the magazines have an end of year poll.

So I thought RTM should be no exception, and over the next three days I will include my run down of the best 25 songs, best 25 albums and the best 20 gigs of 2011.

Starting tonight with the songs.

The main list is not in order of preference but rather in the order of a rather spiffing playlist I made on my Ipod (something me and may mate Donnie from www.visionsfromthearkside.blogspot.com do every year) but I will put a top five below

Tomorrow will be the top 25 albums, before I  finish on New Years day with a rundown of the best 20 gigs – seeing as that what I concern myself with reviewing on RTM I thought I would leave that until last. These are in preference order.

So maybe your favourite is on here, maybe it isn’t – if you want to argue with me on Twitter about it go ahead.

For the record though, the top five best songs of the year are:

5. Trick of the Wrist: Michael Monroe

4. Devil You Know: Anthrax

3: Misery Loves Company: The Trews

2. Life: Exit Ten

1. Curl of the Burl: Mastodon

                                                                                                                                                                                                The playlist is as follows:

Living In Sin Again	Gentleman's Pistols	At Her Majesty's Pleasure
Trick Of The Wrist	Michael Monroe	Sensory Overdrive [UK version]
The Devil You Know	Anthrax	Worship Music
Blood Of The Kings	Black Spiders	Sons Of The North
I Think I Saw A U.F.O	Neonfly	Outshine The Sun
Cult	Evile	Five Serpent's Teeth
Father	Misfits	The Devil's Rain
The King I Was	The New Black	II: Better In Black
Build Me Up, Break Me Down	Dream Theater	A Dramatic Turn Of Events
Hammer of the Gods	Saxon	Call To Arms
Soul On fire	Saint Jude	Diary Of A Soul Fiend
Delirium	Malefice	Awaken the Tides
Misery Loves Company	The Trews	Hope & Ruin
Anthem	Iced Earth	Dystopia
Black Rivers Flow	Lazarus A.D.	Black Rivers Flow
Tear It Down	Burn Halo	Up From The Ashes
All Over The Road	Rival Sons	Pressure And Time
Sands Of Time	Sylosis	Edge Of The Earth
Living A Lie	Skindred	Union Black
Reeferlord	Electric Boys	And Them Boys Done Swang
Arms of the Sea	Textures	Dualism
Black Swan	Megadeth	TH1RT3EN
Life	Exit Ten	Give Me Infinity
Curl Of The Burl	Mastodon	The Hunter
Electric Messiah	Symphony X	Iconoclast