Trucker Diablo: our latest TOTW No.1
It’s tough at the top. Six bands immediately emerged as frontrunners in our latest Tracks Of The Week poll. In the end only a handful of votes separated Alice In Chains, Spiritual Beggars, Helldorado, Valentiine, Airbourne and Trucker Diablo. Which of the sextet bagged the TOTW crown?
And the winner is… Trucker Diablo’s Drive. Close behind is Alice In Chains’ Stone, followed by Helldorado’s Bones In The Closet at No.3, Spritual Beggars’ Kingmaker at No.4, Valentiine’s Love Like at No.5 and Airbourne’s Live It Up at No.6.
Check out the full results below – and keep your eyes on Classic Rock website for a brand spanking new TOTW poll, coming soon!
1. Trucker Diablo – Drive
Drive is taken from the rising Irish stars’ second album, Songs Of Iron, due out in this month via Ripple Music and Bad Reputation. They’re one of Black Star Riders frontman Ricky Warwick’s favourite new bands – he’s referred to them as “hardworking, fantastic musicians and players, and a really great bunch of guys.” Drive has already proved popular at Trucker Diablo’s many live shows, including tour support with Terrorvision last year. (16.06% of total votes)
2. Alice In Chains – Stone
The song is taken from highly anticipated album The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, due out on May 28. Guitarist Jerry Cantrell recently said of the work: “I look at every record like it’s your last. We know pretty well how final things can be. It’s amazing we’re making music after all the things we’ve been through. I can rest happily with this being the last record, if that’s what it was.” (10.67% of total votes)
3. Helldorado – Bones In The Closet
Even though they’re from the frozen wastes of Scandinavia, Helldorado evoke the sensation of a burning sun on your neck, crunched sand between your teeth, a salty taste on your lips, a shaky finger on the trigger of a Colt .45, circling vultures silhouetted against a blue-white sky, a double whiskey on an empty stomach, and the smell of bacon, beans, gunpowder, leather and sweat. The band formed in 2001 in Stavanger. Most of the members had been in band called The Tramps (note: not The Trammps) but quit to explore a much darker and broader musical landscape with Helldorado. The Norwegian Eastwood obsessives will release their brand new album Bones In The Closet on May 13. The video for the title track (and new single) is at No.3 in our chart. (9.9% of total votes)
4. Spiritual Beggars – Kingmaker
Kingmaker is taken from the band’s eighth studio album, Earth Blues, out now via InsideOut. Guitarist Michael Amott recently said of the record: “We started the recording process with an eight-day-long session with knob-twiddler Roberth Ekholm – a truly great dude who really knows how to capture a band jamming live. Sadly a rare quality in recording engineers nowadays! We continued with some overdubs at various studios in Sweden, and it’s all come together super easy this time. Sonically, I think this might be our finest hour yet. It’s a raw, heavy and honest record.” (9.62% of total votes)
5. Valentiine – Love Like
Australian femme-rock trio Valentiine (is that a nod towards Bon Scott’s old band, The Valentines, we wonder?) specialise in dirty pop hooks, screaming vocals and seething cheerleader harmonies. The Melbourne-based garage rockers – Vanessa (guitar/vocals), Erica (bass/vocals) and Shelly (drums/vocals) – released their single Love Like last month; Valentiine’s self-titled debut album will follow in June. Bonus – check out the band’s brand new video, Chucky, right here. (9.04% of total votes)
6. Airbourne – Live It Up
The song is taken from the Aussie outfit’s upcoming third album Black Dog Barking, the follow-up to 2010′s No Guts No Glory. It’s due for release on May 20 but is available for pre-order now. All pre-orders come with an instant download of Live It Up. Airbourne will appear at this year’s Download festival on June 16. (8.65% of total votes)
7. Tom Keifer – Solid Ground
It’s taken from the Cinderella frontman’s first-ever solo album, The Way Life Goes, which was released last month. He describes the work as “ranging from intimate, organic, acoustic tracks to driving hard rock.” In the lyrics he looks back over the past 15 years of his career, starting from the point at which he was told he’d never sing again as a result of vocal cord paralysis, up to recent times when he can look back on a victorious struggle against the odds. Keifer previously released a video for his track The Flower Song. (6.73% of total votes)
8. = Queens Of The Stone Age – My God Is The Sun
This comes from QOTSA’s highly anticipated album …Like Clockwork. Their first record since 2007′s Era Vulgaris features guest appearances from Dave Grohl, Elton John, Trent Reznor and many others. Mainman Josh Homme states: “I feel like a weight made of monkeys has lifted off my shoulders. Every once in a while this process is difficult. This is documenting the journey of moving forward, and it was a tough time.” QOTSA will play the Download festival at Donington on the weekend of June 14-16. (4.13% of total votes)
8. = Volbeat – The Hangman’s Body Count
It’s taken from their latest album, Outlaw Gentleman & Shady Ladies, on sale now. It’s their first record after the band recruited former Anthrax guitarist Rob Caggiano, who originally came on board to produce the work, then contributed guitar parts, and finally joined the Danish outfit full-time. Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies also includes guest appearances by King Diamond and Sarah Blackwood. Frontman Michael Poulsen says: “It’s a new vibe for Volbeat. You’ve got everything — the rockabilly stuff, the melodies, the ultra-heavy stuff, the Western motifs and the big rock songs. It’s everything that Volbeat are all about, but taken even further.” (4.13% of total votes)
10. Kingdom Come – God Does Not Sing Our Song
It’s taken from their 13th studio album, Outlier, out now. Mainman Lenny Wolf tracked all instruments on the record with the exception of guitar solos by Eric Forster. Wolf admits it’s been an 18-month struggle to bring the project to fruition. “It was a period which saw me go through the usual alternating bath of euphoria and doubt,” he says. “As an artist, you can never be quite sure just what you’ve cooked up. I happen to be an idealist and simply have to keep embarking on new adventurous journeys. The path of predictability has never satisfied me. The result is a friction of mercilessly mechanical, heartless sound collages, combined with my typical melancholy-melodious style.” (3.46% of total votes)
BUBBLING UNDER:
11. Black Spiders – Creatures
12. Monster Truck – Sweet Mountain River
13. Geoff Tate’s Queensryche – Cold
14. = Beware Of Darkness – Howl
14. = Frank Hannon – The Hills Of California
16. Bullet – Rolling Home
17. = Biting Elbows – Bad Motherfucker
17. = In This Moment – Adrenalize
19. Star And Dagger – Your Mother Was A Grifter
20. = Gloomball – The Distance
20. = Zed – Please
22. Homeless Hill – They Don’t Know
