The Best Of Results:
30 killer albums, 50 classic songs - and a well deserved selection of honorable mentions. This year's best were culled from around 250 reviews and at least another 100 titles featured on the site as soundbytes. That's at least 4200 songs and what you see above are the best of the best as far as I see it. In these circumstances there is always a lot that miss out, but a tough decision on what to include in the very best has to be made.
No doubt there will be as many that disagrees with some results as there are those that agree. But within the majority of 2004 Best Of lists, I would expect the above titles and songs to feature regularly. They are all outstanding releases.
Below is quite a read - I hope you enjoy it and look forward to feedback. Feel free to print the Awards Page out and read it on the can. It runs at about 24 pages in case you were wondering!
Although there were plenty of releases out in 2004, I felt the melodic/AOR scene itself was a little quiet - almost in a state of survival mode, waiting to be pushed in a new direction. This goes for the both the European and American scene. The Best Of 2004 results are quite interesting I think. These are the titles that held my interest throughout the year and held up the best as far as how I view them personally.
Of the Top 30 albums, all melodic labels are represented, which I think is a very good thing (Frontiers, MTM, Escape, Lion, Majestic, Kivel, Atenzia, Z). Titles released by Frontiers Records again feature heavily, but not as dominant as in last year's results and for the first time, several Indie releases - self-released by the artists themselves - make the cut.
Rick Springfield, Ten, Soul Sirkus and Hugo all did the hard yards of getting their albums into the public's hands themselves. Some with the help of distributors, some purely from self-promotion and online sales. I'm sure there will be more of this to come, but to reach the masses - all possible fans out there - will definitely require some creative thinking and possible co-operation with others.
I am disappointed I could not feature Van Halen anywhere in my Top albums or songs. Sammy Hagar is a long time favourite and I love that band, but those new songs - the vibe is just so flat.

You will notice that the titles featured in the Best Of lists do not have their respective record labels listed alongside them. I have never done this for the end of year lists because I really don't care what label the titles are on - it's about the music and the above titles are featured without prejudice. I shouldn't really have to make that statement, but it seems each year someone tries to read a pattern into the results. Don't bother - there isn't one!!

State Of The Nation!:
12 months ago I wrote that 2003 was a challenging year. Little did I know that 2004 would out do that and 2005 is already heading in the same direction. To date I have managed to overcome the various issues and problems thrown at me, but sitting here in only Mid-January 2005, I really can't predict if I will have the resources to come through 2005 unscathed. If I am sitting here typing out my thoughts in January 2006, I'll be a happy man.
Times are tough, business is tough and everyone is looking for a light at the end of the tunnel. Hope it's there.
I also stated last year that 2003 was the most difficult year for dealing with running and maintaining the site. 2004 easily topped that and I am finding that maintaining constant sponsor support for the site is harder than ever. The main reason behind this, is the basic fact that times are tough and there really isn't much money to spare - that goes for readers busy raising families, record labels trying to break new ground and retailers and labels alike trying to inspire people to purchase new product.
2005 will see this trend continue - which I why I really haven't been able to predict where things will end up. One hopes for the best naturally - better titles, bigger sales, bigger comebacks, etc. For those able to rise to the occasion, benefits will flow. But to say that of the whole scene is being very optimistic.
I also note that there is an air of negativity with some folk. This happens from time to time, especially when watching the cycles of the Noticeboard. I am always glad people decide to stop by the site and check it out, and remain hopeful contributions to the Message Board communities can be a positive one.

The Scene:
2004 offered no major surprises. Frontiers Records continued to build their stable of artists and the number of titles they release; MTM Music built on their Classix sub-label with a number of re-issues, while for their frontline releases, the label put a lot of faith in newcomers - hoping to continue and build the profiles of these artists over the coming year.
Lion Music continued to tread the same path they are best known for, but scored big on the AOR side of things with the classy House Of Shakira release and Escape Music did much the same, providing fans with 2 cracking AOR releases in Shadowman and The Ladder, plus more traditional AOR and some impressively done re-issues. AOR/Metal Heaven continued to add to their stable of releases, with some well chosen titles released through the year.
Majestic Rock Records were one of the few emerging labels for the year. The new label started off as a re-issue house, but quickly snapped up some great talent such as Kick and Million for a move into the new release market.
The biggest worry for 2004 was Atenzia Records, who have and continue to promise a great deal, but to date have delivered little, with only a handful of sporadic releases during the year.
2003 was the year of Z Records - or the non-year of....depends on your take of the situation. The label was publicly lynched several times over in 2003, with things mellowing somewhat during 2004. Periods of discussion and controversy appeared, but quickly died down. The label released a few albums, but their biggest problem remains the stream of press releases touting dates that never eventuate - which puts doubts into the minds of the record buying public.
A number of outlets carry Z news and I am considering running the occasional Z update - in the good name of supporting the artists signed to the label - but I continue to have doubts over the content of those press releases and the accuracy of upcoming release dates.

But Z were not alone in announcing CD releases that would not eventuate. Now & Then Records had a slow year where only a few titles were released (in conjunction with Frontiers) with others announced not yet seeing the light of day. Their big problem came from a partnership with French label NTS - only weeks before the label went bankrupt, causing big problems for all. Good news though - the original AOR label will return in 2005, with it's first releases scheduled for February.

2004 saw the second MelodicRock.com CD released. I thought the first one gave me trouble - putting it together was a huge learning curve! - but this was a real headache to get sorted. In the end, I thought it was more consistent and better quality than the first volume. Sold about 850-900 I guess, but was considerably more expensive to put together given that it was a 2-Disc set. I for one was really pleased to be able to offer some new and unsigned bands a bit of exposure, as it's one thing I never seem to have enough time to do on the site itself.
The feedback I got has been great, with just as many people liking Disc 2 over the more established names on Disc 1. Time to think about a third volume!

The biggest event for me professionally in 2004 was my debut as a tour manager/promoter for the Jeff Scott Soto Australian tour. I'll use the term manager lightly...I'm sure Howie would love to comment on that! That two weeks was another huge learning curve, let me tell you! I had some idea of what I was getting myself into and what had to be done, but that wasn't the half of it.
I have spoken at some length about the tour, so I'll just add that Jeff was happy, I was happy and we both learnt a lot about what we should do next time around - and we would like to do it again, no doubt.
I'd love to do this for more bands, but the bottom line is that I can't see any other artists putting their own money on the line to do it. Shows can be booked, publicity done, but it takes a lot of money to get here and no promoter is going to buy into a small tour on this scale from any melodic music band.
Selling merch will help any artist break even if they want to come on their own dime, so if there is anyone that wants to further their music horizons and say G'Day to some Aussie fans, it came be done, but you have to be brave about it! Full credit to Jeff for diving in head first.

Musically speaking, I think the biggest news of 2004 was the return of Van Halen. As promoted in November by myself (and denied by all right up until the actual announcement), Sammy Hagar made his return to the band for what was a very interesting time. I have to say that I was really excited by Hagar's return, but the events that transpired really left me with a bad taste. This is my favourite band in the world, but their 2004 Tour just didn't seem natural and the Best Of Both Worlds release was extremely sub-par in every aspect. The whole re-union seemed staged and presented to fans as a cash making exercise.
The new tracks lacked spark, and while on tour, it was still clear to see that it was a band with two camps - Sammy and Mike and Eddie and Alex. No one, no matter what they say will convince me otherwise and I don't see any change for this should their be a future.
Should the band record a new studio album (My guess is they will, but not this year), I hope it has a better vibe than the 3 pieced together new tracks that appeared this year.
Speaking of that compilation - when the producer has to come out and explain certain parts of the album, you know something is wrong. Glen Ballard did just that - doing his best to explain away a few errors on the compilation. That sentence I just typed gives me a huge sense of deja-vu...oh yeah, Bob Rock and Metallica in 2003.
When VH did eventually hit the road, reviews ran the full range - brilliant to sloppy - with Eddie copping most of the flack. I handed out some of my own when it come to him nixing Soul SirkUS supporting the band on 2 Californian dates. Bad show Eddie!
Meanwhile, David Lee Roth headed off to NYC and trained as an Emergency Response Technician. Always good to have a back-up career incase music doesn't pay the bills.

The biggest stir of the year for me personally however, does not go to Van Halen. Yes, Eddie's drunken stage antics provided plenty of headlines - as did the back and forth PR generating comments from Alex and Sammy, but once the re-union was announced, the frenzy died off a little.
Besides, the Van Halen announcement I made fell under 2003 news....my scoop of 2004 was the exclusive unveiling of news that Def Leppard's new album would be an all-covers affair - which was followed by a second scoop featuring the track listing. At least, I thought it was!
The band were keeping a lid on their plans and did not appreciate my leaking the news of the covers - especially as at the same time I suggested that it was a daft idea. After all, the band do covers every album they record - they are just issued as b-sides and I believe we have plenty of those already.
Anyway, the band were not happy and out of the blue comes an e-mail with the full track listing from the album....the rest of the story you know. Lesson learned. If you are going for a scoop, be wary of a reprisal and make sure it ain't a set-up!
At least I eventually got my scoop when I printed the real track listing online Feb. 1.

Arguments of 2004: one of the best I think goes to my buddy Chris Logan - last seen as vocalist for MSG. This guy sent me some good abuse after my review of the last MSG album and I hadn't really heard any news of him since then. But it seems someone within the MSG camp attacked him from behind and he left the tour that night.
This from Chris at the time: "Unfortunately, there was an altercation which took place after the show tonight (Nov. 14) (after a killer show at Klubben in Stockholm, Sweden tonight, I might add). I was attacked twice from behind by a member of our tour, who was too big a coward to face me from the front. I was severely injured in the process, and I cannot continue under the current conditions."
I feel bad for the guy actually, as the spin doctors have clearly kept the name of his attacker out of the headlines, but I'm sure we can all guess who it was. Well, at least I thought it was you know who, but it seems Chris is still lined up to add some vocals for the new MSG album afterall. All is well that ends well?

Who else - well there was Eddie Van Halen's onstage blow up near the end of the VH tour, and Sammy's tell it like it is radio interview just before that, but we can't forget Mark Mangold and The Sign vs Frontiers Records - much of it played out on my own message board. Seems Mark did not appreciate the label making changes to his record and the label didn't appreciate what was originally delivered. Regardless, one can safely say the two will not work together again in the future.

I wouldn't say it was an argument as such, but Diamond Head employed a new singer and announced it, much to the surprise of original singer Sean Harris, who saw the news on my frontpage and wrote in a rather well worded response. Another pairing unlikely to work together again.

WASP made the headlines several times over with frontman Blackie Lawless clearly having a few bad weeks, canceling a number of shows for what one could describe as some 'creative' excuses. Food poisoning was one, unsafe stage barriers was another and the best of all was the one where Blackie's over-sized mike stand was too heavy for the stage to take - therefore the show had to be cancelled. Funny stuff.

The biggest argument of all was one no one ever saw. Perhaps they should have, as I was mad as hell at the time, but chose to keep the issue offline. In fact, even now I'm torn between telling all and keeping it to myself. Perhaps a compromise as I don't want to be misunderstood as being pissy. It's not like that - it's more a funny story and one I am still amazed at. I'll refrain from naming names and just use the incident as an example of some of the things I have to deal with behind the scenes!
It's also a great example of no matter how much great publicity you can give any given artist, to some you are only as good as your last review and the first sign of anything negative and you are public enemy #1. Thankfully that's not the case to often, but certainly more often than it should be and it's an issue I deal with every year.
So - to the case in point....
In the lead up to a certain big new release from a favourite artist, I was giving out a ton of press - mentioned 7 or 8 times in the first 2 months of the year alone. As the release drew nearer, the info dried up and a veil of secrecy descended over the release, the likes of which I have only seen a few times before.
I started to mention this on the site and was publicly pressing for more publicity as that's what happened in the past and so I could better promote this release. That never came, and I ended up pre-ordering a copy of the album myself, as I never heard back from anyone involved in the album's release. Funnily enough, out of the blue a promo CD did finally arrive - on the day after it was released.
Little did I know, all my online/site comments and e-mails of contact had been logged and recorded by a certain individual, which would come to my attention shortly.
I did a review of the album after enough listening time had passed and gave it a pretty good score overall - very good even - with a few side comments on how it could have been even better still. There was also a special version of the album released, with extra tracks. For the purpose of a quick and accurate review, I had a bud in the USA who got it delivered straight away, e-mail me the extra tracks before I got the special version myself. The extra tracks on offer for the extra price being charged is where I had my biggest problem and stated so in the review.
Those comments were also recorded!
Here's what happened next. As a supporter of this artist and someone who has each and every release to date, I paid out my $$ for the limited edition as soon as it was available for pre-sale. Some 4 weeks after the publicized shipping date I made an enquiry as to where my CD might be. That was 6 weeks from payment date. A generic e-mail was sent stating all international shipments of pre-orders have been completed. I waited another 2 weeks - some 8 from original payment and 6 weeks from shipping date. Another request for information was sent. This time demanding to know a ship date. No response.
Another request was sent the next day and again the day after that...and again the day after that! The last e-mail threatened to lodge a complaint with the online payment carrier. I added the line: "I'm regretful that you have chosen not to reply and treat your customers with such contempt."
I received a simple reply that stated: "Trust me Andrew, *you* are the only one I treat with such contempt."
It was followed up by another e-mail the following day. It stated "I'm just passing a little bit of the love back to you...After those bad reviews and nasty remarks about *******'s new CD and all...Turnabout is fair play!"
Now, if they want to think that way fine, it happens from time to time...but they still have my money. I sent back a suitable reply (!), adding one last line: "You are yet to address the issue of where my order is. Would it be too much trouble to ask that you respond to that?"
I then got the biggest surprise of all. This was the reply to that question "I've never shipped your order...I'll go ahead and refund your payment in the morning and we'll be all square. Adios...."
That e-mail arrived over 2 months since I paid out my money. I eventually got my refund, but not for another 10 days!!!
It was sent with one last e-mail, containing this comment: "I know this will probably garner only more negative spin and statements to you....but I truly believe it's time to cut ties with you. I just can't see you ever being a help, in anyway, to ****** or his organization. I only see more sour grapes and nasty statements, which don't do anybody any good."
Sadly I have not had any contact with this artist since and haven't posted a single news item until one item recently, which I though my readers would be interested in. I didn't print anything negative and haven't since, but I thought this story should be told - if only as an example of how my reviews upset some artists! I remain extremely disappointed in them and the people in their organization. But I doubt they care...Funny stuff eh? And I still haven't tracked down this Limited CD!

This Year's Unrelated To Anything Rant:
Last year I included a rant about the quality of press releases being sent out. 2004 wasn't much better! Some labels out there need to re-think who is writing their news up and re-check it again before hitting that send button. Two new pet peeves from the press releases sent last year - 1. Yelling! Far to much use of CAPITAL LETTERS folks!! Tone it down a little!
2 - The mis-use of the term "is back"!!!!! Mis-use or over-use - it has to stop! The funniest example is a press release for a certain artist's new solo album stating "***** is back!!", when the artists last album was a mere 12 months ago and they haven't stopped being in the press all along anyway. Please restrict the use of the term "is back!!!!" to an artist that is genuinely returning from a period in the wilderness! Ok, rant over...

Noteworthy Musical Events of 2004:
Former Survivor vocalist Dave Bickler continued to make waves with his inspired tributes to ordinary working folk in a long series of Budweiser commercials. Speaking of Survivor, the band announced they had commenced work on a new album on January 5, 2004, but I now have it on good authority, there is no chance in hell of a new studio album this year - instead perhaps in 2006. As my contact suggested to me - Survivor are officially the Guns N Roses of the melodic rock world. Shit or get off the can already.

Rush had an interesting year - with another successful tour and a series of European dates plus a new anniversary celebrating covers EP and then there was that thing with guitarist Alex Lifeson. His arrest on assault charges was unfortunate, but it did sound like he was well and truly pissed.

Alex wasn't along in being arrested. What year could possibly go past without Vince Neil making the headlines for punching someone and/or getting arrested? This year he did both, before taking to getting a makeover, which saw a new nip and tuck version of Vince revealed. He also found time to do the chicken dance at some festival, which saw well deserved ridicule heaped upon him.

Ted Nugent put a chainsaw through his leg, which wasn't the smartest thing I ever heard of, but he recovered fully to hit the road as usual.

Several artists upped the ante as far as flogging their own merchandise. Nelson continued to do it via their site and e-bay, Kelly Keeling has CDRs for sale for $15 via his own site, Lanny Gordola, Neal Schon and even Eddie Van Halen had guitars up for sale. Kiss continued to put their name on anything, with a line of specialist stores almost ready to go. Expect KissWorld to open in 2005 and close in 2006!

Speaking of Nelson - the band have recorded a brand new studio album which went unreleased in 2004, re-recorded their greatest hits for a Japanese release that got cancelled and Matt Nelson joined a new project called Red 37, who's album (you guessed it) remains officially unreleased and available only via self-made CD on the band's website. What is going on with the guys and can they get it together to actually release anything? The band are super talented and Life was such a classic and released through a range of small labels - why not just get these releases on the market?

A few musicians opened their own record labels in 2004 - Jack Ponti formed Bardic Records in March, but I really haven't heard much about it since then. The label's roster of artists shows it ain't a melodic rock label, that's for sure!
Also heading off to work was Corey Hart, who formed Siena Records, in conjunction with WarnerBros Canada. Again, not much movement since, but a new solo record might be nice!
Stuart Smith and partners have also formed their own label - Black Star Records. Expect a few interesting releases from them this year.

Satellite Radio made increased head roads into the market place, with a few new hard rock shows making their debut - both in the UK and the USA. This is definitely the way forward and is radio's answer to the Internet as far as a freer range of uncontrolled playlists being available.

Boston mastermind Tom Scholtz spent much of 2004 re-mixing, re-recording and adding new material to the Corporate America release, before releasing it again on a new label. No ETA on it's release!

The Alarm get credit for being the most ingenious band of 2004 - they recorded a new single and album and achieved a #28 chart position in the Uk on the back of a video that featured a sub-in teenage band to give the appearance of being cooler than they might otherwise be perceived. Seems it worked!

No White Lion re-union for 2004 and right now most likely never. Mike and the rest of the guys couldn't come to terms and I think any doors open from the possibility are now well and truly shut. Especially now that Mike is on the road as Tramp's White Lion, doing the music of his former band himself.

Guitarist extraordinaire Ralph Santolla joined Sebastian Bach's band, which could prove to be very interesting indeed. So far no sign of trouble and I'm anxious to hear some results!

There were a few big splits that need to be talked about.
Jesse Harms left Sammy Hagar's band, after some 20 years of service. That was really sad - it seems Sammy's band was no longer a democracy and Harms could see VH coming a mile off. Jani Lane left Warrant to be replaced by Jamie St. James - which isn't a bad move, but we are yet to hear any new music from the band.
Lou Gramm left Foreigner, or at least, was requested to leave after his voice simply didn't hold out while on tour. He continues on as a solo artist, but reviews reaching me paint a very bad picture for the once flawless and great vocalist.
Drummer Phil Verone left Skid Row, only to re-join a few months later. Buckethead left Guns N Roses (are they still together?!), Ron Taylor left Lillian Axe, Tony Martin fell out with M3, Morty Black left TNT, Paul Shorinto failed to make magic with Heaven & Earth and Stratovarius leader Timo Tolkki left himself during a mental crisis.
In fact, let's jump to Timo Tolkki - who gets the wally of the year award hands down. Not only did he drive everyone from his band, he recruited a new vocalist no one liked, argued with his record label that then went after him for the return of his massive advance and he was attacked by a crazed fan, clearly unimpressed with his actions. The pinnacle of this came when Timo made this statement:
"World peace, tolerance to other people's feelings and opinions, systematically refusing to cooperate with EVIL, world without armies, world without hate, love... My eyes have opened finally. These fucking things are just UTOPIA. They can never be achieved. I was once stupid because I honestly, wholeheartedly believed that these things could be achieved and that we human beings could learn from the past and just live in peace. I've got news for you baby, IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. So why not just have good time, you never know when your days are numbered. It could be tomorrow you know! So don't wait ANY MORE! MAKE YOUR LIFE A MASTERPIECE! MAKE A DIFFERENCE!! FUCK EVERYBODY WHO WANTS TO STOP YOU!! ADOLF HITLER IS ALIVE AND WELL IN THE WORLD. I FUCKED HIM LAST NIGHT. WE ARE ALL HITLER AND WE ARE ALL CHRIST. AND HITLER IS WINNING!!"
Nothing I can add to that - it pretty much speaks for itself.

2004 wasn't all about splitting though - Ted Poley re-joined Danger Danger and has been touring with them; Joey Allen re-joined Warrant; and late in the year Timo Tolkki found himself again and promptly put Stratovarius back together.
Aussie rockers Noiseworks are pretty much back together, although Jon Stevens is keeping quiet about their plans. I think he is retaining hope someone might actually buy his God awful solo record. His manager expressed a certain displeasure at my review, which actually ranked Stevens' album as the very worst release in 2004. That it is. Even worse than the Gene Simmons album. Man what a record that was though! It's title and the album itself is equal to the contents emptied from the body part it represented.
Another cult Aussie act - Ice Tiger also reformed, with moves to make a new album in 2005.

To switch attention back to touring briefly, I found there were not as many smaller tours this year - there also was no Gods Festival (sadly) and everything seemed just a little subdued there. Getting people from the comfort of their homes in this day and age is a challenge. I hope there is a little more life during 2005. The announcement of The Gods 2005 is a good step in that direction.
One of the bright spots was Sweden Rock Festival selling out for the very first time, and with 2005's line-up announced, look like doing that again with ease.
Credit to another individual for putting his money where his mouth is goes to Kieren Dargan, who organized and promoted the Tyketto / Teer / Deadline tour of the UK, not to mention the well received Firehouse / Vaughn tour. Well done Kieren. I here more plans are underway, so power to you mate.
There wasn't a Gods, but Z Records did put on a show - but sadly only 70-odd people showed up. I don't want to get into a negative Z thing here - credit to them for trying a show - but there were a few artists advertised that didn't show or cancelled at the last minute and it's this continuing factor of conflicting information published by Z that has given the community considerable cause to question what information is actually valid and which is correct. I hope 2005 brings a change there. Consumers need to have confidence.
The Munich Open Air Festival was another highly publicized event that went badly wrong on the day. An outdoor summer festival sounds like a safe bet, but not even the line-up of Dare, TNT, Gotthard, Kingdom Come and Primal Fear could convince the majority to brave a day long torrential down pour that caused organizers to lose a lot of money, not to mention make filming the whole event for DVD releases next to impossible.
Thankfully it was still doable and the first DVD featuring Dare will be released soon.
UFO toured America - eventually - the band got turned back first time around, due to incorrect visas, but even then a re-scheduled tour took place without Pete Way, as his visa still wasn't correct. Not overly professional, but Barry Sparks stepped in to save the day.
Journey continued to tour, with the new set list featuring everyone having a go at vocals - the most impressive being the ultra smooth Perry-like vocals of drummer Deen Castronovo.
A number of other groups toured, but I won't get into each and everyone. I would say that I hope ticket prices can be kept down and affordable and fans get out of their houses should these bands come to town. A great deal of an artists money is now derived from touring alone, with little coming from making new CDs. Support their tours and new music will continue to be produced - at least, it better be!


Disappointments & Re-Issues Of 2004:
The Disappointments of 2004: Sadly, 2004 saw the biggest selection of disappointments released in a single year since I started this site. From time to time I hear a comment regarding the number of good reviews posted, but take a look at the number of bad or average reviews I posted this year! Quite honestly, if any album doesn't make the cut - you will hear about it.
The worst album of 2004 has to be the Jon Stevens solo album - which saw the rocker return to his soul/R&B roots, but no one cared.
Kiss' Gene Simmons was the next worst, with his album absolutely devoid of any sense of cohesiveness. One could see how thrown together the album was, and surprisingly I didn't receive half the abuse I expected from Kiss fans after posting the review - so it really must have been bad.
The Tygers Of Pan Tang release wasn't much better - and their vocalist has now departed; Hall & Oates proved their originals are far better than their attempt at covers; and Stephen Pearcy's album saw him so far from what he is best known and loved for, I cannot imagine who would buy that album.
Another two clangers were albums from Helix and Julliet. So utterly dire and so far removed from their heyday sound, one must again question the thought process behind such a change in direction.
Dead Heart Beating was another album from a classic rocker (Airborne's David Zychek) that headed in a tuned-down grungeworthy direction. Enough of the tuned down guitars already!
Europe changed face, but managed to pull it off with some great songs - but ran out of steam half way through their album.
House Of Lords had the right ideas, but the album didn't sound finished and was lacking big choruses, which again, is what the band were best loved for.
Heart's big comeback was a disappointment for me personally and I know others agreed. But it did find some favor with other fans of their early work.
Also disappointing was Velvet Revolver, Bulletboys, Velvet Dreams, Brides Of Destruction and the Aerosmith covers album.
One last one that I found disappointing personally, was the Jack Blades solo album. Once again a case of too many styles on one record and not enough of the classic JB we all know and love. Not a bad record as such, but not what I was hoping for.
The Van Halen compilation was also a pretty shabby bit of work, with errors, a confused running order and poor booklet all part of over-priced package.
So, plenty of disappointing and sub-standard releases in 2004. More than there should have been and I'm sorry to those involved with the album that I upset with negative reviews or comments. That's sadly one of the hazards of this job.

On a more positive note -
Best Re-Issues & Compilations of 2004: Last year saw some of the best re-issues put on the market to date. French label Bad Reputation really didn't put out a lot in 2004, but their 2 major releases were all class. The re-issue of the debut Riverdogs album, with the never officially released acoustic On Air promo album was a gem, as was their rounding up of all officially and promotionally released Shark Island material on the Law Of The Order re-issue. I'd make some mention of typo's within that release, but as it was re-pressed with corrections, there is no need!
Majestic Rock saw to it that Wasyed's classic AOR record Save Your Prayers got a decent release as well as some other lost NWOBHM titles.
Mike Tramp bootlegged himself, with a self released set of 6 titles which really painted a monster picture of unreleased and demo material for fans of his and White Lion. If only every band would do so much for their fans. The market for such releases is small, but for fans of any given artist, a look into their demo vaults would be priceless.
Bon Jovi actually stuck to their word for once and delivered a fabulous 4CD, 1DVD box of mainly unreleased tracks - but still left plenty in the vault from the early years for a Volume 2.
MTM Classix helped 707 get their classic AOR release Mega-Force onto the market, as well as the previously unreleased The Bridge album. Sadly though, singer Kevin Chalfant was snubbed from participating in the liner notes for Mega-Force. His comments would have made for a complete package.
Escape Music were again involved with some great re-issues, this year delivering Surrender, Paul Janz and The Creek.

I think the best re-issues of 2004 came from Talisman. Their care in re-mastering all of their albums and packaging them in slip cases with bonus discs filled with demos and live tracks was classic and when not available, doubling up the albums as 2 for 1 releases made for a fan must have. Sitting side by side, these releases are essential for all Talisman fans.
There were also a couple of great compilations, the Survivor Essential Collection one of the best packages, thank to band involvement and a great deal of care in assembling the CD thanks to BMG.
Sammy Hagar was another great compilation, much for the same reasons as the Survivor one - Sammy's involvement, some rare and unreleased tracks and a nice package made his release truly essential and showed up the weaknesses in Van Halen's package.

A sometimes serious (sometimes not) look at the year just past:

Vocalist Of The Year: Jeff Scott Soto - Could there be anyone else? Yes, I have a bias towards this fabulous performer, but it is well deserved and I am not alone in my admiration for the singer. He is the hardest working individual I have seen in my time running this site and his dedication to his craft and the energy he gives to everything has been sucking people in left, right and center. His personal fanbase has grown through hard work, dedication and extensive touring - 2004 saw Jeff tour further and farther a field than ever. He also released what was arguable his best solo album to date and the groovy Soul SirkUS record. Add to that a couple of tribute album appearances and live dates with Boogie Nights and you quite simply have a winner with no competition!

Last Year: Harry Hess

Producer Of The Year Award: Fabrizio V.Zee Grossi - Now this is an interesting one. With respect to his talent, I wouldn't rate Fabrizio the very best producer around, and I find myself tiring a little of his sound. But he is very talented and in 2004 no other individual had a greater impact on the melodic rock scene than he did. As the producer, arranger, mixer and musician, Fabrizio was behind several major albums this year, with From The Inside and Over The Edge making the Top 15 for the year, not to mention his work with Glenn Hughes, James Christian, as well as Tommy Funderburk, which was released last month. He's currently working on projects with Freddy Curci (Zion), Terry Brock, Joe Vana (Ambition) and the next Vertigo release.
Last Year: Tommy Denander

Now to the silly stuff - and I might preface by saying, although these awards are reviewed and changed every year, I am very surprised at how many awards are appropriate again this year for similar reasons, just different people! Fact is stringer than fiction I guess.

The 'Somebody Get Me A Spin Doctor' Award For Best Piece Of Self-Serving BS PR: Van Halen for the constant mopping up needed to present an all-is-great picture on tour in 2004.
Last Year: Fred Durst

The 'Great Kat Best Escaping Of Reality During 2004' Award: Stratovarius' Timo Tolkki for the second year running! He started going awol last year, but really topped it off this year with some astounding comments. Good to hear he is on his way back.
Close runner up: Eddie Van Halen.

The 'Bite The Hand That Feeds' Award: Guitar World - for their 100 Worst Solos article, which pretty much bagged out 100 bands that helped them stay in business 1984-1994.

The 'Dead, Jail or Rock N Roll (Jail Option)' Award: Former Judas Priest drummer Dave Holland for fooling with little boys.
Last Year: Michael Morales.

The 'Guns N Roses Most Changes To The Scheduled Release Date' Award: Black N Blue - Their comeback album was originally scheduled for release April 19, 2004. It was then moved to September 04, Feb 5 2005, Feb 14 2005 and now April/May 2005.
Last Year: Cheap Trick

The 'Announced But Never Seen Again Disappearing Albums' Award: Z Records - for announcing the following albums - none of which have been released as yet - Adam Bomb, Femme Fatale, VOA (Bob Halligan Jr.), Final Frontier (moved to Frontiers), Life (Leif Johansen), Eddie Campbell, Gypsy Rose.

The 'Vince Neil Drunk Best On-Stage Antics' Award: Eddie Van Halen, for his various antics during the band's 2004 tour, the best of which were saved until the last week of the tour. Honorable mention to Vince Neil, who makes the cut each year - this time it was in Texas.
Last Year: Jani Lane, Vince Neil and Sebastian Bach.

The 'Eddie Van Halen Best Drunk Off-Stage Antics' Award: Rush's Alex Lifeson for his NYE punch-up and arrest.

The 'Not Very Rock N Roll Way To Cause Grievous Bodily Harm To Oneself' Award: Ted Nugent, for putting a chainsaw to his leg!
Last Year: Ronnie James Dio.

The 'Welcome Back in 2004' Award: *TIE* . Ted Poley in Danger Danger, Joey Allen in Warrant, Stratovarius and Nosieworks

The 'Please Go Away Again' Award: Julliet.

The 'Just Finish & Release The Bloody Thing Already' Award: Do I even bother mentioning Guns N Roses - again!

The 'Milli Vanilli' Award: The Alarm - for using teenagers posing as the band in their video clip! Got them to #28 in the UK.

The 'Frankie Sullivan' Lawsuits-Are-Us Award: Axl Rose! Rather than work on finishing his album, Axl spent time suing Cleopatra for their Hollywood Rose release, and also sued Geffen to try and prevent them releasing a Guns N Roses Greatest Hits album (which was pretty lame) and is currently still fighting with past band members over new publishing issues.

The 'Most Likely To Release A Live Album in 2005' Award: Kiss, Yngwie Malmsteen, Skid Row, Asia, Judas Priest, Duran Duran, Whitesnake - more random guesses!
Those nominated last year - Iron Maiden, Meatloaf, Thunder, Nelson, Dream Theater.
Meatloaf, Dream Theater both came up with live albums!

The 'This Bud's For You' Award: Dave Bickler - Hope Budweiser are paying you in cash and not discounted supplies!

The 'Honkin' On Something' Award: Aerosmith - for that awful album title!

The 'Buddy's Not Your Buddy' Award: Buddy Hayden - for passing guitarist Brett Garsed's recordings off as his own when trying to get a record deal.

The 'Best Interview Of 2004' Award: Steve Lukather - The great man didn't hold back and told it like it was! If you haven't read it yet - do it!

The 'It's 2004, not 1964' Award: Queensryche - For going Black & White on their live DVD this year.

The 'Life Is A Cabaret' Award: Gary Hughes - We hope you are enjoying your time on stage in Blackpool Gary - now get back to the studio!

The 'Ronnie Lee Keel Haystack' Award: Bret Michaels - Dude, the boys in Poison await your return.

The 'Best MelodicRock.com Noticeboard Username for 2004' Award: Harry Von Buglehorn Runners up: Broken Leg, Mid-Life Crisis, Hoversquirrel, bosnian bagel buoy, Rather Large Canine.

The Best Website Award: EBay.com - spent way too much time and money there this year.

And last but not least!

Dickhead of the Year Award:
I've read through the 2004 run down and also surmised in my mind the difficulties of the year and given thought to the individuals that make my life and job harder. The one thing that keeps coming to mind is why? It's hard enough to do anything successfully and that goes for running this site and any other site or venture out there - not to mention all the artists working hard and the organizations behind them. Good luck to anyone trying to survive in this business.
I had two run-ins this year with organizations behind artists and both went out of their way to make life as difficult as possible for me. Those two organizations are the joint winners of this award.
I think it's a shame that they feel their actions were justified, when all am doing is promoting their artists. If they don't like something I say, then that's too bad. I'm not making shit up for the sake of offending. Sadly it seems one negative comment, or at least something they don't agree with can wipe out several years of positive publicity and promotion.
If you can take all the good - you must accept some of the bad and perhaps use those comments or suggestions made to improve the artist. After all, that's why negative comments are made in the first place - in hope of inspiring an improvement. I will take note of that myself too.
The Dickhead Award started out as a bit of fun and I'm hoping 2005 will see it retired, as I'll be trying hard for a smooth and pain free year ahead. Here's hoping!