Whitesnake was the band formed by vocalist David Coverdale after his acrimonious departure from Deep Purple. Intended as a vehicle for his own brand of bluesy vox-heavy rock (the first album was a set of ballads), the project quickly grew to include the gargantuan keyboards and pyrotechnic percussion of Deep Purple's Jon Lord and Ian Paice, the sound becoming fuller, the lyrics more overtly predatory. Love Hunter, recorded before Paice's arrival, was immediately notorious for a sleeve featuring a buxom woman sitting lasciviously astride an enormous snake. It also revealed Coverdale, who was often dismissed as a mere sexist rocker, to be a master of various forms-dirty, dark-hearted rock ("Mean Business"), incorrigibly sensual R&B ("Rock'n'Roll Women"), and slow, impassioned and soulful anthems ("Walking In The Shadow Of The Blues"). Leading to 10 years of unremitting success, Love Hunter was Whitesnake's purest offering. -Dominic Wills.

Formed in Birmingham in the late 1960s, Black Sabbath would rapidly ascend to become towering figures of the music they helped to invent: heavy metal. Blending powerful guitar riffs with a heavy rhythm section and lyrical themes of the occult, drugs and all things dark, Black Sabbath broke through in 1970 with their self-titled debut album and its hit single, "Paranoid". They then rode the crest of the wave of British metal that rose up in the 1970s, recording one classic track after another ("War Pigs", "Sweet Leaf", "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath") until lead singer Ozzy Osbournedeparted for a solo success in 1979. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s,their line-up went through numerous changes, to include at various points Deep Purple's Ian Gillan and Ronnie James Dio. The Best Of Black Sabbath is their most comprehensive greatest hits compilation to date. This 32-track, 2-CD set gathers all of the best-known songs from early Sabbath's now-classic line-up, while still finding space for a few live tracks and some later, post-Ozzy recordings ("Heaven And Hell", "Turn Up The Night" and "The Dark/Zero The Hero"). The Best Of Black Sabbath is an essential introduction to some of the finest works of these rock pioneers. -Ted Kord.

Over-wrought, self-indulgent, bombastic-hurl every clichéd prog-rock epithet you can think of-this group will suck 'em in and spit 'em right back in a deafening flurry of notes plucked, struck, hammered, and slapped. Without question, these guys (Dream Theater's drummer and guitarist Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci respectively, keyboardist Jordan Rudess, and bassist Tony Levin) are masters. And they make no apologies for having recorded an album of intensely virtuosic instrumental hard rock. Armed with chops, taste, and panache, LTE groove seamlessly from the lightning-fingered metal-fest "Paradigm Shift" to the comical drum & bass duet "Chris and Kevin's Excellent Adventure"; from the full-throttle jamming on "Universal Mind" to the house-crushing mayhem of "Three Minute Warning". Throughout, the staggering speed and technique of both Portnoy and Petrucci consistently grab centre stage. It's a riveting work from start to finish and a scorching testament to the power of musical inspiration and collaboration. -Michael Mikesell.

Combining the stop-start rhythms of Helmet, the hip-hop assault of Rage Against the Machine and the brooding vocals of Faith No More, Bakersfield, California band Korn concocted a golden formula that would reanimate the dormant corpse of heavy metal. The band's self-titled debut is a teenage-fantasy-endorphin-rush-a subversive noisefest as angry and hostile as Slayer but with a propulsive groove perfect for skateboarding, vandalism, or jumping up and down until you're nauseous. Songs like "Blind", "Clown", and "Shoots and Ladders" blend dark, bleak riffs with head-spinning guitar effects and scream-and-response choruses. But even at their most vitriolic, Korn imbue their blustery music with a cathartic element of fun. -Jon Wiederhorn.

Nearly a quarter-century (and bassist John Entwistle) passed between what had been considered the Who's career-capping album, It's Hard and this 21-song epic, which at its best has the band of two pining for the days of Who's Next. Built from the triumph of the mini-opera Wire & Glass EP (included here in its entirety), Endless Wire mixes metaphors of music, war, and religion, while showcasing Roger Daltrey's ageless vocal cords and Pete Townshend at his windmilling best. Launching with a "Baba O'Riley"-like synth break in "Fragments," Daltrey asks "Are we breathing out or breathing in?" and Townshend answers with a thrashing, crashing Gibson. When the volume is turned up, there are echoes of three decades ago. "It's Not Enough" and "Mike Post Theme" conjure images of Entwistle and Keith Moon-the latter song, with its quiet verse and thunderous chorus, recalls "Going Mobile" and longs for Moon to whack it into shape. But the linchpin remains Townshend's songwriting, whether he's questioning faith ("Man in a Purple Dress"), showing gratitude for support ("You Stand By Me"), or dreaming of entertaining immortals into eternity ("Out on an Endless Wire"). By the time it wraps up, Endless Wire tells two things. No, it does not quite rank with the band's best work. But yes, as long as Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey walk the earth in tandem, the Who live on. -Scott Holter.