September was by far the most exciting month of 2011 in the world of rock music. Between great albums from many veterans like Anthrax and Machine Head to the Big Four concert at Yankee Stadium, it was very difficult to not get caught up in the awesomeness.  Why can’t every month be like this?

1.  Anthrax – Worship Music This is easily the best Anthrax record, if not one of the best thrash albums, in over 20 years.  It hasn’t left my car stereo player yet.

2.  Machine Head – Unto the Locust This is one of the few bands that still brings it in the way that Pantera had meant it.  As far as I am concerned, they carry the groove metal torch.  Locust is not as solid as The Blackening or Burn My Eyes, but still great.

3.  Sebastian Bach – Kicking & Screaming Bach is still an awesome and underrated vocalist.  Previous release Angel Down was a bit heavier, but this still rocks with up-and-coming guitarist Nick Sterling energizing the rocker.

4.  Dream Theater – A Dramatic Turn of Events The songs are the same old DT, even without Mike Portnoy on the drums.  However, I still have trouble fully enjoying this album because Portnoy is not there.

5.  Chickenfoot – Chickenfoot III Wasn’t a huge fan of the debut album, however this one is much better as it doesn’t sound as forced.  This one flows well with more advanced song writing, and of course, Sammy Hagar is the man (Van Hagar all the way, DLR era has got nothing on Sammy).

6.  Alice Cooper – Welcome 2 My Nightmare Finally, the sequel to Welcome to My Nightmare is here and it only took 36 years!  It’s a fun listen for a day or two, but the most interesting track is “What Baby Wants” featuring Ke$ha.  The album is only $4.99 on Amazon.com.

7.  Primus – Green Naugahyde Love, love, love this band, unfortunately they have not released anything interesting since 1995!?! Come on Les!  Between the muddy vocals and progressive feel, it makes you miss and long for Jerry, Mud, Tommy, and Wynona all the more.

8.  Blink 182 – Neighborhoods Not as good or energetic as their 90’s pop-punk material.  Sounds more like Tom DeLonge’s alternative band Angels & Airwaves.  Travis Barker is still the talent and the band still puts on an amusing live show, even though the music sounds thin.

9.  Mastodon – The Hunter Still trying to figure out what the big deal is.  They are a tight band but not nearly as amazing as many make them out to be.

10.  Opeth – Heritage The prog death metal band or whatever you want to call them is back with another record that seems far more tame than what the fans are used to.

All of the albums are available on amazon.com for download and usually a couple bucks cheaper than iTunes.  Also, Amazon stores the tracks online which you can access from any computer.