Top five hard rock albums of 2006

I write about both hard rock and heavy metal and there is a difference. I did my top five albums the other day and it was all metal and stoner rock, but that doesn't mean that there weren't some good hard rock releases this year. I didn't get to hear every hard rock release that I wanted to as Krokus, Rhinobucket and Zan Clan are all 2006 albums that I have yet to hear, but high hopes for. Anyway here are the top five that I did hear:

1)Sweet Cheater-Eatin' ain't cheatin'
Okay, this is remastered version of demos recorded between (I believe) 1989-1991. It does sound a lot like Kix and Ratt, but honestly better than any Kix album and better than several Ratt albums. Very tight and catchy and it got a lot of spins from me this year.

2)Demon Angels-Time of confusion
Whoa, this one came out at the end of the year, but it's a good for sure. Former MSG vocalist Robin McAuley partners with Italian guitarist Chris Falco to create a hugely solid hard rock effort sometimes boardering on metal.

3)Kidd Blue-Big Trouble
Yes, it's more old stuff as this is remastered demos recorded in the late 80's by San Jose/San Francisco based Kidd Blue. Certainly more hard rock than Sleeze or AOR, maybe a little like a cross between Hurricane and Firehouse.

4)Trixie-Shelter
The third album from these guys is their best to date. Very slick production and the band retains some of their Def Leppard sound, but adds more of a Faster Pussycat sound at times on this release. I still would like the hear these guys do more rockin songs though.

5)Miss Crazy
Sources are varied on rather this was 2005 or 2006, but I am going to take include it for this year. I hate to say that everyone here sounds like someone else, but they do. In this case it's early Cinderella as the vocals are very much like Tom Keifer's. This is a good debut and I hope to hear more from this band.

So there are my favorite hard rock albums of 2006.