Post Pandemic Albums Releases

What Albums I’m Excited About in 2020

As we all know, 2020 has pretty much sucked. We’ve been stuck inside for nearly four months now and there’s no telling when this pandemic will end. The music industry is in major trouble as it could be months or even years before we see concerts again, at least the way we are used to seeing them. Up until now, record companies have mostly decided to hold back their bigger releases to coincide with eventual tours, but now that it’s pretty evident there won’t be tours anytime soon, hopefully the record company execs will realize they have an audience looking for stuff to do and will start releasing new music. If they do, here’s what I’m looking forward to.

• Tokyo Motor Fist — Lions (Due July 10)

I loved the first record from this band made up of Ted Poley (Danger Danger), Steve Brown (Trixter), Greg Smith and Chuck Burgi. Unless something drastic happens, you will be reading the review of the new record right here next week.

• Alcatrazz — Born Innocent (Due July 31)

Yes, you read that right. Alcatrazz is releasing their first album since 1986. Three original members, including Graham Bonnet, are still in the band which brings some credibility. Sadly, no Yngwie or Steve Vai though.

• Bon Jovi — 2020 (no release date)

This record was due out in May but got bumped due to COVID. I’ve heard two songs so far and one is pretty good and the other isn’t great. So I’m a little concerned. But I really did like “This House Is Not For Sale”, so I’m still hoping for some quality tunes from Jon and the boys.

• Stryper — Even The Devil Believes (September 4)

Nothing can stop Michael Sweet from releasing multiple albums every year. Their last few albums have been pretty heavy and pretty good, so here’s hoping for more of the same. The first single, “Blood From Above”, is a nice start.

• Dokken — The Lost Songs 1978–1981 (August 28)

I guess this is stuff written and recorded pre-Breaking The Chains. Considering Don can’t play guitar right now, it might be the last we hear from Dokken for a while. The first single, “Step Into The Light”, sounds pretty good. I’ll be interested to get the details on this one.

Now for some rumored records with no release date but fairly confident we will see these soon…

• Foo Fighters — This one has been rumored for almost a year, so I have to think we will see it soon.
• Ratt — They were featured in a Geico commercial so hopefully that’s a good sign. Stephen and Juan have been together for nearly a year, so there’s got to be music on the way, no?
• AC/DC — Rumors are that Brian is healthy again and ready to go. Nothing will kickstart the post-pandemic era like a new AC/DC record.
• King’x X — It’s been over a decade since their last record, but they just released something this week that teased that news is coming.
• Extreme — They played a track for Sammy Hagar on his show and he was impressed. Another band I love that hasn’t released anything in over a decade.

Maybe 2020 still has something to offer? If we are lucky, maybe things will start looking up come fall.

What music are you looking forward being released?