The Ten Best Hard Rock Songs & Our Halloween Show

In This Issue

  1. Annual Halloween Show
  2. The End Of Pay What You Want
  3. The Ten Best Hard Rock Songs According to Diablo Royale

All Hallows Eve At The Best Place In the World For It!

We are heading to Six Flags’ Fright Fest this Sat night for our annual Halloween show.  The stage is essentially a mulit-level castle complete with torches.  Technically, it’s only 2 levels, but Gerard has a bit of a wild streak, and likes walking on the wobbly roof. If roller coasters and the chance of near death experiences are not enough, we will be playing with Charetta and The August Infinity, two bands we’ve done a lot of good work with recently.

7:00 PM, Sat, 10/30
Six Flags Frightfest
1 Six Flags Boulevard
Jackson, NJ 08527

Pay What You Want Until Nov 15

Alright, this has worked very well, but all good things must come to an end.  If you’d like to grab "Greedy Dogs" for any price you’d like, please head to our store and grab it now.  We will be ending it in 2 weeks.

The Top 10 Hard Rock Songs According to Diablo Royale
There’s a lot of these lists floating around, and we never really agree with them.  The first major difference is that Nirvana will not be making an appearance on our list. Second, we will stay away from a song just because it was the biggest by the artist.  For example, no Enter Sandman here. Without further ado:

10. Walk This Way – Aerosmith
Here’s a song with 100% pure cocksure swagger.  If the catchy chorus isn’t enough, this song single-handedly spawned countless collaborations between rock and rap artists. While we might be better off without some of them (Puff Daddy doing Kashmir?), the Run DMC/Aerosmith duo is classic.

9. Crackerman – Stone Temple Pilots
This song is what this band was all about.  No frills, kick ass rock.  From the first note it doesn’t stop.  And the hook is so memorable, by the end of the first listen you’ll be screaming "Get Away, gotta get away."

8. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap – AC/DC
You’ve heard Back In Black and Hells Bells about 3,000 times or so depending on how many bars you’ve been in.  But Dirty Deeds is a straight ahead rock gem.  The song made it onto The Simpsons when the very religious Ned Flanders sang it as "Kindly Deeds Done For Free."  Probably not what Bon Scott had in mind but it speaks to the songs’ reach.

7. Crazy Train  – Ozzy Osbourne
Yes, we are breaking our first rule here, but man, is this song awesome.  It is one of the most badass guitar riffs ever written, the verse drives and you want to scream with Ozzy in every chorus.  And, of course, the picture perfect guitar solo by Randy Rhoads.

6. Nightmare – Avenged Sevenfold
So, this song was only released in August of 2010, so it hasn’t had the chance of stand the test of time.  But it is a great one.  It starts off with some bells, then a strong drum intro with the band, and it’s off and running.  This song drives, drives, drives.

5. Them Bones – Alice In Chains
It’s no secret that this band is a huge influence of ours.  This song is the perfect example of AIC greatness.  Everything you need and none of what you don’t.

4. Rusty Cage – Soundgarden
Another big Diablo Royale influence, these guys have it all.  Good technique, great songwriting and arguably one of the best singers in the business.  Most people will gravitate to the more radio friendly songs, but this one does it for us every time.

3. One – Metallica
This song is epic.  It influenced a generation of drummers to play double bass (Diablo’s own Mike Sankari is no exception).  Aside from that, the lyrics are great, the arrangement gets you hooked from the first note and these guys kill it in the outro.

2. Cowboys From Hell – Pantera
Here’s a band that did it 100% their way from 1990-2000 and this song encompasses that spirit through and through.  They throw down and kick some ass.  Hell, they haven’t put out an album since 2000 and you still see people wearing their shirts.  If you’re feeling a little down, put on this song and take comfort in the fact that for the next four minutes and six seconds, everything is going to be just fine.

1. Welcome To The Jungle – Guns N’ Roses
This is the story of Axl Rose getting to LA from the midwest and man, does this song ever catch that spirit.  The guitar sounds are raw and in your face, there’s a spooky breakdown and the choruses at the end will get you out of your seat.  If they don’t, go see a doctor, you’re probably paralyzed.