ARTIST: ACDC
ALBUM: Black Ice
BUY FOR: I’d say this present is probably best suited to dad IF you have seen pictures of him trying to look rebellious in his youth (long hair, maybe some make-up, you know, the things that shouldn’t be talked about when dealing with a role model).
QUICK REVIEW: ACDC recorded their last album (Stiff Upper Lip) eight years ago, but have joined the countless legendary bands in reforming to make money from their legendary status. Whereas some of the bands riding this wave have released some dreadful albums that are meant to show a progression in musical maturity, but in fact show nothing more than the profiteering nature of the music industry by release below par album fillers (rant over!), ACDC have stuck to what they are good at! Hard-hitting, catchy riffs, punchy vocals, and good old sing-along songs – this is a real salute to authentic ACDC rock. Oh, and it has a good dose of hilariously cheesy names for the songs such as ‘Rock ’n’ Roll Train’. If you do buy Black Ice for anybody this Christmas, make sure you include a brand new Gibson air guitar as well!

ARTIST: Funeral For A Friend
ALBUM: Memory And Humanity
BUY FOR: A teenager with a fringe that has taken some serious perfecting with the aid of straighteners. Alternatively, if you want to get a family member in to some soft metal/rock, this is quite a good place to start.
QUICK REVIEW: Funeral For A Friend are one of the godfathers of modern emo/metal music. They’ve been around since the early 2000s and have created some really catchy, melodic songs. ‘Memory and Humanity’ brings together the energy of ‘Casually Dressed and Deep In Conversation’, with the melodic harmony of ‘Hours’. This has been a good comeback after the pretty dreadful last album FFAF released (Tales Don’t Tell Themselves). ‘Kicking and Screaming’ as well as ‘Waterfront Danceclub’ really stand out for me, but this is a good album all round, and won’t offend the senses! Made for singing along to!

ARTIST: The Killers
ALBUM: Day and Age
BUY FOR: Anybody in your family, except maybe your grandparents. Actually, forget that, buy this for your gran!
QUICK REVIEW: This is an album that David Bowie himself would be able to relate to, because there are huge Bowie overtones throughout. The Killers’ front-man Brandon Flower stated once that ‘we want to be as big as U2’. To get to that size, you have to reach superstardom, and The Killers didn’t really make that leap with their second album Sam’s Town as it lacked the floor fillers, such as ‘Mr Brightside’, that graced the first album, with the exception of ‘When You Were Young’. Day and Age does offer enough to say that The Killers have taken another step towards untouchable status, where you can release rubbish albums and everyone will buy them anyway, as it has some real gems, most noticeably ‘Humans’ which will definitely have achieved a real state of late 2008 nostalgia in years to come. This is inoffensive and a pretty good listen really. Dive in, my friend, dive in!

ARTIST: Metallica
ALBUM: Death Magnetic
BUY FOR: Anybody wearing a mean look, baggy jeans and a black T-shirt/hoodie (preferably sporting the world Metallica on it)
QUICK REVIEW: Now, as you may have gleamed from my previous rants, I find Metallica a largely hilarious band. However, they do have superstar status, yet haven’t actually released anything of any worth since the mid-1990s. So, can ‘Death Magnetic’ return to the genius and ground breaking ‘Master of Puppets’. In a word, no, but then no-one could really expect it to, because that is a class album. This album is good, and does see Metallica return to their roots, with pounding drums, scarring solos and ridiculously long songs. However, it does still seem a little bit forced.

ARTIST: Slipknot
ALBUM: All Hope Is Gone
BUY FOR: Angry teenagers and those who can toast the goblet of rock to metal
QUICK REVIEW: For those of you who have no idea who or what Slipknot are, imagine nine big blokes who play the most brutal trash metal you can imagine (if you don’t know what ‘trash metal’ is, wikipedia it!). Not only are there nine members, they all wear matching boiler suits, and each sports their own pretty disturbing mask. For example, a sadistic clown mask, or one with a rip from the throat to the cheek, with it loosely stitched back together. Yes, my friends, these are the idols of millions and they make some brutal music! ‘All Hope Is Gone’ is the fourth album from the Iowa natives and has been eagerly awaited, as there was a large voice that said they would not make another album. This album is brutal in places, and annoyingly Nickleback-esque in others (some of the choruses). It is pretty good, and with tracks like ‘Psychosocial’ and ‘Dead Memories’ it will appeal to the diehard fans. But the Stone Sour influence does sort of loom large on the choruses, and might send a few fans loopy with rage. This is brutal, aggressive, but not anything to be afraid of!

ARTIST: Kings of Leon
ALBUM: Only By The Night
BUY FOR: Same as The Killers, anybody, it’s really accessible!
QUICK REVIEW: Kings of Leon have reached the legendary status and are in their prime. Having headlined countless festivals this year, and played sold-out arena tours all over the world, ‘Only By The Night’ was always going to be the crowning moment for the band. With the release of their single ‘Sex On Fire’ which is already tearing up the UK singles charts, the album follows in the same mould. This album has far more in common with ‘Because of the Times’, as it is a much more clean cut album that ‘Aha Shake Heartbreak’, but it doesn’t lack anything because of this. I’ll put my neck out here and suggest that you buy this, and the other three Kings of Leon albums, and just have a merry Christmas with the hairy Nashville four-piece!