Last weekend I was driving around listening to W.A.S.P.'s 1992 album The Crimson Idol.  I've had a second-hand copy of the album for a while now and I must admit that up to, I had never managed to get through the whole CD, start to finish.  After listening to the entire 2 CD set Double Live Assassins last week, I decided to give The Crimson Idol another shot.  Towards the end of the album, I discovered the song "Hold on to My Heart."  If there is a better heavy metal ballad, I have never heard it and – after listening to this song at least 20 times since Saturday afternoon – I can't imagine what a better one might sound like.  This is just power ballad perfection.

One of my favorite series from greeklish.org is last year's "Mixtape Mixdown: 25 Favorites" series in which I counted down the tracks from my mix CD of all-time favorite songs.  For a few months, I have been thinking about compiling a new CD of "forgotten favorites" to showcase some prospects for a new compilation of my 25 (or maybe 30) favorite songs.  I am sure that "Hold on to My Heart" will be a contender for the revised list.  

It probably won't be much of a surprise to a small number of folks that the song "Mean Man" will be in the running as well.  Hell, that song is top ten material, for sure. Maybe even top five!  Horns up!