2002 Metal Year in Review

2002 saw the long awaited return of Down: a side project turned full fledged band consisting of Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown of Pantera (Rex replaces original bassist Todd Strange), Corrosion of Conformity's Pepper Keenan, Eyehategod's Jimmy Bower, and Crowbar's Kirk Windstein. Anselmo also unleashed his borderline death metal side project Superjoint Ritual and a bevy of other projects which you can catch at his website philanselmo.com. Danzig returned to his roots with his new release and hasn't sounded this good in years, while other new releases from Queens of the Stone Age, Pearl Jam, Black Label Society, King Diamond, and Halford rounded out the year. Chris Cornell joined forces with former Rage Against the Machine members Tom Morello, Tim Commorford, and Brad Wilk to create Audioslave, while Hatebreed delivered their major label debut. Sadly, 2002 saw the break ups of quite a number of bands: Fear Factory disbanded, as did Stabbing Westward (both bands had very bad sales on their 2001 albums) while Godsmack lost drummer Tommy Stewart. Fantastic live albums from Nine Inch Nails, Megadeth, and Fantomas hit the streets as well. See you in 2003.

THE TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2002

• 1. "A Bustle in Your Hedgerow" - Down
• 2. "777: I Luciferi" - Danzig
• 3. "Songs For the Deaf" - Queens of the Stone Age
• 4. "And All That Could Have Been" - Nine Inch Nails
• 5. "1919 Eternal" - Black Label Society
• 6. "Audioslave" - Audioslave
• 7. "Degradation Trip" - Jerry Cantrell
• 8. "Use Once & Destroy" - Superjoint Ritual
• 9. "Perseverance" - Hatebreed
• 10. "Riot Act" - Pearl Jam

2002 METAL/HARD ROCK AWARDS

• BAND OF THE YEAR - Down
• MALE PERFORMER OF THE YEAR - Phil Anselmo
• FEMALE PERFORMER(S) OF THE YEAR - Kittie
• ALBUM OF THE YEAR - "A Bustle in Your Hedgerow" - Down
• SONG OF THE YEAR - "Bleed For Me" - Black Label Society
• MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR - "By the Way" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
• LIVE PERFORMER OF THE YEAR - Danzig
• STAGE SHOW OF THE YEAR - Slayer
• TOUR OF THE YEAR - Down/Hatebreed
• VOCALIST OF THE YEAR - Chris Cornell
• GUITARIST OF THE YEAR - Jerry Cantrell
• BASSIST OF THE YEAR - Rex Brown
• DRUMMER OF THE YEAR - Jimmy Bower
• KEYBOARDIST/DJ OF THE YEAR - Derek Sherenian
• NEW BAND OF THE YEAR - Audioslave
• HOME VIDEO/DVD OF THE YEAR - "Live in Texas" - Superjoint Ritual
• HITS/COMPILATION/LIVE ALBUM OF THE YEAR - "And All That Could Have Been" - Nine Inch Nails
• COMEBACK OF THE YEAR - Danzig
• MOST OVERRATED BAND - Puddle of Mudd
• MOST UNDERRATED BAND - Fu Manchu
• THE NEXT BIG THING - Saliva

10 MOST ANTICIPATED ALBUMS OF 2003

• Anthrax
• Metallica
• Corrosion of Conformity
• Union Underground
• Marilyn Manson
• Guns 'N Roses
• Type O Negative
• Sepultura
• Stone Temple Pilots
• Morbid Angel