#85 - Rain - Psycho Motel - Welcome to the World (1997)

OK, I am guitly of being an Adrian Smith fan. Is Rain really that great a track? Well to me it is, remember back in 1997, there was not much for Iron Maiden fans to celebrate. The X Factor was a decent album and so was Dickinson's Skunkworks, but both were two years old already. The second Psycho Motel album, Welcome to the World, was the best thing Maiden related "since Seventh Son" (If I had a dime for every time I read that I'd be wealthy, but I digress).

Rain is a short fast rocker, with a good melody, solo, and a killer riff, especially in that part after the solo. A recommended album for Adrian Smith fans.

#86 - I am the Wooden Doors - Agalloch - The Mantle (2002)

For those not familiar with Washington state's Agalloch, they are an American rock band. Sub-genres are hard to apply, though I have heard black metal, folk metal, avant-garde, post rock and a couple of others.

For me The Mantle is a masterpiece and the above track is just one of several stand out numbers. This track in particular is great how it blends the black metal style vocals, but has an acoustic guitar over the whole piece; even the guitar solo is acoustic. This is one of my favorite albums of all time.

#87 - Life in Still Water - Fates Warning - Parallels (1991)

Parallels may not the best Fates Warning album, but this track is their finest in my opinion. It manages to perfectly bridge Fates Warning's metal side and prog side, and as such achieves the closest to perfection they can possibly achieve.