Vie’s Verses – Where Do You Hear Your Hard Rock Music?
As a reviewer at Hard Rock Hideout I am blessed. Any time that I get the itch to hear some new hard rock, I just dig around in the vaults and come out with some music to review. Sometimes that means I get the latest from a rising hot artist, and sometimes I get the new released from a well established hard rock band. Whatever the case may be, when I want to hear new hard rock music, the first place I think of is the review archives.
However, sometimes those are not always accessible. I may be on the road. I may be too tired to comb through the review choices. I may just want to have someone play something for me. That’s when I turn to the radio. Luckily for me, living on the border of Pennsylvania and Northern New Jersey, I have several great options to hear hard rock music. On top of that, I also have satellite radio which fills my needs from time to time. Here now is my homage to some of the great rock radio stations that I listen to when the desire for great hard rock strikes.
Ozzy’s Boneyard (Satellite Radio)
Ozzy’s Boneyard is great for classic hard rock cuts. Bands like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Dio, and other classic metal acts are always featured. Add in Jim Norton and Jim Florentine with their own weekly programs and you have a station that is just a lot of fun for any hard rock fan. I also love listening to Luc Carl (who pulls double duty at another station that I listen to a lot).
Hair Nation (Satellite Radio)
When I’m in the mood for big hair, power ballads, and reliving the greatness of the 80s, I turn to Hair Nation. Luc Carl and Keith Roth are the dominant DJs on this station and they are both fantastic, spinning only the best of the hair metal years. From Motley Crue to Poison to Cinderlla, Hair Nation covers it all. They even bring back classics that I completely forgot about (London Quireboys, anyone?). All in all, if you want your hair metal fix, Hair Nation is the station for you.
WDHA FM (Northern New Jersey)
Every once in a great while I will turn on the regular radio just to make sure it still exists. When that happens, one of my default stations is WDHA FM. When I was a teenager, I used to listen to Eddie Trunk’s Saturday night rock show on this station. This was back when Trunk was just starting to make a name for himself as a respected DJ. Currently, the station format is a blend of classic and new rock. Sometimes I’ll get Kiss, sometimes I’ll get Buckcherry. Most times I’ll get good music. WDHA is the only New Jersey station that I still listen to.
The Bone (Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania)
Not only does the bone give me some of the best new hard rock that is out there, it also broadcasts every Yankees game for me to enjoy. And since I don’t have satellite radio in my house, this is the best option for me to listen to the Yankees while doing household chores. The Bone is an exceptional FM radio station out of Pennsylvania that always plays some great new rock. Everything from Pop Evil to Theory of a Deadman to Shinedown is played on the bone. They do throw in the occasional classics, but mostly this station sticks with modern rock, which is all right by me.
Octane (Satellite Radio)
Octane is very similar to the bone, only it’s on satellite radio and not FM. All the best modern rock acts are present and accounted for and they also play several new acts as well. Any time that I want to hear new music from a new band, I know that I need to switch the dial to Octane. From Rise Against to New Medicine to Halestorm, I heard them all first on Octane. I expect that I will continue to learn about a lot of new bands this way for many years to come.
That’s how I get my hard rock when I need it. What about you? What stations are in your area? Or did you make the full time switch to satellite radio? Drop a comment and let us know how you get your fix.
Follow RyoVie on Twitter at Twitter.com/RyoVie
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