Top 10 New Classic Rock Releases in 2011

Gregg Allman's 12th solo album marked a triumphant return from a liver transplant that knocked him (and his Allman Brothers Band) out of commission for the last half of 2010. Low Country Blues was produced by T Bone Burnett and included "Just Another Rider" which Allman co-wrote with longtime bandmate Warren Haynes. The album received a Grammy nomination in the Best Blues Album category.

This June 2010 performance was Jeff Beck's tribute to the late Les Paul, who died in August 2009. The venue was New York City's Iridium Jazz Club, where Paul performed every week until his death at age 94. The album was nominated for the Best Rock Album Grammy award.

Barely nine months after the release of their self-titled debut album, Black Country Communion (Jason Bonham, Joe Bonamassa, Glenn Hughes, Derek Sherinian) had another chart success with their second album, the aptly titled 2.

Lindsey Buckingham's sixth solo studio album, Seeds We Sow finds the ex-Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter-guitarist doing his own producing, mixing, writing, and releasing on his own label. "It's on my own terms," Buckingham said in announcing the release. "This might be the best work I've ever done."

Surviving original members of The Cars came together for the first time since 1989, after many years during which lead singer Ric Ocasek vowed there would never be another reunion. The release of Move Like This was accompanied by a brief North American tour.

I can't help it. I like it when arists mess with our heads with their album covers (see Steve Miller Band below) and titles. When Chickenfoot first started talking about this album they were going to call it IV, but decided that a more appropriate title for their second album would be III. Van Halen alumni Sammy Hagar and Mike Anthony, along with Joe Satriani and Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) form the hard rock supergroup whose self-titled debut album in 2009 went gold within a few months.

Alice Cooper's 19th solo studio album was the sequel to his first one. Welcome 2 My Nightmare picked up where Welcome To My Nightmare left off back in 1975. The 2011 followup featured a duet with Ke$ha and the participation of several members of the original Alice Cooper Band.

Steve Miller Band enjoyed some of the mojo from their successful 2010 release, Bingo! with their 2011 release, Let Your Hair Down. The two were recorded at the same time, and both contained the last recordings of the late Norton Buffalo -- harmonica player who Miller described as his "partner in harmony" for 30 years.

The first single from Stevie Nicks' In Your Dreams, "Secret Love" waited a long time to be recorded. "It was 1976 and Fleetwood Mac was opening for Peter Frampton at the time," says Nicks in the album's pre-release publicity. "It was written about a forbidden relationship (not Peter and I) -- I always knew that one day I was going to record the song." This was Nicks' first original studio release in ten years.

Yes's first new release since 2001 was also the first since vocalist Jon Anderson was replaced by Benoit David. Fly From Here was the band's 20th studio album. The title song (actually, a five-song suite) has been performed in concert since 1980, but this was the first time it has made it onto a Yes album.