Rock Today

There are those who say modern rock is too reliant on the past, that it's a hit-or-miss mish-mash of everything that came before, lacking magnificence and power . . . but we couldn't disagree more. Post-millennial rock has smashed up all former pigeon holes and reformed the remnants into something far more eclectic, trail-blazing and glorious, from the hard, emo-driven Welsh rock of Lostprophets ("Where We Belong") to tuneful Scots noise-mongers Biffy Clyro ("Mountains") and stateside alt superstars 30 Seconds to Mars ("Kings and Queens"). And supergroup Them Crooked Vultures harnesses the past (Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones on bass) and the present (Dave Grohl and Josh Homme) to shape the future. Steel Panther will split your ear drums and your sides, in Next Steps.

At the casino of modern rock, you roll your dice and you ride your luck — with one throw you might come up with revered leviathans like Kiss (who made 2009's flamin' "Modern Day Delilah" their first single release in 11 years) or Bon Jovi (still rattlin' stadium walls with "Superman Tonight"); the next might deliver American Idol old-boy Chris Daughtry (fronting the band that bears his surname on "No Surprise") or hard-hitting rock/electronica hybrid specialists Kasabian (celebrating "Vlad the Impaler"). Steel Panther, a product of the Sunset Strip like so many of their hair metal forebears, walks the line between homage and parody with supreme assurance on "Community Property", and Plan B plants a flag somewhere between soul, rock and rap on the bone-crunching "Stay Too Long". New bands make a bid for your loyalty, and their currency is rock . . . in Deep Cuts.

By now, your ears should be ringing like the devil's own air raid sirens to the fire-stormin' sounds of today's rock, but who's going to activate your hyperdrive and send you hurtling at warp velocity into the future? How about Midlands metal warriors Voodoo Johnson, whose assured EP Into the Red, featuring "Seven Years", anticipates great things to come, or perhaps Black Spiders: early work has drawn favourable comparison to the likes of Black Sabbath and AC/DC, and their motto is "Eat thunder, s**t lightning" . . . which accurately captures the experience of listening to "Stay Down". Manchester's Hayabusa, on the other hand, threaten to move the inside of your brain to the outside, with promising volt-crankers like "78".

As the 21st Century picks up a fearsome head of steam, rock continues to evolve with mind-blowing sophistication, driven in part by retro rocket fuel, but never a slave to its groundbreaking ancestry. Sure, you'll find flecks of the current decade's predominant rock movements — emo, digital rock, metalcore — embedded in the sonic wallpaper we've called Rock Today Essentials, but the common thread here is the ear-draining, brain-melting eclecticism of our selection. You'll find faith-based Paramore ("Brick by Boring Brick") emoting passionately alongside nasty old Rob Zombie ("What?"); the grand gestures of Muse ("Uprising") next to the tangled asides of Vampire Weekend ("Cousins"); and weirdo Belgian experimentalists (Creature With the Atom Brain) alongside punchy Australian pub rockers (Hell City Glamours). You want today's rock now? Don't put it off till tomorrow. Or it'll be yesterday.