To say that the year 2020 has been chaotic at best is an understatement of the highest order. Between an ongoing world pandemic to civil unrest, a “we’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore” stance of all things racist and unfair, to a domestic Presidential election that left many flummoxed and drained and finally relieved, 2020 will be a year for the ages in the collective memory and history of the planet. And as always, music has acted as an almost collective balm for healing, inspiration, guidance, and direction during these unprecedented times. The beauty of music is that it always serves some sort of a purpose for the listener, giving forth to them a multitude of sonic choices and ultimately solutions within and without. Now more than ever, with a holiday season of uncertainty just on the horizon and one filled with an imposed and rightfully so global bondage on all of us, there’s still the divine union of giving gifts to loved ones and friends. And what better gift to give than the timeless gift of music? So, as is our annual wont, here’s the latest installment of musical selections and suggestions to help guide your choices, as always, served up with a little tequila in the eggnog.

Check out our 2020 Holiday Geek Gift Guide for Music.

Well metalheads, it’s Christmas time again. And no matter how much you profess to worship the devil, no matter how hard you go in the pit, no matter how tall your spikes are, no matter how long your hair is… admit it, you love Christmas. Come on, we see you headbanging to “White Christmas” and laying out cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve… even if you do eat them yourself the next day.

Well, the cool thing is, Christmas is a great time for metalheads. Know why? Because right around the holidays, there’s always tons of new cool shit for metalheads to buy. Here are a few gifts that will be ideal for your Christmas list, whether you’re doing the giving or the getting.

The 2020 Metalhead’s Holiday Gift Guide

Neil Peart, the legendary drummer and brilliant lyricist of Canadian rock trio Rush, died in Santa Monica, California on January 7, 2020 of glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. He was 67. After going strong for over 40 years and releasing 19 studio albums, Rush retired at the end 2015. Peart, meanwhile, reportedly had been quietly battling his illness over the last three and a half years.

Here’s the official statement, which was posted to Rush’s official social media accounts, from bandmates Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson.

Here are just some of the offerings released this year which will satisfy any music aficionado, young or old, regardless of personal music taste. Music forever remains in perpetuity as not only a great go-to gift, but one that is long lasting and forever. Check out our 2019 Holiday Geek Gift Guide for Music“¦

Ginger Baker, the highly influential and irrepressible drummer, who gave the backbeat to bands such as Cream and Blind Faith not to mention adventurous side projects, died today. He was 80. The news was posted to his social media account today, where his family announced that he’d “passed away peacefully in hospital this morning.” No cause of death was given. The family had posted on September 25 that Baker was critically ill in the hospital.

Born Peter Edward Baker in Lewisham, South London in 1939, red hair not withstanding (hence the nickname Ginger), the drummer was a fiery tour-de-force on the drumkit, one of the first of his peers, starting and ultimately trailblazing in a late 1960s electric blues boon that found him toe to toe with other contemporaries, like the equally incendiary Keith Moon, Carl Palmer, Mitch Mitchell, Ian Paice, and John Bonham.