Justin Gaines
Staff Writer

Comments: I’m probably the last person anyone would suspect of being a die-hard metalhead with 2500+ rock and metal CDs. I’m a Certified Compensation Professional with a major defense contractor, and am married with one child (a brilliant 3-year old son). I’ve never been in a band, and never even had long hair. Still, the one constant in my life since I first heard Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” at the tender age of 11 has been an insatiable appetite for all kinds of melodic rock and metal. This lasted throughout the hair metal heyday, the mid-90’s “wilderness years” of grunge, and continues to this day.

I love all kinds of melodic rock and metal, including classic bands like Journey, Survivor, Rush, and ELP, 80’s rockers like Dokken, Leatherwolf, Dio, and Hurricane, modern melodic rock bands like Ten, Fair Warning, Gotthard and Pink Cream 69, progressive metal bands like Dream Theater and Vanden Plas, power metal bands like Blind Guardian and Brainstorm and more extreme bands like Dark Tranquillity, Therion, Borknagar, and Hypocrisy. I’m also a fan of old school rockabilly artists like Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent and Chuck Berry, as well as the occasional pop and punk band such as Social Distortion, the Misfits, the Outfield, My Chemical Romance, and the Corrs. Other than great melodies, the main thing I look for in a band is a first-rate vocalist. My “holy trinity” of vocalists includes DC Cooper, Jorn Lande, and Danny Vaughn.

Since I can’t play an instrument and couldn’t hold a tune if my life depended on it, I turned to reviewing to express my love of this kind of music and. I started reviewing on Amazon.com (where I’m a Top 500 reviewer) and have recently joined the staff at Hardrock Haven.

I’m thrilled to be part of the team at Hardrock Haven, and look forward to discovering new bands and letting readers know what albums to look out for. I’m always happy to “talk shop” with fellow fans. Whether you think my reviews are dead-on, or you think I totally missed the point, feel free to drop me a line at jgaines@hardrockhaven.net.