Is heavy metal -- out of the spotlight for so long -- raising its purposefully putrid head in order to once again disturb mainstream America?

Luddites and baby boomers, rejoice!

As rock record covers go, this one certainly was edgy, unexpected. No, my shock in that autumn of 1984 wasn't spurred by the photo of the dour-faced lads of U2 -- even though they looked like young, thuggish dock workers who had just gotten shafted out of their pay.

A funny thing happened on my way to listing my top 10 albums of all time a few years ago: I decided to list the albums that I actually listened to.

Ancient prophets believed the future could be foretold by haruspicy -- the art of interpreting the entrails of sacrificed animals.