Christmas albums aren't very metal, but metalheads have that Christmas spirit, too. Plus, would you rather listen to Kenny G. and Mariah Carey sing Christmas songs or would Dio and Lemmy be a little more metal?

We Wish You A Metal Xmas And A Headbanging New Year is a full filled and star studded Christmas music compilation. The songs are ones you've heard of, and there's a wide variety of genres represented. Some of those lending their talents to the CD include Alice Cooper, Lemmy (Motorhead), Jeff Scott Soto, Bruce Kulick (Kiss), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath), George Lynch (Dokken), Chuck Billy (Testament), Scott Ian (Anthrax), Geoff Tate (Queensryche), Stephen Pearcy (Ratt) and Tracii Guns (L.A. Guns).

Read the complete Various Artists - We Wish You A Metal Xmas and A Headbanging New Year Review

(CD cover courtesy Armoury Records)

The nominations for the 51st annual Grammy Awards have been announced. There are only a few categories relevant to heavy metal and hard rock. Here are the nominees for those categories:

Best Hard Rock Performance
"Inside The Fire" - Disturbed
"Visions" - Judas Priest
"Wax Simulacra" - The Mars Volta
"Saints Of Los Angeles" - Mötley Crüe
"Lords Of Salem" - Rob Zombie

Best Metal Performance
"Heroes Of Our Time" - DragonForce
"Nostradamus" - Judas Priest
"My Apocalypse" - Metallica
"Under My Thumb" - Ministry
"Psychosocial" - Slipknot

Metallica was also nominated in the Best Rock Instrumental category for "Suicide and Redemption" and Death Magnetic garnered a nomination for Best Rock Album.

The 51st Annual Grammy Awards will be held Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009, at Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast on CBS from 8–11:30 p.m. (ET/PT).

When you need to buy the metalhead in your life a gift, what do you get them? CDs are the obvious choice, but there are many other possibilities. No individual CDs are listed here, but you can check out my CD reviews for hundreds of recommendations. Instead, I've put together a list of CD box sets, DVDs, video games, electronics and more.

Heavy Metal Gift Guide 2008

2008 wraps up with a mediocre month. Not a single CD garnered a 4.5 out of 5 star rating. There were several that rated a 4 out of 5. This month's champion makes a welcome comeback after an absence of 15 years. My selections for the best CDs of 2008 is coming soon, but in the meantime take a look at my picks for the best metal CDs released in November, then post your comments and lists below.

November 2008 Best Heavy Metal CDs

Here are my other monthly best of lists for 2008:

• January 2008 Best Heavy Metal CDs


• February 2008 Best Heavy Metal CDs
• March 2008 Best Heavy Metal CDs
  
• April 2008 Best Heavy Metal CDs
  
• May 2008 Best Heavy Metal CDs
  
• June 2008 Best Heavy Metal CDs
  
• July 2008 Best Heavy Metal CDs
  
• August 2008 Best Heavy Metal CDs
• September 2008 Best Heavy Metal CDs
• October 2008 Best Heavy Metal CDs