Molly Hatchet-Molly Hatchet (1978)

Molly Hatchet were never as big as The Allman Brothers Band, nor as media-savvy as Lynyrd Skynyrd, and they didn't even have the commercial impact of other great Southern rock bands like The Marshall Tucker Band or ZZ Top. However, they did surpass them all in one thing: their enormous swagger and the raw, metallic sound of their music, making them the heaviest rock band in the most popular genre in the southern states of North America. They took their name from a famous 17th-century serial killer who decapitated her lovers with the hand tool that the band Lizzy Borden made popular in the 1980s. Likewise, their spectacular album covers were one of their trademarks, covers full of epic and heroic fantasies created by famous illustrators like Boris Vallejo and Frank Frazetta, which added an extra touch of mystique and celebrity to their sound. Throughout their career, this legendary band experienced a constant turnover of members, something that never diminished the talent of their lineups or the creativity of their music. For five decades, their albums overflowed with epic grandeur, gritty melodies, energetic, sharp guitar riffs, and hyperactive drums, all wrapped in a blanket of vigorous boogie blues, country rock, hard rock, and the characteristic dusty sound of the American South. From their spectacular debut album "Molly Hatchet" (1978) to their latest release, "Justice" (2010), an irresistible series of albums followed, including "Flirtin' With Disaster" (1979), "Beatin' The Odds" (1980), "Take No Prisoners" (1981), "No Guts...No Glory" (1983), "The Dead Is Done" (1984), and "Lightning Strikes Twice" (1989), some of which topped the charts and earned half a dozen gold and platinum records. All of them feature some of the generational anthems of southern rock, such as "Dreams I'll Never See", "Satisfied Man", "Fall of the Peacemakers", "Bounty Hunter", "Gator Country", "Boogie No More", and "Flirtin' With Disaster".