This year has seen a true plethora of releases that have made the whole rock community sit up and take notice. There have also been a number that slipped completely by the way-side, never receiving the publicity they deserved. Here are the top 15 from this year... (I'm bound to have forgotten a couple, as this year really has been chock-full of amazing records. For those forgotten, I apologise)
15. Rolling Stones - A Bigger Bang
A number of great, older bands released new albums this year, and despite a general weariness for long abscences, they have all been - without exception - true gems! The Stones brought back their sense of rock and roll, and have produced an album that not only sits well within their catalogue, but also on the music shelves in today's stores.
14. Disturbed - Ten Thousand Fists
A choice that will no doubt leave some people scratching their heads in confusion. David Draiman and Co. released a stunning collection of pop-metal singles, and their success in the UK is held back only by the trend-obsessed press who wear too much plaid and thick-rimmed glasses. Muscular riffs, catchy choruses... you know you love it, really.
13. Alston - Voodoo For Fun And Profit
Southern-flavoured rock, with heavy lashings of melody and guitar chunk. If there was justice in the world, they'd be huge, but sadly there's not much. For fans of Foo Fighters who want something a bit heavier and edgier. Make this happen!
12. Sentenced - The Funeral Album
A great band lies itself to rest. The gloomiest sons of Finland, Sentenced changed my view of metal and the gothic scene, opening my ears to many, many new bands. Melodic and melancholy in equal measures, this was everything a party record isn't. Beautiful compositions, superb writing and performances from all members. A fine swansong. The band is dead. Long live the band.
11. The Bronx Casket Company - Hellectric
Gothic and grandiose, The BCC are in the same ball-park as Sentenced and Poisonblack: sweeping melodies, melancholy themes and soundscapes... Perfect for a quiet, rainy night in.
10. Tenebre - Heart's Blood
This album was a pleasant surprise. Another gothic metal album, with only a couple of quirky turn-offs, it's sometimes-bombastic sound and catchy (if often sad) melodies will hook you in on first listen.
9. Alice Cooper - Dirty Diamonds
It's Alice. Better than The Eyes Of Alice Cooper by miles, and as good as all of his early stuff that people cream themselves over. Mixing all the styles that have made him great over the years, Dirty Diamond is an absolute pleasure to listen to - even my dad liked it.
8. Ra - Duality
They've grown up! The Asian and Middle-Eastern influences aren't as prevalent as on their debut, but Ra have manged to retain a sound wholly their own. To compare them to anyone would be folly. Melodic, exotic, rocking, highly memorable. And you can dance to it, too.
7. Hinder - Extreme Behavior
As this has just been reveiwed, below, I won't go into too much detail. Suffice it to say - you need this album.
6. Billy Idol - Devil's Playground
It's Billy Idol up to his old tricks. If "Rebel Yell", "Hot In The City", "Mony Mony", and "White Wedding" were your thing back in the day, then Devil's Playground will suit you absolutely fine - Billy's back to his snarling, combative ways, with a dash of modern rock (a la Foo Fighters, in one instance) to get you all riled up all over again.
5. Within Temptation - The Silent Force
Ah, Sharon... How our hearts sing so... Truly the voice in metal, Sharon and Co. upped the ante for this release: perfect metal with perfect, sublime, gorgeous vocals to carry you off on the weird boat in their video.
4. Soilwork - Stabbing The Drama
It's metal, Jim, but not as we know it! Bludgeoning, fast, technically flawless, big, catchy, melodic, scathing, intense, immediate, hummable, perfect. Melodic Thrash Metal with a heavy lean to the melodic side.
3. Trivium - Ascendency
So much has been said about these guys that there is little else I could add that would mean anything to the hordes of people who have already discovered and started to adore these Metallica-loving metal behemoths from Florida. The singer's 3 years younger than me... Bugger.
2. Sevendust - Next
Soulful, heavy, emotional, groove-laden... It's got to be Lajon Witherspoon and his motley band of Southern musical geniuses. Every Sevendust album-release is an occasion to be savoured and treasured. If this doesn't set your heart racing, or your blood pumping, I really think you're dead...
1. Silvertide - Show & Tell
Rock N Roll in the most classic sense, yet with a modern edge, Silvertide were the victims of the most woefully inept publicity campaign in the history of music. Ignored over here by their own label, Show & Tell never reached the majority of people's radar. Groove, sex, drugs and a welcome sense of fun, this album all but reinvented the '70s.
No comments:
Post a Comment