With two weeks to go in the year, we can start compiling the annual list of your favorite albums.
For me:
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Flying Microtonal Banana: This was the best of the 4(!) albums they released this year. A fifth one is rumored to be released before the year is out. They all went out and retrofitted instruments to handle microtonal music, and it's great. Rattlesnake
Thundercat - Drunk: This guy's kinda like the black Les Claypool, but his songs are actually good (fight me). He's appeared on albums by Kendrick Lamar, Flying Lotus, et al., plus he served as long-time bassist for Suicidal Tendencies. His third solo album was his most fun. Show You the Way f/Kenny Loggins & Michael Macdonald
Pond - The Weather: Another of those countless prolific Aussie psych rock bands. This was their 7th album, and they dropped the over-the-top goofiness and started experimenting with synths here. Sweep Me Off My Feet
Washed Out - Mister Mellow: This guy was one of the leaders of the chillwave movement, which he had been trying to get away from over the last couple of albums. Here he goes back to his laid-back, wistful roots, and it works better than anything he's done. Hard to Say Goodbye
Queens of the Stone Age - Villains: To be honest, I thought this arguably their least-impressive album yet. It feels like Josh Homme is running out of steam, and the whole album has a self-satisfied feel to it. Mark Ronson apparently despises cymbals, making the production sound weird. Yet that's still better than any other guitar rock I came across this year. When you're this good, you can play your B- game and still come away with a win. The Evil Has Landed
Comments
Honest question. Who buys entire albums anymore?
-When you like the band, regardless.
-When it's more cost effective than just buying the select songs you want.
-When purchase of the album gets you on the early presale list for the concert.
I buy a few, but stream lots via Spotify & Youtube.
Someone who enjoys a collection of hard-copied media.
I don't always buy the albums, but I love streaming a great album from start to finish. Some of my favorites to do this to are from Radiohead like Kid A and and Ok Computer where I would site for a while in silence after listening to the complete album. There is just something about a perfect album listen from start to finish that is so enjoyable.
Vinyl. Most music sounds much better on vinyl and a decent system. I stream plenty of music via pandora/spotify/etc. but I will spend $$ on the vinyl if it's an album i like.
I typically only listen to full albums. Usually buy 10 vinyl albums a year then stream new releases on Spotify.
Study break! Let's talk music.
Damn. What a great album from Kendrick. He released a "collectors" version with the tracklist reversed and I actually agree that it listens better in that order.
Everybody Not everybody likes Logic, but I've always found him to be a good artist. I was able to go to his concert in D.C., which was such a cool experience. I'm a big fan of this album
American Teen Khalid is one of the best new artists on the music scene right now. Fantastic album.
Flower Boy This was my first Tyler album that I genuinely enjoyed all the way through. He showed a lot of growth on this project.
Sleep Well Beast I've always enjoyed The National. I grew up listening to him because of my mom, and I've continued to listen to the projects they put out. Their style is way off base from the rest of my daily rotation.
Syre Not everybody likes this project from Jaden Smith, but I love it. The four intro tracks are insane. The production on this album is what puts it over the top for me.
La La Land soundtrack I loved this musical, and the entire soundtrack makes the rounds on my playlists. Don't @ me.
I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but this is what came to mind.
I have been listening to American Teen a lot and love his style.
Syre is very good. The production is fantastic. Only complaint is that it is a LONG album. A little too long for my taste because it makes it hard to listen from start to end.
Love the inclusion of La La Land.
Love Logic. Love that Everybody album
Its really good music, composition, and just smart.
You know, I don't think I've listened to an entire album this year, outside of DAMN.
The new N.E.R.D. album just dropped. It's definitely worth a listen. So did the new Eminem album, which I haven't listened to yet, but I'm going in with pretty low expectations.
I've been meaning to check out a few other albums. I heard Big Krit's album was solid, and Rapsody's as well.
I just don't have the time like that anymore, to sit and listen to an album. My car ride to work is only 3 minutes tops, so I can't knock it out then.
I have two young kids so I pretty much only listened to the Moana soundtrack this year.... It was decent.
Three albums that (IMO) far surpassed everyone this year:
On a somewhat related note, it was a pretty disappointing year for hip-hop in general (unless you're in to Trap Music which I despise and think is ruining the genre, but I digress...). Everybody by Logic was largely regarded as preachy and corny. Jay-Z dropped 4:44, which had some amazing production and statement tracks, but wound up being one of Jay's weaker lyrical pieces. As I mentioned above, the N.E.R.D just released No_one Every Really Dies, which sounds pretty good on first listen.
noone here has mentioned from the fires by greta van fleet?! holy hell if you like zeppelin give these guys a listen theyre incredible
i just listened to that whole record this a.m. and could have sworn I was listening to the second coming of Led Zep...
Thanks, Eshiben5, for the tip.
Wow. Good stuff.
Remember when everyone was saying that about Wolfmother??
yeah and wolfmothers first album was spectacular, hopefully greta van fleets future albums are as succesful as their first. their guitarist is phenomenal
Yes and what happened to them?
OH my gosh! I feel like I am 17 again. Highway Tune is very Plant. Black Smoke Rising, I swear they hired Getty Lee! The music is awesome. Dude can play. I am going to have to get into this more. Thanks for the tip youngins!
There have been many a Zep imitators like Bad Company (cough cough) and Zebra. But the true rip off was White Snake. Don't remember the guitarist's name but he did the whole Les Paul violin bow thing. Take a listen to "Take me down slow and easy" (?) Coverdale could not have sounded more like Plant.
Speaking of Zep. Plant penned the best lyric in all of rock and roll history. From the gut ripping Custard Pie....
"I don't care how you cut it momma...but pleaaaaase save me a slice..."
Kind of difficult to bash someone for being a zeppelin imitator. Jimmy Page straight out copied people on a lot of songs, and very heavily borrowed on others.
I'm not saying I don't like them, mind you. They are still a favorite band. There just isn't much room for complaining about copycats in their world.
Oh Page lifted many a riff. I won't get into the legality stuff but no one and I mean no one put it down like they did. I'm not complaining about imitators just reporting.
Then Coverdale and Page put out an album.
They did and it wasn't too bad. Its Over Now was a pretty brutal tune.
apparently jimmy page is releasing a bunch of unreleased zeppelin stuff next year too!
Ok downloaded this on your rec, finally listening to it at the airport.
Crazy good. Keep it coming, and thanks so much.
Regarding King Grizzard - call for you on line 2, it's the 80's they want their music video back!
I've been trying to catch up on this year's releases but my favorites that I've heard in their entirety are:
Fleet Foxes - Crack Up
War on Drugs - A Deeper Understanding
Portugal. The Man - Woodstock
LCD Soundsystem - American Dream
I have been a Portugal The Man fan for a long time and I think Woodstock is one of their weaker albums which is funny considering how much mainstream success they are finally getting.
A Deeper Understanding would definitely be in my top 5 albums for this year. Such a solid band.
With you on PTM. Used to be one of my favorite bands but Woodstock sounds like a bunch of tepid attempts to soundtrack a Taco Bell commercial. Feel It Still is a jam though.
I got into them after the release of Waiter: "You Vultures!" and agree it's extremely bizarre to hear them get mainstream airplay. I'll admit I haven't listened to their last few albums and Woodstock is vastly different from their original sound. That said, I thought there were strong tracks on the album, even if it was less cohesive and consistent, and like putting their name out there because I'm glad to see them have success.
I love Portugal as well but actually really enjoyed their album. Live in the Moment, Rich Friends, and So Young are all very solid tracks to go along with the obvious headliner.
Forgot about A Deeper Understanding, that one's great. Also forgot about King Krule - The Ooz, which is the best indie/jazz mashup I've ever heard. He's like Rick Astley though, you definitely wouldn't expect that voice to come out of that guy.
He's kinda like the black Les Claypool but actually makes good music (fight me). I guess it's time for MORTAL KOMBAT
From A Room Volume 1 - Chris Stapleton. Broken Halos is such a fantastic tune. This album builds off of Traveler and maintains his blues/southern rock/country/bluegrass unique genre
From A Room Volume 2 - Chris Stapleton. Was glad he put Midnight Train to Memphis, which is a song from his days with The Steeldrivers. I actually prefer his style with the Steeldrivers, more bluegrass-y, as I think his voice handles the tunes well.
Agreed, I was about to post the same.
My most pleasant surprise: Brantley Gilbert's The Devil Don't Sleep (Deluxe).
Beat me to it I don't recognize any of the albums discussed yet but these two are by far the best in my book I liked his pull back to his roots with the steeldrivers
Seeing some of the albums and artists mentioned only prove how long I have been out of the pop/hip hop scene. Not knocking the style by any means - I love all types of music - just was an eye opening experience on how old I have gotten to not recognize a lot of the names.
The only album that I listened to that was new this year was
THE SIN AND THE SENTENCE - Trivium
I would say that it gives feelings of the older metal bands from the early 2000s but while still being original. A good listen all around.
I'll have to check this one out, I guess. I haven't listened to much Trivium since In Waves, but I used to be a huge fan
My cousin got me to listen to it, had no idea who they were. I've probably listened to it over a dozen times by now in a month haha
I don't listened to as much metal as I used to, but these guys were one of my favorites back when. Definitely check out some of their older stuff, Ascendancy and Shogun are bangers.
Also, they put on a hell of a live show back in the day, I assume they still do since they've only switched drummers since.
I've been kind of over foo fighters for a while, but this was a really solid album.
The album was better than I expected as well. I liked Wasting Light fairly well but most of their other releases for the past fifteen years had been mostly lackluster in my opinion.
Overall I didn't love Sonic Highways, Echoes, In Your Honor, or One By One. There are still good songs on those albums but they aren't amazing as a whole in my opinion. I've seen the Foo Fighters multiple times and think they are one of the most enjoyable bands you can see live, but it's not the same to see anlive performances as it is to listen to a studio recording.
I wish that opening track was a full blown song. As soon as it builds up and let's loose, it's over and onto the next one.
For me,
Big Fish Theory - Vince Staples If Kendrick is the God (he is), then Vince is Jesus. Though not as philosophical and thought provoking as the first, it's a worthy follow up.
Damn - Kendrick Lamar Duh.
Destroyers of the Soft Life - J. Roddy Walton & The Business These guys are from Richmond. Give them a listen if you're into the Revivalists kinda vibe.
Origami - Vinyl Theatre
Dunkirk Score - Hans Zimmer A masterful score that compliments the film so well. His best work yet.
Blade Runner 2049 Score - Hans Zimmer Ok I'm done with film scores.
I might have more later.
that's some interesting theology you got there
??? I meant a follow up to Vince's first album.
the war on drugs, a deeper understanding
A lot of mine have already been mentioned (yall have some pretty good taste), but here goes, Seth Greenberg Tier Style.
Tier One, the "DUH" Tier:
August Burns Red: Phantom Anthem
Umphrey's McGee: Live from Missoula, MT (3.4.17)
Kendrick Lamar: DAMN.
Tier Two, The Turn it on for a Solid hour+ at work Tier:
Portugal. The Man: Woodstock
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard:Sketches of Brunswick East (but really, just props to them for producing so much good new music this year)
Coast Modern: Coast Modern
Tier Three, The Background to Good Times Tier:
Sir Sly: Don't You Worry, Honey
Phoenix: Ti Amo
Pigeons Playing Ping Pong: Pizazz
Tier Four, The I Forgot to Include These At First Tier:
Gregg Allman: Southern Blood
Psychadelic Porn Crumpets: High Visceral Pt2
It was a good year for music, but I haven't really thought about my favorites yet. Here's a few that I can instantly think of that blew me away.
Kendrick Lamar - DAMN "Feel" may very well be my favorite Kendrick song
Julian Baker - Turn Out the Lights. While I didn't like this album as much as Sprained Ankle, it was still really good.
The Contortionist - Clairvoyant. The album slays.
Wu-Tang - The Saga Continues. While it's obviously not as good or important as 90's Wu, I enjoyed this album way more than I thought I would.
I'll post more later, but these were the ones that stood out.
Edit: I guess I have to give some sort of mention to Brand New - Science Fiction. It's a fantastic record that I listened to a ton, until the (now confirmed) sexual misconduct stuff came to light against Jesse Lacey. Now I just feel weird listening to that album and anything else by the band.
So I completely forgot that Japandroids -Near to the Wild Heart of Life and The Menzingers - After the Party actually came out in early 2017. Those are, by far, my favorite rock albums of this year.
Hey man, I'm not sure where you are getting the "(now confirmed)" part because after the initial outrage everything has pointed to a lack of credibility and no evidence of anything before the accusers were well into their 20's. Not trying to cause an off-topic distraction, but if you have found a confirming source I would really like to see it because I have been monitoring the situation closely. We can leave it at that, but I am curious as to your source, because if it's the "guy close to the band" from the original articles, he has an unrelated bone to pick with Jesse Lacey, he is not a reliable source witness.
It's from the horse's mouth. Lacey responded and apologized: https://www.spin.com/2017/11/brand-new-sexual-misconduct-allegation-resp...
The whole situation is a bummer.
I agree the situation is a bummer, but his statement wasn't an admission of guilt to the specific accusations. I've read every article that came out about this in November but there hasn't been any news follow ups at all, no news source is going to do anything that would resemble victim shaming, which I agree is right to avoid, but a lot of their statements are already looking shaky/not adding up. I'm not saying they are lying, but there hasn't been any more news about this in about a month and no evidence to support their claims has surfaced.
Leg for The Contortionist; easily their deepest and richest album from their portfolio. SO much depth to it.
Neither of these are "cool" picks but I think they belong in the conversation.
Kesha - Rainbow. This album is wall to wall bangers. Low-brow, fun pop music at it's best.
Paramore - After Laughter. The band infused an 80's synth vibe for this album that I enjoyed more than I expected.
My favorite albums of the year:
Dawes - We're All Gonna Live
Middle Kids - Middle Kids EP
Arcade Fire - Everything Now
The XX - I See You
My daughter's favorite tracks of the year:
Alice Merton - No Roots
Middle Kids - Edge of Town
Marian Hill - Down
Vampire Weekend - A-Punk
System of a Down - Chop Suey
The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
I loved Edge of Town so I guess I need to give that whole EP a spin.
I'm just gonna go ahead and say it: 2017 was a crappy year for new music, relative to the past few. I'm not gonna rave about any of my favorite albums of this year, but I did listen to Middle Kids a lot. And Dawes, who didn't put out a new studio album last year.
But I will take this opportunity to say watch for Alice Merton. She only has a single out right now, but it's a killer single and she's very talented. The first EP and full length will be awesome based on YouTube explorations.
I come to this thread specifically to read this!
I mean they're my favorites from the past 12 months, but are any of them ground breaking, perspective altering collections of musical art? Nope. I'll say it again. 2017 was meh for music......for me.
Science Fiction - Brand New. This is my favorite band by a sizable margin and they hadn't released an album since 2009, so this was a huge deal for me.
A Black Mile to the Surface - Manchester Orchestra. Deep, meaningful album.
Reputation - Taylor Swift. Probably her worst album since the first, self-titled album but still has lots of great songs like "Dress", "Delicate", and "New Years Day" I am also an unapologetic swiftie, if you've seen me on the cfb reddit, you'll know what my username is.
DAMN - Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick, at it again.
I was pretty disappointed in Manchester Orchestra's new record, but then I saw them perform most of it live - definitely the way to hear it. They breathed a lot of life into songs that felt flat on the recordings.
Man O live is always a rewarding experience.
Planning for Burial - Below the House - All the joy of living in an economically distressed Upper Appalachian/Rust Belt town distilled into one album.
Laws of Gravity by Infamous Stringdusters
And technically a 2016 album, but the tour is ongoing: Like an Arrow by Blackberry Smoke. They're coming to The Harvester for two night in February and I AM PUMPED.
Woodstock as said above. But if you're a rap fan then besides Damn (obviously) here's two you need to listen to if you haven't already:
All Amerikkan Badass -Joey Bada$$ Unless you've been living under a rock (or are over 40) you've probably heard Devasted which is the only main stream song on the album (and coincidently the only one without political undertones). However the rest of the album definitely deserves a listen, imo it's by far the best besides Damn.
Saturation II - Brockhampton Not a mainstream group yet, but incredibly talented, enough to drop three highly rated albums in one year. Be warned however that some of their songs (mainly in Saturation I and III) are borderline musical terrorism. But Saturation II and about half of I is straight up fire.
My top albums of the year would probably be (in no specific order):
Laws of Gravity - Infamous Stringdusters
Live From the Fox Oakland - Tedeschi Trucks Band
Southern Blood - Gregg Allman
Everybody - Logic
From The Fires- Greta Van Fleet
TajMo - Taj Mahal and Keb' Mo'
Welcome Home -Zac Brown Band
From A Room Vol 1&2 - Chris Stapleton
What If - Jerry Douglas Band
Leg for Southern Blood. Definitely should have included it in my original list.
Rock really didn't have a strong year this year but I've listen to albums that are new to me and I'm going to list some.
Chevelle Point #1 and Vena Sera
Days of the new The yellow album
Slipknot Iowa
Deftones adrenaline and around the fur
I did my best to keep it short, it was a pretty good year for music for myself.
DAMN. - Kendrick Lamar || Everyone's covered this already. A total reversal from ...Butterfly's jazzy claustrophobia, the beats hit hard while the meanings uncover themselves after repeated listens. My most listened to album by a fair margin this year.
HEAVY META - Ron Gallo || Big riffs, smart lyrics, a fascinating mix of indie rock, blues, punk, and top notch songwriting. Far and away my favorite rock & roll record of the year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3yqgRyHkSU
Big Bad Luv - John Moreland || One of the two best songwriters working today. Great mix of Americana and blues with a lyrical approach that'll chill your bones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLrmGYpzh_k
The Nashville Sound - Jason Isbell || The other of the two best songwriters working today. He continues the tear he started with Southeastern, another stunner. And this time his usual mid-album wrecking ball of a sad song double as the best love song in years.
Destroyers of the Soft Life - J Roddy Walston & the Business || No one in music is better at couching weird, out-there, occasionally sweet lyrics into infectious yet ferocious sing-along rock & roll better than J Roddy. This one's a little more polished, a little more poppy, but still another in a classic lineup for fantastic rock records.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXLBvOH82Y0
Reel Whirl - The Wimps || One of the best bands working in Richmond right now, this one is a huge step above their previous. A great mix of psych, surf, indie rock, and some of the finest songwriting you'll encounter anywhere. The kind of album that demands an entire run through, unveiling a larger concept without being bogged down by it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9wuWrgmiw0
https://thewimpsrva.bandcamp.com/album/reel-whirl
The French Press - Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever || I'll never not be a sucker for guitar heavy indie-rock and this is as fine as an example as you'll find this year. At times vocally reminiscent of The Clash or The Smiths while the knotted guitar lines and extended three-guitar jams recall Built to Spill and early-2000's indie. This would be higher if it weren't a 23 minute EP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPJIByCZbmY
Villians - Queens of the Stone Age || It's Queens. The riffs are ever so slightly de-emphasized while the grooves are ever so slightly exaggerated, but this band has always been all riffs and grooves in some configuration. The changes are incremental but their sound is so assuredly their's and the songs so rock solid it doesn't matter.
Sleep Well Beast - The National || This band continues to settle into their most perfect sound the older they get. Matt Berninger makes surreal, knotty lyrics sound catchy while their drummer pummels the gentle songs into (subtle, densely layered) bangers. Requires a few close listens but really opens up to be a fantastic, compulsively listenable record.
Youth Detention - Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires || A dense mix of lights out punk rock and gnarly southern rock, 58 minutes of dense lyrics and guitar solos. They confront the political and social and personal from a distinctly southern point of view. And the songs are catchy as hell when they want them to be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2FW3MlRZzw
Leg for Ron Gallo, forgot about that one.
That record is soooo good, his live show is incredible as well. And he's still playing some really small clubs, makes for great shows. Have you heard the new singles? He's put out like 4 songs in the past couple months, all really good stuff
Whoop whoop another J Roddy fan.
Really got into J Roddy in college, haven't kept up with them since though, sadly.
Manchester Orchestra - A Black Mile To the Surface
I loved seeing this already listed. This is one of the more underrated bands out there now. They have trimmed off some of the rough edges and toned it back a bit as they become family men, but the songwriting is as good as it has ever been.
The War On Drugs - A Deeper Understanding
This is just a great rock album and is perfect for a roadtrip. Strong callbacks to Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen and The Grateful Dead.
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound
One of the best songwriters out there now and my favorite in the country-ish arena with apologies to Stapleton and Sturgill.
Noah Gundersen - White Noise
Haunting and gutwrenching, a singer-songwriter who finally is coming into his own with a full band.
Josh Ritter - Gathering
Another folk rock masterpiece from Ritter. I've come to just expect great music from his every album.
Never heard of Noah Gundersen before, but first couple of songs sound really interesting. And I had no idea Ritter had another record out.
I just wish I could get into War on Drugs. The up-tempo singles are great, but I literally can't stay awake during any of the slow songs, they seem to go nowhere for long stretches of time.
This checks out
Gundersen's voice and lyrical depth is what keeps me coming back to him. Check his older stuff out too, especially Fire off of the Family EP. I probably listened to that song 10 times when I first discovered it.
The War On Drugs critique is fair, but I find the long winding road feel of their music to be part of the charm.
Dissenting opinion: I've listened to bits of Damn. It's not anything to write home about. I wouldn't say it stands out in any way from the rest of the stuff coming out in recent years. It's kind of like when everyone was obsessing with Lorde after Royals came out. They all kept saying how she was this great departure from the rest of pop. And when I hear her stuff, I hear the rest of pop.
I'm not saying it's bad music, from either of them. But I think there is a lot of hype, and people are buying into it. But the hype is industry hype and not really based in anything about the music.
It's ok if you don't like it, but it's definitely not just industry hype.
The Contortionist - Clairvoyant - Possibly my album of the year. If you need a relaxing, smooth and technically sound rock album, go no further.
All Things Work Together - Lecrae - Christian music usually gets a bad rep because it can be over the top theologically, but Lecrae does a great job balancing between hip-hop/r&b tropes with not over the top, "in your face", theology. Always Knew is one of my favorite tracks of the year.
Syre - Jaden Smith - Agree with much of the discussion above. The intro tracks are ridiculous, and the production value is top notch. A little on the long side for a debut album, but it was a nice change of pace from much of the stuff released today.
Process - Sampha - Great debut album for such an underrated talent. Very easy listen.
4 Your Eyez Only - J. Cole - throwing this in, even though it came out late 2016. I still listen to this album (and 2014 Forest Hills Drive) because it showcases J. Cole's talents as a lyricist and producer all wrapped up together without the help of anyone else. You don't go double plat no features without being one of the best out there.
I really like Sampha's work with SBTRKT & Jesse Ware, but haven't given his solo stuff as close a listen as I probably should have.
If you're into Christian hip hop, check out Propaganda's album Crooked from this year. He focuses a lot of this record, like Lecrae's latest, on the political and social issues, while still tying in theology a bit. It's Not Working (The Truth) is maybe my song of the year overall.
I wouldn't say I'm necessarily into Christian hip-hop, I actually stumbled upon Lecrae this year when I saw Jalen Ramsey's guest appearance on First Take a few months ago, and he chose Always Knew as his highlight music for the segment. A wonderful accident have you, because I don't know why I was watching First Take to begin with lol.
I'll definitely check out Propaganda though, thanks for the suggestion.
I think we can ALL agree, this is the GREATEST album of the year:
/S BIG time
Related note: Kendrick is doing the CFP National Championship Halftime Show.
Interesting choice and a major departure from the "family" acts that the NFL gears towards.
With that being said, does this mean that they will be extending the length of halftime for the national championship like what they do for the Super Bowl (30 min)?
I think I saw where he is not actually performing in the stadium which could mean they are keeping with the
1220 min halftime since they wouldn't need to setup/breakdown a stage.EDIT: I notice that the press release mentions that the marching bands will still perform at halftime. I am thinking that ESPN might use their different networks to show different halftimes... ESPN shows Kendrick, ESPN2 shows game analysis and ESPNU shows the marching bands?
College halftimes are longer than 12 minutes aren't they?
You are right. NFL is 12 min and college is 20 min.
A few of my favorites:
Ryan Adams - Prisoner
Fleet Foxes - Crack Up
Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile - Lotta Sea Lice
The War On Drugs - A Deeper Understanding
Justin Townes Earle - Kids In The Street
Phoenix - Ti Amo
Sylvan Esso - What Now
Hiss Golden Messenger - Hallelujah Anyhow
Mipso - Coming Down the Mountain
Evolve by Imagine Dragons was one of my favorites, hadn't seen it mentioned yet.
Also loved From A Room Vol 1/2 by Chris Stapleton. DAMN was good but I personally didn't love it as much as others.
Looking through this thread is making me realize how little I actually know about music, honestly don't even recognize the majority of albums/artists mentioned.
The new Eminem album is 🔥🔥🔥.
Also, surprised not to see Wonderful Wonderful by the Killers here. Not at all what I hoped for from them, but still a very solid album overall.
...What? I was so disappointed by this album, and I had some low expectations.
Agreed. The wife played a few for me (she thinks it's good), was not pleased. #NotMyEminem*
*this is not a political statement...I just think it's not good music.
I've been having a slow day at work today (first day back from taking a few days off, and there is hardly anyone else at the office) - I've been enjoying going through and listening to a lot of these recommendations and decided to go ahead and compile every album on this thread into a Spotify playlist. there is a very eclectic taste in music, and I love it. The playlist is a total of 918 songs from 77 different albums. I've got it on shuffle in the background while I'm working right now.
If anyone else is interested in giving it a listen, the name of the playlist is: TKP's Favorite albums of 2017.
This is awesome, but I'm having trouble finding it
Weird.. not sure why it wont show up. I made the playlist public, so it should be there.
Here's the link to the web player playlist. I'll see if I can figure out what's going on.
https://open.spotify.com/user/1247042182/playlist/1yWCTpcBoFISXaJm5IVjfT
Just pulled up TKP on my phone and used the link. It automatically brought it up in the Spotify app that way. Thanks for putting this together.
awesome, glad it worked out!
Did some googling and apparently its a common issue with spotify.. Due to the huge number of playlists, they only show in searches when they pass a certain number of followers or something like that.
That actually makes a lot of sense, there are probably millions of playlists at this point
This is pretty cool, well done
While perhaps not as great as their first two releases (or maybe it is, there are some pretty sweet tracks in the middle of the album), "Amber Galactic" from The Night Flight Orchestra got me hooked on these guys this year. The band is a "supergroup" made up of members from Sweden's melodic death metal groups Soilwork and Arch Enemy with Björn Strid on vocals. Their music has a certain classic rock vibe to it and some killer keyboard parts.
To echo someone's post above about Greta Van Fleet - they really do sound like Zeppelin and it's a little creepy. They are also going to be at Floyd Fest next summer.
Just popped up on YT:
Enter Sandman
Def Leppard - Hysteria
Would tend to agree that 2017 was a down year for music releases that blew me away. A lot of solid offerings here and there, but only a few that really were great IMO.
Woe - Hope Attrition: OMG this album blew me away. This was the album I was looking for this year and its stayed on my playlist throughout the year. This album is so cohesive in its approach that it satisfies that black metal itch, yet in someways is a little uplifting. A+
Mastodon - Emperor of Sand: Another solid album by this foursome, but also another step towards more prog and mainstream rock/metal than their epic first four albums. Jaguar God is another long epic song by the group and lets Hinds really go to town on the solo and lyrics. The rest is kind of what you would expect from the Don with epic riffs mixed in here and there, but nothing really grasps me and takes me back to the Leviathan, Remission, or CTS days. But hey, at least its not the Hunter. B
Manchester Orchestra - A Black Mile To the Surface: Andy Hull is one of the great songwriters out there and now that none of the original band remains other than him that still rings true. This album is also a change of pace and sort of concept album about a mining town in one of the Dakota's in winter. At first I really didn't like the album, but it grew on me over time. The Wolf instantly connected with me and its another great track, but The Silence took a little time for me to grasp and its now one of my favorite songs from this band and might be my favorite song of the year. The build in it and the emotion really drive it home. B
Pallbearer - Heartless: This is such a good prog rock album, but that's not really what I like from Pallbearer who had one of the greatest doom albums ever a few years back with Sorrow and Extinction. The production is definitely a step up and everything is tight musically, but nothing really reaches the heights of their past two albums. Solid C+.
Deer Tick - Volume 2: Much more my style than the other album they put out this year, with all apologies to Only Love as it is a great song, this is the Deer Tick I'm used to. While its not their best stuff which was most of the early stuff, its still a solid offering. C+
Jason Isbell - The Nashville Sound: Love this guy, especially his DBT stuff from early on, and Southeastern is a masterpiece. With that said his last two offerings have each taken a step back from that album. Still a few good songs and the songwriting is fantastic, even if I hate the way he uses facetious on Molotov. Still a solid B, but like QOTSA I just wanted more.
J Roddy Walston & the Buisness - Destroyers of the Soft Life: Was massively disappointed with this album. It did sound like the J Roddy that I know and love from his start in B'more, but its totally missing any edge that made these guys live show legends in the past and the s/t one of the best albums. This feels like the desperate move to a more pop version of themselves hoping to get more exposure, and its a shame. C-
Queens of the Stone Age - Villains: This album was definitely a change of pace from Like Clockwork which was stunning IMHO and while its not bad or even average in terms of quality, as its a solid B of album, it just doesn't reach the heights that I am accustomed to by almost all of Baby Duck's projects, excluding EODM which I still don't really get. Its kind of care free easy going that doesn't have the depth, excluding Villains of Circumstance, that I really enjoy. Still a great listen, but just leaves me wanting at the end of the day.
The Dears - Times Infinity Volume Two: Average album by the Canadian pop group. Murray still has a great voice and solid song writing skills, but nothing really showed too bright on this album. Just typical arrangement of Dears songs. C
Cloak - To Venomous Depths: The debut album from this ATL group. One of my favorite new bands to hear this year, good mix of black/doom metal. A-
Wolves in the Throne Room - Thrice Woven: Another solid album from the PNW Black metal with a little folk or nature elements thrown in. B
Amenra - Mass VI: This was a recommendation from a friend and it did not disappoint. Sludge metal that never feels too heavy. B+