At this point it may make more sense to start listing my favorite songs of each year since the amount of albums that are worth listening to all the way through (and more than once) continues to diminish. But here goes, anyway.
1. Jimmy NaNa – The Path Now Chosen: As you may know, my album was released in the last quarter of this year. If you’d like to check it out you can do so on the MERCH page.
2. Ed Sheeran – X: Mr. Sheeran continues to impress me with both the quality and diversity of his work. His second album expands on his acoustic pop sound with some funkier upbeat tunes while still managing to tug at the heart with quieter, more introspective tracks as before. All the while, he keeps it interesting, catchy and the opposite of trite. I look forward to his next album greatly.
3. Ariana Grande – My Everything: It’s a shame the singles from this album get played on the radio so frequently, because it really makes you hate them after a while. But upon the first few listens, they are solid songs all the way through to the last track. Memorable melodies and perfect production. All you’d expect from a Pop/R&B album in 2014.
4. Chiodos – Devil: I can’t say it’s my favorite Chiodos album, but in my opinion it’s much better with Craig back on vocals and the addition of Erak on guitar (while very understated) serviced these songs well. They manage to keep the intensity and dramatic tone of past Chiodos albums while going in a more mainstream direction. The complexity and heaviness is still there, it’s just sparse and sometimes underneath the more accessible layers of the songs. I found it all enjoyable though.
5. He is Legend – Heavy Fruit: This band has gone through a lot of stylistic changes and never puts out the same album twice. Which is a good thing since the quality never seems to dip, only transform. Out of all their albums this is probably most similar to their previous effort, It Hates You, but still throws in some new things. I was able to see them live twice this year and you really get the true heaviness of the songs when hearing them extremely loud and in your face.
6. Every Time I Die – From Parts Unknown: Other than the album before this, I’ve enjoyed everything this band has done. It’s hard to say what differed between this album and the last one but I enjoyed this one many times more. It’s fast, it’s heavy, it’s noisy and it’s ETID doing what they do.
7. Nickelback – No Fixed Address: Yeah yeah, everyone hates them, but the fact is they are consistent (sometimes to their detriment). This album keeps their Radio Rock/Pop vibe, throwing in a little funk on a couple songs. There’s even a collaboration with Flo Rida (for some reason). I found myself enjoying this album more than anything since All the Right Reasons. Hate them all you want, it’s still better than 90% of the crap I’ve heard this year.
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8. Terakai – Paradox: They aren’t doing anything unique or out of the box, but they’re playing heavy music and they’re playing it well. Great breakdowns, a good mix of clean and dirty vocals with songs that build and release properly. Looking forward to their next album.
9. Within the Ruins – Phenomena: I can’t say this is much different from their other albums, nor any other albums in the genre, but I can say I enjoyed it more. It’s metal-core but it’s executed so well and so proficiently that it sounds fresh. The singer doesn’t annoy me. The guitar and drums are tight and make you bob your head. What else can you ask for. Oh, and there’s a song on there that sounds like the Super Mario theme mixed with Inspector Gadget’s theme.
10. Jessie J – Sweet Talker: I’ve only come across this album in the last month, so I’d like to listen to it some more. My first impression was great though. While there are a few tracks that are throw-away, it’s solid effort with a great mix of sounds going on in the production. Her vocals range from soft and smooth to rock and roll, fitting the vibe of each song perfectly. It’s good songwriting and the world needs more of it.
11. Melanie Martinez – Dollhouse EP: It has a creepy, artsy sound but it’s catchy and the lyrics are great. They’re very honest and hold nothing back emotionally. While there’s only 4 tracks, and they each have the same down tempo feel, I enjoyed each one on it’s own as well as a unified EP concept. I’m looking forward to hearing what she does next.
Disappointment of the Year:
Slipknot – .5: The Gray Chapter – I was really looking forward to this being something worthwhile, but it’s just not. The new drummer, while competent, plays the same fill almost every time and doesn’t have the dynamics to make each section of the song feel unique and powerful. They might as well have used drum software. The vocals and lyrics sound like they were the first thing that came to his head with little to no revisions to ensure it is top quality. Now, I can’t claim it’s easy to do, especially with all the music Corey has put out with Stone Sour recently. But some of these songs are just garbage and it’s not the drums’ fault. The guitars are so low in the mix this time that they become negligible pieces of the song where they were once an equal focus. I guess I’ll just have to keep playing their old stuff when I’m in a Slipknot mood. Sometimes you just have to know when you’ve done all you can as a band, and they may be getting to that point (Korn was at that point after their 4th album, but no one told them either, apparently).
Honorable Mentions:
These albums came out in 2013 but I didn’t hear them until this year so I felt the need to mention Maximum the Hormone – Yoshu Fukushu, Hot Bodies in Motion – Principle A and letlive. – Blackest Beautiful. Just give them a listen and I promise you won’t be disappointed.