This was a year where I liked not so many albums, but I’ve listened to the albums that I liked so many times. It was a year that it was more about the quality rather than the quantity for me. Anyway, let’s go and see what were my favorite albums, the list doesn’t have an order, the albums are not arranged from worst to best nor the opposite, but I did leave my favorite album for the last one. And if you follow me on any of my platforms you already know which one is it.
1 – The Black Keys – Let’s Rock The Black keys are one of those rock bands that make you want to dance, with Queens Of The Stone Age they are the most popular bands to do such thing that I know. They achieved that with Let’s rock. From the first second of the album, you notice an electric vibe on it. Good album, really recommended.
2 – Lucy in Blue – In Flight I met Lucy in Blue in a Sleep concert, they were the openers of them. Seeing them was like witnessing a mix between Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. If you are going to hear one song of this album check out Matricide.
3 – Killswitch Engage – Atonement I’ve been a fan of Killswitch for so long. It’s one of those bands that catch your attention from the first listen really, if you’re into metalcore, obviously. Atonement is just 39 minutes long, and that’s the only bad thing about it. Listen to it and you’ll feel pumped. It has a song, The Signal Of Fire, that features Howard Jones, which was a singer for the band in the past. That song is the best one for me. Killswitch is one band that I’m missing to see live
4 – Opeth – In Cauda Venenum Talking about bands that I’m missing to see live, Opeth is on the top of the list. The Swedish band has crafted their own sound. no one sounds like them out there. In Cauda Venenum is a masterpiece in my opinion. You can find Jazz, Rock, Blues, Metal… really a cool combination of sound that I would describe as an Opeth’s sound. The acoustic guitar arrangements on this record sound amazing, this is for me one of the best releases of this year.
5 – Rammstein – Rammstein Whow could we left behind Rammstein’s seventh studio album? Not really possible. This record has everything that you would expect from the german band. The theme of this self-titled is a love-hate relationship with their country. People criticized their firs single because they thought the band was pro-nazi. They don’t know what they’re talking about. I’m kinda sad though that this might be their final album.
6 – Slipknot – We Are Not Your Kind I became I die hard fand of Slipknot back in 2013, kinda recent. I saw them live in the Download Festival in the UK. If you ever saw them live, you know what I’m talking about. This is one of those bands that gain popularity, not with singles but with live performances. We Are Not Yout Kind is a masterpiece in terms of as an album as a whole rather than having good songs in my opinion. Clown and company have done an outstanding job. This album is heavy, but they put some grooves on it that sounds fantastic. I listened to it with my kid in the room, and he starts dancing, especially when the song ‘The Birth Of The Cruel is on.
7 – Alter Bridge – Walk The Sky It’s something more than ten years since I became a fan of Alter Bridge. Over the last releases, this is the one that I like the most. I wouldn’t put it on my top 3 albums of them but definitely on my top 5. If you are going to hear just one song of this one, check out Godspeed. This song has that experimental vibe that Alter was missing lately in my opinion. Alter Bridge is a band, just like Slipknot, that sounds good live. But as far as me, and my wife, actually this is her favorite band, Ater Bridge sounds better live.
8 – Mike Patton / Jean-Claude Vannier – Corpse Flower Every time Mike Patton releases an album he does something magical. It doesn’t matter what music genre it is. He nails it every single time, And Corpse Flower is no exception. This is something I’ve never heard before, Its classical music mixed with rock, pop, serious and funny lyrics. It’s something that you have never heard before. And that is why I recommend you to check it out.
9 – Digitalism – JPEG It’s funny because if I see the latest album of the German band on a shelve of a record store I would not buy it. And I still rank it in my top albums of this year. I don’t really like what is known as techno music that much. But I used to hear JPEG when I wanted to escape from real-life problems, for example at work. I ended up hearing Digitalism by coincidence, TIDAL suggested it to me and it helped me to get lost on some occasions, which is the intention of music right?
10 – Tool – Fear Inoculum Of course, the latest album of Tool is that album that doesn’t let you hear any other album in the hole year, well only since the 30th of August of course. This album blew my mind on every single aspect: lyrics, melodies, transitions, technical musical skils… but the thing that I liked the most on it was the production. Every single band member sounded so damn good on it. I recommend this album to everyone that has the patient to go through the journey I say that it requires patience because the songs are over 10 minutes and they are not very easy to digest. This is not an album that will gain more Tool fans I think, but it is an album that will strengthen the relationship with existing fans that appreciate good music. This is not my favorite album of the year, but I would rank it as one of my favorites albums I’ve heard in my entire life.