Everything 2014
I wrote this with in depth description up to #20 before accidentally hitting back and rlosing it all. So here it ris again with much briefer summaries. |
| 50 |  | Alcest
Shelter
Alcest loses any semblance of black metal but it still sounds pretty. |
| 49 |  | Thou
Heathen
Sludgy, ugly goodness. |
| 48 |  | The Black Keys
Turn Blue
No radio hits to be found here, but an excellent bluesy album. |
| 47 |  | Have a Nice Life
The Unnatural World
Not Deathconsciousness but probably more focused I'd say in the songwriting department. |
| 46 |  | Behemoth
The Satanist
These guys blend black and death metal so gloriously. |
| 45 |  | Foo Fighters
Sonic Highways
Bit of a letdown after Wasting Light but still solid. Documentary was superb. |
| 44 |  | Grouper
Ruins
Sad lo-fi piano tunes that really works well with this time year. |
| 43 | | Thom Yorke
Tomorrow's Modern Boxes
Won't make you forget about Radiohead, but interesting IDM nonetheless. |
| 42 |  | Andrew Jackson Jihad
Christmas Island
Pretty disappointing for me personally since Knife Man is one of my favorite albums, but it's a
great folk/punk romp. |
| 41 |  | Crosses
Crosses
Would be higher up if I hadn't heard most of the album on previous EP's. Chino's voice is
godly. Favorites are Bitches Brew and Option. |
| 40 |  | Earth
Primitive and Deadly
Droning psychedelic goodness that's best experienced with headphones in the dark. |
| 39 |  | Swans
To Be Kind
I'm not sure I'll ever really "get" Swans (and lord knows I've tried) but if I'm in the right
mood for them they can still leave me floored. |
| 38 |  | How to Dress Well
What Is This Heart?
Pretty electro/r&b stuff with an unfortunate album cover. |
| 37 |  | The Afghan Whigs
Do to the Beast
Not on par with their 90's output but a fantastic reunion album anyways. |
| 36 |  | Job for a Cowboy
Sun Eater
After dismissing them after their deathcore days my friend implored me to listen to this and I
wasn't disappointed. Great tech death. |
| 35 |  | Panopticon
Roads to the North
Mixes black metal and bluegrass in a way that's not forced nor cheesy. |
| 34 |  | Hoth
Oathbreaker
Fantastic death metal with a black metal vibe and folk flourishes. |
| 33 |  | Buckethead
Claymation Courtyard
Haven't heard all the pikes because there's a shit ton but this is the best I've heard this year.
Everything good about Buckethead can be found on this one. |
| 32 |  | Devin Townsend Project
Z2
First disc is incredible with it's epic wall of sound vibe. Second disc let's up a bit with the silly
concept, but musically it's still a treat. Great album overall. |
| 31 |  | Antemasque
Antemasque
Omar and Cedric from ATDI and TMV team up again with a surprisingly upbeat affair full of
energy and catchy hooks. |
| 30 |  | Pink Floyd
The Endless River
This could never live up to what they've done in the past, but on it's own it's Floyd being
Floyd. You know the sound by know. |
| 29 |  | Opeth
Pale Communion
Opeth continues in this more proggy direction and though I miss the metal side of them I will
say this is a step above Heritage and still a worthwhile listen. |
| 28 |  | Conor Oberst
Upside Down Mountain
One of Oberst's most immediately enjoyable albums that any fan of his or folk music in
general should enjoy. |
| 27 |  | The Smashing Pumpkins
Monuments to an Elegy
Say what you want about Corgan but the dude can still write a song. This is Smashing
Pumpkins in name only since it's basically Corgan on every instrument but the songs are solid
alt rock and that's all that matters. |
| 26 |  | Ne Obliviscaris
Citadel
A natural progression from their debut, Citadel sees them focus more on songwriting and
creating a more cinematic experience. Epic in all sense of the word. |
| 25 |  | Run the Jewels
Run the Jewels 2
Didn't listen to too much rap this year but this was pretty great. I'm probably in the minority
in saying I like the first album better but this shows that El-P and Killer Mike still have some
rocket sauce left in them. |
| 24 |  | Cannibal Corpse
A Skeletal Domain
Favorite CC by far. Love the thrashy nature of this. |
| 23 |  | The Menzingers
Rented World
Buddies and I played this to death over the summer. As it stands it kind of grew off me a bit
from where I thought it would end up initially, but still a memorable effort. |
| 22 |  | Thee Silver Mount Zion
Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything
I have to admit I haven't followed this offshoot of GY!BE too closely so when the vocals crept
in at the beginning it kind of threw me, but I grew to enjoy them. Post-rock with a punk
attitude. |
| 21 |  | Boris
Noise
Covers all the bases with Boris. Drones, fuzz/stonger metal, shoegaze, ambience. It can all be
found here and pulled off with flying colors. |
| 20 |  | Rival Sons
Great Western Valkyrie
There aren't too many acts out there waving the rock flag anymore. Sure you have the Foo
Fighters and Jack White maybe, but there's aren't too many bands out there just playing down
to earth bluesy rock music. Well enter the Rivals Sons and this great album. Sounds like
something out of the early 70's in the best possible way. |
| 19 |  | Insomnium
Shadows of the Dying Sun
If you've heard Insomnium by now then you definitely know the formula and it doesn't change
much here, but damn do they pull it off well. |
| 18 |  | Manchester Orchestra
Cope
I'd to throw in the counterpart to this album, Hope, to the #18 spot. Cope sees MO at their
most brash and "heavy" whereas Hope lifts any sort of aggression there was and reveals the
beauty behind these song. I wish they could have mixed the two albums together in some way
to make a single well rounded effort though. |
| 17 |  | Saor
Aura
One of my favorite BM releases from the year. I'm a sucker for folk tinged BM and Saor pulls
it off very tastefully here without sounding tacky. |
| 16 | | Damien Rice
My Favorite Faded Fantasy
I've only listened a handful of times because it just leaves me so emotionally floored after
each listen. Heartbreaking and beautiful. |
| 15 |  | Electric Wizard
Time to Die
More riffs and fuzzier than ever, Electric Wizard seems to be getting stronger with age which
is scary. |
| 14 |  | Jack White
Lazaretto
Sort of similar to Blunderbuss but with enough new stuff to make it interesting. Jack White is
one of the true "rockstars" of this generation. |
| 13 | | Aaron West and The Roaring Twenties
We Don't Have Each Other
Singer from The Wonder Years creates a heartbreaking Americana album. |
| 12 |  | Kayo Dot
Coffins on Io
After the behemoth that was Hubardo, Coffins on Io is a sigh of relief. More melody with a
gothic/80's vibe to things. Toby Driver knows how to keep you on your toes with each release. |
| 11 |  | Lantlos
Melting Sun
Lantlos shows Alcest how to properly drop the "black" from a blackgaze band. |
| 10 |  | The Gaslight Anthem
Get Hurt
A band that I think suffers from comparing what they're doing with what they've done. Get
Hurt sees them branching out a bit from the Springsteen worship and sounds a bit more
modern than their previous efforts. But the songs are still there, the hooks are still there, and
the stories told in the lyrics are still there. A worthy addition to their discography. |
| 9 |  | Low Roar
0
A pretty daunting listen, but a worthwhile one too. I think of it as if Sigur Ros met Death Cab
for Cutie. |
| 8 | | Mastodon
Once More 'Round the Sun
The band that made Leviathan is gone, but there's no need to fret because Mastodon has
shown they are more than capable of crafting rip roaring tune are rip roaring tune without
concept of mountain sasquatches and killer whales. More The Hunter than Remission, OMRTS
shows Mastodon adopting a song by song album that is still pummeling and catchy. |
| 7 |  | Musk Ox
Woodfall
Can't say I've heard too much Neofolk/Classical stuff outside of Vali or early Ulver, but this
album is gorgeous. It's one of those listens where you can shut off the world and be taken
somewhere serene and calm. |
| 6 |  | Spectral Lore
III
Monster of an album. With over an hour and a half of material here it's not easy to digest, but
just know that Spectral Lore has shown here there's still plenty more to offer from black
metal. |
| 5 |  | Kenn Nardi
Dancing with the Past
A behemoth of a record with 28 songs and over 2 hours of music, Dancing with the Past a
sampling of so many different styles of metal from the Anacrusis frontman. There's thrash,
doom, power, and almost any subgenre of metal you can find here. The only fault is it's
massive length which makes it's replay value limited, but it's that same massiveness that
provides all these different styles. |
| 4 |  | Trophy Scars
Holy Vacants
What it sounds like if The Gaslight Anthem was closer to hardcore than Springsteen. Has an
honesty to it that's refreshing and really tells a great story. |
| 3 |  | Casualties of Cool
Casualties of Cool
Leave it to Devin Townsend to release and ambient/country record. Doesn't sound like it
should work but if you've heard by now it certainly does. The spacey ambient mixed with the
acoustic plucking of Townsend send you to another world where the female vocals swirl
around you. After hearing Ghost by DT I thought I had heard the ambient Devy, but this is
completely different and completely wonderful. |
| 2 |  | Aphex Twin
Syro
Absolutely worth the wait. I've always been more of a fan of his SA 85-82 stuff than say his
Druqks stuff. So while listening to this and getting a more ambient vibe I immediately fell in
love. Comeback album of the year. |
| 1 |  | The War on Drugs
Lost in the Dream
A record that stick with you for a long time. This was the soundtrack to many moments of my
life this past year and I don't think I'll ever forget it. Americana meets shoegaze is a lazy way
to summarize it because it hits on a much deeper level. It's nostalgia in music form and my
favorite album from this year. |
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