Dec 31 2017 – The year-end provides us a great opportunity to take a snapshot of music that was released in the previous 365 days and we can finally name our favourites. What we call #RealRock is steeped in the great rock bands of the 70’s, sprinkled with the polished sound of the 80’s and the grimmyness of the 90’s. While any year-end list is simply a matter of personal taste (case in point is Rolling Stone Magazine #1 album of the year is by Kendrick Lamar – a rap album that we would not really care for), our list merely attempts to provide rock lovers some suggestions for great albums this year. Check them out and rock them loud!
Welcome to T-Mak World’s Top 10 Albums of 2017.
10. Jim James – Tribute to 2
Jim James is the voice of My Morning Jacket (our favorite band of this century) and although this is a solo offering of covers, it still features the most haunting voice in rock at its best. The album is intended to feature songs that “reverberate with hope and blur the boundaries of time and genre” as described by the release notes. What this means is that this is not a straight up rock and roll but one should not expect that from James. Diverse artists such as Sonny and Cher, The Beach Boys, Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan are covered but our favorite is Lucky Man by ELP.
9. Huxley Would Approve – Brave New World Part 1
Talk about a sleeper pick that just came out of nowhere (literally) and rocked our ear drums. The band known as Huxley Would Approve is self-described as “a (German/Canadian collaboration experience by Rainer Schneider and Joe Bolieiro. ” The band is made up of major Roger Waters and Pink Floyd fans and have created an aural sound scape that is directly drawn from their influences. This album sounds like a late 80’s-early 90’s era Floyd and is an essential prog album of 2018.
8. Black Country Communion – BCCIV
Let’s start off with who is in this band in case you are not familiar. Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater) on keyboards, blues virtuoso guitarist Joe Bonamassa, Jason Bonham (Led Zeppelin (kinda), Foreigner) on drums, and Glen Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath) is the singer. Self explanatory right? The band’s fourth album is a straight up hard blues influenced rocker. The band lays down a few killer tracks and for a sampler check out the wicked Love Remains on YouTube.
7. Foo Fighters – Concrete & Gold
The Foo Fighter’s 9th album delivers the trademark pop sensibilities and metal rage of what might be considered Nirvana Lite. While some songs really highlight the bands’ mastery of #RealRock (check out Run and Arrows for a preview of future stadium anthems), songs like The Sky Is A Neighborhood which sound more like Coldplay than Nirvana make us look for the fast forward button. Overall the trip through this record is really good and we cant wait to watch the Foos rule the stadiums again this summer.
6. Royal Blood – How Did We Get So Dark?
Royal Blood saw a meteoric rise from unknowns to one of the few so-called “saviors of rock” in 2013/14. The British 2-piece continues the path paved by The White Stripes and The Black Keys as they push the limits of how powerful a duo sound. Although most of their songs sound the same, that sound is of pure rock fury with pounding drums and bass. Standout track I Only Lie When I Love You gives you a sample of the band’s sound. The only caveat we have about this album is that in 10 years it might be the one on this list that might drop out because we expect future Royal Blood albums to sound pretty much the same.
5. Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie – Lindsey Buckingham / Christine McVie
Mick Fleetwood is the drummer of this album, John McVie is the bassist. The album features Lindsey Buckingham and Chrstine McVie. If that sounds like 80% of Fleetwood Mac that’s because it is. Stevie Nicks opted out of this album which would have been even more commercially successful if it was labelled as Fleetwood Mac. Nonetheless this is the lighter side of rock and a demonstration of vocal power of true rock legends. Buckingham’s guitar picking style is strong as expected and reminds the turbulent beauty of one of the greatest rock bands (and real life soap operas) ever. The first three songs deliver a 1-2-3 crunch of melodic and radio friendly hits – having said that I doubt any radio station around here will give this one any airplay but will instead stick to the proven formula of late 70’s Mac.
4. Styx – The Mission
The band’s first album in 14 years seems right out of the golden years of 1977-1983 where they ruled the arenas and air waves. The concept album about a futuristic mission to Mars (humanity’s first) is full of the bombast and grandeur which makes it one of the year’s best releases. This album is meant to be listened to on vinyl and in its entirety. The Red Storm and Gone, Gone, Gone are two examples of classic rock being still delivered in the modern era. Gowan proves his worth to the band in spades as he delivers a supreme vocal performance on the record. It is good to see the band who seems to tour non stop incorporate some of the songs (3 at last check) from this album in their live show as this album really deserves to be in the hands of every Styx fan. Check out the incredible Radio Silence by clicking here.
3. Steven Wilson – To The Bone
Beautiful, majestic, euphoric, uplifting, dark. No Steven Wilson record can be described without the word dark, but this one overall stands out more positive than anything we are used to from the Porcupine Tree mastermind. The excellent Nowhere Now sounds like a happy dance song but of course lyrics like “Six feet underground, We move backwards now, At the speed of sound, We are nowhere now” introduce the inevitable ominous aspect of Wilson. Pariah is a beautiful duet with beautiful Ninet Tayeb whose soaring vocals make this song a centerpiece of the record. Once again the music might fool you as uplifting but the vocals always touch upon the darkness that Wilson has perfected in his music.
2. Greta Van Fleet – From The Fires
Whoa – a band nobody had heard of at the beginning of the year ended up having a Billboard #1 rock song for four weeks in a row by September. Led Zeppelin 2.0. Vocals that sound better than Robert Plant’s vocals did from 1972 and on. Guitar riffs and massive drum sound. Many bands have been called the saviors of rock (even by us), but if there is really any saving this dying genre it will be from three brothers and a buddy from northern Michigan. Two are 18 years old and two are 21 years old, and they electrify with their revival of the hard rock blues sound. Check out Safari Song and crank it up to 11. This is #RealRock.
1. Roger Waters – Is This The Life We Really Want?
Well this was a no brainer. If you have been to T-Mak World at all before you will have noticed that it is full of positive reviews with anything Pink Floyd related. There is no band from the last century that has had more impact on us than Pink Floyd and when its creative master releases his first album in 24 years we lap it up like a rabid pack of wolves. Waters continues his political and philosophical assaults on inequality, consumerism, and indifference. The songs are either atmospherically beautiful or hauntingly venomous, and features lyrics such as “picture a leader with no fucking brains”, that is clearly dedicated to the orange faced man down south of the border.The only negative note of this masterpiece is that the killer guitar solos have disappeared altogether but that is very palatable with the realization that this may be the end of Waters’ record making contribution to rock.
That’s all folks. We hope our selections have given you something new to listen to and explore.
