2020… blah blah blah… the strangest year in history, it sucked for everyone… blah blah blah.
On the bright side of things, here are our top 10 #RealRock Albums of 2020. Lots of great new music to check out so we highly recommend giving some of these a spot on your eardrums. As usual, we have a mix of classic rock legends with some lesser known defenders of the genre. 3 of our top 5 albums seem to be swan songs for some legends of 70’s rock while we also introduce 2 brand new bands to our readers.
Needless to say vinyl is the way to go for the authentic Real Rock experience and all 10 of our entries are available on record format.
10 – The Killers, Imploding the Mirage
Clearly not a traditional “rock” band, The Killers embody one possible path of rock in the new century which involve synths as the basis. A feel good poppy vibe continues to be the theme of this record as it was with The Killers previous five records. The record does succeed in the big time production feel that it is clearly trying to achieve as one would expect from anything coming out of Las Vegas. However a big whaaaat moment comes from the song Caution which features the legendary Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac on guitars.
9 – Deep Purple, Whoosh
Formed in 1968, Deep Purple keep chugging along with their 21st studio album. Hitting their classic formula of riff-rich tunes with organs out of the psychadelic 60’s. There is no deviation from the Purple sound, but somehow this album works really well and like Sabbath’s 13, is an album that could have been released in the hard rock golden era of the 70’s. We love the trippy Man Alive and it can be heard/seen below.
8 – Gorilla Riot, Peach
Who?? Well their own website describes them as “... a 5-piece dirty rock n’ roll blues machine from Manchester, England. They deliver a 3-prong guitar attack with multi-part vocal harmonies to play raucous blues-based rock, combining elements of grunge, stoner and country to create a full-on high energy rock show. ” That description alone is enough to get us excited (but WTF is this new genre of stoner rock I keep hearing about? I mean wasn’t Floyd or Genesis or Rush or Zep for stoners?). Joking aside, this is a major kick ass album and we liked it so much we had to order the vinyl all the way from Germany to get to us. Insanely good throwback to the original Alice In Chains sound and a bluesy-grunge production we can’t get enough of. Thanks to Peach we are now adding Gorilla Riot to our “possible saviours of real rock” list along with Rival Sons, The Temperance Movement, Monster Truck, and Greta Van Fleet.
7 – Pearl Jam, Gigaton
The band’s 11th album is a solid (but far from their best) offering. They remain the sole survivor of the dark fate that all the other Seattle grunge bands have had. Gigaton does have some killer PJ tunes but the inclusion of Dance of the Clairvoyants seems to belong on The Killers album. On the other hand the album’s longest song Seven O’Clock does create the aura that is the band’s trademark but also seems to sound closer to U2 than to the hard rock of earlier albums. Never Destination is an example of that harder sound for those looking for that. We quite like Quick Escape and you can hear that one below.
6 – Magnum, The Serpent Rings
Magnum has been around since 1972 but somehow have always been under the radar as part of the classic rock elite. They serve notice that they are here and are really good with their 21st (!!) studio album. While the album cover and name allude to super geeky necromancer rock, it turns out this album is a balanced mix of power riffs and AOL type ballads. Standout track You Can’t Run Faster Than A Bullet would sound really good right about now at a summer festival with a cold beer in hand.
5 – AC/DC, Power Up
Well of all the albums on this list here is the one you have heard over and over for the last 45 years. There should be no surprise that AC/DC once again have not moved from their classic recipe on their 17th studio album. This is the band’s first album since Malcolm Young’s death but features the return of Brian Johnson, Phil Rudd and Cliff Williams to the legendary band. The album hit number one on the album charts in Canada and many other countries and proves that AC/DC continue to have a following unlike many other bands with 45 years in the business. Here is Shot In The Dark which has been viewed 18 million times in 8 weeks since it was released.
4 – Ozzy Osbourne, Ordinary Man
Ozzy is back and you gotta believe me, yeah I saw it, I saw it, I tell you no lies. The prince KING of darkness is back with another killer album. Standouts include Under the Graveyard (with an Iommish riff from producer Andrew Watt) and power ballad Ordinary Man (a duet with Elton John, featuring Slash on guitar) with prophetic lyrics including :
” Yes, I’ve been a bad guy, been higher than the blue sky
And the truth is I don’t wanna die an ordinary man
I’ve made mama cry, don’t know why I’m still alive
Yes, the truth is I don’t wanna die an ordinary man”
Ozzy at his best with the notable exception of the total shit Take What You Want where some rapper found a way to infiltrate this otherwise great Ozzy album. Thankfully that track is a “bonus release” for the suckers that bought the CD rather than the vinyl.
3 – Lykantropi, Tales To Be Told
Swedish psychedelic folk rock that will transport you to a different age of euphoria with their excellent Tales To Be Told. We ran into this band over the summer from a recommendation by our staff writer Tyrone Buccione (of fabled Toronto band TimeGiant) as something to check out. We really enjoyed Lykantropi’s sound and eagerly ordered up Tales To Be Told and have not not stopped listening to it. Somewhat relatable to Sean Lennon’s band The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, Lykantropi take a hold of your attention on this album and do not release it until the needle hits the end of side 2. Closed eyes with good headphones is the absolute recommendation for this album as its soaring vocals will take you on a trip (to where you need to be). Axis of Margaret is as deep as it gets, as that song was written by bassist Tomas Eriksson about a real life incident: “It is to some extent about when I found my mother dead and how surreal it was. It is about seeing how the person who once was your security merely becoming a shell and losing its soul. It is partly about the intense grieving, but also about the sorrow that she actually disappeared 20 years earlier when my father passed away. Her grief devoured her, it took away her meaning and made her an alcoholic in denial. Her name was Margareta and she was the shoulder of the family. At one point, at least.”
We cant wait to see this band live in Toronto at some point in the future as we love nothing more than checking out what the future of rock sounds like in an intimate venue. Bonus fact: lykantropi comes from the Greek words for wolf (lykos) and people (antropi) or literally “werewolf”.
2 – Dennis DeYoung, ’26 East, Vol. 1′
Former Styx frontman Dennis DeYoung nails this release with THE voice of Styx. That voice is as perfect as ever, and reminds us of the glory days of a simpler time. DeYoung successfully sets our mindset to those simpler times with a visual landscape that invites us to his beloved Chicago and his childhood home on 26 E. 101st Place. Julian Lennon even appears to lend his vocals on To The Good Old Days, and he should be thrilled he got the chance to work with the legendary DeYoung. Styx’s epic Paradise Theater album started with A.D 1928 and ended with A.D 1958 and DeYoung continues that story line by ending his new album with A.D. 2020 which gave us goosebumps. What very well may be the last lyrics sung by one of the top rock vocalists of all time go like this:
And so my friends
I’ll say goodbye
For time has claimed
Its prize
But the music never dies
Just listen and close your eyes
And welcome to paradise
Well luckily DeYoung has announced a volume II of this album so the journey will continue and perhaps A.D. 2021 will touch our soul as much as this album has. If there is one album on this list which I want to personally thank it’s creator for, it is this one. Thank you for all the music Dennis!
1 – My Morning Jacket, The Waterfall II
Our favorite band of this century is My Morning Jacket and they have an unparalleled level of recognition on our Top 10 album lists. In 2011 the band’s Circuital was our number 1 album of the year. Our number 2 album of 2015 was their Waterfall album (and only behind the untouchable David Gilmour for top spot). Well 5 years later a somewhat of a surprise release of Waterfall II gets MMJ the top album of the year for us. This album continues its hypnotic grasp of the listener on its beautifully crafted audioscape. Jim James is once again the mind blowing vocalist that just takes you there. This album is the extra material from The Waterfall recording but in no way should it be though of the reject songs from those sessions. The standout track of the album for us is Wasted which we are certain will become a staple in their live show.
