Top 10 Albums of 2014

From The New Pornographers to the great Pink Floyd, 2014 held all sorts of new music and great new releases for you to pleasure your ears with. I have compiled my top ten favorite albums from this past year. When I choose my top ten, I think to myself what albums I would be able to live with if I was stranded on an island with only those ten albums and a record player. These are my choices for the 2014 island get away.

(From top left, clockwise) Smashing Pumpkins, Against Me!, Run the Jewels, Beck, Spoon, Ed Sheeran. These are just some of the many bands that released a new album in 2014.

Starting off my list, at number ten, is a band I have just recently been getting really into a lot. A band that when I’m feeling tired, I just put one of there records on and I’ll be wide a wake and full of energy. I’m talking of course of Smashing Pumpkins. “Monuments to an Elegy” was the latest release from the band on December 5th. Recording for the album started in March when the band signed to the record label BMG. To be honest, I thought I had my list pretty well set in stone by the beginning of December, then I listened to this album and my list quickly had to be reorganized. Ironically enough, I had just started listening to the Smashing Pumpkins, on a regular basis in October, when I listened to their 2012 album “Oceania.” This record made me like this band on a whole new level. When a band makes a record that makes you wish you would have listened to them a long time ago, they have done something very right. That is exactly what “Monuments to an Elegy” did to me. From the second the ambient progression started on the first track “Tiberius,” I knew that I was in for a ride. The whole album is a great jam; loaded with energy and a lot of attitude, Smashing Pumpkins really hit home with this album. My favorite song on this album is track three, “Anaise!” Driven by a dirty bass guitar, a mean drum beat, and Billy Corgan’s in-your-face vocals, the song is a funky-punky ball of perfection. If you haven’t yet, treat yourself to this magnificent record.

Next, at number nine, is a band that hits close to home, quite literally. I’ve seen this album on a number of other list for this year as it rightfully deserves. The Black Keys “Turn Blue,” was the driving Rock and Roll album that could be heard at graduation parties all summer. I’ll admit right now, with Dan Auerback and Patrick Carney both being from Akron, Ohio, I’ll always keep this rock duo close to my heart. Even if this album was a bomb, I still would have at least recommended it to people. Luckily, this album was everything far from a bomb. This album was pure rock. We can all agree that the single “Fever” was a great introduction to the album and great way to get us fans excited for the album. However, once the album was released, “Fever,” was merely just a tease for the great jams that all of “Turn Blue,” offered. With no disrespect to “Fever,” when I heard songs like “Bullet in the Brain,” or, “In Time,” the single quickly took a backseat. With each Black Keys album that comes, the change in their song style always fascinates me. This album has some of the most diverse music yet presented by the duo. With that being said, it is still just as grooving as the others, and leaves the listener wanting more and more.

For number eight, I’m bringing in one of the greatest voices in the history of Rock and Roll. The man who lead one of the most iconic and influential bands of rock, is back at it again with this great work of art. Robert Plant (the voice of Led Zeppelin in case you really didn’t know) released his newest album back in September, titled, “Lullaby and…The Ceaseless Roar.” Led Zeppelin holds a special place in my heart and I will forever love anything that Robert Plant does. The first experience I had with this album was when I was in the car and his single off the album, “Rainbow” came on. That was all I needed to hear to go out and buy the album. With this record, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Plant. This is no replica of Zeppelin, not even close to it. I wouldn’t even call  this album a rock album. It has its moments where it really jams, but there is a lot more ambient nature to it and even sometimes, a more folky side. One song will have a driving electric guitar and then the next will have nothing but a swelling synthesizer.  You don’t know what comes next from song-to-song. Plant really has outdone himself with “Lullaby and…The Ceaseless Roar.” It was the perfect album to end the summer with.

The New Pornographers was always a band that I thought had one of the oddest names ever, plus, whenever I heard it, I giggled. I had always heard about them but never listened to their music, and now they’re in my top ten list at number seven. When I went back to college on August 24, I wanted some new music to start off the semester. Well two days later, August 26, I saw from Pitchfork that The New Pornographers had released a new album, “Brill Bruisers,” and that is exactly what I wanted: a band I had never listened to with a whole new arsenal of songs. So I went to Spotify, pulled up the album, and I never listened to it until December…I still don’t really know what happened, but I can say that I regret putting off listening to this album for so long. When I finally did listen to this album the whole way through it was a lot like my Smashing Pumpkins experience of, where has this been all my life? “Brill Bruisers” can easily be summed up in one word: fun. From start to finish, it is moving, energetic and “bouncy.” You can’t help but head-bob during the hole thing. Combing electronic sounds with some grooving drums and bass and gorgeous vocals throughout. Track eight on “Brill Bruisers” entitled, “Born With a Sound” is my favorite off the album. The instrumentation is fairly mellow but then put together with the vocals makes it all crescendo till the end of the song in a beautiful way. If you’re like me and you’ve heard this band name and just laughed, do yourself a favor and listen to this album.

Number six on my list is the one that is the most out of my normal listening. I have never been a real avid listener of rap music, with some exceptions of Rick Ross, Cudi and the duo that comes in now, Run The Jewels. Run the Jewels is made up of El-P and Killer Mike, and this year, they released their newest album, “Run the Jewels 2.” I had never heard of these guys until I saw that they did a song with the Rage Against the Machine frontman, Zack de la Rocha. RAGE is one of my all time favorites, being one of the first bands I ever owned all the discography of and the first band I ever covered with a band. When I saw that he was in new song, I had to check it out. Appearing on the track, “Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)” De La Rocha brings all the angsty and in-your-face attitude he had  always delivered in RAGE. The thing is though, that one track is packed full of attitude, power and the energy you’d expect from Run the Jewels, and its only ONE song. The entire “Run the Jewels 2” is a wild ride. “All Due Respect” is track eight on the album and it features Blink-182 and Transplant drummer Travis Barker. The minute the drums start smashing, the song takes off. El-P and Killer Mike build on top of one another with some of the meanest rhymes I’ve heard on a rap album. They speed through line after line and when you think they’ll slow down, the next one goes even faster. As stated earlier, I may not be the biggest listener or rap and hip-hop, but this is one record that is a must for anyone’s collection.

My top five on this list weren’t hard for me to decide on, but it was hard to figure out what order to put them in. Number five is a band that I always found to be unique. They are a four piece band made up of a keyboardist, two guitars and a drummer, but their set up is so different. Their drummer doesn’t use cymbals, a few times on the record he does, but live, almost never. The guitars are always in a weird tuning and even the vocals are just a hole new level of different. I’m talking, of course, about alt-J.  I remember hearing their first album “An Awesome Wave” and just being blown away. I had some fairly high expectations when I heard that they were coming out with a new album. I had been wanting more, and when “This Is All Yours” came out, I was beyond excited. This record did more than hold up to my expectations, it superseded them. It was a perfect follow up to “An Awesome Wave.” The percussion was even more intense and intricate, the vocals were still a flowing mess of random words and the music as a whole was a very flowing piece of art. One thing I like in particular was the track on the album entitled, “Bloodflood, Pt. 2.” It was really cool because on their first album, they had the track, “Bloodflood.” It was really cool to see the continuation of that particular song. The song that impressed me the most on the record, however was the track called, “Hunger of the Pine.” It has one of the best builds for their songs yet. It starts off in the most mellow way possible and then the drums come in and then more sound effects and it boils down to a single drown until it fades off. “This Is All Yours,” was a real masterpiece for alt-J. An album that can easily be appreciated by anyone.

The solo musician who’s newest album comes in at number four is a guy who fascinates me to no end. I’m going to cut to the chase right now and say that Ed Sheeran is a musical genius. I got the opportunity to see him back in September playing all new material from his new album “X” (Multiply). I had never seen a performance like his. I knew he played acoustic guitar and sang but I had no idea what else he did. On his two albums, “+” and “X” he had backing instrumentation and I was curious to see who his backing band was. Well when he came on stage all he had was his guitar, six monitors and about nine different loop stations. He didn’t need a band, he was a band. This gave me a whole new perspective to “X” and also to “+.” When was first introduced to Sheeran, I didn’t like his stuff at all. I thought he was just another acoustic act that sang about being drunk and I could have cared less. Then, once “X” came out, I gave it a real good listen, I even went into the process of looking up words for some of the songs. After finding out what a lot of those songs meant I went back and did the same thing with his first album “+.” I have no problem stating that after I realized what he wrote about and why he wrote, I felt like a complete and udder jackass for ever stating that he was just another, “solo artist that I could careless about.” I can now gladly say that Ed Sheeran is one of the most influential people in music right now. Yes he does write some songs about girls and what not but then he has songs like, “A Fire Love,” which is track 12 on “X” and it talks about the sorrow he faced when losing his grandfather. Its a beautiful song. Or his song “The Man” where he deliberately calls out what his life would be like if he hadn’t made it in music. He is a very down to earth musician who will hopefully stay in the scene for a good long while. With such a soothing voice that can get right in your face in the blink of an eye, I already can’t wait for whatever is to follow “X.”

I have to make this real quick note about my top three albums of 2014. These specific three albums are exceedingly cool for me to talk about. 2014 was such a cool year of music for me because my three favorite bands all released albums. With that being said, these are obviously a little biased since I automatically loved them. Arranging them into which one made number one was a challenge but I wanted to state that these are my three favorite bands and I hope you like my choices!

With that disclaimer being said, lets have number three be a real grooving and rocking band. One that ended their short lived hiatus with their new album. Wolfmother is a band that I can define with a single word: boogie. You can’t hear a Wolfmother song and not just want to start dancing and jiving. Their 2014 album “New Crown” really reassured that statement. Wolfmother frontman, Andrew Stockdale, declared Wolfmother over back in 2012 and that the third album would be released under his own name. Stockdale released his solo album titled, “Keep Moving” in 2013. This was his follow to the previous two Wolfmother albums “Wolfmother,” and “Cosmic Egg.” His solo album had very little commercial success, and at the end of 213, Stockdale announced that Wolfmother was back and that a new album was in the make. After anxiously waiting for two long years, “New Crown” was released for digital download on SoundCloud and Bandcamp in early March. The physical record was released in late May. “New Crown” went back to the roots of Wolfmother. It was just a trio like the first album. Stockdale did a lot of the editing on his own with some help from former friends. The entire album is a jam. You wont be able to walk away from this album without singing at least one song in your head. It was the Wolfmother we had all known and loved when they first graced our ears with their presents. This album can easily go down as a legend, in that it uses some more classic rock elements but still brings that new wave sound.

When it came to number one and number two, this took me a long time to decide which one of these two would be ranked as number one. These were my most anticipated and listened to albums of 2014. Coming in at number two is an album that can already be defined as a legendary rock and roll album. The great Pink Floyd released their long awaited follow up to “Division Bell,” and also their last album ever in 2014 entitled, “The Endless River.” The album consisted of recordings done by the late Richard Wright after the “Division Bell.” The two still listed members of Pink Floyd, David Gilmour and Nick Mason, took this recordings and made one of the best Pink Floyd albums ever. The two simply took the keyboard recordings of Wright and put all new music too them. The entire album is entirely instrumental, until the last song which is entitled, “Louder Than Words.” The track talks about the struggles a band has faced for years, but even though there are internal and external troubles, the music they make is music that will never be forgotten. It is the perfect song to end their Pink Floyd Career with. Now I can admit, when I first listened to the album, I was kind of uneasy. Thats because I tried to just listen to it in the background while doing other things. When you listen to “The Endless River,” you have to be focused on what you’re listening too, at least for the very first time you listen to it. You can hear Gilmour and Mason pouring their hearts and souls into every single beat of the album. The coolest thing I have discovered with this album is that if you listen to this album and “Division Bell” back-to-back, they play into each other perfectly, which makes sense. If you’re a Pink Floyd fan, you needed this yesterday. If you’re not a Pink Floyd fan, you need to do some reevaluating.

 

Before I reveal my number one album of 2014, I wanted to say a couple honorable mentions. As I stated at the beginning, a lot of great bands released albums this year. Future Islands released their newest album entitled, “Singles.” The album is packed with passion and emotion and is beautifully done throughout. Spoon released “They Want My Soul” back in August. If you’re a fan of indie music, this needs to be in your collection now! The album is a fun and moving listen. You wont be board with this album on. Beck also released a new album in 2014 called “Morning Phase.” This album all in all being a fairly mellow and laid back listen, but still has all the Beck qualities we love. Jack White released his newest album, “Lazaretto” right at the beginning of summer. With the hit single off the album being an instrumental jam (“High Ball Stepper”) one knew that this album was going to jam. There are even more great albums, but I had to say the ones that I listened to and loved listening too.

 

Now we have reached my number one. This choice will not come to a surprise to anyone who has read anything I’ve posted from a year ago. This is the band that pacts a punch of attitude into every song, has passion in every note played and can completely destroy a stage all while having a blast. Against Me! is my one of the leading bands in true punk rock and in 2014, they released their long awaited new album, “Transgender Dysphoria Blues.” The album tells the story of a transgender prostitute trying to make it. This album has a whole other meaning because, as I wrote a year ago, lead singer and the face of Against Me! Laura Jane Grace, came out as being transgender back in 2012. After facing many tough times and undergoing almost a complete band makeover, Against Me! released this masterpiece to the world. With Grace’s soul screaming yells, James Bowman’s iconic distorted leads, Atom Willard beating the hell out of the drums and Inge Johansson slapping everything out of his bass, the album is 28 minutes of loud, fast euphoria. The moment you put on the album and the drums start for the first track, which is also the title track, “Transgender Dysphoria Blues,” until the very last track when Grace screams a chorus heard around the world in “Black Me Out,” you know you’re in for a great album. Against Me! is a true power house of energy and all out fun and are already working on a follow up album. A live album is suppose to surface in 2015, but until then, treat yourself with “Transgender Dysphoria Blues.”

U2 “Songs of Innocence”

If you have been on iTunes recently, you may have been surprised. Not but some new update, or by a new look or anything like that. Instead, you would have found free music. Now whats better, an update or free tunes? If you had to think about that, well shame on you.

On September 9th, iTunes users opened their iTunes to see that there was a new album in their Library by the band U2. Users wondering, “How did this get there? Was I really smashed last night and downloaded stuff? Or is my computer haunted by Joey Ramone?” Luckily, the answer to that is neither. It was simply a great gift from a great band.

U2 teamed up with Apple to release their new album “Songs of Innocence.” This is the bands newest album in five years. At an Apple event to release their new products, U2 made a surprising performance at the end, playing the first track on the album “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone).” After the performance, the band, and apple CEO Tim Cook, told the audience that they can have that song and many more for free, right then and there. They then released “Songs of Innocence” for free to every iTunes users. All they had to do, was open iTunes .

 

There has been all sorts of articles and reviews about this recent marketing stunt and whether it was a good idea, or just a sellout scheme. My thought on that is, who really cares? Some have written about the music but it usually leads to a discussion about whether or not this was a good idea. Seriously though, why not just tell about the new tunes? Well that is exactly what I’m going to do now.

 

When I saw on Facebook that U2 had released an album and it was already on my computer, I for one, was over joyed. U2 was one of the first rock and roll bands I had ever heard when I was little and had loved them ever since. My family has always been huge fans of the band and they have played a significant role in my musical career. So I knew that this new album was going to be flawless.

After my first time of listening to the album the whole way through, I actually had to immediately listen to it over again. Then I couldn’t stop. I probably listened to it four or five times in a row. It was art, it was beautiful, it was rock and roll.  All 11 tracks seemed to tell a story, a beautiful story of music being this joy to save lives. It was a masterpiece.

I can’t even chose a favorite song off the album. Each song was a piece to this puzzle that was “Songs of Innocence.” They all were moving and phenomenal pieces of music. Although I can’t choose a favorite, the song that really stuck out to me would be track nine: “Sleeps Like a Baby Tonight.” It is this mellow grace that starts with what sounds like a small string section, then is overlaid by Bono’s smooth vocals. The drums are an aggressive beat, but not aggressive as in Larry Mullen Jr. is beating his drums to death. Rather, aggressive in the sense that the rhythm is pushing everything forward. Then a heavily distorted guitar comes out of nowhere and The Edge rips out this lead line that somehow seems to fit perfectly together with all the background music. Then close to the end, this guitar solo emerges from the background and just sends us off to the end of the journey.

So, if you have been following along in the reading you now know that I think “Songs of Innocence” is a must have, and luckily for some of you, you already have it. The album is to be released as a physical copy on October 14. Everyone should have this in their collection. It doesn’t matter what kind of music you listen too, everyone could appreciate and enjoy this work of art. Now I usually put a link to a song I rather enjoy at the end of the post, but since some of you already have it, I’m just going to let you listen and experience this ear candy on your own. For those of you who don’t have it yet, countdown till October 14! And if there is anyone who hasn’t heard anything about this album or for the matter, if there is anyone that doesn’t know U2, there is this brand new invention called the Internet. Try it out and find this masterpiece.

Against Me! “Transgender Dysphoria Blues”

Against Me! is a band that I have held near and dear to my heart since my sister showed them to me when I was in seventh grade. I remember hearing, “Up the Cuts” off their album New Wave and immediately fell in love with it. Then, when Against Me! dropped the album White Crosses when I was a sophomore in high school, they were officially my favorite band. That album was just such a work of art I couldn’t get over it. Since then, I have been an avid listener and supporter. Against Me! was the first band that I learned how to play all of their songs on the drums and they are the ones who I base the songs I write off of. After White Crosses I was already excited to hear what was next, but honestly, I was never expecting what was to come later.

I remember like it was yesterday. It was just a couple weeks after my junior year of high school had ended and I was on stereogum.com browsing through a few articles. I was scrolling down reading this one article and I saw a thumbnail of Tom Gabel, former frontman of Against Me! Just seeing that made me have to click it. I somehow forgot to read the title of the article at first, I guess I was to indulged  in finding out what was going on. My first thought was that it was the announcement of their new album. When I finally calmed down and stopped hyperventilating I read the title and was utterly confused. The title read:

Against Me! Frontman to Change Genders

I read that and had to sit back. I didn’t know what that meant, like, Tom Gabel, the man who’s heavier than most metal bands with just his voice and an acoustic guitar, is changing genders? He’s becoming a woman? I was seriously, utterly confused.

That being said, never for a second did I not support what he was deciding to do. I may not fully understand, but I support what she is doing. I later read an article in Rolling Stone about her  becoming female. She also said what her name would now be Laura Jane Grace. She spoke about going though Transgender Dysphoria all her life in the article with Rolling Stone. It was an exceedingly powerful article. After all was said and done, she then announced the work of a new Against Me! album that would be entitled Transgender Dysphoria Blues. No release date was given but the work of a new album was now in progress.

Needless to say, after reading that article, I was tremendously excited. I couldn’t wait to hear what was next. I knew that it wouldn’t be till at least 2013 when I would hear any of the new tunes.  However, in the mean time, changes where happening to Against Me! The drummer, Jay Weinberg, son of E-Street Band drummer Max Weinberg, announced that he had left Against Me!, via Twitter, in early December of 2012. Weinberg was replaced by drummer Atom Willard,

drummer for Angels and Airwaves. Then, in early to mid 2013, bassist for Against Me Andrew Seward announced that he was leaving the band. He was replaced by “Fat Mike” of NOFX for a few songs on the album. Against Me! than picked up Inge Johansson as their permanent replacement for the tour.

Laura had a Facebook post saying that if they weren’t so far into work on the album, she would have called it quits on Against Me! But she had to get this album done.

Well Today, January 21, 2014, Transgender Dysphoria Blues has come out. As soon as I woke up this morning, I got on iTunes and purchased the album. I saw Against Me! live on January 14 in Cleveland at the Beachland Ballroom and have had a countdown to the CD release ever since. The show was driving, energetic, the most ass-kicking show I have ever been too and the album is just like that. The album is about 28 minutes in length and portrays Against Me! at their best! The album has on overall story of a transgender prostitute going through her struggle of Transgender Dysphoria. Every Against Me! album is full of songs with meanings behind them, but this one, sticks out from the rest. Its not just political based songs or anything like that, it shows the message to never be ashamed of yourself. I know it’s biased being that they’re my favorite band, but this album is the best I have ever heard. 

I’ve been waiting four years for the new Against Me! and it couldn’t have been better. It was truly a work of art and a masterpiece, to say the least. I don’t know what will be next for Against Me! or Laura for that matter, but I only hope the best and they keep writing music like this. If you haven’t listened to them before, start with this album. I promise you, you’ll be hooked.