I got a free minute or ten... Lets do some work on that top 20.
20. Simple Forms by The Naked and Famous
Favorite Song: "Higher"
Also: "The Runners" , "Laid Low"
-Wasn't sure if these folks are popular around here to post a song besides "Higher". That certainly should be a song that ya'll like. Anyways, we have another returning lister putting out their best effort to date. Now I'm not saying anything on SF is better than "Young Blood", which is one of the best songs of the decade. Top to bottom it has both that and Rolling Waves beat. And great pacing too. Could have thrown Laid Low and Runners on right after Higher, but they save their other biggies for the end. Most people don't think song placement is that important, but I dooooooo. Picture me saying that in Goldmember voice.
19. Eternally Even by Jim James
Favorite Song: "Same Old Lie"
Also: "Hide In Plain Sight" , "Here In Spirit"
-Well, well. After shockingly missing the list with the rest of My Morning Jacket last year, Jim James roars back with a top 20 solo album. I'll give producer Blake Mills some credit for that, as he also did the Dawes album that was up in the 30s. And he made Alabama Shakes great last year, a task the world thought impossible. Also, anyone who knows me knows that Evil Urges is my favorite MMJ album, and Eternally Even is like a more psychadelic 40 minute version of "Touch Me Im Going To Scream Pt. 2". AKA awesome.
18. Bloodsweat by Plague Vendor
Favorite Song: "Giving In, Giving Out"
Also: "Anchor To Ankles" , "Ox Blood" , "Jezebel"
-So Plague Vendor used to be an Off! type band. Meaning that they would make songs with lengths between one minute and two minutes. On Bloodsweat they try to do full length songs, but don't fully commit. Most of the songs just repeat the first for the second verse. Yet it still works really well? I posted "Ox Blood" , but "Anchors To Ashes" always gets me really pumped. As for their sound, its kind of a mix between Dead Kennedys and Cloud Nothings.
More after work.. maybe! The top 15 isn't gonna get here by itself
3. Kanye West – The College Dropout
17. Fall Out Boy – From Under The Cork Tree
23. Lindsay Lohan – A Little More Personal
43. Ashlee Simpson – I Am Me
Yesssssssss
WHEW @ the legendary I Am Me Ashlee was such a queen, and still is. Unless she's trolling us about returning to music next year.
-Green Day are certainly no stranger around these parts. Yet last time around, the only one of their trio of releases that ranked was Uno! I guess they agreed with me as RR continues on in that vein. All in on the powerpop! Even though its not a new sound, or better than the last few albums, its really nice that Green Day are just making rock albums again. No conceptual nonsense to interfere!
-There's always a spoiler. And yeah maybe its unfair to compare something so fresh, but December is part of the year too! And this has been my album of December. Beartooth were a band I checked out because of the name, obviously. The last album was ok, servicable as A Day To Remember knockoff. So I didn't put too much priority on this one right away. Big mistake as Beartooth have fully formed into their own identity. One could even say the new ADTR album is Beartooth adjace (I wouldn't though). And while they've had some quality pop punk in the past, don't look for any of it here. The album is aptly titled Aggresive.
45. "Prism" by Katy Perry
44. "Regions Of Light and Sound Of God" by Jim James
43. "Magna Carta ... Holy Grail" by Jay-Z
42. "Mosquito" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
41. "The Wack Album" by The Lonely Island
40. "Sleeper" by Ty Segall
39. "A Color Map Of The Sun" by Pretty Lights
38. "Old" by Danny Brown
37. "Comedown Machine" by The Strokes
36. "B.O.A.T.S. II-MeTime" by 2 Chainz
35. "Run The Jewels" by Run The Jewels
34. "Miracle Mile" by STRFKR
33. "Bankrupt!" by Phoenix
32. "Major Arcana" by Speedy Ortiz
31. "Save Rock And Roll" by Fall Out Boy
30. "Awayland" by Villagers
29. "The Terror" by The Flaming Lips
28. "Nomad" by Bombino
27. "Head In The Dirt" by Hanni El Khatib
26. "In Rolling Waves" by The Naked and Famous
25. "Hesitation Marks" by Nine Inch Nails
24. "Days Are Gone" by Haim
23. "Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action" by Franz Ferdinand
22. "The Next Day" by David Bowie
21. "Sunbather" by Deafheaven
20. "Beyonce" by Beyonce
19. "Sleigh Ride" by Fuzz
18. "Sound City: Reel To Reel OST" by Dave Grohl and Friends
17. "The Greatest Generation" by The Wonder Years
16. "Shaking The Habitual" by The Knife
15. "Pure Heroine" by Lorde
14. "Heartthrob" by Tegan and Sara
13. "13" by Black Sabbath
12. "The Bones Of What You Believe" by CHVRCHES
11. "Reflektor" by Arcade Fire
10. "The 20/20 Experience" by Justin Timberlake
9. "Common Courtesy" by A Day To Remember
8. "Random Access Memories" by Daft Punk
7. "Amok" by Atoms For Peace
6. "Paramore" by Paramore
5. "B-Room" by Dr. Dog
4. "...Like Clockwork" by Queens Of The Stone Age
3. "The Marshall Mathers LP 2" by Eminem
2. "Yeezus" by Kanye West
1. "Modern Vampires Of The City" by Vampire Weekend
45. "Prism" by Katy Perry
31. "Save Rock And Roll" by Fall Out Boy
20. "Beyonce" by Beyonce
15. "Pure Heroine" by Lorde
14. "Heartthrob" by Tegan and Sara (half of it)
10. "The 20/20 Experience" by Justin Timberlake
6. "Paramore" by Paramore
2. "Yeezus" by Kanye West
The best list so far 2013 was such a great year.
Beyonce, Lorde, Paramore, Kanye put out EXCEPTIONAL releases
I Am Me I miss those days! A Little More Personal is an incredible album too, wish both girls still were releasing music
I love Higher!
Random Access Memories was my favorite album from 2013
oh man I am SO HAPPY you love the Jim James album! I knew you had heard it, but I had no idea if you loved it or not, so this is a wonderful surprise! And thank you for shouting out Blake Mills! Most people don't, so you are way better than these dumb music critics haha! I would like to subscribe to your newsletter! Also loved the Goldmember reference hahaha. Beartooth is a rad name, a nice spoiler! Also you said repug before, now adjace, I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE REFERENCING! And while i'm not a regular listener, I smiled both times you used those terms haha.
-The Weezer Revival Tour continues. There are many different types of Weezer fans, each one having an opinion about which album they did or didn't fall off at. I'm in the camp that thought their last album was the big return to form though, or atleast the form I want from them. And The White Album continues that. They're going back to the shack on a boat in a lake and having no concerns about how long it will take. Looking forward to the Purple Album!
14. The Getaway by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Best Song: "Go Robot"
Also: "Sick Love" , "Dark Necesseties"
-Omg that bassline on "Go Robot" is is fire. When lead guitarist John Frusciante left the band for the second time, people were worried. Now I liked the 90s Chili Peppers, so I knew they'd survive. They've come back even stronger than expected with two albums just as strong as anything they put out in the 2000s. Flea is now the lead guitarist on bass, and rather than make the new guy imitate Frusciante's huge riffs and solos, he can just be himself. Great, and always complementary even when not standing out. And Anthoy is of course killing it on vocals as per usual. One of the GOATs. Keep being funky guys.
Weezer and RHCP!!! What a block! What a country! What a crunchery! (deep cut Delocated joke). I loved your write-ups for both. Really articulated your thoughts on them well, in ways we have discussed throughout the years.
Favorite Song: "Leave Them All Behind"
Also: "Ghost Ship of Cannibal Rats" , "Afraid of Heights (Reprise)" , "Big Red Gun"
-Here is another band that I never though I'd see on here again. So sometimes I do Shuffle All on my Apple Music. And "Devil in a Midnight Mass" just happened to come on shortly after Billy Talent happened to release a new album. I thought hey I'll take a trip down nostalgia road. Wrong! Billy Talent are no mere nostalgia and are actually now even better than ever. Sure the first two albums are packed with hits, but the off songs are just a little too angsty. And aged and experience Billy Talent is able to fill an entire with quality tracks, and still have some major standouts like in the old days.
-I was pretty worried about this one. ADTR had a major return to form a few years ago with Common Courtesy, seamlessly blending pop punk and hardcore like only they can. This time around they were going with a single , harder sound. Kinda like what Beartooth did. And while that is disappointing, the actual songs are on here are quite great. They've finally decided to do different types of hardcore breakdowns and it really gets you pumped up. TOXIC! I even came around on the lead single and NXT Takeover song "Paranoia", which I found annoying at first. Six albums in, ADTR remain one of my favs and I hope it goes on forever.
-Brian Fallon is the lead singer of The Gaslight Anthem, a band I've always enjoyed but never loved enough for a high ranking. Thus i didn't really take notice at Brian's solo effort until The Daily Show. Trevor made a dumb joke about people confusing him with Jimmy Fallon and I almost turned it off right there. Luckily I didn't and was treated to a heck of a performance of "A Wonderful Life". So what happened? Butch Walker happened! The man who gave Frank Turner the #13 album of 2015 and who has done several other great things like Taylor's "Red" album. He will turn pop stars into rock stars and grumpy songwriters into champs. And wiki says he is working on Carly Rae's new album!! Anyways, Brian deserves some credit here. Great lyrics, guitar and vocals from the man.
Final blast from the past as I'd like my top ten to shine on their own. 8-)
2012
40. King Animal by Soundgaren
39. Living Things by Linkin Park
38. Vitamin D by Datsik
37. Fragrant World by Yeasayer
36. Leaving Atlanta by Gentleman Jesse
35. A Thing Called Divine Fits by Divine Fits
34. Dead Sara by Dead Sara
33. The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends by The Flaming Lips
32. Anxiety by Ladyhawke
31. Shakedown by Hacienda
30. Local Business by Titus Andronicus
29. Researching the Blues by Red Kross
28. Slaughterhouse by Ty Segall Band
27. Silver Age by Bob Mould
26. Apocryphon by The Sword
25. Twins by Ty Segall
24. Shrines by Purity Ring
23. VaVa Voom by Bassnectar
22. Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City by Kendrick Lamar
21. Zoo by Ceremony
20. On the Impossible Past by The Menzingers
19. I Bet on Sky by Dinosaur Jr.
18. The Idler Wheel... by Fiona Apple
17. The 2nd Law by Muse
16. Blunderbuss by Jack White
15. Neck of the Woods by Silversun Pickups
14. Attack on Memory by Cloud Nothings
13. Ugly by Screaming Females
12. Wrecking Ball by Bruce Springsteen
11. Locked Down by Dr. John
10. Not Your Kind of People by Garbage
9. The Sheepdogs by The Sheepdogs
8. ¡Uno! by Green Day
7. Master of My Make-Believe by Santigold
6. Sounds From Nowheresville by The Ting Tings
5. Synthetica by Metric
4. Celebration Rock by Japandroids
3. Blak and Blu by Gary Clark Jr.
2. Red by Taylor Swift
1. Be The Void by Dr. Dog
Zomg its another morning update and were at the top ten!! And the streak of 15 rock albums in a row will be broken. You all can breathe a sigh of relief.
-"When did you change? Wendy you've aged." Love that frickin song so much that I had to put it above even the powerhouse known as "No Problem". Anyways, who had a better year than Chance? Starting and beginning with SNL, he went from the guy with the weird accent to one of the most promising names in hip hop. His verse on Ultralight Beam helped things sure, but Coloring Book stands on its own. Only issue is that he seems to think he's the only one who care about mixtape. Yet, if you have 16 songs, a huge hit single and tons of promotion are you really still a mixtape? I feel like thats just a brand people use to give their stuff more street cred, while also protecting themselves if the music is bad. Chance had none of these problems, but I still had to mention it lol.
-It's pretty rare to see a straight up electronic artist this high up the list. Even during the peak years of the genre, only Bassnectar and Justice were able to crack the top ten. Yet The Range did something special this year and really knocked me off my guard. I first saw them a few years ago, at my first Chvrches show. I thought they were fine, but really just wanted Chvrches to come on. Yet they obviously left enough of an impression for me to remember the name when I saw it on apple. And now its on here. I think ya'll would really dig this though. At least check out "Florida" and "Copper Wire". It might lessen the stress of waiting for the new Chainsmokers song.
-An even rarer site is to see an artist make the top ten albums two years in a row. And with a b side album! Lets be honest, b side albums usually sound like leftovers. Emotion Part B really sounds like something else entirely and I have to believe release this seperately was the plan all along. Side A was obviously influenced by 80s synth pop, but still felt like a modern release that was following up a mega hit like "Call Me Maybe". Side B sounds like Carly went back in time and actually made these songs in the 80s. I'd give the edge to side A just because it has more and "Run Away With Me" though. I will say that Carly has cemented herself and my #2 pop star in the world behind only Queen T.
No rock at all! But we know that won't last. There are 7 more spots open but hopefully only 2 of those are obvious. Until next time!
it's so good 
2013 was such a great year.
I miss those days! A Little More Personal is an incredible album too, wish both girls still were releasing music 
I miss Lorde 
