Singles Roundup: Guns N Roses, NMB, & Blank Era

I never found the holiday spirit when it comes to Christmas, but did I find it when it comes to new music? Let's check out a few new songs and see how generous I'm feeling.

Guns N Roses - Nothin'/Atlas

The string of songs the 'reunion' of Guns N Roses have put out continues here, fleshing out material from the "Chinese Democracy" years with extra bits of Slash's guitars. There have been rumors of the band working on an album, which is not a thought that inspires much optimism from me. One of two things is going to happen; either it will be more "Chinese Democracy" era songs that weren't good enough to make an album people already talk about as one of rock's biggest disasters, or it will be an entirely new batch of songs Axl no longer has the voice to sing.

That's what makes these songs so disappointing; they aren't GNR as they currently exist. We know these songs were written to be produced in the "Chinese Democracy" style, and adding a few Slash overdubs doesn't change the issues with the songwriting. Axl was not writing typical rock songs, and a new guitar solo doesn't make them any less self-indulgent than they already were. For as flawed as the album was, Axl at least wrote a few songs that had artistically interesting melodies interspersed in his experimentation. These songs, like the last few the band released, lack that key element.

These two songs are a good example of the psychological trauma of perfection. By spending twenty years trying to make these songs live up to an idea in his head, Axl has sentenced them to exist in a time and space between versions of GNR. New guitars sit alongside what I assume are twenty year old vocals, attempting to update songs that sound entirely behind the times. It's ironic that going back even further would feel fresh, but that might be the most amusing part of this whole thing.

If this is all GNR has left to offer, I don't think I want to hear any more of it. We've now proven there never were three albums worth of great "Chinese Democracy" songs as we were once told. We don't need to keep getting beaten down.

NMB - Fully Alive

Leave it to prog to continue coming up with ways of annoying me on a philosophical level, before ever getting to the music itself. I was pissed off when Neal Morse and Mike Portnoy used the last Transatlantic album as a vehicle to put out two completely different versions that could not be reconciled without buying both of them, and then burning your own preferred playlist. I found it offensive that 'artists' could not settle on a single vision they believed represented their work. If they had no belief in either one, why should I?

This is less annoying, but the first single for the new NMB album finds those same two once again experimenting with the limits of honesty. This song is the first advertisement for the record, but it will not appear on the album. No, this single is an amalgamation of two tracks, which is a strikingly weird thing to do. If I listen to this repeatedly and love it, I'm inevitably going to be disappointed when I don't hear it as I play the full album. Why set fans up for disappointment?

The good news is the song is not going to cause that kind of angst in me. It continues the long-running theme of Neal Morse's music no longer speaking to me. I don't know if it's the familiarity that does it, if Neal's knack for catchy melodies has been suffering, of it I'm that put off by his continued slathering of effects on the vocals. I swear, Bill's vocal section on this song is unlistenable, sounding more artificial and fake than the music I've heard sung by AI recently. It's perhaps the one thing in modern music I hate more than anything else these days, and Neal is the single biggest offender.

So am I excited for the new album? I think you know that by now.

Blank Era - Yesterdaze

A few years back, A Light Divided ended up #1 on my top songs of the year list with "Rain". They have been on a hiatus lately, which is being filled with singer Jaycee Clark's new project, Blank Era. After putting out an EP last year I did not hear about until months later (hence why I never covered it or included it on my year-end lists last year), she returns with a new single to perhaps kick off a new batch of music.

Jaycee is a unique voice, with a gritty tone that balances melody and aggression in a way few singers can match. She is the highlight of anything she is on, but Blank Era is more than that. This song is a propulsive bit of modern rock that balances electronic atmosphere with crushing guitars, all the while injecting a stirring hook that demands our attention. I would expect nothing less from Jaycee, who has a knack for doing this. Hopefully there will be more songs coming, because she and her band are a bright spot in a modern rock world that often seems colorless and faceless. She is neither, and Blank Era has a lot to offer.

No, I Do Not Like Bob Dylan

Perhaps the most aggravating question that can be asked of someone with fickle, or very particular, tastes is this; "Why don't you like ___?"

It's a simple question, and it's usually asked with genuine curiosity, but it carries with it a subtle implication that the default position should be to like anything and everything until we rationalize a reason not to do so. I fundamentally disagree with this position, and I have found myself vacillating between frustration and anger when I am looked at with suspicion for not being generous enough to the things I come across. There is a discussion to be had about whether an opinion is worth anything if one enjoys everything, and a discussion to be had about what kinds of people are incapable of criticism, but we will leave those for another day.

If we were dealing with an issue strictly of thought and reason, it would follow that our words should be able to explain the process that leads us to our decisions, that explains why we love the art we are fans of. But that is not the reality we live in. Perhaps it is still more of a philosophical maxim I hold than an unambiguous fact, but I believe our artistic taste is not academic, but it dominated by our feelings and emotions. Great art moves us in a way that is hard to explain, because we aren't thinking about why it happens. Songs 'pull on our heartstrings' rather than overwhelm our logic, and that leaves us at the mercy of chemicals and consciousness that has yet to be fully understood by science.

"Why don't you like Bob Dylan?"

That is the question that set me down this path today. As I have mentioned countless times over the years, I am (or was) both an amateur songwriter and a fan of words. It would seem logical, then, to say that I should be a fan of the man considered the greatest songwriter in modern history, and the recipient of a Nobel Prize in literature.

And yet... I don't like Bob Dylan at all. In fact, I have said for longer than I have been writing these things down that Bob is not even the superior Dylan. His son Jakob's work with The Wallflowers has resonated far more with me than any of his father's greatest hits, and I continue to come away more impressed by songs he has written than those that are more celebrated as genius by the mainstream.

Why?

There isn't an easy way to explain that. Academically, I can know how important Bob Dylan is to popular music, and how revered his words are as the voice of a generation. Emotionally, I get nothing out of his work. Whether his metaphors are couched in narrative stories in ways that make them feel dishonest, or his voice is simply too difficult an instrument to take seriously, the songs of Bob Dylan hit me as if unearthing fossilized relics of a previous incarnation of the human species. That's an overly dramatic way of saying what I intend, which is to say I cannot recognize the world Bob Dylan is singing about because I was not part of it. His phrasings might have spoken to people who were coming of age in that time, opening their eyes to the way time was beginning to move to a new chapter, but that isn't all that different than trying to read a book written in old English.

I have tried several times to dive in and find the missing thread I can pull on to reveal the answers, but it never happens. One of my favorite comedies even mentions "Blood On The Tracks" as the soundtrack to our most miserable moments, which is a bit of connective tissue that dissolves each time I try to grab hold.

I keep trying to unravel "Tangled Up In Blue". I hear Bob Dylan telling a story out of time, with no insight, reciting the events as if filing a newspaper report. There is no evidence these characters have ever known what love is, let alone been in that state themselves. Dylan goes from chapter to chapter, giving us no reason why he (or the character) would miss the woman he is singing about, and showing us nothing about their passion.

Reading the lyric along with the song, I cannot escape thinking about Jack Kerouac's "On The Road". That book was written in a manic state as a single paragraph typed across one-hundred-and-fifty feet of paper. Bob Dylan is writing in much the same way, throwing out a frenzy of details of life without giving us the humanity that turns it into art. Kerouac's book was hugely influential on me as a writer, because it showed me everything I didn't want to be. The prose was so bare and arid, it was a book entirely of plot points, devoid of anything interesting for those who didn't care about hearing him count and recount every sexual experience as if he was trying to remember how many miles of tread were left on a set of tires before both would be abandoned for something new. Bob Dylan's language is often much the same, telling stories with no panache, with no care for if he was entertaining the audience or not.

Worse than that, I don't get the impression listening to Bob Dylan that he has even entertained himself. He often sounds bored singing the words that made him famous, save for when he's calling the thoughts of others an 'idiot wind', which serves as context telling me not to care about what he is trying to say. In a way, Bob Dylan is a prophet of language in the same way Yogi Berry was; hitting on genius turns of phrase only by sifting through entire avalanches of the most mundane language.

The more I listen, the more I get distracted by the songs written in narratives and characters. Songs have never struck me as good vehicles for telling deep stories. The limited amount of words we get (I say limited, but like bob Dylan and others, I have had a penchant for using far too many to comfortably fit in a melody) demands efficiency, and the repeating nature of choruses or strophic structure necessitates a phrase or image that can paint an emotion in our minds that sticks through time. Bob Dylan's stories are sepia-toned, like watching a black-and-white movie outside the historical context and knowledge to appreciate the older art form.

The old form is a sentiment I cannot escape. Bob Dylan's music is rooted in both early folk and blues, neither of which has aged well as the world has sped up. His musings and lamentations come often in the form of long-winded recitations of words without concern for songwriting as a different art than journaling. Between his flat delivery and preference for repetitive form, the majority of the songs I have heard could be recited as poetry at an open mic night without missing anything of the performance. Bob Dylan, the greatest living songwriter, doesn't come across as having put much effort or thought into a key aspect of being a songwriter. Philosophically, there is a fundamental disconnect between his approach and my belief of what makes a great song truly great.

And perhaps part of this is that I did not try listening to Bob Dylan until his last 'comeback', when the genius I was reading about released records where he sounded not like death warmed over, but just like death. My first impression was that of someone so far past his prime it was difficult to imagine one existed.

Some people read for the story, praising Ernest Hemingway as a titan of the form. I read his clipped syntax and pine for the artistry that separates writers from storytellers. Bob Dylan is less a songwriter to me than he is a storyteller, and storytelling is not what I turn to music for.

I'm sure many (if not most) who read through the lyrics I have penned would grow frustrated by the way I struggle to say much of anything without cloaking it in a rhetorical flourish. I understand that, and I would not fault anyone who says my style is not for them. By that same accord, I don't think it is incumbent on me to keep searching for something in Bob Dylan's style that would allow me to enjoy his songs. He and I simply do not align on an artistic level in almost any way or form.

Now that I've written this much trying to explain myself, I'm hoping this means I can ignore Bob Dylan in peace for many, many years.

A Short Story: Boxing Day

Editor's Note: Since it's the holiday season, and there isn't much going on in the world of music, I'm feeling festive by instead giving you, the readers, this Christmas-themed short story I wrote a few years ago. Enjoy!

 "Boxing Day"

Strings of lights stretched from pole to pole, carrying the Christmas spirit across the city, casting the bright cheer into any window not covered top to bottom in thick velvet. The light was inescapable, turning the snow a sickly shade of red, the only color lights that were still available in such large supply. The color was one shade of festive, rather sinister when not in conflict with the green of renewal. How an entire industry had arisen from such a violent clash of colors was mysterious, but color-blindness would not be the first or only way people don't see what is directly in front of their faces.

Plumes of smoke rose from chimneys like dirty cotton blotting the black of the night. From afar, they could be taken as signs of good cheer, families gathered around the fireplace to share company and warmth on a special occasion. Or, they could be seen as the industrial incineration of the trappings and wrappings of the day. Paper and boxes being turned into heat, saving money on a heating bill while splurging on the excesses of consumer culture. A healthy thermostat can't be bragged about as can having a television a few inches bigger than anyone else in a social circle. Size envy comes in all forms, after all.

The lights dotted red circles in the snow below their line, but they were not alone. Smaller circles followed the sidewalk, painting the path from one horror to another, not deformed by the haste of escape. They were the art of calm violence, a signature clear enough for anyone to read, if literacy had not fallen out of vogue long ago.

As the morning sun rose, the snow glistened like the tears of a God who could no longer recognize his own creation. Sadness permeated the air, the disappointment of never having enough mixed with the longing for time to move faster so the next bout of hope could be within reach. It was offensive to many that civility was seasonal, so the answer they arrived at was to fight the climate, to stop the seasons from ever changing.

With Christmas dinner still in the bottom of their stomachs, the people stepped out into the crisp air, looking upon the garish displays they plastered across every inch of their town. The trinkets and baubles replaced having to actually care about their fellow humanity, as symbols were just as good as the real thing. Perhaps even better, because they could last longer than the warmth of a hug caught in the fibers of a sweater.

"I know it's early, but we'd might as well get started with these decorations," Morris said.

His family stood behind him in the doorway. The air left their lungs as he spoke, as though they were coughing out the wadded paper that kept their gifts from getting crushed as the packages were shaken while the tree was unguarded.

"But you know the rules," Mickie reminded him.

He would not have argued with his wife the day before, but with Christmas spirit now packed up on Boxing Day, he had no fucks to give for holding back.

"Fuck the rules. There's no such thing as too much Christmas spirit," he bellowed.

"Wait, what?" she asked.

"Did you think I was taking the decorations down? No, we're going to start putting next year's decorations up," he said.

Mickie held her face in her hands, hoping the mottled colors from the pressure pushing against her eyes would be a better sight than her house covered in even more garish accoutrements. If she had known then what she knew now, she would have tied a ring of rope around his neck, rather than put one of gold on her own finger.

She reached down and picked up the newspaper, shaking the powdery snow from the bag. She slid the roll from its sheath, feeling the satisfying thunk of it hitting her outstretched hand. Bad news hit hard, and the metaphor pleased her.

In large red letters, the headline read, "Christmas Killer Takes No 'L' - Wins At Murder Again."

"Look at this," Mickie said. "That Christmas killer struck again."

"Well, that's one less person to compete with in the house decorating contest," Morris said, without realizing the callousness of his statement.

"It says here," Mickie added, "the killings begin and end every year coinciding with Christmas decorations."

"What are you getting at?" Morris asked.

"The police are saying if we all take down our decorations, the killings might stop," Mickie said.

"Balderdash!" Morris responded. "If a few people have to die, it's a small price to pay to rub it in everyone's face that I have the most Christmas spirit."

Mickie wondered if it was possible to murder someone with a newspaper, if the edge was sturdy enough to slash through the neck and drain Morris of the red liquid masquerading as his soul. She hated him, not just because he was growing more cruel by the day, but because he was now extending the holiday season to the entirety of the year, and he would tell her the holidays are no time to leave someone alone. She knew he was controlling her, but she did not think him smart enough to do it intentionally. He was, as so many are, a lucky asshole.

"You do you," Mickie sighed.

As the sun descended, the sky around Morris' house did not grow dark, as thousands of new lights became a glowing beacon, in case Santa got lost and circled back for a second night. Mickie pulled the blanket over her head, trying to find peace, but the incandescence seeped through her eyelids, no matter how hard she crimped them together.

Morris got in bed, his self-satisfaction swollen. At least, Mickie knew, that meant other parts would not be. She would at least have respite from that.

"Say, honey," Mickie cooed. "Why don't you wear your Santa hat with the lights on it? Really get the spirit flowing."

"Great idea, for once," Morris agreed.

He primped the hat, massaging it into the perfect shape, fitting it over his head as though he was being crowned King Of Christmas. He laid down, turning on his side, the flashing lights direction in front of Mickie's eyes. She knew it would be a long night.

As the sun rose again, Mickie felt unburdened. She could not see the flashing lights through her closed eyes, but they danced on the ceiling when she opened them. The light bounced on the points of the stucco, diffusing into a wash of color. She hated painting anything white, but she was sick of red and green.

She turned her head toward Morris, who was quiet. She stared at him, or at least what was left of him. A fake beard was stained red on his chest, two candy canes jabbed through where his eyes had been. A ball of mistletoe was wedged in his mouth, the same one from his obnoxious belt-buckle.

Mickie rolled back over, putting her hands on her chest. She took a deep breath, tasting the calm and peace in the air. Her fingers traced the edges of the Star Of David hanging from her neck.

"Now I get why people like Christmas so much," she said to herself.

The Top Ten Songs Of 2025

Every year, I talk about how the song is the fundamental unit of music. There is nothing quite like writing that one great song that gives you the confidence and motivation to continue down a creative path. There is also nothing wrong with finding that inspiration more sparingly, and putting out singles when you don't have an entire collection of songs that reach the same level of quality. Putting your best foot forward is more important than shoving your foot in the door without anything to say once you grab people's attention.

What continues to surprise me is that despite the nature of the business changing, every year the majority of this list is comprised of songs from my favorite albums. This year, four of these ten songs come from other sources, which feels like a high water mark. Perhaps that is a sign of me finally following some of my own advice, or perhaps it just means being fickle is finally getting overbearing. Either way, these were my favorite songs of the year.

10. The Night Flight Orchestra - Shooting Velvet

I understand the brooding artist mentality from personal experience, so I don't find it a mystery at all that some who make miserable music want to have fun from time to time. I also don't find it a mystery that Bjorn Strid has been far more active in recent years with The Night Flight Orchestra's cheesy yacht rock than he has been with Soilwork. It's fun to have fun, and no song from TNFO is more fun than this one. It's bouncy, seriously cheesy, and one of those songs that has to drive his metal fans a bit crazy. I grew up on cheese, so this is too good for me to care about any of that.

9. Taylor Swift - Opalite

I found it interesting that after becoming the biggest pop star in the world, Taylor Swift largely abandoned the sound that got her there. It returned this year, and in no better form than "Opalite". This song is a wonderful bit of sunny pop, with bouncing melodies playing off the warmer tones, hitting like an updated version of doo-wop for an audience too young to know what that is. Coupled with one of the few lyrics on the album that isn't an embarrassment, Taylor has written her best pop song since "1989", easily. Why this wasn't the single that caught on instead of "The Fate Of Ophelia" is a good question. There can't be that many "Hamlet" fans among her audience, can there?

8. Dream Theater - Bend The Clock

It always feels to me like Dream Theater never realized they're a better band when they embrace their melodic side to go along with the progressive heaviness. That shines through on this song, which is the undeniable highlight of their reunion album. Seven minutes of melodic bliss, the track tones down their metal edge for an approach that has bits of cheese, and perhaps even Broadway, which plays right into James LaBrie's strengths as a singer. The emotional guitar solo only enhances this feeling, and puts this up there with the best Dream Theater songs in many years.

7. A-Z - Now I Walk Away

Maybe it's a coincidence that the one song on A-Z's album that feels most like their progressive roots is also my favorite. There's something comfortable about the groove they settle into, and how Ray Alder's melody finds the space between the guitars to deliver a hook not found in almost anything progressive metal could offer. That is the difference between A-Z and the bands the members come to the group from, and it's what makes this song so good. They leave aside the pretense to deliver metal that is intricate, but also hugely melodic. Doing so is hard, and it should be applauded when done this well.

6. Palecurse - On My Knees

It's hard to be heavy, emotional, and anthemic at the same time. When you're screaming out your catharsis, losing the song is easy to do. Palecurse never strays from the direct path for a single second, as this song hits the chorus with the force of a sledgehammer, begging for a pit to be shouting along at a show. The song tells us about finding our way through situations when we get so caught up in others that we forget about ourselves. This is an anthem to take control of our own lives again, and while the song says she "won't beg you to listen to me", we should absolutely be listening. This is as good as it gets.

5. W.E.T. - Pleasure & Pain

What I love most about W.E.T. is when they reach for just a little bit of extra drama. They're good at rocking, but there's a bit of magic when they pull on our heartstrings just that little bit more. This song is the one on this year's album that does that, not with a string arrangement, but with a slow build that erupts into a chorus of epic scope. Jeff Scott Soto delivers the melody with a passionate vocal, and frankly, this just wouldn't work as well as an Eclipse song. Dramatic rock is a dying art, but W.E.T. does it with aplomb here, and I wish they would do it more often.

4. The Wonder Years - New Lows

Here's an interesting one; this song is the first time I've ever put a wrestling theme on one of these lists. The Wonder Years is coming off an album that won AOTY from me, and here they provide entrance music that doesn't need that context. Though short, it rips as a stand-alone song. The band hits on an epic sounding chorus, where we shout along about being unappreciated yet unbowed, where we are defiant in our own self-confidence. No, I'm not going to be inspired to embrace that bravado and think I can start kicking ass, but the song does help get me up off the mat.

3. Ghost - Lachryma

Despite Ghost being almost incapable of delivering a quality album in full, they always manage a few highlights on each one. This time, I had a couple of choices. "Peacefield" was fantastic, but sounded too much like a Journey song. "Guiding Lights" was close to being perfect, but it fizzled out when it should have built to the epic finish. That leaves "Lachryma" as the obvious choice, as it gives us Ghost at their cheesy best. The song is a bit silly, but ever so fun. Ghost is a pop band at heart, and while they only show that on occasion, when it shines through is when they are at their best. This song is unapologetic about its schmaltz, and that's why I love it so damn much.

1b. Taylor Acorn - Poster Child

"I'm sorry I'm stupid, dammit I'm dumb/Poster child for screwing everything up" she sings on this song. It's framed around a relationship, but it feels like a mantra that can apply throughout life, and it's one I would have uttered many times myself. I've often thought I am cursed with bad timing, and the ability to always say the wrong thing, so it has always felt to me like I have been the one to push people away, even when there may have been no fault to be had. That makes this one of those anthems that rings true, and a song I can listen to and hear myself in. Those are rare, and oh so special. This one certainly is.

1a. Halestorm - Gather The Lambs

It felt inevitable that my favorite song of the year would come from Halestorm, given how much Lzzy Hale's voice reaches my soul in a way only a select few ever have. What I might not have expected is that "Gather The Lambs" would be the song I picked, as "Darkness Always Wins" spoke more to the state I found myself in most of the year, and "Everest" is one of her best vocal performances ever. There's something about the grungier tone of this song that I couldn't outrun, as though it was my own shadow trying to choke me from behind. I love the power of the chorus, and the off-kilter bends in the solo, but what sealed the deal was Lzzy singing, "Say everything we need to say/before everyone is gone/why does everybody run?" I spent a portion of this year questioning the nature of friendship, and contemplating if those connections can be thought of as equations wherein I run 'energy deficits' until people use up everything I have and move on. Maybe that lyric caught me in the right moment, but it fit into the crack I was dealing with in my psyche, and I needed it badly. That makes it the most important song of the year.

The Worst/Most Disappointing Albums Of 2025

Listening to less albums should come with a side-benefit; hearing less terrible music. Unfortunately, statistics are a fungible science, and changing the number of albums I listen to doesn't seem to have much impact on how many of them turn out to exist on the negative side of the ledger. Despite trying to avoid several notable albums I knew were not going to be my cup of tea, I still managed to hear plenty of music that made me scratch my head, if not want to punch myself in the face.

Every year, I divide these records into the truly terrible, and those that merely disappoint me. What I've come to realize in doing this is that the disappointing albums might be the better group, but they hurt to listen to much more, for the simple fact that having hope and watching it deflate is far worse than never having any in the first place. I've used that as a bit of advice for portions of life, despite knowing how depressing it sounds, and lets face the facts; it doesn't really work.

Avoiding the bad doesn't seem possible, so we dive headlong into it. Here we go (in alphabetical order).

The Worst Albums:

AFI - Silver Bleeds The Black Sun

Can this really be the same band that made "Sing The Sorrow"? I don't expect them to ever have a magical moment like that again, but this time around they adopt a goth aesthetic, complete with Davey Havok sporting a 70s porn mustache and a fake baritone voice. The songs themselves are rather boring pieces of goth, but what sets this over the top as being bad instead of merely boring is how fake and artificial the whole thing is. AFI have been around so long, we know what they sound like, we know what Davey sounds like. This is not AFI as they have ever been, it's a band playing the part of something other than who they are. To abandon their identity to make a shitty record is pretty unforgivable. This wasn't them running out of inspiration, this was them giving themselves a black eye thinking it would serve as makeup.

The Darkness - Dreams On Toast

I sort of hate myself for still loving "Permission To Land", because The Darkness have never done anything since then I think is worth a damn. This record might be the worst of them all, as they not only trade in bad 'comedy', but can't even do so with a decent hook or two. The whole thing feels like someone who got sober, only to realize the alcohol was their entire personality. Remember the 'Fun Bobby' episode of "Friends"? That's this album, except for the fact that Justin Hawkins thinks every character needs to be as dumb as Joey. Why else would anyone write a song about trying not to fart/shit on his wife while celebrating their anniversary? I hate them for making me write that sentence. Fuck this band.

Ethel Cain - Perverts

Here's an 'album' that made me question the very nature of what music is. As I skimmed through the very long running time, I was given ample time to ask myself what a song is if it doesn't have a musical idea in it. Ethel Cain is one of those critical darlings who makes the musical equivalent to boring HBO dramas that think pretty camera shots make up for not having a decent script. She drones on through waves of soft noise for more than an hour, never once giving us anything that sounds like a reason why she made this music. I truly cannot tell what in any of these songs inspired her enough to think it needed to be turned into a song. There's nothing here at all... nothing but the bleeding pain in my ears.

Spiritbox - Tsunami Sea

Speaking of critical darlings, Spiritbox is the hottest name in the metal world at the moment, so I gave their record a shot. I really did, if for no other reason than Courtney Laplante being a genuinely talented singer. That's the only good thing I can say about them, as my time with the album consisted of me asking when the songs were going to get good. They either scream their way through one-note breakdowns, or float on ethereal sections that have no melody. It's as if you took two bands trying to be Killswitch Engage, one good at only the heavy and one only at the hooky, and you used the pieces they suck at. I'm so confused.

Steven Wilson - The Overview

Leave it to Steven Wilson to write an album about the effect being in space and seeing the scale and scope of the earth, and having it come out this turgid and boring. His progressive 'songs' are not twenty-minute epics, but strings of shorter songs glued together. It's the laziest version of prog songwriting, but the fact of the matter is that Steven has not been good at writing pop since "In Absentia" twenty years ago. He loves sound, but not songs, and that shines through as he spends more time dialing in tones than he does in writing anything worth playing or listening to. The universe is a vast nothing, and so is this bloody album.

The Most Disappointing Albums:

Avatarium - Between You, God, The Devil & The Dead

I want to love Avatarium. Jenny-Ann Smith is a hell of a singer, and they have a handful of songs that nail the doom atmosphere as well as anything I've ever heard. Their "The Fire I Long For" is a good album, and sadly their only good one. This record finds them once again relying on sound and atmosphere, which they are great at, with few songs able to match the tone. The pieces are there, but they have been regressing since staking their own path. Sadly, I don't know how many more chances I will give them to show they don't have that killer instinct.

Creeper - Sanguivore II: Mistress Of Death

After four albums, I'm ready to write off Creeper. It's bad enough that they are constantly play-acting to the point I don't know who they are supposed to be underneath the costumes and characters, but they aren't able to lean into the camp factor anymore. This record is their second 'goth' album, and after teasing us with two singles that seemed like they had found their way, we discover that was merely a camera trick. Creeper is still bland and boring in this guise, and I'm rather tired of trying to figure out why they can't play music that actually has a human heart to it.

Dream Theater - Parasomnia

The return of Mike Portnoy was supposed to be a huge moment, but to be honest, I miss the Mike Mangini era already. I'm not blaming Portnoy in particular, but the choices the band made for this record play into everything I don't like about their sound. There are more random instrumental bits, more self-aware metal context, and more focus on being heavy above all else. "Bend The Clock" is a stroke of magic, but it's the only song on the album that stands up at that level. The rest of the album is dark and dull, trying my patience in a way the intervening years rarely did.

Ghost - Skeleta

I shouldn't be disappointed in Ghost anymore, since "Meliora" is the only album of theirs I don't need to cherry-pick for the highlights. But after the initial singles for this album came out, I thought they might have swung the pendulum in my direction. I was wrong. Those singles are indeed great, but the rest of the album fell into the put of mediocrity once again. Hearing Tobias singing "love rockets" again and again was not what I had in mind, and his embrace of arena rock came with putting some of the cheesy fun of the band to the background. This actually feels like the most sincere Ghost album, but that's not what we want from a cartoonish band with this kind of lore. At least they make for a good compilation.

Katatonia - Nightmares As Extensions Of The Waking State

"A Sky Void Of Stars" was my AOTY, and now Katatonia is here in the dregs. What made that album so special was blending Katatonia's trademark gloom with just enough energy to make it sound like the back end of a depressive storm. This time, the tempos are slowed again, the production becomes oppressive, and the songs drag along as dirges. That slight bit of optimism is gone, and with it the feeling I was always hoping Katatonia could achieve. Perhaps the band's lineup turmoil had something to do with the writing, but I think it's more likely we were two perpendicular lines, and we're destined to have only connected at the one instant.

The Top Ten Albums Of 2025

When I sit down every year to assess the music I have heard, usually the question I'm asking myself is how to balance my feelings as a so-called musician with my feelings as a listener. There are albums I know are great I don't listen to as much, and albums I know are flawed that I can't stop playing, and some years I find myself too conflicted to make the choice between the two options.

This year is unique among them all, because this is the one where my honesty would put myself in an extremely awkward position. To tell the truth, my favorite music this year will not appear on this list. That is because my favorite music is my own (of a sort), and of course something that is so much a part of myself is going to occupy a space entirely its own. No album released by anyone, no matter my affection, would be able to compete with hearing decades of dreams and failures finally coming to fruition in a way that brings me satisfaction. I'm saying this just to be honest, so now we can move on.

This years was... difficult when it comes to music. Once again, I found myself listening to fewer albums than the year before, continuing the trend. I still sampled everything that caught my attention at all, but full listens were harder to come by, as I have little patience anymore for music that is music for music's sake. Perhaps shifting my focus to looking for emotional connection was necessary at the time, but it has dulled my interest in a lot of the rock and metal that has nothing of human value to say.

Still, there were albums that excelled, and that's what we're here to talk about today. These were the ten albums that stood above all others as the best of this year.

10. Harem Scarem - Chasing Euphoria

The band's previous album could well be the best melodic rock albums of the last ten-plus years, so expectations were sky high for what they would do next. They might have been chasing euphoria with this one, but I can't say they quite got there. Their brand of melodic rock and gritty vocals is in full effect, and there are some absolute gems throughout the record, but it doesn't quite reach the same heights. In a year that didn't have much to offer, Harem Scarem still gave us plenty.

9. Battle Beast - Steelbound

Very much like Powerwolf, you know exactly what you're going to get from a Battle Beast album. That's a good thing, as they continue to deliver fist-pumping power metal with tons of hooks and some of the best vocals on the scene. Noora is a force of nature, and these songs punch you in the face the way the best power metal should. They don't offer up anything new, but musical comfort food is very much a thing, and Battle Beast is a hot dish of it.

8. Taylor Swift - The Life Of A Showgirl

Given the way Taylor's poetry has been in decline as she replaced inventive language for four-letter invective language, returning to making 'fun' music was the best thing she could have done. There's no way she could have written songs about her fiancé's dong in the "Folklore" style, and I think we can all admit the dour pop of the last two records was getting quite old. Taylor has always had a bit of schmaltz and cheese in what she does, and that plays well off the glistening pop melodies. This record is a bit of an adult-themed version of "1989", and that's far better than I would have thought the idea sounded.

7. Ginger Evil - The Way It Burns

Sometimes an album will give you something you didn't know you wanted until you hear it. Ginger Evil is one of those bands, as their debut album delivers a blend of melodic and classic rock that is lovely on its own, but so damn good when you factor in the vocals that bring the same gritty tone as Pink. It's a peek into an alternate universe, and it's one I wish I could spend more time in. Ginger Evil has delivered one of the more promising debuts of the last few years, including "Wake Me", which is undoubtedly one of the best songs of year. I can't wait to hear what comes next.

6. Avantasia - Here Be Dragons

The Avantasia formula is getting a bit stale, and needs a refresh. Even when the cast of characters is tiresome, and his well of inspiration doesn't feel quite as deep, Tobias Sammet is the kind of songwriter who can still crank out melodic metal with the best of them. Whether the straight-ahead pop songs like "Creepshow", or an epic like the title track, the album grows with every listen. It may never go down as an Avantasia classic, but it delivers what I want out of this kind of music, and I didn't hear anyone else do it close to as well.

5. A-Z - A2Z2

Side projects are seldom better than the main band, but I will make an exception when it comes to Ray Alder of Fates Warning fame. His time with Redemption was by far better, his two solo albums are better, and now A-Z is added to that list. This record puts the progressiveness to the side, focusing on delivering music that is still heavy and intricate, but focused on delivering melodic hooks and a bit more fun. It works damn well. Ray continues to sound great, and pairing with Nick Van Dyk again reminds us why both Fates Warning and Redemption feel hollow if the two aren't working together. This was a lovely surprise I wasn't expecting to like this much, but I'm glad I do.

4. W.E.T. - Apex

It continues to fascinate me that I love Erik Martensson's side projects far more than I do Eclipse. There's something about other voices that make his songs sparkle, and that happens again on this record. Their "Earthrage" album is the other contender for best melodic rock album of the last ten years, and this is nearly as good. That's high praise, and a turn-around from their last record that disappointed me somewhat. These songs deliver uplifting feelings and massive hooks from beginning to end, turning in a masterclass in writing songs that stick in your head. Other than one questionable lyric, the record's almost perfect.

3. Palecurse - Dark Room

Emotion... connection... I mentioned those are what I look for in the music I'm listening to, and that is what Palecurse delivers on this album. With a sound that borrows from emo and post-hardcore, there is an emotional weight that hits even harder when the choruses are this anthemic. Palecurse takes up the mantle of a sound I was hearing a fair bit a few years ago, but they do it better than any of the others ever did. Song after song, they swing a hammer at us, and by the end we are bruised, but thrilled we survived for the next round. I think I played this record more than any other this year, because it's that infectious, and it's uplifting in the way that reminds us of the strength we embody for enduring as we have.

2. Halestorm - Everest

For months, I felt it was inevitable Halestorm would once again climb to the top of my list. Lzzy Hale's voice is one of the special things in life, and her honesty throughout this record was inspiring as I struggle to escape the doom loops in my own mind. Our mental health issues are very different, but both stem from the fact we want(ed) to be different versions of ourselves, and have to come to terms with being who we are. Lzzy delivers the songs and vocals that spoke to me more than any other this year, with tracks like "Darkness Always Wins" and "Gather The Lambs" creating a tingle that runs down my spine that no one else was capable of. There is much I dearly love about this record, but like our relationships with ourselves, there are also a few moments of self-doubt and self-loathing. Those couple of songs that reveal the stark difference between Lzzy and me are just enough to make me hesitate.

1. Taylor Acorn - Poster Child

There are a few records I have always wished got a spiritual successor, because they stand out as unique moments and feelings that we needed to have again. Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway" is one of those records, and is to me the high-water-mark for what pop/rock was, and could be. There is something about telling painful stories through pop melodies, and giving sugary pop the heft of crunchy guitars, that is special. Taylor finds that perfect balance on this album, delivering anthems for a generation that hasn't had much music to lift them up through he hard times. There is nostalgia to it, but also a realization that some things become timeless. As she sings songs about compulsively wanting to help people at your own expense, and feeling as if we are the very definition of how to screw everything up around us, I found some of my own psychology echoing back to me. I am the person "People Pleaser" and "Poster Child" describes, and perhaps it's a bit easier to deal with when I hear the evidence that I'm not the only one messed up in that way. The truth hits harder when it sounds human, and this record is the poster child, if you pardon the pun, for a sound we need to get back to, and one we simply need. For that reason, "Poster Child" is unambiguously my Album Of The Year.

Top 11 Albums of 2025 - D.M's List

Okay, kids - welcome to the show.  We all know what this is and what it’s about, let’s not waste a lot of time.

The Rules:

-Must be an original studio composition in 2025

-No re-releases

-No Greatest Hits or compilations of any kind (looking at you, Red Fang, and your ‘previously unreleased’ album.)

-No Live Albums.

I would like to take a moment to mention a few bands that had an impact on me for various reasons over the course of the year, but didn’t quite crack this list - in no order:

Nachtblut, Pridian, Doomsday, Blind Equation (for introducing me to Cybergrind!) Messa, Employed to Serve, Bleed From Within, Friendship Commanders, Black Magnet, Misfire, Moths and Helms Deep.

Okay, let’s get to it - 

HONORABLE MENTION - Bloody Beetroots - Forever Part 1

(Video NSFW)

Okay, I admit I’m cheating a little - in seventeen years of doing this, I’ve never had two EPs that successfully competed for EP of the Year - so I’m taking the (slightly) lesser of them and moving it down into the Honorable Mention category, since I wanted to include them both and didn’t have another album I felt strongly enough about to move into the HM slot anyway.  One small knock here - singles from this were released over the last year or so, so some of this music has been out there for a while, until the band finally got around to releasing the whole thing.  It’s a gray area as far as the rules as stated above are concerned.  It’s too good to decline its admission on a technicality, though - this EP is bombastic and genre-bending, alternating perfectly normal pop/dance songs with blistering breakdowns and vocal tweaks.  A fun ride.

EP OF THE YEAR - Valletta - Bitter Lucid Truth

Somewhere between death metal and death-and-roll sits Valletta, and this EP.  Super catchy while being ultra-abrasive, it’s been a long time since a band like this was able to craft riffs like this and make them stick.  The EP suffers only from being too short - there’s only five songs, but luckily, four of them are bangers. 

11 - Tayne - LOVE

(Video NSFW)

Admittedly, I’ve cooled on this record since I first heard it.  It’s a mind-expanding effort, a deliriously noisy and loud record that throws waves and waves of sound at the listener, discordant and jerky but ultimately catchy if you can lock on to the rhythm underneath.  It is in some ways challenging and physically exhausting to listen to, based solely on the intensity of the aural presentation - it’s not the kind of record you pop in when running a quick errand to the grocery store.  Still, it’s a wonderful listen in the right mood and atmosphere.

10 - Lacuna Coil - Sleepless Empire

Professionals.  That’s what Lacuna Coil represents on this list - a long legacy with a high-level of success, and an intrinsic knowledge of how to manage their sound.  Especially since Sleepless Empire does what had been unthinkable up to this point - it’s the synthesis of all three phases of Lacuna Coil’s career, skillfully balanced and presented with excellence.

9 - Dunes - Land of the Blind

Every year my list ends up having either a) a stoner record or b) a record that survives and impresses by virtue of its sheer power.  Dunes fits the first of these categories.  It’s an easy listen, or at least, compared to the other albums on this list it’s an easy listen, grooving along with similar touchstones as John Garcia’s excellent solo album from 2014.  It’s hard not to get sucked into the record, and I dare anyone to not bop along to the magnetic beat of “Tides.”

8 - Lord of the Lost - Opus Noir Vol. 1 

As we discussed at the time, this is not a perfect album by any means, but it’s an album that proves the versatility of Lord of the Lost in a way we haven’t heard previously.  Some of that is because of the influence of guest appearances who color the songs they appear on, but there’s nothing wrong with that, especially since this record is supposed to be the first of a trilogy and inspiration has to come from somewhere.  Lord of the Lost shows a more ferocious side on this record, and it really helps add depth and dimension to the proceedings. I said it then and it’s worth repeating: this is the album Ghost should have released this year.

7 - Cold Steel - Discipline and Punish 

I’ll always be a sucker for a young thrash (kinda) band that displays a lot of promise and talent.  Cold Steel got together with Power Trip’s old producer and put out the best thrash record of the year, gleeful in its excess and overdriven to the max.  Riddled with diverse influences and permutations, what the album really does is showcase extraordinary promise for the future of the band.

6 - BRKN Love - The Program

Chris and I have differing opinions of BRKN Love because of his distaste for guitar fuzz, but I’ll drink that nonsense all day.  Another album from the (at this point) veteran Canadians that proves straight-ahead guitar rock still has a place in the landscape of music of 2025.  It doesn’t re-invent the wheel, but it doesn’t need to.  The Program subsists on rock sensibilities that have been in play for seventy years.  And I mean that as a compliment.

5 - Castle Rat - The Bestiary

It’s hard not to love this band.  The aesthetic, the music, the quintessentially doom-y riffs that spark with vitality, the live show where parts are acted out in slow motion…man, I wasn’t sure I’d ever hear another album in the vein of The Sword, but here we are.  Castle Rat isn’t quite at that level of conquering force yet, but they could well get there.  The band gets better with every record and it’s becoming apparent that there are truly skilled musicians beneath the costumes and makeup and stage show.

4 - Vittra - Intense Indifference

It’s not all that often you get to put ‘death metal record’ and ‘rolling good time’ in the same sentence, but c’mon, listen to “Transylvanian Buffet’ and try and tell me you didn’t smile a little.  It’s a death metal banger, to be sure, but then there’s a piano, and some borderline country rock guitar, and then a solo…it’s a thing to behold.  And a lot of spots on the album are like that.  Just hit play and let it go.  These Swedes get it, man.

3 - John 5 - Ghost

A return to form for John 5, this time without The Creatures.  This record picks up where Season of the Witch left off, which isn’t to say that it ignores the two albums in-between, but Ghost feels more in line with its great-grandfather record than it does the two previous.  John 5 remains the only virtuoso guitar player (to my mind) who can tell a story with his guitar and not just show off his technical prowess.  As ever, these are songs, not just exhibitions.

2 - Arch Enemy - March of the Miscreants

This sadly gets colored by the recent news that Alissa White-Gluz (am I too old to have a schoolboy crush on someone?) has left the band, and the future path of both her career and Arch Enemy is now a little blurrier (despite news of her impending solo release.)  Even with that, between this and Vittra, maybe this was the year for ‘fun’ death metal?  Certainly, Arch Enemy has understood that better than most over the last decade or so, writing a series of rousing anthems, and March of the Miscreants is no different.  

1 - Year of the Cobra - Year of the Cobra

Early in the year we were blessed with this one. I love everything about this record.  It’s so devilishly simple - a two-piece drum-and-bass band with a female vocalist possessed of a sweetly haunting voice, singing songs about despair for forty minutes.  And it’s marvelous.  The tone is perfect, the juxtaposition of instrument and vocal is delicious, the songs are catchy even as they drip with melancholy undertones…it’s a magnificent record, and not just because the band sounds like Louder Than Love-era Soundgarden and is from Seattle and reminds me of my teen years.  It’s a must listen for anyone who even thinks there’s a hint they’ll like anything about what I just wrote. (Unimportant sidebar: the second time a two-piece band has won AOTY from me - looking at you, Cave of Swimmers.)

The Conversation: 2025 In Review

I don't know if it's an artifact of getting older, but each year as we sit down to take stock of what we heard, I'm finding it harder and harder to create a separate file in my memory for the contents. The years are blending together, not so much because time goes faster as you have experienced more of it, but because we continue to be plagued by a culture that hasn't had a 'moment' in so, so long. The culture today isn't really any different from the culture a decade ago, and we have enough of these years now that they absolutely blend together.

But I don't want to speak for everyone. That is my experience, and perhaps my experience alone. What it means is that I can tell you what albums and songs I loved the most this year, but at the end of the decade I'm not going to struggle to remember which year any of them came from. Sure, I'm not great with dates anyway, but little feels important enough to commit to memory in that way. Anyway...

The Good:

Chris C: For me, the good news this year came from the bands that were able to live up to my expectations. I find I have a bad habit of wanting too much from the music I love, because I tend these days to love so little of it, which means even quite a few things I like are still disappointing in the aggregate. We disagreed on Halestorm's album, but for me it had enough songs that did what I needed from them. The same thing is true for W.E.T. and Avantasia, and then a voice I love in Ray Alder came through with a side-project that filled a space I'm not sure much else has tried to. Having those old(er) favorites come through was the bedrock of the year, which then allowed me to branch out and find a couple of exciting new voices. Palecurse is the gem of the lot, and might be the debut record that excites me the most since Yours Truly (who then fell off a bit). I'm not sure any of them are all-timers, but my top ten turned out better than I feared.

D.M: The best thing that happened to me this year is that I finally broke off my abusive relationship with the Las Vegas Raiders and became a Detroit Lions fan.  Which...okay, they're 1-2 since I did that and nearly lost to the hapless Giants, but whatever.  At least it's the first time all these things have happened to me.  Musically, I feel great about the bad that as I type this, there's seventeen contenders for my final 11 spots (including two EPs competing for EP of the Year, which has never happened before.)  Moreover, there are five records from this year that I really confident about and will records I listen to for years to come (which five?  Well, you'll have to tune back in and find out.)  I didn't even have to dip into my "maybe" pile of albums to fill out my end of year best-of list, and THAT list had eight more decent records on it! If I'm being honest with proper perspective, it was probably the best year for my personal music collection since 2018.

The Bad:

Chris C: The bad news comes in the form of all the veterans who didn't come through. There were a lot of them. Katatonia tops that list, having reverted from AOTY to one I honestly have not listened to a single time since I finished writing my review. That kind of drop-off was a huge red line I had to draw through the list of my expectations. They fit into a trend of artists who either stopped trying to write memorable songs, or simply couldn't. The Darkness are now trying to be funny, but without the tongue-in-cheek fun of their early days, it feels so desperate and cloying. Steven Wilson essentially made a pop album stitched into prog, but he hasn't written a good pop song since he started trying to write them. And I heard several albums from 'indie' artists that made me question the very nature of music, because I couldn't for the life of me tell why they were writing those 'songs'. It makes me wonder if people now care about sound more than music.

D.M: No one thing was specifically bad (though there is one major disappointment, which I'll talk about later,) but boy, much like you, I slogged through a lot of records this year (more than I normally would, somehow...where did I find the time?) and as ever, there's a miasma of average-to-mediocre records out there.  Which calls into question all kinds of aspects of being an A&R rep, how discerning labels are when they find a band who even sort of fits their sound, and even skirts around the notion that young people aren't picking up instruments like they used to.  Dovetailing with that, I will admit, however sheepishly - if I opened up a promo and the band photo looked like a bunch of leathery, washed-up old bastards, I was much quicker to move on to whatever was next.  And that doesn't even begin to address the number of entries from a certain record label (you know the one,) that I just about deleted on sight.

The Surprising:

Chris C: My biggest surprise is simply the amount of music I listened to this year. Despite looking through the lists of releases every day, and sampling as many as caught my attention, I once again finished the year listening to less full albums than in any year since we started doing this. I could blame age, and a life already full of music, but I'm surprised that I've lost interest in music that is music for music's sake. When I run across albums that are written to have an album to put out, songs that recite cliches or history rather than say anything about the human condition, I can't bring myself to care very much anymore. I mentioned Avantasia already, and they are a prime example. I have listened to so much music Tobias has made over the years, and I love so much of it, but do I actually care anymore about songs concerned with dragons? No, I don't. Just being catchy isn't enough anymore.

D.M: Finally, a long-awaited return to grunge!  Suddenly, my junior high afternoon bus ride was back!  The move back to fuzzy guitars and denim-and-flannel came about twelve years after I thought it would, but the '90s are back, baby!  They weren't all gems, but Pyres, Benthic, Friendship Commanders (great name,) and Year of the Cobra all took me back to my youth.  It was more than a nostalgia trip, though - it was bands experimenting with a sound and trying to apply modern sensibilities to it while maintaining its core fuzziness.  Sign me up for minor chords and drop-D tuning, thanks.

The Disappointing:

Chris C:I could repeat some of that previous paragraph here, but let's focus on a couple of records instead. I was definitely disappointed in the Ghost album, as the singles gave me hope they were going in the right direction. They weren't. I was definitely disappointed in the Creeper album, as the singles gave me hope they were going in the right direction. They weren't. Also, Killswitch Engage reverted to their one good, one bad pattern. Avatarium has now convinced me they'll never write songs to match the beauty of their sound. There's also the Dream theater album, which I wasn't necessarily expecting a lot from, but left me angry as seemingly the only person who wasn't wowed simply that Mike Portnoy had returned. And I suppose I was also disappointed to realize this year marked fifteen years since my former favorite band has released an album, and despite them still spending the summer playing some shows, there hasn't been any word about even a single new song in five years. At least the favorite I have reverted to has the excuse of being dead.

D.M:  One big one here.  Alestorm.  I'd been tracking the band for a long time, ever since I saw them on a double bill with Turisas (sigh...come back, Turisas!)  Alestorm had gotten progressively better and more refined, even within their ridiculous aesthetic, culminating in the pretty good albums "Curse of the Crystal Coconut" and "Seventh Rum of a Seventh Rum," and the outstanding EP "Voyage of the Dead Marauder."  And then..."The Thunderfist Chronicles," this year milquetoast plate of music that didn't see the band try to stretch their legs at all.  And when I saw them live, I had to rip an inflatable sword out of the hand of a guy in front of me because he kept poking me in the face with it.  True story.

The Future:

Chris C: As my last comment implied, I'm no longer wasting even a second of thought on that band ever making music again. There has been a bit of rumbling that my favorite voice might have at least one song in the works, so obviously that jumps to the top of my wish list. Other than the long-standing yearning, the new year doesn't have much confirmed I'm going to be looking forward to. A new Soen album is confirmed, but I'm thinking the sound is now getting to the point of stasis where my interest might be starting to wane. There's a new Michael Monroe album coming, but the first single is scaring me away. After that, it turns to hopes more than plans. I hope Graveyard might be cooking something up, but I have no idea their timeframe. I remember hearing about a new album from The Dark Element a while ago that has yet to see the light of day. I hope one of the new bands over the last few years is able to put out a second album I like, as that happens rarely. And most of all, I hope 2026 gives me something to sink my teeth into, whether that's a new band, a new sound, or a storyline that makes me think.

D.M: C'mon, Mets!  Sign some pitching!  Re-sign Pete Alonso!  Okay, I admit it - I'm kinda curious about the upcoming Rob Zombie album.  Before you disown me from this site, know that it's mostly because I still have residual love for Rob's music from all the countless hours I spent listening to it in my youth.  There's still not another album that sounds quite like "Astro-Creep: 2000."  Speaking of sounds that I wish would come back.  Other than that, I don't have anything specific on the horizon, although I did already buy tickets to see Wolfmother in Boston on my birthday.  To this day, they're the only band I've seen that whipped the crowd into such a frenzy that the building shook.  Also, maybe I'm sounding an alarm prematurely, but I'm curious to see where the nature of the concept of 'album' goes next year.  Could be me, but I feel like more and more bands are releasing songs one single at a time, and now more prominent artists (Combichrist, notably in my circles,) are starting to catch on.  Do people really listen to albums anymore?  Does it matter?  Either way, it feels like a tide that's changing, if not outright turning.