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.
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