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.
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