Steve's Top 10 Favorite Records Of The Year

I have been woefully uninspired in terms of writing. I chalk it up to a very busy fall spent with my band tightening up the sound in preparation for our return to the studio. BE PREPARED!

Anyway, I still have been listening to a shit-ton of music and here's my favorite 10 records of the year, irrespective of genre. I will do a metal/heavy-rock list later, because even though the top 5 are all power-poppy and Americana records, I still love my metal. But more importantly, I love great songs, be they heavy or slow or hard or dreamy or toe-tapping or sing-along or shout at the top of your lungs. A great song is a great song.

So the order for these were determined by the following methodology: which record would I want more. So if you were a jerk and started taking records out of my collection and saying "you can't have this" this would be the last 10 getting plucked.

10 - The Autumn Defense - Fifth: A perfect slice of 1970s FM radio. For fans of Wilco and Jackson Browne.

9 - Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden: Super heavy prog meets doom metal with hooks. These guys should be the standard bearer for stoner rock. For fans of pot.

8. Alcest - Shelter: Ethereal French progressive rock. It isn't showy but the melodies and the moods are beautiful. For fans of clouds.

7. Elephant Stone - Three Poisons: Psychedelic India-inspired rock from fine Canadian band. Second year in a row they have made my list. For fans of the George Beatles songs.

6. Opeth - Pale Communion: Opeth have fully embraced their inner-prog-nerd. Old fans might hate the direction but I am glad to see the Cookie Monster vocals are a thing of the past. For fans of Pink Floyd.

5. Sloan - Commonwealth: Canadian power-poppers great double album where each member gets a side. Four distinct song-writers that together are brilliant. For fans of Paul Beatles songs.

4. The Both - s/t: Aimee Mann and Ted Leo join forces for an album of wonderful songs. For fans of harmony.

3. Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways: No Dave Grohl saturation for me this year. I love the record and I love the exuberance he has for rock n roll. If he can turn people back to rock music, the world is a better place for it. For fans...frak it, you know who this is.

2. Jenny Lewis - The Voyager: A lost Stevie Nicks record by a great song-writer. And produced by Ryan Adams, who by the way....

1. Ryan Adams - s/t: The best record he has made since Gold. The record Tom Petty used to make. Glad to have Ryan back.

There it is. That's the list. Find me another list where you'll find The Autumn Defense AND Pallbearer AND Jenny Lewis AND Opeth.

Top 5 Metal Records of 2012

I saw a tweet about a month ago and then a follow-up yesterday from Guitar World. On their website an English guitarist bemoans the state of metal. He makes some very good points. Read it here and here. The gist of it is something I agree with, that many metal bands have forsaken melody for sheer speed or noise or image or whatever. The second of the two posts is actually much better I think. I have always fallen on the Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden-y side of the spectrum of metal. I like a song that I can tap my toe to or hum along with, be it metal or power pop or alt country or whatever. Good songwriting is something that trumps all genres.

Individuality is an interesting idea and something that is missing from a lot of bands. Dave Murray and Adrian Smith are both in the same band, but they have a unique sound and I can tell who is doing which Maiden lead, if I try hard enough that is. Kirk Hammett sounds like Kirk Hammett (mainly because he is usually playing something completely different than the rest of the band). Maybe I am just not as well-schooled in modern metal, but from what I hear it is just a wall of noise. There's a place for that sure but it isn't my thing.

The image thing I don't know what to say about. Image has been a part of rock n roll forever, so I don't really subscribe to that. If a guy wants to wear a dress on stage or be wrapped in spandex or whatever more power to him.

Where I disagree is that there are indeed plenty of metal bands that still practice the "old school" variety of melodic metal. So to re-inforce that, here are my five favorite metal records of the year.

Sorrow and Extinction by Pallbearer - Heavy, sludgy Sabbath-inspired metal.

De Vermis Mysteriis by High On Fire - Fast and heavy and relentless. Reminds me of Slayer, but not as scary.

Yellow & Green by Baroness - More Sab-metal. These guys had a terrible bus crash while touring in Europe earlier this year. Thankfully nobody was killed, though the band were pretty beat up. Excited to see them on the road again.

Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II by Earth - Slow and melodic instrumentals.

Apocryphon by The Sword - More Sab-inspired metal. A bit more goofy but the best record they have done since their debut.