Posted by Hello, well that was the year that was and it was just as chaotic as ever. Australia were too good at cricket, Man City dominated English and European football to the point of boredom. Russia is still at it and the Israel and Palestine powder keg exploded. Turkey and Syria suffered a horrific earthquake and sky high inflation persisted. In other news, I listened to a fair few albums as a happy distraction, and below are ten of my favourites – enjoy.
5. Alice Cooper – Road
The 29th album from a 75 year old rocker best known for his ‘70s output should not be this good. Following on from a rather good record dedicated to Detroit, is Road – a concept album about life on the road. The swing of ‘All Over The World’, the heavy thud of ‘White Line Frankenstein’ and the soft balladry of ‘Baby Don’t Go’ are bolstered by the live recording method.
4. The Struts – Pretty Vicious
With their fourth album Pretty Vicious, English glam rockers The Struts have fully hit their stride. They have perfected their exuberant brand of glam rock, with prerequisite shiny production values to boot. Songs like the fist pumping ‘I Won’t Run’ and the bouncy ‘Rockstar’ cannot fail but raise a smile.
3. Gov’t Mule – Peace… Like a River
Gov’t Mule, southern rockers with a fondness for jam sessions and the blues, returned with their 13th record Peace… Like a River. It is a splendid record with something for everyone, it has a mixture of dirty riffed rockers (‘Peace I Need’, ‘Shake Our Way Out’), soulful sojourns (‘Just Across The River’), funky foot tappers (‘Long Time Coming’) and melodious prog rock (‘Same As It Ever Was’).
2. Haken – Fauna
British prog metal sextet Haken released perhaps their best album this year, Fauna. It is their seventh record and sees them mix metal heaviness, pop smarts and proggy weirdness into one thoroughly absorbing whole. The lush 80s pop of ‘Love Bite’, the hefty guitars of ‘Taurus’ and the proggy epic ‘Elephants Never Forget’ are just some of the highlights.
1. The Answer – Sundowners
After some professional disappointment and a seven year break, Northern Irish rockers The Answers are back and raring to go with Sundowners. It is a cracking recording and the Led Zep groove of the title track, Black Keys boogie of ‘Blood Brother’ and the surf rock riff of ‘Oh Cherry’ show a band in love with what they do and having a ball doing it.
Occupying places 6 to 10 are Rival Sons – Lightbringer, The Subways – Uncertain Joys, Blood Ceremony – The Old Ways Remain, Levellers – Together All The Way, and the wonderfully bonkers Mutoid Man with the effervescent Mutants.
Lofty Music and Film 