Favorite Albums of 2018 (So Far)

This is one of my favorite lists to write! I am CONSTANTLY looking for new bands and albums to listen to. Each year the bounty varies but this year has been a particularly good haul! In the past at the end of June I write about my five favorite albums of the year so far, but this year has given us so much good music so far that I’m actually going to write about my ten favorites (so far). As always, this is simply my opinion, and it’s all rock or some rock subgenre, but if you’re reading this I assume you know me decently well enough to know my music preferences. This week’s post goes out to my fellow rockers and metal heads! Here’s my pick for my 10 favorite albums of 2018 (so far). Side note: This order could totally change whenever I do a list for my top ten favorites of the entire year!

10. “Here Come the Runts” – Awolnation

This album was without a doubt the biggest surprise for me! I was in a bit of a drought music wise and was looking for basically anything to listen to. New Music Friday came around and I saw this album was one of the new releases. He was really the only artist with new material that I recognized that week so I played it on Spotify… then I listened to it again later that day… then by the end of the week I was in the double digits. It’s surprisingly catchy and sounds nothing like their older stuff. Anyone who hears Awolnation immediately thinks of the song “Sail,” but this isn’t anything you’d expect. It’s just solid alternative rock with some REALLY catchy choruses! After I listened to this album I checked out their older stuff… still hated it but hey he’s got one album I like. That’s more than I can say about a lot of other artists/bands. Favorite Songs: Handyman, Table For One, Seven Sticks of Dynamite.

9. “All I See is War” – Sevendust

I feel like Sevendust releases an album every single year, do they ever sleep!? Do they have families!? Sevendust may release music at an absurd rate, but they aren’t always winners. This album though is definitely solid metal effort by them! The opening song Dirty is one of the best metal songs of the year so far and should see a lot of radio time in the future. Lajon Witherspoon has one of the most distinct and recognizable voices in metal and he puts himself to work on this album. It’s heavy but not overbearingly so, and the album definitely switches to its softer side occasionally. It’s a consistent album that has a nice variety to it that can please a widespread of metal fans. If that doesn’t make a good album then I don’t know what does! Favorites: Dirty, Risen, God Bites His Tongue.

8. “Gravity” – Bullet For My Valentine

This album literally came out today, but I’ve already listened to it twice! People that are diehard fans of the old metalcore Bullet are going to HATE this album. With this album Bullet seems to completely transitioning into being a hard rock band instead of being metalheads. I personally don’t mind this. The songs on this album are similar material the band has always been singing about, the guitar work is impressive in its own way and it’s nice to hear Matt Tuck actually sing for a majority of their songs. This album reminds me a lot of Trivium’s album “Silence in the Snow:” change in vocals but still the same feel the band has always had. True Bullet fans should get over themselves and give this new album a try because there’s a lot more to enjoy than they think! Favorites: Over It, Piece of Me, Breathe Underwater. 

7. “Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life” – The Wombats

This album has one of the ugliest album covers I’ve seen in a VERY long time, but this list isn’t about album covers, it’s about the music and The Wombats are just as infectious as ever! The Wombats honestly haven’t released a single bad album yet since their creation, and that tradition holds up with “Beautiful People.” The band has always had a good sense of humor (I mean the cover looks like it has a turd on it), and the humor definitely shows in their clever wordplay for the song titles. Not only are the titles themselves memorable though, the choruses will be stuck in your head for days. This album is the perfect choice if you’re just looking for something relaxing and catchy that’ll bring a smile to your face. It blows my mind that this band isn’t bigger than they are. More people deserve to know about them! Favorites: Black Flamingo, Cheetah Tongue, Turn

6. “Ember” – Breaking Benjamin

Breaking Benjamin are one of the most consistent bands in rock. After returning from their hiatus they released one of their best albums to date in 2015 with “Dark Before Dawn,” and the band continues their successful return with “Ember.” Though the band is still as sad about life as ever, they definitely up’d their heaviness. There are some classic sounding Breaking Benjamin songs like “Red Cold River” and “Feed the Wolf,” and a lot of memorable choruses. Breaking Benjamin has always had a track record of making their songs sound similar to each other but each having one distinct factor about it making it unique. Though this album isn’t the absolute knockout that “Dark Before Dawn” was, “Ember” is an excellent album! Breaking Benjamin still hasn’t made a bad album yet! Favorites: “Red Cold River,” “Blood,” “Feed the Wolf.”

5. “When Legends Rise” – Godsmack

What a return to form for Godsmack! Their last album “1000hp” had its moments of greatness, but ultimately it was just an average effort for the band. Four years later and the band has returned with one of the best albums of the year! Although diehard Godsmack fans will turn their nose to this album for being too different from their other records, I commend the band for trying something new! “Bulletproof” and “When Legends Rise” are two of the best rock songs to come out this year and I’ll fight anyone that says otherwise. The rest of the album spans from good to great too with songs like “Take it to the Edge” and “Under Your Scars” being major standouts. Sully Erna could sing the phone book and I’d still enjoy it. Godsmack may have changed their new sound, but this new sound is something I think a broader range of people can enjoy which is good for rock music in general. Favorites: “Bulletproof,” “When Legends Rise,” “Under Your Scars.”

4. “ATTENTION ATTENTION” – Shinedown

The story goes that when the band was meeting fans, one asked them if they could make their next album “heavier” because their last album “Threat to Survival” definitely wasn’t. When I first saw the album cover for “Attention Attention” I was definitely skeptical; it looks like it was drawn up in 5 minutes. Then I heard the first single “Devil” and was immediately hyped for the new album. That song alone was better than anything on their last album. Not that “Threat to Survival” was bad, but “Devil” sounded like it was straight out of the album “Sound of Madness.”  The rest of the album though sounds completely unlike anything the band has written before, it almost sounds like a punk album tackling the issues the world faces these days. Shinedown definitely kept their promise of delivering a heavier album, just not in the way that fans probably expected! Also “Brilliant” is one of the best closing songs on any of the albums here. Favorites: “Devil,” “Brilliant,” “Kill Your Conscience.” 

3. “Pray For The Wicked” – Panic! At the Disco

Panic’s last album “Death of a Bachelor” was my favorite album of 2016 and one of my absolute all time favorites, so there were high expectations when Panic announced “Pray for the Wicked.” Did the follow up manage to surpass “Death of a Bachelor?” In a word, no but it’s still one of my favorite albums of the year so far. Almost every song is a bop so catchy you’ll want to dance while you listen. The band’s emo days are long gone and I’m entirely OK with that. These days the band is all about partying and having a good time, and that shines through on this album. You can’t help but smile when the chorus hits for these songs. While not the masterpiece that “Death of a Bachelor” was, “Pray for the Wicked” is an epic blend of pop and rock people will be listening to for a long time. Favorites: “Pray for the Wicked,” “Roarin’ 20’s,” “High Hopes.”

2. “Prequelle” – Ghost

Ghost has taken the rock and metal world by storm. They’ve risen in popularity at an alarming rate due to their  songwriting and their memorable live shows. Having only recently started listening to Ghost, “Prequelle” is definitely my favorite album of theirs. As their name suggests, their songs are haunting and cover some dreadful material like death and everyone’s pal Satan. That being said, the band has always been surprisingly catchy and groovy and this album definitely has the catchiest tracks yet. “Dance Macabre” is (in my opinion) the best song the band has ever written. It’s impossible to dislike. My friend who is a life long pop fan even admits this song is great. This album is full of surprises; people have described some of the songs having a disco feel, and then just when you think you’ve heard it all “Miasma” has a killer saxophone solo in its finale! The album is catchy, full of surprises, and incredibly memorable but it’s not my favorite album of the year so far… there’s one more I like just a LITTLE more. Favorites: “Dance Macabre,” “Pro Memoria,” “See the Light.”

1. “Black Labyrinth” – Jonathan Davis

All the top five albums (for the most part) don’t have a bad song on them. This album doesn’t have a single bad song on it, but what sets it apart from the rest is the fact that this album is LONG. Thirteen songs without a single dud is hard to come by these days. Shinedown has the same number of songs on “Attention Attention” but the song quality just isn’t the same. Jonathan Davis’s solo debut hosts a myriad of different sounds and shows off his masterful vocals. There may not be any beat boxing like he does in Korn, but it still shows just how talented of a singer he really is. There are fast songs, slow songs, songs with cool tribal sections, it has the catchiness of all the other albums, the surprises of Ghost’s album, and some truly solid vocal work (I won’t say he’s better than Brendon Urie but he’s good). For all of these reasons, “Black Labyrinth” is my favorite album of the year… so far. Favorites: “What It Is,” “Underneath My Skin,” “The Secret.”

I’m sure there are albums I’ve completely missed, but what are some of your favorites? I’m always looking for new material and would love to know!

Ten Songs That Shaped My Music Taste

Everyone’s music taste is completely different. One of my closest friends listens to artists like Nicki Minaj and Harry Styles on a daily basis, while one of my other friends is a pure metalhead who likes bands such as Kreator and Trivium. How’d they get to be fans of those genres? It always starts with a handful of songs. This list is for that handful of songs; the songs that helped shape my taste in music to what it is today. This isn’t my top ten favorite songs, just some of the most influential. It’s a pretty weird group of songs from multiple genres, and while it was hard to limit myself to ten choices, here are the ten songs that shaped my taste in music in the order I experienced them chronologically. Also, if you haven’t heard of any of these songs (most you have, I’m sure) there’s a link at the end of each segment to give the song a try!

“Be Prepared” – Jeremy Irons (Lion King Soundtrack)

Honestly there were a lot of Disney songs I considered to put on this list (a future list maybe?), but I decided to go with my favorite song from the first Disney film I ever saw. “Be Prepared” I think pulled me in at first just because of how cool I thought Scar was. The way he sung it, the comical interlude with the hyenas, and the imagery all only enhanced the song. People always say that Jeremy Irons can’t sing, but when your character is that cool who cares? Then the music itself is so ominous sounding it always stuck with me after the first time I saw the film. This was what made me addicted to not only Disney songs, but musicals in general. The thought of people spontaneously breaking out into song has always brought me joy and I can basically trace the reason all the way back to when I first started watching Disney movies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkU23m6yX04

“Mambo #5” – Lou Bega

This was my absolute favorite song as a little kid. This was the first song I was genuinely addicted to. Looking back on it now it’s pretty hilarious considering what the song is actually about. First grade me didn’t know ALL the lyrics and had no idea it was actually about a guy partying it up with multiple women at once. First grade me just thought the song was really catchy and was fun to dance to. There are a lot of great party/dance songs these days, but none still make me go nuts quite like Mambo #5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK_LN3XEcnw

“Amish Paradise” – Weird Al Yankovic

Weird Al was the first artist I got really into. Before Weird Al I only knew individual songs by different singers/bands, but “Bad Hair Day” changed everything. When I first heard Amish Paradise and the rest of “Bad Hair Day,” I got my parents to buy me the CD. It was the first CD I ever bought and it started my obsession with buying CDs. Amish Paradise is hilarious turning Gangsta’s Paradise into a song about how “great” the Amish life is. It was the song that taught me what a parody was and was the first time I had a favorite artist. I owe a lot to Weird Al and I’d kill to see him live! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOfZLb33uCg

“In The End” – Linkin Park

So for years all I listened to was Weird Al, and I was pretty content with that. Then, I started noticing the bands my older brother was into. The first band he bought multiple albums from was this band I never heard of called Linkin Park. The one song you couldn’t seem to escape was “In The End.” It was this weird hybrid (ha) of rock and rap and I couldn’t get enough of it. I’d probably attribute this song to my love for strange combos of music. The Pop Goes Punk albums are something I look forward to every year because there’s nothing quite like hearing a Katy Perry song get turned into metalcore. Many bands have tried to copy Linkin Park’s mix of sound but none ever come close. That hasn’t stopped me though from searching for other bands with great combinations of genres (another is referenced a little later!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVTXPUF4Oz4

Behind Closed Doors – Rise Against

Eventually my brother grew out of his Linkin Park phase (I never did), and eventually his taste in music became very apparent: he liked whatever his girlfriend at the time liked. And by liked I mean he acted like he enjoyed them. When I was in 8th grade my brother would drive us to school and he’d listen to this mix CD his girlfriend made and it was pretty much the CD that helped establish what my favorite genre was. Hilariously though whenever I first heard “Behind Closed Doors” I asked my brother what band that was and he had no clue whatsoever. So I googled some of the lyrics to find the band. I went to the CD store and eventually bought the album Sufferer and the Witness and I will never forget that experience. The store clerk took one look at the album then said “This is an awesome album.” Good Lord was he right. It to this day is still my favorite album and the one I’ve listened to the most from start to finish. I gotta find my brother’s old girlfriend and thank her for making that Mix CD. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkPCb-uEjaI

“I Write Sins Not Tragedies” – Panic! At the Disco

That magical mix CD consisted primarily of four artists: Rise Against, My Chemical Romance, Social Distortion, and Panic! At the Disco. For this part of the musical journey I was going to choose either My Chemical Romance’s “The Black Parade” or “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” by Panic! At the Disco. Both made albums that are some of my all time favorites, but I heard “I Write Sins” first so it gets the spot. I blame this band for me still liking “emo music,” and I have no shame admitting that! Panic! and MCR have written some incredibly catching songs over the years and I always enjoyed the emotion displayed in their tracks. Emo fans are still secretly hiding all over the world they just don’t like to come out and say it. I will wave the emo music fan flag proudly though! (I just saw Panic! last year and it was one of the best shows I’ve ever been to). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy0mqXuBMY4

“Fight Fire With Fire” – Metallica

My brother eventually dumped that girl with the magical CD, and he eventually went back to actually deciding for himself what music he liked. I’ll never forget the one trip home where he put in this CD I never saw before. The opening song was this super mellow guitar and I thought “Oh God what is this going to be?!” Then out of nowhere it turned into this insanely heavy and fast metal song! I legit asked him if he switched songs and he said it was the same song with the slow guitar opening. That was the day I learned of Metallica and became a big metal fan. Nothing quite compares to the speed and intensity of metal. It always hits the spot whenever in a bad mood. Fight Fire With Fire is one my favorite metal songs to this day and I will never forget how blown away I was by it’s plot twist opener. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeK1E1HaMdY

Tears Don’t Fall – Bullet For My Valentine

This was the last time my brother had an influence on my music choice. As he continued being the one that drove me to things my music education expanded. What I loved about “Tears Don’t Fall” is that it combined pretty much everything I had grown to like about music (with exception to Weird Al of course). First it had the incredible technical skill and solos of heavy metal, it had the mix of clean vocals and screams that Rise Against had, and it was some deep EMOtional shit like Panic! and MCR. They were the band that kind of solidified my opinion of screaming in songs. Before them I only enjoyed it in Rise Against, but BFMV changed my perspective. After hearing Tears Don’t Fall I got into other bands like Breaking Benjamin, Avenged Sevenfold, and System Of A Down. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkEb1vj6ssY

Domination – Symphony X

This discovery came completely out of the blue. It was Christmas morning, I was 14 years old and I had gotten a ton of iTunes gift cards. I was on the music store searching for new music to buy when a name popped out to me in the “Suggested” section. “Symphony X” sounded like the coolest band name I ever heard so I selected the suggested song to give it a listen and it was like I had gotten one final extra Christmas gift! The combination of metal and orchestra was incredible, Domination (and the rest of the album) was simply epic. It sounded like the Final Boss music you’d hear in a video game but it had LYRICS! The singer is still to this day one of my all time favorites, and Symphony X never fails to let me down. Symphonic metal has since then become one of my favorite subgenres to listen to and has helped me to find other great bands like Kamelot, Epica, and Alestorm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hayYZguCt_c

Holy Diver – Killswitch Engage

The final stop in my musical journey (for this list) is dedicated to what started my love for covers. I tend to be pretty picky about covers because a majority of the time they’re either boring, uninspired, or just flat out suck. Killswitch Engage’s cover of “Holy Diver” was the first song to show me that not all covers are bad. Sometimes they can even actually be better! Call it blasphemy but I think this version is infinitely better than the original. Ronnie James Dio would be proud of this cover for sure, it’s just exploding with energy and the vocals are a step above the original. And the added metal breakdowns just bring the whole thing over the top! Since then I’ve found plenty of other great covers (mainly in rock) from bands like Disturbed, We Came As Romans, and Bodycount, but I never would’ve really started looking if I hadn’t listened to this one in the first place. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR7dG_m3MsI

There are tons of other great songs that helped shape my taste in music over the years but these ten have been the most influential. Music is such a huge part of my everyday lifestyle now I couldn’t imagine life without it. It’d be so boring!! To anyone reading this though, what’re some of the songs you remember being obsessed with over the years??

Ranking Every Rock On The Range Lineup From Worst to Best

There are two weekends that I look forward to every year more than any other: Wrestlemania weekend and Rock On The Range. For those that don’t know, Rock On The Range is an annual rock and heavy metal festival held in Columbus Ohio the third weekend of May. What began as a one day event with 14 bands has grown into a three day goliath featuring 60 bands! If you’re a rock or heavy metal fan you can’t do much better than an event like Rock On The Range and it’s an event that I’ve loved the past eight years! Sadly this year I wasn’t able to go, but since Rock On The Range is this weekend I thought it’d be fun to rank each year by the quality of their lineup! For this ranking I’m going by overall quality not quantity. Some of the older shows that had fewer bands will outrank the newer ones. More isn’t always better! Also, this is just my personal opinion, musical taste is obviously completely subjective so if you read this and think “Wow this moron got the list totally wrong” that’s cool! Just comment on what lineups you think are the best! Finally, I haven’t gone to Rock On The Range every year since it started, but I know of like 90% of the bands that played all these years so I’m basing the ranking not on their performances at the show but rather how good/bad I perceive them to be!

12. 

This was the very first Rock On The Range and only featured 14 bands. Although there are some great bands on the lineup such as ZZ Top, Evanescence, Papa Roach, and Breaking Benjamin there are just as many bands that you look at and either think, “Who?” or “Oh God no.” The big names in this lineup though were enough to bring enough fans though and started the fandom that would create the largest rock festival in the country!

11.

The second Rock On The Range had a major improvement in the lineup! So much so that it spanned into two days! Some of my absolute favorites played this year such as Disturbed, Shinedown, and Seether. The thing that drags this down the most for though are the headliners. Kid Rock and Stone Temple Pilots? No thanks. Stone Temple Pilots have had an amazing career don’t get me wrong, but they just don’t do anything for me personally.

10. 

OK, the list stops going in chronological order after this I promise! This is where Rock On The Range really started taking off in my opinion. The two headliners are absolute legends (Slipknot and Motley Crue) and then when you look down the list there are still a lot of talented bands that although weren’t big in 2009, grew in fame and are some of the biggest names in rock and metal now! This festival could be one of the reasons why! You know you’ve got a good lineup when bands like Korn, Avenged Sevenfold, and Alice In Chains are opening acts!

9. 

This year had a lot of heavy hitters like Avenged Sevenfold (they show up a lot) and Slayer, but again two of the three headlining bands are pretty lousy. Kid Rock just doesn’t fit into this kind of festival to me and Guns and Roses aren’t the best live. I’m sure some are disgusted at reading that but again this is just my opinion! There’s lots of good lesser known bands here too that help even out the two less than stellar headliners. Also this Rock On The Range featured Staind which I THINK was the last year before their singer Aaron Lewis left to pursue a country music career (*shudders*). It’s been years Aaron please come back! I miss your angry depressing songs!

8. 2018

There’s two main reasons why I didn’t go to Rock On The Range this year.

1. I’m still poor from my Wrestlemania Weekend (worth it).
2. The lineup this year is pretty much garbage.

That is of course except for the headliners. There’s A7X AGAIN (them being here is a running joke for Rangers) along with grunge legends Alice In Chains, and they even got the almost mythical band Tool to come out of hiding! Heck, they got Maynard Keenan’s other band A Perfect Circle to even play! After you look at the first two rows of each day though the lineups are pretty bad. I always look forward to the lesser known bands because they normally end up being pleasant surprises. With a few exceptions like The Fever 333, there really aren’t any particularly great smaller bands. Although Rock On The Range is like a tradition for me, I was OK with missing out this year.

7. 

This was the first Rock On The Range to span into a three day event! Although Friday only featured a few bands and was more of a pregame than anything. Incubus is the main reason this year isn’t higher up on the list. Don’t get me wrong I like a lot of their songs, but they are so different live. They had ZERO energy when they closed their night out and I can’t think of another time I saw a closing band make so many fans leave the show early. This year though was the one that converted me into a Rob Zombie fan. Having never seen him live before, I stuck around because I thought surely he would put on a better show than Incubus, and hot damn was I surprised. He knocked my socks off with his theatrics, pyrotechnics and catchy songs. Also lots of great bands as you read down the list so you can blame the halfway ranking on Incubus.

6. 

This was the first Rock On The Range I went to. I randomly saw it advertised on Facebook and was blown away by how many of my favorite bands were on the lineup. I live three hours away from Columbus, but that road trip was worth it to see bands like Disturbed, A7X, Bullet For My Valentine, Alter Bridge, and Hollywood Undead. This was a great Rock On The Range lineup the full way through, but if I’m being honest, A Perfect Circle was a pretty lousy closer for the whole weekend. Before this festival I had never heard of A Perfect Circle, but when I heard it was fronted by Tool’s singer I had high expectations. The show this band just puts on is weird and it really took all the energy out of the weekend whenever they finished the set.

5. 

No A7X this year! Instead we got three excellent headliners in Disturbed, Rob Zombie, and Red Hot Chili Peppers played the festival for their first time! Bands like Deftones, Between the Buried and Me, Sixx AM, and At The Drive In were bands that either hadn’t played Rock On The Range before or hadn’t played in a long time so it was refreshing to hear some new material from well known bands! A lot of the bands towards the bottom of each day’s lineup are pretty forgettable. There are some good smaller acts though like Red Sun Rising, Avatar, and Crown The Empire. Also this lineup has the Butcher Babies which is just unforgivable.

4. 

If only I had Facebook in 2010 I may have heard of Rock On The Range this year. If I had I would’ve gone in a heartbeat because this lineup is STACKED. All of the last four are epic. This was the first year to feature my absolute favorite band of all time Rise Against! To find a band I’d consider “bad” you have to go almost all the way down to the bottom of the lineup and even some of THOSE are bands I love! Limp Bizkit as the closer though is the major blemish on this lineup. I mean anyone that likes Limp Bizkit only likes them ironically right? Nookie is poetry in song form (tee hee) but besides that there’s not much to say about Limp Bizkit that’s positive.

3.

These last three get really nitpicky so I apologize for that. This year in my opinion had the best trio of headliners the festival has ever had. All three are legendary bands that’ll be remembered and loved for years to come. The bands towards the bottom of each lineup are very hit and miss though which is partly why I put this year behind the #2 and #1 spot. Also the Saturday lineup for this year definitely got the short end of the stick. With exception to Judas Priest, Godsmack, Papa Roach, and In Flames there really aren’t any “must see” bands. There are a couple good not great bands and some bands that I actively avoided this year.

2. 

Last year’s Rock On The Range is one I will never forget. It started a year ago today. I was so looking forward to seeing Soundgarden headline Friday. Then the literal day before the news came: Chris Cornell took his own life. The entire festival was dedicated to him, and a lot of bands did Soundgarden, Audio Slave, and Temple of Dog covers in his memory. Sad memories aside, this lineup is incredible. From top to to bottom again there aren’t many bad bands on this lineup. This year though earns bonus points for FINALLY getting Metallica to play! Punk legends The Offspring along with the infamous Primus also made their Rock On The Range debuts. There was a good combination of long time Rock On The Range favorites, and newcomers to bring in new fans to the festival. That and the tribute to Chris Cornell made this one of the best Rock On The Range weekends of all time. However, there is one that puts this just ever so slightly better in my opinion.

1.

 

This was the year where Rock On The Range reached its final form and became a full three day festival experience, and the lineup pulled no punches featuring legends like Smashing Pumpkins, Alice In Chains, and Korn. This was also the only year Soundgarden played Rock On The Range and they were an amazing end to an already epic weekend. Most probably wouldn’t pick this lineup as the best, but for me personally it’s a gold mine. Every single row, even the very bottom, feature multiple bands that I love and own music from. You can’t see every band at a festival like this, so choosing who to see and not see was incredibly difficult. It was like choosing which child you liked the most! I always have a blast at Rock On The Range, but this year was particularly good to me and my musical preferences!

 

So that’s my ranking of each Rock On The Range based on the quality of their lineup! Although I’m not going to this year’s festival I’m already thinking about how great next year will be! I’ll just rob a bank or something so I can go to both Rock On The Range and Wrestlemania I guess. I’ll figure it out.

Favorite Music of 2016 (So Far)

Where has this year gone!? It’s hard to believe that this crazy year is already halfway done! I always enjoy doing a recap of my favorite movies, music, and TV shows of the year so far when July comes around. For me, this has been a pretty mixed bag so far for music. While some bands have surprised me with some impressive albums, the bands I expected more from sort of let me down. Nevertheless, there is still plenty of good to talk about in the music world and here are my five favorite albums (in no particular order) to be released this year so far!

Death Of A Bachelor – Panic! At the Disco

Brendon Urie pretty much solidified with this album that he’s a mad musical genius. Not only that, but the man can sing like no other! I was always a moderate Panic! At the Disco fan, but Death of a Bachelor blew me away. It’s one of those rare albums where there’s not a bad song on it, it’s just one long pop rock party from the beginning of Victorious to the end of “Impossible Year.” It’s one party that you do not want to miss that’s for sure. Favorite Tracks: “Hallelujah,” “Emperor’s New Clothes,” “Victorious,” & “Death Of A Bachelor”

Metal Resistance – Babymetal

If you went back in time and told me that I was going to love the new Babymetal album, I’d say you were absolutely out of your mind. I used to be the biggest hater of this Japanese trio. They just didn’t make sense to me; J-pop and metal mixed together? Insanity. However, when the new album came out, I was in a music drought looking for anything new to keep my ears happy so I gave this album a listen. Then the band clicked for me. Metal Resistance is an awesome blend of two genres that shouldn’t mesh. I couldn’t possibly tell you what the songs are about, but I can say that this is some of the most impressive sounding metal music to come out this year so far. The band features some really talented musicians and I’ve come to appreciate that Babymetal has come to be sort of a gateway drug for people getting into metal. Anything that’ll help the genre crawl out of the shadows is OK in my book! Favorite Tracks: “Awadama Fever,” “KARATE,” & “YAVA!”

Feathers & Flesh – Avatar

Avatar was another one of the bands that I never really listened to until this year. I always saw Avatar on tours with other bands I liked, but I never really gave them a listen. When I heard they were releasing an album this year I gave them a shot and they really impressed me. Impressed me to the point I bought three of their albums. What I appreciate most about Avatar and this album in particular is how the band is constantly evolving and trying out new sounds. Every song on this album sounds completely unique and it all comes together to form one grand story. The album also gets bonus points for having a hilariously weird and creepy cover of “I’ve Got Something In My Front Pocket For You.” Favorite Tracks: “The Eagle Has Landed,” “Tooth, Beak, and Claw,” & “Fiddler’s Farewell”

Never Alone – Stitched Up Heart 

I’m looking for new albums literally all the time. If I’m online and I read something about a new band, you can bet that I’m going to check it out. The best new band that I’ve found this year has to be Stitched Up Heart. Their debut studio album is chock full of memorable tracks all showcasing the vocalist Mixi’s pipes. The band reminds me a lot of Evanescence lyrically but Stitched Up Heart is definitely more hopeful sounding. The band has already built a pretty impressive following having only released one full length album so hopefully they can carry that momentum further as they release more music! Favorite Tracks: “Finally Free,” “Monster,”Turn You On,” & “Event Horizon”

Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie – Volbeat

Volbeat is undoubtedly one of the most consistent bands in rock n roll right now. They really haven’t released a bad album yet and Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie just might be one of their best works yet! This album features some of their catchiest choruses yet, and the title track along with “The Devil’s Bleeding Crown” are destined to become concert regulars! I mean, the album has a love song that’s riddled with basketball puns. If that doesn’t make you want to give this album a listen then I don’t know what will. As of now, Volbeat holds the title of favorite album of 2016. You’re doing yourself a disservice if you pass this one up! Favorite Tracks: “The Devil’s Bleeding Crown,” “The Bliss,” “Let It Burn,” “Battleship Chains,” and “Goodbye Forever” (basically the entire album)

Those aren’t the only bands though that released good music so far this year! Here’s a list of 25 other songs you need in your life!

1. “Fake Your Own Death” – Sum 41
2. “Rabbit Hole” – blink-182
3. “Bored to Death” – blink-182
4. “We Don’t Have To Dance” – Andy Black
5. “The Rambler” – Black Stone Cherry
6. “Cheaper To Drink Alone – “Black Stone Cherry
7. “Paranoia” – A Day To Remember
8. “Prayers / Triangles” – Deftones
9. “Bad Guy” – Islander
10. “Take It From Me” – KONGOS
11. “Impossible” – Lacey Sturm
12. “Is There Anybody Out There?” – Machine Head
13. “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore” = Phantogram
14. “Dark Necessities” – Red Hot Chili Peppers
15. “Satanic Cyanide! The Killer Rocks On!” – Rob Zombie
16. “Stick To Your Guns” – Sick Puppies
17. “Earth To You” – Sick Puppies
18. “Rise” – Sixx: AM
19. “You Have Come To The Right Place” – Sixx: AM
20. “Prayers For The Damned” – Sixx: AM
21. “Spirits” – The Strumbellas
22. “Running With Giants” – Thousand Foot Krutch
23. “My Last Mistake” – Tremonti
24. “Catching Fire” – Tremonti
25. “Take Control” – Unlocking The Truth

Those are just my picks of course! What’re some of your favorite songs and albums to come out so far this year? What’re you most looking forward to in the months to come? Let me know in the comments!

Music Posts Coming Soon!

Me writing a blog post

I’m the slowest, most infrequent poster ever I know. Those that read my material, I truly appreciate it, and I plan on writing more material VERY soon! One of my many obsessions is music, so I plan on making a category on the sidebar of my blog that’ll organize all my music posts.

In a few weeks I’ll have my first big music post which will be “Favorite Songs of 2016 (So Far)” where I’ll list off which songs and bands in particular have really impressed me so far. Expect it the last week of June! In the mean time I’ll be sharing cool songs or lesser known bands I come across!

Also fair warning, if you’re looking for anything about country music… you are on the wrong blog. My music preferences are rock and metal with the occasional pop or rap artists so if any of those tickle your fancy then we’ll get along just fine!