Category Archives: Random Stuff

2013 Album of the Year

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Wisdom-Of-Crowds

1- Wisdom of Crowds – Wisdom of Crowds
2- Clutch – Earth Rocker
3- Anneke Van Giersbergen – Drive
4- Gov’t Mule – Shout!
5- Hank Williams III – Brothers of the 4×4
6- Ministry – From Beer to Eternity
7- Tedeschi Trucks Band – Made Up Mind
8- Dark Tranquillity – Construct
9- Depeche Mode – Delta Machine
10- Black Sabbath – 13

This is the 10th time that I’ve done a blog and/or a countdown for my Albums of the Year. Last year, I wrote the difficulty I had choosing the top album, as Katatonia and Lacuna Coil both put out such strong albums. This year, I found myself with a similar dilema, as well as a new one. I’ll discuss the new dilemma after I do the run through of the top albums. And to give you a slight hint about the dilemma, let me just let you know that this year could have been the “Year of Jonas Renkse.”

Jonas Renkse is the lead singer of Katatonia, and it’s no secret that they’re one of my favorite groups. They’ve been awarded my Album of the Year honors twice (2009 and 2012) and have come close in other years. I heard that Jonas was going to be doing a project with Bruce Soord, whom I had never heard of. He has his own band, the Pineapple Thief. But, I’ve never heard of them either. Their project was called Wisdom of Crowds and I was curious to hear it. When I finally got the album, I could not believe what I was hearing. The music was a perfect fit for Jonas’s mellow tone. And on some tracks, I thought I was listening to early Nine Inch Nails stuff, especially with the emotion, and even with musical style. It’s a progressive album, and sometimes sounds a little poppy, but it’s still a solid album from beginning to end and I enjoy the ride it takes me on every time I listen to it, which is often. I look forward to more collaborations with Jonas Renkse and Bruce Soord, and I may even check out some of Soord’s other projects. But, as a result of this effort, I think Jonas Renkse has definitely solidified a spot as one of my favorite male vocalists working today.

I recommend every track on the album, but if I had to pick a few as a sample for people to check out, I would suggest “Wisdom of Crowds,” “Radio Star,” “Frozen North,” “Pleasure,” and “Pretend.”

One of the things I liked so much about Lacuna Coil’s album last year was that they “returned to form” after a few albums that disappointed me (to say the least). Clutch is a band that I’ve been listening to for over 20 years, and only once did they put out an album that I genuinely didn’t like, and that was 2009’s Strange Cousins From the West. I’m not alone in my dislike for it, and I’ve discussed it with friends a few times. The album never “grew on me” is a common statement about it. I think that’s the issue with it right there, it shouldn’t have had to.

However, Clutch’s 2013 album, Earth Rocker is definitely a return to form for them. It’s everything a Clutch album should be. If people ever ask me to classify Clutch, I can’t put them into a specific genre, but I do use the title of their 2001 album to describe them. They’re simply “Pure Rock Fury” and that’s exactly what Earth Rocker is. I couldn’t believe how much I liked the album when I was listening to it for the first time. And just as I was thinking “wow, this album rocks, there isn’t a mellow song yet,” I heard “Gone Cold” for the first time. That very well me the best blues song Clutch has created. That’s a bold statement, but I stand by it. It pulls at my heart’s strings, which is what a good blues song is supposed to do. It’s nice to see a band such as this return to what I want them to be.

Tracks from Earth Rocker that I believe you should check out include: “D.C. Sound Attack!,” “Crucial Velocity,” “Gone Cold,” “The Face,” and of course, the title track, “Earth Rocker.”

In last year’s blog, I mentioned that I felt Anneke Van Giersbergen had finally found HER sound as a solo artist. She expanded on that with this year’s realase, Drive. The album has some significant emotion in her voice, and sometimes it’s anger, but it works. And if Jonas Renkse is my favorite male vocalist at the moment, Anneke Van Giersbergen is definitely my favorite female vocalist.

Tracks to check out include “We Live On,” “The Best is Yet to Come,” and my favorite track on the album due to hearing the anger and emotion in it is “Treat Me Like a Lady.”

Gov’t Mule is the quintessential rock/jam band and their front man Warren Haynes is one of the best guitar players in the world. The first disc of Mule’s album Shout! would be a strong contender for anyone’s album of the year list by itself, but it’s the second disc of this double album that puts it over the top. The second disc has all of the songs from the first album redone with different singers. It’s interesting to hear the different interpretations of the songs, but in all honesty, the album would be in my top 10 even without the second disc.

I recommend tracks such as “Stoop So Low,” and I either version is excellent, but the second disc version with Dr. John is unreal. I also really liked “World Boss,” “Funny Little Tragedy,” and “Whisper in Your Soul.”

Hank Williams III put out two albums in 2013 and one of them was a double album. For some people that’s quite an accomplishment, but I consider it slacking for him. He put out 3 albums in 2011, and one of them was also a double album. Regardless of that, his double album, Brothers of the 4×4 is the 5th best album of 2013. Hank knows how to write a country song in the style that his legendary grandfather wrote, but still puts a modern take on it. The songs on the this album are slightly longer than I’m used to from him, and that just adds to the enjoyment. Brothers of the 4×4 is what I expect to hear from Hank, when he’s doing a country album, that is.

Track recommendations from Brothers of the 4×4 include “Nearly Gone,” “Hurtin’ for Certin,” “Toothpickin,” and “Loners 4 Life.”

I didn’t think I would be reviewing another Ministry album, especially since I saw their retirement tour in 2008, but they’re back with their second (and likely last) album since then. This album, From Beer to Eternity, like their previous, 2012’s Relapse is a fun album to listen to. You can seriously tell that they enjoyed making it. If this is indeed their final final album (and yes, I did mean to write “final” twice), it’s a good reminder of how good Ministry can be. Some of the songs on this album remind me of their peak from the late 1980s and early 1990s. If you like Ministry, or industrial music at all, you should check out From Beer to Eternity.

“Hail To His Majesty (Peasants),” “Permawar,” and “Side FX Include Mikey’s Middle Finger (TV 4)” stand out to me.

Made Up Mind from Tedeschi Trucks Band is a great mix of rock, blues, and funk. If you take those elements and through in the amazing guitar skills of Derek Trucks and the soulfull voice of Susan Tedeschi and you should have a great album. I can’t say enough things about Derek Trucks’ guitar skills. I truly believe he IS THE BEST guitar player alive today and watching/hearing a solo from him is just amazing at times. If you’re a fan of Trucks or Tedeschi, or the Gov’t Mule, or the Allman Brothers Band, this is an album you need to hear.

The title track, Made Up Mind is a great track, as are “Sweet and Low,” “All that I Need,” and “the Storm.”

It’s unfortunate for Dark Tranquillity that so many other bands that represent “The Gothenburg Sound” have fallen off and put out such incredible dreck over the last few years. It almost makes me afraid to hear a Dark Tranquillity release, but luckily for me, they have not disappoint me. Construct is another good release from them. I’m always so relieved when I hear that they haven’t lost the sound that makes them distinct. There’s a few times when listening to this album when I said “oh yeah, that’s Dark Tranquillity.” And that’s a good thing.

The opening track, “For Broken Words,” along with “Weight of the End,” and “State of Trust” are some of my favorite songs from the album.

Depeche Mode is on my list of Top Albums of the Year. Who saw that one coming? I know I didn’t, but here they are with Delta Machine. I don’t have a tremendous amount of Depeche Mode’s catalog, but I do have a few “best of” albums and a few of their other releases. I think there’s two or three songs on Delta Machine that could end up on a “best of” one day, and for a band that’s been around for over 30 years with as many hits as they’ve had, that’s saying something.

The songs I was referring to are “Welcome to My World,” “Heaven,” and “Soothe My Soul.”

If Depeche Mode on this list is surprising, so is Black Sabbath, especially since it’s the Ozzy Osbourne incarnation. If only for the fact that nobody ever thought that would happen again. And like Metallica and a few other acts before them, Black Sabbath went to Rick Rubin to produce the album and he made sure to capture the Black Sabbath sound that we expected and wanted to hear. Rubin has a way to get bands to sound like they should, which of course bothers me, because maybe they shouldn’t have strayed from that in the first place, but that’s a different rant for a different time. But, 13, the first album that Black Sabbath released with Ozzy Osbourne singing since 1978 is a solid Black Sabbath effort. As I’ve said, it has the sound we want and it is a good album to close out my 10th Annual Countdown.

Tracks from 13 that I suggest include “God is Dead?,” “Pariah,” and “Loner.”

Some notes on some other albums that came out in 2013:

For a few consecutive years I wrote in these blogs that Steven Wilson was a genius. His albums with Porcupine Tree and Blackfield usually ranked very high on my lists. However, over the last few years, Porcupine Tree has begun to disappoint me, Blackfield is fading, Wilson’s solo projects didn’t do much for me, and I don’t want to get into his Storm Corrosion collaboration. However, that didn’t stop me from getting his newest solo album, The Raven That Refused to Sing and Other Stories. Let me state that I don’t belive the album is nearly as bad as some of the other things I’ve heard from him over the last few years, but it didn’t do it for me. And seeing him perform some of the tracks live made me like them less than before, and that’s not supposed to happen. I would say that his music has become quite pretentious, but that wouldn’t insult him or the music, since he’s described it that way himself. If you like progressive albums, you may like this one. It just wasn’t for me.

Another progressive act that I enjoyed over the past decade was Arjen Lucassen’s Ayreon project. Lucassen will assemble a large cast of musicians to basically tell a story in a rock/prog opera style. 2004’s Human Equation was a masterpiece and 2008’s 01011001 brought Jonas Renkse and Anneke Van Giersbergen together for some songs, so how could I not like it? But Ayreon’s 2013 release, The Theory of Everything is really lacking where the others succeeded. It bothers me to say that, as one of my all-time favorite singers, Lacuna Coil’s Cristina Scabbia is on the album in a prominent role. It’s just that the story in this album isn’t that good and unlike other albums from Ayreon, there aren’t many (if any) songs on this album I would go out of my way to hear. Maybe Lucassen can rebound next time.

Nine Inch Nails came out of retirement and released Hesitation Marks. It’s okay, at best.

Carcass also resurfaced and put out Surgical Steel. It’s just not my thing.

Mike Patton’s Tomahawk released Oddfellows and like Nine Inch Nails, it’s okay.

The other release from Hank Williams III was a Hellbilly album called A Fiendish Threat. It’s not bad.

And that brings me to Katatonia. I struggled with this decision, but neither of Katatonia’s two released are eligible for consideration based on the rules I’ve previous set and followed for these lists. Katatonia won album of the year last year with Dead End Kings. They re-issued that album this year after changing up the musical style of it and called the album Dethroned & Uncrowned. While it is a new take on songs, it’s not new material and therefore, not eligible.

The other release from Katatonia was a 10th anniversary edition of Viva Emptiness. I always liked Viva Emptiness as it was, even though I always felt is sounded a little bit different from the rest of the Katatonia releases. Well, the band thought it did too, but they were never happy with it until now. They remastered, re-mixed, and re-released it this year. I now feel like the album I had been listening to since 2003 was nothing more than un unfinished demo-tape and I’ve finally been able to hear the final (and much better) product. However, it is still not new material, and can’t be considered for this list. Although, if either album from Katatonia were eligible, they would likely be very high on the list, and that would explain my previous comment that this could have been the “Year of Jonas Renkse.”

I don’t know many bands releasing albums in 2014, but I do know that 2011’s Album of the Year winner, Within Temptation will have a new album out early in the year. Scott H. Biram, Lacuna Coil, Anathema have also had some studio time soon, so I expect releases from them as well. All of those acts have had some stong albums recently, let’s hope that continues. I look forward to hearing what 2014 will bring me.

A note about eligibility for my 2013 Album of the Year:
– the album must have had a United States street date in 2013
– the album must be new material (for the band or artist)
– live albums are only eligible if they’re new material

I’ll Win This Race. I’ll Leave Alone, Arrive Alone.

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On September 1st of last year, I ran in my first ever organized 5K race. I had my sister with me by my side, and I still consider the entire event to be one of the proudest moments of my life. If you want more details of that race, please go back and read my blog about that by clicking here.

This year, one day before the anniversary of that wonderful day, I ran in the same race. This time, for reasons I’ll likely get into in a future entry, my sister could not run with me. Last year, I gave her A LOT of credit for pushing me to keep running and to get me to the finish line in 29 minutes and 45 seconds. Without her there, I hoped to have a comparable time this year. That was always my goal if I got to another race.

I practiced the distance on a treadmill at gyms a decent amount of times over the last few weeks and months. I did not do nearly the amount of practicing I did the year before. I also did not get to run outdoors as much as I did last year. However, I want to make it very clear that I am not making any excuses for anything. I just couldn’t make the outdoor running happen this time.

During some practice runs last year I learned VERY QUICKLY that running on a treadmill and running on pavement are INCREDIBLY different activities. My legs did NOT like outdoor running at all last year. This time around, they were a bit more accustomed to it, even if I didn’t do it as often.

Also, as I’ve mentioned in previous entries, I’ve been doing DDP Yoga for over a year. By coincidence, my initial 13 week program ended the day of last year’s race. It was a great culmination of effort on various fronts for me. For most of the time since last year’s race and this year, I didn’t follow any pre-planned program with DDP Yoga, I just made it up as I went along. However, leading up to the race, I again made sure to follow a specific 13 week program, but this time I made it a harder one. I’ve also been eating A LOT healthier than I’ve been used to and I’m likely in the best shape of my life.

A day or two before the race, I had a dream about it and in that dream, I finished it in 28 minutes and 50 seconds. I had also told people who I would be very satisfied if I completed it in 31 minutes. The way I looked at it now, I had the goals in front of me. It was just up to me to make it happen.

Fast forward to race day, August 31st, 2013. I was nervous. I didn’t know what I was capable of that day. A few of my recent practice runs didn’t go so well. I had my MP3 player ready and I chose to use the exact same playlist I had used during last year’s race, but as I said before, this time I was doing it alone.

At 9:20 am, former New York Giant, “Touchdown Maker” Stephen Baker fired the gun and we were off. I believed I was doing well, but early on I had a bit of discomfort in my side. I slowed down to a brisk walk. I walked a few times during last year’s race, but this time I had started my walk A LOT sooner than I did last year. I was now concerned about my time.

I picked up the pace and ran until I had to start walking again. This happened a few times, but at no point did I ever stop moving. Well, that’s not true. At one point I had to stop moving since I noticed my shoelace was about to be undone. Once I fixed that, I kept moving. Slightly after the 2 mile mark of the race is the only real hill in this path. It’s a little steep, and after running/walking 2 miles it can seem like an issue for inexperienced runners such as myself. At this point, since I was not confident of my time, I was determined to RUN all the way up that hill. Even if my time was lousy, at least I had that accomplishment.

The race finishes on the track at the high school in my town. When I got to the track, I had to run about 70% of the distance around the track. Well, I didn’t run 70% of it, I walked some of it. When I came around the bend and saw the time, I saw it was past 31 minutes, but once the finish line was in front of me, I took off and ran across and finished in 32 minutes and 13 seconds.

I did not hit either of my goals, but at no point then or since have I been disappointed by that. I crossed the finish line, and that itself is a wonderfully rewarding feeling. I have no complaints about the result. The time may not be what I wanted, but I did learn two things from it. The first was that I CAN do this. The second (which may be more important) is that I started out too fast, and that’s really where my sister came in last year, as she paced me and at various times had me slow down.

The title of this blog had been picked out for a long time. It’s a line from Faith No More’s song, “Stripsearch.” It’s on my running playlist. When I picked it for my playlist, I did not pick it because of that line. I actually forgot about the line. I picked the song because they had done the theme from “Chariots of Fire” as the intro to the song during their reunion tour in 2009 and 2010. When I heard the line during last year’s race, I got emotional and motivated to “win” the race. This year, it was more appropriate, since I was doing it alone.

Last year my sister and I crossed the finish line together. I’ll say it again, it was one of the proudest moments of my life. This year, I crossed the finish line by myself. It was different, but still very rewarding. It wasn’t the culmination of things that last year’s race was, but it was the culmination of what had been an incredibly good week. And I will explain all of that in another entry in the near future.

I do look forward to competing in more races and I hope my schedule will allow it to happen. But, like anything obstacle or challenge in my life, that’s up to me to fix. My determination is stronger than it’s been in a very long time to make some more changes. The line “I’ll win this race, I’ll leave alone, arrive alone” does not necessarily just apply to a 5k race I do, it applies to life. Life is a race. I am in no rush to get to life’s finish line, but I WILL win the race….

A respectable time.

A respectable time.

If you look up, there are no limits…

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Sometimes a moment in life can seem insignificant when it happens. That moment may turn out to be very significant by the time it’s all said and done. Back in 2001 or so, a friend of mine that knew I was into female fronted metal bands had suggested that I listen to the band Lacuna Coil from Italy. I had never heard of them before then, but I followed his advice and downloaded their song “To Myself I Turned.” I was immediately hooked. Nice story so far, but not tremendously significant.

By early 2003, Lacuna Coil had released two more albums and were supposed to be on a tour with Opeth, Paradise Lost, and Tapping the Vein. At the time, Opeth and (especially) Paradise Lost were two of my favorite bands that I had not yet seen in concert. The chance to see all of them at once seemed too good to be true, and it was. Lacuna Coil had to back out of the tour. I was upset, but not terribly upset, since this meant Paradise Lost was now able to play a longer set. Again, this does not seem like a terribly significant event.

Opeth toured the United States again in the Spring of 2003 and Lacuna Coil was once again their support. I got myself a ticket to see one of their local shows on May 15th. Not long before the day of the concert I found out that the members of Lacuna Coil were going to be doing a meet and greet at a record store a few hours before the show. I went to that event and met the band. I immediately noticed how nice the members of the band were and how much they genuinely liked and appreciated their fans. Also, at the signing, I noticed a girl taking a lot of pictures. I didn’t yet know how significant all of this would be.

Who knew how significant this ticket would be?

Who knew how significant this ticket would be?

A few weeks later I was in a Metal music chat room on Yahoo. Someone in the chat asked if anyone had been to any shows recently. I mentioned that I saw Opeth and Lacuna Coil at the Birch Hill in NJ. Someone else in the room said they were also at that show and we started talking. Her name was Candace, and as it turns out, she was the one talking all the pictures at the show. As random as that revelation was, it did not seem to be very significant.

Just over one month later, Lacuna Coil was back at the Birch Hill, this time they were the support for Type O Negative, whom I had liked for over a decade, but had never seen live. It was at this show that I first met Candace and her boyfriend (at the time), Anthony face to face. It was not a very significant meeting, it was more like a “Hi, nice to meet you” and that was it.

During that Summer, Anthony and Candace told me about EmptySpiral.net, a website created by a Lacuna Coil fan from England for Lacuna Coil fans to go to. I joined the site and often posted messages there. At the time, this seemed to be just another site that I belonged to and enjoyed being a part of, but it didn’t seem to have any real significance to my life.

Lacuna Coil played a few headline shows in late 2003. I went to those shows and would always meet up with Anthony, Candace, and now a few more people they knew from EmptySpiral. And through my association with them, I was now regularly hanging out with the band before and after shows. I knew this was not insignificant.

Me with the members of Lacuna Coil in 2003

Me with the members of Lacuna Coil in 2003

When Ozzfest 2004 came around, Lacuna Coil was one of the acts on the “second stage” and had quite a buzz about them. Other than legendary acts such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Slayer, Lacuna Coil’s sales at Ozzfest were at the top. I saw them at a local Ozzfest show and attained a very significant sunburn doing so. After Ozzfest, Lacuna Coil went back home to Italy for to rest and to make a new album. During that time I made a lot more friends on EmptySpiral.net, even if I had not met most of them in person.

Lacuna Coil returned to the United States in March, 2006 as support for Rob Zombie. I went to see them in NYC. They did a meet and greet after their set. I was thrilled when members of the bands got out of their chairs to hug me when they saw me. One of them even said “it’s been almost 2 years, how have you been?” It was nice to see that I was more than just another face in the crowd. It definitely made me feel at least moderately significant.

Cristina in 2006, opening for Rob Zombie

Cristina in 2006, opening for Rob Zombie

During the summer of 2006, Lacuna Coil was once again a part of the lineup for Ozzfest, but this time they were on the “main stage.” Anthony had arranged an “EmptySpiral Meet” that week and various people that we knew from EmptySpiral that were literally from all over the world came out to hang out for a week or so. I wasn’t able to attend all of those events, but I did make a few appearances. I bought a ticket to see the Ozzfest date in Camden, NJ. A few hours AFTER I got my ticket, I was told by Anthony that Lacuna Coil was giving us all tickets for the show. I was not yet aware of how significant of a ticket it was.

Lacuna Coil did not just give us general admission tickets, they gave us tickets with passes with access to various backstage areas. It was because of this I was able to watch acts like Black Label Society from the stage. It was a very interesting for me to watch a show from behind the band. When Lacuna Coil played, we were all allowed to be right in front of the stage to watch them. It was actually a pretty good experience, as the general admission ticket that I had wouldn’t have gotten me anywhere near those areas. Along with the EmptySpiral crew, we spent basically all day hanging out with the band. It was a very good experience and more significant than I realized it was at the time.

Black Label Society from behind the stage.

Black Label Society from behind the stage.

Performing at Ozzfest 2006

Lacuna Coil at Ozzfest 2006

I can go on and on about other stories and other times meeting the band including a time when I called the female singer of the band the “C word” and when I may have been responsible for making one member of the band ill and forcing him to miss an acoustic appearance. But, this story isn’t about that. This story is about significance. It’s that simple. Due to a simple suggestion from one friend, I didn’t just gain a new band to listen to, which would have been a good thing by itself, but I gained friends, experiences, and memories that cannot be matched. Something that seemed to very insignificant ended up being one of the most significant things that’s ever happened to me and I couldn’t be more grateful.

Someone is missing.

Someone is missing.

Lacuna Coil during the

Lacuna Coil during the “Hottest Chicks in Metal” tour

So please allow me now to take the time to thank Jeremiah for the suggestion. Also I need to thank Anthony, Candace, Teague, Lisa, Erin, Melanie, Michelle, Danica, Cynthia, Luca, Amalia and any other friend I’ve met directly (or indirectly) due to Lacuna Coil. I also have to thank Matt for creating EmptySpiral.net and allowing us to meet on there and for recommending “Spaced” and “Firefly” to me. And of course, a big thanks goes out to Cristina, Andi, Maus, Maki, CriZ, and Pizza. This story would never have happened without them.

Taking a a bow after

Taking a a bow after “Dark Legacy” tour in 2012

As a side note, last year I wrote about the 5K race I ran and the unbelievable pride I felt in completing that race. Lacuna Coil’s song “Daylight Dancer” was the song I was listening to when I crossed the finish line.

Don't ask. You had to be there.

Don’t ask. You had to be there.

2012 Album of the Year

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1- Katatonia – “Dead End Kings”
2- Lacuna Coil – “Dark Adrenaline”
3- Garbage – “Not Your Kind of People”
4- The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band – “Between the Ditches”
5- Anathema – “Weather Systems”
6- Anneke van Giersbergen – “Everything is Changing”
7- Moonspell – “Alpha Noir/Omega White”
8- Paradise Lost – “Tragic Idol”
9- Muse – “The 2nd Law”
10- Rush – “Clockwork Angels”
11- Neil Young & Crazy Horse – “Americana”
12 – Ministry – “Relapse”
13 – Dion – “Tank Full of Blues”
14 – Willie Nelson – “Heroes”
15 – Kid Rock – “Rebel Soul”

Dead_End_Kings

I’ve been doing these Album of the Year blogs since 2004 and I usually have a good idea of what THE album of the year is early on. I don’t have to choose the album, as much as I know it’s the best album of the year as soon as I hear it. This year wasn’t that easy for me. That’s part of the reason I’m listing 15 albums this year instead of 10. 2012 was a very good year for new music. I had a very hard time picking THE album of the year. Many of the albums on my list could have been an Album of the Year. But, I had to pick only one. And after much thought and internal debate, I realized that Katatonia’s “Dead End Kings” is my 2012 Album of the Year.

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Katatonia. I’ve logged more mileage on my car to see their shows than any other band I listen to. But, I’m also objective and if a band puts out an album that I don’t like, I’ll honestly critique it. With all of that said, Katatonia put out their best album in over 10 years. “Dead End Kings” is their best album since 2001’s “Last Fair Deal Gone Down.” And that album had a profound impact on me. There are so many tracks on this album that I love. Honestly, even the songs I like less than others I still like.

When this album came out, I actually waited a few days to listen to it. I had purchased a few albums and I wanted to make sure that I was able to give all of them a fair chance. Katatonia had released a few tracks and I liked them, so I knew it would likely be ranked high on my list, but I wasn’t sure it was THIS good until I heard the whole thing. And some versions of the album had two bonus tracks, which are also both AMAZING. One of those tracks, “the Act of Darkening” is easily one of my favorite Katatonia songs EVER, and I’ve been listening to this band since the late 1990s. If you’re a fan of Katatonia and you haven’t heard this album, you’re truly missing out. If you’re a fan of metal, doom, progressive, or whatever they’re categorized as this week, check out “Dead End Kings.” It’s THAT GOOD.

Tracks I truly recommend you checking out include “The Parting,” “the Racing Heart,” “Buildings,” “Undo You,” “Lethean,” “First Prayer,” and “Dead Letters.”

I really wanted to rank Lacuna Coil’s “Dark Adrenaline” as the #1 Album of the Year. I really did. And honestly, I thought it would be #1. If I could have, I would have ranked it as 1b. I was critical of their last two albums, 2006’s “Karmacode” and 2009’s “Shallow Life.” In fact, “Shallow Life” did not even make my Top 10 list in 2009. That’s how incredibly disappointed I was in that album. Lacuna Coil peaked in 2001 and 2002 with “Unleashed Memories” and “Comalies.” Those two albums were brilliant. But there was something about their releases since then that I just did not like. I was never truly able to place what it was, but something was just not right, as far as I was concerned. Upon first listening to “Dark Adrenaline” I was in love with the album and realized that this album had what was missing from their previous two. It was an incredible return to form for a band I’ve been such a fan of for so long. And it’s not just my opinion. I’ve discussed this with fans from (literally) all over the world and we’re in agreement. “Dark Adrenaline” is easily the best album the band has put out in 10 years and it manages to continue the direction they were going in while returning to the sound that we loved in the first place.

Tracks I recommend from the album include “Trip the Darkness,” “Give me Something More,” “I Don’t Believe in Tomorrow” and especially “Upsidedown.”

Again I’m speaking about a band putting out their best album in years. “Not Your Kind of People” is Garbage’s best album since their 1995 debut. Like Lacuna Coil, Garbage’s album has a return to the sound that attracted me to them in the first place. This is also a comeback album of sorts, since the band took a 7 year break since their last album and tour. I had no idea what to expect from it and I was more than happy with it. There’s many songs on the album that I like and would easily add to a “Best of” compilation of Garbage’s hits, and they have a lot of hits already. If you were a fan of their first album and didn’t get this one, you should. It’s worth a listen. And I’ve given it many listens.

Tracks worth listening to from “Not Your Kind of People” include the title track, “Control,” “Big Bright World,” “Blood for Poppies,” and especially “Automatic Systematic Habit.”

I had never heard of the Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band prior to seeing them open for Clutch in 2009. I had no idea what to expect. What I saw was a guitar player and frontman that reminded me for Bluto from the old Popeye movie, someone playing a washboard (which she set on first later), and a drummer playing a bucket. I was immediately a fan. I got a few albums from their catalog and enjoyed them. They were fun listens. Their 2010 almost made my Top 10 list, but from upon first listen, I knew 2012’s “Between the Ditches” would be ranked high. It’s that good. The first track I heard from it was “Devils Look Like Angels.” It really showed off how good of a guitar player the Reverend Peyton is. He REALLY IS GOOD. Peyton’s previous albums are good albums, but this one is a GREAT album. There’s something about the production on this album that makes everything that needs to be emphasized stand out and stand out well. If you’re a fan of blues, country, bluegrass, or just good guitar players, I highly recommend this one.

Tracks I think you should check out include “Devils Look Like Angels,” “Something for Nothing,” “Big Blue Chevy ’72,” and “Brown Country Bound.”

I had heard about Anathema from various people for years, but never really listened to them. I saw them last year as special guests of Blackfield. I was very impressed and decided to check out their new album “Weather Systems” when it came out. And, WOW. I was very impressed with the incredible beauty of their sound. It’s rich, energetic, majestic, and metal all at the same time. The first two tracks “Untouchable” parts 1 and 2 are simply two of the best tracks I’ve heard in years. This album, like every one I’ve reviewed so far could easily have been #1 on anyone’s list. And I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this one ranked high on many lists.

Tracks worth listening to include “Untouchable, Part 1,” “Untouchable, Part 2,” “the Gathering of the Clouds,” and “the Beginning and the End.”

After Anneke van Giersbergen left the Gathering in 2007 she’s put out a few solo releases. But it wasn’t until this year’s “Everything is Changing” do I think she finally found HER sound as solo artist. This album is what I’ve been waiting for her to put out. It’s a great mixture of a hard rock sound and an electronic sound blended perfectly with her amazing voice. And it’s her voice that has always blown me away. She is easily one of the best vocalists I’ve ever heard. Her voice is captivating. Like Lacuna Coil, I can also say van Giersbergen returned to form as well. But, she did it with a new band. And I’m glad she did.

Tracks I recommend include “Everything is Changing,” “I Feel Alive,” “Hope, Pray, Dance, Play,” “My Boy,” and “Circles.”

Moonspell’s album in 2012 is actually a double album. The first one, “Alpha Noir” is a death metal album while “Omega White” goes back to their gothic period. Both records are solid releases and deserve to be ranked high on any list of the top albums of 2012. The first track on “Alpha Noir” is “Axis Mundi.” When I first heard that song I said “this is a song I wish Opeth had written.” It’s that good of a metal song, while Opeth has apparently gone off into more progressive areas. I feel that if you’re a fan of either era of Moonspell’s career (metal or gothic) you’ll find something you like on this release.

“Axis Mundi,” “Lickanthrope,” “Opera Carne,” New Tears Eve,” and “Herodisiac” are the tracks that I highly recommend from the album.

If it wasn’t for Paradise Lost, many of the bands on this list would not exist. They have been around for over 20 years and are the reason I listen to many of the bands I listen to including Lacuna Coil, Moonspell, and Katatonia. They were all influenced by Paradise Lost. Their 2012 album, “Tragic Idol” is another solid release from them with many really good tracks on it. They’ve managed to again mix their various styles over the years while keeping it distinctly Paradise Lost. If you’re a fan of Paradise Lost of even the death/doom metal genre, you need to hear this album if you haven’t.

Tracks I recommend from “Tragic Idol” include “Fear of an Impending Hell,” “In This We Dwell,” Theories from Another World,” and “Honesty in Death.”

I’m relatively new to Muse. I hadn’t listened to them prior to seeing them open for U2 a few years ago. I was impresed. “The 2nd Law” is their first new album since I’ve been aware of them. It’s a good album, but at certain points it lacks the power that other Muse albums have. But, even with that said about it, it’s worthy of being the 9th best album of 2012. I’ve even joked that many of the songs on this album could be on a James Bond soundtrack and I believe that to be and honor. If you like Muse, you will probably like this album and I recommend you give it a listen if you haven’t already.

Tracks I like from “The 2nd Law” include “Supremacy,” “Madness,” “Panic Station,” “Survival,” and “Follow Me.”

Yes, I said Rush is on my list. I cannot claim to be a huge fan of Rush. I’ve seen them in concert and thoroughly enjoyed the show. I’m well aware of their legacy and their history. However, I’ve never really listened to them much. I had read some reviews of “Clockwork Angels” and was curious enough to give it a listen. I could not believe what I was hearing. It was INCREDIBLY HEAVY. Their song “BU2B” is incredible. And from what I’ve heard from longtime Rush fans, it’s one of the heaviest songs they’ve ever put out. And like I said about Moonspell and Opeth, I think “Clockwork Angels” is an album that I wish Porcupine Tree had put out instead of whatever it was their last album was.

Tracks worth checking out include “Caravan,” “Seven Cities of Gold,” and especially “Bu2B.”

I had started listening to Sirius/XM’s Outlaw Country channel a bit over the summer and one of the songs I heard played frequently there was “Clementine” by Neil Young & Crazy Horse. I know it’s an old American standard, but this version had me interested. I got the rest of the album and I like just about every song on the album. They’re all old American standard, hense the name of the album, “Americana.” I think many of these songs would be a welcome addition to any Summertime playlist.

Some of my favorite tracks from this album include, “Clementine,” “Get a Job,” “This Land is Your Land,” “Tom Dula,” and “Oh Susannah.”

When I reviwed Ministry’s “The Last Sucker” in 2007, I was pretty sure that I would not be reviewing or ranking another Ministry album. They had advertised that album as their last album and the tour for it was the C-U-La-Tour. They were retiring after a long career. Well, something changed, obviously. They got back together and put out “Relapse.” The first thing I noticed on this album is that you can hear that it’s fun. They seemed to have fun recording it and I had fun listening to it. I don’t know if it’s a one time thing or if they’re back full-time, but it’s a good album filled with their usual political messages and sound bites.

Tracks worth listening to include “Ghouldiggers,” “99 Percenters.” “Relapse” and especially their cover of SOD’s “United Forces.”

Only on my lists can we go from Ministry to Dion. It just seems weird, even to me, but regardless of that, Dion’s “Tank Full of Blues” is just a good blues album. I’ve documented various times the significance that Dion has for me. This album here is the best album he’s put out over the last few years, and he’s put out of a few. It’s a well thought out blues album with some very solid tracks that I would recommend to any fan of Dion or any fan of the blues, and there’s lots of both.

Some good tracks from this album include “Tank Full of Blues,” “Ride’s Blues (For Robert Johnson),” “Bronx Poem,” and “I Read It (in the Rolling Stone).”

Willie Nelson’s music can be very simple at times, but sometimes that’s what is needed. There isn’t a need to over-produce everything. Willie Nelson’s career has lasted almost 60 years. There isn’t much I can say about him that hasn’t been said. His album “Heroes” is mostly classic country songs done by Nelson and various guest artists. “Roll Me Up” is a track on this album that features a few guests including Snoop Dogg. It’s a really fun song to listen to.  The album also has a great cover of Coldplay’s song “the Scientist.” Just do yourself a favor and give this album a listen.

Tracks I recommend include “That’s all There is to This Song,” “Roll Me Up,” “The Scientist,” and “Everytime he Drinks, he Thinks of Her.”

Kid Rock’s album “Rebel Soul” came out late in 2012 and I didn’t think it was going to make it to any lists I did this year. It really had to grow on me. After listening for a while I realized that it’s not a bad rock or country album. There are some good songs on it, no doubt, but it lacked something. It doesn’t really have the attitude that I was used to from Kid Rock albums. But then again, maybe that’s where he is now. He did produce this album on his own, so maybe this is it. Kid Rock’s music is definitely more country than it is anything else at this point. That isn’t a problem for me, and maybe if I expected that going in, I would have ranked this album higher.

Tracks that are good on this include “Let’s Ride,” “Redneck Paradise,” and “Mr Rock n’ Roll.”

Some other good realease in 2012 include Fozzy’s “Sin and Bones” and ZZ Top’s “La Futura.”

Hank Williams III had an album come out in 2012 as well. I can’t say he released an album in 2012, because it was his old record label that put it out in order to fullfil a contractual obligation and because Hank has gone on record asking people not to buy it. The album is mostly older songs that he had done on collaborations and some songs from his older albums that have been remixed. If it was new material, it would have made my list, likely at #12 spot. And I’m sure Hank would be happy to see that I would have had to knock Kid Rock out of the countdown as a result.

Mumford and Sons put out their album “Babel” and it did nothing for me. The same can be said for Fiona Apple’s “The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do.” And, I want the record to state that I did a cut and paste for the name of that album.

And now I get to Storm Corrosion. Storm Corrosion is a project that Mikael Akerfeldt from Opeth and Steven Wilson from Porcupine Tree colaborated on. Based on what they’ve done together before I was very curious to see if I would like this album. However, based on the previous releases from Opeth and Porcupine Tree, I was worried about how much I may not like it. And I have to admit that I had no idea how right I was about my fears. I don’t know if I can possibly state how much I do not like this album. In fact, if it was the only album that came out in 2012, I would find a way to disqualify it from contention or I would just refuse to announce an Album of the Year. This album is nothing but ambient noises disguised as a progressive album. Robert Fripp from King Crimson would love this thing, but I certainly do not. I really don’t like it. I think I’ve made that somewhat clear. I guess it’s ironic that in a year that gave me so many albums that I liked that I felt I needed to do a Top 15 list instead of just a Top 10, I also get an album that I dislike as much as this, and from two of my favorite musicians.

I’m not aware of many new releases in 2013 yet other than new albums from Clutch and Tomahawk. And based on the direction Clutch was going, this will either be a hit or miss. And as far as Tomahawk goes, it’s a Mike Patton project, so I have no idea what it will sound like or if it’ll be something to take seriously. But we’ll see. If I like 2013’s new releases half as much as I did 2012’s, it’ll be a good year.

A note about eligibility for my 2012 Album of the Year:
– the album must have had a United States street date in 2012
– the album must be new material (for the band or artist)
– live albums are only eligible if they’re new material