While it has been a bad year for the world in general and the music business itself has experienced multiple heavy blows, it has also (and somewhat unsurprisingly) been a pretty fantastic year for new releases. Whether it's rock, metal, rap or country, I've found awesome albums wherever I've looked, and practically every month has had something decent drop. Part of that may be due to the pandemic meaning artists have had more time stuck at home to write and record, but given the output I cannot exactly complain! I have somehow managed to narrow down my long list of great 2020 albums down to just 15, and then struggled even harder to get them into an actual legitimate order. So, if any of you are interested in how I see the overall output of this year in music, please check out the rest of the article below. I promise I won't disappoint (although I'm bound to anger one or two of you!)
First, some honorable mentions (albums that came so close to making the list and ones that it pains me to not include):
Loathe: I Let it in And it Took Everything
Bodycount: Carnivore
Eurovison Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga: Movie Soundtrack
Lamb of God: Lamb of God
Metallica: S&M2
Brothers Osbourne: Skeletons
Bad Touch: Kiss the Sky
15. Biffy Clyro: Celebration of Endings
The first album to make this list is one that definitely grew on me a lot more after reviewing it. While it is still not the best album by far, hence it's placement on this list, I think it is definitely better than I how first reviewed it. I gave it a middling 5 back then, but think it may even stretch to a solid 7 at this point. The songs that I loved before, such as Space and Cop Syrup, remain to be still some of Biffy's best ever work while songs like Tiny Indoor Fireworks and End Of have slowly grown on me more and more with every listen. There are still albums I prefer by the band, but having said that this isn't my least favourite Biffy album either. And heck, when a band as fantastic as Biffy release even an simply good album, it is still up there with one of the best albums of the year.
Check out it's lead single, Tiny Indoor Fireworks here.
Original overall: 5/10
Revised overall: 6.5/10
14. Alanis Moressette: Such Pretty Forks in the Road
25 years after she became an overnight superstar and became one of the most reconisable voices of the late 90's with the release of Jagged Little Pill, Alanis released another album that shows she is still an incredible songwriter and singer and proves why she deserves to still be on top. Starting off strong with the amazing Smiling, this album just goes from strength to strength in the first few songs, the highlight for me being Reasons I drink. The woman's signature grungy vocals are still there, but the songwriting has matured into more of a slow, epic ballad style, something that lends itself surprisingly well to her higher, harsher voice. However, as beautiful as it is, it is also part of the reason the album is this low on the list. It's definitely awesome, no doubt about that, but it's ALL slower songs. Not one is even close to the level of rock of something like You Oughta Know, which is a shame as I loved the heavier side of her early stuff. As I say, it's definitely a great album, but it could have been higher up had we had a rock song on it.
Check out Reasons I Drink here.
Overall: 7/10
13. Pucifer: Existential Reckoning
Maynard James Keenan's other, other band, Pucifer, have always been the oddest one of the three, and Existential Reckoning certainly does nothing to change that fact. Opening on electronic sounds, programmed drums and Maynard's hauntingly beautiful vocals with Bread and Circus, it really sets the tone and mood for the album perfectly. This is everything that the terrible 2020 Nine Inch Nails albums should have been, even if they are a little lighter than NIN would be. It's all pretty slow paced throughout but that gives it a really awesome chilled, psychedelic vibe to it. It's awesome to stick on and just jam to if you have time to listen to the whole thing, as it's definitely more of a whole album experience rather than the odd single or two to listen to on their own. Everything combined together great here to make it one of the most well rounded, if out there, albums.
Check out the strange, Covid related video to Apocalyptical here.
Overall: 7/10
12. Public Enemy: What you Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down?
With their 2020 album, Public Enemy show that they have very much still got it, even though their last studio album was a whopping 13 years ago. While said album did contain their biggest song to date, Harder Than You Think, I would honestly say this album is stronger overall. From the awesome opener, When the Grid Go Down, through awesome songs like Toxic and the NWA legend Ice-T aided Smash the Crowd, all the way to the emotional closer and tribute, R.I.P Blackat, this album is solid from front to back. All of the guests do awesomely, too, from the aforementioned Ice-T to Mike D of Beatie Boys fame, to old friends of the band like Daddy-O. My only criticism is similar to that of the Alanis Morassette album in that towards the end it did have a bit of a samey feel to it, a lot of similar tracks throughout. Then again, that is the case with a lot of late 80's to early 90's rap!
See the star filled video for Grid here.
Overall: 7.5/10
11. Chris Stapleton: Starting Over
The current king of country returned this year with his first album in three years, Starting Over. The only reason I have not reviewed this one yet is because it was released on the same day as the next entry and there are simply not enough hours in the day. Chris returns back to top form with this album though, bringing his signiture style and incredible voice to some of the best, most catchy songs he's every written. While nothing here is quite on the level of Parachute or Tennessee Whiskey (one of the best modern country songs by far) there is still a lot of great stuff on this album. Whether it's his signiture, slower style on songs like Cold or Whiskey Sunrise or his ventures into more rock territory with Arkansas (my favourite song on the album), there is plenty of goodness and variety here to give it a very decent spot on this list. Mr Stapleton has got one hell of a discography so far and if he keeps up with output like this, he'll go down as one of the all time greats of country music.
Here is the video for the album's lead single and title track.
Overall: 7.5/10
10. Phil Campbell: We're the Bastards
The first of the top ten is the most recent, with We're the Bastards being released just last month. Riding high of their awesome debut album, Ringleader, the ex Motörhead guitarist's band again knocked it out of the park with their second full length release. Filled with awesome songs such as Born to Roam, Promises are Poison and Hate Machine. The only reason it is so low down is because I thought a couple of the pre-release singles were a little on the weak side, such as the album's title track. So much so that I thought that song, coupled with the likes of Desert Song, dragged the album down a few spots on the list for me, unfortunately. It is still a fantastic album though, otherwise it wouldn't have made this list, of course, and one that ended this crappy year on a pretty decent high for rock music!
Check out the awesome animated video for Born To Roam from this link!
Overall: 8/10
9. Corey Taylor: CMFT
This album had to make it on here somewhere, mainly just because of the crazy mess of awesomeness that it is. For an album to go from radio rock to jazz to punk to even some rap metal featuring ACTUAL rappers as guests, this quirky debut solo album from the Slipknot/Stone Sour frontman really had it all. I mean, really, is there anything more I can say to explain why this album made the list and why you should check it out? If you must, notable highlights include Meine Lux, Culture Head, The Maria Fire and, of course, the controversial rap-metal song CMFT Must Be Stopped.
Check out this awesome live video of Samantha's Gone from their no fans show, Forum or Against 'em!
Overall: 8/10
8. The Cadillac Three: COUNTRY FUZZ
TC3 actually put out two albums this year and I very nearly cheated and put both on here in one. However I didn't want to mess up the format of this list the first year I try it and I also thought their first one, released way back at the start of February, was the stronger effort of the two. While their other album, Tabasco and Sweet Tea, is still very good, I thought COUNTRY FUZZ was a little stronger, if even just because it was a little more on the rock side of country-rock. Boasting awesome country anthems like Bar Round Here, Hard Out Here for a Country Boy and Slow Rollin' the band go back to their roots with this one and definitely pack more heaviness and punch onto their sound than they did with American Slang back a couple of years prior. This is another album that it pains me to put so low down, but there were so many excellent albums this year that this one unfortunately kept getting pushed lower. For one of my favourite bands to end up at No. 8 on the list, that must be a sign of a good year!
Check out the video for the awesomely grungy Slow Rollin' here.
Overall: 8/10
7. HelgardeN: Making Noise, Living Fast
An album I am sad I haven't had the chance to review due to it coming out way back towards the start of the year. I have, however, never been more thankful for a random Facebook ad leading me to a new band. However, Brazilian band HellgardeN's debut album is frankly awesome. Drawing clear and heacy influence from metal legends Pantera, it is 35 minutes of balls to the wall metal, through and through. Notable highlights include Learned to play Dirty, Believe in Yourself or Die and the title track, so for those of you who haven't heard of these guys yet but like your music on the heavier side, I would definitely check it out! Fantastic work for a new band and for a debut album to be this good they are clearly something special and ones to watch, I can't remember the last time I heard a debut this good!
Check out Learn to Play Dirty here.
Overall: 7.5/10
6. Black Stone Cherry: The Human Condition
One of my favourite modern bands, BSC returned this year with an awesome new album which returned more to their heavier roots after 2018's Family Tree. The album is definitely filled with groovy, heavy riffs like Again and Push Down & Turn, but honestly it's the slower songs that catch my ear even more and I find myself going back to more regularly. The country oriented In Love With the Pain and ballad If My Heart had Wings are of such lofty quality, quality that I think the band have lacked a little of since Magic Mountain. This album is a huge return to form and will hopefully be the album that finally pushes them into headlining slots at major festivals in this country. Again, it's just a shame that a couple of the songs aren't quite as good as the rest, dropping it a couple of spaces on this list and causing it to fall just shy of the top five.
In Love with The Pain has an equally awesome video as it is song, which you can see here.
Overall: 8.5/10
5. Alestorm: Curse of the Crystal Coconut
It honestly pains me to put this album around the halfway mark on this list as it really was fantastic. There was just so much other stuff that was just a tiny bit stronger in my opinion that just kept unfortunately bumping this down further and further. However, this album DOES open on my favourite song of this year, Treasure Chest Party Quest. It also has plenty of other awesome, crazy party/pirate songs on it, such as Tortuga and Call of the Waves. However, unfortunately, what set it apart from the rest of the albums after it on this list, I started to feel the length of this one ever so slightly towards the end. While Wooden Leg Pt. 2 is awesome, by the time you reach that and Henry Martin the album feels like it's lost a little steam and has already shown off all it has to give. Still, there is WAY more good in this than bad and has produced some of the best songs of the band's career.
There was no other song or video I could pick to feature here. Check this one out if no others.
Overall: 8/10
4. Jody Blount: Rise
Unfortunately this is the only grassroots album on this list I have managed to get around to reviewing myself, but that just goes to show the sheer quality of music that came out this year. Having never heard of the man before he recommended I check out his music over a Facebook post, I was HUGELY blown away by it. While most definitely the lightest album in this list, it was such a great change of pace that I fell in love with it almost instantly. While I am not usually one to listen to much easy-listening pop, this was so simple yet massively effective, bringing so much emotion and heart to a host of beautiful songs. The production value of this for a smaller artist was outstanding too, it could have easily been done by a big record label it sounded that good. There is a reason why a good 4 songs from it have made it onto my playlist!
Check out the awesome video for Table is Laid here.
Overall: 8/10
3. Fever 333: WRONG GENERATION
By far the angriest album I've listened to this year, and that may be a large reason why it has made it so high up this list. However, that definitely shouldn't take away from the musicianship and lyricism present here, both of which being top notch. The lead single, BITE BACK, is not only a fantastic song at highlighting some of the huge issues that have been prevalent this year, it is also up there with one of my favourite songs of the year. Add that to the more hip hop oriented songs such as WRONG GENERATION and BLOCK IS ON FIRE, and even having a balland AND a hardcore-punk song present, this is a surprisingly balanaced album. There is a reason these guys are getting so big after only a few years together, and that is because they constantly pump out stuff of this quality.
Another awesome video for you here, this time of Bite Back.
Overall: 8.5/10
2. Avatar: Hunter Gather
This was the first album I ever reviewed and you can definitely tell that when reading it. It's short, blunt and relatively uninspired. The complete opposite of this album. I do feel like I was a little harsh on these album with my score, too, giving it a 7.5, however it has been very much a grower of an album for me. Between the typical Avatar weirdness of Colossus and Child to the beautiful ballad, Gun, and my personal favourite because of how crazy heavy and thrashy it is, When all but Force has Failed, almost every song on this album has gotten better and better the more I listen to it. For a band that have had an incredible output of albums since they donned the circus-like aesthetic with 2012's Black Waltz, this may be up there for me with one of the best of the lot. My opinion on The Secret Door remains the same, though, try as I might I just cannot get into it!
Strangely the very next day after writing this the video for Secret Door came out and kind of made me feel a bit better about it. Check it out and let me know what you think!
Original overall: 7.5/10
Revised overall: 8.5/10
1. Trivium: What the Dead Men Say
There was no question for me that this was going to win out. Released way back in April, it's had a lot of releases come after it and contend for the top spot, but it just pipped the last couple of entries to the post for me. The band have really been at the top of their game the last few years after a slight drop-off with albums such as Vengence Falls and Silence in the Snow. However with the release of 2017's Sin and the Sentence and now this one, the band may be on arguably the best form of their careers. There is not a bad song on the album, from the albums huge opener and title track to the slower, more anthemic Bleed Into Me to even the downright thrash of Amongst the Shadows and the Stones. The album also feels like a culmination of everything that has come before, it drawing together a perfect mix of their heavier earlier styles and their more radio friendly early 2010's output to bring one of the most well rounded, polished metal albums of the last few years. Honestly I wish I had gotten to review this album, I unfortunately started doing them after this album had come out, because I could gush about it all day. One of my favourite bands right now because of their last two albums alone, never mind the other 4 incredible ones they have also released.
Check out the awesome video for What the Dead Men Say here.
Overall: 9/10
And there you have it, my top 15 albums of this year! Before you go, a few names of artists and bands to keep an eye on for next year, ones that are either releasing big upcoming albums, or ones that I believe will be huge within the next year!:
Myles Kennedy (both solo stuff and with Slash), Rob Zombie, Foo Fighters, Architects, Royal Blood, Greta Van Fleet, Stone Broken, Wayward Sons, Lady Rose, Jody Blount.