Top 10 Rock Albums of 2021

These these artists are straight up rock, but not packing enough punch for the hard rock list.  Much  much like in years past sort through the genre lists before making the overall top ten of the year The fact these artists made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album, there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, you look forward to listening to it again. .I do hope you can find your next favorite on this list and have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out audio on these guys. Anyways here are the top 10 rock albums of 2021

10-The Tea Party - "Blood Moon Rising 

Abysmal Hymns: the Tea Party : 'Blood Moon Rising"

 9-the Dead Deads - "Tell Your Girls It's Alright" 

This rock trio is pretty fun as they remembered to use melodies that infect their big riffs, rather than just rocking at you for not other purpose. It reminds me of bands like Veruca Salt that had their feet as firmly planted on the 90s air waves as they were on the monitors. 

Abysmal Hymns: The Dead Deads- "Tell Your Girls It's Alright"

  8-Idles- "Crawler" 

Once punk finds it's groove it turns into rock. Not the only band on this list to have outgrown the punk label. The vocals are much improved and belted out with the kind of whiskey fueled passion Nick Cave would be proud of. They continued to refine their songwriting which earned them another place on one of these lists. 

Abysmal Hymns: Idles : "Crawler"

 

7-Sumo Cyco : "Initiation" 

This band from Canada is driven by the charismatic and quirky vocalist Skye Sweetnam. They are too poppy to be hard rock or metal. Yet they have more balls than a pop group, so they find themselves on this list. To Skye's credit what she does is catchy. Sometimes almost too hooky for its own good. Sometimes here voice holds a Gwen Stefani pout. They sometimes lean in a happier direction than what I normally listen to. 

Abysmal Hymns: Sumo Cyco : "Initation"

6-Buckcherry- "Hellbound" 

Only one other member was in the band for "Crazy Bitch" leaving Josh Todd as the only one who love the cocaine, it is ok as his voice pretty much is Buckcherry. At times explosive in a sleazy punk way. There is a great deal of swagger throughout the record. The bar Todd has set for himself weighs these songs against the infectious writing style that crossed this band over into more commercial radio territory.

Abysmal Hymns: Buckcherry : "Hellbound"

 5-Biffy Clyro- the Myth of the Happily Ever After"  

 This band is almost like a Scottish version of Muse but less grandiose in how they lean into their prog tendencies. At times they prove capable of summoning the energy the Foo-fighters go after their songs with, but less dumbed down. Though it does tend to wallow in the post emo radio tendencies and then shift shift into pop-tinged electro alt rock. All of which is impressive when you see the big picture of what is happening here. 

Abysmal Hymns: Biffy Clyro : "the Myth of the Happily Ever After"

  4-Iceage- "Seek Shelter" 

The depressive Rolling Stones vibe is a testament to how they have grown from a punk rock band to being able to pull off something with this kind of lushness. They even combine funk with country as they continue to throw sounds from the same kitchen sink they have pulled from ever since Elias indulged himself with his side project the Marching Church that threw the gates open for this kind of experimentation.

Abysmal Hymns: Iceage : " Seek Shelter"

 

3-Alice Cooper -" Detroit Stories" 

He is back and continuing down the more rock n roll road he was on with the last ep Alice Cooper is one of my all-time favorite artists. Yes he does have straight up rock n roll songs like "Elected" and " Under My Wheels" and this album follows more of that blueprint. I I want him to be darker with a heavier edge, but also enjoy this.  

Abysmal Hymns: Alice Cooper : "Detroit Stories"

2- Cactus Black -' the Marrow of Our Truth" 

Upon first listen I was so blow away by this band I stumbled across on Bandcamp, that I might have told you at the time this would be the best album of the year. That was in August. This album held up well. It is too rock in its dynamics for the country/ folk list, and even punk it the explosive nature of the emotion channeled but overall, not angry enough so it fits here. To have edged out Alice Cooper speaks volumes,      

Abysmal Hymns: Cactus Black : "the Marrow of Our Truth"

1-The Pretty Reckless - Death By Rock N Roll" 

Over the course of this year this album grew on me. Which is why it is taking top spot, where the number two album could have easily claimed it from them if this was just based off of my initial impression after the first listen. The manage to make new rock sounds from fairly blues based Led Zeppelin styled riffs that couple well with her smoky sex dripping vocals. They have been at it for 12 years, so their efforts paid off for everything falling into place for them.  

Abysmal Hymns: the Pretty Reckless : "Death By Rock N Roll"

Biffy Clyro : "the Myth of the Happily Ever After"

 I really like what this band did on the tribute to the "Black Album". The album opens with a more atmospheric indie rock that is deceptive when it comes to the kind of rock they hit you with on "A Hunger in You Haunt". They are more like a Scottish version of Muse but less grandiose in how they lean into their prog tendencies. "Denier" has the energy the Foo-fighters go after their songs with, but less dumbed down. Though it does tend to wallow in the post emo radio tendencies. They then shift into pop-tinged electro alt rock with "Separate Missions", which they prove effective at. 

They do not stray wildly from a poppier f el with "Witch's Cup", the guitar has kind of Polic like skip in its step.  The ballad "Holy Water" is heartfelt enough, it does not shake the Foo Fighters comparison, but when they chose to get more intense, they do so with greater magnitude.  "Errors in the History of God" is big and bright, it manages to not be too happy for me as the pop leans are balanced out. You get an idea just how understated and tasteful their guitar playing really is on "Haru Urara", when they drop down to strummed guitar it feels a little like dumbing it down at first, but I guess it works.  "Unknown Male 01" finds some balls as the big into a harder rock radio version of grit. Granted what is heavy and hard edged on this blog might differ from what a writer for Rolling Stone might consider heavy since we are more often than not a metal blog. 

"Existed" is more of a pop song, but it is a well done with plenty of atmosphere. The last song also leans heavily on a more electronic dynamic that is once again counterbalanced by them rocking out. When it clinches up the aggression is slightly Nine Inch Nails in its feel. It is very dynamic, but that could be said for the bulk of album. The production is slick, almost too slick for its own good, but at the end of the day works. I will round this up to a 9.5, as it might need to grow on me in a few spots, but it by and large flawless .   

 

The Metallica Blacklist pt 3- "Holier Than Thou"

The new tribute to the Black Album called the Metallica Blacklist, is a collection of artists each covering a song from the band's biggest selling work. To review this as a whole would be a daunting task since there are 5 to 6 artists covering each.   So I broke this down by song,  So you are getting an installment of this review for each song.  Though when we get to some of the deeper cuts there are only a couple versions so we will double up when we get to that point in the album. 

The bar starts off being raised pretty high by Biffy Clyro, who might not have taken the most obvious path with the song, but do what they do with it so well that it makes up for it and impresses me. The raw snotty punk of the Chats is too straight forward to really capture the mood of this song effectively and really like a great deal of earlier punk the emphasis is on attitude than musical ability so they can barely play. When it comes to punk it should not be a surprise that OFF!  does a better job, despite relying more on speed , though neither band comes close to what Biffy Clyro started off with. 

If you were going to ask out of the options given who was going to deliver the most metal version of this song it would be hard to bet against Corey Taylor. He stays pretty true to the song with out getting to Slipknot with it. As he has gotten older and thanks to his success with Stone Sour, he as grown away from the more overt nu metal trappings. Though his version might be the second best I prefer Biffy Clyro's take on the song.