Top 10 favorite albums - 2013

Yes, it's that time of the year again. I haven't done many reviews in 2013, it's been a busy year... but a great one music nonetheless.

It's also been a pretty solid year for concerts: Iron Maiden, Bad Religion, Paramore (x2), Billy Talent, Of Monsters and Men, Archive and 2 festivals (Main Square Festival and Rock en Seine, including Green Day, Of Monsters and Men, Archive, Haim, Nine Inch Nails, System of A Down or Volbeat, amongs many others). Haim will close the list tonight if nothing comes up.

We've also had our share of crappy albums, but let's focus on the positive for today. We will have time for that.

But well, let's go for it:

10 - Motorhead - Aftershock

I usually ignore Motörhead's new releases, because they haven't offered anything remotely innovative in years. Same old, same old. However, same old is still pretty good this time. I enjoyed a lot the album and I couldn't find a reason not to have it on here.

9 - The National "Trouble Will Find Me"














While not being as good as The National's previous effort, "Trouble Will Find Me" is a great effort that builds up on the band's style. Now let's cross fingers for a braver new album next time.

8 - Gabrielle Aplin "English Rain"

I found out about Gabrielle some years ago when browsing covers on Youtube. I lost track of her for a bit, and when I heard her name again, she was calling herself Gabrielle Aplin instead of gabberz and she had a bunch of EPs on iTunes. This album isn't world changing, but it's solid from start to end and the warmth it exhales has been a nice company for many cold days.

7 - Black Sabbath "13"

I first was in no way expecting this album to ever exist. Then, I was not expecting it to be any good. Well, it exists and it's pretty good.

6 - Dream Theater "Dream Theater"

This album would be higher in the list if it wasn't for the pretentious last track dragging it down a bit; but it's a big chunk of the album... Apart from that, "Dream Theater" is a great record that brings the listener back to classic Dream Theater at many passages.

5 - Volbeat "Outlaw Gentlemen and Shady Ladies"














I must admit the single left me thinking this album wouldn't be any good. I was wrong, so wrong. It's a kick-ass album. Again, it offers nothing world-changing: just a bunch of great songs to have fun with, but it doesn't pretend to go any further, so all is good.

4 - Bad Religion "True North"















Brett Gurewitz declared several times that the guys in the band were really moved by the reaction Pennywise got with their album last year, so they decided to go with a similar formula: direct, shorter and simpler songs. It worked.

3 - Satan - "Life Sentence"

Another surprise I didn't expect. I knew nothing about the band before giving the album a spin, so it hit my ass even harder. The best rock/metal album of 2013. Sharp as a razor and 100% inspired.

2 - Haim "Days Are Gone"














Now that we mention surprises... I checked out some of Haim's songs before heading to Main Square Festival last Summer. After those songs and their concert there, my general impression was that I didn't quite get the band, but that, at the same time, there was something promising there. Well, this album came out and showed me what that something was. Some pop anthems combined with some less upbeat songs.

1 - Paramore "Paramore"

I was actually trying to justify not putting this on number one just to avoid being predictable. But well, numbers are numbers and I have listened almost 200 times to the CD, so it MUST be the number one on a list of my favorite albums. It's one of those rare albums from which you have a different favorite song every week (with all songs included in the rotation). If we take into account I tried to be against it when it was released and I inspected it inch by inch in distrust... I guess it really deserves this spot.

Bad Religion - "True North"

The time has finally come and Bad Religion are back with 16 new songs and a promise: trying to keep things short, fast and punk. Well, that is true, and that is what a lot of people have been asking for since many years ago; specially, after the controversial The Dissent of Man, a good example of the bands latest efforts in trying to combine the classic sound with newer/modern ideas. While that will probably keep the most hardcore (pun intended) fans happy, I think the album lacks that variety, but that's maybe more of a personal preference, since I tend to enjoy when the guys go off track and do something different.

According to the interviews, the band were really moved by Pennywise's excellent effort from last year, and they wanted to show that they can still rock the house. Well, that's pretty clear when "True North" opens the party. The first part of the album goes on the same track, from "Robin Hood in Reverse", a typical example of 21st century Bad Religion, to the energetic single "Fuck You". "Dharma and the Bomb" brings the 1st surprise with its rock-n-roll riffs and a more friendly pace, leading to the slow and dark "Hello Cruel World" (think of "Infected"), my personal favourite at the moment.

After the intermission, "Vanity", the fastest tune on the album, brings back the hostility and opens the way for "In Their Hearts Is Right", a cool tune with some nice harmonies on the chorus. "Crisis Time", kind of a slightly less inspired version of "The Resist Stance", brings things a bit down again, but "Dept. of False Hope" keeps the flame alive. After another section pointing out to previous eras of the band, we get "My Head Is Full of Ghosts", another high point that will get you dancing around the room and pogoing to the furniture. "The Island" and "Changing Tide" close the album in a respectable way, on the tone of the record.

In conclusion, it's a solid album which stays good from start to finish. In my opinion, it lacks a couple of stronger anthems and a bit more variety like we got on the previous efforts, but it will help the band get the credit lost with the previous album amongst punkheads.

Rating: 7.5/10