In Season Five, Episode 11 of the cult classic sitcom "Community," the main character Jeff Winger is experiencing, what can best be described as, a near-death experience brought on by mixing medication with alcohol. He is depressed about turning 40 (which is news to his friends) and is hallucinating his life as a classic 1980s G.I. Joe cartoon. As he is fighting with coming around (and with aging), the line that always stands out to me is Cobra's "Why is my ability to appreciate new music diminishing?!"
Unfortunately, this reality has really begun to hit home for me in the past few years. I find myself more often going to the well of music I loved growing up — likely from age 10 or so to my college and early adult years. There's more music available now than ever before, but, for me, it's a bit of "death by options," I'm afraid. So, I tend to go with something tried and true (and, yes, nostalgic). I also noticed my tastes aren't terribly diverse — apparently white-male blues-based rock and roll is what moves me. There is more variety in my listening, but not what it has been in years past, unfortunately.
With that being said ...
In the past, I've often taken time at the end of the year to run down what I considered to be the best music of the year. There is one caveat. I don't keep up with everything anymore. This post is me telling you what is the best among the music I actually picked up/downloaded/streamed, in 2021. Links will be for Apple Music and Spotify, as those are my streaming platforms of choice.
TOP FULL-LENGTH ALBUMS
Albums are not in vogue all that much anymore. Streaming has turned back the clock a bit to the days when singles were dominant. However, being a good Gen-Xer, I love the full-length projects. Here are my five favorites of the year (with two honorable mentions).
1. THE COLD STARES: Heavy Shoes
My friend Kurt turned me on to The Cold Stares somewhere around 2015 and I never looked back. This rock and roll duo dabbles in blues and acoustic blues material, but this year's Heavy Shoes drives front start to finish. Now signed to Mascot Records, they are continuing their slow arc of musical success and doing it their own way. From the sizzling 40 Men Dead to the infectious groove of In The Night Time, there's not a bad track on the album. I have heard rumblings that change is on the horizon for the band and, not being sure what that means, I remain hopeful for more like this record. Lead singer/guitarist Chris Tapp and Brian Mullins aren't just great musicians, they are solid human beings, too. The world needs more of The Cold Stares and this album deserves the 38:35 you can give it as often as you can give it.
2. GRETA VAN FLEET: The Battle At Garden's Gate
Alternately lauded and chastised for wearing their Led Zeppelin influence on their sleeves, Greta Van Fleet seems to have come into their own on this year's album The Battle At Garden's Gate. Leaving aside their role in helping keep the rock and roll flame burning, this album is tremendously strong for about 65% of the album. the last few songs get a bit bogged down if you're looking for hits, but they are all still worth your time and are filled with atmosphere and mood. If this is a harbinger of what is to come, Greta van Fleet has a very bright future — cause this present album is pretty great.
3. JOE DAY: Halflight
Joe Day is a singer/songwriter from the Seattle, Wash., area. His first album, Grace, was released in 2010 as a part of the wave of church music put out by Mars Hill. It was filled with fantastic songwriting for the church with a sound born of the region. This album — and the artist — are in a very different place in 2021. Despite the church's collapse being nearly seven years ago, I can't help but feel many of these songs were born of that traumatic experience as well as the shared trauma of the past four to five years in these (dis)United States as well as the world. Halflight is a moody, acoustic-driven reflection on our times with a call for hope — but not a blind "happy-clappy" faith kind of hope. It's more of a "hanging on by your fingernails to the cliff" kind of faith. Let's call it an album of lament. To be honest, some don't like those kind of songs, but they're right in my wheelhouse and, I believe, much needed. See below to see which track I really loved this year.
4. COCHREN & CO.: Don't Lose Hope
Michael Cochren is probably the most successful musician I know in real life (he is from a small town the next county over from us and we've spent significant time together since 2015 or so). That being said, I tried to really examine whether I included his solo debut album in this list simply because I know him, or on its merits. I can confidently say I'm including it here on its merits. You may/may not know I'm not a huge fan of contemporary Christian music, though I did listen to it a great deal at various points in my life (especially the mid- to late-90s). Heavily influenced by blue-eyed soul (and straight-ahead soul) music, Don't Lose Hope has a sound unique to much of CCM (and much needed — at least from what I occasionally hear of "Christian radio"). Nestled somewhere between Needtobreathe, Ray Charles, and Chris Stapleton, Cochren & Co. vacillate between more radio-friendly fare like the big hits One Day and Church (Take Me Back) and more stretched out songs like Young and Who Can. The reprise track on the latter song is what I hope he can build upon. Whether I'm unobjective or not, I can firmly say there's not a bad song on this album and it's worth your 41 minutes.
5. TREMONTI: Marching In Time
Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti's solo band Tremonti has been cranking out albums since 2012, alternating between Alter Bridge releases. His musical output is, simply, impressive. 2021's Marching In Time is one of the high-water marks in the band's catalog. The worst thing I could say about it is that it's a bit long at 12 tracks, especially as 80% of the tracks are fairly thrash-y in nature (not that it's a bad thing). However, the highlight of the album is the back-to-back ballads Under the Sun and Not Afraid To Lose (see below for more on that track).
HONORABLE MENTIONS
MYLES KENNEDY: The Ides of March
Alter Bridge and Slash frontman Myles Kennedy has one of the best voices in rock music today. His second solo album picks up where Year of the Tiger left off. This one is a bit more straight ahead rock and roll than the acoustic-drive Year of the Tiger and is less of a concept album, though, lyrically, it focuses quite a bit on our current state. It's solid all the way through, but, I really only found one song that I go back to repeatedly (see below). That doesn't mean it's not a good album, however, just that it's hard to find standouts when the whole thing is solid.
SAD ASTRONAUTS: Adult Fears
This album is the new band from singer Kevin Max and guitarist Erick Cole. I participated in the band's Kickstarter, so I've had a digital download of the album for a few weeks and am really enjoying it. It's a bit heavy on the New Wave side of the aisle for my personal test, but I dig the melodies and am really enjoying the softer material, believe it or not. I'll always check out what Kevin Max is doing, even if it wanders a bit too far into left field for my taste. This one is pretty stellar and, hopefully, people will dig it once it's widely available.
THE D.ROSS IS BOSS SHOW TOP 10 SONGS OF 2021
As you may/may not know, I host a weekly radio show on Jasper's 93.7 FM, The Scratch, called The D.Ross Is Boss Show. the show primarily focuses on rock and roll with occasional forays into Americana, country, and other genres. You can hear these songs on my year-end special — airing Dec. 30 at 6 p.m. EST (so, spoilers, but it's not like it matters that much).
10. MAMMOTH WVH: Don't Back Down
The debut album from Wolfgang Van Halen is solid all the way around. I'm not ready to crown him a rock king just yet, however. I believe he (and his band, eventually — this one is 100% Wolfgang) have great potential to make fantastic rock albums for years to come. To me, the self-titled debut album is solid, but also fairly run-of-the-mill modern rock. I'm not expecting or wanting him to be his dad or his dad's band (there was only one of those), so that's not my point. I think the future is bright for Mammoth WVH and, if this track with its soaring chorus is any indication, some great things are to come.
9. GOV'T MULE: Make It Rain
The new blues album from the Mule is pretty solid. To be honest, I didn't listen to it enough times for it to make the top albums list, but enjoyed it the few times I listened and it's probably in the Top Ten albums for me in 2022. The standout track is this one. Bathed in reverb, Warren Haynes's vocals are spooky and intense, but, as always, it's the instrumentation that makes Gov't Mule a band to which I keep returning. Like so many others on this list, it's a slow-burning blues number. There must be something in the water this year.
8. EDDIE VEDDER: Long Way
Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder is fairly obviously channeling his inner Petty/Springsteen influences on this new solo track. It's from his first solo album in more than a decade, Earthling (coming Feb. 11, 2022). It's not like I didn't know Vedder was influenced by those guys, but it's interesting to hear it fleshed out in a son like Long Way. Lyrically, it's not terribly interesting, but the way he presents make it so. Tom Petty is dead and Bruce Springsteen is getting up there in age. I believe Eddie (and, hopefully, with Pearl Jam for a long time) is ready to assume the mantle of elder rock statesman.
7. THE COLD STARES: Election Blues
I had a hard time choosing my favorite track from this album (see above), but I keep coming back to this one. The voice of the common man comes through lead singer and main songwriter Chris Tapp as this was released shortly after the tumultuous election year of 2020. The main hook is cool, but for me, the song pays its bills around the second half of the bridge when Tapp continually asks the listener "do you wanna be free?" It's a solid question in a very cool blues-based rock and roll number.
6. MYLES KENNEDY: Worried Mind
As you might be able to tell from this list, I'm a sucker for a blues-based slow burner of a rock song. Worried Mind from Myles Kennedy is as solid as they come. Whether speaking to his love or mankind, Kennedy implores the listener to simply hold on because better times are ahead. I hope he's right. "I know you're scared, I know you're tired/This can't last forever, we will get by/Let me show you/Let me ease your worried mind."
5. CHEVELLE: Self Destructor
Chevelle came back strong this year with the album NIRATIAS (which stands for "Nothing Is Real And This Is A Simulation"). Chevelle is consistent, to say the least, in sound and style and this track is no different. The definite stand-out track is this one, both lyrically and musically (such a killer hard rock groove).
4. TREMONTI: Not Afraid To Lose
Tremonti are at their best when they take it down a few notches and ease up up on the thrash gallops and put it into cruise control a bit more. The stand out on this year's new album is Not Afraid To Lose. Much like the title track from their 2016 album Dust, this Tremonti-sized power ballad emotes and smokes in all the right spots. I especially love this grown-up lyric "At this moment in my life, I embrace my devotion/I am not afraid to lose."
3. GRETA VAN FLEET: Broken Bells
Love 'em or hate 'em, Greta Van Fleet have helped re-ignite the flame of rock and roll for a new generation. Initially lauded/criticized for their very close imitation of Led Zeppelin, the band is moving more toward their own sound on their latest release (see above). The first half of the album is the stand-out section and Broken Bells is the standout among them all. Of course, I'm always a sucker for an epic-sized rock ballad.
2. DIRTY HONEY: Another Last Time
Dirty Honey is another of the quasi-throwback rock and roll bands breaking onto the scene in the 2010s and early 2020s. Sounding like a mix of Aerosmith with a hint of the growl of early Guns N' Roses, the band is making waves in (what is now the) niche of rock and roll. This track is an old-school-sounding slow, blues-based burner of a ballad that hits all the right marks.
1. JOE DAY: Don't Let The Fear Capture Your Heart
A prayer against the dying of the light. We all need this and I'm 75% certain it came from a place in Joe Day's own life where he was truly fighting for joy amidst reasons to grow cynical. This one didn't stand out the first time I heard it, but on listens two, three, four, etc., I realized this was the song of the moment for me. The second chorus lifts off in a way the speaks to my heart. "Hold onto the light/It ain't here yet, but the morning is nigh."
STUFF I MADE
I, occasionally, write and record original music. Here's what was released in 2021.
TO THE DEPTHS: Redemption Christian Church
This one was inspired by the book of Jonah and Tim Keller's book The Prodigal Prophet: Jonah and the Mystery of God's Mercy. While I originally wrote it in early 2019, the final studio recording (featuring Laura Blue on lead vocals) finally saw the light of day in March 2021. To be honest, this is one of the best songs I've ever written or co-written (in my opinion, of course).
FREEDOM'S SONG: Redemption Christian Church
This song was co-written with Mike Crockett as our church studied the book of Galatians in 2018. It's got a pretty good, hook-y chorus with a bit of a '70s rock vibe (again, in my opinion). My Gibson Flying V made its first appearance on a recording with this track and the lead vocals were done in pretty much one take. That being said, it still took close to three years to get a proper studio recording knocked out. this is the result.
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