Music N' Other Drugs

Sorry to disappoint, but I did not hitch a ride with Ellen and Portia to the United Kingdom following the reascent of Donald Trump to the White House. I simply took a break from writing while the establishment lost its collective mind thinking about how more than 77 million people could vote against them. If you’ve followed my work at all throughout the past 15 years, you know that there are few things I despise more than self-aggrandizing elites pretending as if their tax bracket makes them smarter than the average person, so I certainly won’t be shedding any tears upon hearing them publicly announce their intention to leave the country.

Couple that with the fact that Daniel Penny was found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide last week, and there are reasons to believe that this country may finally be snapping out of the belief that identity politics is the reason for the season.

What I want to touch on here, however, is the rejection of legacy media during the election cycle and how that rejection is mirrored whenever year-end lists begin to make the rounds. I’ve read through a ton of articles detailing what the so-called experts say are the definitive albums of 2024 and the lack of authenticity is all too familiar.

If CNN, MSNBC, and The New York Times are prime examples of institutions that the American public is losing faith in, then their counterparts in the music industry would be Rolling Stone, Spin, and Pitchfork. They’re in bed with the same corporate entities and exhibit the same lack of self-awareness that could (and should) lead to their demise down the line.

For example, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and The Times all hailed Charli XCX, Beyoncé, and Sabrina Carpenter for having made seismic contributions to the universe this year, but those choices come off as transparently pandering to a demographic that doesn’t give a shit what the critical community thinks they should be listening to. Just as Generation Z wasn’t looking to Joy Reid, Rachel Maddow, Joe Scarborough, or Sean Hannity to sway their vote, I doubt that they were looking to Rob Sheffield, Jon Pareles, or Pitchfork’s league of extraordinary pretentiousness to beef up their playlists.

When Chuck Klosterman went on The Bill Simmons Podcast recently and wondered aloud if following mainstream news outlets made people less informed about the real world, he essentially admitted that the system was broken and that these “journalists” had no one to blame but themselves as to why their credibility was trending the way of the dodo.

As Robert Smith sings in The Cure’s “Warsong” from “Songs of a Lost World,” “We tell each other lies to hide the truth,” which is a perfect encapsulation of what we’ve all been living through these past few years. If all you see is what Penske Media wants you to see, then you’ll naturally start to think that only a handful of artists have made any records worth the wax they’re pressed on.

The difference between what they do and what I do is that I want readers to know that everything on this site comes from an honest and ethical place. I invest in physical copies of each album and don’t include things just to make myself feel in tune with those younger than me. The reality is that I’ve lost way too many people recently who were close to me in one way or another and the following 10 records made their absence slightly easier to deal with, so when I say that I take this stuff seriously, I mean it.

Without further ado, here are the 10 records that made my life better these past 12 months:

The Cure – “Songs of a Lost World”

Robert Smith has already promised a companion album to The Cure’s finest effort since 1989, and I can’t wait.

David Gilmour – “Luck and Strange”

We’ve always been in love with Gilmour’s feel for the fretboard, but there’s also something to be said for how gracefully he’s presenting himself at this stage of his career.

Judas Priest – “Invincible Shield”

As I wrote earlier this year, Halford is singing like the ’70s in his seventies, and the rest of the band creates a firestorm around him.

Beth Gibbons – “Lives Outgrown”

30 years after she seized our souls on Portishead’s debut, Gibbons does it again with an elegiac rumination on menopause and mortality.

Stress Dolls – “Queen of No”

WNY’s own Chelsea O’Donnell is the real deal and everything about this album evokes a vibe reminiscent of ’90s alt rock staples Liz Phair, Juliana Hatfield, and Tracy Bonham. The establishment tried to convince us that boygenius set the standard for women in rock last year, but nothing they did on 2023’s “The Record” hits as hard as what O’Donnell gives us here.

Deep Purple – =1

Guitarist Simon McBride appears to have reinvigorated their sense of purpose, because this album smokes from start to finish.

Bruce Dickinson – “The Mandrake Project”

Because I didn’t have “Accident of Birth” or “The Chemical Wedding” as new releases, they didn’t influence how I felt when Dickinson dropped this gem back in March. For me, Bruce sings as fiercely as ever and demonstrates how to write mature metal without sacrificing an ounce of attitude.

Luz De Riada – “Rizoma”

Complex from both a musical and conceptual standpoint, this Avant-Prog outfit from Mexico reminds me of the Belgian band Univers Zero at its best.

Opeth – “The Last Will and Testament”

Mikael Åkerfeldt’s growls are back and they’re spectacular throughout this challenging tale set in the wake of World War I.

Linkin Park – “From Zero”

We all hear things differently, and for reasons I’m still trying to figure out, the new LP featuring Emily Armstrong really resonates with me. Maybe it’s the public backlash or the fact that I was never infatuated with those early records, but something about this one just works.

Honorable Mentions – Scott Stapp – “Higher Power,” Michael Shrieve – “Drums of Compassion,” Green Day – “Saviors,” The Black Crowes – “Happiness Bastards,” Brigitte Calls Me Baby – “The Future is Our Way Out,” and Steve Hackett – “The Circus and the Nightwhale,” Pearl Jam – “Dark Matter,” and Myles Kennedy – “The Art of Letting Go” and St. Vincent – “All Born Screaming”