Tuesday, 26 December 2017

Andy's Top Albums of 2017 (Intro & Part 1)

So as is traditional on SPR, it's time for an end of year album chart. As you may remember last year, I ended up doing a Top 70 which, looking back on it now, was a bit ridiculous - I think I'd just been burning the flame a bit too hard in trying to review everything I could.

This year has been a little bit more sedate thankfully but I've still managed to compile a list of 60 albums from the year just gone which I think are well worth listening to and I'll be going through them ten at a time each day from now till New Year's Eve. Where possible, I've tried to include a video to give you the reader a taste of the album (ie a studio track rather than a shonky quality live one taken by some git holding their cellphone up and ruining the gig for everyone stood around them) but unfortunately it hasn't been possible in a few cases. For those, you'll just have to take my word for it that the album's worth tracking down! Just in case you need reminding, the previous winners are as follows:

2016: The Urban Voodoo Machine - "Hellbound Hymns"
2015: Danko Jones - "Fire Music"
2014: Electric River - "The Faith And The Patience"
2013: Hey! Hello! - "Hey! Hello!"
2012: The Bermondsey Joyriders - "Noise And Revolution"
2011: The Eureka Machines - "Champion The Underdog"

Anyway, before we get started on the list itself, we've got to go through the dreaded Golden Turkey of the Year award I'm afraid. In terms of truly terrible stuff, there's only been two albums I've reviewed this year which were genuinely really bad - Josh Todd & The Conflict's "Year Of The Tiger" (Review) was unfortunately further proof that the sometime Buckcherry frontman (ie they were supposed to be on "indefinite hiatus" hence the reason for the new band emerging but now they appear to be announcing gigs again - anyone else surprised? Thought not) really isn't getting any closer to recapturing his glory days with an awful atonal nu-metal mess which sounded like it had passed its sell-by date some time around 2001. Even that was preferable though to Danzig's truly wretched "Black Laden Crown" (Review) which was nine poorly-produced overlong slices of drudgery, mostly consisting of the same riff being looped over and over for six minutes while Glenn was blaring away half a note off key and comfortably wins my "Worst Album of the Year" award. C'mon Glenn, you were in the Misfits man! And your first four Danzig albums were really good as well - surely you can do better than this, can't you?

Before we get started, one album which is probably notable by its absence to some is Ryan Hamilton's "The Devil's In The Detail" - unfortunately as those of you with stupidly good memories will remember, this actually ended up in last year's Albums of the Year rundown as I literally heard it for the first time as the chart was due to go live and it ended up causing me to have to do a fairly major rewrite of the whole thing as it ended up at number 6. However, it is a great album which I heartily recommend to anyone who hasn't had the fortune to listen to it yet (I think it's safe to say it would almost certainly have gone Top 5 if not Top 3 on this year's chart) but unfortunately due to me having first heard it in 2016 it's ineligible this time out. Give the video for "Smarter" a listen below if you need proof of its quality.



Anyway, honourable and dishonourable mentions done, let's get this show on the road shall we?

60. THE KING BLUES - "The Gospel Truth"

When the King Blues split in 2012, their swansong album "Long Live The Struggle" felt like they were going out with a whimper rather than a bang. It's perhaps not a surprise with the UK political system in the mess that it's in that 2017 saw them on the comeback trail and although "The Gospel Truth" wasn't quite up to their high water mark of "Punk And Poetry", it was still a solid comeback effort that suggests this band are very much still alive and kicking.



59. THE EDEN HOUSE - "Songs For The Broken Ones"

Third full album from the former Fields of the Nephilim crew and it was pretty much a straight continuation of the previous two - big epic sweeping old school goth. Overblown? Probably but when the end result is as lush as a lot of "Songs For The Broken Ones" is, it's easily forgiven once you've happily lost yourself in it.



58. THE FRANKLYS - "Are You Listening?" (Review here)

A promising first effort from this Anglo-Swedish outfit owing a sly nod to the "Nuggets" garage rock compilations of old. They've been slowly growing a reputation as a live band well worth watching and it's fair to say that if they build on this effort then they could well go on to bigger things.



57. THE RAMONAS - "First World Problems" (Review here)

All girl Ramones tribute band give original material a shot and do it pretty well, sounding like the Donnas covering the Descendents. A promising start which certainly suggests that they're well equipped to give the music scene a shot on their own terms if they ever decide that they've outgrown their covers band roots.



56. RHINO BUCKET - "The Last True Rock 'n' Roll" (Review here)

Album number seven from the US/Finnish sleaze-rock veterans who've been ploughing a good solid furrow of AC/DC indebted rock 'n' roll since reforming a decade or so ago. While it's not quite up with their first era stuff, "The Last True Rock 'n' Roll" proves that Rhino Bucket are still very much a going concern with plenty of fire left in the tank.



55. WARRIOR SOUL - "Back On The Lash" (Review here)

Kory Clarke continues his ferocious run of form in recent years with a collection of songs which, as the title suggests, are dedicated to getting well and truly wrecked. The general lack of his trademark political material was a bit disappointing but "Back On The Lash" was good for what it was.



54. THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES - "Fantastic Plastic"

Reformed after an overlong hiatus, "Fantastic Plastic" might not quite be up to the standard of "Shake Some Action" but it was still a good solid comeback from the Groovies with plenty of enjoyably addictive slices of Beatles/Stones indebted old skool rock 'n' roll.



53. ELECTRIC SIX - "How Dare You?" (Review here)

Thirteen albums in and there's no sign of Electric Six getting any more sensible as they chuck elements of glam, new wave, goth operatics and even the odd bit of alt-country into "How Dare You". Suitably insane but all good fun (even if, whisper it, they kind of got put in the shade a bit by Sparks' comeback around the same time)...all together now, "I can't stop singin' about fermented beverages..."



52. OH GUNQUIT - "Lightning Likes Me" (Review here)

Having burst on to the scene as Cramps-indebted psychobillies a couple of years ago, "Lightning Likes Me" saw Oh Gunquit moving their sound forward nicely with songs like "So Long Sucker" moving more towards a classic rockabilly/big band feel. It's not quite all killer no filler but it's definitely a good step forward for this band and points at good things still to come from them.

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51. THE SLY PERSUADERS - "The Sly Persuaders" (Review here)

Regulars on the London live scene for a few years now, the Sly Persuaders' debut album was a good confirmation of their ability as a band. Taking the best bits from early noughties indie and sprinkling a sly dash of Cramps-style psychobilly over it before finishing it off with a pinch of old school glam rock, this turned out to be a well-assured debut album that suggests the future is pretty damn bright for these guys.

1 comment:

  1. “notable by its absence to some” - you mean your wife got the arseache because you hadn’t included it when it’s blatantly the best album of the last entire decade!! ��

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