2018 brought with it a very wide selection of new music, perhaps
the widest ever, which left listeners with a lot to sift through and absorb,
and it is easy to get lost in the shuffle when there is so much competition
between artists and for a listener’s ears. Many veteran and established acts
released new material or re-released key albums in deluxe editions, most
notably Metallica’s elaborate 30
th anniversary mega-box for
…And Justice for All, which may still
leave the poor bass mixing from 1987 uncorrected, from what I’ve read.
Radiohead toured but did not release new music in 2018. However, singer Thom
Yorke released a new solo album as the soundtrack to
Suspiria, and guitarist Jonny Greenwood continued to perform with Shy
Ben Tzur and the Rajasthan Express, with whom he collaborated on an
album in 2015.
Notable artists who would have generated a great deal of excitement for releasing
new material in the past saw underwhelming receptions, including a new album by
Gorillaz and a surprise-release EP by
Kanye West, neither of which made a
significant impact even within their own genres much less on the pop charts,
though each certainly contained strong tracks and musical moments. A mostly-reunited
Smashing Pumpkins did better touring last summer than their new album is fairing, but their latest is closer to their original style than fans have heard in many years.The current
version of
Alice in Chains had some rock radio support for their latest
release, but their new album hasn’t garnered much attention otherwise, at least
so far, and the latest LP from
Paul McCartney seems to have done little more
than allow him and his band to continue their phenomenal touring run of the
past 15 years, much in the way that living legend, Bob Dylan, continues his “Never-Ending
Tour”.
Many veteran artists have recently focused more on touring
than recording and are selling out venues without having any new material to
promote. The Rolling Stones have announced dates for another U.S. run this
summer, but they haven’t released a new album of original songs since 2005.
System of a Down and Tool appear at the top of various festival listings,
already selling tickets for the summer ahead, but neither have issued new music in the past 13 years. Cult comedy-rock favorites, Tenacious D, even returned from
a long break with
Post-Apocalypto,
doubling as the soundtrack to their “animated film” of the same name, both a
bit underwhelming compared to the duo’s work from the past, though their release did allow the band another opportunity
to tour. Michigan rockers,
Greta Van Fleet, finally released their debut LP
after months of industry buzz, but their Zeppelin-clone status seems to be
wearing thin already with many. As new and up-and-coming artists continue to
attempt to establish themselves within a musical landscape and version of the
industry different from any previous era in the music business, a handful of
notable new releases broke through the pack to stand out as the year’s very best.
NUMBER 1
The year’s best album was also one of its weirdest, and
possibly the weirdest album Jack White has ever released (with any project).
Beyond the quasi-hit singles, “Connected by Love” and “Over, and Over, and
Over”, Boarding House Reach stretches
out to include elements of hip hop, EDM, jazz fusion, and funk in addition to
the blues, garage rock, and classic rock riffs and solos to which White’s fans
are well accustomed. Tracks like
“Corporation”, “Ice Station Zebra”, and “Everything You’ve Ever Learned” are
memorable for their hooks but more so for their adventurous styles, exploring
modern rock music outside of the traditional song structures and arrangements.
White’s supporting band, both on the album and on his year-long tour, contribute
flourishes and elements that would not fit in on a White Stripes, Raconteurs,
or Dead Weather record, but they add the perfect touches to each song, all of
which vary in style, tone, and length, making for an album that is both focused
and experimental within its variety throughout. Not all fans of White’s other
projects will take to each song here, but there is something for nearly everyone
among this LP’s 13 songs. Nothing else this year sounded anything like these
tracks, and no other collection of songs was more engaging or entertaining.
NUMBER 2
Electro-Psychedelic duo MGMT returned with their fourth LP,
which was the year’s second-best. Continuing their mostly standard arrangement
of a shorter runtime and fewer songs than most modern albums, each track stands
out a bit more as there are fewer present to compare and contrast. Little Dark Age is certainly the band’s
most approachable and accessible collection of songs to date, but they do not
abandon their love of synth pop, big hooks, and blending modern and throwback
production techniques that leave their new creations sounding as though they
could be forgotten ‘80s hits, especially on tracks like the darkly comic, “She
Works Out Too Much” and the touching, “Me and Michael”. Songs like the title
track and the excellent, many-layered “When You Die” are simultaneously catchy
and inviting while also weaving in haunting accents and changes within progressions
and between sections. “TSLAMP” shares a theme with a track on the latest album
from A Perfect Circle but looks at the issue from a different perspective (and
a catchy one, at that). Little Dark Age
is probably best enjoyed by fans of MGMT’s first album, but even for the
uninitiated, most of these tracks can pass as “normal” and “acceptable” even to
your friends (and other listeners) who don’t like most of the crazy, ridiculous
music you do.
NUMBER THREE
New Wave stalwarts They Might Be Giants released their 20th
LP this year (!!!) and continue to write circles around their contemporaries
and the many up-and-coming artists they’ve inspired. These 15 excellent songs
have recently been joined by three discs worth of b-sides and extras, now
available on the band’s website, all of which celebrate the insane challenge
they placed upon themselves to release one new song and music video every week
for a year (while touring the world to promote this new material). The ridiculously
catchy hooks and lyrics of singer/keyboardist, John Linnell will draw you in,
on tracks like “Let’s Get This Over With” and “I Left My Body”, and then vocalist/guitarist,
John Flansburgh, adds the best elements of indie-rock, electronic experimentation,
and mega-crisp mixing and production to the wide-ranging variety of the
remaining tracks. Aside from the
awkwardly unforgettable title track, songs like, “Push Back the Hands”, “The
Bright Side”, “McCafferty’s Bib”, and “Last Wave” each add to the album’s
overall tone, one of a sense of accepted hopelessness within the modern world,
while each song works with a sound or style the band has never worked with
before, even after 35 years. If you’re not already a TMBG fan, this particular
album may not be the one that wins you over, or the best one to start with for
the completely uninitiated, but it does succeed in representing a certain set
of thoughts and feelings about modern life that are sadly probably more broadly
relatable than one would hope. At least it’s a sad modern life to which you can
still tap your foot most of the time.
HONORABLE MENTION
While not technically a full-length album, this excellent
EP was easily one of the year’s best new releases and was the third and final
installment of the NIN EP trilogy, released slowly over the last two years. Tones
and textures that shifted from Trent Reznor’s traditional distorted anger to
the dark atmosphere of later-era David Bowie (and beyond) made this particular
collection of NIN music an engaging listen on its own and a perfect ending to
the EP series. For a full review of the entire trilogy (and links to each portion),
check out
my article from earlier this year.
NUMBER FOUR
15 years after their last album of original material, the
alt-rock super group returned with 12 new songs, equally full of introspection
and dreaded doom. APC has always been a blend of elements and influences,
including goth, electronic, punk, and glam in various combinations, and their
latest album does not stray far from those areas, but these songs come across
as more mature than the band’s previous efforts, whether for better or worse.
For a rock band to, well, not really rock until a moment or so into the fourth
track is a bit unusual, but within the context of the album, all of the songs
work well tougher, and most also work well on their own. Singles like “The Doomed”, “So Long, and Thanks
for All the Fish”, and the excellent, “TalkTalk” are the standouts, but quieter,
reflective pieces like “Disillusioned”, “Delicious”, and “Get the Lead Out” cut
just as deep thematically and emotionally for listeners who are actively paying
attention. Singer, Maynard James Keenan, and guitarist, Billy Howerdel,
continue to drive their passion project into strange and interesting new
corners of the musical structure they created together nearly 20 years ago. Fans
of the band’s previous efforts should enjoy this one as well.
NUMBER FIVE
The surprise return of Eminem this year occurred with
little warning or mainstream support but was arguably the best hip hop LP of
2018, in addition to one of the year’s best, overall. After the underwhelming
release of his previous LP, 2017’s Revival,
many counted Detroit’s famous MC out, including many younger artists who
mentioned such in verses over the last few years, all of which inspired Eminem
to produce a defensive blast of focused, tighter songs (a slimmer album, if you
will) that left out ballads and pop hooks, coming in at half the time of the
previous album while also being four or five times more entertaining. Kamikaze is Eminem’s best LP in nearly
10 years, reminding everyone that he can still more than hold his own against
emerging artists and modern trends in hip hop production. The first half of the
album, featuring songs like “The Ringer”, “Greatest”, and “Lucky You”, is stronger
than the second side, but the mixing that connects most tracks in transition
keeps things moving through the closer, “Venom”, also appearing on the
recently-released Marvel film of the same name.
