In spite of everything else (which is a long list), 2020 still produced a considerable amount of notable new music from veteran artists, recent stars, and up-and-comers alike in all genres. The very nature of being exposed to and listening to new music has never been easier which has led to progressively eclectic tastes and category blurring among both listeners and artists. For many this year, music was a source of strength (or at least positive distraction), and in the case of new releases, fans had a date to look forward to when most other scheduled events were cancelled.
While many excellent albums featured several great musical moments, each had their weaker spots as well, making nothing that was new in 2020 completely flawless; it also makes the handful that stand out the most seem “closer” in ranking than in most previous years, where one could say a top three or top five, in no particular order, would still represent some of the best and most memorable songs and albums of 2020. Before diving into the very best of the year, it’s worth running down some of the other stand-out releases, focusing on the best and most-notable within most of rock’s major subgenres.
The classic rock world was blessed with excellent new records from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, each recently charting high for streams, and Bob Dylan’s return added to his ridiculously deep catalog with more of his usual genius. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band recorded their critically acclaimed new LP, Letter to You, in only five days and dazzled recently on Saturday Night Live. One of the year’s biggest rock world surprises was Power Up, the return of AC/DC with Brian Johnson, Cliff Williams, and Phil Rudd all in tow (after each member slowly dropped off the tour for the band’s previous album, Rock or Bust, from 2014). The band long ago moved beyond honing their signature sound and now celebrates it in victory-lap fashion, much to the benefit of rock fans everywhere. This year also saw the return of original L.A. punks, X, a final and well-received album from Toots & The Maytals, released just weeks before the death of reggae legend, Toots Hibbert, and new music from the always-consistent Lucinda Williams also appeared on many best-of lists this year. The expanded reissue of Tom Petty’s Wildflowers adds another album’s worth of music to what was already a masterpiece (though even the 5 disc super deluxe box is still missing the studio version of “Girl on LSD”).
Among the prominent releases from other singer-songwriters are 2020 LPs by Sufjan Stevens, Jason Isbell, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, and Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus, continuing to build a large and diverse solo catalog. The quiet return of neo-folkies, Fleet Foxes, made an impression on many year-end lists as well. Modern fusion artists such as Tame Impala, Caribou, Thundercat, and Oneohtrix Point Never each continued to expand on their own sounds and tones while building a larger mainstream following with their new material. The Weeknd produced another set of strong pop-fusion crossover music and was recognized at most of the major awards shows while Margo Price continued to develop her style and sound and to set herself apart from her contemporaries in the world of modern country music. The strongest and most notable hip hop releases of the year included Run the Jewels’ 4th self-titled album, featuring guests such as Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme and Rage Against the Machine’s Zach De La Rocha, and Music to Get Murdered By, the latest offering from Detroit’s own Eminem, recently re-released with a bonus disc of material that nearly doubles the length of the album.
Elsewhere, in the world of rock, alternative, and metal, new releases from Deftones and Fiona Apple were both well received by critics and fans alike, and Lamb of God returned after a 5-year break with a solid, heavy new record following some internal difficulties and the departure of original drummer, Chris Adler. Tool singer, Maynard James Keenan’s quasi-solo project, Puscifer, released their 4th LP, Existential Reckoning, along with a PPV live performance which has slowly become a current fad in rock music with the ongoing inability for artists to tour. While solid in its own right and positively dripping with vintage synth textures, Keenan’s latest offering remains somewhat lukewarm, as was the return of A Perfect Circle after a lengthy hiatus a few years ago. Metallica’s official home release of their S&M2 concert (and their own PPV events) also offered a way to connect their fans and rock radio listeners to new live material without being able to tour.
Rising above all of these, and others, the year’s top
five albums each feature veteran artists continuing to release new or updated
material that comments on the state of the country and the world in these
recent months and years. Whether or not these voices are still considered
relevant or mainstream is beside the point. These artists have all proven
themselves many times over throughout the years, and getting their take on
modern life, and adding their tones and flavors to the current landscape of new
and popular music, is worth noting and appreciating, especially because these
albums are stronger than some by these same groups and because releasing and
promoting new music this year was a challenge all its own in which these bands
were each successful. In the years ahead, let the pages of rock history include
the following among the best rock albums of 2020.
5. Gorillaz-Song Machine Season One: Strange Timez
The always entertaining Gorillaz returned with a new set
this year that continued their tradition of heavy collaboration with known and
up-and-coming artists while also finding new and engaging ways to release the
songs, one at a time over the course of many months along with official music
videos, collected along with a bonus disc of additional songs and released as
the animated quartet’s latest LP. Gorillaz seemed to operate in waves this
past decade with a solid, guest-heavy release followed by a less-focused,
less-engaging album with fewer collaborations. Strange Timez is the
former, and the potential for an additional set of more new material of this caliber in 2021 is an
exciting prospect. Collaborations here include work with The Cure’s Robert
Smith, Beck, St. Vincent, Elton John, and New Order’s Peter Hook to name the
highest profile guests, but vocalist/songwriter Damon Albarn (as always,
providing the voice of cartoon bandleader, 2-D) continues to help to break
lesser-known and emerging artists from around the world by featuring them on
segments throughout the album. Musically, this version of Gorillaz is
consistent in that it is always a fusion of all types of rock and world music,
often leaning into electronic, psychedelic,
and hip hop elements the most here, as they continue to exemplify the true
meaning of alternative music in spite of the overuse of that label.
4. The Flaming Lips-American Head
Indie rock legends, The Flaming Lips, returned with their 16th LP in September and also seized the opportunity to create
official music videos for nearly every track over the course of the year in
lieu of touring (though they have also been experimenting with performing live
to an audience isolated in plastic bubbles, virus be damned). This creative
concept album tells an alternate history of Tom Petty if he (heaven forbid)
ended up on a different life path during a brief time in Oklahoma City in the
mid-‘70s based on a story imagined by singer/songwriter, Wayne Coyne, as he
reflected on his own family history and Petty’s. While the details of that
fictional tale aren’t necessary for one to enjoy the album’s blend of gleeful
bliss and epic melancholy, it does help some of the lyrical passages make a bit
more sense. Musically recalling styles of writing and production similar to the
band’s most celebrated work on albums like 1999’s, The Soft Bulletin, and
2002’s, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, this updated version of the ongoing
collaboration between Coyne and singer/multi-instrumentalist, Steven Drozd,
ranks among the band’s most engaging and most approachable work, unlike several
of their more experimental previous releases over the past decade or so. Achingly beautiful songs
about youthful adventure give way to ruminations on violence, death, and regret
that fit in well among the band’s large and constantly growing catalog. As they
approach their 40th year as a band (coming up in 2023!), here’s to
hoping The Flaming Lips will be able to celebrate with an uplifting tour that will keep the confetti industry in the black for decades to come!
3. Green Day-Father of All Motherfuckers
Continuing to blend the traditional sounds of ‘70s and
‘90s punk, modern pop rock, and their deep love of all avenues of ‘60s rock,
Green Day’s year seemed primed to be a huge one until the COVID derailment.
This band always produces their best work when they focus more on a certain tone
or concept, in this case experimenting with a fusion of references to and
elements from rock’s first decade alongside the speed and attitude for which they
are known but with a modern production twist that blends the songs and topics
well over the album’s extra-short run time of 26 minutes (and let’s
not get into what constitutes an album vs. and EP again just now). Most of the
album is fast, fun, and even danceable at times, and the few less-interesting
spots move right on by to get into the next piece, so it’s an excellent set for
rock fans with short attention spans who are also into melodic hooks and crisp
production (and aren’t we all?). Some moments recall the band’s material under
as their alter-egos, Foxboro Hot Tubs, or the lesser-traditional tracks from
the Dos! portion of their unfairly maligned triple LP. Standouts like
the falsetto workout in the title track, the blazing speed of “Fire, Ready,
Aim,” and the singles, “Oh Yeah” and “Meet Me on the Roof,” are the strongest
songs but more so than Green Day’s previous three album eras, this lean set of
rockers avoids distraction, vanity, or deviation in any way which is both a
pleasant surprise and arguably the wisest choice the band could make at this
stage in their career. Unexpectedly impressive!
2. Mr. Bungle-The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny
Demo
After 21 years apart, underground alternative rock legends, Mr. Bungle, finally returned with a new album, but truly in their intentionally confusing fashion, most of it isn’t new, it features high profile guests, and it rarely sounds like the ‘90s songs and albums for which the band is primarily known. This LP harkens back to the group’s earliest incarnation (as high school students) and their ambition to be a novelty-style death metal band. Essentially a higher-quality do-over of their very first self-released demo tape from 1986, this new set of recordings features the addition of Anthrax guitarist, Scott Ian, and Slayer/Fantomas/Dead Cross drummer, Dave Lombardo, creatively pairing the primary members of the original Bungle line up (Patton, Dunn, and Spruance) with some of the musicians who directly inspired that original demo tape. Brutal drums and shredding guitars tear through “Anarchy Up Your Anus,” “Raping the Mind,” and “Bungle Grind,” and an updated version of “Hypocrites” still includes a few verses of “La Cucaracha” but now segues into an ironic cover of S.O.D.’s “Speak English or Die” (lyrically adjusted to “Spanish”). A few new tracks are also included, most notably, “Eracist,” and “Mathematics” which was written around the time of the original demo tape but was not included and which features sections of what would become “Love Is a Fist” on Mr. Bungle’s self-titled major label debut from 1991. In doing something essentially nostalgic and for themselves, Mr. Bungle gave the world the blazing death metal album it didn’t know it needed and which perfectly accompanied a year full of madness in all directions.
1. Pearl Jam-Gigaton
The album that rises just a bit higher to be the best of the year is Pearl Jam’s first LP in 7 years (11th overall), and the Seattle-based grunge icons crafted a deep, mature cycle of songs that reflect their own sorrows and frustrations and the world’s. Released just as the pandemic was breaking in March, Gigaton comments on climate change, personal loss and reflection, life under Trump, and the frustrating desire to break free of it all. The themes became even more pronounced as the year progressed, and while “Dance of the Clairvoyants” and “Retrograde” were not hit singles in the traditional sense, they both fit well within the album between diverse tones and song structures, as usual courtesy of the band’s open writing policy for each of its members. Guitarists, Mike McCready and Stone Gossard, shine on rockers like, “Superblood Wolfmoon” and “Quick Escape,” and play beautifully on the album’s quieter numbers as well. Age can be heard in singer, Eddie Vedder’s, famous baritone, and in his lyrics, but critics have been calling the latest PJ albums “grown up” since 1996, so it’s all relative. Of the many rock albums to be released in 2020, Gigaton is the closest to a classic early ‘90s modern rock record and the most seemingly honest and vulnerable of the lot. The emotion within these songs feels and sounds pure, and that is not always comfortable, but it adds a conviction and substance to the material that makes it stand out compared to the other solid (and not as solid) albums of the past year. Pearl Jam celebrate their 30th anniversary this year and undoubtedly had plans to connect with fans in a live setting, so hopefully there’s a way that can be done before 2022. Whenever they may be able to return to the stage before an audience, the 12 songs on Gigaton will fit perfectly into their impressive catalog and will shine in performance just as much if not more than these recorded versions, also quite common among many of their other songs.
