There's a lot of heavy shit going down in the country and around the world. Not just now, but on and on for several years straight, and talking about albums, concerts, award shows, or other music news and gossip clearly pales in comparison to these ultra-serious things. It's been a worry, a distraction, and a major stressor for all of us in one way or another, and motivation to jump on and type a few paragraphs in praise or critique of anything from music or pop culture has not been a priority. Having said that, I'll be the first to admit that doing so can be helpful, at least for me, regardless of if or when anyone reads what I write, so in this rare moment of available time and marginal gumption, I'm going to run through some of the end-of-the-year stuff I haven't commented on and ease into some of the interesting new music and upcoming concerts that have been announced so far for 2026. Regular concert reviews will resume at some point in the near future.
To begin with, 2025 was not the strongest year for new releases that spoke to my personal taste. Sure, things have lightened up more and more for at least the past half-decade, but I don't recall a year that ended where I didn't encounter at least five strong albums by any number of artists to produce a best-of-the-year list. It seemed last year was more about new artists breaking ground and starting to get heard than established veterans running through another album cycle, which is fine and good, of course, but a blend of old and new each year is always a better situation when it happens. Deftones' Private Music was probably the most traditionally consistent release of the year, with guitarist Stephen Carpenter checking in with tasty riffs throughout, though he no longer appears live with the band. Nine Inch Nails' long-awaited return came in the form of a soundtrack album for the third Tron film, which blended a dirty, electronic score with four new vocal-based songs. The production on this collection is top-notch, and the music compliments both the film and the NIN catalog quite well, though many fans wanted a more traditional, proper rock album from Trent Reznor and company. The Mars Volta returned with Lucro Sucio; Los Ojos del Vacio, a new concept LP that segmented 50 minutes of music into 18 tracks that combine to form a connected, flowing mood from end-to-end but which alienated some fans because its style is less chaotic and psychedelic than their classic albums, and some did not find it very engaging. The debut album (and possibly only album) by AVTT/PTTN, a risky but creative collaboration between The Avette Brothers and experimental vocalist Mike Patton, is still being digested by fans of both artists and has seemingly been dismissed as "too weird" or "too straight" by both camps. Geese's fourth LP, Getting Killed, was probably the best release from an emerging artist, blending a mix of alternative and experimental rock elements into a varied and adventurous collection of songs. The latest releases from Tyler, the Creator, The Weeknd, Clipse, Pulp, Jason Isbell, Dijon, Bon Iver, Wet Leg, Elton John, Margo Price, Twenty One Pilots, JID, Big Thief, Lorde, Tame Impala, Mavis Staples, Florence+The Machine, Willie Nelson, Robert Plant, and De La Soul also filled the air and the airwaves with new and interesting songs but didn't seem to make a huge impression on the general audience compared to huge albums from previous years.
So far, 2026 has already seen a fair number of engaging new releases which are sure to be in contention for the year's best albums in December, including LPs by Gorillaz, Puscifer, The Claypool Lennon Delirium, the unexpected return (and conclusion) of Gnarls Barkley, as well as the upcoming 24th album by They Might Be Giants and 12th album by a regrouped Foo Fighters. It will be exciting to see what else the rest of the year has in store for new music!
The music award shows have continued to stagnate and have become less engaging than ever, to the point where discussing them at all seems arguably unnecessary. The MTV Video Music Awards migrated to CBS for the first time in their 41-year history and are struggling to legitimize their continued existence, though a retrospective award for and performance from Busta Rhymes and a loving tribute to Ozzy Osbourne were at least nice touches amongst the modern pop blah-scape. The Grammy Awards slowly devolved into a sanitized variant of what the VMAs used to be and have gotten more and more boring with each recently passing year. This year, they featured their own Ozzy tribute and a much more elaborate and impressive one for D'Angelo and Roberta Flack, led by Ms. Lauryn Hill and featuring an army of guests. Pharrell Williams was recognized for lifetime achievement and seized the opportunity to perform with Clipse on music he recently produced for the highly respected hip hop duo. The awards themselves, in the cases of both shows, feel more arbitrary than ever and seem to have little impact on fans or on the industry. Moving ahead, most major awards shows are going to be leaving broadcast television for the internet and streaming services, which does not bode well for an improvement in their quality in the coming years.
Live music has fortunately fared better in the past year and the outlook ahead is also promising. While the biggest U.S. festivals continue to wane, and some of the smaller ones have been drastically reduced or have shut down entirely, the touring circuit is strong for newer and veteran artists alike (though the tickets are not always easy to acquire at a reasonable price or at all in some cases). The best and most ambitious tour of 2025 was Queens of the Stone Age's Catacombs show, a blend of acoustic, orchestral, and choral arrangements of deep cuts and fan favorites, primarily from the past 20 years, presented in a theatrical style quite different from their usual rock shows. Nine Inch Nails successful runs on the Peel It Back tour offered a modern take on their classic material from The Downward Spiral and select other favorites, mostly ignoring material from last year's Tron: Ares soundtrack album but presenting new arrangements of some older material with one of that album's primary collaborators, Boys Noize, who was also the opening act, providing an hour of live mixed industrial and house music each night. Notable live runs from Devo, Weird Al Yankovic, and They Might Be Giants delighted fans across the country last year and continue through the spring and summer of 2026 in some regions. Other upcoming tours and special events include shows at a selection of small venues by indie legends Failure, a theatre tour by AVTT/PTTN, a short run by a reunited Tomahawk (w/Melvins opening), and a surprise return of Eagles of Death Metal (touring to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their second album). Psychedelic bluegrass phenom Billy Strings continues to entertain the jam band crowd and will headline a two-day hometown event, The Ionia Freak Fest in Michigan, in August. The big stadium rock show of the summer will undoubtedly be Foo Fighters with Queens of the Stone Age, treating fans to possibly five hours of music to justify the arguably high ticket prices.
All of this is assuming, of course, that something catastrophic doesn't happen in the meantime to change, delay, or derail these tours, but if they all work out, there's a ton of great live music to look forward to in the coming months.
And now, back to your doomscrolling.
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