2011 saw a number of fantastic musical releases and an even greater amount of dross. Without further ado, I give you my top 20 of 2011:
20 Rise Against: Endgame
Rise Against have really made it into the mainstream now, but I wish they still played the same kind of melodic hardcore they pioneered on The Unraveling. That said, this is a great modern punk album. Check out Help Is On The Way.
19 Trapped Under Ice: Big Kiss Goodnight
Proper new school/old school hardcore. "What?" you may well be saying. I mean that it sounds modern in production and sound, and retro in attitude and style. You're probably still confused, but if you like aggressive music, this is well worth a listen.
18 Mastodon: The Hunter
The music press loved this and a lot of writers will have made it their album of the year. I'm not a massive fan of progressive metal, but this doesn't stray into the realms of 10 minute guitar wankathons like some other bands in the genre. Basically, it's metal with a lot of melody. Awesome.
17 Mighty Mighty Bosstones: The Magic Of Youth
The Bosstones have been fusing ska and punk for almost 30 years. Devil's Night Out and Jackknife to a Swan are better albums than this more poppy offering, but if you liked the single The Impression That I Get from the late 90s, this will be right up your street.
16 New Found Glory: Radiosurgery
Pop punk titans NFG continue to ply their trade and deliver an album not unlike their previous offering. At least they haven't changed for the worse like Blink 182, though. Play this loud and you can imagine you're in an American teen comedy.
15 Slorder: Slorder EP
Descendents guitarist serves up melodic instrumental fare on this debut EP. It's hard to pigeonhole this kind of music, but it sounds a lot like the Descendents' Grand Theme, if you've ever heard that. If you haven't, then imagine Dick Dale playing a guitar made of bubblegum through an amp made of sugar.
14 Roger Miret and the Disasters: Gotta Get Up Now
This is the fourth album from the Agnostic Front vocalist's side project. It's punk very much influenced by late 70s British Oi! music. I would have placed this higher up the list if it wasn't for the fact that it includes a terrible country song (it must be heard to be disbelieved).
13 Metallica: Beyond Magnetic EP
An attempt by Metallica to make us forget the car crash of their collaboration album with Lou Reed, and it almost works. This EP clocks in at around 30 minutes and contains four leftover songs from Death Magnetic. It sounds very much like the aforementioned album, which isn't a bad thing as that was the best material they'd recorded in nearly 20 years.
12 Korpiklaani: Ukon Wacka
Finnish folk metal. Really. Lyrically, it's probably brilliant if you speak Finnish. If you don't, just enjoy the music for what it is: a fairytale meets hairy, guitar-wielding maniacs, who are most likely hammered on homebrewed spirits.
11 Skarhead: Dreams Don't Die
An album of hardcore covers played by a hardcore band. Does pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. The cover of Cyndi Lauper's When You Were Mine is perhaps a little odd.
10 Agnostic Front: My Life, My Way
NYHC veterans Agnostic Front have survived 30 years of lineup changes and genre yo-yoing to deliver what may be their best album yet. If some of their early stuff had been played and produced this well, they could have been massive.
9 Jasta: Jasta
Hatebreed frontman goes solo and collaborates with others from the world of metal (so technically not solo) to deliver a slab of brutal metal. It does sound a lot like a more metal version of Hatebreed, which is both positive and negative in places. Still good though.
8 Megadeth: TH1RT3EN
Megadeth haven't recorded anything really good since 1991's Rust In Peace, but they finally seem to be back on the right track with this. Dave Mustaine must be smiling from ear to ear as this was released in the same year as the Loutallica atrocity, proving he can be more popular than his former bandmates.
7 Dropkick Murphys: Going Out In Style
The usual Dropkick mix of Celtic music and punk on what they claim is a 'concept album'. The concept seems to involve beer, whisky and good times, so you can't complain. I saw them live last Easter and they were fantastic.
6 Me First and the Gimme Gimmes: Go Down Under EP
Another covers offering from the punk rock covers supergroup. There's no mistaking their sound and they always make others' songs better in their own, inimitable way. The Australian songs may be lesser-known, but this is a million times better than their EP of Japanese songs, also from 2011.
5 Machine Head: Unto The Locust
Could they deliver something as good as The Blackening? Short answer: yes. For those who aren't familiar with Machine Head, it's like being hit by a freight train of pounding metal while someone sprinkles a small amount of classical music on you.
4 Anthrax: Worship Music
Metal album of the year by a mile. Like other bands (I'm looking at you, Metallica), Anthrax had abondoned thrash metal in favour of some weak mainstream-sounding nonsense some years ago. Now they are back to their thrash roots and sound heavier than ever. You absolutely must listen to Fight 'Em Til You Can't.
3 H2O: Don't Forget Your Roots
Another covers album from another hardcore band. This is not as hard as Skarhead's album and includes covers of songs by 7 Seconds, Descendents and Rancid along with some heavier stuff. This is excellent, but I wish they'd record a new album of original material soon - 5 studio albums in 15 years is not enough.
2 Frenzal Rhomb: Smoko At The Pet Food Factory
Dubbed "the Australian NOFX" (or "Now If Ix", if you like) by some, Frenzal are a force to be reckoned with. I first became aware of them after I heard their punk version of the Home and Away theme, and I've been a fan ever since. This half hour of high speed punk definitely rivals some of their better-known American cousins' efforts.
1 Sick Of It All: Nonstop
This is essentially a greatest hits album to celebrate 25 years of Sick Of It All. What makes it different is that they re-recorded all 20 songs for the album over a period of 2 days in Denmark last year. Some classics are re-worked, but not so you wouldn't recognise them, and the material originally from Blood Sweat and No Tears benefits from better production. Despite containing no new songs, this is a hardcore masterpiece.
So that sums up 2011. Let's hope 2012 brings something great in music, like Maroon 5 being horrifically maimed in a studio explosion.
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