24 for '24

 

I’ve long since given up trying to keep on top of new releases and doing my ‘Best of the Year’ posts.

Well, kind of. Here is my list of 24 for 24, the 24 albums I’ve listened to the most this year. This has been done without the help of Spotify Wrapped or any other such bullshit – in fact, you can read what I think about Spotify here if you want.

Anyway, let’s get into it.

24: New Day Rising – Hüsker Dü 

One of the surprisingly melodic inclusions on this list and possibly not one of many Hüsker Dü fans’ favourites, but hey, it’s my list.

Best song: Books About UFOs

23: Pyromania – Def Leppard

The last album before Rick Allen lost his arm in a car crash and without a doubt the best metal album to come out of Sheffield.

Best song: Foolin’

22: Reign in Blood – Slayer

One of the greatest thrash masterpieces of all time, perfection from start to finish.

Best song: Epidemic

21: Coaster – NOFX

Is it punk or pop-punk? Who cares when it sounds this good.

Best song: We Called It America

20: Moshemian Thrashody – Insanity Alert

This is just a four-track EP of parody songs, but it’s a good showcase of the Austrian crossoverists’ abilities.

Best song: Beer in the Park

19: Surfing with the Alien – Joe Satriani

Do you like rock instrumentals? I do. Mr. Satriani supposedly taught Metallica’s Kirk Hammett how to play and I bet the Hamster wishes he could play as well as this.

Best song: Surfing with the Alien

18: A Jackknife to a Swan – The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

There’s so much more to these skacore dudes than the highly overrated and inexplicably popular The Impression That I Get.

Best song: You Gotta Go

17: Stay Asleep – Big Wig

One of the lesser-known US melodic hardcore bands who recorded some belters when they weren’t just pissing about with things like silly covers of the Cheers theme.

Best song: Friends

16: Four – Ken Yokoyama

This Japanese guitarist is one of the most prolific songwriters in punk and hardcore, appearing in bands like Hi Standard and BBQ Chickens as well as finding time for a wealth of solo work and collaborations with other people you probably haven’t heard of.

Best song: Your Safe Rock

15: Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs – Alkaline Trio

This is as slow as it gets for me. I’ve been a big fan of The Trio for many years and I love how dark their songs are. I saw them in Leeds this year and to see strangers hugging each other while yelling the lyrics to some of the best goth-punk songs of all time made me proper emosh.

Best song: Broken Down in a Time Machine

14: Angel Dust – Faith No More

I think I nicked the CD of this from Woolies back in the day. Part of the soundtrack of my time at sixth form college and still an absolute beast of an album incorporating pretty much every musical genre you can think of.

Best song: Midlife Crisis

13: Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie – Volbeat

If Lars Ulrich hadn’t wanted a Danish band to support Metallica some years ago, we’d probably have no idea who these guys are now. The blending of metal and rock and roll works way better than many people might think.

Best song: the cover of The Georgia Satellites’ Battleship Chains

12: Set It Off – Madball

This was among the first hardcore albums I ever bought and it’s staggering to think that vocalist Freddie Madball (not the name on his birth certificate) was only 12 or something when this was recorded.

Best song: Down by Law

11: Igreja Quadrangular Do Triângulo Redondo – DFC

You’ve gotta love a bit of Brazilian hardcore. I’ve no idea what’s being yelled in Portuguese here, but that doesn’t matter when it sounds as good as this. The album title translates to something along the lines of the square church of the circular triangle.

Best song: O Mal da Liberdade

10: Stellkira – Belushi Speed Ball

Naming a band after a celebrity and the way they died could catch on. I’m now waiting for Carradine Stranglewank and Princess Di Mercedes. These fellas lark about a lot, but they produce some excellent rapid-fire crossover.

Best song: My Favorite Color Is Pizza

9: Blind – Corrosion of Conformity

This album came out when I was 16 or 17 and remains the best thing they did after their hardcore punk days and before their full-on stoner groove thing.

Best song: Mine Are the Eyes of God

8: Keepers of the Faith – Terror

This is face-melting hardcore. My best Terror anecdote is the time when I said to vocalist Scott Vogel “great show” after their gig at the Brudenell, fist bumped him, turned around and promptly fell face-first up some steps.

Best song: Keepers of the Faith

7: Delirium – Hazzerd

This is a veritable riff-fest from these under-appreciated Canadian thrashers. And they do like the occasional double-harmony guitar solo too.

Best song: Dead in the Shed

6: Killing Is My Business and Business is Good– Megadeth

Thanks to former bassist David Ellefson touring with his badly-named Kings of Thrash set up and playing some of the classic early ‘Deth songs off this album, it’s come back on my radar this year. Further proof that Mustaine wrote his best songs while on heroin.

Best song: The Mechanix

5: Bats – Gama Bomb

These Irish chaps don’t mess about and have now released more proper thrash albums since the 2000s than most bands who started out in the 1980s.

Best song: Bats in Your Hair (with its saxophone solo!)

4: Necropolitica – Ratos de Porão 

Yet more Brazilian hardcore form the biggest band of them all. 40 years plus of doing this and they’re all starting to get on a bit, but you’d never guess from listening to this. They still have the energy and attitude of a band half their age.

Best song: Necropolitica

3: Impact Is Imminent – Exodus

This was the first Exodus album I ever heard when I was about 16. I had a third generation copy on cassette that spent a lot of time in my Walkman on my paper round. This was probably what really started my life-long love affair with thrash.

Best song: Impact Is Imminent

2: Iron Maiden – Iron Maiden

When original Maiden vocalist Paul Di’Anno died earlier this year, I did what I often do in such circumstances and immediately revisited his work. He was only on the first two records and was never as popular as Bruce Dickinson would become, but the band really put their stamp on the world of heavy metal with their debut in particular. This is also one of those rare self-titled albums that also includes a self-titled song.

Best song: Phantom of the Opera

1: Ride the Lightning – Metallica

This album turned 40 this year and were it not for the abysmal Escape that Hatebreed thought was good enough to cover for some bizarre reason, it would be a perfect album. This was the point where Metallica really started to hone their songwriting abilities and Cliff Burton’s bass playing surpasses most of what any other rock or metal bass player did before or has done since.

Best song: Trapped Under Ice

 

I wrote this list based on memory alone and that’s not what it once was, so I’m sure I’ll wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat at some point because I didn’t include Biohazard’s Urban Discipline or Sick Of It All’s Scratch the Surface. But never mind.

I’ve made a playlist of what I believe to be the best songs from each album that you can listen to on Apple Music if you have it – I think I’ve already made it clear what I think of Spotify.

And yes, I’m aware that this blog has been neglected for quite some time. I’ve been to tons of gigs and not bothered writing about them this year, so I hope that in 2025 I can get back into it and produce content that might end up being read by about five people.

Cheers.