Guess who's back, back again. I mean, actually that one is straightforward, so don’t do that.
In 2020, due to a lack of gigs and me having written my normal end of year blog in April of that year, I instead changed tack and wrote a blog about some of my favourite albums released that year (which you can read as well, by clicking here). Looking back on that blog now, it does include a lot of my favourite albums from last year, but not all of them. Looking back on it now, there is one on there I had forgotten I had written about and was tempted to remove. I decided against it, instead deciding to mention here that I considered removing the Marilyn Manson record from the previous year's blog for reasons I probably don’t need to explain. If you aren't aware of why, and decide to google it, all I can do is offer a trigger warning for sexual assault/violence.
2021 has been an interesting year for music, because from what I understand (read, was told was the case on a music podcast I listen to and have no reason to doubt it), there were a number of albums delayed in 2020 which were then released in 2021. As well as this, there are albums that have come out which may not have existed had it not been for artists and bands being unable to tour the world as they previously had been able to pre-pandemic. As I write these words, European countries (my own included) are responding to the latest variant of Covid-19, Omicron, and this has meant a number of travel restrictions and lock-downs being reintroduced. One hasn’t been introduced yet in the UK, but I would not be shocked if one was.
My music listening habits this year have been largely similar to last year really - a lot of my music listening happened while I was working from home or in the evenings - and overwhelmingly has been done, for my sins, on Spotify. My Spotify Wrapped tells me the following about my listening this year:
Top Artists:
1. Beans on Toast
2. Frank Turner
3. Biffy Clyro
4. Every Time I Die
5. Weezer
Top Songs
A. Bob Vylan - CSGB
B. Beans On Toast - The Price of Rice
C. Beans On Toast - Watching the World Go By
D. Fatman Scoop - Be Faithful (I thought this had come up a lot of shuffle, I was right!)
E. Beans On Toast - On & On.
Minutes Listened - 73,599
Top Genre - Punk
(incidentally, in case you are wondering, I changed from numbers to letters for those two lists because Google Docs was being a pain in the arse, and I lost the will to fight with it).
Fun fact - as I learned at a Beans on Toast gig (what turned out to be my penultimate gig of 2021) - Spotify Wrapped came out the same day as the news about the Spotify CEO investing €100 million into AI defence technology/weapons. I am sure that is just a coincidence though, and by that I mean this was entirely intentional. Anyway, the Wrapped this year features two of the same artists from 2020 (Frank Turner was 1st, Beans On Toast was 4th), and my top genre last year was Rock. The minutes this year (on Spotify) were nearly 30,000 more than last year - not quite sure how that happened but it did.
Another way I track my music listening habits, when it works, is Last.fm (I think I am one of dozens who does this). It is clear to see a drop off from September this year of scrobbles, which can be explained by me working in the office more frequently than I had been previously (most weeks working 3 days a week in the office and 2 at home). Until September, most months had over 2,000 songs played, with the lowest months being 1,669 and 1,800. September onward, the listens dropped noticeably with September and October being above 1,000 and November being around 900 (this could be attributed to having 7 days of annual leave and missing over a week off sick due to Covid). December, which we are still in for another 11 full days as I write this, is already over 1,250 plays and increasing (I am listening to music as I type this). I only have a day and a half of work until I end for the year, which will limit listening time to the end of the year, but I would expect it to finish over 1,500. The point of bringing up Last.fm though is that it gives some interesting statistics on how many times I’ve listened to an album. For example, it tells me I’ve listened to Miss Lava - Doom Machine 6 times (which includes once today) - which seems about right.
Anyway, I’m not a music journalist (which will become very clear in a moment or two) so below are some albums from 2021 I very much liked, along with some thoughts on them. These are not in any sort of order
Bob Vylan - We Live Here (Deluxe)
This is the album I’ve listened to the most this year. I am prepared to attribute this to two things. Firstly, it is bloody ace and secondly, the deluxe edition is 24 minutes long. From what I understand, the standard version came out in 2020, but the deluxe edition was released on streaming platforms this year, which is why I have included it here. I discovered it this year as well. Discussing Bob Vylan at work, one of my colleagues said her husband had described them as Anarcho-Grime, which seems to be a decent attempt to define their genre. They are definitely a combination of punk and hip-hop. The album is 10 songs (9 and a skit, arguably) and it is great from top to bottom. Not that it is relevant to this listing, but two new songs were also released in 2021, so it is possible another album is to follow in 2022 and, based on these new songs, will be talked about in next year’s post (if there is one). As a note, one song “Pulled Pork” features Jason Butler from letlive and Fever 333…I was late to the letlive party and I miss them. CSGB is definitely my MVP on the album, but as said, I think it is all great.
Pupil Slicer - Mirrors
Sometimes, I see a band name and I am immediately intrigued (and really, how could you not be at least intrigued by a band called Pupil Slicer?!). The band describe themselves on Twitter as Mathcore/Deathgrind/Powerviolence and…yeah that sums it up quite nicely! I heard the album reviewed on Riot Act and went and gave it a listen and was blown away. If heavy abrasive music is your thing, I 100% recommend this album. For me, this album must be in the conversation of best heavy album of the year. It is a strong album from start to finish, and is probably a bit basic to say the first song, Martyrs, is my MVP, but there we are. I very much hope 2022 provides an opportunity to see them live (so far the dates that have been announced I can’t make…but I am very much hoping they end up on the bill for Damnation Festival in November).
Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR
How about this for a change of pace?! I honestly can’t remember how I came to discover this album - I think it may have been a trending topic about the album and Olivia Rodrigo being the next big thing. As I said in the blog from last year, working from home a lot has allowed me to listen to more music and expand my horizons, so I thought I would give it a go. After my first listen, I thought SOUR was very good (and could see why it was being hyped) but I wasn’t sure if I would go back to it. The fact I am writing about it here should tell you that I did go back to it. On one dark evening, a listen to this caught me right in the feels and I was on the cusp of crying - that shouldn’t be an indicator of whether an album is good or not, but I wanted to mention it as it is an album that impacted me. I can’t imagine I will try to see Olivia Rodrigo live, because I would more than likely be the oldest person there without children, and imagine I would feel very much like I did when I accidentally attended a tots screening of Toy Story 4 on my own (by which I mean awkward and out of place). Album MVP for me is deja vu or drivers license - but the first song brutal very much piqued my interest and jealousy, jealousy is excellent.
Employed To Serve - Conquering
I was introduced to Employed To Serve (ETS) during the cycle for The Warmth Of A Dying Sun, and since then they have released Eternal Forward Motion and this - those three albums have firmly established this band as one of my favourites. It was one of those cases where ETS released a few songs before the album came out (as is the norm) and I liked them all so was excited for the album, and had my expectations met because it is superb. I am still mad I was recovering from Covid which meant missing one of their tiny album launch shows in Guildford (had a ticket and everything) - it was the right decision to not go, but that doesn’t stop me being mad about it! Is it better than the previous offering? I’m not sure yet, but the fact it is comparable to me is definitely meant as a compliment. The MVP is Universal Chokehold or Mark of the Blade, but Exist needs to be mentioned as well.
Dave - We’re All Alone In This Together
This album, much like his previous one, knocked me for six. It is a superb album and all of the plaudits it has received. Much like Psychodrama, this album has excellent songs on it, but these excellent songs also make you think and, for me at least, take your breath away. Heart Attack was trending on twitter for quite a while after this album was released, and I felt like I had to gear myself up to listen to it when the time came. That song is of course the MVP - it is one of the aforementioned breathtaking songs - but I also love Clash (with Stormzy), We’re All Alone, Both Sides Of A Smile (with James Blake) and Twenty To One. The album is an hour long, and if you are partial to hip hop - it is a superb way to spend an hour of your time…as well as the subsequent hours you will spend listening to it again (and again).
Volbeat - Servant Of The Mind
Do you know what is great? When a band you love releases a really great album. When that happens, that makes me feel all warm in my tum tum (apologies to Simon Miller, if you know then you know). Volbeat’s previous offering in 2019 was good, but that was all. I didn’t hate it, but I certainly didn’t love it. I saw them on the tour for the album and I think they played 9 songs from the album in the set list…and honestly it was the least favourite of the Volbeat shows I’ve been to (it still made my top 10 of the year mind, though that is because I love Volbeat). The clear MVP is Shotgun Blues, and I cannot wait to see them play it live, but there is a lot here I either really like or love - and honestly wouldn’t be sad if the little gig of theirs I’m going to in May (all being well) has a set list which is heavily made up from this album. Volbeat have often been referred to as the result of what would happen if you mixed Metallica and Johnny Cash - Say No More from this album 100% has the stomp of Metallica and I adore it. To the point I would love to hear Metallica cover it (it won’t happen, but if it did it would be ace).
Halsey - If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power
Did I only listen to this album because I heard it was produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross? Yes, in all honesty. Halsey is an artist whose name I knew but I probably would have struggled to tell you a song of hers before this album came out. I need to go back to her discography because I have listened to only this latest album of hers, but I think it is great. You can clearly hear the influence of Trent/Atticus all over it, and I love that about it. That influence mixed with Halsey works really well I think. It reminds me of How To Destroy Angels, and that is definitely meant as a compliment. I thought I would listen to this once out of curiosity and never go back to it, but much like SOUR, it sunk its claws into me and I love it. The MVP for me, for I am nothing but basic, is I am not a woman, I’m a god - but there is so much good stuff on this album. Easier than Lying for example? Outrageously good.
IDLES - CRAWLER
I am not sure this album would exist if it wasn’t for lock-downs preventing touring (I mentioned this earlier and will again for the next entry as well). I don’t know this for sure of course, but it is my suspicion on the basis that their previous album was out in 2020 (I might just copy and paste this for the next entry). Ultra Mono came out last year and I loved it - not as much as the previous two efforts, but similar to ETS, we’re talking about 3 very high quality albums here. I wasn’t expecting Crawler this year, so when the album was announced and a single was dropped, I was very happy. Or at least I was until I heard the single and I enjoyed it, but it didn’t immediately click with me. The same happened with the second single and I wasn’t panicked about not liking the album, but I was concerned. When the album came out, I listened to it and liked it, and the singles seemed, to me at least, to fit better in their respective places on the album. The more I listened to it, the more I realised I didn’t have a single stand out track as the one I could recommend as an MVP in the same way as I have the others…but the album as a whole is wonderful. To the point I’ve asked myself more than once when listening if it is my favourite IDLES album. I don’t have an answer for you yet, but as I said earlier, I love their first 3 albums so for it to be in the conversation as my favourite of the now four hopefully tells you that I feel very strongly about it.
Update - I listened to it again after typing this and my MVPs are Stockholm Syndrome and Crawl!. I also considered King Snake and Meds.
Trivium - In The Court Of The Dragon
I am mentioning it again! I am not sure this album would exist if it wasn’t for lockdowns preventing touring. I don’t know this for sure of course, but it is my suspicion on the basis that their previous album was out in 2020 (I might just copy and…uhoh busted!). Jokes aside, Trivium, in my opinion, are on arguably the best run of their career so far. My justification for this is that they have previously hit speed bumps when on previous good form - The Crusade after Ember To Inferno and Ascendancy was the first. I personally have mixed feelings towards Shogun (something I appreciate I am very much in the minority about) but I thought In Waves was superb, unfortunately it was followed by Vengeance Falls and Silence in the Snow - both of which in my view were a bit bum. So much so, I wasn’t excited when The Sin and the Sentence came out, and that was wrong because that album slaps. They followed it up in 2020 with What The Dead Men Say, which was a step up and this year have released In The Court Of The Dragon - which is excellent. It clicked with me instantly (same as What The Dead Men Say), which is always a plus. The thing is, it has been a while since I’ve listened to it, but I know when I go back to it, I am in for a good time and that is always a good thing when it comes to music. The title track is the MVP for me, but this could change over time (then again, I guess that is true of all of these albums).
Converge & Chelsea Wolfe - Bloodmoon: I
This year was the year I listened to Converge for the first time - they were announced for Damnation Festival, and I wanted to go, so I figured if I was going I would need to like one of the main bands playing. Converge, I found a difficult band to get into, but I got there and I now really like them. I didn’t know this album with Chelsea Wolfe was coming, so this was a surprise for me. Chelsea Wolfe is someone who I have tried previously to listen to, but didn’t get into - this album makes me want to try again. There is a lot to unpack on Bloodmoon: I, and I haven’t listened to it enough to do it any sort of justice here. I’ll keep this short by ending with this - the more I have listened to it, I have liked it more and more each time. Because of this, I don’t have an MVP, but I will in time.
Limp Bizkit - STILL SUCKS
A new Limp Bizkit album in 2021? That was unexpected. A new Limp Bizkit album in 2021 that is genuinely very good and a lot of fun? That was really unexpected. Did they reinvent the wheel? Not at all, but that isn’t what you come to a new Limp Bizkit album for is it? It is comfortably their best release since Chocolate Starfish, and I had a conversation with someone where I argued it could be their best album. It probably isn’t - but it is 32 minutes long and that feels like the perfect running time. In that time it goes all over the place, and I am glad that it isn’t longer because it may have gone to other places which aren’t as good. The MVP for this is Barnacle or Dad Vibes.
Every Time I Die - Radical
Every Time I Die were in my top 5 on Spotify this year in terms of number of songs played. Part of that is because their back catalogue absolutely rips - there are so many highlights it is hard to know where to start (immediately my mind went to Gutter Phenomenon but Low Teens a decade later might be my favourite…argh I’m not sure!). Anyway, I think I am right in saying the gaps between this and Low Teens is the longest gap Every Time I Die have ever left between releasing albums (5 years). The result is a very good album that is also their longest (51 minutes, 2 minutes longer than Low Teens which was previously the longest). This isn’t the best Every Time I Die album, but it is a testament to how good they are that this album is as good as it is, but isn’t in the conversation for the band's best album. AWOL is the MVP for me, that song is killer.
Turnstile - GLOW ON
I am pretty new to Turnstile, so this will be brief. I missed them at Slam Dunk 2019 because I was in one of the ridiculous queues for a beer and it is a source of regret. Following the release of GLOW ON, Turnstile have released 4 albums. In my view GLOW ON and Time & Space (from 2018) are definitely their best two. Is GLOW ON the best album? That is a tough question for me to answer, but I can tell you that I very much like both. Hopefully an opportunity appears to see them live - they announced a European tour which had a London show on it (that I couldn’t make) - that sold so well they announced more UK dates with another London show - and I can’t make any of these shows - one day for sure! One of those albums where the MVP changes all of the time - I listened to the album today and BLACKOUT is the MVP. This will change, and that’s a good thing. This album is very good.
Biffy Clyro - The Myth of the Happily Ever After
Last year, Biffy Clyro released A Celebration of Endings, and it completely changed my relationship with the band in a positive way. Biffy, as they want to do, release B-side albums to accompany every release. I might be wrong when I say this, but they very rarely get much publicity outside of the Biffy fan base, because they aren’t classed as main albums. This album felt different - it got a big push almost as though it isn’t a B-side album but an accompaniment to the main release. I will say from the off, I prefer A Celebration of Endings, but this album is very good. There is a lot of good songs on the album, which made narrowing down for MVP choice wasn’t easy. I’ve gone for Slurpy Slurpy Sleep Sleep or A Hunger In Your Haunt as the MVPs. I liked this very much.
The Wildhearts - 21st Century Love Songs
You know what I said for Volbeat about bands I love releasing albums I love? Cut and paste here for The Wildhearts, though in a similar way to IDLES I had a wobble when the first songs came out because I thought they were fine, fine and that is all. When I listened to the album and heard them all in their place on the album, I liked them all a lot more, which was a relief. The Wildhearts have released two albums in three years, and both have been great. I probably just about prefer this one, but it is tight (and could change again in time). The singles were all great, but my MVP of the album is My Head Wants Me Dead, and I would argue this is one of the best songs to be released in 2021. Urne - SERPENT & SPIRIT
Quite possibly the best debut album of the year for me. This and Mirrors are certainly in the conversation (if I am showing myself up now, then I apologise). This album being as good as it is gives me high hopes for this band going forward. One of the hosts of the Riot Act podcast suggested this was a better album than Ride The Lightning - that claim was recently revisited on their end of year shows which made for an interesting discussion. One thing that has to be said though, this album is at its worst good, and at best superb from start to finish. Also, they are good live - that isn’t relevant to a brief chat about the album but I saw them live at my final gig of the year as the opening band at the Joiners in Southampton (!), and they were excellent. Bigger and better things are surely coming for this band. The title track is the MVP for me.
Gojira - Fortitude
Am I saving the best until last? Well, it certainly would be in the conversation for my album of the year that is for sure. It isn’t Gojira’s best (that to me would be a knife fight between Magma and L’Enfant Sauvage), but it is another one of those situations similar to Every Time I Die where you can see the real quality of a band like Gojira when they release a very good album, like they have here, but it isn’t considered their best. Amazonia is my MVP, but I cannot wait to see them live and hope they do Fortitude straight into The Chant. Yes please and thank you. Gojira have killed it again, what a band they truly are.
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I’ve written a lot for this post, so I will leave it there. 2021 has had so much good music. I’ve still got 13 albums in my Spotify library released this year that I haven’t listened to yet. Will this post need updating once I have? Maybe! I might do a short one once I’ve listened to them revisiting them all.
Albums (listed in artist alphabetical order) that were listened to during the writing of this blog were:
Bob Vylan - We Live Here (Deluxe)
IDLES - CRAWLER
Miss Lava - Miss Doom
Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR
Pupil Slicer - Mirrors
Turnstile - GLOW ON
Volbeat - Servant Of The Mind
