The Top 100 countdown continues! We have arrived at the middle section, containing the albums ranked between 60-41.
60) Gnome – Vestiges of Verumex Visidrome
When I first came across Gnome earlier this year, my first and prevailing thought was: these guys are really entertaining!
Gnome is a progressive stoner hard rock trio from Antwerp, Belgium. With an album title like that (I don’t need to type it again, do I?), it stands to reason that their music is full of adventurous twists and turns. Mainly, they chug along with groovy riffs and a somewhat vintage, proggy instrumentation.
The new album is their third since their debut in 2018, and it sees the band continuing to embrace their dynamic approach to songwriting and arrangements. Their songs can have several movements as well as progressive arrangements, always combined with a nice melody or three. They often use humour, but just as often tackle quite serious topics. On the surface the band do great storytelling songs, often incorporating mythical creatures and fantastical worlds. If you dig deeper these stories hide a variety of themes, with many tracks pondering the nature of existence and the human condition.
Gnome are known for energetic and entertaining performances, and have built a strong following on the back of this through extensive tours of Europe, the UK, and the US. This has led them to be invited to several larger festivals (smaller stages, but still). It would be fun if 2025 could turn out to be Gnome’s year.
59) The Hillbilly Moon Explosion – Back In Time
The Hillbilly Moon Explosion is a Swiss rockabilly band (how’s that for novelty?) from Zürich. Formed in 1998, they have already been active for a while, and are known for their exlectic mix of rock and roll, jump blues, swing, roots rock, country, punk, and surf music. Ultimately, they end up sounding like themselves through their versatile genre blending. They are well known for their collaboration with Mark “Sparky” Phillips from Demented Are Go a few years ago, which resulted in their own “murder ballads”-style album, adding a psychobilly edge to proceedings.
The new album marks a welcome return to their rockabilly roots, with elements of surf, punk, and Americana. The songs frequently regard the world through tinted shades, giving the world of the Hillbillies a night song feel, with tracks like Summerlove even embracing laidback French noir vibes. Other tracks, such as Sometimes Like At Night, show them with a somewhat more energetic slowburn with smouldering vocals from the übercool frontwoman Emanuela Hutter.
58) Per Gessle – Sällskapssjuk
I have been aware of Per Gessle’s career since the early 80s, and followed him as a fan since the early 90s. Most of the world know him as the songwriter and one of the faces of Roxette. He has also released a number of other projects and solo albums over the years, where the Swedish-language album Mazarin (2003) and the very underrated English-language Son of a Plumber (2007) are incredible peaks in a career of peaks. This also shows that some albums are meant for a Swedish/Scandinavian public, while others have an international audience in mind.
So how about Sällskapssjuk? As the name indicates, this is yet another Swedish language album, and I’m not even sure how well it’s available internationally. Not that this matters; his fans have their ways of seeking out the music anyway.
The album title can be loosely translated to “lonely for company” (wanting other people around), which is a good description of the album’s concept. It is collaborative, containing duets (and a few co-writes) with several other artists. Some tracks inevitably work a little better than others, but they all add something to the whole and it really gels as an album.
It is a particular delight to hear him work with long-time collaborator Helena Josefsson again, who worked with Gessle between 2003-2022 and is already missed. Other vocalists include Lena Philipsson, Amanda Ginsburg, Lisa Miskovsky, Album Lee Meldau, Uno Svenningsson, and Molly Hammar. These are all popular artists in Sweden, who will likely get some visibility internationally from being on the album.
I think Per is at his best when he writes slightly melancholic and nostalgic songs, and this album often finds him in this mood. I enjoy the heartfelt lyrics found on just about every song here, as well as the seamless integration of various musical styles brought by the different guest artists. The album is no new Mazarin, but then again, what is?
57 Accept – Humanoid
Incredibly, Accept are just two years away from their 50th anniversary, and they keep rocking with no signs of letting up or growing softer. Wolf Hoffman may the the last one standing from the original line-up, but Mark Tornillo has been the vocalist since 2010’s Blood of the Nations and is very much a key member at this point. Humanoid is his sixth Accept album, and he has made the role his own.
Overall, Humanoid is the seventeenth Accept album, and it sits comfortably in their latter-day run of albums with Mark Tornillo. Some of the later albums have had a few surprises, such as the inclusion of music from the 1877 opera Samson And Delilah on 2021’s Too Mean To Die. The new album lacks those kind of moments. On Humanoid, things are more straightforward and basic. This is fine, even though I hoped for something extraordinary this time as well.
On the other hand, one of the things the album has been praised for by critics is its cohesive metal sound and the band’s ability to stay true to their roots. This is true, and I enjoy Humanoid for those reasons, but perhaps it lacks the standout moments that would have made me reach for it a bit more often.
56) Blaze Bayley – Circle of Stone
Everybody who is a fan of metal music knows about Blaze Bayley, who had the thankless task of being Bruce Dickinson’s replacement in Iron Maiden between 1993-1999. He did a fine job, but his biggest failing was the obvious one: he wasn’t Bruce Dickinson. Perhaps it is best to judge him, then, by his own merits.
As known as Bayley is, it is clear that only a fraction of people who listened to him in Maiden chose to follow him into his solo career. There’s no finger-pointing intended here. I’m afraid I was one of the many who never got round to checking out his solo discography properly. It wasn’t lack of interest – more like lack of initiative, lack of time, lack of just getting around to it. After hearing that he suffered a heart attack in 2023, I swore I would not be one of those people who waited until he was dead to pick up his music. It was a dramatic leap-on point for sure, but at least the leap was taken.
Thankfully, Bayley recovered and even returned with the album Circle of Stone in 2024. In listening to that, as well as a lot of his back catalogue, I have found an interesting body of work. His songs are not too unlike the more progressive moments of his Maiden tenure, but also with a stronger in-your-face quality. Not that I think I need to tell people what Blaze Bayley stands for. If you are a metal fan, and especially if you listened to his work in Maiden, I probably just need to give you a nudge and the encouragement to give him a chance. He’s a rock’n’roll survivor and more passionate about music – and metal – than most artists you’ll meet.
55) Willie Nelson – Last Leaf On the Tree
I have not made it a habit to pick up Willie Nelson’s albums, but there was something about Last Leaf On the Tree that made it feel special. Nelson is a man of respectable age (91 years old during these recordings), and there is a certain air of finality surrounding the album. Look no further than the album title. As far as I know, though, Nelson is doing fine, has no plans to retire, and as far as the world knows, he does not have any particular issues that would force the issue.
The reason the album feels like a final artistic statement is its topics. Nelson’s own introspective thoughts as he turned 91 led to songs exploring themes of mortality, the passage of time, and thoughts about his own legacy. According to his youngest son Micah Nelson, who produced the sessions, the album is about “facing death with grace.” These are all heavy subjects, but that is exactly what gives this album some serious weight. How can you not be curious about what Nelson (or anyone of his age and pedegree) has to say about this?
Musically the album blends traditional country with elements of folk and Americana as well as acoustic rock touches. In fact, the album feels somewhat experimental for Willie Nelson. A variety of instruments and sounds were incorporated, including some rather unconventional ones like sticks, branches, and logs.
In usual fashion the album features several guest musicians, including John Densmore of The Doors on drums, Raphael on pedal steel, and Magatte Sow on percussion. In addition to original material, the album features covers of songs by the likes of Tom Waits, Warren Zevon, Keith Richards, and Nina Simone. If the song fit the narrative, it was interpreted in a way that lent itself to the poignancy of the album.
Last Leaf On the Tree is Willie Nelson’s 76th solo studio album. It has made me look forward to the 77th!
54) Patty Gurdy – Tavern
Patty Gurdy is the alias of Patricia Büchler from Germany, and as her artist name alludes to, she is a talented hurdy-gurdy player as well as a singer, songwriter, and YouTuber! She became known after starting a YouTube channel in 2016 where she shared performances of covers and original music. This played a crucial role in building her fanbase. She was also a member of the German bands Harpye and Storm Seeker during 2016-2018.
After graduating in communication design in 2019, she released her first full-length album Pest & Power the same year. Her music has one leg in folk music and the other in metal. This is a successful combination for many artists.
Tavern is her second full-length album, and it shows solid growth from the first one. It features a good mix of original songs and traditional folk tunes arranged and performed by Patty. None of the songs are particularly deep, but all of them are charming, with catchy melodies and lyrics with themes of adventure, cameraderie, and storytelling.
The album includes numberous guest contributions, of which Marko Hietala characteristically shines the brightest on the glorious I Am With You. Christopher Bowes (Alestorm) also does a very fun appearance on Peg Leg Silly-Billy.
The album only appeared in November, so I have no idea yet how well it’s done, but I definitely think it has what it takes to take Patty Gurdy to the next level.
53) the Last Dinner Party – Prelude To Ecstasy
The Last Dinner Party are a British indie rock band, formed in London in 2021 by five young women. Their music is an exquisite blend of 1980s art rock, baroque pop, gothic aesthetics, and classic literature references.
Their debut album Prelude To Ecstasy debuted at number one on the UK albums chart. Their success has been astounding, helped by that single (video below) which combines haunting melodies with a strong rhythmic backbone, which represents something fresh and vintage at the same time. This song is a delight for those of us who frequently wishes the charts featured more songs that sounds like they used to.
Brian May from Queen has been one of their biggest advocates and supporters, which clearly hasn’t hurt. The biggest reason for their success is the music, though. It is bold and ambitious, containing intricate arrangements and lovely multi-vocal sections.
The album contains surprisingly deep lyrics from such young artists. In the U2 movie Rattle And Hum (1988), the blues legend B.B. King told Bono, “You’re too young to write such heavy lyrics”. He could have added a similar comment here.
52) Devin Townsend – PowerNerd
Does Devin Townsend need an introduction? The Canadian musician with the dynamic vocal range is known for his versatility and prolific output across various musical genres. If anything, it may be hard to know which version of Devin Townsend you’re going to get at any time.
He got his first break when Steve Vai asked him to perform vocals on Vai’s Sex & Religion album in 1993. He founded the extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad in 1994, known for its intense and aggressive sound, which lasted until 2007. Parallel to that, he pursued a solo career, releasing albums that showcased a wide range of styles, including prog metal, hard rock, ambient, and new-age music.
In 2002, he formed the Devin Townsend Band, which lasted for two albums and tours. In 2009, he re-emerged with the Devin Townsend Project, which released a series of four albums, each exploring different musical genres. During this time he also formed Casualties of Cool, a country-influenced duo which so far has released one album.
In recent years he has released albums under his own name. His 2024 album is PowerNerd, which makes a shift towards a more direct and raw sound, blending high-speed energy with introspective and emotional themes. It blends elements of hard rock and progressive metal, often with his signature “wall of sound” production style which gives his music tremendous momentum. On some songs, like the album highlight Gratitude, the wall of sound comes in for the choruses, giving the song an incredible lift.
In addition to making his own album, Townsend has also spent some of the year producing the next album by up-and-coming Chinese progressive band OU. On that note…
51) OU – II: Frailty
OU is a progressive metal band from Beijing, China. I have used the word unique to describe a few bands in this countdown, but if I had to use it only once, this would be the time. OU are one of the most unique bands I have heard in many years, and their new album is something else.
The fact that they come from a country where I am barely aware of any other bands playing metal music, let alone technically complex and progressive metal music, sets them apart. This also gives them a totally unique frame of reference as far as influences and background.
Their first album One (2022) was incredible in its own right. The rhythm seemed to be all over the place, but there was a pattern to it. The instruments followed seamlessly, the band being locked in seemingly random cascades of rhythm that only they seemed to fully anticipate, but they were on it. Then we have vocalist Lynn Wu on top – the metal equivalent of Enya, adding ethereal vocalising on top that just made everything else make sense. I watched some of their performances with my mouth open.
The new album, named II: Frailty in reflection of the themes of rebirth and vulnerability that permeates the music, builds on the same progressive metal foundation of the first. They have pushed even further on the ambient and electronic elements, which gives them an even richer, more layered sound. With Devin Townsend as the album’s producer, they sound better than ever before, and more expansive as well – think of what Townsend did with his own wall-of-sound Epicloud albums.
With the compositions being more intricate, and the themes explored going deeper than before, it could sound like a harder album to get into than the first. The opposite is true, as the wider soundscape gives more variation. The lack thereof on the first album at times led to sheer bombardement of sound, while the second has become an easier journey to follow even with more going on. OU has taken a big step forward artistically with II: Frailty. One can only hope that they see a similar step forward commercially.
50) David Gilmour – Luck And Strange
David Gilmour can not be accused of being particularly prolific, and indeed he has described himself as a lazy songwriter. Luck And Strange is his first new album in nine years, and as has become the norm, it features a mix of new material and reworked tracks.
My hope for the album was that it would be just half as entertaining as the constant bickering between Gilmour and his former Pink Floyd bandmate Roger Waters. This is obviously a very high bar, and I’m not sure we made it all the way there, but this has still turned out to be a solid and enjoyable album.
One thing of note is how strong the presence of Romany Gilmour is on this album. The daughter of the father contributes backing vocals on several tracks, lead vocals on Between Two Points (a cover of the Montgolfier Brothers’ song), and plays harp on multiple tracks. The ambient and emotional resonance she contributes should not be understated, and having his daughter play such an important part of proceedings might have been a very important motivator for David. Romany has been an even more important part of the live shows as the album has been toured.
Musically you should know what to expect from a Dave Gilmour album, and that’s pretty much what you get: a blend of rock, blues, and ambient elements, the soaring guitar solos, as well as strings and choir arrangements. The latter fits in well with the lyrics, written by Polly Samson (David’s wife and Romany’s mother, making this a full family affair), exploring themes of mortality, aging, and personal reflections thereof.
This isn’t an immediate album, but it is immediately clear that there’s quality to be found here.
49) Castle – Evil Remains
Castle is a heavy/doom metal trio, led by Elizabeth Blackwell on vocals and bass, alongside Mat Davis on guitar and Al McCartney on drums. Evil Remains is their sixth studio release, featuring more of their trademark dark, powerful sound which blends the heavy with the melodic, mixes downbeat doom metal with unusual upbeat arrangements, and drapes the whole thing in a shroud of dark and/or occult themes. It is more mesmerising and hypnotic than you think.
Blackwell’s dominating vocals is the cherry on top, effortlessly switching from her solid classic rock voice to menacing snarls, sultry crooning, or haunting wails. The vocal approach is well-crafted and diverse, just like the songs and arrangements.
48) Blues Pills – Birthday
I must admit that at some point, things got a little complicated between Blues Pills and me. With this album, I think I’m in love again.
Blues Pills is a Swedish band formed in 2011 in Örebro, known for their style of bluesy and somewhat psychedelic vintage hard rock.
Their biggest problem has been living up to their stellar debut. The self-titled Blues Pills (2014) was a monster that established the band, but their follow-up Lady In Gold (2016) saw unexpected shifts in musical styles and a strange underutilization of guitar. The third album Holy Moly! (2020) was a return to their raw rock roots, but it mostly felt like they were playing catch-up on that one.
The new album Birthday finally sees them connecting with their own early peak – not by replicating what they did in the beginning, but by lowering their shoulders and just naturally embracing the band that they are now. Very few bands can compete with their glory years, and they really should no longer be judged in that way. The new album is a delight in its own right, and whatever mishaps happened along the way has been corrected as far as I’m concerned.
Vocalist Elin Larsson is usually singled out for praise, and deservedly so. She has a belter of a voice and is able to wail quite soulfully when a track calls for it. The belting felt a little one-dimensional and I always missed a bit of a soulful element, even on the first album. This missing ingredient might have finally emerged on Birthday. Larsson was pregnant when recording her vocals for the album, which sounds like it could have added a unique emotional depth to her performances as she continued to record vocals up until her ninth month of pregnancy.
The album is probably the most diverse in their catalogue, featuring songs that could have come from any of their previous works, but written in a way that makes them feel connected and updated to what the band is all about now. From that perspective, the album is a resounding success. I’m in love again!
47) The Native Howl – Sons of Destruction
The Native Howl from Leonard, Michigan are known for playing what they refer to as Thrash Grass – a unique blend of thrash metal and bluegrass country. The band wanted to combine the aggressiveness and intensity of thrash metal with the melodicism and beauty of bluegrass, with the goal of creating a sound that could bring together fans of different genres, merging the energy of mosh pits with the intricate picking of bluegrass.
This fusion has allowed them to carve out a unique niche in the music world, appealing to both metalheads and bluegrass enthusiasts alike. They draw influences from a wide range of artists, including Metallica, Black Sabbath, and Old Crow Medicine Show.
The new album Sons of Destruction explores themes of self-destruction and human paradoxes through their distinctive musical style. The opening track Can’t Sleep is a high-octane start with rapid banjo picking and thrash-inspired guitar riffs. Following track Mercy, which features Lzzy Hale of Halestorm, stands out with a powerful duet adding intensity to a slow-burn bluegrass tune. No True Scotsman brings a ferocious pace, while Wide Is the River is an anthemic track with sweeping choruses that blend bluegrass and rock.
I must say that I personally struggle to hear specific thrash metal influences in their music today, but the intensity and metal mindset is certainly giving an edge to whatever else they are doing, and perhaps that mindset is the key thing.
One of the real highlights is their cover of Johnny Cash’s God’s Gonna Cut You Down, which maintains the foreboding feel of the original while slowly adding more and more inner intensity as it moves along. A powerful performance.
46) Beardfish – Songs For Beating Hearts
Beardfish is a progressive rock band from Sweden, formed in 2001. They were active until 2016, when band leader Rickard Sjöblom joined the British pastoral progressive rock band Big Big Train where he quickly become a key member. Beardfish reunited in 2023 with a new album following the next year. Songs For Beating Hearts is their first release in nine years, and features a mix of themes about loss, love, and friendship.
Beardfish is a quintessential classic progressive rock band, characterised by complex compositions, dynamic shifts, and a blend of various genres. They often incorporate elements of jazz, blues, and folk into their prog rock foundation. The new album is rich in melody with several lovely passages sung and played, often with lovely countermelodies coming in to enhance what is going on. With the arrangements being so interesting, the sum of everything is an album that simply is a joy to listen to.
The centrepiece on the album is the five-part epic titled Out In the Open, which reflects on the band’s journey and the bond between the members. Their ability to blend storytelling with intricate musical arrangements is a huge asset. I enjoy their imaginative interplay immensely, and that’s exactly the kind of stuff that has brought them their small but dedicated following. Hopefully this album will be discovered by many more. Heaven knows the music deserves it.
45) Frozen Crown – War Hearts
Frozen Crown is an Italian power metal band with an energetic and melodic sound. War Hearts is their fifth studio album, and their first with a six-piece line-up with the addition of guitarist Alessia Lanzone to their ranks. Two guitarists were not enough, and consequently the multi-layered guitar attacks are plentiful and glorious on this album.
The album captures the essence of the band’s dynamic sound. As much as the songs fly away with blinding speed and displays of raw energy, it’s a very positive energy filled with melodic hooks and a crisp, empowering sound. Frozen Crown is a very uplifting band, and War Hearts is more than equipped to deliver a good dose of empowering energy when you need it.
44) Kat Von D – My Side of the Mountain
“Kan Von D? The tattoo lady? Haha! You are kidding, right? Surely not!”
Well, surely yes. I came across one of her videos earlier this year almost by accident, and was positively surprised. I checked out a few more, this time on purpose, and found out that the first track wasn’t a fluke. She actually has something to offer musically. My use of the word “actually” in that sentence reveals my shock and surprise. I had a negative bias, which I try not to have for anything. I found that this isn’t the “rich girl wants to play pop star” kind of thing that I expected. She is a bona fide music artist, with a personal style and things to say.
Kan Von D is well known as a tattoo artist and television personality from the reality TV shows Miami Ink and LA Ink where she showcased her tattooing skills. She also launched her own successful makeup line.
I am naturally doubtful when people with success in different areas suddenly want to become musicians. In Kat’s case, she was a classically trained pianist from a young age. She was always planning to work with music, but then the sudden and huge success of her tattoo artistry took her on a different path for a while. You’re allowed to have more than one passion, and instead of dabbling in both at the same time, her music was put on hold.
As it turns out, Kat is a goth girl with a penchant for 1980s dark synthpop/cold wave. My Side of the Mountain is Kat’s second album, following Love Made Me Do It in 2021. Both albums feature her signature blend of alt-pop, dark wave, goth, new wave, and synthwave, and maybe there’s even a rock chick lurking in there, as she invited Alissa White-Gluz from Arch Enemy to guest on a track with those vibes.
If you ever liked dark and gothic synthpop from the 1980s and 90s, you could do worse than giving her a chance. If I could get past my negative bias, so can you.
43) Ginger Root – Shinbangumi
It is fairly common for a song to lodge itself in our brain and become an earworm that keeps running over and over again. It is less common that such an earworm comes out of nowhere, representing an artist you have never heard of before and a style of music you don’t normally listen to. That happened to me this year with the song All Night. And so I was sent into the crazy, unusual, and somewhat unnerving universe of Ginger Root.
I found that the album the song was on, Shinbangumi, was Ginger Root’s third album. Ginger Root is the music project of Cameron Lew, a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and visual artist from Huntington Beach, California. He write, records, and produces the music for Ginger Root, and creates the visual elements associated with the project.
The album is a glorious mixture of indie soul and urban city pop. I have seen some of it described as “aggressive elevator soul” as well as “handmade yet immaculately polished”, and “bedroom pop”. All of this sounds scary to me, but it reflects the eclectic and innovative nature of the music.
In addition to being a creative and innovative album, Ginger Root also released a series of videos for the songs on the album that tells a rather fantastic story that will only sound cheesy if I try to recap it here, which is why every music video from the album seems to contain a narrative before, during, and after the main song has played. In the video below, you will notice that people are obsessing about a certain suitcase.
Shinbangumi has been one of the most wildly fascinating albums I have listened to this year, and I’m still not sure how I feel about it. Maybe I better listen one more time to figure it out. Damned earworm!
42) Judas Priest – Invincible Shield
There was no reason to expect any surprises on Judas Priest’s nineteenth studio album, and Invincible Shield is largely seen as a continuation of the high-energy, classic metal sound of Firepower (2018). The new album perhaps contains more progressive elements and less of the straightforward song structures, which is more than fine with me personally although many Priest fans are known to want their Priest more basic. The album has a crisp and polished production, with a modern yet classic metal feel.
The album explores themes of invincibility and resilience, with tracks like Panic Attack and The Serpent And the King delving into the complexities of human strength and fortitude. These are well known topics from Priest and Rob Halford sings about them with conviction and confidence.
Despite health challenges, Glenn Tipton (who suffers from Parkinsons disease) also contributed to the album, writing and performing guitar solos on Sons of Thunder and Vicious Circle.
The previous album Firepower was (deservedly so) hailed as a modern Priest classic. I’m not sure Invincible Shield is quite on that level. The album starts very strong with Panic Attack, but is overall less consistent with the quality especially dipping in the middle. A lot of songs also feel like “Priest-by-numbers” – ie. like they are trying to sound like classic Priest in a contrived way rather than sounding natural. Or maybe something else is making it feel that way.
Hell knows it can’t be easy to be Judas Priest and want to do something different. When they released the utterly creative and somewhat different concept album Nostradamus in 2008, the backlash from die-hard Priest fans was immense. Instead of touring that album they ended up going out and doing mostly the classic hits. It can downright suck to feel bound by expectations. On Firepower, they used that to their advantage, while Invincible Shield hits me differently in that regard. It is a good album, by all means. This is far from a bad placement in this year’s ranking, but I’m not sure this has become an album I will reach for often when I need to scratch my Judas Priest itch.
41) Unleash the Archers – Phantoma
It has already been 13 years since I discovered Unleash the Archers in 2011. Their new album at the time was the classic Demons of the AstroWaste (2011), but it was when I heard the immense Test Your Metal (where vocalist Brittney Slayes really takes flight) and one of their biggest signature tracks Time Stands Still (both from 2015’s Time Stands Still album) that I knew they had arrived. They were clearly going to be a band to reckon with for the foreseeable future – and they have been.
Phantoma is their sixth studio album, and it sees them continue their blending of power metal with modern prog and traditional heavy metal. It is yet again a concept album, this time following the story of an AI protagonist named Phantoma, navigating a dystopian future Earth. In this story, AI gains sentience and has impacts on humanity’s creations on the planet.
The biggest enemy of the band at the moment may ironically be their own high standards. The previous albums Apex (2017) and Abyss (2020) are stunning, incredible works. While Phantoma is far from bad, there is a feeling this time that the new album does not quite live up to established standards. It lacks the standout epic tracks that made the earlier albums so memorable. There is also a feeling that Slayes is toning it down a bit, but that’s more to do with the style of the material. The inclusion of more synthesizers and electronic elements is also a marked change from before, but I have no problem with that in itself. Even the light use of autotune for effect works fine given the AI concept, but it’s still not something I’m particularly keen on.
The material ends up being the biggest discussion point. Give It Up Or Give It All, for example, could have been an extraordinary balladic anthem, but is too long and less engaging than it could have been. On the other hand, I don’t agree with the critics who called Human Era a weak album opener. Every album does not need a super-charged start, and the song works really well conceptually as well as it sets the tone in depicting a bleak, futuristic landscape.
Elsewhere, it is also worth highlighting Ph4/NT0mA with its lovely duelling guitars – and even some old-style vocal from Slayes. The first single Green & Glass also comes across well with its dynamic verses and progressive riffing.
In short, there is much to enjoy on this album. I just wish I didn’t have this nagging feeling that it is a step down. There are interesting things to be found here, though, and as an album it is full of exciting ideas. If this is someone’s first Unleashed the Archers album, they will likely find it amazing. I also want to applaud the band’s willingness to experiment and hope they will continue exploring concepts on their albums, which is something they do very well.
Some albums sit more comfortably in a band’s discography in hindsight. This is very likely one of those albums. The band seems to be at a crossroads, though. Will they go back to their roots or will key keep developing away from them? I don’t know, but I know I will definitely be there to find out.
Thanks for following me to the end of part 3 – see you in part 4!
The other parts of the countdown:
Top 100 Album Countdown 2024 – Part 1: 100-81
Top 100 Album Countdown 2024 – Part 2: 80-61
Top 100 Album Countdown 2024 – Part 4: 40-21 (coming a week after part 3)
Top 100 Album Countdown 2024 – Part 5: 20-1 (coming a week after part 4)
While you are waiting for the next part, why not revisit last year’s countdown? Start here: The Top 100 Album Countdown of 2023 – Part 1: 100-76
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