2024 was a very good year in music, in my opinion, probably the best in recent memory. For that reason, I'm doing a top 40 for the first time since 2018, a year when I actually recognized my 50 favorite albums.
2024 was also the year that Black Sabbath took over the reigns from AC/DC as Little Chuck's favorite band. In fact, we have tickets to see Zakk Sabbath just after the new year, so we're pretty excited about that. I doubt we'll ever get to see the real deal, although if a reunion ever happens, I hope they choose Zakk Wylde over Tony Martin as the lead singer...assuming Ozzy is no longer an option.
I basically teased this idea in my Best Music of 2023 post. I've decided to retrospectively work on my top ten albums of years that preceded my annual list, which began in 1996. I'll be doing so by celebrating the 50th, 40th and 30th anniversaries of said albums. If I keep this up, I'll eventually be marking some 60th anniversaries as well, but since my 1964 list would be pretty weak, I'll be holding off on that for now.
For all of these lists, I'll allow for the benefit of hindsight, but for the years in which I actually listened to some of these albums, nostalgia will be a factor. 1974 was not one of those years.
10. Kiss - Kiss
My first favorite band's music hasn't aged really well, but their debut remains their best work, and evidence they know how to write melodic hard rock songs.
9. Tom Waits - The Heart of Saturday Night
This is actually the only Tom Waits album I've ever bought -- and I was turned on to it by Shawn Colvin's cover of the title track -- but it's a good one nonetheless.
8. Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic
My pal Lee once said you could arguably rank the first six Led Zeppelin albums in any order. I basically feel the same way about Steely Dan.
7. Gram Parsons - Grevious Angel
The Godfather of Country Rock's posthumously released final album was as great as everything that came before it.
6. Electric Light Orchestra - Eldorado
ELO is one of two bands in this top ten that I was a fan of in the '70s, Kiss being the other. But, I didn't discover the beauty of Eldorado until many years later, perhaps because "Can't Get it Out of My Head" is the only really big hit on this album. Obviously, I came around because I ranked it second in their discography back in 2010.
5. Big Star - Radio City
Not that you really have to choose one over the other, but I've always been an advocate that Chris Bell was the superior co-leader of this band. Considering this album was released after his departure, and is strictly an Alex Chilton affair, I probably don't have a leg to stand on there. Still, you should probably read this post about the Big Star documentary, and check out the film, to fully appreciate where I'm coming from.
4. Blue Öyster Cult - Secret Treaties
I became a BÖC fan in the early '80s. Their late '70s and early '80s output were my most frequent listens at the time, but when I decided to go back further, Secret Treaties was my first purchase. For a young fan, it was a bit of an acquired taste, but I now consider it the best album of their black-and-white era (so named for their first three album covers), and their second best overall.
3. Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark
For some reason, I kind of forgot how fantastic this album is. Probably my second favorite Joni album, which seems to be a recurring theme on this list.
2. Neil Young - On the Beach
I've never gotten around to completing my project ranking the entire Neil Young discography. It's pretty safe to say this one falls just outside of the top five, but easily makes the top ten.
1. King Crimson - Red
At the start of the pandemic, while I was working in my basement, I embarked on a project ranking my top 100 albums of all-time. For once, I actually saw it through to the end and in June of 2020, I completed the list but never posted about it. Nearly four years later, I'm sure the list needs some updating, so maybe you'll see it here eventually. Anyway, my point is Red is one of two King Crimson albums to make that list, and the only top 100 album from 1974.
I can't really discuss the year in music of 2023 without bringing up Little Chuck.
As I mentioned last year, he started playing guitar and I'm really excited about the progress he's made. This year, he branched out from exclusively an AC/DC guy to also being a fan of everything Black Sabbath, including Ozzy and Dio solo, the short-lived band Heaven & Hell and some of the early Rainbow material.
We also saw our third AC/DC tribute band this year, so perhaps look forward to a post ranking them (Spoiler alert: they're all good). Maybe this year will be the year we get to see the real deal.
This year, I also started on an idea of retrospectively ranking my top ten for each year that preceded my annual ritual (which started in 1996), based on round number anniversaries. In other words, I worked on my lists for 1973, 1983 and 1993, but really only finalized two of three of them and never got the motivation to post about it. This might be another thing to expect in 2024, although my imagination is sometimes more ambitious than my actual motivation for following through.
Anyway, I'm going to roll out this year's top 25 albums by continuously updating this post, so stay tuned for more...
25. Runnner - Like Dying Stars, We're Reaching Out
24. Death Cab for Cutie - Asphalt Meadows (Acoustic)
23. The Ducks - High Flyin'
22. Neil Young - Before and After
21. Will Johnson - No Ordinary Crown
20. The Reds, Pinks and Purples - The Town That Cursed Your Name
19. The New Pornographers - Continue as Guest
18. Jess Williamson - Time Ain't Accidental
17. The Hold Steady - The Price of Progress
16. Sparklehorse - Bird Machine
This one gets my vote for saddest song of the year.
15. Califone - Villagers
14. Julie Byrne - The Greater Wings
13. The Lemon Twigs - Everything Harmony
12. Margo Price - Strays
11. Glen Hansard - All That Was East is West of Me Now
10. Anohni & The Johnsons - My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross
9. Explosions in the Sky - End
8. Boygenius - The Record
7. The National - Laugh Track
The National enters some seriously uncharted territory with this one. More on that later...
6. Harp - Albion
This album by the former Midlake frontman was over a decade in the making. I'll say it was definitely worth the wait as a fan, but I can't speak for him.
5. The Natural Lines - The Natural Lines
Perhaps it was a mistake, but this album was initially attributed to Matt Pond PA by Spotify. Needless to say, I was confused when I later searched for it and had some difficulty finding it, but it is quite possibly his best effort yet.
4. Darlingside - Everything is Alive
Not sure if it's a first, but two local artists earned their way into my top five this year.
3. The National - First Two Pages of Frankenstein
I didn't realize it when I first decided that both albums by The National this year are top ten worthy, but this one established a new record as their 6th consecutive release to land in my top ten (breaking a tie with the Drive-By Truckers). Laugh Track, released after this one, makes it seven. Spoiler alert: my top two are also by artists who presently fall into this "can do no wrong in my book" category.
2. Lori McKenna - 1988
This Stoughton, Massachusetts native is this year's highest ranking local artist on her third consecutive top five album full of songs that really hit close to home, but probably none more than this one.
1. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Weathervanes
It was quite the year for Mr. Isbell. Early in the year, he released "Running With Your Eyes Closed," which is perhaps the greatest music documentary I've ever seen. A little later came this, which just might be his best album; and is, of course, his first to top my list.
A covers album, which was a thank you to the citizens of Georgia for helping elect Joe Biden, is the only thing standing in his way of what would be five consecutive top tens.
Thanks again for paying attention to what I have to say. Happy Holidays and best wishes for a happy, safe and prosperous 2024!
I usually wrap up this list on New Year's Eve. This year, I actually tried to write this post on Christmas Eve, but then I got too busy and was traveling over the holidays. So, here I am finalizing this thing a couple days into the New Year.
As always, thanks for reading and Happy New Year!
5. Bonny Light Horseman - Rolling Golden Holy
My top two candidates for show of the year were Dirty Deeds (an AC/DC cover band) at the Breakaway in Danvers and Bonny Light Horseman at the Sinclair in Cambridge. The latter was an amazing show, and probably worthy of the honor, but the Dirty Deeds show was Little Chuck's first and he met the lead singer and lead guitarist.
4. American Aquarium - Chicamacomico
3. Pedro the Lion - Havasu
2. Cloud Cult - Metamorphosis
Cloud Cult's fifth top ten album ties them with The National, Wilco and Drive-By Truckers for the most in the history of this list.
1. Anais Mitchell - Anais Mitchell
Anais Mitchell (also a member of Bonny Light Horseman) becomes the fifth person to make the top ten twice in the same year, and the first since Jay Bennett in 2002.
"Since baseball time is measured only in outs, all you have to do is succeed utterly; keep hitting, keep the rally alive, and you have defeated time. You remain forever young." - Roger Angell
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