Old Music Tuesdays: Top Fifteen Albums of 2014

This year wasn’t quite as musically memorable for me as 2013. I attended fewer concerts (although I did go to a few great ones), and there weren’t as many stand out albums.
However, when your music taste is as eclectic as mine, you’re bound to find some good stuff. This is my list of my favorite fifteen albums of 2014. Most of them are from the heavier genres of rock music, but Crosses, Jack White, Beck, and Anberlin all made the cut. Do you agree? Disagree? What did I miss? What doesn’t belong? Click on the album covers to purchase or hear samples.
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- Every Time I Die From Parts Unknown: Best album of the year, worst album cover.
- Crosses (†††) s/t: I’m a Chino Moreno fanboy, true, but this album is fantastic.
- ’68 In Humor and Sadness: Josh Scogin (Norma Jean, The Chariot) returns with a two piece band. Results rock.
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- Killer Be Killed s/t: A supergroup made up of members of Mastodon, Sepultura, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and The Mars Volta.
- Jack White Lazaretto: Has this guy ever released a bad album?
- Wovenwar s/t: After the downfall of Tim Lambesis and the dissolution of As I Lay Dying, Wovenwar rises from the ashes and delivers.
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- United Nations The Next Four Years: Just fast and brutal. An awesome sophomore effort from the supergroup.
- Old Man Gloom The Ape of God: Please note this is actually two albums. Those OMG tricksters…
- Thomas Giles Modern Noise: The Between the Buried and Me frontman delivers another solid solo record of prog madness.
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- He Is Legend Heavy Fruit: The triumphant return of the dirty southern rock.
- Beck Morning Phase: Beck does what he wants; this album is reminiscent of Sea Change.
- Mastodon Once More ‘Round the Sun: Their weakest effort to date, but it still made my top fifteen list. That’s how good they are.
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- Anberlin Lowborn: Anberlin breaks up, but goes out with a bang.
- War of Ages Supreme Chaos: War of Ages keeps getting better. Their finest record yet.
- Animals As Leaders The Joy of Motion: Another solid metal-ish, proggy instrumental record.
This list is no particular order, with the exception of the top three. The first three discs are my favorites of the year. I’d love to hear what you think, so let me know in the comments.
More Music on This Site
Top Albums of the Year
- Best Albums of 2012
- Best Albums of 2013
- Best Albums of 2014
- Best Albums of 2015
- Best Albums of 2016
- Best Albums of 2017
- Best Albums of 2018
Old Music Tuesdays
Click here for my past Old Music Tuesdays posts. There are too many to list!
Concert Reviews
- Tomahawk (feat. Retox)
- Coheed and Cambria (feat. BTBAM & Russian Circles)
- Palms
- Black Sabbath (feat. Andrew WK)
- Vampire Weekend (feat. Beirut)
- Fit for a King & For Today
- ††† (Crosses) (feat. Omniflux & Spirit in the Room)
- Soundgarden & NIN 2014
- Dr. Octagon (feat. Avalon, Gap Dream & No Parents)
- Faith No More (feat. The Urinals)
- Mastodon & Clutch (feat. Graveyard)
- Coheed and Cambria (feat. Seahaven)
- The Appleseed Cast (feat. Adjy & Coaster)
- The Smashing Pumpkins & Marilyn Manson
- Danzig (feat. Cancer Bats & Saviours)
- Imagine Dragons (feat. Halsey & Metric)
- Between the Buried and Me & Animals As Leaders (feat. The Contortionist)
- Deftones & Incubus (feat. Death from Above 1979)
- 2015 Summer Rankings
- Blindside (feat. Hearts Like Lions)
- Puscifer (feat. Luchafer)
- The Black Queen (feat. Drab Majesty)
- Joe Satriani
- Coheed and Cambria (feat. Glassjaw, I the Mighty, Silver Snakes)
- Killswitch Engage (feat. Memphis May Fire, 36 Crazyfists, and Toothgrinder)
- Andrew Bird (feat. John Grant)
- Lamb of God (feat. Clutch and Corrosion of Conformity)
- At the Drive-In (feat. Le Butcherettes)
- The Dillinger Escape Plan (feat. Author & Punisher)
- Guns N’ Roses (feat. The Cult)
- Animal Collective (feat. Stuart Copeland)
- Alice in Chains (feat. The New Regime)
- Temple of the Dog (feat. Fantastic Negrito)
Giraffe Tongue Orchestra (cancelled)- Metallica
- 2016 Concert Rankings
- August Burns Red (feat. Protest the Hero, In Hearts Wake, ’68)
- Norma Jean (feat. He Is Legend, Capsize, Comrades)
- Red (feat. Wolves at the Gate, Message from Sylvia, Death Therapy) (coming soon)
- Mastodon (feat. Eagles of Death Metal, Russian Circles) (coming soon)
- Pixies (coming soon)
- Tool (feat. Clutch, Fantomas, Primus, Melvins, Crystal Method) (coming soon)
- Rise Against (feat. Deftones, Thrice) (coming soon)
Green Day- Dead Cross (feat. Neil Hamburger, Ho99o9) (coming soon)
- Banks (coming soon)
- Between the Buried and Me (feat. The Contortionist, Poluphia, Toothgrinder) (coming soon)
- The Offspring (feat. Well Hung Heart) (coming soon)
- Russian Circles (feat. MGR) (coming soon)
- Our Lady Peace (feat. Smashing Hearts) (coming soon)
- Animals As Leaders (feat. Periphery and Astronoid) (coming soon)
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Mike Patton stuff on this website
- Mike Patton’s Guest Spots
- Faith No More concert review
- Old Music Tuesdays: Faith No More
- Faith No More Stripsearch
- Old Music Tuesdays: Mr. Bungle
- Tomahawk concert review
- Tomahawk Red Fox
Chino Moreno stuff on this website
- Chino’s Harder Guest Spots
- Chino’s Softer Guest Spots
- Chino’s Mainstream Work
- Palms concert
- (†††) Crosses concert
- Old Music Tuesday: (†††) Crosses
- Deftones & Incubus (feat. Death from Above 1979)
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