Old Music Tuesdays: Top Fifteen Albums of 2016
Last year was a great year for rock music, in this blogger’s humble opinion. It was tough for me to pick only fifteen top albums, but I think I narrowed it down to my Top Albums 2016.
In addition to lots of great albums, I went to quite a few concerts. Click here to read my 2016 concert rankings; Metallica, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Toothgrinder all appear on both that list and this one. Click on the album covers to purchase or to hear samples. If you like what you hear, please BUY IT! If you want your favorite artists to keep creating art, you must support them financially. Artists and musicians are people, first, and as such need money for food, rent, and all the other necessities of life.
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- Toothgrinder Nocturnal Masquerade: My favorite new band of 2016. They kicked ass in a live setting, and their album is one of the strongest metal debuts I’ve heard in a long time.
- Silver Snakes Saboteur: Their previous album was good; this one is great. It’s post-hardcore with a grungy bite. I really wish I didn’t miss them when they were in town.
- Polyphia Renaissance: An instrumental band. Think Animals as Leaders meets Joe Satriani.
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- blink-182 California: Tom who? DeLonge’s departure and replacement was just what the band needed to inject something fresh into the band’s discography. I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I’m enjoying this album.
- Chevelle The North Corridor: Chevelle is another shocker for me. I haven’t loved any of their albums since 2004, but this one recaptures some of the old fire. Another pleasant surprise.
- Showbread Showbread is Showdead: The biggest surprise of all, however, was the triumphant return of Showbread… right before they broke up. The band has gone through several lineup changes, but they brought back every previous member to record their best album since 2004. Talk about going out with a bang.
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- Thrice To Be Everywhere is to Be Nowhere: Thrice today sounds way different than the Thrice of the early 2000s. They’re more grungy than pop hardcore these days, and it’s a welcome change in my book. The song Black Honey alone makes this album worth the purchase. (But buy the whole album.)
- Metallica Hardwired… To Self-Destruct: This is not the band’s best album, but it’s their best album since 1991. The fact that these 50 year olds are still playing speed metal is amazing to me, and they do it better than most. They’re fantastic live, too, as I had to privilege of finding out.
- Avenged Sevenfold The Stage: After the tragic death of their drummer, Avenged Sevenfold seemed to lose their way for a couple albums. Well, they’re back with The Stage, and Synyster Gates is still somehow a sorely underrated guitarist.
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- The Dillinger Escape Plan Dissociation: The Dillinger Escape Plan released probably their weirdest album last year, but somehow it works. I’ll miss these guys, but they went out on top of their game. If you missed them live, you missed out.
- Silent Planet Everything Was Sound: A very strong sophomore album; the song Panic Room is the best anti-war song to be released in a very long time.
- Mouth of the Architect Path of Eight: Stoner post-metal, with a sound more reminiscent of the fantastic The Ties That Blind.
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- Kaada/Patton Bacteria Cult: The second collaboration between avant-gard jazz artist John Kaada and Mike Patton, and a vast improvement. The strangest album on my list, but somehow still very accessible.
- Nevermen: Another record featuring Mike Patton, this time a trip hop collaboration. I’m a fanboy, sue me.
- Spylacopa Demon John: I didn’t want to include Spylacopa two years in a row, but their album deserves it. This one is more atmospheric than the last, but it still rocks.
I’d love to see your list, so share it with me in the comments. Thanks for reading!
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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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