2013 flew past in the flash of an eye and and now we find ourselves 15 days into 2014 before we even know it! This list took a lot of thought and even though I had it written out at the beginning of December the orders kept changing after I gave each album further listens. 2013 was a fantastic year for rock music with some amazing albums coming out but strangely enough this is the first year I have EVER had a non rock album in my top 10 (Yes admittedly at number 10- but still!)
Check out what made my top 10 and let me know your thoughts.
1. Deaf Havana- Old Souls
When this album first came out I would never have said straight out ‘Yes this is the best thing i’m going to hear all year’ like I did with last years top spot band (Bury Tomorrow: FYI. And expect them as 2014 top! Spoiler!) but this album has grown on me and after a month or so of constant listening I realized how amazing this album is! There are truly few albums that I could listen to from start to finish and not have the over-riding urge to skip a track and there are also few albums where I can say that some of the later tracks are equally as amazing as the earlier tracks. But Deaf Havana have bucked this trend and thus earned my number 1 position.
2. Mallory Knox- SignalsIf someone asked me what were my stand out band of 2013 then the first band I’d say would certainly be Mallory Knox. ‘Signals’ is the bands debut album from Mallory Knox and it’s one of the albums just like ‘Old Souls’ where there isn’t a single track i’d like to skip. Every time I listen to ‘Death Rattle’ and ‘Lighthouse’ or anything else from that album it reminds me of some of the best live shows i’ve ever been to. Each featuring this special band. Seeing them play a sold out show at the Borderline less than 1 year ago to then seeing them open up at Leeds Festival and pack out Islington Academy they deserve every ounce of success they get. ‘Signals’ has been played more times on my commute to work than i’d care to remember and there’s no chance of it getting old any time soon.
3. Bring Me The Horizon- Sempiternal Anyone who knows me well will possibly be surprised that ‘Sempiternal’ didn’t make it to the number 1 spot on this list. There’s no denying that Bring Me The Horizon are indeed my favorite band and although it’s only number 3 this is an album of epic proportions. I’ve always loved BMTH, I could even tolerate them during the ‘Count Your Blessings’ stage so their rise to the top didn’t seem as noticeable to me but when some of my friends who made such a big thing about hating Bring Me then said ‘Sempiternal’ was a great album I knew things had changed. Bring Me are such a versitile band I find it hard to compare it to their previous albums or say which is better but all I do know is how the bloody hell will they top this?!
4. A Day To Remember- Common Courtesy I gave this album a listen when it first came out but surprisingly it was only in later December that I gave ‘Common Courtesy’ the attention it truly deserved. And I am so glad that I did. From the slow beats of ‘I Surrender’ to the heavy opening of ‘Sometimes You’re The Hammer, Sometimes You’re The Nail’. ‘City of Ocala’ is so much like older A Day To Remember stuff that you’ll easily forget you’re listening to a new album. The amount of times i’ve had this on my car and been singing along to ‘Right Back At It Again’ forgetting the cars around can probably see me rocking out is unreal: although I challenge anyone to not want to at least jump around to the track!
5. Biffy Clyro- Opposites When it was first announced that Biffy Clyro were going to release a double album I was really excited (alongside the rest of the world more than likely). From the moment that ‘Stingin Belle’ was played on the radio back in 2012 I knew the album would be epic. Admittedly it’s a long album and there are a few tracks I have skipped over and knew far less than others there’s no denying Biffy Clyro have done it again and produced an album to show off their headline capabilities.
6. Fall Out Boy – Save Rock And Roll Any band who can get Elton John to guest feature on their album are onto a winner. ‘Save Rock And Roll’ was a long time coming and it was worth the wait. When ‘My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark’ was unleashed it transported me back years to when Fall Out Boy were a staple part of my musical life. ‘Save Rock And Roll’ is an album full of huge tracks and anthemic chorus’ and I can’t help but belt out ‘Young Volcanoes’ every single time it blares from my speakers.
7. Glamour Of The Kill- Savages I had never really given Glamour Of The Kill a proper listen before 2013, but when ‘Savages’ bounded through my letterbox I was hooked. The riffs, the vocals, the beats: it’s everything a great album should consist of. Since listening to ‘Savages’ i’ve gone back to their previous album and am more excited than ever to actually catch them live. ‘Savages’ was a staple part of the later half of 2013 for me and if you haven’t yet heard it then you better go now!
8. Max Raptor- Mothers Milk I actually got into Max Raptor pretty late, it wasn’t until Warped Tour last November that I gave them a proper listen. Naturally i’d heard their name branded around but after chatting to the lads at the show I made the trip to catch them live and from the second they walked on stage I knew I had been missing out. ‘Mothers Milk’ isn’t the sort of album i’d usually listen to and love, punk isn’t generally my sort of thing but there’s something about Max Raptor that is different. I can’t quite put my finger on why I love this but give it a listen and you might find you do as well!
9. Asking Alexandria- From Death To Destiny Asking Alexandria have been a pretty special band in my life, I remember in January 2013 spending about 7 hours on a coach travelling up to Glasgow to see them (although it felt more like 7 days!) and then getting stranded at Glasgow airport for over 12 hours after the snow hit! But the trip was still worth it. I’ve seen Asking Alexandria quite a lot of times and my first video interview happened to be with Danny (what a start!) So when ‘From Death To Destiny’ came out I had certain expectations in my mind and blew them away. The progression in Danny’s vocals alone makes this album leaps and bounds forward than any of their previous work.
10. Disclosure- Settle As I said above it’s rare that a band outside of my heavy metal filled bubble make it to be listened incessantly never mind make it into my top 10: so for that I salute Disclosure. The fact that they’ve been nominated for 4 BRIT awards means i’m not the other person to think so! Last summer I remember trying to build up a playlist for my trip all the way from Watford to Leeds for Leeds Festival and with my brothers help I got a copy of ‘Settle’. After hearing it for the first time on the way to Leeds I realized how much I needed something lighter in my life. And seeing them live pushed me even further into love with this band. It’s always nice to have a band who I can dance to (rather than jump to!) and for me Disclosure are them!
List complied by: Rhian Westbury
