AllMusic’s Favorite Rock Albums of 2009
December 21st, 2009 | 4:03 pm est |
Through the week of the 20th, the AllMusic Blog will be publishing our editors’ favorite albums of 2009. We’ll be covering well over a dozen genres and styles, from rap to reggae, R&B to electronic, country to Latin, blues to metal, folk to soundtracks, and several points in-between. Right now, on the AllMusic Blog, we take a look at our favorite rock albums of 2009. Be sure to check our overall feature of new albums and classical releases, AllMusic Loves 2009, and our other 2009 in Review posts.
Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
Art Brut – Art Brut vs. Satan
Dan Auerbach – Keep It Hid
The Black Crowes – Before the Frost/Until the Freeze
Brandi Carlile – Give Up the Ghost
Julian Casablancas – Phrazes for the Young
Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
Dead Man’s Bones – Dead Man’s Bones
The Dead Weather – Horehound
Bob Dylan – Together Through Life
Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown
PJ Harvey & John Parish – A Woman a Man Walked By
Joe Henry – Blood from Stars
Ian Hunter – Man Overboard
Norah Jones – The Fall
Madness – The Liberty of Norton Folgate
Manic Street Preachers – Journal for Plague Lovers
Muse – The Resistance
Pearl Jam – Backspacer
Soundtrack of Our Lives – Communion
Super Furry Animals – Dark Days/Light Years
Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures
Weezer – Raditude
Wilco – Wilco (The Album)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!
When we are forced to include Humbug and The Dead Weather in 2009 best rock albums, it only means that we have to wait for better next year…
Not a bad list, although I though both Humbug and Horehound to be good pieces. My list is more genre-unspecific and for what its worth, here it is:
1. The Mint Chicks – Screens
2. Them Crooked Vultures
3. Karnivool – Sound Awake
4. Silversun Pickups – Swoon
5. Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
6. Clutch – Strange Cousins From The West
7. The Dead Weather – Horehound
8. Gomez – A New Tide
9. Spinnerette
10. Wolfmother
11. Dan Auerbach – Keep It Hid
12. Weezer – Raditude
13. True Live – Found Lost
Merry Christmas,
YourZ
It could also mean that they are good albums. Give Humbug another chance, Definitely an Album that grows on you.
I was looking for these two on the list and they weren’t there so…
1. Circulatory System – Signal Morning
2. Nirvana – Live At Reading
Oh, not to mention…
3. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
Communion is by far the best rock album of the year, if not the best album overall. Kudos for Soundtrack Of Our Lives
Them crooked Vultures, Arctic Monkeys, Weezer, Wolfmother and Billy Talent are also in my favourite list
Although their brand of rock doesn’t fit with this list, Alice In Chains’ “Black Gives Way to Blue” definitely deserves to be on either rock or metal’s best of the year.
Glad to see Art Brut on the list. I really enjoyed that album. Now, if “Glitter and Doom” by Tom Waits was on thee, I’d be very happy
yeah but what about http://donavindeisel.bandcamp.com/ ?
Neko Case and Norah Jones — rock albums? Really?
I mostly agree with this list… Humbug, Horehound, It’s Blitz among my favorites… And definitely Them Crooked Vultures the best this year… Better than Audioslave, Velvet Revolver, The Good, The Bad & The Queen and Chiken Foot… It’s pure rock’n'roll…
No sniff of White Denim? Seriously?
It is a good list. Horehound is a good album, solid rock record although is not as great as any other White Stripes album released this decade. Really surprised to see Neko Case & Brandi Carlile. It is tolerable to see Neko’s Middle of Cyclone inside the Alternative field, but rock ? Country or Folk/Americana would fit much better. Brandi Carlile is a folk singer, some people also labeled her as alt country, but i’m yet to see someone call her album rock. Norah Jones, well… i really liked that album, but is not rock. She came out of her comfort zone and that’s it, she didn’t gone rock or metal. It’s hard to label that album, cause it’s not rock or jazz or alt country or folk or pop, although she flirts with all these genres on the record.
It’s Blitz by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is an amazing album and it was a risky step forward for the band. Who knew punky Karen O could play with the synths better than any other pop singer living today. It is an album that most YYYs fans would never imagine a few years back, truly one of the greatest bands of this decade. Arctic Monkey’s Humbug is a great record and the band is growing. Some friends of mine hated it because it wasn’t a FWN part 2, they just didn’t get it the record, i really liked it. PJ Harvey can do no wrong, i’m yet to see the biggest female singer/songwriter of my generation “missteps”. All the others have fallen once in a while, but Polly is delivering solid record since 1992’s Dry. All of them are great from 4-Track Demos to White Chalk, all these albums are different from each other, but they all share the same greatness, and i was surprised to see that her collaboration with John Parish was another hit, i had so low expectations since most critics had mixed feelings about their last effort together, although it’s a fan favorite for some. I was blown away, with the record and the reception. Very solid songwriting by Harvey and instrumentals by Parish, they having so much fun in songs like Pig Will Not and the title-track, it is amazing.
Other small notes Weeze’s Raditude stinks, allmusic was VERY NICE to give a 4.5, and name them one of their favorites. I’m happy to see Wilco’s Wilco, received a good reception and was left out of many other lists. Bob Dylan’s Together Through life is a great record, but since critics didn’t like it as much as the other 2 released by them this decade is another one that’s going to be left out. It’s sad since both albums (Wilco, Together) are really great. I’m glad too see allmusic steping out again, and placing these albums inside their lists, this is what it makes a winning team like them.
But unfortunate with others… they have a good reception, but at the end of the year people just forget it, like Tegan & Sara’s Sainthood, Mew’s No More Stories, Regina Spektor’s Far, Sonic Youth’s The Eternal, is sad, since these are truly great to super-b albums.
I saw a lot of records on this list that fit better the alternative label better than rock. Although consider this the alt field, is saying that allmusic forgot about: Grizzly Bear, Animal Collective, Bat For Lashes, YATCH, Flaming Lips,Phoenix and a bunch of other alternative/indie artists. So i hope it is rock even if some albums here are not truly “rock the genre”, although many of them truly “rock”.
Last comment was way too big, so i decided to comment the other records on this one.
Muse’s The Resistance is great. It has been a while since Allmusic stoped comparing them with Radiohead, but i’m glad that most american critics stopped after this one.
This year was also a nice year for 2 of my favorite 90’s bands release two solid and that deserves to be inside of this list. The first is Pearl Jam’s Backspacer, i really liked that cover and i hoped the album was as great as the cover, and fortunate it wasn’t one of that cases of don’t judge an album by its cover. The album is really good, I enjoyed the first single, and i was surprised to see how many other songs were actually better than it. Manic Street Preachers’ Journal for Plague Lovers, another classic example of a great reception and forgotten by many. Allmusic again proving that they don’t forget things easily. This album is their best to date, in my opinion, and it was a very important album released this year. Another 90’s band released their 21st Century Breakdown this year, great record, it has a few missteps, but a solid listen, fans loved it, i was a fan so i really liked the record and the concept. If you really don’t like Green Day, i guess this won’t be the record that will change your mind, i guess that fans will enjoy it much more.
Derek Trucks Band, Already Free.
What! No Kasabian
I’m surprised at the inclusion of Madness. I’m going to have to check that one out. Also, had no idea that Soundtrack of our Lives had a new album this year, very little press.
Check out Diablo Swing Orchestra. One of my favorites of the year.
I really liked The Mars Volta’s new album.
What’s up with this Ugg spam?↑
Oh, and how could I forget Big Whiskey & the Groogrux King! R.I.P.
No one thougt to Miriodor – Avanti?
Those are some great selections!! Loved Backspacer!!
This one came kinda late, but check out Social Code’s “Rock N’ Roll” – takes you back to classic rock days!
http://asapmusicblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/28/musicmonday-artist-feature-social-code-2/
please take a listen the ray davies concert on npr and is free
first per year ago 2050 added 2008 email
Okaaaay…so Neko Case and Norah Jones are ROCK now…
…and Dinosaur Jr.’s album isn’t.
Right. Good to know.
Lightning Dust’s self-titled?