Okay, so 2010's not over with yet, but as we're getting close to Christmas, you might be looking for new music to enjoy and I thought I would give you some suggestions for that "hard to buy for" person on your Christmas shopping list. In January of each year, I predict what albums I feel are going to be the biggest for me personally at the end of each year, and every year there are some surprises that make it onto the final list. If you would like to read the albums that I predicted, you can check out this post here. Then, at the end (or nearly to the end) of each year, I select the ten albums that have impacted me most over the course of the year. These are the albums that do not leave my iPod ever. And the following list is comprised of the albums that made the cut for me this past year.
TOP TEN ALBUMS OF 2010
Honorable Mentions: Silverline "Voices in the Night", Tenth Avenue North "The Light Meets the Dark", The Afters "Light Up The Sky"
#10 - Ed Kowalczyk - "Alive"
This singer used to be the frontman for the band "Live" which I was a huge fan of in the 90's and early 2000's. This past year, he embarked upon his solo career after leaving the band and had a wildly successful first album. Most of his music has the same feel as "Live" but his lyrics are skewed towards the positive now, vs the negative. This is a very solid album and has a lot of great tracks for you to listen to.
My Favorites include: "Drink (Everlasting Love)", "Stand", "In Your Light"
#9 - Tobymac - "Tonight"Tobymac is a juggernaut. Finding his early days in dc Talk, this master of the microphone has established himself well into his solo career, releasing his fourth album this past year, "Tonight." This album has something on it
for everyone and something on it that not everyone will like. The old addage is true - "If you try to please everyone, you'll end up pleasing no
one," and that feels like what Tobymac has done with this album. I like most of the tracks on it and it earned a spot in my Top Ten, but it could
have been so much higher on my chart if he would have re-edited a couple of the songs. Easily it is my least favorite album by him, but it tells you what a musician he is if he can put an album like this out and still notch a spot on my list.
My Favorites include: "Funky Jesus Music", "Showstopper", "Changed Forever"
#8 - Alter Bridge - "AB III"
Creed who? Exactly. Mark Tremonti and
company once again team up with lead singer Myles Kennedy for some gut-bustin' grunge rock. This album is thunderous and you need a good subwoofer to be able to compliment it accurately. Leaving Creed and Scott Stapp behind once again, the band soars to new heights with their darkest lyrical offering yet and much better
guitar riffs than Tremonti brought to the latest Creed album. All in all, this band always delivers and AB III is no disappointment.
My Favorites include: "Isolation", "Ghosts of Days Gone By", "Wonderful Life"
#7 - The Letter Black - "Hanging On By a Thread"Yeah for new bands!!!!! Every year, I find one or two new bands that no one has heard of and they always seem to put an album out that is top-
notch. This year's rookies are the female vocally driven "The Letter
Black". With their debut album, they have single handedly toppled the Christian Rock Charts this past year. Four of their tracks have hit number one and their music has been featured on Sportscenter and the NFL today. Lyrically, very dark, they have targeted today's modern teens and
the issues in society and emotions that they deal with on a consistent basis. Pick this up for any fans of Paramore or Evanescence.
My Favorites include: "Hanging On By A Thread", "Invisible", "Believe"
#6 - Newsboys - "Born Again"Wait a second....Is that a typo? Newsboys at number 6? How did they even make the cut? Well, let me tell you. When I heard that Peter Furler was leaving the Newsboys, I was disappointed. Their music has always been fun to listen to and Furler's lyrics have always been amazing, so i was bummed. Then, they announced that Michael Tait (formerly of dc Talk) was going to take over the reigns and I couldn't see how his vocal styles could possibly mesh with the Newsboys band. Boy was I wrong.
This album is marvelous and the best part is...Furler wrote
most of the songs, he's just not
touring with the band. I loved this album and even though it gets a bit Pop for me in certain places, it is still a very solid outing from the Newsboys and fans young and old will like this one.
My Favorites include: "Escape", "Miracles", "When the Boys Light Up"
#5 - Fireflight - "For Those Who Wait"Back in 2008, this band nabbed the number one spot for the year with their album "Unbreakable", which will end up being in my top ten from this past decade, (that post will be out later in December). So, I was anxious to hear this one and see how they could follow up such a superb album. They really have some great songs on here, but it just didn't rise to the level of number one material for me, so that's why you're seeing Fireflight at number 5. Still, it's a phenomenal album. Dawn Richardson's
vocals are still as haunting as ever and the band can still shred the riffs. This is a solid pickup if
you're looking for some hard rock to go with your day.
My Favorites include: "Fire In My Eyes", "Desperate", "Core of My Addiction"
#4 - Daft Punk - "TRON Legacy Soundtrack"Whoa, time out! A soundtrack made the top ten list? Yes, when it's a soundtrack to an awesome movie scored by a British techno group of DJ's! I was able to score an advance copy of this bad boy, (it doesn't hit stores
until December 7), and I can't stop listening to it. I loved the movie TRON growing up and I've been anxiously anticipating the sequel which comes out this December, but I did not expect Daft Punk to take the soundtrack genre to a whole new level. This collection of techno-electronic symphony would make Beethoven and Bach explode in applause from their graves. I had more fun listening to this album than any soundtrack in recent memory and it will not leave my iPod until several months into the new year and maybe not even then. If you're a fan of movie soundtracks at all, pick this up. You won't be disappointed.
My Favorites include: "
The Game Has Changed", "Derezzed", "Recognizer"
#3 - Sanctus Real - "Pieces of a Real Heart"Top Three Time! Sanctus Real clocks in at number three with their most solid offering yet. This band has always put out great music and this time, they took it to another level with the honesty and transparency of their lyrics. It's rare in our culture today to find people who are willing to be so open and honest about what they're struggling with, which is why it's so refreshing to see this from a band. Sanctus' songs come straight from their hearts and are dialed in to cut all of us to the quick about the issues we face in our own lives.
My Favorites include: "Lead Me", "Take Over Me", "Forgiven"