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Year in Rock 2013: Album of the Year!

Place your bets and read on to find out who took the throne this year!

From expected crushers that brought the thunder, to highly anticipated albums that exceeded expectations, to completely unexpected triumphs, 2013's Album of the Year shortlist gave me a good variety to choose from.

One of the recurring themes that pop out to me as I look at those twenty albums seems to be established artists who upped their game in 2013 when they had every right to sit back, rehash the same old same old and watch the royalty cheques come in. In fact, over half of the shortlist nominees are by artists with five or more albums into their careers. Not to discount the relative newbie nominees (Man Man, Pure Love, J. Roddy Walston), but in my opinion 2013 was won by the old guard.

With that determined, my choice for Album of the Year wasn't made much easier. I had to narrow it down one by one using most every critique I could think of: song quality, artistic merit, album flow, lyrical content and staying power to name some. And, when it came down to it, I chose the one that met all of the criteria and is as rewarding to listen to the hundredth time as it was the first. So, without further ado...








Congratulations to Queens of the Stone Age's ...Like Clockwork, winner of Year in Rock 2013's Album of the Year Award!










...and here's the rest of the top 20 in order, because lists are fun:

2. CLUTCH: Earth Rocker
3. VAMPIRE WEEKEND: Modern Vampires of the City
4. J. RODDY WALSTON & THE BUSINESS: Essential Tremors
5. ARCTIC MONKEYS: AM
6. THE BRONX: IV
7. HEADSTONES: Love & Fury
8. MAN MAN: On Oni Pond
9. MATTHEW GOOD: Arrows of Desire
10. NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS: Push the Sky Away
11. SUPERCHUNK: I Hate Music
12. DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN: One of Us Is the Killer
13. PURE LOVE: Anthems
14. PEARL JAM: Lightning Bolt
15. NINE INCH NAILS: Hesitation Marks
16. STONE SOUR: House of Gold & Bones Part 2
17. PORTUGAL. THE MAN: Evil Friends
18. BIFFY CLYRO: Opposites
19. KYLESA: Ultraviolet
20. VOLBEAT: Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies

That, friends, officially puts Year in Rock 2013 to bed. What did you think? Have your say in the comments or hit up the Sound Bites Rocks Facebook group to discuss. And keep your eyes peeled for a special Year in Rock 2014 preview in the coming days.

Thanks for reading!
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