SOUND BITES

It's been a long year, and another great one for rock n' roll. While the pop charts were overrun with barely legals obsessed with their asses, rock soldiered on undeterred even as pundits (hell, in some cases even rockers themselves) mourned the genre. Sure, rock didn't dominate the money game in 2014, but that shouldn't evoke sad nostalgia and eulogies. Even for as little perceived impact rock music made, a hell of a lot happened if people had only paid attention. From grizzled vets adding jewels to their crown (Springsteen, Petty) to new beginnings (Against Me!, Antemasque) to happy returns (Faith No More, The Tea Party) and all points in between, rock continued to thrive, evolve and thrill in 2014. Enough talk. It's winning time. Your Year in Rock winners for 2014 are...

There aren't too many artists as restlessly, relentlessly artistic as Billy Corgan; even in Smashing Pumpkins' infancy, plenty of great songs ended up cast aside due to time and/or space restraints. Corgan's prolific tendencies were running at their peak in the mid-nineties; he recorded enough quality tunes during the Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness sessions to fill five CDs before paring it down to a manageable two. A incredible run of songs such as that couldn't possibly be, and has never been, matched; even if we factor this newest album in as part of his ongoing Teargarden by Kaleidyscope series, we're only up to about 35 songs, and that's over the course of half a decade. Besides, few would accuse Corgan of continuing to offer the same quality as he was twenty years ago; to be fair, though, how could he? It's only natural for artists to evolve, and to move away from the perceived sweet spot of creativity that so many expect them to stay nuz...

If you've paid attention to AC/DC's rock voyage, you're well aware by now just what kind of rocking you're in for when they release a new rock album. With their fifteenth worldwide album (they rocked out two in their native Australia previous to the beginning in earnest of their rocking career), the rock remains more or less unmoved from where it's always been. If it feels like I'm saying the word "rock" often, I suppose I am; however, that's a direct result of frontrocker Brian Johnson's recent transformation into Fred Flintstone. With Rock or Bust , AC/DC adds four songs with the word "rock" in their titles to their already bustling rock title songbook; the title track, Rock the Blues Away, Got Some Rock & Roll Thunder and Rock the House . It's almost as though Johnson picked titles using rock n' roll flash cards and/or is a malfunctioning android at this point whose prime directive is to rock as often as possible and...

The most prestigious honour I award (in my mind, at least), an Album of the Year win doesn't mean you simply made a really good record. It's an indicator of artistic importance, an acknowledgment that your work means more than the music you record. The albums that win this award are the ones that speak to me on more than a cerebral level; they don't just satisfy my mind and soul, they burrow into my heart and take root there forever. Here are Sound Bites' nominees for Album of the Year:

We're down to the big ones now. Traditionally, winners of Sound Bites' Song of the Year award have been the ones that stayed with me until the end of the year, sounding as fresh and exciting on their 100th spin as they did on the first. This year's nominees comprise perhaps the most earworm-inducing batch I've ever put up for consideration of the award. Here are Sound Bites' nominees for Song of the Year:

Whether former members of important bands or exceptionally talented folks just starting out on their own, the five nominees below chose to release their artistic visions in their purest form, with their own name signed to them. Here are Sound Bites' nominees for Solo Artist Recording of the Year:

It's bad enough that heavy music gets a raw deal from society as a whole, it often gets a raw deal from its own people; constant bickering over whether so-and-so "counts" as metal, bitching out bands for not being heavy as they used to be, etc., etc. That's why this category doesn't give a shit how tr00, brutal or metal you are, just as long as you're heavy. Here are Sound Bites' nominees for Heavy Recording of the Year:

As a proud Canadian, I couldn't let the opportunity to give an entire category to my native land pass me by. As it happens, Canada turned out some pretty hot jams this year. Here are Sound Bites' nominees for Canadian Recording of the Year:

Having given the "kids" their due, it's time to salute those who have returned from long absences. Whether through break-ups, procrastination or situations beyond anyone's control, the following nominees all went a decade or more before breaking their silences with new recordings in 2014. Here are Sound Bites' nominees for Comeback Recording of the Year:

As much bellyaching is done about the state of rock, there is always new blood flowing through its veins, ensuring its survival through even its darkest times. Gene Simmons isn't a prophet any more than KISS is a relevant band, and the five artists who comprise this list are proof that not only is rock not dead, but its future is actually pretty bright. Here are Sound Bites' nominees for New Artist Recording of the Year:

Ah, the video: once the very cornerstone of album promotion and a boundless platform for artistic expression, now the pale shadow of its former glory, relegated to competition with cat videos and ever-changing viral trends on YouTube. Yet, there is still a modicum of respect to be had for the format and, while many spend their shoestring budgets on crudely animated lyric videos, some artists still strive to make their videos interesting. Here are Sound Bites' nominees for Video of the Year:

If you're looking for the perfect entry point in Pearl Jam's discography, it's hard not to gravitate toward Vitalogy since it's probably the most varied of the group's ten albums to date. If you're fond of their hard edged, punk-fed side, it doesn't get much more incendiary than Spin The Black Circle . As far as the band's anthems go, they don't hit much harder than Corduroy ; there's a reason it's been played at over five hundred of their shows over the years. If you're only after the endorphin rush that comes from their most massive of songs, it's difficult to top Better Man in that regard. Throw in some emotional turmoil ( Nothingman , Immortality ), a standoffish tantrum or three ( Not For You , Whipping , Satan's Bed ), and the absolute strangest moments they've ever put to tape ( Bugs , Stupid Mop ), and Vitalogy is an album that pushes just about every button. Vitalogy is, above all else, an album full of ...

Back in the spring, when I reviewed Manchester Orchestra's fourth album Cope , I lauded the band for maintaining some of their emotional weight even while focused on making the hardest, loudest record they could; even at its ugliest the quality of Andy Hull's songwriting, as it turns out, trumps whatever else the songs may have in mind stylistically. If listening to Cope doesn't bring that into sharp focus, enter Hope ; comprised of quieter, more acoustic based versions of the songs on Cope , Hope attempts to be the yin to its yang, soothing where the former screamed. At the very least, it's interesting to hear the guitars stripped back, but much of Hope finds the band running too far in the opposite direction. If you couldn't get past the slashing, violent guitars of lead single Top Notch , on Hope they've been reduced to a palm-muted whisper, leaving the growling and screaming of the former version to the piano. Girl Harbor 's explosive chorus, once thr...

For their fifth album, following three and a half years after their last and first since the tragic loss of original member Gerard Smith to cancer, TV On The Radio are intent on not dwelling in the doldrums for too long. Themes of loss are present throughout Seeds , but they're tempered with love and hope; it's laid bare from the get-go in Tunde Adebimpe's first words on opener Quartz ("How much do I love you? How hard must we try to set into motion a love divine?"). There it is again in the sultry, multilingual stunner Careful You and it's simple-yet-soaring chorus ("I will care for you / oh, careful you"). For every expression of sadness and heartbreak, there's a rallying cry; admissions of hurt are countered by calls for resiliency and a challenge issued to walk proudly with open hearts and minds. Perhaps intentionally, the album's most downtrodden lyric accompanies its brightest, most thrilling song; Happy Idiot bounces along on a syn...

Having been responsible for not just back-to-back great records, but two of the past decade's absolute finest metal records (2007's The Blackening and 2011's Unto The Locust ), it's not likely that many suspected Machine Head to maintain the same level of quality on their seventh album. It also probably doesn't help that, in recent months, band leader Robb Flynn has made more headlines as a result of juvenile internet pissing matches than his band or their music. The good news is, many of the elements that made their last pair of albums so interesting and thrilling are on full display. The album comes out swinging with the lethal one-two punch of singles Now We Die and Killers & Kings ; the former a visceral, orchestral feast of varying texture and the latter a blunt force dose of power and velocity, they combine to get the album off to a hell of a start. There are other stand-out moments wherein the band stray pretty far from their core sound. Ghosts Will H...

Considering how beautifully Dave Grohl's Sound City project worked, the prospect of Sonic Highways was good reason to be excited for the eighth Foo Fighters record. Rather than telling the story of one studio and its magical mixing board, the Foos embarked on a journey that would take them to some of America's most notable musical meccas, all the while talking about the cities' rich histories with the people who were there. To cap it all off, the Foos and producer Butch Vig would record a song at each stop, drawing inspiration from the surroundings to create something truly special. That the execution of the idea can't live up to the idea itself doesn't doom Sonic Highways , but it does result in a modicum of disappointment. Perhaps it's because the band had frameworks for the songs in place beforehand, perhaps the constant time pressures of having to get the song to tape in time to catch the next flight prevented the songs from receiving a proper level of c...

Sometimes, a screenshot tells you all you need to know. Presenting my first ever review via text message, sent to my pal Ambrose who, despite the zinger he throws out, is the only person I know who liked Songs From Black Mountain: October 28, 2014 • Think Loud (Willie from 2022 here; I'm going through all my reviews to update links to streaming, and this is usually where you'd find a link to listen to this album. However, it's not available on streaming services, probably due to embarrassment?) 

As the co-leaders of a couple of the most accomplished and influential groups of the last twenty years (At The Drive-In and The Mars Volta), Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala have built a reputation for lifting their fans to giddy heights of enthusiasm only to bring everything crashing down. At The Drive-In was dissolved at the height of their power, snuffed out before they had a chance to do the kind of history-shaping damage they were undoubtedly capable of. Later, as restless sonic vanguards The Mars Volta, they pulled the plug on a decade of exploration in a manner which seemed to signal the end of Omar and Cedric's partnership. In this respect, Antemasque coaxes a massive sigh of relief; even for all their individual talents, this is a duo that is at peak efficiency when they're creating together. Here, they seem to have struck an agreement on a singular vision as opposed to striking out in all directions, and its surprisingly focused attack marks the least a...

One has to wonder if Conrad Keely sleeps. As an avid writer in addition to his role as primary songwriter, frontman and artwork creator for ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, the only thing more astounding than his creativity is his prolificness; IX is (rather obviously) Trail Of Dead's ninth album, but also the fourth in five years. In fact, while some artists receive criticism along the course of their careers for a perceived shortage of ideas, Trail Of Dead have been targeted more often than not for having too many. The band's lofty aspirations may have gotten the better of them a couple times along the way, but in recent years they've settled into a comfortable groove. However, ever averse to settling, they boiled their sound down to its furious essence on 2012's Lost Songs . That album scaled back the group's more cinematic impulses and placed heavy emphasis on high energy and concise attack, and IX starts out with the same focus. The percussive, p...

For over a decade, Matt Caughthran and company have been wrecking necks as hardcore stalwarts The Bronx. However, their affinity for mariachi music has been present long enough to warrant their mariachi band alter egos to be treated as a separate entity. Through their surprising 2009 debut and its formidable 2011 follow-up, the project's existence has faced dumbfounded criticism as a mere novelty act. The thing is (as their second record confirmed), Mariachi el Bronx aren't a novelty act; they display a genuine respect for the mariachi genre, honing their songwriting along the way and creating earnest, honest and fun records. The third doesn't waver from the mission, rarely straying from the script and giving us another faithful representation of the group as mariachi players. Just as their second mariachi album's sense of melody informed The Bronx's fourth hard rock album, that album's sharpened hooks find their way to this record. Lead single Wildfires i...

YEAR IN ROCK 2014 New format. Same great taste. COMING IN DECEMBER Since this blog's origins in 2011 (and, for longtime friends, long before), I've given an annual rundown of my favourite songs and albums at year's end, lauding the ones I enjoyed the most and crowning them with empty, meaningless awards. That hasn't changed for 2014, but the way I'm presenting it has. Rather than daily posts singling out one artist at a time starting November 1, I've decided to ditch that format and instead nominate artists and albums for specific awards. I'll be announcing nominations in December, and there are a few reasons why: a) Whereas I'd normally have a list of nominees ready to go by now, this year proves a little more difficult due to the fact that there is still a handful of very intriguing releases due to be released in November (and, in Smashing Pumpkins' case, December). How, for instance, can I possibly know what to nominate ...

In 2014, the thought of a live album is equal parts befuddling and laughable; the act of releasing a live album has become one of rock's most pointless endeavors, as it's no longer a relevant revenue generator with high quality video evidence of most shows readily available to stream online. However, there was a time when the live album was one of the music industry's drugs of choice when it came to generating Christmas shopping season revenue. Between those and greatest hits albums, the majority of November and December releases used to be comprised of these blatant cash grabs. Often redundant and/or not warranted, they rarely resulted in an end product that had any worth outside of immediate revenue for artists and labels. Occasionally, though, something special came around, something that was so much more than a simple cash grab. Nirvana's MTV Unplugged performance was certainly special; straying from the obvious choices, their acoustic set was ...

In the tight-knit, narrow annals of punk, it can be a risky proposition just to evolve. The bands that last the longest are more often than not the ones who change the least; if you disagree, kindly see Exhibit A: Bad Religion. Rancid has been catching heat for the better part of their career, especially after achieving success with 1995's undisputed classic ...And Out Come the Wolves . That album's follow-up, the underrated Life Won't Wait , saw the group draw as much influence from reggae as punk, the group going so far as to record some of it in Jamaica. Going to Jamaica was a smart move, a way to use some of the financial rewards from their breakout hit for the purpose of furthering the band's sound. But much of the punk community wasn't hearing it, opting to tear them apart for paying tribute to The Clash. So, when their fifth album (their self titled release from 2000) kicked out 22 jams in under 40 minutes, it was hailed as a return to form rather than a ...

There's a telling lyrical passage that stuck out to me upon listening to Newfoundland-based indie stalwarts Hey Rosetta's third full-length LP. During the uplifting, depression-battling anthem Cathedral Bells , singer Tim Baker exclaims, "the road is lit and I'm going home". It comes near the tail end of the album's most thrilling section of songs, during which the seven-piece (plus additional hands on deck for extra orchestration) take a formidable musical journey through several genres and moods. After exploring the arena-sized farthest reaches of Coldplay, the worldly rhythms of Vampire Weekend and the zealous, choral flourishes of Arcade Fire among others, it's the comfort of home that drives the group down the album's (pun intended, I suppose) home stretch. Long before we get to that point, however, we're treated to some of the band's most interesting material to date. The album starts with current single Soft Offering (for the Oft Suff...

Bush have never really been in a position where they've been rooted for. Their first album, 1994's Sixteen Stone , was a massive hit; that was good for their pocketbooks but not so much for their reputation, as for every appreciative fan who bought the album they seemed to have two wagging tongues belittling the tunes for being derivative mainstream-minded versions of Nirvana songs. As the first new group to achieve such a massive scale of success in the wake of Kurt Cobain's death ( Sixteen Stone sales are over six million in the U.S. alone), Bush claim the (dubious?) distinction of being the first "post-grunge" band. They would go on to release three more albums of diminishing quality (plus an abysmal remix album) before temporarily disbanding in 2002. Despite best efforts, their slick Bob Rock produced 2011 comeback The Sea of Memories was a mere blip, barely cracking the top 20 and going largely ignored outside of their most fervent fans and a handful of h...

Cold War Kids find themselves entering the twilight of their first decade as a band in a state of limbo. After a debut LP that earned them boatloads of that sweet, sweet indie cred (2006's Robbers & Cowards ), a quirky but lifeless follow-up (2008's Loyalty To Loyalty ) and a bridge burning mainstream bid (2011's Mine Is Yours ), 2013's Little Miss Lonelyhearts seemed to find them stranded in a horribly uninteresting middle ground. Too cerebral to be commercially viable and too scattershot to be cohesive, it left the band in the somewhat perilous position of dying on the fence they were straddling. Perhaps sensing the gravity of the situation, fifth album Hold My Home is a more focused on tunes than their past few releases. It could be the comfort of recording at their home studio, or increased familiarity with recently added members Joe Plummer and Matthew Schwartz. Whatever the case, it's a cohesive album that sees the group making a conscious effort to cr...

As tempting as it was to review U2's thirteenth album in the hours that followed its original surprise release, I made a conscious decision to wait until it was made official by being available in record stores. Part of my reasoning was a feeling of trepidation in that it seemed like there might be more to it all; as it turns out, I was only kind of right, as the CD release tacks on a second disc of bonus tracks and alternate versions that don't actually add anything to the album proper. The main reason I abstained from an early review was that I didn't believe I could give the album a fair shake without separating myself from the hoopla that surrounded its release or the reactions to it, positive and negative. There didn't seem to be any gray area, only two sides; those who hated the implications of the free release (and the fact that it bullied its way onto half a billion iTunes accounts without asking anyone first), and those who swore U2 their unconditional love....