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Year in Rock 2016: And the Winners Are...


Well, I'm ready as I'm going to be.

As per tradition, allow me to take a moment to thank everyone who stopped by to read a review, check out the chart, scratch their head over one of my stupid lists or all of the above. Since bringing this thing online a little more than five years ago, good folks like you have helped rack up nearly 55,000 page views; that's about 15k in the past year, so it seems like we're still growing. As always, I thank you for your continued patronage, and I look forward to serving up lots of piping hot content in the new year. Right now, though, I'm a little beaten down from the past twelve months; so let's put this hellish year to rest, crown some champs and go into hibernation (until next week, when the Year in Rock 2017 preview is posted). Deal?

NEW ARTIST RECORDING OF THE YEAR

Past Winners:
2014 • SHAKEY GRAVES Dearly Departed
2015 • COURTNEY BARNETT Pedestrian At Best 

2016 Nominees:
CAR SEAT HEADREST Fill In the Blank
CRX Ways to Fake It
HOLY WHITE HOUNDS Switchblade
MICROWAVE Vomit
STRANGE BONES God Save the Teen

And the Year in Rock 2016 New Artist Recording of the Year is...




LEGACY ARTIST RECORDING OF THE YEAR

2016 Nominees:
DAVID BOWIE Lazarus
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS Jesus Alone
THE CULT Hinterland
METALLICA Atlas, Rise!
THE TRAGICALLY HIP In a World Possessed By the Human Mind

And the Year in Rock 2016 Legacy Artist Recording of the Year is...




SOLO ARTIST RECORDING OF THE YEAR

Past Winners:
2014 • BRODY DALLE Don't Mess With Me
2015 • CHRIS CORNELL Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart

2016 Nominees:
DAVID BOWIE Lazarus
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS Jesus Alone
GORD DOWNIE The Stranger
BRIAN FALLON Nobody Wins
ANGEL OLSEN Shut Up Kiss Me

And the Year in Rock 2016 Solo Artist Recording of the Year is...




CANADIAN ARTIST RECORDING OF THE YEAR

Past Winners:
2014 • BIG WRECK Hey Mama
2015 • CANCER BATS True Zero

2016 Nominees:
BILLY TALENT Afraid of Heights
JULY TALK feat. TANYA TAGAQ Beck + Call
PUP If This Tour Doesn't Kill You, I Will
THE TRAGICALLY HIP In a World Possessed By the Human Mind
WINTERSLEEP Amerika

And the Year in Rock 2016 Canadian Artist Recording of the Year is...




HEAVY ARTIST RECORDING OF THE YEAR

Past Winners:
2014 • KYNG Electric Halo
2015 • GHOST Cirice

2016 Nominees:
ANTHRAX Monster At the End
CHEVELLE Door to Door Cannibals
DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN Symptom of Terminal Illness
GONE IS GONE Violescent
METALLICA Atlas, Rise!

And the Year in Rock 2016 Heavy Artist Recording of the Year is...




SONG OF THE YEAR

Past Winners:
2011 • MANCHESTER ORCHESTRA Virgin
2012 • ARCTIC MONKEYS R U Mine?
2013 • VAMPIRE WEEKEND Diane Young
2014 • AGAINST ME! Black Me Out
2015 • DEAD SARA Mona Lisa

2016 Nominees:
AGAINST ME! 333
DAVID BOWIE Lazarus
CAR SEAT HEADREST Fill In the Blank
GREEN DAY Bang Bang
JOYCE MANOR Last You Heard of Me
KINGS OF LEON Waste a Moment
ANGEL OLSEN Shut Up Kiss Me
RADIOHEAD Burn the Witch
THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT White Bear
WINTERSLEEP Amerika

And the Year in Rock 2016 Song of the Year is...




ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Past Winners:
2011 • FUCKED UP David Comes to Life
2012 • DEFTONES Koi No Yokan
2013 • QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE ...Like Clockwork
2014 • SWANS To Be Kind
2015 • COURTNEY BARNETT Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit

2016 Nominees:
AGAINST ME! Shape Shift With Me
DAVID BOWIE Blackstar
CAR SEAT HEADREST Teens of Denial
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS Skeleton Tree
DEFTONES Gore
DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN Dissociation
ANGEL OLSEN My Woman
PUP The Dream is Over
RADIOHEAD A Moon Shaped Pool
WINTERSLEEP The Great Detachment

And the Year in Rock 2016 Album of the Year is...

























For posterity, here's how the 20 AOTY nominees shook out:

1. CAR SEAT HEADREST Teens of Denial
2. ANGEL OLSEN My Woman
3. RADIOHEAD A Moon Shaped Pool
4. DAVID BOWIE Blackstar
5. PUP The Dream is Over
6. AGAINST ME! Shape Shift With Me
7. DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN Dissociation
8. NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS Skeleton Tree
9. WINTERSLEEP The Great Detachment
10. DEFTONES Gore
11. JULY TALK Touch
12. THE TRAGICALLY HIP Man Machine Poem
13. JOYCE MANOR Cody
14. DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS American Band
15. NOTHING Tired of Tomorrow
16. CRX New Skin
17. EVERY TIME I DIE Low Teens
18. ANTHRAX For All Kings
19. BILLY TALENT Afraid if Heights
20. KYNG Breathe in the Water

Again, thanks for visiting, and let's all hope that 2017 is a much, much kinder year.
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