Favorite Albums of 2017


In my opinion, it’s been one of the best years for new music in quite a while. I enjoyed many albums in 2017 from artists I’ve been following for years as well as artists I’ve discovered this year.

In case you missed it, 2017 saw the release of Collection: 2007 – 2017 (Remastered), a decade spanning album containing 61 Jimmy NaNa tracks, all completely remastered. It includes every song released to date, as well as some previously unreleased acoustic, live and demo recordings. You can stream it everywhere and find links to purchase it in digital format on the MERCH page.

With that being said, let’s get to my favorite albums of 2017, in no particular order:

311 – Mosaic
Coming back strong after putting out my least favorite 311 album (Stereolithic), Mosaic is aptly titled. It is a lengthy and diverse set of tunes that uses a variety of themes and sounds to create a unified piece of art. Even for 311 this album covers a lot of ground. I doubt they’re done putting out music, but if they did, this album would leave me satisfied.

Imagine Dragons – Evolve
Prior to this album, I’ve only casually listened to Imagine Dragons. Essentially, whatever singles they had on the radio. But something about this album really hooked me from track one. It’s solid from start to finish, including the tracks added to the deluxe edition and the production is phenomenal. They use dynamics well and just about every line of every song is a memorable hook. I can’t really see them topping this, but I hope they do. They made a fan out of me with this release.

Third Eye Blind – Summer Gods Tour Live
While this is obviously a stellar listen, the most amazing part about this album is that it actually exists. After being promised a live album on numerous occasions over the years by 3EB, it has finally happened. It would have been cool to have this made when the original lineup was still in tact and Stephan’s voice was a little less shot from years of touring, but my only real complaint is that it’s too short. I was able to hit this tour, which had them playing the entire first album front to back plus some other songs from the new EP and Blue. I would have voted for a double disc containing all the songs they played on the tour. But it is what it is, and I’m happy it exists in any form.

Ed Sheeran – Divide
Another amazing album by who is probably the most talented pop artist of the last 2 decades. I really can’t say enough good things about this album. Ed keeps doing what Ed does best, and that’s making you listen to his songs repeatedly for months on end until he comes out with new ones.

Asking Alexandria – Asking Alexandria
I was never fond of Asking Alexandria. I’d heard their music before but nothing ever stuck with me. Aside from this album, I can’t remember a single song I’ve heard from them. This album takes them in a more radio friendly direction, which I’m sure a lot of fans disapprove of, but for me it’s an album I’ve listened to at least a dozen times all the way through. It has strong vocal work, the instruments fit the purpose of the song while remaining heavy. Overall, a good effort and I’m interested to see where they take it for the next album.

Foo Fighters – Concrete and Gold
Other than their album The Colour and the Shape, I’ve only really enjoyed the singles the Foo Fighters put out. However, on this album, I found myself enjoying every song on it. The guest spots, by everyone from Justin Timberlake to Paul McCartney, take this beyond the typical Foo Fighters sound. So now I like 2 albums by the Foo Fighters.

Volumes – Different Animals
I heard the first single from this album and instantly loved it. I’d heard Volumes prior music, but it was a little too generic for my taste. Adding more clean vocal parts and hooks to their arsenal made this a standout album for me. I saw them on tour with Issues this year as well, and that solidified how much I liked the new sound. I hope they put out more like this on their future releases.

He is Legend – few
These guys keep chugging along and putting out excellent music. I was excited for this album instantly after hearing Sand, the lead single. Every time I think I’ve heard all they can do, they surprise me again. They’ve come a long way from their first album and continue to put out quality music that is both brutally  heavy but memorably melodic. Their use of harmony is excellent and goes beyond what is typically heard in their genre, if they can even belong to a genre. They kind of do their own thing.

Kingdom of Giants – All the Hell You’ve Got to Spare
I came across these guys on Reddit, somewhere under a post about the best albums of the year so far. I decided to check them out and was pleasantly surprised. I couldn’t believe how good this album was and that I’d never heard of them before. Right out of the gate this album hits hard. The drumming is absurdly excellent and the guitars have an amazing ability to transition between sounds you wouldn’t think fit in the same song. My favorite part is the vocals though. The singer has a great voice and the creativity in the vocal parts makes the songs stick. After listening to this album, I went back to their first album and it is absolutely crushing as well. Hoping for more from them soon.

Dosage A man is purchase cheap levitra suggested to have the completely satisfying sexual intercourse and both the partners experience the pure bliss. Kamagra polo has been a unique & optimistic treatment that has left no stone unturned for eliminating the disastrous impacts of erectile dysfunction if the males & leads for tadalafil tablets in india the improvisation of the performance during foreplay. It becomes difficult even for tadalafil online pharmacy any accidental wounds to heal or if there is any other ailment for a person of diabetes is a detrimental factor for successful treatment. Also be sure that it is a licensed, reliable, trustworthy and registered site under the law as there are many variations in the design of splints, but the principle is the same. cialis 5 mg http://www.learningworksca.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Divided_We_Fail.pdf Wage War – Deadweight
I really liked Blueprints, Wage War’s first album, and was excited to hear this album after the single “Stitch” was released. They stick with their formula, which is great, but add more melody to the equation. The choruses on Deadweight are huge and they really made something special with the song “Gravity.” They recently put out an acoustic version of one the songs from this album, showing how diverse they can be. I’ll be right along with them to see what they do next.

Papa Roach – Crooked Teeth
I’m always interested to see what Papa Roach puts out. Since their first album, they’ve gone in so many different directions and crossed over a few genres. This is a solid album, as most of theirs are, and in my opinion one of their best. It expands in the direction they’ve been going since The Connection and FEAR, but leans a little more pop and brings back some of their hip hop influence a la Infest and lovehatetragedy.

Backwordz – Veracity
It’s been a while since I’ve heard a good crossing between rap and metal. You can compare Backwordz to bands like Limp Bizkit or Rage Against the Machine, but they’re really much different. The way they drift between true hip hop and metal production is more than any of the previous “rap-metal” bands could accomplish. Their lyrics are political to the max, which I don’t really look for in my music, but a lot of the sentiment is logical, which I can appreciate. I later discovered the main vocalist of this band was formerly in Fire From the Gods and it’s pretty amazing that one band was in part responsible for two of the better vocalists I’ve heard recently

Polaris – The Mortal Coil
This is another completely new band for me. Similar to Kingdom of Giants, this album has so much energy and does well with the vocal parts. The way the guitar riffs transition between sections is so seamless, even though they can drastically change styles at times. This album is so full of awesome that it needs a few listens just to get your head around everything going on.

Veil of Maya – False Idol
Veil of Maya is another band who I hadn’t devoted much time listening to before. Which is disappointing because they are so good. False Idol is more of a journey than an album. You pass through so many emotions and sounds by the time you get to the end you feel exhausted. Some of the tones and sounds on here are so unique that I can’t even begin to figure out what they did to get them.

Kelly Clarkson – Meaning of Life
As expected, another solid album from THE American idol. She successfully keeps up with the times by updating the album’s production style to fit along side the modern pop currently on the radio, but her voice obviously sets her apart and above all that forgettable stuff. Another enjoyable listen and one of her stronger albums since Breakaway.

We Came as Romans – Cold Like War
WCAR is a band I’ve been following from the beginning, there were a few albums in between I mostly skipped over, but this one presses the reset button for me. They retain all the qualities that made them great, but in a way, they start from scratch with their sound. The album is almost tragically short, but contains no filler whatsoever. For me, this is their best one since To Plant a Seed.

Their Dogs Were Astronauts – Neon Theatre
I’m not typically a listener of instrumental music, but I do have some albums in my collection by bands like Blotted Science, Buckethead and Joe Satriani. Their Dogs Were Astronauts are a lot like their name; creative, unique and excellent. The compositions on this album are sort of like Djent-Jazz. Their main lead instrument is guitar, but they don’t shy away from synth and keyboard leads. A lot of times instrumental albums can be too dense and hard to latch onto, but Neon Theatre is full of hooks, but isn’t afraid to break it down when it needs to. It’s catchy enough for the non-musician to enjoy, but has more than enough depth and layers to keep it interesting for repeated listens.

Nothing More – The Stories We Tell Ourselves
This is a pretty ambitious album. While it has a mostly radio-rock friendly sound, it’s really intense and covers a lot of ground, walking the lines of punk, metal and pop. The guitars can go from atmospheric to thrashing in almost the same breath. The singer has an unmistakably unique voice and makes you feel like he really believes what he’s singing. There are so many standout tracks on here, it was probably difficult for them to pick singles.

August Burns Red – Phantom Anthem
Admittedly, I haven’t listened to this album as much as I’d like to have by this point. There’s so much on it that it takes a while to get through some focused listening. I can say, though, that it’s likely my favorite album since Constellations and is absolutely worth mentioning in this post.

Disappointments of the Year
There were two albums this year that I really thought would be worth listening to, but ended up being utterly forgettable. First, Glassjaw’s Material Control. For it being their first full length album in about a decade, I expected more. Almost everything that made them worth listening to was absent from the album. The second was Emmure’s Look at Yourself. It’s true I haven’t liked any Emmure album since the first, but I thought the new members who were part of Glass Cloud and The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza could save the band. They didn’t.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *