Dave's Top Ten Albums of the Year 2021

At Melanie's Muses, we love a good top 10 list -so Dave and Susan each compiled their top 10 albums from 2021!

First up is Dave! Check back next week for Susan's! 

---

Dave - 

We're at it again.
​You love when tell what to watch and listen to and we love being demanding! Not really but here are some of our favorite releases this year. Aiming for 10 but lets see how many we actually come up with.

10. The Agonist - "Days Before the World Wept"
 
A little more aggressive than most things I do, with a bit of screamy vocals but also some clean vocals mixed in on this 5 song EP. Vicky has a great clean voice but can still scream and growl with the best of the guys too. "Resurrection" is definitely a favorite but the decoy piano intro to "Remnants in Time" is a nice fake out before blowing the speakers, speeding their way through the rest of it.

9. Edge of Paradise "The Unknown"
 
Melodic hard rock/heavy metal from California. They have been around a while but I stumbled across them in my YouTube feed because I follow their label Frontiers Records. "False Idols", "My Method Your Madness" and "The Unknown" are favorites.

8. Enemy Inside "Seven"
 
Great band from Germany. Singles off this record are "Crystalize", "Alien", "Release Me", "Black Butterfly" and "In My Blood". Very artful, imaginative, theatrical videos. 

7. Butcher Babies (no title)
 
It's not even an official release. I gave it a brief mention at the end of last years list expecting a full-length CD but they don't have a label so they released 5 singles. "Bottom of a Bottle', "Last Dance", "Sleeping with the Enemy", "Yorktown", and "Its Killin' Time, Baby!". A bit of a departure sound wise for the band but heading in the right direction. Hopefully they find a label soon so they can release more tunes. The August single "Its Killin' Time, Baby!" is a little closer to their earlier sound than the others.

6. Halflives - "V"
 
Paris band giving it all they got in this new EP. "Vibe", "Victim", "Valkyrie". Hell, again, the whole record is awesome. Buy it!

5. Garbage - "No Gods No Masters"
 
90's alternative rock band are back in a huge way. Another record I absolutely loved more than I thought I would. "Uncomfortably Me", Wolves", "Flipping the Bird", "The Creeps" are just a few of the wonderful songs represented here.

4. False Memories - "The Last Night of Fall"
 
I wanted to do an actual review of this CD but was drawing a blank. This band is from Italy. Kinda gothic, driving, enchanted vocals. A lot of great stuff. "Rain of Souls", "Voices", and "Illusionist".

3. Escape the Fate - "Chemical Warfare"
 
I reviewed this album earlier. It got delayed a little but in the whole year, its still on my playlist. A lot of great tunes. "Invincible" featuring Lindsay Stirling, "Not My Problem".

2. Alice Cooper - "Detroit Stories"
 
Alice is still at it. Still rocking and pumping out the hard rocking tunes. He even named a song after me-- "Independence Dave"! Also featuring "Hanging on by a Thread" and "Social Debris".

​1. The Pretty Reckless - "Death by Rock and Roll"
 
You all knew this was coming if you read my review earlier this year. Even though this list is in no particular order, Taylor and company really delivered with this record. The more I listen to it, the more I love it. The growth the band has showed is outstanding. "Standing at the Wall", "Rock and Roll Heaven", "Harley Darling", "And So it Went", etc. Hell, the whole album is great!

---

Looking forward to in 2022--

Within Temptation.
Yeah, I know I mentioned it last year too but it never came. Between last year and this year, they gave us 3 singles to sneak peek. "Entertain You", "The Purge" and "Shed My Skin". Can't wait to hear more!
 
Halestorm.
They gave us a new single recently-- "Back from the Dead". It’s been a couple years since they gave us "Vicious" so hopefully a new one will be out in the new year.
 
Motionless in White.
New single "Timebomb" has such a catchy chorus after a little screaming for the verse it has caught my attention in a big way. Chris said he has 16-17 songs to pick from and looking for a February or March release. Hopefully they find something to do with the extra songs so they don't go to waste.
 
Guns N Roses.
​Maybe? After a long hiatus of having any new music, 2 new songs have hit the airwaves. "Absurd" and "Hard Skool". Could mean more new music on the way.

Code Word For This Article Is Music

​​​​​​​Dave Christy loves horror, music, documentaries and more.  He is also the co-runner of several fan based groups including Morningstars (THE Lucifer fan group also run by Melanie), and now is a member of the VIPers Spotlight Lounge team for Melanie's Muses.  Other than "In The Spotlight" Features -check out his "31 Days Of Halloween Movies"