 | Blog author: Alex Stojanovic Okay, even though I mentioned that I wouldn't do another five-year list after 2018, I decided to go with it because although 2014 was the first year I did a Top 10 Albums Of The Year list, my opinions on certain albums have changed over the last five years, and I heard some other albums from that year that I didn't include in my initial list, and I wondered why I didn't listen to them when they came out. |
I then felt the urge to do a new list and feature some of the albums I heard later on that impressed me. Some of the honourable mentions are new, some are the same, and some of the honourable mentions from the original list have managed to sneak their way into the main portion in this new list. See my original list here.
Before we get into the new list, why don't we re-visit some key moments from 2014? As far as lineup changes are concerned, one of the key moments was in Arch Enemy. After 13 years of fronting the band, Angela Gossow announced she would be stepping down as frontwoman and becoming the band's business manager. Another surprising lineup change was early in the year, when Testament announced that Greg Christian had left the band, and Steve DiGiorgio returned, but then Greg started slamming his former bandmates in the press about financial irregularities. Another key lineup change moment that nobody saw coming was when Exodus announced the return of Steve "Zetro" Souza, replacing Rob Dukes. I love both vocalists, so I'm not going to pick sides.
However, for me, the most surprising lineup change came at the end of the year when Chris Broderick and Shawn Drover announced their departures from Megadeth simultaneously. Shawn announced it first, then Chris announced it a few hours later. This left people questioning the future of Megadeth, but we now have Act Of Defiance with Chris and Shawn and Megadeth have a real solid lineup with Kiko Loureiro and Dirk Verbeuren, and Dystopia is a phenomenal record.
In other events, 2014 saw Motley Crue announce that they would be embarking on their "final" farewell tour. By now, it's become almost a joke to say any band is on a farewell tour because many bands either pull back from the decision either in the middle of or close to the end of the tour, or disband for a couple of years, then reunite and continue on again. Very few bands have went on farewell tours and stayed disbanded afterwards. However, by the looks of it as we sit here in 2019, it looks like Motley Crue are sticking to it (at least the touring part). I also just have to say that with Alice Cooper being the opening act on almost all of Motley's farewell tour, it's pretty weird when you look at it because Motley were retiring, and the opening act on their tour was Alice, who's got a little over 10 years on them and he's still kicking ass. Kind of weird, don't you think?
As far as some of the people we've lost in 2014 go, some of the notable losses were Dave Brockie (Oderus Urungus), Wayne Static, Jack Bruce, H.R. Giger, Dick Wagner, Johnny Winter and Shane Gibson just to name a few. R.I.P. to all the fallen heroes I mentioned here as well as those that I forgot.
Now let's get into the list down below.
Before we get into the new list, why don't we re-visit some key moments from 2014? As far as lineup changes are concerned, one of the key moments was in Arch Enemy. After 13 years of fronting the band, Angela Gossow announced she would be stepping down as frontwoman and becoming the band's business manager. Another surprising lineup change was early in the year, when Testament announced that Greg Christian had left the band, and Steve DiGiorgio returned, but then Greg started slamming his former bandmates in the press about financial irregularities. Another key lineup change moment that nobody saw coming was when Exodus announced the return of Steve "Zetro" Souza, replacing Rob Dukes. I love both vocalists, so I'm not going to pick sides.
However, for me, the most surprising lineup change came at the end of the year when Chris Broderick and Shawn Drover announced their departures from Megadeth simultaneously. Shawn announced it first, then Chris announced it a few hours later. This left people questioning the future of Megadeth, but we now have Act Of Defiance with Chris and Shawn and Megadeth have a real solid lineup with Kiko Loureiro and Dirk Verbeuren, and Dystopia is a phenomenal record.
In other events, 2014 saw Motley Crue announce that they would be embarking on their "final" farewell tour. By now, it's become almost a joke to say any band is on a farewell tour because many bands either pull back from the decision either in the middle of or close to the end of the tour, or disband for a couple of years, then reunite and continue on again. Very few bands have went on farewell tours and stayed disbanded afterwards. However, by the looks of it as we sit here in 2019, it looks like Motley Crue are sticking to it (at least the touring part). I also just have to say that with Alice Cooper being the opening act on almost all of Motley's farewell tour, it's pretty weird when you look at it because Motley were retiring, and the opening act on their tour was Alice, who's got a little over 10 years on them and he's still kicking ass. Kind of weird, don't you think?
As far as some of the people we've lost in 2014 go, some of the notable losses were Dave Brockie (Oderus Urungus), Wayne Static, Jack Bruce, H.R. Giger, Dick Wagner, Johnny Winter and Shane Gibson just to name a few. R.I.P. to all the fallen heroes I mentioned here as well as those that I forgot.
Now let's get into the list down below.
10. MACHINE HEAD - Bloodstone & Diamonds
Last year, Machine Head released the very polarizing Catharsis, and then Phil Demmel and Dave McClain announced their simultaneous departures from the band, so in some cases, many people may consider Bloodstone & Diamonds to be the last real Machine Head album. We'll see what the future holds. However, listening to Bloodstone & Diamonds five years later, it still sounds amazing as it did when I first heard it in 2014. Clocking in at 71 minutes, there's so many gems to be found on here, like "Now We Die", "Killers & Kings", "Take Me Through The Fire", "Night Of Long Knives", "In Comes The Flood", "Damage Inside" and "Game Over". To this day, I think that the intro to "Sail Into The Black" would fit perfectly as the theme song to a ghost hunting show. Don't you think?
Last year, Machine Head released the very polarizing Catharsis, and then Phil Demmel and Dave McClain announced their simultaneous departures from the band, so in some cases, many people may consider Bloodstone & Diamonds to be the last real Machine Head album. We'll see what the future holds. However, listening to Bloodstone & Diamonds five years later, it still sounds amazing as it did when I first heard it in 2014. Clocking in at 71 minutes, there's so many gems to be found on here, like "Now We Die", "Killers & Kings", "Take Me Through The Fire", "Night Of Long Knives", "In Comes The Flood", "Damage Inside" and "Game Over". To this day, I think that the intro to "Sail Into The Black" would fit perfectly as the theme song to a ghost hunting show. Don't you think?
09. OVERKILL - White Devil Armory
I really don't think there's anything else I can say about Overkill, except that you know what you're getting. White Devil Armory became the highest charting album in the band's history when it entered the charts at #31 in its first week of release. In terms of production, I found The Electric Age just a little more punchier than White Devil Armory. Don't get me wrong, this is certainly a really heavy and punchy record, but The Electric Age beats this album by a couple of notches in terms of punch, and I prefer that record slightly over White Devil Armory, but this is still a brutal record, especially with tracks like "Armorist", "Bitter Pill", "Freedom Rings", "PIG", "Down To The Bone" and "Where's There's Smoke".
I really don't think there's anything else I can say about Overkill, except that you know what you're getting. White Devil Armory became the highest charting album in the band's history when it entered the charts at #31 in its first week of release. In terms of production, I found The Electric Age just a little more punchier than White Devil Armory. Don't get me wrong, this is certainly a really heavy and punchy record, but The Electric Age beats this album by a couple of notches in terms of punch, and I prefer that record slightly over White Devil Armory, but this is still a brutal record, especially with tracks like "Armorist", "Bitter Pill", "Freedom Rings", "PIG", "Down To The Bone" and "Where's There's Smoke".
08. SANCTUARY - The Year The Sun Died
2010 saw Sanctuary reform for the first time in 18 years, and many people got really excited when the band announced that there would be a new album coming. The resulting album is The Year The Sun Died. Not only a fantastic comeback album, but a fantastic album overall, especially with tracks like "Arise & Purify", "Question Existence Fading", "Frozen", "One Final Day (Sworn To Believe)" and the closing title track. In terms of feel and composition, I would put the solo in the title track up there with Megadeth's "Tornado Of Souls", Testament's "Practice What You Preach" and Pantera's "Floods" as one of the best solos of all time. This would sadly be the last Sanctuary album of all fresh new material with Warrel Dane on vocals before his untimely passing in December 2017. The Inception album that came out in early 2017 was a collection of old demos from before the Refuge Denied and Into The Mirror Black days. After Warrel's passing, it really looked like this would be the last Sanctuary album, period. However, after a North American tour with Iced Earth in early 2018 with Joseph Michael of Witherfall filling in on vocals, and receiving a positive reception from the fans, talks about soldiering on began, and from what Lenny Rutledge has said, new music is on the way and we can expect to hear it later this year or early 2020! R.I.P. Warrel.
2010 saw Sanctuary reform for the first time in 18 years, and many people got really excited when the band announced that there would be a new album coming. The resulting album is The Year The Sun Died. Not only a fantastic comeback album, but a fantastic album overall, especially with tracks like "Arise & Purify", "Question Existence Fading", "Frozen", "One Final Day (Sworn To Believe)" and the closing title track. In terms of feel and composition, I would put the solo in the title track up there with Megadeth's "Tornado Of Souls", Testament's "Practice What You Preach" and Pantera's "Floods" as one of the best solos of all time. This would sadly be the last Sanctuary album of all fresh new material with Warrel Dane on vocals before his untimely passing in December 2017. The Inception album that came out in early 2017 was a collection of old demos from before the Refuge Denied and Into The Mirror Black days. After Warrel's passing, it really looked like this would be the last Sanctuary album, period. However, after a North American tour with Iced Earth in early 2018 with Joseph Michael of Witherfall filling in on vocals, and receiving a positive reception from the fans, talks about soldiering on began, and from what Lenny Rutledge has said, new music is on the way and we can expect to hear it later this year or early 2020! R.I.P. Warrel.
07. CANNIBAL CORPSE - A Skeletal Domain
After releasing three awesome albums produced by Erik Rutan with Kill, Evisceration Plague and Torture, Cannibal Corpse decided to work with someone different on A Skeletal Domain, also known as lucky #13 for the band. The band worked with Mark Lewis for this album, who brought a more pristine and crisper production to the album. I feel that this is the band's best produced and best written album since Kill. It still contains the brutality that Corpse have become known for, but this is more of a darker-sounding album. For proof, check out tracks like "Funeral Cremation", "The Murderer's Pact" and "A Skeletal Domain". There's also a bigger thrash influence on this album, especially on tracks like "Sadistic Embodiment", "Kill Or Become" and "Headlong Into Carnage", which is right up my alley. I have nothing against the albums the band made with Erik Rutan producing, but I think Corpse should make some more albums with Mark Lewis behind the board.
After releasing three awesome albums produced by Erik Rutan with Kill, Evisceration Plague and Torture, Cannibal Corpse decided to work with someone different on A Skeletal Domain, also known as lucky #13 for the band. The band worked with Mark Lewis for this album, who brought a more pristine and crisper production to the album. I feel that this is the band's best produced and best written album since Kill. It still contains the brutality that Corpse have become known for, but this is more of a darker-sounding album. For proof, check out tracks like "Funeral Cremation", "The Murderer's Pact" and "A Skeletal Domain". There's also a bigger thrash influence on this album, especially on tracks like "Sadistic Embodiment", "Kill Or Become" and "Headlong Into Carnage", which is right up my alley. I have nothing against the albums the band made with Erik Rutan producing, but I think Corpse should make some more albums with Mark Lewis behind the board.
06. JUDAS PRIEST - Redeemer Of Souls
While Redeemer Of Souls is a great album full of so many classic Judas Priest moments, I felt that the production was a little too much on the muddy side. The guitars and the drums sound hollow, making it sound like they were recorded in a glass tank. After I heard Firepower last year, it became my favourite of the Richie Faulkner records, but that's not putting down Redeemer Of Souls because there's still a healthy amount of fantastic songs on here like "Dragonaut", "Halls Of Valhalla", "March Of The Damned" and my favourite "Battle Cry". I remember there being some trepidation amongst the fans as this would be the band's first album without K.K. Downing, but once you heard the quality of the songwriting on Redeemer, all your concerns went out the window.
While Redeemer Of Souls is a great album full of so many classic Judas Priest moments, I felt that the production was a little too much on the muddy side. The guitars and the drums sound hollow, making it sound like they were recorded in a glass tank. After I heard Firepower last year, it became my favourite of the Richie Faulkner records, but that's not putting down Redeemer Of Souls because there's still a healthy amount of fantastic songs on here like "Dragonaut", "Halls Of Valhalla", "March Of The Damned" and my favourite "Battle Cry". I remember there being some trepidation amongst the fans as this would be the band's first album without K.K. Downing, but once you heard the quality of the songwriting on Redeemer, all your concerns went out the window.
05. EXODUS - Blood In, Blood Out
I initially put Exodus' last album Blood In, Blood Out much higher at the #2 spot on my original list five years ago, but it slid down a couple of spots because although I love Zetro's vocals, I found that he used the higher register a little too much, which says that these songs were more fitted for Rob Dukes' vocals. I also wish there was more meat in the guitar tone because I found it a little too thin when you compare the tone found on the Dukes records, but instrumentally, the songs are phenomenal. I sure hope that on the next Exodus record, Zetro returns to using a little more of the lower register of his vocals from Tempo Of The Damned, and they get a guitar tone similar to any of the tones on the Dukes records. However, tracks like "Black 13", "Blood In, Blood Out", "Salt The Wound" and "Body Harvest" are just some of the standout tracks. The other big selling point for this album is that it features Kirk Hammett of Metallica doing a guest solo on "Salt The Wound", making this the first official Exodus recording Kirk appeared on, despite being the founding member. There's also a guest appearance by Chuck Billy from Testament on the track "BTK" and Dan The Automator on "Black 13".
I initially put Exodus' last album Blood In, Blood Out much higher at the #2 spot on my original list five years ago, but it slid down a couple of spots because although I love Zetro's vocals, I found that he used the higher register a little too much, which says that these songs were more fitted for Rob Dukes' vocals. I also wish there was more meat in the guitar tone because I found it a little too thin when you compare the tone found on the Dukes records, but instrumentally, the songs are phenomenal. I sure hope that on the next Exodus record, Zetro returns to using a little more of the lower register of his vocals from Tempo Of The Damned, and they get a guitar tone similar to any of the tones on the Dukes records. However, tracks like "Black 13", "Blood In, Blood Out", "Salt The Wound" and "Body Harvest" are just some of the standout tracks. The other big selling point for this album is that it features Kirk Hammett of Metallica doing a guest solo on "Salt The Wound", making this the first official Exodus recording Kirk appeared on, despite being the founding member. There's also a guest appearance by Chuck Billy from Testament on the track "BTK" and Dan The Automator on "Black 13".
04. ACCEPT - Blind Rage
In 2010, Accept came roaring back on the scene with Mark Tornillo and released Blood Of The Nations to a highly positive reaction, except for some people who are stuck like glue to the Udo era. They followed up the album rather quickly with Stalingrad coming out a year and a half later in 2012, only to be followed up with Blind Rage in 2014. The latter is in my opinion the best of the four Tornillo-era albums, with their last album The Rise Of Chaos being the weakest. Each album is in the same musical vein, but for some reason, the riffs, melodies and songs on Blind Rage popped out a bit more than on the other albums. Songs like "Stampede", "Dying Breed", "From The Ashes We Rise", "Fall Of The Empire" and "Final Journey" are all proof of this. This would also be the last album to feature Herman Frank and Stefan Schwarzmann, who both left the band in late 2014.
In 2010, Accept came roaring back on the scene with Mark Tornillo and released Blood Of The Nations to a highly positive reaction, except for some people who are stuck like glue to the Udo era. They followed up the album rather quickly with Stalingrad coming out a year and a half later in 2012, only to be followed up with Blind Rage in 2014. The latter is in my opinion the best of the four Tornillo-era albums, with their last album The Rise Of Chaos being the weakest. Each album is in the same musical vein, but for some reason, the riffs, melodies and songs on Blind Rage popped out a bit more than on the other albums. Songs like "Stampede", "Dying Breed", "From The Ashes We Rise", "Fall Of The Empire" and "Final Journey" are all proof of this. This would also be the last album to feature Herman Frank and Stefan Schwarzmann, who both left the band in late 2014.
03. ICED EARTH - Plagues Of Babylon
When Iced Earth released Dystopia in 2011 with Stu Block on vocals, there were mixed reactions. While the album received a lot of praise, some people were trepidatious about going into the album because Matt Barlow left for a second time earlier that year. However, after hearing Block's performance, people welcomed him with open arms, and felt more comfortable going into the next album, which would be Plagues Of Babylon. During this period, the band didn't have a complete lineup as they didn't have an official drummer. As a result, the band recruited session drummer Raphael Saini to track drums for the album. Plagues Of Babylon is actually where I became an Iced Earth fan. My only issue with this album is that the guitars seem to be buried in the mix, but that doesn't take anything away from great tracks like "Plagues Of Babylon", "Democide", "The Culling", "Resistance", "Among The Living Dead" (which features Hansi Kursch of Blind Guardian), "The End" and "Chthulu". This would also be the last album to feature Troy Steele, who left the band in late 2016.
When Iced Earth released Dystopia in 2011 with Stu Block on vocals, there were mixed reactions. While the album received a lot of praise, some people were trepidatious about going into the album because Matt Barlow left for a second time earlier that year. However, after hearing Block's performance, people welcomed him with open arms, and felt more comfortable going into the next album, which would be Plagues Of Babylon. During this period, the band didn't have a complete lineup as they didn't have an official drummer. As a result, the band recruited session drummer Raphael Saini to track drums for the album. Plagues Of Babylon is actually where I became an Iced Earth fan. My only issue with this album is that the guitars seem to be buried in the mix, but that doesn't take anything away from great tracks like "Plagues Of Babylon", "Democide", "The Culling", "Resistance", "Among The Living Dead" (which features Hansi Kursch of Blind Guardian), "The End" and "Chthulu". This would also be the last album to feature Troy Steele, who left the band in late 2016.
02. HATRIOT - Dawn Of The New Centurion
In a phone interview I did with Steve "Zetro" Souza, which you can see here, we talked about the Hatriot albums: Heroes Of Origin and Dawn Of The New Centurion. He described the latter as containing a maturity in the songwriting and the performance. I agree with him 100% on that. Heroes was very Slayer-influenced and was more raw, where Dawn was more polished, but still raw and there was a refinement in the writing. Just listen to "My Cold Dead Hands", "Your Worst Enemy", "The Fear Within", "Honor The Rise & Fall" and "Silence In The House Of The Lord" for proof. This would be the band's most recent album, and their last album to feature Zetro before he quit the band to put all his focus on Exodus. His son Cody, who is the band's bassist, took over vocal duties, and on the two demos of new songs the band put out, you can hear that Cody's vocal style is very similar to Zetro's. This is some high quality modern Bay Area thrash. Check it out if you're a thrasher.
In a phone interview I did with Steve "Zetro" Souza, which you can see here, we talked about the Hatriot albums: Heroes Of Origin and Dawn Of The New Centurion. He described the latter as containing a maturity in the songwriting and the performance. I agree with him 100% on that. Heroes was very Slayer-influenced and was more raw, where Dawn was more polished, but still raw and there was a refinement in the writing. Just listen to "My Cold Dead Hands", "Your Worst Enemy", "The Fear Within", "Honor The Rise & Fall" and "Silence In The House Of The Lord" for proof. This would be the band's most recent album, and their last album to feature Zetro before he quit the band to put all his focus on Exodus. His son Cody, who is the band's bassist, took over vocal duties, and on the two demos of new songs the band put out, you can hear that Cody's vocal style is very similar to Zetro's. This is some high quality modern Bay Area thrash. Check it out if you're a thrasher.
01. SAVAGE MESSIAH - The Fateful Dark
As many of you may know, I've been championing Savage Messiah over the last few years because they take so much pride in writing and releasing high quality metal. They arrived on the scene in 2009 with the thrashing debut Insurrection Rising, then followed it up with the more ambitious and melodic sophomore album Plague Of Conscience, then brought the best of both worlds on their third album The Fateful Dark. Simultaneously, the songwriting quality increased by quite a few notches. "Zero Hour" is one of the greatest songs the band has written. It's one of those summation songs that encompasses every ingredient Savage Messiah became known for. Then there's also tracks like "Iconocaust", "Cross Of Babylon", "Live As One Already Dead", "The Fateful Dark" and "Scavengers Of Mercy". This is a seriously heavy album with tons of melody and quality songwriting overall. Even five years later, this album still blows me away the same way it did the first time I heard it. There's not many albums that do that for me, and that's why The Fateful Dark deserves to keep its place in the #1 spot of my favourite albums of 2014. If you haven't heard this album yet, hear it now!
As many of you may know, I've been championing Savage Messiah over the last few years because they take so much pride in writing and releasing high quality metal. They arrived on the scene in 2009 with the thrashing debut Insurrection Rising, then followed it up with the more ambitious and melodic sophomore album Plague Of Conscience, then brought the best of both worlds on their third album The Fateful Dark. Simultaneously, the songwriting quality increased by quite a few notches. "Zero Hour" is one of the greatest songs the band has written. It's one of those summation songs that encompasses every ingredient Savage Messiah became known for. Then there's also tracks like "Iconocaust", "Cross Of Babylon", "Live As One Already Dead", "The Fateful Dark" and "Scavengers Of Mercy". This is a seriously heavy album with tons of melody and quality songwriting overall. Even five years later, this album still blows me away the same way it did the first time I heard it. There's not many albums that do that for me, and that's why The Fateful Dark deserves to keep its place in the #1 spot of my favourite albums of 2014. If you haven't heard this album yet, hear it now!
HONOURABLE MENTIONS (No Order)
| ARCH ENEMY War Eternal | PRIMAL FEAR Delivering The Black | SABATON Heroes |
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| PRETTY MAIDS Louder Than Ever | DRAGONFORCE Maximum Overload | KILLER BE KILLED Killer Be Killed |
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I also want to give some mentions to albums like Suicidal Angels' Divide & Conquer, AC/DC's Rock Or Bust, Job For A Cowboy's Sun Eater and Lost Society's Terror Hungry. There you have it. My updated list of favourite 2014 albums. Now it's your turn! What are YOUR favourite albums from 2014?
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