The Best Of 2020 In Music

As we come to the end of a year to forget, there is still a reminder that new music is still out there and still being released. 

That said, 2020 is the year that I quit caring about the new music.  Let's face it, I have become your Grandparents back in the 70s, when they stayed with big band era music, or if you had cool grandparents, a decent collection of old time rock and roll or, to a lesser extent, pop music.  Nowadays, with most music being hip hop or rap influenced, my attention span was too short to care.  Tho the catch phase would be WAP, the song of the year by Cardi B, our favorite rapper.  Who makes eating butt sound easier than take out.  A acquired taste for sure but the smarter people know better.  No matter how much ketchup or Bar B Q sauce, or whip cream you have, it's still going taste like desperation and misery.  Which is the most of the music of 2020 had to offer.

As I go back through my archives to recall the best of the past 10 years and come to find out that the majority of my bests of those years I haven't played much, if at all.  So You Want To Be A Cowboy, still gets a few plays and it remains the best album Steve Earle issued in the 2010s.  And my good friend Mike Eldred's 61 and 49 holds up well, tho I continue to forget to listen to it on my bargain hunting trips.  I'm sure that Robert Christgau doesn't play the best albums either.  I've got 7 decades of music to choose from and each year, every new release fights with the rest of the recorded music of the past.  Nobody has time to listen to each and every thing that came out.  We don't have enough time in our life to do that.  Maybe in the great afterlife, with infinite time I can managed to hear most of it.  But to be honest, new music recordings sound like dogshit. The loudness factor is still there and digital can't compete with analog music anyway.  And then we have to deal with digipaks that have the cd inside, which makes it hard to play out in the car.

Looking at Pitchfork's picks of the best of 2020, I knew nothing of any of the artists with the exception of Bob Dylan, Taylor Swift, Fleet Foxes and Fiona Apple, the latter to which I may consider looking for if I find it used.   Bad Bunny or Burma Boy, no clue and not interested.  NPR's best, was also greeted with a raspberry, but somehow I was surprised that Rolling Stone Mag did chose a lot more rock artists, before giving Taylor Swift's Folklore the number one spot.   There's still good music being released, and will continue to be released as long as you know where to look for it.  

My purchasing new music this year dwindled from last year and the problem was, if I didn't know the artist or goof ball rapper or country music artist, I passed on but still found new stuff from the artists from the past.  Blue Oyster Cult came back and among the five live documents, they snuck in The Symbol Remains, an inessential but fun sounding album to which BOC didn't sound this animated since Fire Of Unknown Origin and partly of Albert Bouchard coming to sing and play cowbell on one song.  Albert also revisited Imaginos with a different mind frame and sound.  I have yet to hear that and hopefully will soon.  Green Day came back to make a EP like album that was over and done in 26 minutes.  Steve Earle's album barely made it to 30 minutes.  Neil Young continues to issue a EP and more archival works.  Willie Nelson added one album.  And Bob Dylan came back to forgo the standards to make one more new album. 

To be honest, the best of 2020 is like the whole decade.  I pick the albums that I was mostly familiar with and bought.  Play them and then commit them to the archives or how much Half Price Books will pay me to take them off my hands.    This will be my last top ten for sure, from here on out, I will stick to finding forty fives or dollar cds and let the younger generation continue reviewing them and making their own best of.  The world won't care anyway.  I don't think I care.  So let's just call this, the albums that I'm aware of for 2020.

The best of 2020

Bush-The Kingdom (BMG)

Steve Earle/The Dukes-The Ghosts Of West Virginia (New West)

The Townedgers (Maier)

Four Day Creep-The Devil's Out To Get Me (4DC)

Chris Stapleton-Starting Over (Mercury)

Willie Nelson-First Day Of Spring (Legacy)

Webb Wilder-Night Without Love (Landslide)

Wishbone Ash-Coat Of Arms (SPV)

Body Count-Carnivore (Century Media)

X-Alphabetland (Fat Possom)

In my time of reviewing albums, I never thought that I'd give the best album of the year to Bush, but this record is so good, I played it three times straight.  Of course the album got ignored, corporate rock radio wouldn't touch it, but this is Bush's most rocking album ever.  Given the haphazardness that is 16 Stone, The Kingdom really delivers.   Steve Earle's Ghosts Of West Virginia was another surprise and under a half hour to boot.   The Townedgers returned with their first album since Logic And Lies, tho Logic And Lies was all originals, the S/T album shows R. Smith's love of the obscure and covers of Fred Neil, Little Feat and Moe Bandy.  And takes Rainbow In The Dark to a more folk sound that turns the Dio song upside down.  Local faves 4 Day Creep gives up a album of some of their best originals (Rock Ain't Dead) into rock anthems.  Too bad this record didn't have more to offer.  While people complained that Chris Stapleton lost something from Traveler, I think this is more consistent.  First Day Of Spring continues Willie's winning streak of good albums, Webb Wilder rocks a bit more and Wishbone Ash, out of all the old rock bands made the best album, while Andy Powell begins to show more of a progressive rock feel.  Body Count is getting more metal and thrash sounding and X returns to their punk roots for a album that's half great and half good.

The next batch.

Brandy Clark-Your Life Is A Jukebox (Warner)

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard- K.G (KG Recordings)

Blue Oyster Cult-The Symbol Remains (Frontiers)

Dream Syndicate-The Universe Inside (ANTI)

Green Day-Father Of All M.F.s (Reprise)

Brothers Osborne-Skeletons (EMI Nashville)

Bob Dylan-Rough And Rowdy Ways (Columbia)

Deep Purple-Whoosh (Edel/Ear  Music)

Drive By Truckers-The Gathering (ATO)

Ac/Dc-PWR Up (Albert/Columbia)

While Dylan got rave reviews on Rough And Rowdy Ways, I found it hard to stay awake to.  King Gizzard last album nailed metal music big time, this time out they take on electronica with a jam band vibe.  Still a pretty good effort.  Brandy Clark got screwed by Warner Music by delaying this record for a year and a half and by the time this record came out, the public moved over to Ashley McBryde, who's Never Will album slumped a bit.  I enjoyed Brandy's work more but in the future I'll take a look at Ashley's albums.   Blue Oyster Cult came back with a good but overstuffed comeback album. Not enough Buck Dharma, too much of Richie Castelleno and too many filler songs toward the end.  The Dream Syndicate went all out hippie trippy beginning with a 20 minute jam that bleeds into another song.  A return to the days of Wine and Roses but in this case, you cannot go back to the past.   Green Day really stripped down their sound, hooking up with Butch Walker and put together an album that squeaks past 26 minutes.  Of course it didn't sell but I admire them for trying.  Brothers Osborne made their rock move and it cost them their country fan base but I enjoyed the records.  DBT's made the best Trump protest album and AC DC got everybody back again to rock out.  Too bad Brendan O Brien and Mike Fraser blotched the recording, this screams out analog.  

The Rest

Brett Eldredge-Sunday Drive (Warner)

Ozzy Osbourne-Ordinary Man (Epic)

Lamb Of God (Epic)
Gordon Lightfoot-Solo (Warner Canada)

Neil Young-The Times (Reprise)

The Strokes-The New Abnormal (RCA)

Nathaniel Rateliff-And It's Still Alright (Stax)

I really have no business reviewing Lamb Of God.  They're extreme metal/thrash and a guaranteed headache, but there's a sense of melody in the noise presented to me.  Brett Eldredge took a major gamble from his winning country rap pop formula and went straight MOR, which isn't too bad.  He got the producers of Kacey Musgraves' Happy Hour and his results is as similar as hers.  Only problem was country fans didn't buy it either.  Ozzy's album isn't as miserable or bad as Mark Prindle would say, but like Mark, I don't think I'd be playing this very much.  A surprise of the year was Gordon Lightfoot doing a solo album, which is just Gordon himself.  His best years are way behind him, but some songs here do strike a chord (Just A Little Bit, Why Not Give It A Try).  Neil Young's The Times was a EP, as long as Green Day's album but when we needed protest music, Young dropped the ball on this. Outside of Looking For A Leader 2020, this record is screaming for Crazy Horse, or Promise Of The Real.  As for the final two, The Strokes with Rick Rubin are boring and Nathaniel Rateliff without his band, is basically Yacht rock for the My Morning Jacket folk.  Of these 7 albums, the last three would have made the Turkey albums.

Reissues 

Neil Young-Homegrown (Reprise)

Neil Young-Tuscaloosa (Reprise)

Buck Owens Complete Capitol Singles (Omnivore) 

The Bobbettes-I Shot Mr. Lee (Jasmine)  

2020 was the year of reissues, but somehow I either wasn't impressed with them or I thought the world didn't need another remastered 50 year collection of the regular album and pointless outtakes. .  Polydor's Goat Head's Soup finally make sense that GDS wasn't that bad of an album, it actually has held up better than It's Only Rock And Roll and Black and Blue. But then Eagle music reissued a ton of vintage concerts.  only problem was I have no use for Bridges To Babylon or Steel Wheels live.  The only albums that I needed were the fabled Homegrown album that Young threw in the archives for 45 years and Tuscaloosa, which was supposed to be the better choice than Time Fades Away, an album that Young did issue as part of a box set.  All those overpriced RSD albums that came in waves of four, I ignored.  Simply of the fact that they were not cost effective.  Which leads the import Jasmine's Bobbettes Mr. Lee Atlantic singles and the complete Capitol singles of Buck Owens as must own.    I'm sure there's something that I overlook that Collector's Choice might have for sale, or Real Gone Music.  But at this point, it's much too late to get any on the 2020 list before the year is out.

In the final analysis for a year that has been shit from the word go, this best of, is basically a reference for the music that came out that I took note on.  I'm sure Bush didn't have many others that chose The Kingdom to be the best of 2020, in fact I might be the only person that did that.  But to these ears, Gavin Rossdale and company finally made a rock album that they can be proud of and perhaps have a few more listens till my expiration date comes around. Steve Earle has always put out great albums, and his tribute to his late song Justin Townes Earle, will be the one to get in 2021.   But for me, 2020 is the final year of reviewing and tabbing the best of the year.  Chances are most of these will be donated or sold off to buy tacos.  The Weeknd n Cardi B's music is for the young and trendy.  But don't worry too much about me.  There'll always will be cheap music and 45s to find.