Finally, we're here. The end of 2016 and about fucking time too. From celebrity deaths to celebrity presidents, it's been an absolute shitshow that all seemed to start with Lemmy's death at the end of last year.
However, despite the overwhelming negatives about 2016, there have been some positives to take away such as a collection of decent Rock/Metal songs that I intend to list here. On previous Tenology posts celebrating the year's music, I don't categorise songs in order of greatness; instead, I just list ten of my personal favourite songs from the year in random order. Since there's no reason to change the formula, that's exactly what I'll be doing this year too!
It's also worth noting that these songs have been chosen based entirely on my opinion, not how well they charted or fared among Rock/Metal fans. If I wanted to write about the "best" songs of the year, I'd spend the whole post wanking off about how amazing Beyonce and Radiohead are. But fuck that, right? Here are 10 songs I liked!
1. "The Getaway" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
If you cast your mind back to July (or click this link and spend a couple of minutes reading the post), you may recall me reviewing The Getaway - Red Hot Chili Peppers and talking about how much I loved this album. It's probably joint-first for my album of the year along with Dystopia - Megadeth and this album opener/title track is a solid reason why. It sounds like classic RHCP but at the same time doesn't feel like the band going through the motions, partly due to Josh Klinghoffer picking up the strings from John Frusciante. Great tune!
2. "Breathing Lightning" - Anthrax
If your mind hasn't returned from July yet (or you got curious and followed this link), you may ALSO recall me briefly writing about the new Anthrax album, For All Kings. Despite not really enjoying it, I did love this song and would recommend it if you like Heavy Metal over the usual Thrash stuff Anthrax is known for. Thankfully, there are some single edits of the song that don't have the shitty instrumental reprise at the end so if you want to buy the track, search for that version instead of the six minute one.
3. "Let It Begin" - The Treatment
Aha, a new track! I've mentioned The Treatment before on a previous Tenology post celebrating 2014's music but this song is stronger than "The Outlaw". It's still another uncompromising Hard Rock track with epic riffs and a catchy chorus by a band who seem to be happy in the ass-kicking-Rock sector of the industry so what's not to like? In a year literally plagued with death and despair, sometimes you need a good Hard Rock track to blast out loud and this song fits the bill nicely.
4. "Moth Into Flame" - Metallica
Back to old tracks again. I liked Metallica's new album and there were definitely some solid contenders on there for this post. However, there was only one track that I knew deserved to be on the main list without a doubt; "Moth Into Flame". Unlike "Hardwired" and "Atlas, Rise!", it contains all the hallmarks of a top quality Metallica song without sounding repetitive or losing too much energy throughout the track. It should've been the lead single from the album as it triumphantly declares "We're fucken back!" much more heroically than the album's title track.
5. "At War With The World" - Primal Fear
I haven't actually discussed Rulebreaker - Primal Fear on the blog yet but if you haven't listened to it, it's a pretty awesome Metal album. Granted there's not much variety on it but if you want pure Heavy Metal, you get exactly that. There were several songs I could've picked for this list but my personal favourite is probably this one due to the steady rhythm and epic chorus. Seriously though, if you like Heavy Metal, seek out Rulebreaker - Primal Fear.
6. "Breakin' Outta Hell" - Airbourne
A track so good, I've discussed it twice; once in an album review, once in a taster session. Basically, similar to "Let It Begin", it's a heavy Hard Rock song by a band that are masters of awesome singles but getting progressively weaker at awesome albums. Despite this, I still love listening to this song and hope that Airbourne will keep churning 'em out every couple of years or so.
7. "The Emperor" - Megadeth
Come on, I couldn't leave out a track from Dystopia from this post. I'll admit that if "The Threat Is Real" wasn't released as a single at the end of 2015, I would've chosen that instead but "The Emperor" is probably my second favourite track off the album. Lyrically and musically, it's fucking great; a song flipping the middle finger off at incompetent leaders with brilliant riffs throughout and a hell of a sweet solo with echoes of "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due".
8. "When The Night Comes In" - Black Star Riders
If you're unfamiliar with Black Star Riders, they're basically a heavier version of Thin Lizzy made up of Thin Lizzy band members who didn't want to record new material for that band without Phil Lynott. I've heard quite a few of their songs and definitely like some more than others ("Valley Of The Stones" over "Bound For Glory", any day) but this is my favourite so far and it just so happens to be a single released this year. If you like Thin Lizzy and heavier music, I'd recommend them unless you're a die-hard Phil Lynott fan, as the vocalist sounds like a poorer version of him and it'd probably just piss you off.
9. "Eye Of The Beholder" - Wolfmother
Another song from an album I've already reviewed. Similar to Dystopia, this might not be my favourite song off the album but it IS my favourite off the songs released this year. It's got your standard trippy apocalypse sound that Wolfmother have cultivated through the use of organ and fuzzy guitars but when you get to the halfway point, the track picks up a bit and shifts gear into full-on Rock. It's a shame they couldn't add a guitar solo to that section but it's still great.
10. "Goodbye Angels" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
What's this? ANOTHER Red Hot Chili Peppers song? Technically, I never said I couldn't include multiple songs by the same band on this post and if I'm being totally honest, I would rate this higher than most of the songs in this list and upcoming honourable mentions. It's not a balls-out riff-heavy Rock anthem but it is pure RHCP at their finest, which is saying something without Frusciante involved. I may have been hasty in the past when I claimed the song would be better without Flea's little bass solo before the outro but having given it some thought, I think it works better that way after all. My personal favourite song off The Getaway and maybe, JUST MAYBE, my favourite song of 2016.
Those were my ten favourite songs from 2016 (that I heard and will probably change over time) but that's not to say everything else was rubbish. Here are five tracks that could've made the list if not for the strength of the ten above:
"Bullets & Tears" - Primal Fear
As I said when writing about "At War With The World", I could've chosen from a few songs for the list and if not for that track, this would've made it instead. I can imagine this track being fucking amazing live when that chorus comes around and for that reason, I love listening to it. However, even though I included two RHCP tracks on the list, I couldn't remove one of my top ten for another Primal Fear song.
"Medication For The Melancholy" - Rob Zombie
Yeah, Rob Zombie released an album this year. I should probably listen to it if only to seek out tracks like this. He doesn't do them often but when Rob speeds up the tempo, he fucking rocks. I didn't include this track because it sounds like just another Rob Zombie track off one of his previous albums and I've already got enough of them in my list. I went with Airbourne instead because I can honestly say I prefer "Breakin' Outta Hell" to this, although it's still a great Heavy Metal tune.
"See You Rise" - Diamond Head
Considering how much I said I enjoyed Diamond Head - Diamond Head in my review this year, some of you might be confused as to why I didn't include any tracks in the main list. I do still love the album and "See You Rise" is still my favourite track off it but it just couldn't beat the others on the list. If it didn't have the slower section in the middle, it may have done.
"This Train" - Joe Bonamassa
I don't think I'll ever quite understand why everyone seems to rave about Joe Bonamassa so much when most of the songs I've heard him involved in are just alright but I have to say, this track is pretty solid. It's a fun Blues number, which makes a change from just about every other popular modern Blues track in existence. It's not strong enough to take on any of the main ten but it deserves a mention here.
"Thundering Voices" - Rival Sons
A late entry, as I only heard this track a couple of days ago. I'm sure I've talked about Rival Sons before and how they're a decent Rock band who probably deserve more attention than I'm currently giving them but the reason I didn't include this on the main list is simple; the other tracks have had some time to get old (except the Black Star Riders one, but I know I'll still like that months from now) and I still enjoy listening to them. I can't say the same about this song yet but who knows, maybe I'll still like it in February next year when we're all absolutely shitting ourselves over what the world has become.
That's all from me this year. I hope you enjoyed my 52 posts and your 2017 is better than 2016...unless you're partly to majorly responsible for how shit 2016 turned out, in which case I sincerely hope your next 365 days are utter wank.
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