Tenology: My Ten Favourite Rock/Metal Songs Of 2017

It's not been that long since I did a Tenology post but it's been an entire year since I did one of these specific posts! 2016 was a shitshow and let's face it, 2017 wasn't that much better. It may have been an amazing year for video games (the best since 2009, in my opinion) but it's been a bit weak for Rock/Metal albums. Most of the albums I've reviewed from this year have been average or weak with only a few standout strong entries but fortunately, there have been several brilliant album tracks and singles to list here.
As I've done in the past, this post isn't a reflection of the Top 10 songs of the year ranked according to sales, fan reception or even my personal opinion. Yes, I've chosen these songs based on my opinion and taste but I'm not listing them in any particular order. They're just ten songs I liked more than anything else I heard this year. If I've missed anything that you think I'd like or should at least draw attention to in the Honourable Mentions section later on, feel free to leave a comment or message me via Twitter.
But now it's time to find out which songs I enjoyed this year in between playing video games and being depressed!


1. "La Dee Da" - Foo Fighters

One of the big album releases this year was Concrete And Gold - Foo Fighters. If you didn't read my review of it, all you really need to know is it's terrible. It's a tepid affair full of bland, easily forgettable material...except the one track that stands out. "La Dee Da" is a fast paced proper Rock song that blows all the cobwebs of boredom formed by the gloomy Alternative dirge away. Granted it comes in the middle of the album so those cobwebs form again pretty quickly but it's still the highlight of the record and, in a year where great music was somewhat lacking, it's enough to make this list.


2. "She's $$$" - Kenny Wayne Shepherd

I feel like each year has to have at least one really good Blues Rock number and 2017 is no exception. Kenny Wayne Shepherd provided us with a track that took the rhythmic foundations of "Call Me The Breeze" - J.J. Cale and added some fancy instrumental sections, heavier percussion and new lyrics before presenting us with a catchy tune to tap your feet to. I'll even excuse the seemingly pointless use of "$$$" in the title when "She's Money" would've looked much better!


3. "Nowhere" - Cheap Trick

No, this isn't a track off Cheap Trick's mediocre Christmas album. It's off another album they released this year entitled We're All Alright that I neglected to review or even listen to. There may be better songs off the album but this one's not half bad. It's a punchy number that harks back to their early days as a rough-edged Rock outfit before they turned up the charm and churned out Dream Police. It's only a short tune but it's still an enjoyable one!


4. "Heavy Fire" - Black Star Riders

Whilst my favourite song off the latest Black Star Riders album came out last year, "Heavy Fire" is a close second which makes it number one for this year. It opens up with a thunderous riff before the rest of the band explode onto the scene and it only gets better from there. This is the kind of song that opens live shows with all guns blazing and I don't just mean shows promoting this album; this could be one of the band's most badass songs! It's just a shame they had to slow things down with an awkward middle section before bringing it back around with a heavy reprise but hey, at least they got 2/3 of the song spot on!


5. "Who's The (Bat) Man" - Patrick Stump

I'm not sure whether this technically counts (as it was a track on the soundtrack for The Lego Batman Movie) but since it functions as a song, I'm including it. Plus it's arguably heavier/more awesome than the majority of tracks in this post! If you haven't seen The Lego Batman Movie, it opens with an action scene involving Batman fighting all of his villains whilst rocking out to his Let's Go Nuts mix, featuring this song that he sings and apparently plays the guitar solo for too. It amplifies everything great about the scene in a way that's not only hilarious but also pretty damn epic, if you'll pardon the term. But here's the biggest surprise: the song is credited to Patrick Stump, lead vocalist/guitarist for Fall Out Boy. Yeah, the frontman for Fall Out Boy had this material up his fucking sleeve but instead resorts to whiny Emo shite for fake tattoo-sleeve wearing twelve year olds.


6. "The Last Song For My Resting Place" - Black Country Communion

I've heard a few decent Black Country Communion tracks but I'm making the active decision to not get into them on account of my personal hatred for Glenn Hughes. From what I hear, it's not just me who has a problem with him as Black Country Communion previously called it quits after a dispute between Glenn and guitarist, Joe Bonamassa. However, since then, they've decided to patch things up and record another album which speaks volumes about Joe's ability to forgive as there's no reason he needs to pause his solo career just to appease an egotistical tosser who's desperately trying to prove he's as talented as he thinks he is. Anyway, I listened to the album recently and it's passable at best. There are a couple of solid tracks including "The Crow", a song that shamelessly rips off "Bulls On Parade" - Rage Against The Machine but gets a pass from me purely because they made that RATM track better. However, "The Last Song For My Resting Place" is easily the highlight. It's an eight-minute emotional powerhouse that puts Glenn exactly where he needs to be; right at the back propping up a much more talented vocalist/musician (Joe Bonamassa) with bass and backing vocals.


7. "The Way You Used To Do" - Queens Of The Stone Age

The Foos weren't the only big American Rock band to release a new album this year! Queens Of The Stone Age delivered a new record with heavy Pop influences but still firmly in the Rock genre (review here). This song was the lead single and is probably the most enjoyable track out of the bunch, even if there are other tracks that are decent too. Josh Homme's guitarwork is relatively simplistic but when paired with the catchy rhythm, it's enough to carry the song from start to finish. I was torn between this track and "The Evil Has Landed", as that's another strong tune from Villains, but I went with this purely because I've found myself wanting to listen to it more than anything else off the album this year.


8. "(She Don't) Gimme No Lovin'" - King King

OK, this song would never top conventional Best Rock Songs Of 2017 lists on account of it being a little uninspired compared to some of the singles released this year but that's part of what makes it enjoyable. It's a good old fashioned Hard Rock track that sounds like it's cherry picked elements of Rock's biggest artists from the 70s and 80s, much like the song from School Of Rock that combined elements from AC/DC tracks to make an all-round crowd pleaser for kids and adults alike. This song feels like that without becoming tame so here it is!


9. "Taking The Blame" - Inglorious

From a paint-by-numbers "Rock" song to this hellraiser, Inglorious have good track record with fast paced, high octane Hard Rock so I wasn't surprised to hear another belter from them this year. I should really check their two albums out but for now, we're all presumably in the same boat of not really knowing an awful lot about them. Fans of my blog will know I'm a sucker for Riff-Based-Rock that doesn't take prisoners so "Taking The Blame" well and truly belongs on my list, although I'd like to give a special shout out to Phil Beaver for some cracking percussion in this song.


10. "Buccaneers Of Hispaniola" - The Darkness

Well shit, I've done it again. I've left my favourite song until last even though I said I wasn't going to do any kind of ranking. Pinewood Smile was easily my favourite album of the year and out of all the songs I loved on it (believe me, there were several I was tempted to include), "Buccaneers Of Hispaniola" is the one I played most of all. Opinions on falsetto singing and comical lyrics aside, The Darkness have proven in the last couple of years that they know how to record a bitchin' tune when they want to and that's exactly what this song is. It's loaded with heavy riffs, sweet solos and awesome vocals. It's the kind of song that wouldn't sound out of place blasted from the heavens as you stormed into the most epic of battles and even though I would probably prefer it a little more if I could slightly tweak the outro vocals (where Justin sings "BUUUH, BUUUH, BUH-BUH, BUH, BUH BUUUUUCCANEERS!"), I doubt I will ever get tired of listening to this, the shining jewel of 2017's contribution to Rock/Metal.

So that's it for 2017...OR IS IT? Of course it fucking isn't! There are still Honourable Mentions to plough through! Here are five songs I almost included before they fell at the last hurdle...or in this immediate case, the first:


"Friends Are Family" - Oh, Hush feat. Will Arnett & Jeff Lewis

Another song off the soundtrack for The Lego Batman Movie. This is played during the closing credits and whilst you could argue that it may fall into the Pop Rock category, I decided to omit it from the main list because I felt like it was a little too close to Pop. However, I still love it to bits. It pisses all over "Everything Is Awesome" from The Lego Movie and actually does a solid job of echoing one of the film's main themes through a catchy chorus and a neat solo played by Alfred the butler...what, it is. Go watch the film and see!


"Head Like A Haunted House" - Queens Of The Stone Age

Yeah, I know I said I was torn between the dancey one and "The Evil Has Landed" but remember, these are Honourable Mentions, not an extension of my ten choices. I've already mentioned that song so now I'm mentioning this one! Villains had an eclectic mix of styles but this song stood out as one with a bit more character than the rest. It's wacky, sure, but it reminds me of 70s Punk what with the amplified bass and kooky sound effects. It's also a fun title, which is somewhat of an anomaly on a QOTSA album. I didn't include this in the main list for the same reason I didn't include "The Evil Has Landed"; I preferred "The Way You Used To Do". Plain and simple.


"Heartland" - Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown

This one's a bit of a late entry but it just made it in at the last minute. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite good enough for me to make the main list but it's still got some strong attributes such as the heavy fuzz and talented Mr Bryant. I don't know if I like the vocals during the chorus to say whether this song will make a stronger impression on me than some of the other songs I've heard this year but at the current time of writing this post, I like the track.


"Southern Trains" - The Darkness

As I said earlier, there were several tracks from Pinewood Smile that could've made this list but only one that I felt deserved an Honourable Mention. For those of you reading this in the UK who have ever been burdened by delayed trains, wasted hours in shitawful stations, disgusting toilets and cramped conditions due to annoying passengers you'd rather stab repeatedly than stand up for, this is the song for you. It's a celebration of everything terrible about the Southern train service in this country packaged as a fast paced Hard Rock/Heavy Metal number in vintage Darkness fashion. Enjoy!


"Thunder Child" - The Bad Flowers

Lastly, we have what I would describe as a solid filler track out of all 15 songs included here. It's got a good riff and a fun rhythm but it just doesn't land as well as the others for me. Maybe that's because I haven't given it as much of a chance as the others on this list although you could argue that songs like "Buccaneers Of Hispaniola" and "Heavy Fire" did more to grab me by the short and curlies straight away, therefore having my full attention for the rest of the track. It's not a bad song and it might even be one of your favourites if you like standard Rock but for now, it's only worthy of an Honourable Mention from me.

And THAT is it for this blog in 2017. We've had some fun moments now and then (ABCs of Producers was a personal highlight) but the next time you'll be reading anything new on here will be 2018...unless you're spending your New Year's Eve going back over some of my older posts that you haven't read yet. If that is the case, I can't say I blame you; NYE is fucking shit and my blog's pretty underrated so it's only natural that you'd rather spend your last day of 2017 reading my unchained opinions on Rock/Metal instead of spending it partying with friends and family.
See you all on the other side!

Villains - Queens Of The Stone Age

I had planned to make September the month of album reviews since there are at least three different records coming out that I plan on listening to/writing about. However, imagine my surprise when I discovered that another album I wanted to check out has just been released in August instead!

The last time we got a proper studio effort from the Queens Of The Stone Age was 2013 and, when all's said and done, it wasn't great. It had some decent tracks ("If I Had A Tail") but also a lot of droning Alternative shit ("My God Is The Sun", "...Like Clockwork", "Keep Your Eyes Peeled"). The good news for fans of that music is that Villains still offers tracks that could fit in with previous QOTSA albums but is definitely more of a Pop friendly record on the whole. You can thank producer Mark Ronson for that. Yep, THAT Mark Ronson. The one responsible for the ubiquitous crap known as "Uptown Funk" that ultimately made Josh Homme hire him for the purpose of making this album easier to dance to.
Album opener "Feet Don't Fail Me" introduces this blend of funky Pop with QOTSA weirdness quite well, although the track does begin with about 1:50 of atmospheric tedium that should've been its own track before jumping into this one (like "The Hellion" - Judas Priest or "Signs Of Chaos" - Testament). The rest of the track boasts a terrible guitar solo and Josh Homme doing a David Bowie impression but other than that, it's a fairly mediocre tune to start the album off. Luckily, the two lead singles from the album do a better job of mixing dance rhythms with Rock riffs.
"The Way You Used To Do" is a huge improvement over the depressing noise of ...Like Clockwork, even if it sounds more like Pop Rock or Indie/Alternative than some of the Hard Rock hits from the band's past. However, even with the synth sound effects and clapping rhythm, the band still sound like the band and the riffs are multi-functional, depending on whether you prefer to dance in your living room or air guitar in your bedroom. It's just a shame it ends on an unnecessary instrumental outro after the song finishes.

"The Evil Has Landed" is also a solid choice for the pre-release singles as it's still a guitar-driven track and firmly belongs in the Rock category with its Led Zeppelin riffs and Eagles Of Death Metal outro that probably should've been a different track to prevent this one from going on too long. Either way, this is the kind of material that I want to hear when listening to Queens Of The Stone Age; Rock that's a little bit different but is definitely still Rock. This album needed more songs like this for me to personally enjoy it.
I'm not saying the album's poorly recorded by the band or produced by Mr Boogie-Woogie (it pains me to say Mark Ronson is still a damn good producer, even if he's focused on a genre I don't care for as much). In fact, I have several good things to say about it too. For starters, regardless of your taste for Rock/Pop, it's definitely a different album to the last one without completely neglecting the progress they made in adapting their sound. There's also a very obvious direction the band wanted to go for and they made it without compromising the objective quality of the music; even if Josh Homme's Bowiesque vocals do start to feel less like homage and more like self-inflation as the album progresses, at least they're still appropriate for the music.
However, despite the occasional injection of humour and wackiness (particularly in "Head Like A Haunted House", my favourite track off the album complete with bass driven rhythms, aggressive guitar tones and Sci-Fi/camp horror effects similar to SpizzEnergi), there's something just a little bit pompous about the whole thing. Whether it's in small observations like the use of stringed instruments in "Un-Reborn Again" or obvious surface level ones like the name of the song itself, the album could've benefited from someone taking a step back and reminding Josh Homme that he's not the defining artist of a generation but I guess spending time with Iggy Pop will do that to you.

Granted it doesn't take itself quite as seriously as the last album (although tracks like "Domesticated Animals" show glimmers of self-inflation in the discordant, clunky melodies) but for what's clearly meant to be a more casual experience for listeners, there aren't a huge amount of easily accessible Pop Rock tracks. Tracks like "Fortress", "Hideaway" and "Villains Of Circumstance" sound more like twisted New Romanticism than Alternative or even conventional Pop Rock; they're less like tracks you'd hear at a fun concert and more like background music at a club where everyone has multicoloured hair and at least one plaid outfit in their wardrobe.
If you enjoy each of these genres covered across Villains then you'll probably like the experience of listening to it start to finish. If you're indifferent to any of them, I'd still recommend giving the album a try as it's all decent but not the kind of material you'd get great pleasure out of revisiting on a frequent basis. If you hate any of the genres I mentioned (particularly Pop based ones), give the other songs a go but don't expect to find your new favourite song. The album blends each musical flavour like ingredients in a sauce and you're not going to love the taste of bolognese if you can't stand onions.
I rate Villains 7/10 for containing a decent mix of tracks assembled by professionals in their field despite occasionally spreading themselves a little too thin for fans of one genre over the other. My only major concern for the future of this band is that Josh Homme's ego is starting to show. As long as he keeps the number of side projects under control and continues to make albums that are about the music instead of how great he is, he might just avoid becoming the next Glenn Hughes.