2016 Album of the Year



Every time I listen to a new album, I think to myself "Is this going to be my album of the year?" Most of the time, it ends up with a "No." Until that one fateful day when I turn on an album and something magical happens. My brain begins to tingle, the hair on the back of my neck stands up, and a feel a rush of euphoria. It the feeling that can only come from listening to amazing music. Not just a single great song but an entire album. There are hundreds of great songs every year but there can only be one Album of the Year. (Ok...that's not completely true. There can be more than one. See 2010 co-winners.)

This list is based on the albums I have purchased. There may be other great albums but I don't own them and I'm not writing about those. I'm writing about what I know. So...enjoy.

There were several albums that I had high hopes for but they just didn't pan out. Here is a list of albums that are good...but not "Album of the Year" quality.


  • Coasts - Coasts




  • Hot Hot Heat - Hot Hot Heat




  • Mark Stoermer - Dark Arts (I actually won a signed copy of this CD through a Facebook contest by Mark Stoermer.)




  • Panic! At The Disco - Death of a Bachelor


  • Ra Ra Riot - Need Your Light




  • Rogue Wave - Delusions of Grand Fur



There are two albums that get a super high mention on the list. This is the highest honor before actually being named Album of the Year.


  • Matt & Kim - We Were The Weirdos (EP)

As I have mentioned in one of my past posts, I don't think I can consider and EP for Album of the Year. Since it's not a complete album. With that said, Matt & Kim put out an epic EP this year titled "We Were The Weirdos." This EP is one of my favorite things to listen to this year. It's just way too short. Ya know, because it's an EP. It's not that this album is a departure from anything that Matt & Kim have produced before. I just feel it's the best music that Matt & Kim have produced.



  • David Bowie - Blackstar

The other album that has to be addressed in any best of 2016 list is "Blackstar" by David Bowie. This is an amazing album. We lost a great artist early in 2016 with the passing of David Bowie. His album came out two days before his passing. It's really a great album but when you listen to it through the lens of David Bowie knowing he is dying, it becomes very eerie and surreal. I continued to fight with myself trying to decide if it really is the best album of the year or if it's due to the emotional attachments that come with the loss of such a monumental figure. All in all, I found myself feeling depressed listening to the album. It wasn't an album that I would play over and over. It made me sad. It's good but it just tugs at my emotions too much. It causes me to start thinking about my own mortality every time it's on. It's a bit heavy for me.




 Now onto the album you've all been waiting for. 

When I was a child, I loved music. Probably because of my brother and Mtv. (That's Music Television for all you Millennials that don't know there used to be music on that channel. It's true.) I also remember going with my dad to a local music store and he bought Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" on cassette. I loved listening to rock music. I loved watching hair bands on Mtv. So when I was old enough to buy a cassette with the money I had saved, I went to the local music store in the mall and bought Bon Jovi "Slippery When Wet." This was in 1987 and I was six years old. I played that cassette all the time. Loved it. I actually think I still have it in a box somewhere. I grew up listening to Bon Jovi. Sure there was a time when Bon Jovi and I weren't on the same page in the mid to late 90s. But I fell back in love with the band in 2000 with the release of "Crush" (still my favorite Bon Jovi album).  The band has several other great albums in the 2000s. They kind of fell flat with "The Circle." It was ok...but it just felt like they phoned it in. Well, this year, with the recent departure of Richie Sambora, they put out an amazing, uplifting, positive, fun album that I cannot stop listening to. That album is "This House Is Not For Sale." Below are some videos from this album. Please take a listen to them. Enjoy the 2016 Album of the Year by one of the greatest rock bands of my lifetime, Bon Jovi.












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