This is my annual list of top albums/artists I listened to this year. Though most of the albums here were released in 2024, I’ve also included albums I simply discovered and enjoyed this year, regardless of when they were released.
As in past years, I enjoyed a lot of progressive rock and progressive metal, but, truthfully, this year was my “classical music” phase, owing mostly to two reasons:
1) I decided to study and practice orchestration (and I even wrote a ballet), and
2) I started to take my piano growth much more seriously, and set goals to learn some classical pieces on piano.
So, I listened to a lot more instrumental and classical music than in the past. I also listened to a fair deal of piano-based rock.
I’ve divided my list by genre:
ROCK/METAL
Caligula’s Horse – Charcoal Grace (2024)
This is my #1 album of the year for 2024. It’s just great from start to finish, with no skippable tracks. Caligula’s Horse make modern progressive metal, and really all of their albums are pretty great. This one got a lot of plays from me this year.
Seven Spires – A Fortress Called Home (2024)
Going back to the metal genre, Seven Spires are one of my favorite metal bands. They’ve not made a bad album yet, and this one is no exception. In fact, they’ve said this one is the one they’re most proud of, and with good reason. It’s my #2 album of the year.
A Fortress Called Home is more of what fans expect out of Seven Spires – excellent, well-paced, catchy, symphonic, black metal. This is the first album on my list with harsh vocals, and because of that not everyone who hears Seven Spires may appreciate just how good they are, nor how particularly good Adrienne’s harsh vocals really are. Unlike many harsh vocalists, hers are distinct for their character and for the fact that you can actually still understand (almost) everything she sings. She also uses them tastefully with her clean vocals to hold tell a consistent story. In Seven Spires music, harsh vocals are a character – not just there for no reason. So, even if harsh vocals aren’t your thing, give this band a chance and try them out. You might find yourself a fan.
For All We Know – Full collection
For All We Know is a Dutch progressive rock/metal band headed by Within Temptation guitarist Ruud Jolie. I listened a lot to all 3 of their albums this year, but the image above is from their 2024 album By Design or By Disaster. If I had to pick a favorite album of theirs though, it would be their 2nd album, Take Me Home, released in 2017. But all their work is worth a listen.
Jordan Rudess – Permission to Fly (2024)
Best known as the keyboardist for Dream Theater, Rudess is widely recognized as the most skilled keyboard player in modern popular/rock music. Rudess studied classical piano at Juilliard’s pre-college division from ages 9 to 16, and he certainly knows his way around keys. Though he’s not playing classical music anymore, he is a supremely talented progressive rock pianist. However, he’s also a superb guitarist, and if you want to make yourself feel like a slightly inadequate human, just look up videos of him playing both guitar and piano at the same time. It’s quite something to behold.
Anyway, I’m featuring this album because the compositions are top notch, and it’s certainly a pleasant listen. My only “gripe” is that, for me, the vocalist, though not a bad vocalist, delivers a somewhat “lifeless” performance across the whole album. His vocal approach brings a sort of “plainness” to what is otherwise a far-from-plain album, and left me constantly wanting a little bit more. Still, for the music alone, this was a good listen, and worth making into my year-end tops list.
SEVENTIES SONGWRITERS
Dan Fogelberg – Nether Lands (1977)
I listened to a LOT of Dan Fogelberg this year, and he’s probably my favorite singer-songwriter of all time. Nether Lands was his 4th album, and, in my opinion, his best, and most complete. It is thematically consistent and melds together, pretty seamlessly, rock, pop, country, folk and classical music. Fogelberg plays pretty much every instrument you can imagine on here, and does some producing himself, while getting help from some of his superstar friends (including members from The Eagles). Fogelberg, to me, is the quintessential 70s singer-songwriter. His beautiful, warm vocal tone, equally comfortable in the head as it is in the chest, and his intricate and expertly crafted harmonies are what elevates his music to the highest levels, for me. This album – and most of Fogelberg’s catalog, for that matter, will stick with me for a lifetime.
Tony Banks – A Curious Feeling (1979)
The debut album from Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks. It’s an old album, but I listened to it for the first time this year. Tony is my favorite keyboard player in rock, and this is, I think, his best album. As expected from Tony, it’s just plain good English prog rock. Singer Kim Beacon adds some really nice vocals to Tony’s compositions (I’ve compared Kim’s voice to being like Stevie Wonder’s). I don’t have much to say about this album, but that doesn’t make it any less awesome!
Peter Gabriel – i/o (2024)
Another album from a Genesis alum, Peter Gabriel’s i/o holds true to Peter’s general standard of lyrically sophisticated, artsy prog rock. This album did something I’ve never seen before, though, and released two separate mixes of the same album – a “dark” mix and a “bright” mix. Don’t be fooled by the labels though. The Dark Mix is not particularly sonically dark, in my opinion. They are instead just two separate mixes by two mix engineers with different styles. As a mix engineer myself, I found it interesting to compare the mixes side by side as I went through this, and to hear what differences were and what I liked about each. Personally, I tended to prefer the dark mixes myself, but not always (not with every song), and both versions were excellent.
The music itself is also good, but I will admit there are tracks I skip at times. Peter is not known, though, for making catchy melodic hooks. Rather, it’s his overall compositional style and his openness to experimentation that make him so famous. So, I would never expect a Peter Gabriel album to be catchy/melodic from start to finish. Rather, his albums tend to take you on a journey, and you need to be willing to listen not just for the "ear worms," but, rather, for the greater compositional integrity of Gabriel's work. My favorite track on this is "So Much," and I prefer the instrumentation on the Bright Mix, but the vocal is better on the Dark Mix.
(p.s. though this album isn’t from the 70s, Peter Gabriel was a major part of late 60s and early 70s Genesis, and so is still, to me, a “70s songwriter,” and thus fits best in this category).
CLASSICAL
Edvard Grieg – Lyric Pieces & Peer Gynt Suites 1 and 2
This Einstein-looking dude is Edvard Grieg. Most will know him best for his Morning Mood or for In the Hall of the Mountain King. Even if you don’t know those pieces are by Grieg, you will recognize both of them the second you hear them, and likely from the first notes. Those are both from his Peer Gynt Suite 1, but the 2nd Suite is also pretty amazing. Both were written as supporting music for a classic Norwegian Play written in 1867 by Henrik Ibsen, and called by the same name, the titular character Peer Gynt.
I also love Grieg’s Lyric Pieces (for piano) and these pieces have taken up the bulk of my piano work this year, learning several. I’m still not a great classical pianist, so I won’t be dazzling anyone anytime soon with a concert of Grieg’s work, but I find his compositions be really intuitive to my ear and quite pleasing to play. I’ll get there some day, with practice.
Brahms – Hungarian Dance No. 4 (1869)
And this serious-looking Santa is Johannes Brahms. Brahms made a lot of really great music, but his Hungarian Dance No. 5 is probably the most recognizable to most of the public. Again, even someone without musical training would recognize it pretty quickly, even if they don’t know what it’s called. However, I actually prefer his Hungarian Dance No. 4. The Hungarian Dances were originally published as piano duets (so, for four hands). There are versions (by Brahms) that are technically playable by a single pianist, but they are extremely advanced pieces. I have them, but won’t be attempting them for quite some time.I also like Brahm’s Waltzes (which are a little more playable – I’m getting pretty close on (a slowed down version of) Waltz no. 1 after about a month of working on it). I also recommend his Symphony No. 4.
POP
Marianas Trench – Haven
Most people that know me know I’m not a big fan of modern pop music. For me, a lot modern pop is often too algorithmic and lacks musical creativity. However, there are still some pop artists who catch and keep my attention. Having long been my favorite pop group, Josh Ramsay and Marianas Trench released Haven this year. The album stays true to the sound Trenchers have come to expect from the group, which is soaring, catchy pop with lots of production and like a gazillion vocal layers from Josh. Every Marianas Trench album is pretty much what you get if took the brilliance of Queen and added the uber-produced bright poppiness of “Call Me Maybe” (Josh Produced that song for Carly Rae Jepsen, and really made it what it is). As always, Josh shows off his enormous range too. For me, the latter half of the album is the stronger section. But overall, this is genuinely good pop music. Marianas Trench’s biggest strength has been in their ability to craft a thematically and musically cohesive pop album. Their albums are often concept albums and are like listening to a pop opera. You can also hear repeated themes across albums, adding to the overall cohesions of Josh’s (the principal songwriter) music.
Comments