Love it or leave it, the studio ”album” lives on in an age of downloading, streaming and attention span deficiencies. And 2014 had enough nuggets to keep the trend going. Like last year, there was no shortage of decent new music to keep our ears tingling, so it wasn’t easy to get our list down to 10, but we dove in and did it. These are the 10 best Vintage Rock studio albums of 2014, for better or worse.
Pink Floyd ~ The Endless River
Just when you thought we’d heard the last of Pink Floyd, they show up with a “new” album. Certainly not “new” in the sense that the surviving members gathered together and consciously cut a whole new record. Rather it’s “new” in that it’s based around 20-year-old recordings that have been restructured where needed, sweetened and enhanced in sections to create a cohesive whole for the masses. This is certainly nothing that hasn’t been done before as we’ve seen “new” recordings from the Beatles, Elvis Presley and Jimi Hendrix brought to market in similar fashion. The timeless sheen of Pink Floyd’s music, however, fulfilled by David Gilmour and Nick Mason’s hands-on participation in giving the tracks a fresh and credible perspective is what makes The Endless River a meaningful and legitimate Pink Floyd album. Read more >
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers ~ Hypnotic Eye
Not that he’s trying, but Tom Petty can’t seem to make a bad record. Everything he’s done in the 21st century has held up to his work of the 20th century. Although it was widely panned, this particular writer thought 2002’s The Last DJ was one of Petty and the Heartbreakers’ most brilliant strokes. Four years later, Petty released his third solo album Highway Companion, which featured all the Heartbreakers (!) and was more of a throwback to basic rock and roll roots. Mojo, released in 2010, was more raw and grittier than either of its two predecessors, a hint that the band was hardly ready to rest and hang it up, despite talk in the rumor mill. Following the four-year cycle, here comes Hypnotic Eye, flush with stunning songs, exemplary playing and beautiful production. It’s crystal clear once and for all that Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers aren’t even close to cashing in their chips. Read more >
California Breed ~ California Breed
You would think after three relatively solid albums and a wickedly good live DVD with Black Country Communion that Glenn Hughes and Jason Bonham, the band’s slam dunkin’ rhythm section, would want to carry on with another guitarist similar in style and pedigree to the departed Joe Bonamassa. Not even close. Instead, they formed a power trio and christened it California Breed with a new, unknown 23-year-old guitarist named Andrew Watt. Combining influences that span three generations, the self-titled California Breed is a heavy amalgamation of Hughes’ soaring vocals, Bonham’s imitable finesse behind a drum kit and Watt’s intuitive, modern swagger on the guitar and songwriting abilities. Read more >
Rival Sons ~ Great Western Valkyrie
There’s a popular notion that “Classic Rock” is defined by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and other artists of the 1960s and 1970s. These bands represent the absolute pinnacle of “Classic Rock” and a lot of folks believe it’s been heading south ever since. Forty years later, and you’d think by now the next wave of rock and roll, or something like it, would have come rolling in. But what happens when the next wave is “Classic Rock”? Strange how a term once used to describe an era has now evolved into a genre. There have been those disparate, wayward young souls caught in the web of a throwback after hearing something from the fruitful days of “Classic Rock.” Who can forget the Black Crowes in the early 90s, whose stake in retro rock was both derivative and refreshing. Out of Australia, in the late 90s and into the 2000s, you got bands like Jet, the Vines and Wolfmother — each offering their own recycled rants with mixed results. It all sounded so good, but many of the bands became slaves to the form, leaving little wiggle room to expand and grow. This is what sets Rival Sons and their fourth album, Great Western Valkyrie, apart from their predecessors. Read more >
Ian Anderson ~ Homo Erraticus
Now that he’s firmly planted the Ian Anderson flag, the ever-prolific singer, flautist, songwriter and storyteller has followed up 2012’s Thick As A Brick 2 with an ambitious “Prog-Folk-Metal” conceptual piece called Homo Erraticus. Presented to Anderson by one Gerald Bostock, the main protagonist of Thick As A Brick, the story is based on an unpublished manuscript by amateur historian Ernest T. Parritt, who examines key events of British history with a string of prophecies that span the modern age and beyond, intertwined with a cast of personalities, each emerging from Parritt’s (or is it Bostock’s?) fertile imagination. Read more >
Flying Colors ~ Second Nature
When you look at the members of Flying Colors — guitarist Steve Morse (Deep Purple, Dixie Dregs, ex-Kansas), drummer Mike Portnoy (Transatlantic, Winery Dogs, ex-Dream Theater), Neal Morse (Transatlantic, Spock’s Beard), bass player Dave LaRue (Dixie Dregs, Steve Morse Band, Steve Vai) and singer, guitarist and songwriter Casey McPherson (Alpha Rev) — it’s hard to believe the band could be anything more than a one-off “project.” But the 2012 Flying Colors album and its subsequent 2013 tour were so good, a second round seemed in order. Or, in this case, Second Nature, the band’s sophomore hat into the ring. Read more >
Bernie Marsden ~ Shine
We have all, at one time or other, picked up a CD and halfway through the first track, smiled and said to ourselves, “This is pretty damned good.” The next thought, of course, is, “I just hope the other tracks are decent.” And so, once in a blue moon, there is that rare feeling of exuberance when you realize every track is just as good. That’s a rarity, especially in today’s music, but Shine, guitarist Bernie Marden’s solo outing for 2014, restores a lot of lost faith. Read more >
Bruce Springsteen ~ High Hopes
So do I have High Hopes for Bruce Springsteen’s 2014 record? New Jersey’s favorite son (sorry Bon Jovi and Sinatra) has released quite an interesting mix of songs for his 2014 studio album. We get covers, “re-imaginings” and lots of loud guitar. We have songs that were outtakes from earlier sessions, Tom Morello from Rage Against The Machine making his presence known beyond just standing in for Steve Van Zant on a recent tour, and even some playing from dearly departed ex-E Street Band members. The man himself says, “The best way to describe this record is that it’s a bit of an anomaly but not much. I don’t really work linearly like a lot of people do.” Read more >
David Crosby ~ Croz
It’s been two decades since the last David Crosby solo album, but not to worry. The rotund CSN&Y star has released Croz, an 11-song collection featuring not only his usual solo band regulars (one of whom is keyboardist and co-songwriter James Raymond, Crosby’s son), but also some high-powered guest musicians as well. It begins with “What’s Broken” with Mark Knopfler lending his considerable guitar leads to the mix. It’s a solid mid-tempo number that sees Crosby in good voice (one you’ll certainly recognize the second you hear it) and wonderful harmonies behind him on the choruses. Read more >
AC/DC ~ Rock or Bust
It’s been six years since Black Ice, AC/DC’s last studio album release. During that time, not much has really happened in the rock world. So, will anyone actually care about an aging hard rock band releasing new music? It’s a fair question, and I like to think they will. I could get on my soapbox and spout off about the current and sad state of affairs in the rock world, while living in the past, blasting a Foghat or Bad Company CD. Nothing currently interests me, unless it’s something by a seasoned rock act, and I know a lot of people feel that way. We know what we like and we know what we don’t like. AC/DC’s 2014 release, their 15th album, Rock or Bust, is what legions of rock fans want, even though it, for the most part, sounds the same. But we don’t care. Read more >
