And here we are, our favourite 20 albums of the year. Are you ready? Have you spotted any albums that you’ve noticed are absent yet that you’re expecting to see here? lol, no, no Taylor Swift, behave. Let’s see who gets the coveted top spots, shall we!
20 – Shotgun Mistress: Kings of the Revolution
These groovin’ hard rock Australians put out one of the best sophomore albums ever back in June. The guitaring throughout boarders on Pantera levels of talent and playing, yet the vocals firmly ground it into the sleazy, hard rock/NWOCR sound. There are a few on this list deserving of the title, but I’mma officially crown these guys the most underrated band of the 100 on here. It’s crazy to me that music this good is only being listened to by a couple of thousand people monthly. They give off vibes of everyone from The Treatment to Massive, but with so much more foot-stomping and swagger. It got a 9/10 from us, but after several full listens over the last few months it definitely deserves higher than that! They could be one of the biggest bands in the scene easily, and it’s not hard to hear why they made it this high on our list!
Listen to: Sweet Woman, Jude Judas and Mary Jane
19 – Erin Kinsey: Gettin’ Away With It
This country album bucks trends in more ways than one. Not only is it a bit rocky for something that still feels like a country-pop record, but it’s also only eight songs and 24-minutes long. And, it’s fucking awesome. It’s very much all killer, no filler, which seems hard to do on a country album these days. It’s the best parts of early Taylor Swift and modern country rock, and I still can’t get enough of it nearly three months later! I gave it a whopping 9.5/10 in my review back in October and I fully stand by that still now. I’ve listened through it all again as I’ve been writing this up and fell in love with it all over again. It definitely deserves this high up on our list, and it’s yet another fantastic sophomore album. She’s going to be a huge name sooner rather than later!
Listen to: I Ain’t Crazy, Tabs on Me and Gettin’ Away With It
18 – Solitary: Embrace the Darkness
The UK thrash metal titans returned with their first album in four years back in September, and I absolutely LOVED it. I remember checking their previous album at my last company and enjoying that, but this release builds on all the great stuff from that, crafting something truly special with this album. It’s only half an hour long, but is so much all-killer-no-filler it’s crazy. It’s certainly not for everyone, but if you are into this sort of style, there is little better from 2024 (maybe one, more on that later…). This entry is short and sweet just like my review was, and the album itself. I gave it a 9.5/10 back then and, after multiple other listens, I fully stand by that now. It’s an excellent metal album and more than deserving of this spot on the list!
Listen to: Embrace the Darkness, Virtues and Bury it Now
17 – Zach Bryan: The Great American Bar Scene
While not quite as high as his 2023 album reached on these lists, this is still an absolutely fantastic release. I mean heck, if you aren’t immediately won over by the beautiful, bittersweet poem that opens this, I don’t even know what to tell you! Then you have an hours worth of beautiful country-Americana music to follow it, packed full of so many incredible tracks! Zach Bryan’s almost unmatched as a lyric writer these days, and they fit his emotion-filled instrumentation perfectly. He is an absolutely phenomenal songwriter who’s put out yet another long, stunning collection of bangers. And it somehow also gets better with time, too. I’ve listened to it a lot over the last six months, and I’ve fallen in love with it at least three times over! The only two things holding this back from higher up is that 2024 was such a solid year for new music, and that the self-titled release was slightly better. But still, it got a 9.5/10 from us, and certainly earned its spot on the list!
Listen to: American Nights, The Way Back and Towers
16 – Massive Wagons: Earth to Grace
The NWOCR legends returned with their seventh studio album back in November, and blew just about everyone away! As much as I love the guys, especially live, it’s no secret that I’ve never quite ‘got’ Wagons, as I said in my review, but with this album I finally do. It’s filled to the brim with bangers; 44-minutes of punky, hard rock greatness. There’s a reason it charted and has packed out venues across the country and continent, it’s a really excellent release, and represents the genre perfectly. It’s certainly my favourite album the band have ever put out and I’ve listened to it so much since its release. It got a 9/10 from us, but I’d say it might even be worth an extra .5 after two months of sitting on it. I’m so glad they’ve made it onto this list, and more than deserved this slot!
Listen to: Missing on TV, The Good Die Young and Rabbit Hole
15 – Stank Finger: Three Finger Discount
As usual, this list doesn’t have nearly enough ska/skate punk, but I absolutely loved this album and I’m so glad I got to rate it so high! It’s the music I grew up around and it’s done so well, while also having a little more grit than a lot of those 90s bands which was also a nice touch. This is just a good time listen; it’s surely impossible not to have a smile on your face for the entire 42-minute runtime. It’s certainly not for everyone, but if you are into punk at all, especially from the mid 90s to mid 2000s, you’ll be as obsessed with this as I am! We gave it 9/10, and it’s definitely that or higher. I’ve listened to it so far in the almost 12 months that it’s been out now, and it’s just as good now as it was on that first listen. They’re another band that could be massive, and I can’t wait to hear where they go from here!
Listen to: DMTNT, Radio and Help Yourself
14 – Fit For an Autopsy: The Nothing That Is
This is deathcore at its very best. Not content to put out just one banger in Oh What the Future Holds just two years ago, they go and somehow top it again with this follow-up. I’ve already gushed over it plenty in my review when it was released, but I’m more than happy to do it again here. Everything about it, from the rigging to the drumming to the BRUTAL screams and breakdowns, are perfect. It’s certainly not for everyone, but if you are a fan of the heavy stuff and this has somehow gone under your radar, it’s well worth checking out; you’ll love it just as much as I do! I have a solid 90% of this on my personal playlist and I’ve listened to the whole thing multiple times through since it’s release in October. I feel like it’s somehow a touch underrated, but I gave it a solid 9.5/10, and it may even deserve higher than that! This album has made me a huge fan of this hand, and it more than deserves this spot on this list!
Listen to: Spoils of the Horde, Red Horizon and Lower Purpose
13 – Bridge City Sinners: In the Age of Doubt
This dark folk/swing/blues/spooky banjo time trailblazer put out their best album back in July, and it’s easily one of the best albums of the year, hence why it’s placed this high on our list! It’s 35-minutes of perfect neo-traditional, punk-energised folk music that flows phenomenally well, demanding plenty of full listens. There are so many incredible tracks spread throughout, but there really isn’t a bad song on it! The fact that they can put out an album of this insanely high quality without a drummer is damn impressive, but the instrumentation is so well written and performed you barely notice. And then you have Libby’s absolutely incredible vocals; whether it’s her cursive voice or shockingly brilliant screams. And the lyrics… *chef’s kiss*, so much of it is bittersweet and beautifully written. Even on a packed release week it got top marks from us, and it more than deserves its high spot on this list! I’d recommend it to anyone!
Listen to: Doubt, Crazy and Sinner’s Saloon
12 – The New Roses: Attracted to Danger
Anyone who knew that a New Roses album came out this year knew that it would be on this list somewhere! While not quite as high as their last release, that’s far from indicative of the quality of this album, just a reflection of how amazing 2024 was for new music. This is an awesome sleaze/hard rock album from front to back, and is packed full of highlights in their discography that was already packed full of them! As I said in my review, I loved this from the moment I heard it, and hearing some of it live only made me even more into it! From the riffing to the catchy vocals, it’s another incredibly fun listen from one of the most underrated bands currently around. I’ve gushed over this band so much on this site so I’m sure you’re used to it by now. However, it’s a fantastic rock album that I’d recommend to anyone, and is more than deserving its high spot on this list! There’s a reason it got a 9.5/10 from me!
Listen to: Natural Born Vagabonds, Four Wheels and Whiskey in the Backseat
11 – Wyatt Flores: Welcome to the Plains (And Half Life)
One half of another one-two punch now of similar artists, and another that was so hard to decide which to put over the other. However, I also kinda cheated with this entry, it being a wildcard double release! While Wyatt’s debut album, Welcome to the Plains, is utterly incredible and deserving of this spot on this list alone, the eight-track, nearly half-hour Half Life release from April is arguably even better, and I feel counts as an album despite it being billed as an EP. So, while this entry is for Plains, the whole 90+ minutes of music that Wyatt released this year is all incredible, and all deserving of this spot on the list! There’s a reason why both releases got 9.5/10 and 10/10, respectively. He’s one of the most interesting writers in country music today, blending an old school Roots style and indie edge to it all. There are plenty of incredible melodies and choruses throughout, and his lyric writing is phenomenal. I cannot recommend this album enough to anyone into this sort of style of music, it more than deserves this spot on here.
Listen to: Welcome to the Planes, Don’t Wanna Say Goodnight and Wish I Could Stay
10 – Evan Honer: Fighting For
The second of the folk/indie/country offerings in a row is the sophomore release of this insanely fast rising star of the genre. And it still has Wyatt as a guest on one of the album’s huge highlights, so he’s technically in both slots! Whether it’s feeling personally attacked by the tracks mentioned below or just emotionally impacted by the rest of the songs, Evan’s lyric-writing blows me away even still now, months after hearing it all for the first time. Heck, I’ve listened through it a lot since June and it still brings me to tears at times. And add to that his simple yet well crafted and mixed instrumentation behind it, and it really is something special. It’s almost impossible to think this was recorded by his friends in a tiny local studio and released independently, but it’s a true testament to the talents of everyone involved. And it was clearly the right call to turn down all those huge major label offers! It’s also about the only long album that I have listened through multiple times from this year, a very easy to digest 56-minutes, so that should say it all really! Every track in that time is incredible, too! It’s even more impressive that it came just a year after his debut, too. But I’ve gushed about this album enough here, don’t you think? If you wanna read more of it, check out our 10/10 review. Yeah, this easily makes it this high.
Listen to: Nowhere Fast, Take me As I Come and idk shit about cars
9 – Alpha Wolf: Half Living Things
I’d always been a vague fan of the metalcore band, but by God did this album win me round into a big fan of theirs. The nu-metal infused metalcore Aussies returned with their best album to date with their third album back in April. It got a huge 9.5/10 from us in our review, and it’s very easy to hear why! It’s 40-minutes of attitude/swagger dripping heaviness, and I love it a lot. There isn’t a bad track on it, and a few I still have stuck in my playlist all these months later. It’s right up my street in terms of heaviness, and I cannot recommend it enough to anyone into the quirkier side of metal. And it has ICE-T on this thing, so of course it’s amazing! It more than earned this high slot on our list, and I can only see them going up from here in the future!
Listen to: Double-Edge Demise, Sucks 2 Suck and Mangekyō
8 – VOLA: Friend of a Phantom
This was even more excellent than I expected, and I went in with pretty high expectations. It’s modern prog-metal awesomeness, with a fantastic dose of pop and synth added in for good measure. I’ve seen nothing but great things about this album, even from not-typically-metalheads, and it’s very easy to see why. The riffing is incredible throughout, as is the rest of the instrumentation, while Asger has one of the most interesting and versatile vocals in the game right now. It somehow combines so many different sounds and styles together, while feeling wholly fresh and unique. We gave it top marks in our review, and I fully stand by that after sitting on it for a couple of months. It’s a masterclass in writing almost every style of modern metal, and it was an easy pick for this high up the list!
Listen to: Cannibal, Break my Lying Tongue and Bleed Out
7 – Elvie Shane: Damascus
I loved this album when it released way back in April, and yet it has somehow grown on me more and more throughout the year. I ADORE this album. The combination of styles, from country to hip-hop influences to rock to pop, all of it works so well, and it has gone into crafting 13 absolutely incredible tracks, not one being bad. It’s certainly not gonna be for everyone, but I love it a lot, and it deserves even higher than the 9/10 I gave it back in my review. It’s got a bit of that Kid Rock thing going on, yet modernised and far better than he ever did it. From ballad to food-stomping rocker to more quirky stuff, it has a bit of everything, and all is done perfectly. Even if you’re not into any of that, I’d recommend checking this out, it very well might surprise you like it did me! It’s kept creeping higher and higher with every listen all year, so certainly deserves this spot!
Listen to: Forgotten Man, Appalachian Alchemy and First Place
6 – Return to Dust: Self-Titled
Honestly, this album could have gotten this spot on the opening track alone. The fact that we have Jerry Cantrell on this list and a different grunge-infused album above it is insane, but it’s a true testament to just how fantastic this album is. This is a masterclass of powerful, fuzzy hard rock music, and even the lighter tracks have so much weight and swagger to them. It’s a real powerhouse of a release, 11 tracks across 35-minutes of sheer awesomeness. I’ve been obsessed with it since its first release back in May, and the fact that this is a debut release is absolutely mind-blowing. I gave it 9.5/10, but already predicted in my review that I would indeed up it, as this is easily another top marks album! The band have such a huge future ahead of them, and it really feels like they’re going to lead the charge into a new wave of grunge music!
Listen to: Black Road, Cellophane and Face Down
5 – Chris Young: Young Love & Saturday Nights
Listen to: It’s All Gone, Once Upon a Time at a Texaco Pt. 1 and Cannibal Within
Honestly, I believe this is the most criminally underrated album of 2024. I run in a lot of country crowds these days, and when the ‘album of the year’ discussion came up, I didn’t see a single person saying this album. It’s insane too, because it’s so good. I may be a tad bias as he’s one of the names, alongside the likes of Cadillac Three and Brothers Osborne, that got me into country music years ago, but even without that, this is a FANTASTIC country release. It’s packed full of so many highlights, all of them being up there with some of Chris’ top songs. And yes, it’s another long-ass country release, and a good portion of it is slower, but the highs vastly outweigh anything slightly lower. My only slight issue with it is that it does feel a tad front-loaded, but all of it is still great, the early stuff is just amazing. We gave it a very easy 9.5/10 in our review, and it’s been one of my most listened to albums of the year for a reason. It very much deserves this spot on this list!
Listen to: Looking For You, Young Love and Saturday Nights and Double Down
4 – Thrasherwolf: Inside the Sickened Mind
I did tell you there’s more thrash on this list, and what an album it is to represent the genre in 2024! It’s 44-minutes of heavy metal perfection that got a solid 10/10 from us back in October. It was so hard to pick highlight tracks for below as they are all just as good as each other, and it just cries out for a full listen-through every time. There’s some variety too, adding as much from Metallica and Slayer’s slower, heavy stuff as it lends from balls-to-the-wall Kreator. I’ve loved this band for a few years now, but to hear them put out something so incredible is really amazing, and the sky is very much the limit for them now. If you are into the heavier end of metal in any way, check this out, you certainly won’t be disappointed. It holds up after multiple listens, and was another easy choice for this high up our list!
G.B.H, Shameless Loser and Inside the Sickened Mind
3 – Amigo the Devil: Yours Until the War is Over
Two words: ‘Cannibal Within’. It’s bittersweet how much that song resonates with me, but it is by far not the only good track on the album. Other live staples like ‘It’s All Gone’ and ‘Once Upon a Time at Texaco Pt. 1’ are fantastic, but honestly every track on this album is incredible. I’ve gotten very into spooky banjo time this year , and this is the very antithesis of that vibe and sound, and utterly phenomenal. I know Amigo’s previous three albums seem more popular, but I adore this release, and have done since it came out in February. From the instrumentation to Danny’s powerful vocals and borderline-psychotic delivery to the absolutely incredible lyrics, it all fits together perfectly to make 45-minutes of dark bliss. It of course got 10/10 from us, and it very much deserves it! It’s been in this same spot on this list since it was released, and it’s so very deserving. Maybe my band of the year!
2 – Blacktop Mojo: Pollen
This release really came out of nowhere for me. I’d been familiar with the band name and a couple of songs before I checked this out for New Music Mondays, but my god did this make me a huge new fan of the band. Since its release back in April, it has been in more-than-regular rotation for me. It’s 11 surprisingly varied tracks across an amazing 40-minutes of awesome hard rock music! From sleaze to country to grunge, it’s all done to perfection. It’s another criminally underrated album in the mainstream and even in streaming numbers, but it more than deserves this slot on our list. It’s right up my street in terms of sound (all of them) and I cannot wait to see as much of it as possible at their UK tour in March! I cannot recommend this album enough to anyone at all reading this; regardless of what you’re into check this out! We gave it a perfect 10/10, and I’d urge you to check it out and try and tell us we’re wrong!
Listen to: Weary I Roam, Red Enough and As the Light Fades
1 – Florence Black: BED OF NAILS
And here we have it, folks, our favourite album of 2024. It’s been in this position since the start of February, and has held back every other challenger throughout. Bit really, is it any surprise? It’s a phenomenal album that really proves that a ‘difficult second album’ can be a major fallacy. Don’t get me wrong, I love WEIGHT OF THE WORLD, but this ups the game in every single way. All three of them play their hearts out throughout, and my long lost doppelganger Tristin’s vocals are incredible, powerful, soaring and even the odd growl.
But what sets it apart is the sheer brilliance and level of songwriting involved. I don’t want to say it gets better and better, as the early songs are amazing, but it’s rare to have an album stay this strong throughout. There truly isn’t a bad song on here. And the variety is amazing. From heavy rock bangers like the title track to a more stomping, old-school style with ‘LOOK UP’, to the dark ballad of ‘WARNING SIGN’ and even touching on straight up Creed with the closer, it’s constantly entertaining and interesting throughout.
The band have really outdone themselves with this album, and have proved that they are going to be major players sooner rather than later. I still spin the full thing regularly 10 months later, which is rare when I have so much else to listen to. If you haven’t already checked our this album, even with the amount I’ve gushed about it all these months, please do so, you will not be disappointed. It got our first 10/10 of the year, and is fully deserving of that honour, and this one!
Listen to: BED OF NAILS, LOOK UP and WARNING SIGN