The Top 15 Albums of 2016

2017 is upon us! Well that only took way too freakin’ long. Little elaboration is necessary to explain that 2016 was an abysmal year, unless you’re a neo-Nazi or a subterranean critter feasting away in a Hollywood cemetery. I wonder how long it will be before college students can take “2016” as an entire course in political science, history, or sociology. My guess is by 2050, assuming we’re all still around for it.

It was also a brutal 12 month stretch for me personally. I resigned to moving back in with my parents, continued to fail in the job search, and dealt with some turbulence in the stormy realm between my ears.

But the silver lining of 2016 was easily the omnipresent distraction culture, entertainment available at our fingertips whenever we want it at little to no financial burden. I surmise it will ultimately prove to be either the undoing or salvation of the powerless masses as we descend into a Phillip K. Dick-esque dystopia. What I’m trying to say is: music is good; and no matter how much the literal and metaphorical world crumbles around us, it will always be there. Along with pro wrestling and Game of Thrones, music provided a lot of solace for me in 2016, proving capable of yanking me out of the most constrictive feelings of entropy.

The good news is more music is being made than ever before, a trend that will continue in years to come. And thanks to Spotify, Bandcamp, Soundcloud and whatever app will soon arrive to drive my data bill up the wall, it’s easier than ever to discover and appreciate practically everything on the market.

I was originally going to write a traditional Top 10, but the sheer quantity of quality music this year made it seem a too-narrow testament, so I’m expanding it to 15. Here are, based on my personal tastes, the 2016 albums most worthy of your time and attention.

9 Classic Rock Radio Staples That Will Never Wear Out

Photo: 8Tracks

Before the onslaught of MP3 players, Pandora, Spotify and other streaming services revolutionized how we listen to music on the go, for many-a-year the FM dial had a monopoly over car speakers.

Well, there is also the CD player. But in my case, growing up as a passenger in my Dad’s Miata, it was rendered irrelevant after Bob Dylan’s “Desire” became permanently stuck in it. It still got spun from time to time.

My old man, like the parents of many millennials, grew up in what they, and Rolling Stone magazine, consider the greatest era for rock music, and practically refuse to acknowledge any record released after 1987 (hair metal onward).

Growing up in Connecticut, the station that we most often turned to was 102.1 – Springfield’s Classic Rock. For about 15 years it was my Dad’s personal favorite and its playlist groomed much of my personal tastes.

Vinyl: The Most Impractical and Rewarding Way To Listen To Music

Photo: Wikipedia

“I don’t get it,” my Dad told me as I unwrapped his graduation present, an ION Pure Audio Record Player. A gift that had been sitting atop my wish list for over a year. “Enjoy the pops and crackles,” he said as I thanked him.

He had grown up in the golden age of vinyl in the ’60s and ’70s and happily upgraded to CDs when they came along, and now his CD collection is only used when it’s contents needs to be uploaded onto a hard drive.

He warned me that the vinyl comeback is just a marketing craze. The notion that vinyl produces a warmer, less compressed sound may be true scientifically, but the difference isn’t substantial. The issues that have always plagued vinyl records; their tendency to deteriorate over time and use, the extreme care that one must employ when using and storing them, remain unabated.