B&V’s Best of 2024, Pt 2 – The Best New LPs Of The Year

I hope everybody had a happy Xmas out there. The Rock Chick certainly outdid herself this year. It was quite a superb party. Sadly, our daughter didn’t make it home this year – a first – but we augmented this year’s party lineup with a couple of my oldest and dearest friends, Doug and RJ. Throw in my favorite Aunt and Uncle and it made for quite a special day… but enough about Xmas.

Now we turn the page to wrapping up 2024. I’ve already started the process last week when I posted Pt. 1 of my year end wrap up, with our list of the favorite re-releases/vault stuff/live albums from the year that was. I think we all have a moment of reflection at the end of year, or the beginning of another. Never is that sense of “time is passing” stronger than around New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day. We reflect on what we accomplished and what we hope to accomplish in the coming year.

Along those lines, as I sat reflecting on 2024 – and I certainly hope this doesn’t come across like one of those odious “family newsletters” that people seem to feel compelled to stick in their Xmas cards (“We traveled to 4 continents this year, little Jimmy won an award for playing trombone, etc”) – but I saw some pretty amazing concerts this year. For those of you decrying that “rock is dead,” I can testify it’s alive and well on concert stages. I started off the concert year seeing Adam Ant (who both surprised me and blew me away), followed by (at various venues) Cage The Elephant, 311, Mike Campbell & the Dirty Knobs, and the Struts. I had to travel to Denver to catch the Stones on the Hackney Diamonds tour and Chicago with my good friend RK to see Pearl Jam at Wrigley Field… both of those shows will go down as being very special to me. I know it’s expensive sometimes, but my mantra of “buy the ticket, see the show” remains in place.

When it comes to older artists putting out new music – which we stated in our Mission Statement those were the artists we wanted to focus on – it was a great year for rock n roll. For long time readers, you might know I’m fond of quoting Don Henley who once sang, “It was a pretty good year for fashion, a lousy year for rock n roll.” I’ve used that line to sum several of my year end recaps where the music was a little disappointing. Not so this year. We had several artists who returned after long, long absences (the Cure, David Gilmour and the Black Crowes) with great albums. We also had several artists who put albums that were truly a “return to form” or dare I say, great comeback albums.

Before we get to the albums I need to acknowledge some of the artists who put out great singles this year. It’s starting to feel like the 70s again with groups putting out singles without dropping an album behind it. I’m okay with that as long as the songs are of the same caliber that we heard this year. Sting returned to rocking form with “I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart).” Billy Joel released his first new song in decades with “Turn The Lights Back On.” Soul legend Al Green covered R.E.M. (“Everybody Hurts”) and Stevie Nicks released the most rousing protest song we’ve heard in a long time (“The Lighthouse”). Honorable mention must go out to the Cult who put out an EP celebrating their 40th anniversary, Death Cult 8323, which was actually released last December but I missed it. 

I tried to narrow this down to 10 albums but I could only winnow it down to 11… My friend the Jean Genie’s husband always tells me my posts are a bit long, so please know Mike, I tried to shorten the list but the rock n roll was just too good this year. Here is our list of the best new albums of 2024 with a link (on the album title) to our original review.

• Green Day, Savior – After shitting the bed on Father Of All Motherfuckers, Green Day returned to their punk roots and deliver a great slab of rocking tunes. “Coma Girl” might be my favorite.
• Liam Gallagher & John Squire, Liam Gallagher & John Squire – After a couple of albums that missed the mark for me, Liam Gallagher unites with the Stone Rose’s erstwhile guitarist John Squire for one of my favorite albums from Gallagher ever. “Just Another Rainbow” is worth the price of admission.
• Black Crowes, Happiness Bastards – The Brothers Robinson bury the hatchet and reform one of my favorite bands, the Black Crowes. This album harkens back to their classic early sound. Great, rootsy rock n roll.
• Black Keys, Ohio Players – There were a few stumbles into Hip Hop, but over all this was a fun album. The band collaborated with B&V favorite Beck for a number of the tunes here and his presence boosts everything. And yes, “Beautiful People Stay High.”
• Pearl Jam, Dark Matter – Andrew Watt produced this gem of an album for Eddie Vedder & the gang. Best Pearl Jam album since…
• Slash, Orgy Of The Damned – I love that Slash is a fan of the blues. This album – with various lead vocalists taking a turn at the mic – felt like one of those fun afternoon blues jams at B.B.’s Lawnside BBQ that I used to hang out at.
• Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs, Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits – Mike Campbell’s new band’s third album did not disappoint. Great concert too.
• David Gilmour, Luck And Strange – I liked this album when I wrote the review, but like last year’s Memento Mori from Depeche Mode, this one has only grown on me over time.
• Jack White, No Name – Jack White pushes away the experimentalism of his last few albums and returns to that ferocious blues punk he created in the White Stripes. I’m seeing Jack next April and I can hardly wait.
• Smashing Pumpkins, Aghori Mhori Mei – Founding guitarist James Iha has been back in the band for several albums now, but they finally plugged in his guitar on this album. Great return to form. Billy Corgan finally submits to the rock n roll and gone are the synth washed, gauzy tunes he’s been doing lately.
• The Cure, Songs Of A Lost World – This album might be the album of the year for me. I was blown away by how great this album is…I’ve been wearing the grooves off my vinyl copy. Everyone should have this record.

That’s our list of great new albums from older artists from the year that was 2024. It gives me hope we’ll get some great new stuff in 2024. I know in January alone we’ll get a new record from Eric Clapton and Ringo… although admittedly I own exactly zero Ringo but I’ll definitely be checking out his new LP. 2025 could be a pretty grim and terrible year, but rest assured, I’ll still be out there somewhere in the darkness with my ear pressed firmly to the ground to alert you of any great rock n roll that comes our way to get us through the tunnel and out to the other side. 

Take care of each other out there. Have a safe and happy New Year’s. I’ve always considered New Year’s Eve to be amateur night… and I was a huge fan of St. Patrick’s Day for a long time so that says something. No drunk driving folks. Arrive alive.

Happy New Year & Cheers! “Until the next time we say goodbye…”