It's always interesting seeing the twists and turns that a Top 20 Countdown will take. Sometimes it's songs from bands I love, and sometimes it's an artist I don't care for from an album I didn't even like. It only takes one, right? I honestly haven't listened to a lot of Bad Omens in my life because I usually can't get too far into their songs, but the moment the chorus of this song hit, I knew I was in love. The lyrics hook me in and the passion in singer Noah Sebastian's voice resonates deep within me. The album landed at #2 on the US Heatseekers chart and #11 on the US Hard Rock chart as well.
Favorite Line: "I don't wanna know all your secrets cuz I'll tell - it's hard enough being alone with myself. I don't know how long I'll be holding on."
Last five #19s:
2021: Royal Blood - Typhoons 2020: The Broken Relics - Goodbye Tennessee 2019: Sigrid - Sucker Punch 2018: Rick Springfield - In The Land of the Blind 2017: The Head and The Heard - Rhythm & Blues
I wasn't a huge fan of Halestorm when they first came out - in fact, I felt like they were just going to be a flash in the pan. But they have steadily grown on me since their 2nd album dropped and Back From the Dead might be their best offering yet, with hits like "Strange Girl", "Back From the Dead" and "I Come First". The album landed at 36 in the US and #2 in the Hard Rock charts while hitting #9 in the UK. Lzzy Hale is a true rock queen, a warrior for women's rights and a mental health champion, and I admire the hell out of her. I wish more bands had a sound more like theirs these days, but at the end of the day this song just flat out rocks.
Favorite Line: "A choir's singing in my heart today, like a thousand angels breaking the silent parade. To the ones I call my own, I'm back where I belong."
Last five #20s:
2021: Grabbitz - Pigs in the Sky 2020: Seether - Dangerous 2019: Vampire Weekend - Harmony Hall 2018: Ghost - Dance Macabre 2017: Liam Gallagher - Wall of Glass
I almost started this post with something along the lines of "y'all, I screwed up last year", but let's be realistic: I did not screw up and I refuse to let a weird year define the legacy that is the Jester One Music Top 20 Countdown. I've been doing this for almost half of my life and I'm not stopping today, tomorrow or next week. Ready or not, here we go!
2022 marks the FOURTEENTH YEAR that I've been doing this. I've learned a lot along the way and I am excited as ever to do this again. We always start with the list from the year before, so let's take a look at that bad boy:
20. Grabbitz - Pigs in the Sky 19. Royal Blood - Typhoons 18. Daymare - Control 17. Porter Robinson - Look at the Sky 16. PEABOD - Love Everybody (ft Tedashii) 15. AFI - Begging for Trouble 14. beabadoobee - Last Day On Earth 13. The Dirty Nil - Blunt Force Concussion 12. Romy - Lifetime 11. The Birthday Massacre - The NeverEnding Story 10. Echo Image - Walk My Mind 9. Assemblage 23 - Factory 8. Manchester Orchestra - Bed Head 7. '68 - Bad Bite 6. Gang of Youngs - the angel of 8th ave. 5. Meryl Creep - Spiraling 4. A Tiger Made of Lightning - Little Birds 3. Acceptance - At the Edge of the Earth 2. The Struts - Another Hit of Showmanship (ft Albert Hammond Jr) 1. Teenage Wrist - Taste of Gasoline
You know what? For as rough as 2020 was, 2021 was a really good rebound year. More than half of these songs are still in my daily Rockman rotation, and I'm pretty sure at least 2 of them will be in my "Most Played" year end list as well. Contrast that to 2020 where most of the Top 20 was burned out of rotation by the end of the year. Plus we had multiple local bands in the top 5 and a plethora of genresto enjoy. I make no promises for 2022, except that locals will still be sprinkled in and (hopefully) there will be more songs that stay in the daily rotation for a good long while.
As usual, we start with the songs that almost made it. The songs here are simply in alphabetical order by artist.
Arcade Fire - The Lightning I, II Album: WE
Every year, there's a few songs that surprise the heck out of me, and this time around it's Arcade Fire with their magnificent new album WE. The album features four different songs broken up into Parts 1 and 2, and I felt it was worthwhile to put both parts of "The Lightning" here. If I had to break them up, Part 2 is the stronger of the two, but they go together so well.
Florence + The Machine - Free Album: Dance Fever
The only reason Florence didn't make the Countdown on her 4th consecutive album was because there were too many other great songs ahead of this one. "Free", "King", "Choreomania"... you name it. This album is flat-out incredible.
Justyfi - Betrayal Album: Betrayal single
I had never even heard of Columbus rapper Justyfi before he became the youth pastor at my church. As it turns out, he's pretty dang good, and he's released an EP and a full length album this year if you want to check out more of his flow. "Betrayal" just happened to be my favorite of his music from this year.
Ripe - Settling Album: Settling single
The first time I heard this song, I said to myself "oh great, another alt-rock band that sounds like every other one trying to make it on the radio these days". The second time I heard it, I said "wow, I can't get this song out of my head". Funny how things like that work out.
ZoneZero - Halo Album: Halo single
Another local addition to the Countdown, ZoneZero are currently recording their second EP and have gained a decent following around Ohio with their energetic live show and their sound that hearkens back to the nu-metal revolution of the early '00s.
Honorable Mention: Bad Wolves - Lifeline; Battle Beast - Russian Roulette; Bayside - Strangest Faces; beabadoobee - Talk; Maggie Rogers - Want Want; Mitski - The Only Heartbreaker; Power Quest - Bound for Glory; Rusty Shipp - Bottom of the Barrel; The Manatee Room - Expensive Taste; Zoo Trippin' - Any Way I Can Get It
