Top 10 Albums of 2017

Top 10 Albums of 2017

Many years produce an album or two that scream year’s best album from the first listen. This was not that kind of year. In fact, picking a top album was tough since there wasn’t a lot to separate any of the albums I ranked in the top five and each has its minor flaws. There was, however, a good deal of depth to the albums of 2017. I basically had to split hairs to choose which 10 albums made honorable mention and the next five or so that just missed the cut. Here’s how I see the best albums from the past year.

1) The Rural Alberta Advantage: “The Wild” – This Canadian band has already earned their stripes – if not the level of awareness the group deserves — on three very good previous albums. Album number four, “The Wild,” is even better. On stellar songs like “Bad Luck Again,” “Beacon Hill,” the group balances grittiness, a little twang and a healthy dose of pop melody, creating songs that immediately demand attention. “Brother” and “White Lights” show a more acoustic, folkier, but no less fervent, side to the band’s sound. The Rural Alberta Advantage may not have the hip factor of Kendrick Lamar or Lorde, but “The Wild,” by a hair, is the best album I heard in 2017.

2) J.D. McPherson – “Undivided Heart & Soul” – A couple of years ago, I ranked McPherson’s second album, “Let The Good Times Roll,” at the top of my year-end list. This follow-up effort is just as good. Part of what made the previous album special was how McPherson took vintage rootsy music styles and made them sound fresh. With “Undivided Heart & Soul,” McPherson’s retro influences are still present, but less pronounced, and he’s developing more of his own sound. McPherson also rocks harder than before, particularly on the cool-grooving “Desperate Love” (one of the year’s best songs, period) and the fuzzed out “Lucky Penny.” There are plenty of other strong tunes on “Undivided Heart & Soul,” an album that with any luck should end McPherson’s days as one of rock’s best kept secrets.

3) U2: “Songs of Experience” – Some may consider “Songs of Experience” a sell-out album meant to recapture the mass audience U2 failed to reach with their adventurous previous three albums.  And “Songs of Experience” is nothing if not comfortable sounding. On new songs like “The Little Things That Give You Away,” U2 resurrects the epic sound of mid-tempo hits like “Mysterious Ways” or “Where The Streets Have No Name,” while the rocking sound of “You’re The Best Thing About Me” has the warmth of earlier tunes like “Beautiful Day” or “Pride (In the Name of Love).” Even the edgiest rocker, “Blackout,” doesn’t pursue the abrasiveness of “Achtung Baby” or “Zooropa” era material. But the songs on “Songs of Experience” are well crafted and have enough lyrical substance that there’s no faulting their accessibility. Besides, wasn’t the ability U2 shows to blend depth, relatability and beauty on “Songs of Experience” among the same qualities that made “The Joshua Tree” a classic, career-making album 30 years ago?

4) Khalid: “American Teen” — Brian Wilson once called his ill-fated “Smile” album a teen-age symphony to God. “American Teen” might be an R&B symphony to today’s teens about living in today’s world. Here, Khalid confronts the rush of love, the crush of heartbreak, issues with parents and the downsides to chasing current temptations. The kicker is Khalid knows how to write memorable vocal melodies and instrumental hooks, and isn’t half bad at setting a nicely chilled groove either. That’s reason enough to anticipate how good Khalid, 19, might become as he grows into adulthood.

5) Chris Stapleton: “From a Room Vol. 1”; “From a Room Vol. 2” – Apparently, many of the songs on this pair of albums date back a decade to Stapleton’s songwriting days. In fact, it’s hard to believe gems like “Second One to Know” (a soul-tinged bit of Southern rock), “Broken Halos” (one of several earthy country gems on this album) and “Scarecrow in the Garden” (an easy-going country rocker) got passed over by other artists. But they’re in good hands with their songwriter, Stapleton, who is looking like today’s best country artist.

6) Queens of the Stone Age: “Villains” – On the seventh album from this band, Josh Homme and crew continue to make some of the most distinctive and fresh hard rock music going. Homme just keeps finding new variations in the band’s sound that keep things entertaining. For instance, hear how the band locks into the bouncy beat and a barrage of hooks that make “The Way You Used To Do” as catchy a heavy rock song as you’ll hear. There’s much more where that came from, making “Villains” almost criminally good.

7) St. Vincent: “Masseduction” – Plenty of artists attempt to incorporate the EDM/synthetic sounds common in top 40 pop today into their music, often with awkward results. Annie Clark (St. Vincent) gets things right on “Masseduction.” This is not a forced marriage of sonics and songs for the sake of sounding current. For instance, the way Clark employs electronic blips and blaps on “Sugarboy” isn’t a gimmick. They enhance the propulsive nature of the song. And so it goes throughout “Masseduction,” which combines sharp songwriting with imaginative production to create one of the year’s smartest modern sounding pop albums.

8) Squeeze: “The Knowledge” – Back in the 1980s, Squeeze’s songwriters, Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford, were being called – with some justification — the new Lennon and McCartney. But since 1990, there have been lineup shifts, a breakup and several albums that went largely ignored. But the ambitious “The Knowledge” shows Tilbrook and Difford can still muster pop brilliance, with several songs (“Patchouli,” “AE” and “Two Forks”) that will spur memories of such Squeeze gems as “Tempted,” “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)” and “Some Fantastic Place.”

9) SZA: “Ctrl” – One of the most auspicious R&B albums of the year belonged to SZA, who landed Kendrick Lamar and Travis Scott for guest spots, but proved throughout “Ctrl” that she doesn’t need help to stand out musically. Songs like “The Weekend,” “Prom” and “Drew Barrymore” bring uncommonly striking silky melodies to the album. Meanwhile, the hip-hop-ish rhythms of “Doves in the Wind” (the tune that features Lamar), “Go Gina” and “Love Galore” (with Scott) give “Ctrl” a good deal of edge and groove. “Cntrl,” SZA’s first full-length effort, is up for five Grammys, and the guess is this won’t be the only time she earns these sort of accolades.

10) Lorde: “Melodrama” – Lorde’s second album captures a chaotic, emotionally swinging life being lived in the wake of a difficult breakup, all set to a synth-laden sound that’s both grand an intimate. One wishes the lyrics offered more insights into truths discovered or lessons learned from the breakup, but the visceral tales are entertaining and the music is engaging, with enough idiosyncrasies and edginess to keep it compelling.

Honorable mention: Vince Staples: “Big Fish Theory”; Kendrick Lamar: “DAMN”; Robert Plant: “Carry Fire”; Sam Smith: “The Thrill of it All”; Big Head Todd & The Monsters: “New World Arisin’”; Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit: “The Nashville Sound”; Beck: “Colors”; Margo Price: “All American Made”; The National: “Sleep Well Beast”; Brand New: “Science Fiction”