2020 may have sucked, but the music didn’t. This year I bought and reviewed more new releases than ever before, which I narrowed down to the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten studio albums of 2020 listed below.
I would like to dedicate this list to my good pal Uncle Meat who originated the concept of a “Nigen Tufnel Top Ten” earlier this year. It has become our thing.
BEST ALBUMS OF 2020
10. Mr. Bungle – The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo
8. Kim Mitchel – The Big Fantasize
6. Stryper – Even the Devil Believes
5. Harem Scarem – Change the World
4. Dennis DeYoung – 26 East Vol 1
Storm Force’s debut album goes straight to #1 on their very first appearance! No surprise here. I’ve been raving about this disc since February and I owe it to Superdekes for putting these guys on my radar in the first place. This is a well-deserved #1. Age of Fear is an uplifting album with depth. It’s a thoughtful, heart-pounding blast of classic hard rock.
Deep Purple’s Whoosh! and AC/DC’s PWRUP prove two things: old dogs that both learn and don’t learn new tricks can all be champions. (I call this theory “Schrödinger’s Dog”.) Deep Purple’s growth continues while AC/DC managed to tap into the vein of success that always worked for them. Both records deserve their spots in the Top 3.
It was a thrill for me to learn that Dennis DeYoung both read and enjoyed my review of his newest album 26 East Vol 1. It’s a terrific, Styx-like conceptual work that will please the old fans. As will the new albums by Harem Scarem and Stryper, who didn’t stray far from their successful classic hard rock formulas. Kim Mitchell and Sven Gali on the other hand dared to be different. Kim went laid back and acoustic, while Sven Gali went with their heaviest uninhibited inclinations. As for Mr. Bungle, it has been 21 years since their last album California. All four Bungle studio albums are completely different from one another — four different genres. For The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny, they teamed up with Scott Ian and Dave Lombardo to re-record their first thrash metal demo tape. And it could be their best album since the self-titled debut in 1991. Not bad for a bunch of songs they wrote in highschool.
Corey “Mother Fuckin'” Taylor makes his debut on any list of mine with his solo album CMFT. It’s a surprising collection of commercial hard rockin’ tunes. Also appearing for the first time is Now Or Never (NoN) with their third album called III, featuring singer Steph Honde. It’s an excellent, dramatic metal album with light and shade.
BONUS LISTS
Most disappointing: Ozzy Osbourne – Ordinary Man
Song of the year: “LeBrain Train“ by T-Bone Erickson
Single of the Year: Mammoth WVH – “Distance”
Ultimately whether or not you liked the new Ozzy, its success or failure falls at the feet of producer/guitarist Andrew Watt. He is already working on the next Ozzy album, so….
Huge thanks to T-Bone Erickson for the “LeBrain Train” theme song, which amazingly and unexpectedly became the song of the year in 2020! Weird how that happened. No bias here I assure you.
Finally, Wolfgang Van Halen finally released his first solo music under the name Mammoth WVH. The non-album single “Distance” is dedicated to his late father Eddie. Though musically it’s a modern power ballad, the lyrics and especially the music video evoke serious emotion. Well done Wolfgang. Can’t wait to check out his album in 2021.
TOP FIVE LIVE OR COMPILATION ALBUMS IN 2020
3. Sloan – B Sides Win Vol. 1 1992-1997
2. Def Leppard – The Early Years 78-81
1. Iron Maiden – Nights of the Dead – Legacy of the Beast
There were a lot of cool rock releases in 2020, so we need more lists! Of course the brilliant new live Maiden deserved some loving attention. Meanwhile, Sloan, Def Leppard and Thin Lizzy have continued to put out quality collections of rarities & unreleased material, well worth the time and money you’ll spend on them. The Sloan collection is a vinyl exclusive and the first in a series of LPs re-releasing some of their B-sides and non-album and bonus tracks. Finally, Metallica delivered the goods even without Michael Kamen on S&M2, a very different live set than the first S&M. That’s the way to do it!
BEST LOCKDOWN SINGLE
5. Queen + Adam Lambert – “You Are the Champions”
3. Marillion – “Made Again 2020”
1. Alice Cooper – “Don’t Give Up”
A LOOK AHEAD AT 2021
It’s naive to assume that major touring and concerts will return in 2021. This appears highly optimistic at present, with Covid still ravaging the landscape and vaccinations only just beginning. Instead of looking ahead at things like the resuming Kiss tour, or the Motley Crue reunion, we should continue to put our faith in new music.
Accept have a new album due January 15 intriguingly titled Too Mean to Die. It is their first without bassist Peter Baltes. Steven Wilson has a new record out at the end of that month. In February we get new Foo Fighters, The Pretty Reckless, Willie Nelson and Alice Cooper. Greta Van Fleet, Weezer, Rob Zombie, Ringo Starr, and Thunder will be back soon too. Many other bands are writing and recording without an announced due date. Ghost, Marillion, Scorpions, Megadeth and even Ratt are hard at work to make next year suck a little less. Support the bands by buying the music.
Storm Force makes it’s second appearance on an end of year list, but not its last (an certainly not its last top either)
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Didn’t think it would be! Wonder if it’ll be at the top of anyone else’s list.
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Technically not, but from a certain point of view, yes. You won’t have to wait long.
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Nice list. A few albums on it which I haven’t heard as yet like Now or Never.
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Now Or Never features Ricky Marx, ex Pretty Maids guitarist, but I got it to them thanks to Steph Honde, he’s a really talented musician.
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Awesome list as usual Mike! Funny how you were disappointed with Ozzy and I loved it, but i think it had that love it / hate it feel to it. There was no in between. 2021 is going to be huge and on Friday you will see everything I have found that is rumored to come out or has a date set.
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Nice. Guns N’ Roses has been rumoured, FYI! But I wouldn’t count on it…
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I think I have that one on the list. If a lot of these happen, it should be a very good year.
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Are we getting stats of doom tomorrow?
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Not yet, I like to post those on New Year’s Day so that every last hit is counted. I still have one guest list to post plus tomorrow is the live show! A drop-in show where you are encouraged to come on for 10 minutes and give me any Nigel Tufnel Top Ten list of your choosing. If you can’t come on for 10 minutes I’ll read any list you submit.
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I might have a list. I’ll have to think about a way I can talk entirely about Blaze.
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An entire list about Blaze, that is.
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Agreed on the T-Bone tune – And nice to see Sloan make a cameo too!
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An excellent Sloan, too. Although I had most of the tracks thanks to my collection of Japanese imports, there were a number I didn’t have or wasn’t even aware of! Liner notes by the band are also excellent. It’s hilarious because Chris keeps asking Jay for the track details because Jay is the real archivist of the band.
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Ran into this really detailed article on that Queen live disc. Thought u might be interested in reading it:
https://welleyenever.com/2020/10/18/queen-at-50-reviews-live-around-the-world-with-adam-lambert/
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No way, Dennis DeYoung. Had no idea plus a few more I’ll need to check out. Good one!
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Solid lists! I have one more review to complete before mine can see the light of day.
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Good stuff man. Sven Gali and Steph Honde thats cool Purple as well. For some reason that Taylor guy bugs me lol but if you found gold in them in tracks I guess thats the main thing.
Don’t Give Up is a great Coop song.
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It’s interesting because John put Ozzy’s new album as #5 for top rock albums of 2020, so it’s cool seeing how everyone has different thoughts on it. Storm Force is #1 though, now I really need to check out that album. Compared to S&M, which is better? S&M or S&M2?
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Right on, great stuff! That CMFT shows up again, too… making me realize I oughta try it…
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