CMFT

Best of 2020 Part 5: Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Albums and More of 2020

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

11. Now or Never – III

10. Mr. Bungle – The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo

9. Sven Gali – 3 (EP)

8. Kim Mitchel – The Big Fantasize

7. Corey Taylor – CMFT

6. Stryper – Even the Devil Believes

5. Harem Scarem – Change the World

4. Dennis DeYoung – 26 East Vol 1

3. AC/DC – Power Up

2. Deep Purple – Whoosh!

1. Storm Force – Age of Fear

 

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

5. Metallica – S&M2

4. Thin Lizzy – Rock Legends

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”

4. Scorpions – “Sign of Hope”

3. Marillion – “Made Again 2020”

2. Marillion – “Easter 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.

 

 

 

 

 

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REVIEW: Corey Taylor – CMFT (2020 Japanese version)

COREY TAYLOR – CMFT (2020 Warner Japan)

I’ve never particularly cared for Slipknot and I don’t own any Stone Sour.  However I’ve been aware of Corey Taylor since 2014’s Dio tribute, and “Rainbow in the Dark”.  That side of Taylor landed right in my ballpark.  So did his solo single “Black Eyes Blue”.

“Why not spend some dollars and get his album, see what he’s up to?” I said to myself.

“Oh wait,” and a pause.  “I need to know if there are any bonus tracks so I can buy the most complete version,” replied my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  Some typing.  C-D-J-A-P-A-N into the search engine, a short wait and — confirmed.  “Black Eyes Blue”, acoustic bonus track.  In stock.

“It’s only money,” said the idiot in the middle of a pandemic.

A few weeks later, a Japanese CD of Corey Taylor’s solo debut CMFT , bejewelled wresting belt on the cover, had hit Canadian shores and was on its way to my post box.

The scene is set when the laser blasts aluminium.  A southern rockabilly vibe on “HWY 666” takes us on a heavy car trip in the forbidden zone.  This is what Nickelback was wishing they did with “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”.

The big single is in the welcoming second slot.  It’s hard to describe “Black Eyes Blue”, except that the beat swings in a danceable way while the chorus delivers big hooks.  Just like a classic Bon Jovi rocker, a guitar solo blasts out Sambora-like with a complimentary hook.  It’s all over but the crashing chords in just over three minutes.  Picture yourself on the highway going on at a good clip with the windows down, but the music blasting louder than the wind.  Classic in the making.

Taylor goes for a punky hard rock vibe on the next one, “Samantha’s Gone”, just a blast in a pickup truck on a dusty highway.  “We all got nothin’ to lose because the cash is gone,” goes the the thick chorus.  Some bright blasts of mean guitar melodicism keeps the hooks-a-flowin’ like booze.  It goes full-on punk rock with “Meine Lux”, but still in southern territory.  Filler perhaps; fortunately “Halfway Down” has a broader appeal.  It’s from the same Sonic Temple that the Cult built in 1989.  Straight-ahead hard rock with fat trimmed and bone-in.  

Corey opens and lets sentiment out on the sixth number, a dark exploration called “Silverfish”.  It’s a big ballad that sounds akin to some of the radio staples of the early 90s, but the surprising next twist is a splash of nice acoustic on “Kansas”.  This bright pop rocker recalls the big sounds of the Goo Doo Dolls on some of their biggest albums.  Clearly, Corey Taylor is dialled into the pop side of his music collection on this album.

Suddenly, like the car has hit the brakes to save a scared animal’s life, the tone changes and you’ve got whiplash.  “Culture Head” gets topical and aggressive.  It’s detuned and pissed off.   The speed picks up on a tangent with “Everybody Dies on My Birthday” which recalls the drum stylings of Matt Sorum.  The metal is strong with this one, as are the “We are!” singalong vocals.

The car you’re driving pulls into a diner on the roadside, and that’s “The Maria Fire”.  There’s a local band with a southern twang playing electric guitars.  Though the band is hot and the guitarist is smoking the fretboard, this is rough place and the tension feels like a fight could break at any moment.  Time to go “Home”.

“Home” is a beautiful piano piece, just Corey and keys.  The heartfelt tone and vocals could have been a perfect ending to the album here.  It’s one of those moments that maybe should be left as-is, and just walk away.  Instead we’re treated to the rap-rock closer “CMFT Must Be Stopped”.  Not my kind of thing, but I’m not Corey’s core audience and admittedly it’s fun to bop along to.  Listen for some cool percussion stuff in the background.  I’m oblivious to his guest rappers Tech N9ne and Kid Bookie; one of them has a very cool speed rap flow.  This is the point at which I roll up the windows of the car because I don’t wanna look like Michael Bolton in the movie Office Space.  This goes into a hardcore Anthrax-like thrash punk rocker “European Tour Bus Bathroom Song” which ends the album on an unnecessary jokey note.

It turns out that, though financially stupid, my choice of buying the Japanese version of the album was the correct one.  They end with the acoustic live version of “Black Eyes Blues”, a sparse version that leaves you feeling refreshed when the album’s over.

You know what lane I’m in musically, and where Corey Taylor comes from.  You can divine from this review whether you will like the album or not.  I think there’s a good chance that many of you would like most of it, but few would love it all.  Certainly not a bad investment since songs like “Black Eyes Blues”, “Samantha’s Gone”, “Everybody Dies on My Birthday” and “Home” have potential to stick around in your head for years.

4/5 stars