Depends on what you’re into. If you like music that’s not entirely cheerful last year was probably the greatest year in music with Black Sabbath, Nick Cave and Megadeth each giving us 2 albums (studio and live), and David Bowie, Rob Zombie, Suicidal Tendencies, Nine Inch Nails, Monster Magnet and Planet P Project all giving us new albums. Plenty of the classic rock guys are still making new music of extremely high quality over and above the ones on that list we had new Ian Anderson in 2012 and another one coming this year. In the younger crowd I generally look towards the metal scene and the Irish crowd, most of the metal guys did stuff last year. In the Irish land the big entries are Young Dubliners, Seven Nations, Flogging Mollies, and Dropkick Murphies; a lot of high energy high quality in that crowd.
Oh if we’re going non-secular contemporary rock, I will put 100% of my vote behind Alter Bridge. They’ve been around for most of the new millennium and formed from the remains of Creed after Scott Stapp went AWOL on them.
There’s not a single album or track that I can’t listen to on repeat, and their recent drop, “Fortress,” is absolutely stunning. Miles Kennedy’s voice is transcendent and intoxicating. Alter Bridge is a phenomenal rock band deserving of a listen.
Start with “Blackbird” for an amazing rock ballad, “Metalingus” for a sampling of the insanity that is Mark Tremonti, “Lover” off of their new album, or “Cry of Achilles” for a sampling of the dynamic range of their musical style, lyrics, and talent.
Wow. I had never noticed even when looking at their Wiki page that Planet P Project had a brand new album. Actually, I forgot that they had more than two albums. I have both the self-titled debut and it’s follow-up, Pink World. Great stuff, as I am a huge prog rock fan.