So what a year it has been, good or bad depending on your point of view. So in the tail end of 2021, I have changed my focus to trying to write more, as well as try and navigate the pandemic, so I have listened to a lot of albums this year.

So with the year almost up, here is my fav five albums of 2021, I hope you enjoy and let me know what is your faviourite album of 2021 in the comments below.

#5 Holding Absence - The Greatest Mistake of My Life

A well crafted and beautiful sounding album, produced by the amazing Dan Weller with his trademark wall of reverb. With an outstanding concept and emotional vocals and harmonies by Lucas Woodland, which was prevalent in songs like Afterlife, Beyond Belief, and the amazing duet with his sister Lucas Woodland in Die Alone (In Your Lover’s Arms), really turned me into a fan overnight.

This was suggested by a good friend of mine, and I don’t regret checking it out, and so if you are into 'Enter Shikari's' type of music or sound, that this is worth checking out before the year is out, because it is amazing to listen too, and will be candy to your ears.

Link to my Full Review

https://www.contena.co/profiles/b401166ce35f71941e09/posts/holding-absence-the-greatest-mistake-of-my-life-album-review-f1b7

Link to the Full Album

#4 Badflower - This is How the Worlds Ends

It was one of my highly anticipated albums of this year, and when I heard they were releasing a new album in September, I was very excited. So when I had a listen, oh boy, it enhanced my love for this band. It had a great story arc going throughout about the journey of someone who had a messed up family life, which informed the person he became, that led him to taking his own life.

With songs like Stalker, Sasshole, and Machine Gun really putting this across, as well as John Katz yet again high intense and emotional vocals being the standout. Also, great-sounding distorted guitars capping off an overall great album. In addition, if you were a fan of My Chemical Romance back in the day, then I would suggest checking this band and this album out.

Link to My Full Review

Link to the Whole Album

#3 Rise Against - Nowhere Generation

This is an album that is filled with fast-paced punk rock brilliance, with socially relevant lyrics, and a powerful guitar, bass, and vocals, which makes it a really fun 40-minute album, with Rise Against being back to their best in my opinion.#

With them focusing on the true reality of the American Dream, which is more relatable than ever, with the pandemic showing everyone that something needs to change. Songs like The Number, Nowhere Generation, Broken Dreams, Inc, and Sudden Urge really emphasise the message they are going for.

Also, with Tom Mciirath and the band are firing on all cylinders with their your face guitar tones and Tom’s vocals, it really makes it one of my favourite releases of the year.

Link to My Full Review

Link to the Whole Album

#2 Pale Waves - Who I Am

Ever since I heard ‘Television Romance’ back in 2018 from their debut album ‘My Mine Makes Noises’, I have been a fan, with them having a unique sound that felt fresh with all the music I was listening to at the time. So when I learned Pale Waves was releasing a new album in February of this year, I knew I had to check it out.

I was surprised with how different it was, but in a good way. With them clearly taking inspiration from early Avril Lavigne in the 2000s, with a mix of cool acoustic progressive riffs with the atmospheric element that made their last album so intriguing. With songs like Run To, Easy, and Tomorrow really emphasises this new sound they were trying out and succeeding at.

But a very fun and enjoyable album that throughout the year was my first point of call when I needed an album just to pop on when reading or just chilling out. So when putting this list together it was always in my top two, but there was only one album that was going to get the top spot.

Link to My Review

Link to the Whole Album

#1 Angels and Airwaves - Lifeforms

So if anyone that knows me wouldn’t be surprised that this is number one on my list, as when we finally got a date of the album release, I was counting down the days even though two-thirds of the album was already released minus three tracks lol, but the word excited doesn’t describe how excited I was haha.

But the whole album did feel like a collection of all the styles and sounds that Tom Delonge has explored in the past 16 years, and you definitely get that dose of nostalgia in this record. Also, it feels like for the first time since 2004, that he could explore his punk rock roots, and not feeling like he has to prove anything to anyone, and in this album, it does feel refreshing in that regard.

Tracks like Timebomb and Restless Souls feels like old school Angels and Airwaves, to No More Guns and Automatic which is more punk rock, which wouldn’t be out of place in a new Blink 182 album. But it is a fun emotionally charged alternative rock album with a punk rock twist, and I've listened to the whole thing like 100 times, and it gets better the more I listen to it, and is number one on my list.

Link to My Full Review

Link to the Whole Album

My Final Words of 2021

So here are my fav five albums of 2021, I hope you have enjoyed my list as much as I have enjoyed writing it. So 2022 is going to be a big year for me, so expect a lot more reviews of music, pro wrestling, and football in the near future.

I also like to thank everyone for all the kind words and support for my writing this year, it has meant the world to me. But anyway I hope you all have an awesome New Year and I will see you all on the other side in 2022.

Written by

Stuart Irvine

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