It’s (almost) the end of the year as we know it…

And I feel fine!

Well not really, but when it comes to thinking about the music of 2017 it certainly helps a lot! Once again from my realm on the radio at WHCU, Lee Rayburn and I continue to investigate and compare notes on our top 5 favorite albums of the year.

For this mini-episode Lee and I examine our #4 choices on the year, which was his selection of Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings with Soul of a Woman, and mine with Queens of the Stone Age and Villains. Listen below:

My album comments…

Having been a more recent fan of Queens since coming onboard during the Like Clockwork era, perhaps that made 2017’s Villains a more palatable experience for me than most. With tight production from Mark Ronson and the band’s willingness to openly excavate what they openly referred to as a more “dance-based” sound, songs like the punk headbanger’s ball of “Head Like a Haunted House”, the Zeppelin-y smash of “The Evil Has Landed”, and the gristle-blues stomp of “Domesticated Animals” ring with a clear and decided sense of purpose.

Purists may continue to ruffle their feathers and not be satisfied with this one, but Villains really hit the spot for me this year and made for a great rock record. It didn’t possess any need for grand ambition, rather, it let the best parts of its catchy melodies and snake-like hooks do the talking, and Queens did the rest.

The controversy towards the end of the year involving Josh Homme kicking a photographer definitely took some of the wind out of the sails of my praise and knocked this ranking down a bit, but I still recommend giving Villains a spin to find out for yourself.