10EssentialAlbums2013

10 Essential albums of 2013

Throughout the past calendar year, we’ve reviewed close to 500 albums between our print and web arms. Needless to say, that’s a lot of rock. Our editorial team listens to music like it’s our job, primarily because it is–which is why we feel confident that the following 10 albums are the best music 2013 had to offer.

This list originally ran in AP 306

10. JIMMY EAT WORLD – Damage

What do you call it when an aging rock band regarded as one of the forefathers of modern emo (and who have released a string of so-so albums since their early-2000s breakthrough) come back swinging with 10 songs that remind you exactly why you fell in love with said band in the first place without being too nostalgia-driven? I don’t know about you, but I call it Damage. (RCA) [Scott Heisel]

9. BRING ME THE HORIZON – Sempiternal

From implementing sacred geometry in their cover art to shrouding their new sound with occasional quiet ambiance, Bring Me The Horizon created a piece that is transcendental—both of their genre and this plane of existence. But it’s not all meditation: BMTH are anything but calm as they demand middle fingers raised while taking a sonic sledgehammer to the foundation of your deepest beliefs. Sempiternal will go down in their history as a monumental turning point, a harbinger of the next generation of heavy music. (Epitaph) [Cassie Whitt]

8. FALL OUT BOY – Save Rock And Roll

The snark is always the same: “You can’t save rock ’n’ roll with a pop record.” Oh, really? Fall Out Boy, who burst back into our scene and seamlessly reclaimed their throne, have built an extraordinarily strong case against the naysayers with an album that both respects their roots and captures all the motifs needed to fully contaminate global airwaves with whimsical wisdom (“Sometimes before it gets better/The darkness gets bigger/The person that you’d take a bullet for is behind the trigger”) that had our car-crash hearts all along. (Island) [Cassie Whitt]

7. NINE INCH NAILS – Hesitation Marks

While the majority of his mentors and colleagues should have their new discs shipped with snooze-button hardware, Nine Inch Nails CEO Trent Reznor continues to bridge his engaging history with today’s electronic music subculture. Hesitation Marks is loaded with moments of propulsive menace, jagged funk, loping techno and his own reconstituted musical past. Which means Reznor isn’t a “rock musician” as much as he is a goddamn artfulcrum. (Columbia) [Jason Pettigrew]

6. FRANK TURNER – Tape Deck Heart

Frank Turner has been plucking away at his acoustic guitar since 2006, and this year quite a few more people caught on—including Interscope Records. Like his past work, the songs of Tape Deck Heart are about playing shows, drinking with friends and getting your heart broken, but it’s a little darker and more personal—and still just as poignant. Plus, who else used the word “fractious” in a song this year? (Xtra Mile/Interscope) [Brittany Moseley]

5. PANIC! AT THE DISCO – Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!

At the constant risk of alienating their fans, Panic! At The Disco’s brave artistic trajectory can be described as “never do anything twice.” On this round, they played up both dance and depth with a collection that can put you in a wistful, rhythmic trance one moment then make you stop and raise an eyebrow the next. Their anachronistic focus has shifted from cabaret to ’80s new wave, which they tinge with club-ready yet thoughtful pop everyone from ravers to Warped Tour attendees can get behind. (Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen) [Cassie Whitt]

4. THE WONDER YEARS – The Greatest Generation

The Wonder Years have always been a better-than-most pop-punk band, but The Greatest Generation showed people just how great they can be. They’ve created a fervent community by writing songs about topics incredibly real to their fans, from family problems and depression to the pains of growing up. All of these are in focus on the album’s closer, “I Just Want To Sell Out My Funeral.” We dare you to find another pop-punk song that gives you this many chills. (Hopeless) [Brittany Moseley]

3. TOUCHÉ AMORÉ – Is Survived By

Touché Amoré have become the new face of hardcore, a distinction the Los Angeles quintet would probably roll their eyes at. They’re not the first band to combine thrashing, pulsing hardcore with impassioned, cathartic lyrics. But in 2013, they did it better than anyone else. Sorry, boys; you’ll just have to get used to being remembered. (Deathwish Inc.) [Brittany Moseley]

2. PARAMORE– Paramore

Apparently the secret to success—both commercial and artistic—is to have two key band members quit your band. It worked for Paramore: The Farro brothers bailed, then the next thing we know, Hayley, Jeremy and Taylor wrote the best music of their career, landed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and headlined a pretty impressive arena tour (so we heard—it didn’t come to Cleveland). Paramore is an impeccable album in a world obsessed with singles, and we commend them for it. (Fueled By Ramen) [Scott Heisel]

1. TWENTY | ONE | PILOTS – Vessel

Tyler Joseph and Joshua Dun—aka Columbus, Ohio, duo twenty | one | pilots—are very much a pop band trafficking in sunny hooks, propulsive beats and fizzing electronica. But Vessel isn’t another mindless cookie-cutter opiate found on the end caps at Target. Joseph’s neurotic (sometimes troubled) ruminations on modern life undercut the breezy sentiment the music conveys. Dance, cry or do both at the same time. Just feel. (Fueled By Ramen) [Jason Pettigrew]