Mid-Year Report 2013: Best Albums

June 27, 2013

READERS PICK

THE SUMMER SET – Legendary
“Since this album has been released, [I’ve had it] on repeat. Each song is amazing, and I can't even push the next button like I do on other albums. If I could only listen to one album for a period of time, it'd be this one.” –Desirae R.

“Legendary by the Summer Set is one of the greatest albums released in a while. Not only is every song on it extremely catchy, the entire album is very meaningful and has a great message, which is to be brave, be curious, and of course, to be legendary.” –Michelle Baumval

“Every single song on the album is great. It exceeded my expectations and it is the perfect album to listen to whether you're at the beach, on a road trip or even studying! No flaws whatsoever.” –Faith Escalera

EDITORS PICKS

BRING ME THE HORIZON – Sempiternal
Call it blasphemy if you’d like, but I’d never given Bring Me The Horizon more than a second thought prior to hearing Sempiternal. Sure, I had the standard couple songs on my iPod that everyone has, but nothing made me pay attention the way I—apparently—should have been all along. Sempiternal was that necessary shoulder-shaking wake up call that was impossible for even the naysayers to ignore. It sweeps you through song after atmospheric song on an almost metaphysical path. Sempiternal as a whole feels almost mystical, as if suspended somewhere between two planes of existence. It’s like pissed off meditation music—and I back that, 100 percent. –Cassie Whitt, Web Content Manager

THE COLOR MORALE – Know Hope
I wrote off an entire sector of the Rise roster until the Color Morale came along with Know Hope. Lesson learned: try before you deny. It's not at all what I had assumed; an opposites-attract marriage of Stray From The Path's strained-throat metalcore and the chug-rock-and-soul of Emarosa. The message of hope is the mission of enigmatic frontman Garret Rapp, who pulls double duty running their merch at every show. Not only is their live show like an energy generator, with no shortage of meaningful banter, but they often play acoustic encore sets and make themselves accessible to fans for hours after. Hearing their next progression will be just as exciting as this chapter. This is a genuine band to root for. –Brian Kraus, Weekend Web Editor

THE FRONT BOTTOMS – TALON OF THE HAWK
It took me a while to get on board with the Front Bottoms. I kept hearing about them, but instead of immediately looking them up on Spotify, I filed them way back in the far corner of my brain. However, after we featured them in this year’s 100 Bands You Need To Know issue and again in our 300th issue, I decided to give them a listen. Since then, I haven’t stopped listening to their sophomore album, Talon Of The Hawk. Lead singer Brian Sella sounds like a younger, more thoughtful Tom DeLonge, but his songwriting reminds me of another one of my favorites, Max Bemis. His lyrics are as self-deprecating as they are self-aware, and the music is a mix of punk and slacker rock, giving the album a slightly summer feel, despite its brooding lyrics. This is one album I’ll be listening to long after the warm weather ends. –Brittany Moseley, Associate Editor

PARAMORE – PARAMORE
When I took over the mantle of music editor in 2006, I made it my mission to re-legitimize our reviews section. My biggest rule: No more five-star reviews. These things used to be doled out like candy on Halloween by previous music editors, and I thought it diluted our critical opinion when we were saying a dozen or so records were stone-cold classics every month. Since then, only a very small handful of albums have earned a true five-star rating from AP, the most recent of which (and the only album this year) is Paramore's self-titled fourth album. I know it's only the midway point of 2013, but I honestly don't see how anything could dethrone this record from being in my No. 1 spot six months from now. It is endlessly creative and inspirational, a true album in a musical landscape where bands can barely write an EP's worth of remotely interesting material. It's musically challenging while still being easily accessible, and doesn't have a bad song on the entire thing. If you haven't listened to Paramore yet, you are truly missing out on what will become a benchmark album for rock music in the future. –Scott Heisel, Managing Editor

TWENTY | ONE | PILOTS, Vessel
Modern pop music is a hateful enterprise overrun by accountants, record label executives who want immediate returns on their investments as if they were opening a fast-food franchise, dullard programmers at commercial radio stations seeking the ever-crucial “callout research hook” and a whole lot of wannabe “artists” who need massive adoration to compensate for their lack of breast-feeding when they were infants. So when an unabashed pop band comes out with great songs, new ideas, unlimited potential for growth (aesthetic/personal) and a blinding plasma-ball of charisma, the world needs to take notice. Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun aka Twenty | One | Pilots, have created an album that takes all the empty psychic calories of pop music and replaces them with an existential worldview teeming with self-doubt, neuroses, paranoia and the great hope that at the end of the day, we're all gonna be alright, somehow. Long may they feel. —Jason Pettigrew, Editor In Chief