Best of 2014: The S4L Album of the Year 2014

So, the big one, The S4L Album of the Year 2014. What on earth could it be? Well, be surprised because it is an album that has largely been ignored by Uncut, Q and Mojo and I cannot understand why.

This years Album of the Year goes to:

Beauty and Ruin - Bob Mould

Released 3rd June 2014 on Merge Records 

Listen to Album in Full Here.

Or Click on the links for the individual tracks.

The album has not been off my playlist since its release back in June and it garnered heaps of great reviews (but obviously was not loved enough to be included amongst the best of the year for much of the music press!).

Many reviews seemed to harp on about Bob Mould coming to terms with his musical legacy - as if being in Hüsker Dü and fronting Sugar are to be considered as some kind of musical leprosy! Nothing could be further from the truth though, Mould manages to capture the spirit of both of his legendary former bands and seems unashamed about them (and rightly so in my opinion!).

Beauty and Ruin is Bob Mould's 11th studio album as a Solo artist and it's interesting seeing as his first solo album,  'Workbook' got a 25th Anniversary release this year just how far he has progressed musically.

"I look at the record and there’s an arc, a narrative to it — at least I hope there is because I spent a lot of time putting it together that way. I started writing this record in October of 2012, right in the middle of touring for Silver Age. My dad passed away, not unexpectedly, but still, never a fun thing. And that triggered ideas about loss, about health and loss. That’s sort of where the record starts, and it moves through pretty clear ideas, from loss to reflection to acceptance to future. If you go back and look at the record in three-song packets with that in mind, you’ll see the cold, gray, slow beginning heading towards this warm, fast, sunny finish. It’s a very simple story. As far as Beauty and Ruin specifically, I think the two are oftentimes the same. I think one can always lead to the other, and that’s just the nature of things. I hope that short version of this all can get us to a place to talk about specific things." (Bob Mould interview with Stereogum)

Tracks are not necessarily the actual version that appears on the album, some are live versions.

 
01. Low Season
02. Little Glass Pill
03. I Don’t Know You Anymore
04. Kid With Crooked Face
05. Nemeses Are Laughing
06. The War
07. Forgiveness
08. Hey Mr. Grey
09. Fire in the City
10. Tomorrow Morning
11. Let the Beauty Be
12. Fix It

More Bob Mould 2014

Tiny Desk Concert NPR.

See A Little Light - Letterman.

Helpless and Keep Believing - Paradiso.

I Apologize (with Ryan Adams) - Bowery Ballroom NYC.

See A Little Light - A Celebration of the Music and Legacy of Bob Mould (with Dave Grohl).

The Quest Benefit Show 21st October - Grant Hart and Bob Mould.

Best of 2014: The S4L Rock Album of the Year 2014 (Part Two)

I had said in the previous post to this that I had chosen two albums to equally share The S4L Rock Album of the Year 2014 and so without further ado the second album sharing the mantle alongside The Empty Hearts is:

Going Back Home - Wilko Johnson an Roger Daltrey.

Released 24th March 2014

On Chess Records

Click on the links to enjoy the music of Wilko and Roger.

Going Back Home (Album Playlist).

Back at the start of 2013 many of us were totally shocked to hear the news that Wilko Johnson had been diagnosed with Terminal Pancreatic Cancer and had decided to not undergo treatment for it. His prognosis was not good at all and it was expected that he would not survive the year. An amazing interview appeared in The Times on January 22nd 2013 with Wilko talking about how he was dealing with it all and dates for a number of farewell shows in the UK were announced for March that year.

In July he had made it to another Birthday and come October he was playing at Koko in Camden (that was filmed for a DVD release).

Then in March 2014 came the release of one of the truly standout albums of the year featuring Wilko Johnson and Roger Daltery of The Who (who this year was celebrating his 50th year with the band!).

This was a project that was in the pipeline for a few years but it took this situation of Wilko's ill-health and possible departure from this life to finally get the two of them in the same studio (that was in November of 2013). 

The Who had recently completed a World Tour playing their epic Quadrophenia album, on which Daltery had been sounding so much better than he had done for years. 

Over the course of a single week the whole album was laid down. The track listing was released in February 2014 and it showed that 10 songs on it would be Johnson's (from his days in Dr Feelgood and also his Solo career) and a cover of Bob Dylan's 'Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?'

Such was the excitement surrounding the release that in it's first week it entered the album charts at #3! The Critics loved it and fans of both Johnson and Daltery lapped it up.

A number of weeks after the album's release it was announced that Wilko would undergo surgery, an operation that had never been previously done before!

Forward to October 22nd and the news that none of us (least of all Wilko I'm sure) thought we would hear! Not bad news but very, very good news! Cancer Free!

On 11th November 2014 Wilko joined The Strypes on stage at The Shepherd's Bush Empire for a Concert to celebrate the music of The Who.

A Deluxe Edition of the album was released today (24th November) that includes a second disc featuring studio material and also live recordings from their show at The Shepherd's Bush Empire on the 25th February 2014.

Best of 2014: The S4L Rock Album of the Year 2014 (Part One)

In choosing The S4L Rock Album of the Year 2014 I was presented with a dilemma of sorts: there were actually two albums that stood out so far ahead of the rest that it was actually very hard to split them. I sat and listened to both albums again and again to try and see if there was one thing that jumped out of speakers that made me say, "Yes, that's the One!" But I still couldn't make the decision. So, in order to combat this I thought, "Hey, this is my blog, and if I want to give these two albums equal billing then I can do that!" That's what I've done. I won't tell you here what the second album is (why spoil the fun!) as I will deal with that in the next post. Let me begin then by announcing the first album: 

THE S4L ROCK ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2014:

THE EMPTY HEARTS - THE EMPTY HEARTS 

(429 RECORDS)

RELEASED 5TH AUGUST 2014

When I first heard about this project I had the feeling that it was going to be a fantastic collaboration between four guys from very different bands each bringing that something special under one banner and unleashing sounds that you just hadn't heard in awhile.

I wasn't far wrong either. Elliot Easton (The Cars), Clem Burke (Blondie), Wally Palmar (The Romantics) and Andy Babiuk (The Chesterfield Kings) make up the band known as The Empty Hearts, and their music is guaranteed to fill that void!

The album has got a real kind of sixties kick to it (reminiscent of The Who in their early days and also The Action), with a dash of New Wave Punkiness, old school Rhythm and Blues and plain old Rock 'n' Roll. Personally speaking, I don't think there's a bad track on it, therefore it's totally worthy to be The S4L Rock Album of the Year 2014.

The Empty Hearts (a name coined by Little Steven from his secret list of unused band names), is a band who sound like musical cohorts—all came of age in the 70’s and 80’s music scenes and play by a DIY punk rock code of ethics.  A self-proclaimed band of “rock and roll lifers”, the chemistry clicked immediately - they are all connected having come together as a band of friends.

Says Clem Burke: "Those common influences are what brought us together.  We’re survivors and lifers of rock ‘n’ roll. We take from everything that’s come before musically. A lot of people have never heard or seen a band like this. There’s a freshness to it, at the same time as it’s a recollection of the past."

Tracklist

Some of the links are Live Versions of the songs from the album.

90 Miles An Hour Down A Dead End Street.

I Don't Want Your Love (If You Don't Want Me).

(I See) No Way Out.

Fill An Empty Heart.

Soul Deep.

Loud and Clear.

Perfect World.

I Found You Again.

Just A Little Too Hard.

Drop Me Off At Home.

Jealousy.

Meet 'Round The Corner.

The Best of 2014: The Boys - New Interview

One of the delights of 2014 surely has to be the return to the album market of The Boys. Last appearing on record in 1981 with 'Boys Only', the band comprising of original members Matt Dangerfield, Honest John Plain and Casino Steel literally blew us away with a brand new album containing what they call "13 New Classics!!" And they are not far wrong in that assessment either!

(Photo by Lothar Felkel)

There's a lot of links in this piece so click on them to enjoy the wide range of music from The Boys, Solo Projects, Band Projects and favourites from the chaps.

More music from 

Punk Rock Menopause.

1976.

Organ Grinder.

She's the Reason.

I Need You.

I am proud to announce that 

The S4L Comeback Album of the Year 2014 

goes to 

Punk Rock Menopause - The Boys.

Over the past couple of years I've been really pleased to have done interviews with Honest John Plain and Matt Dangerfield and so it's a joy to welcome them back alongside the man who tinkles the ivories Casino Steel for a special interview with Soundtrack4Life.

 

S4L: The new album was a long time in works, did you enjoy getting back into the studio and creating together after such a long time? 

MATT: I was originally reluctant to try make a new album unless I thought it could be as good as, if not better than, the old albums. After a few days in the studio however, everything slipped back into place and I realised that we could achieve that. And I think we did. The new album definitely feels and sounds like The Boys without repeating ourselves. It’s taken us a step further and certainly stands up alongside the original LPs.  

JOHN: Yes it was great to be back in the studio with two of my oldest and closest mates and to find the creative juices were flowing just like back in the day.  

CASINO: I´m very impatient, so I hate being in the studio. I think it´s hard work, so I´m very happy when the recording is over.  I enjoyed the creating part, and I´m very happy with the result.

S4L: Punk Rock Menopause has a typically old school Boys sound and yet is incredibly an album that is grounded in today. Were you very conscious when recording that inspite of the distance of time since your last album you wanted the listener to know you were consistent, unwavering when it comes to maintaining that sound that gave birth to many great songs way back in time?  

MATT: Ouch, I remember when we were new school! Yes it’s grounded in today because we’re living in today not the seventies, but if that basic guitar/drum sound still resonates today – and it does – why would we want to change that?  

JOHN: Well the three main songwriters were all there so it was always going to sound like The Boys. As soon as we started writing together again I knew it would turn out well.  

CASINO: The Boys-sound came naturally after all these years, and I was quite surprised to find we still had our identity intact. It was as if we had never been away. 

S4L: You've not exactly been in a wasteland since 1981, as you have all continued in one form or another to be involved in music, did that experience of playing solo, playing with other bands etc. enable you, when you finally got back in the studio together and back playing live,  to be better songwriters and musicians?  

MATT: I think the main thing is that we always were, have been and will always be songwriters. We’ve all done other, sometimes quite different things, but when we got back together as The Boys we automatically forget all the other individual stuff we’ve done and get back instantly into ‘Boys’ mode, which means keeping within certain musical boundaries but also continually pushing those musical and songwriting boundaries as we always did.  

JOHN: Yeah I've been recording and touring constantly since The Boys split in 1981 and I hope it has improved me as a singer, musician and songwriter.  

CASINO: I have been playing and recording all the time, but The Boys-sessions made me feel like I was coming home again.  

S4L:  Just for our readers sake could you give us an idea of a few of the things you have done in the intervening years that you have been most proud of?  

MATT: During a time when I was disillusioned with the music business I launched a free weekly London lifestyle magazine called Footloose which was very successful until I sold it. I also helped to launch a worldwide music competition called GBOB for bands playing their own original music live and that’s still going.  

JOHN: The Crybabys, The Last Rock 'n' Roll Band and numerous solo projects over the years (Check out 'Never Listen To Rumours' by HJP). I'm particularly proud of an album I recorded a couple of years ago in Rockfield with the likes of Michael Monroe, Sami Yaffa, Glen Matlock, Martin Chambers, Verden Allen, Casino Steel, Darrell Bath, Robbie Rushton and a host of others. It's one of my best albums and I really do hope it'll be out sometime soon.  

CASINO: Gary Holton/Casino Steel - The Last Rock´n´Roll Band - Ian Hunter´s Dirty Laundry and my country album.

S4L: How pleased have you been by the  reaction to Punk Rock Menopause? Even among the music press that really cares about music there has been a lot of positivity? And what about when you have the chance to play the songs live, do you sense a real buzz from  audience about the new material?  

MATT: I’m extremely happy with the response to “PRM”, both from the media and from long-time Boys fans. The response to the new songs live has also been fantastic. Without a doubt, a great feedback from a live audience when they are hearing a song for the first time is the biggest buzz you can get.  

JOHN: It's been overwhelming. It's been the best reaction we've had for the release of any of The Boys albums and personally I think it's our best and can sit proudly up there with the other four albums. It's been great to play the new songs live and it was incredible at The Jazz Cafe to see everyone singing along despite the album only having been out for a few weeks.  

('Then He Kissed Me' featuring Andrew Matheson at the Jazz Cafe 13th Sept 2014)

CASINO: The response from the critics and fans alike has been fantastic, I'm so pleased everyone seems to like the album so much. And the fact that sales have been very good is a bonus, the LPs have just sold out and the CDs sold out in August. Wolverine are also considering a Special Edition Picture Disc release for "Punk Rock Menopause" in the New Year so watch out for that one. 

S4L: Has the whole experience of  recording this album and taking it out on the road given you a bit of a  desire to make sure that we don't have too many more years for a follow  up?  

MATT: Yes indeed! We’ve already booked the same recording studio for three weeks in 2045 so we can do a follow up! In the meantime, we’re busy promoting this album but I think we’ll probably record new tracks from time to time as circumstances permit.  

JOHN: I can see a new Boys album starting within the next six months! Only kidding, it took us 30 years to persuade Matt to record another Boys album, although I think even Matt has been blown away by the reaction to, so maybe we will do some more Boys recordings sooner rather than later.  

CASINO: It was such great fun to be back in the studio again with Matt and John, we all enjoyed ourselves more than ever. However I suspect there'd be even more expectation and pressure on us to live up to "Punk Rock Menopause" as well as the four original Boys albums so we'll just have to wait and see.

S4L: Do you still have some reissues planned following on  from the great packages of the Debut Album and Alternative Chartbusters?  

MATT: We are certainly hoping to do that for “To Hell With The Boys” and “Boys Only”. There are a few discussions with interested parties going on, so hopefully soon we’ll have some news.  

JOHN: I'd love "To Hell With The Boys" and "Boys Only"  to be given the same deluxe treatment as I started to have more of an input by then, with the early NEMS albums it was primarily Matt and Cas. In fact across those two Safari albums there's only Matt who sung more lead vocals than I did!  

CASINO: Fire Records did such a fantastic job with their deluxe reissues of the two NEMS albums so I'd really like to see a similar job done with our two Safari albums. Fingers crossed. 
 

S4L: Here at Soundtrack4Life in recent days we have been looking at favourite Cover versions and favourite B-Sides. I wonder if you could let  us know what yours are? 

MATT: Favourite cover version (which incidentally was an Arrows b-side): “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” by Joan Jett. Favourite b-side: “Singer not the Song” by The Rolling Stones  

JOHN: My favourite cover is The Beatles with "You Really Got A Hold On Me" and my favourite B-Side is again The Beatles with "This Boy". One of my favourite cover versions of one of my songs is The Connection's recent cover of "First Time", which I wrote almost 40 years ago. I believe Steve Van Zandt recently chose it as a "coolest song".  

CASINO: I was really pleased with The Last Rock 'n' Roll Band's version of "Folsom Prison Blues", I think we did a fairly good job. My favourite b-side is The Beatles "I'm Down". 

MORE MUSIC FROM

THE BOYS

'Kamikaze' - Live at Jazz Cafe 13th September 2014.
Brickfield Nights.
Living in the City - Live January 1980.
Weekend.
John Peel Session 1978.


For More Information on The Boys
Official Website.
Facebook.
Buy 'Punk Rock Menopause' Here. 

A Word of Thanks.
A huge shout out to Steve Metcalfe for arranging this interview, it's always good to remember the supporting cast who work behind the scenes on behalf of the bands. 
And of course huge thanks to The Boys: Matt Dangerfield, Honest John Plain and Casino Steel for giving their time for this.

A Round of applause for the lot of you.

 

The S4L Pop Album of the Year 2014: What Have We Become - Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott

It could not have escaped many people's notice that the return of Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbot recording together again, and wowing audiences up and down the land is one of Pop's great stories of the year.

Heaton had told The Independent Newspaper that as he was reflecting upon his solo career, which up until that point had been one kick in the teeth after another that he came to the conclusion that he should be "thinking of splitting up with myself!" 

It's actually a real shame that Paul's solo career didn't take off so good but it did put him in a position to relight a friendship from his past days in The Beautiful South. Jacqui had six years with the band singing on some of their most epic tunes ('Good As Gold (Stupid As Mud)', 'Everybodys Talking',  'Prettiest Eyes', 'One Last Love Song',  'Dream A Little Dream', 'Pretenders to the Throne', 'Rotterdam', 'Don't Marry Her' (Censored Version), 'Perfect 10', 'The Table') before leaving in 2000 to concentrate looking after her family.

So a chance meeting in Salford back in 2011(the first in 10 and a half years) led to Jacqui singing once again with Paul and then to teaming up together to make 'What Have We Become'.

On working with Jacqui Abbott once again, Paul Heaton said: "Working with Jacqui again was like going into your garage and discovering a beautiful, covered up Rolls Royce that hadn't been started in years. Jacqui is one of the best singers I've worked with and is also part of my past. It was only a matter of time before I asked her."

The First Single

D.I.Y.

Summer Performances at the likes of Glastonbury didn't hurt their profile either and even a cover of the Dolly Parton/Kenny Rogers classic 'Islands in the Stream' was a clear demonstration of how good these two are together.

There was no question really that this was going to The S4L Pop album of the Year 2014. Almost from it's release back in May it has continued to get a hearing in our house. Quality songs, great lyrics as ever from Mr H. I hope that they can take the opportunity again to record another album together because they work so well together and their voices blend perfectly giving the listener a truly wonderful listening experience.

They are about to undertake a new tour in about a week's time and there's a link at the bottom of the page where you can find out the dates, tickets etc.

They have been on TV numerous times and have had live sessions on the radio. The album by the way hit the #3 spot on the UK Album Chart beaten out by Michael Jackson and Coldplay!

Tracklist

1.     "Moulding of a Fool"       3:39
2.     "D.I.Y."       2:21
3.     "Some Dancing to Do"       4:13
4.     "One Man's England"       4:12
5.     "What Have We Become"       4:31
6.     "The Snowman"       3:50
7.     "Costa del Sombre"       3:15
8.     "The Right in Me"       3:18
9.     "When It Was Ours"       4:12
10.     "I Am Not a Muse"       4:48
11.     "Stupid Tears"       2:17
12.     "When I Get Back to Blighty"       4:52
13.     "If He Don't (Deluxe Edition bonus track)"       3:47
14.     "My Own Mother's Son (Deluxe Edition bonus track)"       3:19
15.     "Advice To Daughters (Deluxe Edition bonus track)"       6:37
16.     "You're Gonna Miss Me (Deluxe Edition bonus track)"       3:49

Shepherd's Bush Empire

27th May 2014

Old Red Eyes Is Back.
Costa Del Sombre.
Rotterdam.
Prettiest Eyes.
Moulding of a Fool.
We're Not Deep.
The Snowman.
Build.
Good As Gold (Stupid As Mud).
D.I.Y.
Me and the Farmer.
Loving Arms Again/Caravan of Love.*
*Loving Arms is not a cover of a Beautiful South song by the way but the classic tune that was performed by Etta James and also Elvis Presley.

Tour Dates and info.

Real Hope (the New Single).

The S4L Country Album of the Year 2014: Dead Man's Town - A Tribute to Born in the U.S.A. - Various Artists

What do you do to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the release of an album that launched its creator to the very top of Rock and Roll Stardom? Well Bruce wasn't really doing anything much to celebrate it (though he did release a live performance DVD of the album along with his 'High Hopes' album this year) and so it was left to others to come together and put out a project that is quite fantastic, if not at first a little puzzling, after all the album was made by Country Artists!

Yep, Country Artists! You almost think on first hearing this was going to come out that it was destined to be something not worth listening to at all but then you hear Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires performing the title track and you just know this has the potential to be something great.

Melissa Locker of Time Magazine said in her review: "All twelve artists took liberties with the melodies and the arrangements — stripping down the songs, adding a country twist or traveling in a different direction altogether, which is just what Schlansky and Rogers wanted. “I thought the songs could work as well as Woody Guthrie-style folk anthems as they did as Reagan-era radio smashes,” says Rogers, who trusted the artists to stay true to Springsteen’s vision.”Everyone involved takes such care in their own lyrics that I knew they would do Springsteen’s justice in a re-imagined way,” he says ." And it works really well if I may say so.

Isbell and Shires, Trampled By Turtles and Holly Williams' tracks were for me the absolute standouts (as a result of hearing Trampled By Turtles I went on to discover more of their music - a bit of a nice find this year for me).

It's always a joy to be able to recommend great music so have a listen by clicking on the links below and then go out and get a copy of the album for yourselves.

Tracklist

"Born In The U.S.A" - Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires.
"Cover Me" - Apache Relay.
"Darlington County" - Quaker City Nighthawks.
"Working On The Highway" - Blitzen Trapper.
"Downbound Train" - Joe Pug.
"I'm On Fire" - Low.
"No Surrender" - Holly Williams.
"Bobby Jean" - Ryan Culwell.
"I'm Goin' Down" - Trampled By Turtles.
"Glory Days" - Justin Townes Earle.
"Dancing In The Dark" - Nicole Atkins.
"My Hometown" - North Mississippi Allstars.

The Best of 2014: S4L Top 20 Songs of the Year

It's that time of the year again when we start making our lists of the best music of the year. It should be noted that these are my favourites of the year and not a magazine or a public vote, but mine. They will be vastly different from what appears in the music press and also from what you think are the top songs of the year. So I make no apologies for any of the tracks mentioned because in some way or another they have brought a lot of joy to my old ears!

We begin the countdown at #20 and work our way to #1. Hope that whatever your own personal tastes are that maybe one or two of these might enliven your own musical taste buds. Click on the links to enjoy the music.

#20. Forty Days of Rain - Roddy Frame.

From the album 'Seven Dials'.

First Solo album for 8 years and it was a wee cracker. Well worth the wait.

#19. When the Master Calls the Roll - Roseanne Cash.

From one of the most beautiful albums of the years 'The River and The Thread'.

#18. That's Damn Rock 'n' Roll - Eric Church.

'The Outsiders' was yet another crackin' album from Eric Church, no wonder it got him a truck load of attention this year.

#17. Shattered Glass - Brad Paisley.

First single from the album 'Moonshine in the Trunk' and it was an unexpected pleasure for me this year. Love the message of the song as well.

#16.  90 Miles An Hour Down A Dead End Street - The Empty Hearts.

A fantastic "Supergroup" collaboration and the album is really one worth having in your collection as well.

#15. 8 Good Reasons - Sinead O'Connor.

'I'm Not Bossy, I'm The Boss' is yet another little masterpiece on the musical journey of Sinead. The album is loaded with great songs.

#14. Postcards From The Past - Billy Idol.

'Kings and Queens of the Underground' was a real surprise. Just when you thought William Broad was out for the count he bounces back with a real knockout of an album. This track is my favourite from the album.

#13. Let The Day Begin - Simple Minds.
Their latest album 'Big Music' has only just been released and this cover version of one of The Call's most famous songs is a wee gem. The particular version on the link is a live acoustic version from the Billy Sloan Show on the 2nd of this month.

#12. C'est La Vie - Duncan Reid and the Big Heads.
From the brilliant 'The Difficult Second Album', it finds Duncan in fine form yet again providing a fantastic power pop ditty.

#11. Spin-O-Rama - The Primitives.
Title track from the brand new album by The Primitives (their first album of their own new material since 'Galore' in 1991!). The Album is an absolute gem and a welcome return to that sound we loved so well back in the mid-eighties and early nineties.

#10. Carpe Diem (Demo) - Green Day.
'Demolicious' was released as part of Record Store Day in April of this year. It's an 18 track album featuring Demo's for their ¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré! albums back in 2012. Carpe Diem was on the ¡Uno! album and personally I have to say I do prefer this Demo version even though it sounds like a total rip off at the start of The Clash's 'Jail Guitar Doors'.

#09. The Lion and The Lamb - Meg'n Jez.
A couple of great kids released their debut album 'Follow It Down' on Drumming Monkey Records this year. That album was a nice mix of original material and cover versions of which The Lion and The Lamb is one of TV Smith's finer tunes that they do a great job with.

#08. Frankie Fell In Love - Bruce Springsteen.
From 'High Hopes' album that was released in the second week of the year (Springsteen's 18th studio album release) and played a few times on the High Hopes Tour (which we spotlighted on this blog) that began in South Africa 12 days after the release. What I love about it is that has that great pop feel that some of the songs from The River has.

#07. Chasing Rainbows/Modern Times - Buzzcocks.
Like a number of bands Buzzcocks went the route of Pledge Music to record their ninth studio album. It's a real cracker as well, it has that great Buzzcocks sound that made them so loved and it's got this magnificent track with Steve Diggle on vocals that I think is the standout song on the album.

#06. Standing In The Breach - Jackson Browne.
Title track of his 14th Studio album and this one has a more gentler mood to it in comparison to the previous couple of inclusions on this countdown. It was his first album of new material in six years and only came out at the first week of October. Such great lyrics as well.

#05. 1976 - The Boys.
Another band making a comeback recording this year was The Boys. 'Punk Rock Menopause' (Great title) was their first album since 1981's 'Boys Only'.
In the past Honest John Plain and Matt Dangerfield of The Boys have done interviews for Soundtrack4Life and I'm hoping in the next week or two to have a new interview to post here (oops, let the cat out of the bag there!). '1976' is the album opener and what an absolute treat follows.


#04. Going Back Home - Wilko Johnson and Roger Daltrey.
On 25th March an album featuring two great legends of the British Rock scene was released and what a colossal wall of noise it was. As the year unfolded the good news regarding the health of Wilko Johnson broke leaving one and all emotional wrecks as we cried tears of joy. 
 
#03. My Dark Places - Stiff Little Fingers.
'No Going Back' is yet another fan funded album via Pledge Music and it's the first Stiff Little Fingers album of brand new material since 'Guitar and Drum' in 2003! 'My Dark Places' is an absolute gem of a song and one that I think is going to be a lot of help to people dealing with depression. The main link is for the Acoustic Demo version of the song which I think sees Jake Burns at his finest and yet most vulnerable.

#02. No Surrender - Holly Williams.
Taken from the excellent 'Dead Man's Town: A Tribute to Born in the USA' and quite possibly my favourite cover version of a Bruce Springsteen song (though Kevin Montgomery's version of it comes close also). Holly Williams is one of my favourite singers of the past decade (even though she has only released three albums in that time).

#01. Let The Beauty Be - Bob Mould.

Have you ever been tempted to cry
But you couldn't get the tears to collide?
Maybe you weren't that sad
You were just lonely
You could take a walk in the park
Or stay out late at some seedy bar
It won't seem so bad, you'll shake it off

Have you ever really wanted to die?
Can you carry all the weight of your life?
Time after time, your brain exploding
Don't worry, you'll be all right
We'll be waiting on the other side
It won't seem so bad, you'll shake it off

Let the beauty be, don't ruin it for me
There's room for everyone
In the fog and in the sun
You've been living on the edge of a knife
Maybe this could be the time of your life
It's time to put it down and pick yourself up
So let the beauty be
Don't ruin it for me
It may not be too much but it's enough

Let the beauty be, don't ruin it for me
There's room for everyone
In the fog and in the sun

 

One of the most maginificent albums of 2014 is 'Beauty and Ruin' by Bob Mould. There are so many good tracks on it but this one for me is the absolute standout. In many ways it wasn't hard to choose this as the #1 Song of the Year, it's a song that I've gone back to many many times since it's release and I can imagine that it's a song that's going to stay awhile longer in my heart. Thanks Bob Mould for writing such a beautiful song.