10. THE PINEAPPLE THIEF: Bond (from Magnolia)
The British guitar driven art rock group The Pineapple Thief is a long standing favorite of mine, so it comes as no surprise that the best songs from their most recent album make it to the year's Top 10 - particularly since Magnolia sounds to me a little better than their previous effort, 2012's slightly disappointing All the Wars. Bond is the new album's closing track: a short, effective, slightly melancholic and even desperate sounding song that I instantly liked when listening to the album for the very first time back in September.
9. FAITH NO MORE: Motherfucker (single)
The punk-ish American rock group Faith No More released six studio albums between 1985 and 1997, then quit. After a long pause, there are now once again signs of life. A seventh album will be coming out next spring, ending an 18-year long (!) break, and the first single taken from it was released about a month ago. And what a fun filled rock song it is! Initially, I though I would give Motherfucker a honorary mention only, but after re-listening to it a couple of times I was convinced. The song is definite Top 10 material, and I am eagerly waiting for the full length album release.
8. IQ: Hardcore (from The Road of Bones)
The British neo-progressive rock group IQ began their career in the early eighties, at around the same time with Marillion. Their musical style has changed much less than their perhaps more famous colleagues who are now just another pop rock group. Last spring's The Road of Bones is an ambitious progressive rock album that once again awakened me to their existence: I had completely missed 2009's Frequency but have now listened to both albums repeatedly. Hardcore is a ten-minute epic that exemplifies everything that has always been good about IQ.
7. ANATHEMA: Take Shelter (from Distant Satellites)
So, there is one track on Distant Satellites after all that I consider to be Top 10 material: the beautifully composed closing track of the entire album that is more restrained than many others on it when it comes to instrumentation. In this song, Anathema begins with quiet tones and even though the soundscape widens and gains volume later on, there are never such nervousness inducing, loud guitar riffs as on many other equally beautiful tracks on the album. Anathema are still working in their prime, and I am excited to hear what kind of work they will succeed in producing next.
6. PEPE WILLBERG: Leikitään (from Pepe & Saimaa)
We have now entered Top 6 which, like I wrote earlier, marks the beginning of real masterpieces on the list. What we have here is something unheard of: not only is there a Finnish song on our "year's best" list but it is actually quite high on it. Leikitään (in English, Let's Play) opens Pepe Willberg's album Pepe & Saimaa which was released last spring and immediately caught attention over here. Willberg is a veteran rocker, having began his career already in mid-sixties. Recently he has spent years under radar but this lovely album with even some classical influences marks an astonishing comeback.
5. THE PINEAPPLE THIEF: Coming Home (from Magnolia)
My favorite track from Magnolia is short but has nonetheless a great impact. Coming Home embodies everything that was always great about guitar rock but also adds The Pineapple Thief's unique artistic excellence into the mix. The end result is arguably greater than the sum of its parts, yet there is definitely nothing to complain about those parts. Bruce Soord and his bandmates have veered further away from progressive rock with their latest two album releases; my wish for them would be to turn back and make again something like the undying classic What Have We Sown? (2007).
4. HAKEN: Crystallised (from Restoration)
Last year, we had a 20-minute progressive rock epic at #9 on the list; this year, we have one at #4. Before 2013, I used to create separate ranking lists for songs that are under ten minutes and over, since then I have given that up. Crystallised shows that it is perfectly possible to evaluate longer and shorter works using the same criteria. True; successful longer form always tends to impress more, but when making longer tracks the artist always runs a risk of including weaker passages. This is particularly true here: in places, Haken's masterwork is Top 2, maybe even Top 1 material. In others, it sounds a bit artificial. Eventually I felt that fourth place on the list would suffice.
3. HAKEN: Earthlings (from Restoration)
Last year, we had the same artist at #1 and #2. This year, we have one at #3 and #4. In many ways, the beautiful Earthlings is actually weaker of the two Haken songs, but its strength lies in that there are really no weak passages in it. There are in Crystallised. A much quieter work, it is a lovely song that is enjoyable throughout and carries virtually no flashes of overtly technical instrumental solos and sequences that are Haken's trademark but can at worst sound like virtuosos bragging with their playing skills. This group is currently perhaps the greatest hope of progressive rock's future in the world.
2. IQ: The Road of Bones (from The Road of Bones)
The title track of the new IQ album is an exercise in perfection. It has been designed like a mathematical formula that I know can be a turn off for some. When music sounds like it has been engineered, it loses a lot of spontaneity. In some cases it is a turn off even for me, but here the whole thing works so perfectly that you cannot help but listen in awe. Beginning very quietly and sustaining that tone for nearly two thirds of its running time, The Road of Bones peaks in a heavy metal-ish sequence that gives me chills almost every time, only to return back to quieter notes for its closure. The veteran British group has created a modern progressive rock masterpiece.
1. ENGINEERS: It Rings So True (from Always Returning)
This year's winner is however not progressive rock. My old favorite Engineers has astonished me with year's best level performances before, such as Stake to Glory (2005) and Helped By Science (2009). Now, they did it again. It would be too much to say that on their new album they returned to form - most of the album is really only middling in terms of songwriting quality - but its standout track immediately felt like the year's greatest achievement after I had listened to it only a couple of times in August. Nothing else ever came close. Engineers are pure magicians when it comes to writing unforgettable melodies, and here their talent once again shines like no one else's.
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