Top 50 Albums of 2017

2018 is here already and along with our warmest wishes for the New Year, we are presenting today our 50 favorite albums of 2017 and the perfect soundtrack to start Cool Music Central's tenth year on Blogger!

It seems unbelievable that we've gotten this far, especially since our beloved rock 'n' roll seems to be losing favor these days, a fact that becomes obvious when you check out the majority of year-end lists out there. We will press on however because I do believe that things will turn around for guitar music. Even in a year where the media's attention was focused elsewhere, there were plenty of excellent rock records around and some of them you'll find in the Top 50 we are presenting today.

It is true that in 2017 we didn't have any albums that felt like game changers, so selecting the Album of the Year was trickier business than usual, as no release stood clearly above the others. In the end we were able to narrow it down to three possible candidates and the honor was finally bestowed upon LCD Soundsystem's "American Dream", a record that managed to find a place in several year-end lists and to even reach the Number One spot in a few of them.

In a year where we had a plethora of impressive comebacks and reunions, some of them even after several decades (The Jesus And Mary Chain, Slowdive, Ride, The Dream Syndicate are some of the bands that immediately come to mind), it is fitting that a returning act would end up claiming the Album of the Year honor. James Murphy has been worrying about losing his edge ever since LCD Soundsystem started, and this uneasiness has always been the source of great music for them. Their return to action after almost seven years has proven that the period spent in limbo was actually beneficiary for the band as they have managed to make a record that feels every bit as important as their first two LPs that helped to define the musical identity of the noughties. Who would have thought that getting older and (perhaps) wiser could be just as valuable a source of inspiration for excellent dance rock music as being young and out of your mind!

The other two records that effectively share the honor of being our Top Albums of the Year along with LCD Soundystem's return, were St. Vincent's "Masseduction" and Algiers' "The Underside of Power".

St. Vincent continued her impressive, ever changing and always innovative trajectory that make her one of the most inspiring music creators of this decade. The sound of "Masseduction" openly flirted with today's dance pop music, but in reality this was a chameleon's camouflage hiding its idiosyncrasies and deeply personal confessions in plain sight, somewhere in the crowded dance floor.

Algiers made one of the strongest protest records of 2017, in a year where getting political became more and more a necessity. The strong views and feelings expressed in their songs were accompanied by a potent mixture of gospel, soul, hip hop, garage and punk rock music that always felt on the brink of explosion without sacrificing any of its tunefulness. The dance-rock revolution begins here!

Here's our selection of the best albums of 2017 based, of course, on what we were able to listen to so far. We are always on the lookout for records that may have slipped under our radar and an updated, final version of this list will appear in Cool Music Database sometime in the next few months. For now though, this is our Top 50:

Top 50 Albums of 2017

1.   American Dream - LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
2.   Masseduction - ST. VINCENT
3.   The Underside of Power - ALGIERS
4.   Holiday Destination - NADINE SHAH
5.   Plunge - FEVER RAY
6.   Run The Jewels 3 - RUN THE JEWELS
7.   Hot Thoughts - SPOON
8.   Modern Kosmology - JANE WEAVER
9.   Relatives in Descent - PROTOMARTYR
10. Rock n Roll Consciousness - THURSTON MOORE
11. Damage and Joy - THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN
12. Antisocialites - ALVVAYS
13. Out in the Storm - WAXAHATCHEE
14. Whiteout Conditions - THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
15. A Deeper Understanding - THE WAR ON DRUGS
16. Damn. - KENDRICK LAMAR
17. Sleep Well Beast - THE NATIONAL
18. In Spades - THE AFGHAN WHIGS
19. Gargoyle - MARK LANEGAN
20. Slowdive - SLOWDIVE
21. Death Song - THE BLACK ANGELS
22. How Did I Find Myself Here? - THE DREAM SYNDICATE
23. Hey Mr Ferryman - MARK EITZEL
24. Painted Ruins - GRIZZLY BEAR
25. Lotta Sea Lice - COURTNEY BARNETT AND KURT VILE
26. Moonshine Freeze - THIS IS THE KIT
27. Semper Femina - LAURA MARLING
28. Soft Sounds From Another Planet - JAPANESE BREAKFAST
29. Nothing Feels Natural - PRIESTS
30. Hug of Thunder - BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE
31. Cry, Cry, Cry - WOLF PARADE
32. Weather Diaries - RIDE
33. Brood X - BOSS HOG
34. Flying Microtonal Banana - KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD
35. Ty Segall - TY SEGALL
36. Cost of Living - DOWNTOWN BOYS
37. Apocalipstick - CHERRY GLAZERR
38. ken - DESTROYER
39. Exile in the Outer Ring - EMA
40. Electric Trim - LEE RANALDO
41. In Between - THE FEELIES
42. Last Place - GRANDADDY
43. Everything Now - ARCADE FIRE
44. Visions of a Life - WOLF ALICE
45. Near to the Wild Heart of Life - JAPANDROIDS
46. Life Without Sound - CLOUD NOTHINGS
47. Occult Architecture Vol. 1 - MOON DUO
48. New Facts Emerge - THE FALL
49. Silver / Lead - WIRE
50. Strange Peace - METZ

Also recommended:

TFCF - LIARS, English Tapas - SLEAFORD MODS, Every Valley - PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING, Fujiya & Miyagi - FUJIYA & MIYAGI, Offering - CULTS, Powerplant - GIRLPOOL, In Mind - REAL ESTATE, Heartworms - THE SHINS, Love in the 4th Dimension - THE BIG MOON, Future Politics - AUSTRA, The French Press - ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER, in•ter a•li•a - AT THE DRIVE-IN, Villains - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, The Tourist - CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH, Polygondwanaland - KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD, Volcano - TEMPLES, Humanz - GORILLAZ, I See You - THE XX, Oczy Mlody - THE FLAMING LIPS, Occult Architecture Vol. 2 - MOON DUO, Losing - BULLY, The Witch - PUMAROSA, Hang - FOXYGEN, Low in High School - MORRISSEY, Okovi - ZOLA JESUS, Hiss Spun - CHELSEA WOLFE, V - THE HORRORS, Flat Worms - FLAT WORMS, Choir of the Mind - EMILY HAINES & THE SOFT SKELETON, Tourist in This Town - ALLISON CRUTCHFIELD, Everybody Works - JAY SOM, Love is Love - WOODS, Phases - ANGEL OLSEN