The Best of 2014: Rock

Sometimes the biggest mark of success is not who's on, but who is off a particular list, in this case the Best Albums of 2014. We began last time with Alternative, and we had to leave Shadow Weaver by The Choir and I Am Mountain (Deluxe Version) by +Gungor Band off the list. When You see that, you know it was an awesome year. One could even say wicked awesome. Sorry, it's a New England Thing.

The second biggest genre represented was Rock, with four on the list. As you can see, we had a top 10 list without straying from Rock/Alternative.

Attack , Disciple

Southern Rock is alive and well. Third Day was the pioneer, but Disciple perfected the sound. Here they invoke the Warrior image of the Christian, an image long ignored. Lyrics like Till The Day I Die I'll be a Radical. Or How about this "They Build Their Towers to the clouds, we'll burn their empire to the ground. We're tearing them down. This is the sound of the dead militia. As always the lyrics are documented with scriptures, which is a nice touch. I thought Horseshoes was their best album, but they have raised the bar once again.

Commodity , Remedy Drive

A band that has always spanned the genres of pop and rock seems to have produced its most experimental sound yet. A bit of rock, a bit pop, a bit alternative, even a bit of folk with the help of Folk Worship artist All Sons and Daughters. The title cut and theme of the album is Human Trafficking.

Runaways , Sumerlin

Despite a name which bedevils spell check, I have loved this album. It was one of the first albums of the year to really speak to me. Probably because the album is one long melancholy love song. It's not the I've got the girl type but the I thought I had her but I lost her. I won't get into all the melancholy details of my personal life, but suffice it to say that lyrics like "it's my fault I gave my heart away with the key, I thought she'd be the one to stay here" brought me to tears. The band rocks out just as well. I won't go into all I love about the album because I have said it all before in my review

We Are The Broken , Seventh Day Slumber

The ultimate in the "relationship bands". The music has always been a cross between worship and anthems of the broken, which is usually when you need to worship anyway. And they are part of the Latino segment of Christian Rock with the lead being Joseph Rojas. It's not just Salvador anymore. The album, as all of SDS albums do, focus on the human condition and all its problems, and offering the hop that only Jesus can bring. And they do it in a very loud package.

There was only one album left off the list, and it was The Time Is Now by Relentless Flood. One Album, that is. Only albums are eligible for consideration on the Best of List, so even though Inseparable by Veridia would most likely blow everyone on the list away, since they only have an EP out, they did not make the list.