We’ve just completed reflecting upon 2013, now it’s time to turn our attention to 2014 – a year that certainly seems promising. Here’s a list of albums we’re looking forward to in 2014.
Foo Fighters
The Foo’s latest effort Wasting Light was a 4.5-star album that was “nothing short of a searing accomplishment” – and it was all recorded in a garage. Expanding upon this idea, Dave Grohl says that the band plans to record their mew album in a way “that nobody knows about, it’s fucking rad”. He explained further: “We begin recording soon, but we’re doing it in a way that no one’s done before and we’re writing the album in a way that I don’t think has been done before.” We have no idea what he’s talking about, and we’re curious to see just where the band can go with their sound, but count us among the excited.
Jack White
In a chat with fans recently, Jack White claimed that he is “producing two albums this month, and finishing them.” He then added that “one of them is mine.” Now we know that a follow-up to 2012’s phenomenal Blunderbuss is likely on the horizon. And that’s good news. However, there is still no confirmation of the identity of the other album White is producing. Is it new Raconteurs material? White recently reconvened onstage with fellow Raconteur Brendan Benson to perform Raconteurs tracks Hands and Steady As She Goes (check out some fan-captured footage of the reunion here). The second album could also be the already-announced upcoming LP from The Dead Weather – though that’s more likely coming in 2015, so it’d be weird to “finish” it so early. That band recently unleashed the bombastic single Open Up (That’s Enough) upon the internet, which you can stream below.
http://youtu.be/3lYstaUzjHs
U2
Produced by Danger Mouse, bassist Adam Clayton claimed that U2 had recorded an “abundance of riches… We could make three or four different records and justify that to ourselves, but to make the best record you can, you have to steer away from the ones you can make easily. He added that the band is “really trying to get into territory that we’re not comfortable in” and that the new songs sound like “bit of a return to U2 of old, but with the maturity, if you like, of the U2 of the last 10 years”. Expect a formal announcement of U2’s new album during this year’s Super Bowl. Back in November, the Irish rockers released a brand new track entitled Ordinary Love for the upcoming film Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom. Check out the track below.
Guns N’ Roses/Dr. Dre
We heard it’s possible. Guitarist Richard Fortus says the record is almost finished – but Chinese Democracy took 14 years to come out, so who really knows. Same goes for Dr. Dre’s long-delayed Detox: in 2012, 50 Cent questioned whether Dre was even excited about the release anymore, and mentioned the possibility of it coming out as an EP.
Kanye West
It recently came to light that Q-Tip is co-producing a new Kanye West album alongside Rick Rubin. Kanye is said to have compared 2013’s smash Yeezus to Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska and claims that the follow-up will be his Born In the U.S.A. We’ll see what happens. It is also rumored that a second Watch the Throne album could see the light this year, bringing Kanye and Jay-Z back together once again. For now, take a gander at the absurdity of this brand new Kanye “song,” We Should Have Never, Ever Let MJ Play For The Wizards.
Radiohead
In June 2012, Thom Yorke dedicated a song at a Radiohead concert to Jack White, without further explanation. A month later, White dropped a bomb: “Radiohead came in and recorded at Third Man. I don’t know what else to be said about that, so that’s all I can probably say… I don’t know how much to tell about it except I didn’t play with them or produce.” It’s been almost three years since the surprise release of The King of Limbs, so a new Radiohead album in 2014 doesn’t seem unlikely. Though they have spent four years between records before, so we’ll keep expectations in check.
blink-182
Blink’s comeback, 2011’s Neighborhoods, was a little underwhelming, “an unconvincing bridge between then and now,” but we’re still excited to see what the trio has in store. On writing and recording new material, bassist Mark Hoppus says “It always happens when the three of us are together in a room. Because when [we’re not touring], Tom lives in San Diego, Travis lives in Los Angeles and I live in London, so we don’t really talk all that much. But then when we get in a room together, it all falls into place and we start making jokes. That’s when we start writing songs and reconnecting with everything.” While Neighborhoods was mostly recorded remotely, with each of the members remaining in their own home and sending song pieces to one another, the band entered a single studio in November 2012, allowing them to self-release a solid collection of new songs, an EP entitled Dogs Eating Dogs, to ring in 2013, leaving fans with an encouraging sign of what’s to come. Check that out down below.
The Black Keys
2013 proved to be a bust for the Ohio power-duo, even though an album was promised. While there is no official news from the duo, they have already signed on for headlining slots at various European festivals this summer, which is hopefully an indication that a follow-up to the excellent El Camino is coming soon.
Beck
Beck’s new album, Morning Phase is set for a February release, his first new material since 2008’s Modern Guilt. A press release states that Morning Phase is somewhat of a companion piece to the 2002 album Sea Change, featuring many of the same people who played on that record: “Morning Phase harkens back to the stunning harmonies, song craft and staggering emotional impact of that record, while surging forward with infectious optimism.” Beck is also said to be releasing a second album this year, a “small-bore, self contained” acoustic release. However, there is no word on when that material will see the light of day. Beck recently released a cover John Lennon’s Love as part of a Starbucks compilation, which you can find below.
Metallica
Lars Ulrich says it’s been long enough since 2008’s Death Magnetic. “We’ll have run out of excuses for not doing it… 2014 will be all about making a new Metallica record.” The band recently announced the “Metallica By Request” tour, which will bring them throughout much of South American and Europe. However, with this tour, fans are able to vote on the setlist, and the last song of each set will be a brand new one, the band’s first original material since 2011’s infallible Lulu collaboration with Lou Reed, and 2012’s Beyond Magnetic EP of previously unreleased tracks.
Crosses (†††)
With their recent signing to Sumerian Records, Chino Moreno, Shaun Lopez, and Chuck Doom, a project better known as Crosses (†††), promised new music in “winter 2013.” We haven’t heard it yet. Hopefully that means it’s coming soon. Check out a weird video released by the band below.
Pixies
In the past few months, Pixies released two surprise EPs: the atrocious EP1 and the “meh” EP2, which means they’re improving, right? Maybe we’ll get to “ok” by the time an EP3 is out, and maybe even “good” for a tentative full-length release. Check out a track called Blue-Eyed Hexe from EP2 below.
Noel Gallagher
While he is absolutely against an Oasis reunion, in a recent interview, Noel Gallagher said that he has finished demoing his second solo LP and is just “waiting now for availabilities of my band and producers to go and do it all.” He plans to spend much of 2014 recording, hoping to release the record late this year or early next year. While he claims that the material is certainly strong, maybe even his greatest material to date, he says “I finish [a song] and I play it and I think ‘that’s good, in fact it might be the best song I’ve ever written.’ Until I hear Rock ‘n’ Roll Star on the radio and go, ‘yeah it’s not that good’.” We quite enjoyed Noel’s first solo record and are very much looking forward to getting our hands on any new material.
