The 15 Most Anticipated Albums of 2010

I’ve been working on this post on and off for almost 2 months now. Well, mainly off, but here’s to a great year in music, I hope. 2009 came and went and we saw some tremendous albums releases. We’re just a few weeks into a new month, a new year, and [possibly] a new decade.

The isn’t a ranked list, most of this is in the order in which I wrote it. Pretty much all these bands have some new material or teaser material one or more of their sites.

¶Standing Small – unknown (first half of 2010?)

The as-yet-to-be-titled Double CD should be released this year. The band should be close to finish recording the tracks and send it off to be mixed and mastered next month.

One of the least well-known bands on the list, I was fortunate enough to catch these guys play with Cool Hand Luke a couple years ago. And I have yet to be disappointed in any band that CHL tours with. It’s acoustic-based, reminds me of the softer-side of CHL, and chock-full of talented musicianship with ample amounts of biblical truth. Musically, they have grown tremendously since Sister Wisdom and I hope the trend continues onto the new record.

Check out “Call In The Troops,” presumably from their upcoming release.

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¶Mark Nicks of Cool Hand Luke – Of Man/Live CD

I’m usually a big fan of whatever music Mark makes. I’m sure this will be no different. Though the overall sound of the band (and now it’s just Mark) has changed over the years, Mark has a way of taking truth, some complex, some simple, and wrapping it with passionate music that makes me want to sing from the bottom of my lungs.

Mark’s working on two albums for the year. One is a concept record about the Passion and the other is a live recording of Cool Hand Luke songs.

Check out a song from the Passion project called Of Man.

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¶The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang (June 15, 2010)

Their last album (The ’59 Sound) was one of my favorite albums of 2008. It is still on my Walkman. I can’t get enough of Brian Fallon’s gritty vocals and their Jersey Shore (not the “reality” show on MTV) sound.

The lyrics, which hold more substance and more thoughtful than most, often contain references to literature, music , and movies.

This is the opening track off their last album.

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¶Desoto Jones – unknown

They are without a doubt the best band on Deep Elm. They are also genuinely nice guys. It’s unusual for a band of brothers to be able to make great music. Owen’s lyrics are an amazing display of hope and a positive attitude that is absent in a lot of indie rock. They released a few mp3′s on their website last year (that have since been removed) but Ean (the bassist) gave me permission to post this song.

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¶The Influence – unknown (Spring 2010)

I was shocked to find that this band has only been around for 3 years. They have a great blues/rock/grunge/70′s vibe to them and I can’t wait to hear more of the new stuff. You can hear the softer side of the band here and one of the best songs released last year here.

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¶Sunny Day Real Estate – unknown

One of my biggest musical regrets is not going to Atlanta to see these guys rock out last year. They’re touring and writing a new album now. It’s sure to have that signature SDRE sound. Here’s one of the better videos for their song called “10.”

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¶Grammatrain – unknown

Their EP Kneeling Between Shields was great. I was fortunate enough to grab my copy before it sold out. It still sounded like Grammtrain despite being 10 years since Flying came out, but it didn’t sound stale. It was what Grammatrain should sound like. Note: the singer/guitarist Pete Stewart (no relation) is also releasing a solo record next month. You can listen to the whole thing on his site.

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¶Anberlin – unknown (September 2010)

This album should be less poppy & deeper than New Surrender. Their first major label release lacked the elements that made their previous efforts good, solid CDs. Hopefully this won’t end up on the most disappointing albums of 2010.

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¶E for Explosion – Why do i keep hitting myself with a hammer? ‘Cause it feels so good when i stop… (unknown)

The best thing to come out of Kentucky since me. Just kidding. With all humility aside, I found this gem called “I Explode” (free download) and fell in love with band.

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¶Foxhole – unknown (first half of 2010)

Another great band from Kentucky. I went to high school with a couple of these guys and was good friends with the bassist. I lost touch with him since then, but I’ve kept up with the band. They are currently writing a new album. which is, unfortunately, their last record (probably). They are an instrumental band that’s so good, you don’t even miss the vocals. Although I do have an old recording from the late 90′s that does feature some singing.

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¶Coheed And Cambria – Year of the Black Rainbow (April 2010)

This will be the prequel and let’s hope Claudio & Co. do a better job than George Lucas did with Stars Wars. Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait 20 years for this. You can listen to “The Broken” on their site now.

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¶The Classic Crime – Vagabonds (April 6, 2010)

Twitter has kept me high on anticipation on this release. The Silver Cord was an amazing album and they avoided the all-too-often sophomore slump. The title track from the song is giving room for hesitation and doubt to creep in. But that was based on this acoustic radio performance. Of note, all the profits from pre-orders of the new album will go to Haiti relief.

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¶U2 – Songs of Ascent (June 2010? or 2015)

I was disappointed in their last album, No Line On The Horizon, but perhaps this one will be among their better albums. Recently there have been talks that the album might be delayed so the band can make it better.

Check out “Winter” which is supposedly going to be on the new album.

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These next few are a throwback. I have this theory that the music you identify most and are drawn to is what you listened to when you were in or within a couple years of high school. I think this holds true unless you listen to mainstream radio. (This can also be attributed to when I had the mental acuity to discern what good music really was)

¶Stone Temple Pilots – untitled (May/June 2010)

I know this won’t sound like Core or Purple, but I can still expect a more-than-just-decent album. The album is mastered and I guess we’ll hear what’s in store.

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¶Soundgarden – unknown

Thank you. some of the best news of the new year was this simple message posted by Chris Cornell on New Year’s Eve. Chris has garnered the unusual achievement of having success with more than one band, but I am excited to hear what the new stuff is going to be.

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I’m sure missing a few. But these are the albums that I am looking forward to the most. Undoubtedly there will be others and new discovering. Some will be delayed, some bands might break up. Some might be horrible. But I remain hopeful.