My 2024 Replay

Lots of head banging!

Apple Music recently released their “2024 Replay” results and I thought I’d share them here.

First up is “Top Artists”, which took a dramatic turn at the end of the year. After Linkin Park announced their new song and album, From Zero, in September, I’ve been listening to so much LP that they eclipsed and nearly doubled Judas Priest’s listening time, which previously would have been a lock for top artist of 2024.

There’s a big drop-off after #3, with Ghost bringing up fourth place.

The Top Songs are also focused on Linkin Park, with the first three singles from the album eclipsing Panic Attack.

With “Top Albums” we start to see some differences. Although From Zero has significantly more plays than the other albums here, because it is so short, its listening minutes are much less.

Here you can see that I really love Invincible Shield. I’d say it’s my favorite Judas Priest album at this point, pulling ahead of Painkiller and Firepower.

I absolutely love Phantoma. Saviors is also quite good and I really need to listen to it more as it probably got overshadowed by Judas Priest earlier this year.

Metal shows up as the top genre, clearly because of Judas Priest and Unleash the Archers consuming so much of my listening this year. Overall, I do feel like I’m more of a “Hard Rock” guy, though.

“Top Artists by Month” is a fun chart. The two outliers are Ghost in June where I listened to their live album, Rite Here Rite Now, quite a bit after watching the concert movie and Orden Ogan, a German power metal band that got a lot of play while I was re-staining my deck last summer.

December is not yet known, but let’s be realistic, it will most certainly also be Linkin Park.

“Top Songs by Month” also shows some patterns. I’m surprised Bobby Sox from Saviors was not a top song as that is my favorite from the album. Panic Attack is such a great song and remains a favorite. Unleash the Archers had a great run through the summer, with the heavy Ghosts in the Mist sneaking in as the top song of June. And of course, The Emptiness Machine took over my consciousness starting in September. Right now, I think Cut the Bridge might be my new favorite on From Zero, though.

“Top albums by Month” shows that Phantoma had the strongest run of the year, monopolizing my summer. My journey through the Linkin Park back catalog brought A Thousand Suns and Meteora back to the top, at least for a while. Somehow they each eclipsed Minutes to Midnight which also got a lot of plays.

Of course, there were other good albums release in 2024 that didn’t make these top lists. Here are a few that I especially liked:

• Megalomanium II by Eclipse: Not much new here, but I do love their catchy melodic rock.

• Popular Monster by Falling in Reverse: The controversial band has some real bangers. I surprisingly really like All My Life, featuring Jelly Roll.

• Wake up the Wicked by Powerwolf: They stick to their formula, but I didn’t like this album as much as the previous ones.

• Rite Here Rite Now by Ghost: This is a great live album. The live concert was event better, with more songs. I didn’t get to see it in theaters, but I did rent it when it was available in July. From the sounds of it, there will be a new album in 2025 and I can’t wait.

• Pirates II - Armada by Visions of Atlantis: Some good songs from this female-fronted Italian power metal band.

• Back with a Bang by Kissin’ Dynamite: This German band plays catchy hard rock and would have fit in perfect in the 80s.

• Conquerors by New Horizon: This is a “project” band with Jonah Tee of H.E.A.T and singer Nils Molin of Dynazty.

• Teenage Rebel by Nestor: A solid second outing from this 80s-style rock band.

• Child Within the Man by Sebastian Bach: This is probably Bach’s best solo record ever. It’s surprisingly heavy. (Hold On) To the Dream is a standout for me.

• Silver Romance by Freedom Call: Nothing too exciting here, but worth a listen.

• Rapture by Anette Olzon: Anette was my favorite Nightwish singer and I’m pleased she does a lot of her own stuff these days.

• Heaven :x: Hell by Sum 41: Touted as the last Sum 41 album, this is a solid return to form.

• Warp Speed Warriors by DragonForce: Doomsday Party is unbelievably silly, but catchy as hell.

• Half Black Heart by New Years Day: A female-led rock band led by Ash Costello, I really liked this and need to listen to it again.

• The Catalyst by Amaranthe: A Swedish metal band with three singers, led by Elize Ryd, the latest album continues their melodic assaults.

• Expedition One by Metalite: I do love bands with female singers and this band lives up to their name. It is some light, catchy metal.

My non-album single of the year is Ratatata by BABYMETAL and Electric Callboy. This silly song is an absolute ear worm!