Best 50+ Rock Albums of 2021

In this day and age where rock has been deemed dead and gone, it's actually been a really great and busy year with plenty of interesting new music. So much so that I found it hard to limit myself to the typical top-10 or top-20 list. I'll cover 30 of the ones I personally found most interesting, and I'll leave a list of other releases worth mentioning at the bottom. 

Rating a whole bunch of albums is no easy task, and it's not really my intention either. The intention of this roundup is rather to suggest music you might have missed throughout the year. So if your favourite rock album of 2021 isn't listed here then too bad, I probably didn't hear it. Feel free to leave your recommendations in the comments down at the bottom!

I would've liked to include more music videos to give a quick listen, but noticed the page got really slow with 25+ video embeds, so I had to cut them down to a bare minimum. Only when I mention specific songs I have the video included if there is one. I also included Amazon links where you can listen to samples and buy the albums.

Now enough with the waffling, let's get on with the list - we've got one hell of a lot to cover!

Decade

They Fell From the Sky

Hundred Reasons announced their singer/frontman Colin Doran had a new project going earlier this year, with the release of their first single "Dry" having us all waiting with anticipation for the full album. More on that in our previous article! 

And boy, did it deliver! The album entitled "Decade" is post-hardcore at its finest and it's been on heavy rotation since its release! The third single, following Dry and Crush This World is The Line, which is more melodic and reminds me a lot of Hundred Reasons' softer tunes. Can't Think of Anything and Take Or Leave it are a couple of personal faves that follow right after in the tracklisting.

GLOW ON

Turnstile

More post-hardcore, eh? Yeah, it's been a good year for the genre and Turnstile has been especially successful with their 2021 album GLOW ON, which has received a lot of praise from reviewers. The band has moved slightly more towards alternative/indie rock over the course of every album they've released, and GLOW ON has some great melodic sensibility to it. 

The album gets you pumped right at the getgo with Mystery followed by Blackout, both of which are real bangers. Holiday and Fly Again are also great, among others. Be sure to give it a listen if you somehow still haven't. Totally recommended for old fans of bands like Snapcase, Handsome and Shelter. 

Distant Populations

Quicksand

More post-hardcore from 90s heroes Quicksand also came out this year, featuring some great new tunes. The band has a sense of melody now as well that we didn't quite hear as much in their earlier work. Likely an influence Walter Schreifels brought in from his other band Rival Schools. Really hope that band will return soon as well!

Also thrilled to see Stephen Brodsky of Cave In and Mutoid Man fame is now also in the band. Anyone familiar with the guy's other bands will know he sure knows his way around the guitar neck. Very cool!

ÅNOMÅLY

Fuel

To me, Fuel has always been one of those bands you've definitely heard about, are too formulaic and bland to really stick out amongst the other post-grunge acts of the late 90s and 00s. This album surprised me a bit though. These are actually some of their catchiest, most memorable tunes to date! 

The band also has a new singer behind the mic, and he's got that perfect raspy grunge voice typically associated with this type of music. Almost three decades into their career, the band finally manages to feel vigorous and fresh! How about that? And lemme tell you, to anyone who misses the early 2000s where bands like 3 Doors Down and Hoobastank were making it big, this is a must-listen!

Fun fact: The album and song titles have all A's replaced with Å's, which is kinda funny to me as a Swede, since Å is an actual letter. In the case of the lead single HÅRD they got it right, though, since "hård" is actually "hard" in Swedish.

Confession

Moon Shot

Finnish supergroup Moon Shot, featuring members from Lapko, Disco Ensemble and Children Of Bodom is a band I covered earlier on Rock Today (find the article here). The outfit's new music is alternative rock with a great sense of melody and melancholy at times. The debut single Agony Walk has a nice post-hardcore flavour to it and caught my interest big time first time hearing it. The band soon released a handful more singles that further cemented their greatness. Real solid album!

NIRITIAS

Chevelle

It's been a while since I paid closer attention to Chevelle, first hearing them in 2002 and their album "Wonder What's Next". I later gave the debut "Point #1" and despite how simple and barebones that album was, I found I liked it even more. Then came the third album "This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In)" and it didn't quite appeal as much, so I kind of lost interest at that point. 

Fast-forward to 2021 and I once again enter the world of Chevelle with their latest effort "NIRITIAS". And right from the start with the progressive instrumental opener Verruckt, I can tell they've stepped up their game quite significantly, and the riffage isn't quite as simplistic as earlier. The second single Mars Simula sort of goes back to the simple, repetitive riffs of their old days, but other times the band almost goes into Muse territory with their guitar work, and first single Self-Destructor is a pretty good example of this. Cool album overall, enjoyed it quite a bit!

Dark & Beautiful Secrets

Normandie

Sweden's own Normandie started out as a metalcore type of band and has progressively moved into other avenues. The 2021 album has quite a modern flair to it, mixing modern pop with crushing guitar choruses. Check out our previous article on Normandie here! 

Ain't it Tragic

Dead Sara

Los Angeles rockers Dead Sara are loud and hooky as ever on their 2021 release Ain't it Tragic. The single Heroes has a nice '00s vibe to it and reminds me of UK rockers Feeder of that era in a strange way.

Typhoons

Royal Blood

One of the first bands I covered on Rock Today was this UK duo, only consisting of bass and drums. Read the article here. The band's 2021 release Typhoons is a bit of a departure from their more blues rock-oriented earlier material and features some of their grooviest and catchiest tunes to date. 

Into the Blue

The Joy Formidable

Another solid offering from Welsh rockers The Joy Formidable. If you're familiar with the band you know what to expect. For the uninitiated, it's a fresh take on the 90s rock formula with nice melodies and that soft-loud dynamic we all love.

The third single Sevier is probably my favourite so far. Very cool guitar playing in that one! 

The Myth of Happily Ever After

Biffy Clyro

The shirtless Scotsmen are back with a new album and frontman Simon Neil's beard is bushier than ever before. What else do you need to know? The album is pretty damn solid as well - give it a listen whydontya! 

Pretty cool how they chained two music videos together into one even though they don't follow the track order of the album. That is somewhat puzzling...

Survivors Guilt: The Mixtape

KennyHoopla

Of all the collaborations blink-182 drummer Travis Barker has submitted himself to this year, KennyHoopla is probably the most interesting one. Kenny released the EP "how will i rest in peace if i'm buried by a highway" in 2020 and followed that up with this 8-track mini-album in 2021. 

Survivor's Guilt has more focused on pop-punk than the previous EP with some great blink-esque gems like Hollywood Sucks and Estella. It's not completely avoid of melodic and melancholic indie-rock type of tracks as though. The opener Silence Is Also An Answer, Smoke Break and 9-5 (Love Me) deliver a bit of that, even though Barker's energetic drumming at times pulls it back to the punk sound somewhat.

Positive Rising: Part 2

DZ Deathrays

This is really one of those bands that make you ask yourself "why aren't they bigger?". They seem like really easygoing chaps with a lot of humour, which is great to see for a change. Bands today are so damn serious, right? First cut I heard from this album was Golden Retriever, very catchy song, but the one that really got me interested was Kerosene which has a real cool sound to it, quite modern despite the retro-styled video. Real solid album, be sure to give it a listen!

not to be bitter, but it helps

Luna Kills

Here's another band previously covered on Rock Today (article here and album review here). Luna Kills is a young Finnish band that started out playing pretty old-school hard rock, and has recently started moving more towards more modern alternative rock.

Their 2021 album is fairly short, consisting of 9 tunes. They chose the more rocking tunes as singles, while the album's tracks are otherwise pretty laid-back and midtempo.

Earth Is a Black Hole

Teenage Wrist

This is Teenage Wrist's second album and their first as a duo, since former frontman and bassist Kamtin Mohager left the band. Instead of disbanding or trying to find a replacement, their guitarist stepped up and now does the vocal work as well.

The music can be described as fuzzy 90s-esque alternative rock with heavy guitars and the occasional splash of shoegaze here and there. Despite being quite angsty, the songs are quite listenable and catchy. The band sounds impressively full as well, and no one would've guessed they're just two guys!

Death by Rock and Roll

The Pretty Reckless

This band dropped some interesting singles off this album where they collaborated with legends like Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave etc.) as well as Soundgarden's Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron. The rest of the album is pretty solid as well, even though nothing really sticks out to me.

Infinite Granite

Deafheaven

One of the bands that helped coin the fusion genre "blackgaze" in the early 2010s, blending shoegaze, post-rock and yeah, you guessed it; black metal. This 2021 release is their most dreamy and shoegazy yet, and would probably appeal to anyone listening to My Bloody Valentine, Ride and Slowdive. New fans who are unfamiliar with shoegaze will probably rave about their cool sound, but to my ears it's obviously nothing revolutionary. 

The only black metal influences that can still be heard somewhat are at the end of the tracks Villain and Mombasa, respectively, which are the only aggressive parts of the record.

Is 4 Lovers

Death From Above 1979

DFA1979 is the Canadian drum-and-bass duo that likely inspired the aforementioned duo Royal Blood to take a similar route, instrumentally. And while the brits are more bluesy or groovy, DFA has a more noisy and abrasive sound. Also check out our previous article on DFA1979 where we talk further about their sound as well as the new album.

Child of the State

Ayron Jones

The new sound of Seattle. Guitarist and singer Ayron Jones blends elements of grunge, rock, hip-hop, soul and other genres into his gritty but soulful music. His debut album is pretty solid! Also check out our previous article on Ayron Jones here! 

Who Am I?

Pale Waves

Remember power-pop or pop-rock? This band rejuvenates that kind of music, and for those who are familiar with Avril Lavigne's debut album, this is sort of in that ballpark. In essence, sweet pop tunes with guitars!

No Gods No Masters

Garbage

90s alternative rockers Garbage are back! I gave this one a pretty lukewarm review this summer, and I stand by that it's a pretty mediocre album comparing it to the band's earlier releases. 

The album is pretty interesting and engaging but it's made to make you feel weird and uneasy listening to it at the same time. Some might dig that, I didn't really.

It has its moments, though, like the title track which is probably its strongest single. 

Wild Type Droid

Failure

Another 90s alt-rock band still going strong is Failure. The space-centric trio has released a steady stream of music over the recent years, and Wild Type Droid is their third effort since their return with 2015's The Heard Is a Monster and their sixth album in total. You can tell from their choice of bringing back the old-school Comfort-era logo, they're going back to basics. Overall, their sound has become a bit more barebones on their more recent albums, and Wild Type Droid feels especially minimalist and restrained. The bass-driven first single Headstand gives a pretty good idea of what to expect from the album. It's all pretty midtempo and doesn't feature any real hit songs or anything. A few standout cuts on the album, however, are Long Division and the opener Water with Hands.

The video accompanying the single Headstand feels a bit like a nod to their second album "Magnified" if you catch my drift...

Mammoth WVH

Mammoth WVH

Wolfgang Van Halen's name inevitably makes a lot of people compare him directly to his dad, but with this debut album, he clearly shows he has no intentions to revive 80s glam metal again. You can hear WVH's musical ears were shaped by 2000s bands like Alter Bridge. Which makes a lot of sense, since Wolfgang has also played with Creed/Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti's other self-titled band Tremonti (which also released an album this year, find it in the list further down).

Blue Weekend

Wolf Alice

One of the more hyped bands this past year has definitely been Wolf Alice. This album has been praised like crazy and had this not been a list focused on rock, it would've probably been listed higher. Anyway, their music (if you still haven't heard it) is a pretty mellow blend of indie rock and dream pop. The single Smile is what got me interested in the band, with its fuzzy guitars dynamic song structure. 

Apart from what is otherwise a quite soft album, the rockiest tune on the album is Play the Greatest Hits which has some dense guitars on it and finds singer Ellie Rowsell screaming maniacally, which is quite unexpected.

Check out the video for Smile below and head right back to the '90s!

Hushed and Grim

Mastodon

Mastodon has positioned themselves in the borderlands between alt-rock and progressive/sludge metal for a while now, with their thick, muscular sound. And they continue to bring out more melodic songs, such as the second single Teardrinker.

The Bitter Truth

Evanescence

Amy Lee and Evanescence are back with their first new material since their self-titled 2011 album. They also released a collection of old songs rearranged in an orchestral setting in 2017 carrying the album title "Synthesis". The new album is pretty decent and should appeal to hard-core fans. To me, it feels a bit samey after a while, though, and it doesn't have any clear-cut hit songs that stand out.

Let the Bad Times Roll

The Offspring

So these old punks are back, eh? Their previous album "Days Go By" of 2012 kind of felt like a sad goodbye to their old glory days and a testament they've now grown old and mellow. They somehow got their energy back nearly a decade later and they're back rocking again.

The title track is the kind of poppy, tongue-in-cheek kind of song that would probably appeal to fans of old hits like Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) and Original Prankster, but like the lyrics say on the second single This Is Not Utopia they go back to their roots on this one. It's more old-school punk-rock, and somewhat reminiscent of their old hit All I Want. And the album has more of both the fast and punky and the more cheesy and poppy. 

The album gets a bit on the campy side on tracks like We Never Have Sex Anymore and In the Hall of the Mountain King, but ends on a more nostalgic and sad note with a piano version of Gone Away, originally found on the 1997 album "Ixnay on the Hombre".

Medicine At Midnight

Foo Fighters

This is a bit of a sleeper album for me. Foo Fighters were one of my absolute favourite bands back in the late nineties, and this 2021 album is a far throw from those glory days. They're what now, a disco band? The other album "Dee Gees: Hail Satin" they also released the same year, covering Bee Gees songs, certainly makes you wonder. 

Anyways, back to Medicine At Midnight. The first single Shame Shame was probably their worst single to date. Waiting On a War didn't get me more excited, so for long I didn't even bother giving the album a listen. The best song on there is probably the closing track Love Dies Young. Otherwise it's a groovy pop album and it won't rock your socks off, but it's somewhat decent, I guess.

It Won't Always Be Like This

Inhaler

Did you know Bono of U2 had a son? Did you know he's also a musician? Well his name is Elijah Hewson and he's the frontman of this new indie rock band from Dublin, Ireland. Their debut album shows a lot of promise, quite melodic. I like the more energetic tracks especially, like the title track opening the album, as well as Cheer Up Baby and When it Breaks.

Seize the Power

Yonaka

A very eclectic and modern-sounding rock album (or mixtape?), flavoured with influences from pop, hip-hop, electronic, and nu-metal. All styles might not be every rocker's cup of tea (the occasional rapping and baby voices on the title track make me cringe a little bit, tbh), but for the most part, it's quite a refreshing listen. The energetic opening track Ordinary is a proper rock banger, while Raise Your Glass and Call Me a Saint are quite poppy and catchy and Clique takes them more into the nu-metal territory.

Honourable Mentions

(a.k.a. I was too lazy to write anything)

AFI - Bodies

Alice Cooper - Detroit Stories

Asking Alexandria - See What's On the Inside

Bad Wolves - Dear Monsters

Black Label Society - Doom Crew Inc.

Black Honey - Written & Directed

Black Veil Brides - The Phantom Tomorrow

Danko Jones - Power Trio

Doug Pinnick (King's X) - Joy Bomb

The Darkness - Motorheart

The Dead Daisies - Holy Ground

Descendants - 9th & Walnut

Dirty Honey - Dirty Honey

Fiddlehead - Between the Richness

Iron Maiden - Senjutsu

Jerry Cantrell - Brighten

Lilith Czar - Created From Filth And Dust

Rise Against - Nowhere Generation

Lucifer - Lucifer IV

Mogwai - As The Love Continues

Monster Magnet - A Better Dystopia

Plush - Plush

Pop Evil - Versatile

Sleater-Kinney - Path of Wellness

Tremonti - Marching in Time

The Vaccines - Back in Love City

The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die - Illusory Walls

Wednesday - Twin Plagues

Weezer - Van Weezer

You Me At Six - SUCKAPUNCH

Recommended EPs and Mini-albums

Against the Current - Fever

BLOXX - Pop Culture Radio

Halflives - V

Pandamic - How To Be Happy

Maggie Lindemann - PARANOIA

The Warning - MAYDAY