Every once in a while, it’s a little difficult to get back onto the proverbial horse, especially for me since I’m not even sure where the danged horse is. Oh well, I suppose it’s time for some semblance of new stories to begin again. So here goes. I see my topic of choice — the expected releases of 2014 — has already been covered by the venerable staples out there, but I can’t relate to the stories that I read. Seriously, type in various searches on this topic, and you will be bombarded with various articles touting various “metal” releases slated for 2014. The trouble is… I have no idea who half of these bands actually are. And that makes me wonder if I’m even a rocker anymore. I even listen to alternative rock stations, but still, I don’t know this heavy music, not at all. There are seriously bands out there with crazy names, think Ass to Mouth. Yuck! So I’m going to list things, including the “genres” shown on the list from Wikipedia for 2014’s slated releases. As for the genres there are so many names and types of music I don’t know at all. So I’m thinking I’ll find a primer to what rock actually is now. For the next couple of weeks, we are going to have … school! Rock school! And I’m going to decide if I like … well, anything anymore, save for the boys (and girls, there are a few of those too) I’ve always loved. But first, a list!
These are the publicized rock and metal artists and albums slated to be released in 2014. And if anyone has any more to add, go for it. Oh and Whisper’s modern rock school to begin next weekend, barring crazy sicknesses or jobs getting in the way. Stay tuned! And to answer the question, apparently 2014 will rock; I’m just not sure … how!
| Release Date | Artist | Album | Genre |
| 1/3/2014 | Legion of the Damned | Ravenous Plague | Death metal, thrash metal |
| 1/7/2014 | Stephen Malkmus and the Jinks | Wig Out at the Jinks | Indie rock |
| 1/14/2014 | Switchfoot | Fading West | Alternative rock, post-grunge, hard rock |
| 1/14/2014 | Bruce Springsteen | High Hopes | |
| 1/17/2014 | Warpaint | Warpaint | Indie rock, dream pop |
| 1/17/2014 | Alcest | Shelter | post-rock, shoegazing, dream pop |
| 1/21/2014 | Young and the Giant | Mind Over Matter | Alternative rock |
| 1/21/2014 | Against Me! | Transgender Dysphoria Blues | Punk rock |
| 1/21/2014 | Ice Nine Kills | The Predator Becomes the Prey | Metalcore, emo, post-hardcore, pop punk |
| 1/27/2014 | Mike Oldfield | Man on the Rocks | Rock |
| 1/27/2014 | Transatlantic | Kaleidoscope | Progressive rock |
| 1/28/2014 | Of Mice & Men | Restoring Forece | |
| 1/31/2014 | Within Temptation | Hydra | Symphonic metal |
| TBA (1/2014) | Iced Earth | Plagues of Babylon | Heavy metal |
| TBA (1/2014) | Limp Bizkit | Stampede of the Disco Elephants | |
| TBA (1/2014) | Blondie | Ghosts of Download | Dance-pop, pop, electropop |
| 2/4/2014 | Bombay Bicycle Club | So Long, See You Tomorrow | Indie rock, Alternative rock, Experimental |
| 2/4/2014 | Xiu Xiu | Angel Guts: Red Classroom | Art rock, Experimental synthpop |
| 2/4/2014 | Gardens & Villa | Dunes | Indie rock |
| 2/4/2014 | Broken Bells | After the Disco | Indie rock, alternative rock, space rock |
| 2/11/2014 | +++ | +++ | Electronic rock |
| 2/14/2014 | Beck | Morning Phase | |
| 2/21/2014 | Papa vs Pretty | White Deer Park | Rock, indie rock, alternative rock |
| 2/25/2014 | The Fray | Helios | Alternative rock, pop rock, piano rock |
| 2/25/2014 | St. Vincent | St. Vincent | Indie pop, art rock, Baroque pop |
| 3/4/2014 | Real Estate | Atlas | Indie rock, alternative rock |
| 3/4/2014 | Fuel | Puppet Strings | |
| 3/4/2014 | Overkill | TBA | Thrash metal, speed metal, heavy metal, groove metal |
| 3/11/2014 | Architects | Lost Forever/Lost Together | Metalcore,post-hardcore, mathcore, progressive metal |
| 3/18/2014 | La Dispute | Rooms of the House | Post-hardcore, progressive rock, spoken word |
| 3/18/2014 | Foster the People | Supermodel | Alternative rock, Indie pop |
| 3/18/2014 | War on Drugs | Lost in the Dream | Indie Rock |
| 3/25/2014 | Johnny Cash | Out Among the Stars | Country music |
| 3/25/2014 | Tokyo Police Club | Forcefield | Indie rock, alternative rock |
| 3/31/2014 | Kaiser Chiefs | Education, Education, Education and War | Rock |
| 4/1/2014 | Steel Panther | All You Can Eat | Glam Metal, Hard rock, Heavy metal, comedy rock |
| 4/8/2014 | James Durbin | Celebrate | Rock, hard rock, alternative, pop |
| April, TBA | Adelitas Way | TBA | Alternative metal, hard rock, post-grunge |
| April, TBA | U2 | TBA | Rock, alternative rock, post-punk |
| 5/2/2014 | Xandrea | Sacrificium | Symphonic metal |
| 5/26/2014 | Bury Tomorrow | Runes | Melodic Metalcore |
| June, TBA | Kasabian | TBA | rock |
| Unscheduled and TBA | |||
| Accept | TBA | Heavy metal, speed metal | |
| AC/DC | TBA | Hard rock, blues rock, rock and roll | |
| Tori Amos | Unrepentant Geraldines | Singer/Songwriter | |
| Art of Dying | TBA | ||
| Anthrax | TBA | Thrash metal | |
| Arch Enemy | TBA | Melodic death metal | |
| Blink-182 | TBA | Pop-punk | |
| Michael Jackson | TBA | Dance | |
| John Cale | TBA | Alternative rock | |
| Chevelle | TBA | Alternative metal | |
| Corrosion of Conformity | TBA | Stoner rock, heavy metal, sludge metal | |
| The Cult | TBA | Hard rock, gothic rock, post-punk, heavy metal, alternative rock | |
| Exodus | TBA | Thrash metal | |
| Foo Fighters | TBA | Alternative rock, post-grunge, hard rock | |
| Garbage | TBA | Alternative rock, electronic rock | |
| Guns ‘n’ Roses | TBA | Hard rock, heavy metal | |
| Iron Maiden | TBA | Heavy metal | |
| Manic Street Preachers | Futurology | Alternative rock | |
| Judas Priest | TBA | Heavy metal | |
| Kataklysym | Waiting for the End to Come | Death metal | |
| Linkin Park | TBA | Alternative rock, rap rock, electronic rock | |
| Motley Crue | TBA | Heavy metal, glam metal, hard rock | |
| No Doubt | TBA | Alternative rock, new wave, reggae fusion, pop rock | |
| The Offspring | TBA | Punk rock, pop punk, alternative rock | |
| Phish | Wingsuit | Alternative rock, psychedelic rock, reggae, bluegrass, soul | |
| Rancid | Honor is All We Know | Punk rock | |
| Red Hot Chili Peppers | TBA | Funk rock, alternative rock | |
| Soundgarden | TBA | Alternative metal, grunge, alternative rock, heavy metal | |
| Testament | TBA | Thrash metal | |
| Tool | TBA | Alternative metal, art rock, progressive metal, progressive rock | |
| Whitesnake | TBA | Hard rock, blues rock, heavy metal, glam metal | |
| Y&T | TBA | Hard rock, heavy metal | |
| 78Violet | TBA | Pop, indie, alternative |