Episode 45: Best Songs and Albums of 2021

It's the first annual Michael's Record Collection awards! For this episode, you're stuck with just me (no guests) as I walk through the songs and albums that stood out to me over the 2021 calendar year. Play along at home and tell me what I got right and wrong. I have a list of albums and songs below in case you want to check out any you're not familiar with, so if you don't want to be spoiled about the podcast, stop reading after the next two paragraphs.

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Albums discussed in this episode:

Plush - Plush
Mason Hill - Against the Wall
Wildstreet - III
CHVRCHES - Screen Violence
Inglorious - Heroine
Chantel McGregor - Shed Sessions Volume One and Volume Two
Laura Meade - The Most Dangerous Woman in America
Leslie Hunt - Ascend (EP) / Descend (EP)
Lindsey Buckingham - Lindsey Buckingham
John Mayer - Sob Rock
Dennis DeYoung - 26 East Vol. 2
Night Ranger - ATBPO
ABBA - Voyage
Foo Fighters - Medicine at Midnight
Dee Snider - Leave a Scar
Iron Maiden - Senjutsu
Lifesigns - Altitude 
Transatlantic - The Absolute Universe
The Neal Morse Band - Innocence & Danger
Mammoth WVH - Mammoth WVH
The Connells - Steadman's Wake
Apollo Junction — All In
Black Diamonds — No-Tell Hotel
Blackberry Smoke — You Hear Georgia
Chrissie Hynde — Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan
David Crosby — For Free
Dec Burke — Life in Two Dimensions
Dirty Honey — Dirty Honey (EP)
Duran Duran — Future Past
The Dust Coda — Mojo Skyline
Garbage — No Gods No Masters
Gary Kemp — INSOLO
Gary Numan — Intruder
Greta Van Fleet — The Battle at Garden’s Gate
Halsey — If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power
Inglorious — We Will Ride
Jackson Browne — Downhill from Everywhere
Land of Gypsies — Land of Gypsies
The Livesays — Not What I Bargained For
Micky Dolenz — Dolenz Sings Nesmith
Olivia Rodrigo — Sour
Rachel Flowers — Bigger on the Inside
Samantha Fish — Faster
Secret Sphere — Lifeblood
Steve Hackett — Surrender of Silence
Steven Wilson — The Future Bites
Styx — Crash of the Crown
Toad the Wet Sprocket — Starting Now
Velvet Insane — Rock ‘n’ Roll Glitter Suit
VOLA — Witness
Walter Egan — Fascination

Individual tracks discussed in this episode:

Billy Idol - "Bitter Taste"
Tears for Fears - "The Tipping Point"
Men Without Hats - "No Friends of Mine"
D'Virgilio, Morse & Jennings - "Julia"
Steven Wilson - "12 Things I Forgot"