In addition to my lists of the Top 10 Metal Albums of 2016 and the Top 6 Prog Albums of 2016 (+4 from the Metal list makes it a Top 10 Prog list), I wanted to add another 6 albums of pure Rock.
(For those of you doing the math, this makes it a total of 22 for my favorite albums of 2016. That’s the same total number of favorites that I picked last year.)
Sure, there’s a hint of prog on Space Elevator, especially on the last track, which, at the very end, recapitulates themes from most of the preceding songs on the entire album. And the recapitulation forms a conceptual part of the grand finale to the sci-fi framing sequence for the whole album. But nonetheless the album is mostly a pop-rock masterpiece that goes down smooth, so I place it on my Rock list.
Wolfmother, Weezer, and Sting all delivered perfect albums this year. They each deserve supreme recognition for doing so. Among this year’s most highly satisfying discs, I gave them all multiple spins over the weeks of 2016.
Juliette Lewis and Lake Street Dive are two incredible acts that I saw live in 2016. The concerts were both highlights of the year (read all about them at the links below), and the albums they released are also first class.
They say rock and roll is dead? Long live rock!
Top 6 Rock Albums of 2016
Space Elevator — Space Elevator
Juliette Lewis — Future Deep [Concert and Album Review]
Lake Street Dive — Side Pony [Concert Review]
Progarchy 
Another good list, thanks! The big surprise here for me is the Sting album. The cuts I’ve heard haven’t done much for me; they seem pretty bland. What do you like about it?
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