Year In Review 2025 - Favorite Albums Part 1 (Honorable Mentions & Let Downs)

Another year is finishing up and @RockBodElec wouldn't be a proper music site if we didn't end the year with a "Best Of" list, so RtBE presents 2025's Favorite Albums Part 1 (Honorable Mentions and Let Downs):

In the instance that RtBE has reviewed the album, either on this site or elsewhere, we will link to that review and just give a quick summation, click on the name/title and you can read our full opinion. RtBE also worked with the Glide Team to give input on their Top 20, so you can expect some overlap if you already have seen that list.

Again the focus here is on full albums, not singles, but long playing releases you can slap on and listen all the way through. We know these are a dying breed, but it still is the way we consume music, no shuffle, Spotify, AI curated playlists, or streaming for us.

These are the albums that just missed out on being included in our top ten favorite for the year (coming soon). After some excellent albums, we have a few releases from artists we dig, which we were let down by. 

Like all of our lists or 'best of'', these are meant to start conversations, not end them...

Live Review: The Hold Steady - 12/5/25 Brooklyn Bowl, Williamsburg NYC

The Hold Steady

12/5/25 Brooklyn Bowl, Williamsburg NYC

It is hard to believe The Hold Steady have been holding their annual Massive Nights celebration at Brooklyn Bowl for ten years now, since RtBE was there for the first one and we haven't missed a year since. 

Year In Review 2025 - Favorite Archival Releases

Each year the music industry dips into the past to deliver box sets, live albums, re-masters and outtake collections to sell to the music loving masses (present company included). This look back will round up some of RtBE's favorite archival releases from the past year. 

Usually these releases can fall into the money grab category, not really adding much outside of revenue for the label and (hopefully) the artist. Every now and then though some spectacular collections are unearthed and are worth any price. 

RtBE includes live albums in this category, since they were recorded in the recent or distant past and thus fall into archival release status. 

With the increase in vinyl, and enhanced Record Store Days to help smaller sellers, there are more and more archival releases each year. RtBE are sure to miss a lot of them, but the quality and abundance is exciting. Post your favorites, or any we may have missed, in the comments. 

These were our favorite archival releases of 2025, click the link in the title for full reviews.

Album Review: Maggie Koerner - Upstate

Maggie Koerner

Upstate

***and1/2 out of *****

Maggie Koerner's fourth album, titled Upstate, is a searching travelogue of heartbreak, pain, and abusive relationships, as Koerner is clearly trying hard to come out of it all stronger. 

Year In Review 2025 - Favorite Album Art

We kick off our Year in Review section of 2025 with the first feature in the Best of... wrap up: Album Art. 

Just like in years past, we will be choosing our favorite albums of the year, a few that were underwhelming, our favorite live shows, and highlight some fantastic archive releases, all of which will be posted over the next few days. 

Today we are starting out by judging books (records) by their covers (vinyl sleeves, jackets, digital pics, etc) with our Favorite Album Art Work of 2025.

The biggest gripe RtBE has with digital music is not the quality (that has been massively improved) nor the disposal nature of it (still a problem, but whatever), it is the lack of amazing album covers and art work.

Sure there may be great album art out there but seeing it on a screen, on Spotify or elsewhere is nothing compared to holding an LP or even a CD booklet with pages of lyrics, pictures etc. 

Thankfully the rise of vinyl is helping this dilemma but it is still not enough. The hours we spent staring, actually holding, examining tons of covers while listening to music can't be adequately recorded, it added new dimensions to the sounds. You are connected to album in a more physical way; things were deeper, more evocative...Anyways...

Here comes RtBE's Favorite Album Art of 2025. 

Album Review: Dr. John - Live at the Village Gate

Hey all, got a review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here.

It is of Dr. John's recent archival live album, Live at the Village Gate.

Support the artist, buy the album, read the review and peep some video below:

2026 New Orleans JazzFest Artist Predictions

The lineup for the 2026 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival will be announced soon, but RtBE got the early scoop...

Album Review: Robert Finley - Hallelujah! Don't Let The Devil Fool Ya

Robert Finley

Hallelujah! Don't Let The Devil Fool Ya

***and1/2 out of *****

Never one to do things the 'normal way' Robert Finley approached his first gospel album with no set material, just a sense of the lord speaking through him. What rolled out was, Hallelujah! Don't Let The Devil Fool Ya, a funky good time that has one foot in church, and the other one on the late night dance floor getting down with wild abandon. 

Dylan Cover #710 KneeDeep Band "Everything Is Broken" Live

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is a live cover by KneeDeep Band playing "Everything is Broken"

Thoughts on Original:

From the first time we tackled a cover of this tune:

If Bob wasn't the Bard "Everything Is Broken" would just be another tossed off song. However, is anything with Dylan just simply tossed off? Well..yeah...this song certainly feels tossed off to me...sorry. Oh Mercy is a hell of an album, one of Dylan's classics, and this song is fine, it just can't even stand close to any of his all-time gems, not remotely close. One of the reasons I started this cover series was to show how amazing The Bard's songs are in just about anyone's hands, but if the original of this tune was written by Joe Schmo would people think it was great, or is it just the Dylan name that gives it clout?  

Cover:

Thoughts on Cover Artist:

This is the second time we featured the KneeDeep Band in our Monday Dylan series as the Durham, NC trio are a fun acoustic folk group. 

Thoughts on Cover:

A great spin through the song, both lighthearted and serious. The trio harmonize very well and play great as they put a different spin on the original blues rocker. A touch of The Folksmen from A Mighty Wind, in a good way, as this song strolls out.  

New Single/Video from Black Polish "Yuna's Lullaby"

The Los Angeles based artist Black Polish has released a new video for their single "Yuna's Lullaby"

Check out the track below:

Full Show Friday: moe. 2016-08-25 Red Rocks Amphitheatre (Full Show)

We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing). This week...moe! 

We had back into 2016 and jamband land for moe at the picturesque Red Rocks. 

Pro Shot, Pro Sound, Setlist below. Enjoy!

0:52 Rebubula 9:20 Bones of Lazarus 20:32 Annihilation Blues 25:06 Haze 33:55 Rainshine 38:57 Captain America 44:58 Moth 59:20 Hi & Lo 1:10:30 Brent Black 1:24:38 Thorazine Shuffle 1:34:32 Billy Goat

Album Review: Sabine McCalla - Don't Call Me Baby

Sabine McCalla

Don't Call Me Baby

***and1/2 out of *****

New Orleans has been called "the northernmost Caribbean city" and on Sabine McCalla's debut full length album the singer/songwriter digs into this vibe.  Don't Call Me Baby floats along on warm wafting sounds from further south, digging into McCalla's Haitian roots before drifting up into the Gulf of Mexico and right into the Bywater of the Crescent City and beyond. 

RIP Steve Cropper

The legendary Steve Cropper has passed away, he was 84. 

Cropper was an architect of the American classic soul sound being a songwriter and producer for Stax Records. He was also the guitar player in the historic Booker T and the MG's. 

New Single from Winged Wheel "Beautiful Holy Jewel Home"

Detroit rockers Winged Wheel have a new single, "Beautiful Holy Jewel Home".

Check out the spacey/haunting track below:

Album Review: Esther Rose - Want

Esther Rose

Want

**** out of *****

The Santa Fe, NM based singer-songwriter Esther Rose's fifth album Want, on New West Records, is a intoxicating mix of dramatic folk, enchanting vocals, powerful lyrics and stout rocking. Rose's honest style and strong musicianship leads to an album that sticks around in the mind and ears long after it has finished spinning. 

New Single/Video from Bitter Branches "Basic Karate"

The Philadelphia based, post hardcore outfit Bitter Branches has a new single/video out "Basic Karate" on Equal Vision Records.

Check out the tune below:

Album Review: Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter - Forever, I've Been Being Born

Hey all, got a review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here.

It is of Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter new release, Forever, I've Been Being Born. 

The first record from the artists since 2011 is a collection of fragile cosmic folk songs with a clear thread of melancholy floating throughout. 

Support the artists, buy the album, read the review and peep some video below:

New Single from Phoebe Rings ""가려진 시간 사이로 (Through The Hidden Hours)" (Yoon Sang cover)

The Auckland, New Zealand based dream pop outfit Phoebe Rings has a new single out. ""가려진 시간 사이로 (Through The Hidden Hours)" is a cover of Yoon Sang released on Carpark Records. 

Check out the cover song below.

Album Review: Chris Lyons - Painters Street

Chris Lyons

Painters Street

***and1/2 out of *****

The debut solo record from Chris Lyons is an easy flowing collection of eight light, roots rock based offerings that drift with relaxed charm. Painters Street, on Nudie Records, never rushes as a Sunday morning exhale vibe embodies Lyon's songs. 

Dylan Cover #709 Dan Owen "Ballad of Hollis Brown" Live

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is a live cover by Dan Owen doing "The Ballad of Hollis Brown"

Thoughts on Dylan Original:

From the first time we tackled a cover of this tune:
One of the most bleak and powerful songs of Dylan's strongest period, "The Ballad of Hollis Brown" is like the mentioned shotgun blast and story told to the listener; fierce.  Instantly a kinship is felt with the central character and as the situation becomes more direr, horrific and finally (somehow) hope creeps in.  The last lines are some of Dylan's best as the murder happens and yet optimism or at least irony flows through via "There's Seven New People Born"...The wheel keeps on a'spinnin'.    

Cover:


Thoughts of Cover Artist:
This is our first time hearing Dan Owen who is a Shrewsbury England based folk singer.

Thoughts on Cover:

This is a stunning live rendition! Fantastic guitar playing, and a voice that feels like it shouldn't be coming out of that body. RtBE needs to investigate Mr. Owen as this is a dynamite cover. Finding covers like this is the reason this series still exists...