Year In Review 2025 - Favorite Albums of 2025

Here are our all of our favorite albums of 2025. This is the year end review, all in one place.

Below are our picks for RtBE's favorite albums of the year. It starts with our honorable mentions then moves into our top ten albums of the year. There is a short blurb about the album and a song from it, click on the title to read our full review of the selected records. The focus here is on full albums, not singles, but long playing releases you can slap on and listen to all the way through.

We also took some time to discuss our favorite album artwork, our favorite archive/live album releases and favorite live shows from the year if you are interested.   

Thanks for reading. Until next year....

New Single from Murphy's Law "Revenge of the Killer Beers"

The NYHC legends Murphy's Law have released a new single, "Revenge of the Killer Beers"

Check out the sequel to their classic tune "Attack of the Killer Beers" below:

Album Review: Bruce Springsteen - Tracks II: The Lost Albums

Bruce Springsteen

Tracks II: The Lost Albums

*** out of *****

For Tracks II, Bruce Springsteen decided to focus on albums (or close to it as you can get) he had recorded yet chose not to release for various reasons over the years. The massive collection of 83 songs is overwhelming to those without a hardcore love of The Boss, however a few of these collections are enjoyable no matter what your level of fandom is. 

New Single from Nadia Angelini "see through"

Los Angeles based singer/songwriter Nadia Angelini has a new single out "see through".

Check out the Angelini's fantastic vocals on the tune below:

New Video/Single from The Band of Heathens "No Direction"

The Austin, TX based Americana outfit The Band of Heathens has a new single/video out, "No Diretion".

Check out the easy flowing, twangy effort below:

 

Dylan Cover #713 Quincy Flint "When The Ship Comes In" 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 Quincy Flint playing "When The Ship Comes In" 

Thoughts on Original:

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

One of our favorite songs from the early days of Dylan. The purest Irish Folk we felt he ever got, Joan Baez was a fan of this one and told a cool story during No Direction Home, about him being pissed at a hotel attendant and then having this song just spiral out of him. Images of the sea, the salt, the song, raiding/pillaging; a pirate song at heart. When we are looking for pure folk Dylan this one usually finds it's way to our ears.

Cover:

Thoughts on Cover Artist:

This is RtBE's first time hearing Quincy Flint who is a Florida based folk singer.  

Thoughts on Cover:  

Great picking, solid singing. A well down live, straight ahead cover of the gorgeous song. Well done all around. 

This wraps up another year of Bob Dylan covers. I can't believe this series is still going. 713 different Dylan covers and counting. Thanks for reading and listening. Thanks to all the artists as well. See you in 2026. 

 

New Single/Video from Dan Owen "Movie Screens"

A few weeks back RtBE featured English singer/songwriter Dan Owen in our Monday's Bob Dylan Cover Series. Owen played a stunning live version of the "Ballad of Hollis Brown". It was our first time hearing the artist, and after some research, we found out he has a new album coming out soon. Here he is playing his new single "Movie Screens".

Check out the live acoustic tune below:

 

Full Show Friday: Celtic Women Home for Christmas

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...Celtic Women! 

Our last Christmas post! Celtic Women, Home for Christmas on this final Full Show Friday of 2025.  Thanks for reading and listening. 

Pro shot, pro sound, enjoy!

Merry Christmas from RtBE!

Have a Happy One on @RockBodyElec:

Click that read more for a few of our favorite holiday tunes!

New Single/Video from Kaia Fincher "Slowburn (Christmas Song)"

The Brighton, UK based artist/producer Kaia Fincher has a new Christmas song out, "Slowburn (Christmas Song)".

About the song Fincher states:

Album Review: Grateful Dead - Dave's Picks #56 Rainbow Theater London 3/20-21/81

Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks #56 Rainbow Theater London 3/20-21/81

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

Standard disclaimer: When reviewing any Grateful Dead release at this point, it needs to be noted that a lot of the truly great shows from the band have already been professionally released. (If you are new to the band, check out RtBE's Beginners Guide to The Grateful Dead Part's one and two.) With their vast back catalog on archive.org and all of their previous releases, the band's selections are running thin when it comes to must own, professionally released concerts.

That said, the band still release shows because rabid fans (RtBE included) will listen to everything they put out. So let's dive in...

Album Review: The Black Keys - No Rain, No Flowers

The Black Keys

No Rain, No Flowers

** out of *****

On last years, Ohio Players, The Black Keys shifted out of their rinse and repeat blues rock style to make a successfully wide ranging effort that touched on hip hop, Beck collaborations and poppy outings all mixed in with their bread and blues butter. 

It sounded like the band was truly having fun in the studio, unfortunately things fell apart for them almost immediately after releasing the record. They were forced to cancel an upcoming arena tour and fired their management team. Without pausing, the band dove back into the studio as No Rain, No Flowers arrives just a year after all of that. One might assume it would be a retreat to their classic style, that is not the case. 

Album Review: Various Artists - A Tribute to the King of Zydeco

Various Artists

A Tribute to the King of Zydeco

**** out of *****

To celebrate what would have been Clifton Chenier's 100th birthday, Valcour Records put together a tribute album that brings together a wide range of Chenier's musical fans. A Tribute to the King of Zydeco is a benefit album that supports Clifton Chenier Memorial Scholarship, which will offer annual financial assistance to students studying Traditional Music, specifically Zydeco accordion, keeping Louisiana Music alive for future generations. 

Album Review: Jennie Arnau - A Rising Tide

Jennie Arnau

A Rising Tide

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

Some artists like to take their time between albums and then there is Jennie Arnau. After releasing 2010's Chasing Giants she lived a full life and finally returned fifteen years later to tell her musical tales with A Rising Tide, a collection of fourteen Americana based numbers filtered through the cement of her hometown NYC.   

New Single/Video from Liz Hogg "One Thread"

The Brooklyn based electric/classical guitarist and composer/singer-songwriter Liz Hogg recently released her second solo album Goodbye World Hello Something via Aagoo Records. Her most recent single./video is for the song "One Thread".

The tune has a quirky 90's indie-rock vibe to it, as if it would have sounded at home as a Wowee Zowee outtake. Give it a spin below and grab her album.

  

Dylan Cover #712 Brian Corcoran "Must Be Santa" 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 Brian Corcoran playing "Must Be Santa"

Thoughts on Original:
In 2009 Bob Dylan released Christmas In The Heart and unleashed his version of the rollicking "Must Be Santa" and it's killer video upon the world.

Based on a German drinking song, "Must Be Santa" was concocted by Hal Moore and Bill Fredericks and first released in 1960. Dylan's version is a blast in a polka style tossing in Presidents into the mix. While technically not an original for this series...who cares?  

Cover:

Thoughts on Cover Artist:
This is our first time hearing Brian Corcoran, a singer from Dublin. 

Thoughts on Cover:

Merry Christmas!

New Singles from Brass Knuckle Brigade "To Be Blood" and "Savages"

The new hardcore outfit Brass Knuckle Brigade have two tunes out, "To Be Blood" and "Savages".  

This is a heavy hitting one-two punch of raw aggression from the group, whose members have been on the scene for years. BKB are longtime friends of RtBE so it is good to see them in action again. 

Check out the beat down ready tracks below:

Full Show Friday: André Rieu - Christmas Down Under (Live in Sydney)

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...André Rieu! 

So it is that time of year, and for this Full Show Friday we head down under with André Rieu for Christmas Down under in Sydney. 

Pro shot, Pro sound, full set list below. Enjoy!

00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:46 Seventy Six Trombones 00:05:20 Dark Eyes 00:08:35 Granada 00:15:35 The Holy City 00:21:16 Sleighride 00:25:04 Plaisir d'Amour 00:31:07 O Holy Night 00:36:55 Hallelujah 00:42:22 Trumpet Voluntary 00:44:09 Lara's Theme - From "Dr. Zhivago" 00:47:11 Light Cavalry 00:48:48 Csárdásfürstin Medley 00:50:19 Highland Cathedral / Scotland The Brave 00:59:50 The Beautiful Blue Danube 01:08:33 Oh Fortuna 01:13:32 Radetzkymarch 01:16:04 Strauß & Co. 01:19:28 Libiamo 01:23:58 Tutti Frutti 01:26:31 Can’t Help Falling In Love 01:29:40 Jingle Bells 01:32:07 Halleluja 01:35:50 Silent Night 01:38:02 I Am Australian 01:42:49 Auld Lang Syne 01:46:01 Adieu, mein kleiner Gardeoffizier 01:50:24 We Wish You A Merry Christmas 01:51:40 Marina

Year In Review 2025 - Favorite Albums Part 3 (Top 5)

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 3: Top Five.

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 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, AI music, Spotify, or playlists for us.

The number ten just works for this, so here is the second part of our top ten, numbers five through one. You can see the back end of our top ten and our list of Honorable Mentions that were just out of our top ten. Consider those 10-24, in no particular order.

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

Album Review: Snooper - Worldwide

Snooper

Worldwide

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

Following up on their exciting debut, the Nashville, TN based Snooper continue their egg punk style with short blasts of raw sounds mixed with odd dance ready outings on Worldwide. The group uses lo-fi artsy twists to the music as they continue to solidify their style.