NUMBER TWENTY-SIX

Punching in at 26 are Royal Blood with How Did We Get So Dark? - a very, very solid record and yet I still have a couple of mixed feelings...

Looking back at how juiced I was when I first discovered them makes me a little bit sad at how much my feelings have dampened since then. Their debut came in at my number two spot in 2014 and I guess I was waiting for them to wow me just as much with this sophomore. Don't get me wrong though, there are a plethora of reasons why this has made my favourite albums of 2017 list. The first of these reasons being the title track - "How Did We Get So Dark?". This track does absolutely everything that it's supposed to do. As an opener it gets the listener buzzed to listen to the rest of the album and it definitely had me nodding my head from the start. The fresh but familiar sound of this song made me feel just as excited as I felt listening to their debut. Then as the title track, it has a fantastic build, and an even more satisfying finish. The riff doesn't give anything away about the rest of the album but it's one of the first riffs I remember when thinking about it.

Some of the other real standouts for me were "Where Are You Now?", "Hole In Your Heart", and "Sleep". Royal Blood really have the formula worked out for a killer opening track and an equally impactful closer. "Sleep" has this simmering riff that never quite boils over but stays just present enough for you to have it lodged in your mind for days on end. Looking at HDWGSD? as a follow up to a stellar debut, it's held it's own perfectly - which is no easy feat - sticking with the sound that they know whilst adding a few innovative touches. Looking at it as a rock album they manage to mix swampy bass with melodies that still make you want to shake a leg, all the while backed by hard hitting, in your face drums. Some of the things I look for most often in music.

Three years on and mounds of tour dates later it's glaringly obvious the boys' musicianship and overall artistry has stepped up, and in a year with extremely fierce competition they've still managed to shine. I just can't wait to see this all live.