Best Rock Album of 2014

Conor Oberst- Upside Down Mountain
Eels- The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett

In previous incarnations Oberst has been all over the place-- sometime as painfully so for his audience as for himself. But on this one he is in top form with alt country leaning into rock. He's now at the intersection of Rosanne, Lucinda, Son Volt, Wilco, Neil, and occasionally George Harrison.

The new Eels album is better than his last few. I saw them live a couple of weeks ago from the fourth row in a half-empty house. This is as fine a working band as there is, full of shaded truths tempered with gentle irony.

Jack White is good, but more blues fan-boy than aging baby genius.

John Hiatt- Terms of My Surrender. This is Haitt's best mature work by a country mile. Other than Dylan(and hopefully Hiatt still has ten years to catch up with Bob) there is no grander master straddling rock, country, blues, and unaffected Americana. Excellent New West LP SQ. Gives Morning Phase a serious run for best of 2014.

Summing up, there were quite a few keepers, plus one great retrospective (David Bowie's Nothing Has Changed, skimmed to the cream for the excellent vinyl version).

In no particular order except for Rosanne on top:

Rosanne Cash- The River and the Thread
Les Claypool's Duo de Twang- Four Foot Shack
Flaming Lips- With a Little Help from my Friends
Foo Fighters- Sonic Highways
Jeff Tweedy- Sukierae
U2- Songs of Innocence
Lucinda Williams- Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone
Ryan Adams
Conor Oberst- Upside Down Mountain
Beck-Morning Phase
Dave Davies- Rippin' Up Time
John Hiatt- Terms of My Surrender
Nick Cave/Warren Ellis- West of Memphis
The Antlers- Familiars
Real Estate- Atlas
Tom Petty- Hypnotic Eye