It’s always interesting to look back at the music that's been on the charts during the year. You get reminders of some great records from much earlier in the year that you may have forgotten or moved on from by now. There are also usually plenty of new artists and debut discs in there, too, It's always encouraging to see that. You can also see how the list compares with your own best albums of 2024.
The year-end charts can also show some trends and changes from previous years, and often, some hit artists stand out. The Billboard 200 year-end chart for 2024 has, as you’d expect, lots of top albums on it. It’s no surprise to see Taylor Swift featuring strongly. She has four of the top ten albums of the year. Plus another three in the top 20, it’s been quite a year for her.
But a real shock comes with what the album chart reveals about rock music during 2024. Initially, it’s when you realize the top rock album in 2024 only ranks as high as number 34 for the year. You’d surely have expected to see a rock album featuring higher than that. Wait though; there’s more to come.
The top rock album for 2024 is…
The position as top rock album of the year in the charts is held by Fleetwood Mac with Rumours. I mean it's a great album, but really? The highest seller in 2024 dates back to 1977. What does that say about the current state of rock music?
Well, there are more facts from the chart that show all is not well in the rock world. There are 24 rock artists’ greatest hits albums in the top 200. After those, there are only five more rock albums, one being Rumours. The other four don't offer much hope for new rock music either. Nirvana with Nevermind, AC/DC’s Back In Black, Linkin Park’s debut Hybrid Theory, and Sublime with their self-titled record. Not a fresh face amongst them.
It’s not down to having too many genres and dividing the rock category into more sections. It’s much more a fundamental shift in what makes the charts these days. Some styles of emerging post-rock music, like rap and hip-hop, will have had an impact for sure.
Maybe there are fewer rock albums being released, or those that come out just aren't big enough to make a significant dent on the charts. Whatever the reason it’s a huge worry for rock fans, they could be edging out to a fringe category or genre and that's no place for such great music.