2014 was a great year for electronic music, with artists like ODESZA, Gramatik, and Galantis producing new and original material to the delight of listeners everywhere. For some artists though, 2014 was either more of the same or a huge step back in terms of creativity and originality. Whether it was a continuation of the same, unoriginal creations or a devolution of sound and creativity these artists seemingly brought very little to the table this year. So for your consideration, here are our selections for Worst Albums of the Year for 2014.
1. Borgore – #NEWGOREORDER
Kicking off the list with some unbelievably bad music is #NEWGORORDER by Borgore. It seems like just yesterday Borgore was putting out ridiculous, yet fun tracks like “Gagging” and “Decisions.” Now it has come to this. I’m not one for hyperbole so believe me when I say this is the worst music I’ve ever heard. There is absolutely no substance, meaning, or emotion in any of the tracks on this album. “Syrup” seemed like something a rebellious teenager would play in the car to piss off their parents and I thought it couldn’t get any worse, but then came “Ratchet.” You ever find yourself in a situation that is so bad that you can’t help but to laugh? Thats what happened within the first ten seconds of “Ratchet.” The rest of the album is complete and utter garbage.
2. David Guetta – Listen
The last thing I want to do when I see David Guetta is Listen, so the irony of this album title made me laugh out loud. Granted, this album isn’t nearly as awful as Borgore’s, so that’s something. Guetta’s latest collection of songs is objectively bad for a different reason: it’s the epitome of sell-out radio hits. It’s the kind of music that is on in the background and you don’t notice just how “meh” it is until you actually listen to it. If it’s any saving grace, Guetta was never any good so at least you can say you weren’t disappointed. Let’s not forget that this happened to Guetta in 2014 either.
3. Zomboy – The Outbreak
Zomboy had a newsworthy year, but not in the way he would’ve liked. First he was accused of stealing from Skrillex’ new album (which he deemed a coincidence), then again from Dirtyloud (which he straight up denied). The Dirtyloud situation may be chalked up to a coincidence because both songs are Big Room where it’s harder to sound original than it is to copy, but I digress. The album, titled The Outbreak is another example of generic, mindless dubstep that you can only listen to for a couple minutes. There are similar builds, drum hits, and then heavy noise that just thrashes around for a while before clearing out. His first song “Nuclear” isn’t all terrible so it set my expectations about medium height. Next comes “Outbreak” which is awful dubstep behind awful rap lyrics, 2x the awful for the price of one. The remainder is the status quo, with little to no diversity in sounds or structure, and even less originality.
4. Steve Aoki – Neon Future
Steve Aoki is one of the most recognizable names, and faces in “EDM” for his on stage antics moreso than his music. I assume most people catch his sets at festivals because they’re hungry and hope to get some of the free cake he distributes to his fans. Aoki slides into the number four spot on our list for Neon Future because of how generic his tracks are and how little his music has evolved.
At this point in his career Aoki can continue to get booked for shows and festivals based on reputation alone. The fact that he is playing/releasing outdated, overplayed songs doesn’t seem to deter people from seeing him so he’s continuing with this approach. We’re adding Aoki to this list because although he doesn’t need to evolve his music because of his celebrity status, doesn’t mean he shouldn’t. He can and should be pushing boundaries within the genre rather than living within those boundaries. This attitude is what gave way to Neon Future, an album that sounds like the same Steve Aoki from 2011.
5. Big Gigantic – The Night Is Young (Most Disappointing)
Lately it seems like Big Gigantic has been underwhelming a lot of fans with their shows and this album. There have been a lot of internet grumblings on Facebook and Reddit as Big G lovers voice their discontent with Dom and Jeremy. Before we go any further we’d like to make one thing clear: this album is in no way as terrible as the preceding albums, it’s just…stale. We think that the sax-drum combo may be limiting their creative process, as so much of their identity is tied to their structure which may be holding back from their potential to innovate. As one of the pioneers of the integration of live instrumentation in electronic music and extremely talented musicians we know that Big G can find a way to create something totally new and fresh and we hope they do. 2015 is another year with a lot of opportunities from one of our favorite duos in the genre and we’re excited to see what they have in store.
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