It's been one hell of a year. The government may have shut down, but the music world flourished through it all. We may have forgotten for two months that anyone except Vanity existed, but looking back, the year was full of brilliant releases month after month. Rock had a huge year with new albums from James Urie and Julia Volova. Alex Simms, PURE and Calling Captain gave us promising debut albums. Then came the giant albums. Riot! in the Boulevard released the most uplifting youthful alternative album in years. In June Reported Failure released "Rome" an album that put the band on the same level as legends like Infinite and Mind. But rock didn't completely dominate this year. Vanity after all saw her album "The Sound of Living" top the charts for seven weeks in a row. Abie Lena and Glamazon both released different but equally brilliant pop albums. Girlspice came back and even collaborated with Blood of Wecz? Releases also came from Serenity Scott, Tisha Jackson, and Hey Lolita, as well as debuts from Maddie Urie, Aimee Christelle. No doubt a huge album this year, in November breakout artist Pixie released "Imagine" solidifying her place in the industry. The year, thus was a mix of youthful promise and more aged success as artists old and new equally dominated the radio. Here at Max-Volume we've gone back and compiled a list of the top 40 albums of the year. Lets go back and take a look and celebrate the beautiful year we've had.

OOC: Fist a big thank you to C4AJoh for helping write some of the album descriptions. After that thank you to everyone who voted in the polls. Here are the results! Lastly thanks to everyone who helped make TRSG a nice, lively online community to be a part of this year. I'm not usually consistently active for the whole year so doing this was a nice way to look at all the work everyone did that I may have missed. I must say all of you are superb and there are some great people here. Thanks.


Max Pruitt [M.P.] (Editor)
Christine Herrick [C.H.]
Julian Morello [J.M.]


The challenge that Reported Failure faced in following up "Darkness" was enough to bury even the most talented acts in the music industry. But Reported Failure met the challenge; They dominated the singles chart once more, four number ones came ‘Days Spent In The Dark’, ‘Lunar Utero’ 'Land and Sea' and ‘Frosted Peaks’ and the record became another dominant release from a band that continues to raise the bar, six years after breaking into the music industry. Billie Beckett has led Reported Failure into becoming a dominant force within the music industry, the question is, where do they possibly go from here? Having already written two iconic rock albums we can only hope that it is just like Beckett says on the title track to "Rome": "I will build a brand new day!" - J.M.

Building a new day: Billie Beckett at The Chaos Awards VII


On “Cold Hearts And Broken Memories” the fifteenth track on Riot! in the Boulevard's "Wild Young Things" Amy Meyer softly ponders her future questioning "I just wanna know/Will I go down in flames/Or will I go down in history". With an album that found its way in to the hearts of the young those who are young at heart, Riot! in the Boulevard captivated us all this year. Gleefully riding thew line between rock and pop, the band's singles were inescapable and their power irreplaceable. Now reformed in to a trio, R!OT, the three remaining members will certainly go on to new places in their wild and young career. The band may burn their bridges and move apart. But in 2013 five misfit kids from Vegas made us all believe that we could make history. - M.P.

She's a Riot: Amy Meyer recording a track for Wild Young Things


We were expecting something great from Abie Lena. But we never knew the Brazilian beauty would take us on the type of journey that is "The End Starts Now". From the first lines of the dark "Dead for a reason" to the last note of the beautiful "Say a pray", Lena's jazz and pop meets classical and even dance elements on what is absolutely a career highlight. We feel every pain that she expresses. "Let me taste your pity in my lips/Let me hear your contempt in my ears" she declares on "You make me die". we want whoever is hurting her to stop and for it to be over, but all the while we can't turn away, and as long as Lena keeps making music we probably never will. - C.H.

Its only the beginning: Lena performing at the No Venues Tour IV


No new artist had bigger hype this year than Pixie. Almost as soon as she appeared she was the talk of the entire scene. With "Imagine" Pixie scored the biggest debut album of the year. There is a song on this album for each occasion. Pixie is able to capture everything from the subtlety of emotion in waking up in the morning and facing the day, to the energy of a party and a dancefloor, to the cool quiet of late nights and the joy of love. Few albums were played more, loved more, or sung as loudly. Even if Pixie walks alone, we were with her singing in our cars, dnacing at clubs, and laughing loving and relaxing in our homes. - M.P.

Enchanting the world: Pixie in the Walk Alone video


"Loving me is the new black, the new fashion" declares Glamazon on the third track of "Riot Grrrl". Glamazon is a veteran. Her image is huge. Her songs are huge. Whenever she does something it is huge. What makes "Riot Grrrl" so great though isn't even that it is from a huge artist and has huge hits and huge production. The album is raw as fuck. The album plays like a dark industrial pop diary entry. The woman behind it is powerful and mean, but behind the rough exterior of the songs she is sensitive and almost loving. Glamazon may certainly be the new black, but with an album like "Riot Grrrl" the different shades of her might just make her last much longer than a new fashion. - M.P.

The new black: Glamazon


On her sohpomore album, pop rock singer Jennifer Armstrong didn't hold anything back. With sleek production from the likes of Gia Rose Hilton and Sunny Monroe, not to mention resonating songwriting, Armstrong and company scored the year's first huge album. With a full scope of emotion Armstrong was the girl who taught us "Its okay to not be okay" - C.H.


"I'm walking on, not looking back to yesterday" declares Vanity on "Come Alive". After one of the darkest periods of her life, we understand why the pop queen wants to walk on and not look to yesterday. With "The Sound of Living" Vanity created an incredibly powerful album. Every song resonates. Its no wonder she topped the charts for seven weeks in a row with the year's most uplifting pop album. - M.P.

Alive once more: Vanity


The sophomore album from indie pop duo Jared Nevo and Arianna Harley AKA Hey Lolita is a quiet intimate and passionate gem of an album. When Harley sings "you know how to get this little angel past the gates of hell" on "Sick Tragedy" it essentially sets the tone for an incredibly seductive and sexy album that at times should be labeled NSFW. But beyond the sensual lyrics, the production holds the album together for what is one of the years more provocative albums. - M.P.


The biggest new thing in indie rock this year was undeniably the new band from ex-Misery Loves Company frontman Ryan Williams. "Weekend Lovers" is a ten track dream of love sex and drugs. Gotta love rock and roll. But the four highschool buddies styay captivating all the way so when Williams says "she doesn’t care about the future, it’s so cool" on "LOVE//LIES" we all hink its cool too. - M.P.

New indie-rockers: PURE


Ryan Ross Hernandez is the kind of man who could be photographed brushing his teeth and it would make the news whether he used Crest of Colgate and whether he brushed for two minutes or one. But on "Traveling Tales" we are able to forget every headline we've ever read about the rockstar. We just listen to his voice and guitar and we can tell as we let the world fade away that Ryan Ross Hernandez was probably doing the same thing when he wrote it. - C.H.


Most Alt Rock/Post-Hardcore acts tend to go in with a band behind them searching for the classic rock and roll dream. A breakout artist this year, Alex Simms, does it alone, and hell did it pay off. With the powerful emotion of Reported Failure and youth of Riot! in the Boulevard, Alex Simms has the making of a rock superstar. So when Simms says "And destruction is her middle name/Setting fire to my things/Now she’s got me joining in" on "Going Down Together" he is probably right. - C.H.


"Goodbye to those past times!/Opportunities came knocking at my door" says James Urie on "Farwell". Having battled with depression and shaking his image, "The Recovery" marks a new beginning for Urie. Filled with sleek production solid vocals and addictive lyrics, the album is easily one of the top rock releases of the year and Urie's best album to date. - M.P.


One of the most iconic pop groups meets one of the most iconic metal bands on "Soul to Sell", track eight of Grilspice's "Make a Scene". What could possibly go wrong? Well, evidently, nothing. The song isn't metal by any means. But it isn't pop either. With "Make a Scene" Nadia, Kimberly, Sophia and Chantal make an album that is full of surprises. - M.P.


Julia Volkova is everything we want in a rockstar. She's mysterious. She's rebellious. She's creative. she's sexy. In 2013 she was the biggest female solo rocker, and "Haunted" was one of the biggest rock albums of the year. With big collaborations from James Urie, Vin Peters, and Abie Lena, not to mention a killer concept, on "Haunted" Volkova solidified her place in the rock scene. - C.H.

Haunting rockstar: Julia Volkova


Hip-hop was quiet for most of 2013. But later in the year things started to pick up for the genre, and Rum & Coke are highly responsible. "Epiphany" is the most powerful piece of RnB/Hip-Hop/Rap to come to mainstream audiences in years. The duo came seemingly out of nowhere but with one of the year's biggest debut albums there is no doubt they will bring us something even bigger next year. - C.H.