2014

2014 was a heavy year to live through. The West African Ebola outbreak became the largest the world had seen, ISIS seized Mosul and declared a caliphate, and Russia annexed Crimea while Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished without trace. There was some relief in the sky: India put a probe around Mars, and Rosetta's Philae lander touched down on a comet.

Rock spent the year looking backwards and forwards at once. Linkin Park went heavier and rougher with The Hunting Party, and Slipknot returned in October with .5: The Gray Chapter. Foo Fighters made Sonic Highways, and Weezer came back with Everything Will Be Alright in the End. Veterans filled the November shelves: Pink Floyd's The Endless River, Queen Forever and AC/DC's Rock or Bust all arrived within three weeks of each other. The Smashing Pumpkins closed the year with Monuments to an Elegy, Manic Street Preachers put out Futurology, and Soundgarden dug through their archives for the Echo of Miles collections.

Metal's line-ups rarely sat still. Angela Gossow stepped away from Arch Enemy's microphone, with Alissa White-Gluz taking over. Exodus brought back Steve "Zetro" Souza, and Megadeth lost both Shawn Drover and Chris Broderick in late November. Brutal Truth and Chimaira called it a day, while Atreyu and Breaking Benjamin returned. Darker news followed: As I Lay Dying's Tim Lambesis was sentenced to six years for a murder-for-hire plot against his wife, and Gwar's Dave Brockie died in March at fifty.