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Not Counting on the World to Change

Kevin Conaway’s 2025 Mix Album

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Here is the 2025 edition and the 16th installment of my annual Mix Albums.

Here’s how it works – these albums are essentially audio time capsules of my year. The music contained on them represents music that was in some way significant to me throughout the year. The songs were either new releases or new discoveries that year, or tied to some personal life event or memory that happened throughout the year. My only constraint is that I hold myself to the 80-minute length of the capacity of a CD, to keep consistent with the early versions of these mixes. I never really know what direction these mixes are going to go in until I start going through the music that I saved throughout the year and start building the song list. Some years tend to lean heavily into the personal connection that I had with the music, such as 2024 and 2022, while some years tend to focus more on my listening habits for the music itself. This year’s mix tends to lean toward the latter, as I was able to have music from my top albums and artists from the year make the cut. However there are definitely some personal stories to go along with the music. Certainly there is still a feeling of anxiety and unease that flows through many of the songs on this mix, as those feelings have followed me throughout the year given the state of the country and the world, though I did not approach the mix this year intending to convey a theme. I am happy with the way this mix sounds and flows though, and I hope that you, the listener, enjoys it as well.

 

 

 

Mammoth – The End

Now on their third album, Mammoth continues to produce amazing rock music with virtuosic musicianship and catchy melodies. The energy on this track is cranked up to eleven right in the opening seconds of the song as Wolfgang Van Halen (yes, as in Eddie’s son) hits us with a blistering guitar-tapping riff that would make his dad smile, making it the perfect hard-hitting opener for this mix. I’ve been following Mammoth since their debut and got to see them live twice this year, including an intimate show at a small venue for a radio promotion in May. A word of advice though – it’s always good to double-check that the venue you’re going to hasn’t relocated prior to taking the bus to go there, just in case it has in fact relocated, resulting in you arriving at a vacant building and forcing you to scramble to get a Lyft to the correct location in time.

 

Lady Gaga – Disease

I have a lot of respect for Lady Gaga as a musician and a writer, even though I haven’t always loved the music. I usually check out her albums when they are released and typically like a few songs before moving on to something else. On her new album, MAYHEM, Gaga gets a bit more loud and angsty… and I liked it a lot! MAYHEM snuck into my Top 10 list this year, thanks in part to this driving opening track and the others like it.

 

Coheed and Cambria – Searching for Tomorrow

Coheed and Cambria’s eleventh album, The Father of Make Believe, is the latest in a series of concept albums that continues their sci-fi Amory Wars storyline. I’m a sucker for a good concept album, and Coheed’s recent albums have been particularly good. This most recent album was #3 on my Top 10 list this year.

 

Garbage – There’s No Future in Optimism

I can’t say that this song ranks among my favorite Garbage songs, but it makes it onto the mix due to personal significance. I played a gig in early September that was rather sparsely attended but two of my friends ended up showing up and I hung out at their table after I was done playing: Monica, who I’ve known for years was there, and Jen, who I had met through Monica. I can’t remember who brought up the fact that Garbage was playing in Cleveland the following week, but I was the one that said, “so we’re all going, right?” Jen and I had a thing for each other, but neither of us knew how the other felt. Jen immediately said yes, and Monica I think reluctantly agreed too. Jen and I would later start actually dating, but the Garbage concert was our first concert together… with Monica kind of acting as our de facto chaperone.

Garbage announced that this would be their final major North American tour, saying that it was no longer financially viable for them to continue touring here on a large scale. It’s sad that this may be the final time that I would get to see them live. This was my third time seeing them live, and they were incredible every time! And also… if a band of their fame struggles to make money on tour here, I can’t imagine how lesser-known bands are able to make it work, and this seems like a very sad and scary commentary on the live music industry here.

 

Guster – Terrified

One of the first shows I saw this year was Guster on their “We Also Have Eras Tour.” During the aptly and hilariously named show, the band played a set that spanned their entire discography in chronological order, complete with funny narrated skits in between the songs to tell the story of their career. It was a really entertaining show, one of my favorites from the year. This song was released in 2019 on their Look Alive album. I admittedly haven’t given a ton of time to that album and I overlooked this song, but they played it at the show and it’s become a favorite of mine since.

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Ghost – Guiding Lights

Speaking of great shows, I saw Ghost for the third time back in July. They always put on an amazing live show, and this was easily my favorite concert of the year. Though, the one drawback was that they did not allow phones into the show; we had to stash them in Yondr pouches upon entering the arena. Per frontman Tobias Forge: “If you have 10,000 people at a concert and 8,000 of them are holding a phone, there’s something deeply disconnected… my reason for being there is the connection between myself and everybody that I brought with me that are working in tandem to give you an experience, that experience is completely de-cocked if everybody’s just filming.” I do understand where he’s coming from, and I’ll admit that it in the moment I did feel a bit more connection and energy in the crowd, but I also do wish that I at least had a couple photos and videos to look back on. I’m usually someone who will snap a few photos throughout the show, and take a couple short videos of parts of songs… definitely not someone who has their phone up for a whole song for the majority of the show. I do get annoyed by the people that do that and can definitely understand why that behavior should be curbed. I just think this goal might have been able to be accomplished by simply posting a message before the show asking fans to be respectful and to forgo or at least limit their phone usage during the show. This is what Steven Wilson did at the show I saw him at this year, and it was very effective. Sure, some people still took a few photos or short videos, myself included, but the phone usage during the show was very minimal.

Anyway… the new album, Skeletá, was my most played album on Spotify this year… so much so, that my top five songs in my Spotify Wrapped data were all also from this album. Skeletá topped my own Top Ten list this year as well. “Guiding Lights” was not released as a single from the album, nor was it played live at the show, but it instantly became one of my favorites on the album.

 

Biffy Clyro – Dearest Amygdala

Biffy Clyro has been one of my favorite bands for many years now, but somehow I didn’t realize they had a new album on the way and was surprised when it dropped back in September. The new album, Futique, became an instant favorite of mine though and ended up in the second spot on my Top Ten albums list this year. The Scottish lads were due to embark on a limited North American tour in November, and I had tickets to see them at a small club in Detroit, however the week prior to the tour the band had to cancel due to issues with their visas – apparently something got screwed up and their visa start dates were listed as the day the tour was due to conclude. The band had been attempting all legal avenues to correct the error but finally had to cancel once it was clear that the issues would not be resolved. Frontman Simon Neil posted an emotional video to the band’s social media announcing the cancellation of the tour and apologizing to fans. Naturally, there was a lot of disappointment from the fanbase, but it was nice to see the amount of positive support from the vast majority of the comments. I’m holding my ticket and will hopefully be able to see them next year.

 

Taylor Swift – the Fate of Ophelia

Like Lady Gaga above, Taylor Swift is another artist whose new releases I always check out, even if I don’t always love everything on them. I absolutely LOVED her previous album though, The Tortured Poets Department. The new album, The Life of a Showgirl, was generally more positive, upbeat, and poppy then its predecessor, and also seemed to lack some of the lyrical and emotional depth as well, which when combined with what I think seems to be bit of a general fatigue of her, led many people to criticize this new album. While I didn’t like the new album nearly as much as its predecessor, and it did not crack my Top Ten, I did still really enjoy it. This song was the opening track and instantly got stuck in my head. My girlfriend is a huge Tayor Swift fan, and this album dropped right around when we began dating. I learned this song without telling her and surprised her by playing it at the next gig she came to. The surprise went over well 😊

 

The Night Flight Orchestra – Paloma

I stumbled onto The Night Flight Orchestra when one of their songs appeared on my Spotify Release Radar playlist last year. I loved the throwback 70’s arena/glam rock vibe! The band, formed back in 2007, is essentially a side project of members from various Swedish melodic death metal bands. Listening to this project, you would have no idea about the death metal roots! The band’s most recent album, Give Us The Moon, was released in January and is such a fun listen!

 

The Amazons – My Blood

The Amazons were another discovery this year from my Spotify Release Radar playlist. The album, 21st Century Fiction, was released in May. I admittedly didn’t spend much time listening to this album when it came out – I think this is one of the drawbacks of streaming music, in which I find a lot of music to listen to, but because there is so much I tend to spend less time with any individual album than I used to when CD’s were my primary listening method. I talked about this in more detail in the liner notes for last year’s mix album, so I won’t repeat my rant here. However, one of the traditions I’ve been doing for the last several years is, usually starting around late-November, I will go back through all of the albums that I saved throughout the year and relisten to them with fresh ears, jotting down notes and giving them a score, so I can rank them for my Top Ten list. Sometimes, a fresh listen to an album that didn’t really grab me on its initial pass results in me changing my opinion on the album and really loving it, as was the case with this album, which ended up sneaking into my Top Ten.

 

Welshly Arms – In Chills

Going to see Welshly Arms live on Black Friday is now becoming an annual tradition for me. This was now my third time seeing the band live, and they debuted this new song, which was due to be released as a single the following week. It became an instant favorite of mine and needed to be included on this mix!

 

MESSMAKER – I’m Drowning Too

MESSMAKER is the band fronted by my friend Michael McFarland, who is making his 9th appearance on my mix albums. His music is typically upbeat and positive, described as “anthemic lovestruck indie rock.” In this song, he explores themes of vulnerability and anxiety associated with the existential weight of everything that has been going on in the country and the world lately, something that I’m really relating to as well. Like in the lyrics of the song, I’ve typically been the kind of person others can rely on for stability, but there have definitely been several times over the last year or so that I have also felt like I’ve been drowning.

 

Creeper – Daydreaming In The Dark

British punk rock band Creeper has been releasing concept albums and adapting their sound and imagery to fit the themes of each album since their inception in 2014. I stumbled onto them with their 3rd release, 2023’s Sanguivore, a goth-inspired album about vampires. The band released a sequel album this year: Sanguivore II: Mistress of Death, which was appropriately released on Halloween, and landed in my Top Ten list.

 

The Birthday Massacre – Wish

I’ve been a fan of The Birthday Massacre for many years. They have a unique sound that blends heavy metal with synthwave, and I love lead singer Chibi’s voice. Fun fact: my cat’s name, also “Chibi”, was inspired by her. The new album, Pathways, arrived in the spring and became an instant favorite of mine. I think it is their best album since 2010 and it landed in my Top Ten list this year as a result.

 

The Offspring – Hanging By A Thread

Another song that represents the weight of the world currently, The Offspring’s “Hanging By A Thread” was a track from their 2024 album SUPERCHARGED. While SUPERCHARGED didn’t quite crack my Top Ten list last year, I listened to it and the rest of the Offspring’s catalogue a lot over the summer this year prior to and following seeing them in concert. I’ve been wanting to see them live for a long time; they were probably the biggest name still left on my bucket list; and they did not disappoint! If not for seeing Ghost this year, this show probably would’ve been my favorite concert of the year.

And it almost didn’t happen! Blossom Music Center is the Cleveland area’s large outdoor amphitheater, and where the Offspring’s Cleveland stop on the tour would be. I DESPISE this venue. I know I’ve gone into detail about why I hate this venue so much in the notes on previous albums, so I won’t repeat myself too much here, but know that from the parking, to the sound quality, to the visibility, to the prices, to the crowdflow… there is nothing redeeming about this venue. In contrast, I really liked the one experience that I had at Pine Knob Amphitheater, Detroit’s equivalent venue. I bought tickets to see this show at that venue and planned to make a short weekend trip out of it. Upon arriving at the venue though, I learned that an area-wide power outage had delayed the start of the show (the power went out literally one minute before the first band was due to start their set)! A few of the concessions stands had power from backup generators though, so I grabbed some beverages, found an Adirondack chair, and waited for updates. Every 20 minutes or so, a venue official would make the rounds and provide updated information, until they finally officially cancelled the show all together. This was a huge disappointment, but luckily, I was able to find a good deal on a resale site for good tickets to their show here, so I sucked it up and went to Blossom.

 

Steven Wilson – Objects Outlive Us: Objects: Meanwhile

Steven Wilson is the frontman and main creative force behind Porcupine Tree, one of my favorite bands. I’ve seen Porcupine Tree live several times but despite Wilson having had seven solo albums in his catalogue, I’d never seen him live. With the release of his eighth solo album this year, The Overview, and the subsequent tour, I was not going to miss him this time. I bought a ticket to his Cleveland date as soon as they went on sale. However, a month or so later one of my best friends, who lives in Portland, let me know that he was planning his wedding for that same weekend. Damn! I ended up listing my SW ticket for sale, resolved to the fact that I would miss him again. However, after looking at his tour dates and seeing that he had a Chicago stop the Wednesday prior to that weekend, I figured I could make that work! I grabbed my Chicago ticket, booked a hotel for the night, and booked my flights to Chicago and then from Chicago to Portland. My booking worked out perfectly! My hotel ended up being literally right across the street from the theater, and everything else that I wanted to hit up during my limited time in the city was all within a half-mile walk from my hotel. In the small amount of time that I had in Chicago, I was able to hit up a brewery, a dispensary (really added to the effect of a spacy prog rock concert), get some deep dish from Lou’s, and make it back to the theater in plenty of time for the concert, where SW and his band put on an amazing show!

The Overview is a progressive rock concept album inspired by the Overview Effect, a cognitive shift experienced by some astronauts after viewing the Earth from space, including aspects of appreciation and perception for beauty, unexpected and overwhelming emotion, and an increased sense of connection to other people and the Earth as a whole, causing changes to the observer’s self concept and value system. The album, which ended up forth on my Top Ten list, is comprised of two 20+ minute songs, but a version of the album breaks those songs up into partial tracks, including “Meanwhile,” a song which explores the insignificance of the day-to-day things that we place so much weight onto when those things are viewed from the perspective of their place on a cosmic level. It’s easy to get bogged down and wrapped up in our own little worlds, but it’s good to keep things in perspective and realize that there is a whole world and universe that surrounds us and functions without us… and maybe the thing that we’re stressing over isn’t as significant as we’re telling ourself.

 

Blackbriar – Harpy

Rounding out my top five albums this year was A Thousand Little Deaths by Blackbriar. The Dutch symphonic metal band was another find in my Spotify Release Radar playlist earlier this year. I loved the sound on this album – it was heavy, melodic, symphonic, and still catchy. There were also several moments on the album where the song structures and melodies strayed away from where you expect them to go, but still work really well, making for an interesting but also entertaining listen.

 

Finger Eleven – Wall Dogs

Following the release of their 2015 album, Finger Eleven essentially went dormant, only playing a handful of dates here and there and taking a hiatus from recording. 2023 saw the release of a greatest hits album that the band recorded a couple new songs for. The experience of recording again and the success from the single reignited the band’s creative spark and inspired them to record this new album. Opting to write and record all together in the same room rather than remotely, the band’s renewed vigor shows on the album, as it is one of the strongest releases in their catalogue! I saw them in October at the Mercury Lounge in Cleveland and was able to get very close to the stage in the small venue. Lead singer Scott Anderson mentioned in between songs that the band had fun a great time earlier in the day hanging out at Superelectric, a pinball parlor walking distance from my house. Damn! I wish I would’ve been in the mood for some pinball earlier that day! I also managed to catch a guitar pick from guitarist James Black. The new album, Last Night on Earth, grabbed the sixth spot on my Top Ten list this year.

 

Pink Floyd – Welcome to the Machine

I was on a pretty pig Pink Floyd kick earlier in the year, resulting them ending up in my top five most listened-to bands on Spotify. Pink Floyd has always been one of my favorite bands, and they were the band that inspired me to first pick up the guitar as a teenager. In particular, the Animals album took on a lot of extra significance this year with its biting political commentary, though the songs on the album were too lengthy to include here. “Welcome to the Machine” is a great fit though, with its dystopic depiction of society and the tense musical tone fitting with my overall sense of existential anxiety that has continued to permeate through this year. The album Wish You Were Here also celebrated its 50th birthday this year. I also celebrated my birthday this year by attending a show by the tribute band, Wish You Were Here, who was celebrating their 30th anniversary by playing this album in its entirety.

 

 

 

 

That concludes my 2025 Mix Album. If you gave it a listen and made it through these notes, I want to thank you… even if the “you” is just really me reading this back sometime in the future. Hi Future Me! Anyway, if you are interested in more music and have Spotify, check out “Caught in the Current” – my playlist of new music that I regularly update to keep fresh and… current. Most of the music that ends up on these mixes appears there first. I’m also planning to release new music in 2026 (yes, I know I said that last year and it didn’t happen… but this time I mean it), so please keep an eye out for that. My current discography is available on Spotify or any other streaming service.

 

-KC

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