Every year, my family and friends all email each other and pick their top 10 albums of the year. I wanted to take a crack at this as well, however I will keep it short, as I choose and explain my reasoning behind my top three favorite albums of 2016.

Number Three – Green Day: Revolution Radio

As unusual as it may seem, this album cracked my top three. I have never been a fan of anything Green Day has put out aside from “Dookie” and “American Idiot.” However, Green Day came back last year with “Revolution Radio” and captured the high energy magic they had when they were young.

The songs on the album that caught my attention were “Too Dumb to Die” and “Still Breathing.” If you had lost faith in the pop punk band and haven’t heard this album yet, I would highly recommend it.

Number Two – David Bowie: Blackstar

People might get upset that this last great hoorah by Bowie isn’t at the top of my list. I wish there were two spots for number one, because I debated long and hard if it should be number one.

The album portrayed what happens when Bowie gets his hands on a jazz trio. The intricate parts all came together to create an incredible sound for the Starman’s last album.

The album also was Bowie’s way of saying goodbye and thank you to all of his fans. He was diagnosed with cancer and died Jan. 10, 2016, just two days after the album came out.

Blackstar is an album full of great and interesting songs with a totally new sound. The songs to listen to are “Lazarus” and “I Can’t Give Everything Away.”

Number One – John K. Samson: Winter Wheat

The former “Weakerthans” front man released the best album of 2016, hands down. The songwriting that went into this album was just magnificent.

According to Samson, the album was a reply to the Neil Young Album “On the Beach.” Just compare Young’s song “Vampire Blues” to Samson’s “Vampire Alberta Blues.” You can hear the influence.

“Winter Wheat” also ends the story of two of his most famous song characters, “Virtute the Cat” and “The human.” These two came to be in the Weakerthans’ album “Reconstruction Site” in the song “Plea from a Cat Named Virtute.”

There is so much about this album that I would like to say, that it is beautifully simple. The lyrics are just as or more important than the music itself, and since this album came out, I cannot stop listening to it.

The songs I would recommend are “Postdoc Blues,” “17th Street Treatment Centre” and “Quiz Night at Looky Lou’s.”

John K. Samson’s “Winter Wheat” album will be the album to beat in this coming year, and so far it has not been beaten.

Cameron Campbell is a staff writer for   The Dakota Student. He can be reached at  [email protected]