THE ANNUAL BLITZ AWARDS

LOOK UP: His affinity for country music dates back to his affiliation with Rory Storm And The Hurricanes. And his recurring use of Gospel references throughout Look Up was enough to earn veteran composer, vocalist and drummer RINGO STARR Best New Album of 2025 honors in the annual Blitz Awards. In tandem with Blitz Magazine - The Rock And Roll Magazine For Thinking People's fiftieth anniversary, we salute the artists that brought us the Best New Singles, Best New Albums and Best Reissue and Anthology projects of the year, as well as a look at the best in network television programming.  (Click on above image to enlarge).

BLITZ AWARDS FOR 2025

Sometimes record collectors and musicologists can be their own worst enemies.

To that effect, a common proclamation within those circles has been something to the effect of, "I don't listen to new music". 

That conclusion is often borne of such periphery as chronology based on personal revisionist history. But such reasoning is anathema to the art itself. It draws from such equally marginal factors as fear of the unknown and genre myopia. 

In reality, the past two years have seen a remarkable renaissance in songwriting. That renaissance is being championed by a cadre of up and coming artists that have embarked upon a movement that stands poised to impact the art on a level that has not been seen since the so-called punk / new wave movement of the mid to late 1970s and country's New Traditionalist movement of the late 1980s. 

That said, there is one key factor that warrants attention in order to assuage concerns that persist within the audience at large. During rock and roll's initial boom period, there were occasional releases that came under fire for the use of so-called coarse language within their lyrics. Prime examples would be the Kingsmen's cover of Richard Berry's Louie Louie, the MC5's Kick Out The Jams and pretty much the entire ESP label catalog by the Fugs. Reaction at the time was enough to cost those artists varying degrees of mainstream media exposure. 

However, in the six decades that have since passed, to quote the Doobie Brothers, What Were Now Vices Are Now Habits. Within the demographic behind the current musical renaissance, such verbiage as that which was expressed in those earlier recordings has since fallen into common usage, and is no longer regarded within those circles as being either coarse or pejorative. 

While Blitz Magazine - The Rock And Roll Magazine For Thinking People would of course stand with the Biblical example of, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth" (Ephesians 4:29, NKJV), the fact remains that many of the artists involved and their respective primary target demographic approach that issue from an entirely different perspective. The fact that in general their material is otherwise well written and well executed leads to an inevitable proceed with caution benediction, but a benediction nonetheless. 

Sadly, those who "don't listen to new music" also faced another inevitability in 2025 in the form of the loss of veteran artists. The losses were heavy throughout that year, including the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, the Turtles' Mark Volman, the Electric Prunes' James Lowe, Sam And Dave's Sam Moore, the Nolans' Linda Nolan, Los Payos' Jose'  Moreno Murtado, Peter Paul And Mary's Peter Yarrow, Brenton Wood, Bob Kuban, the Band's Garth Hudson, Marianne Faithfull, Jam drummer Rick Buckler, the Easybeats' Snowy Fleet, Jerry Butler, the New York Dolls' David Johansen, Badfinger's Joey Molland, the Standells' Larry Tamblyn, Johnny Tillotson, Lenny Welch, Mike Berry, Nino Tempo, Pere Ubu's David Thomas, Johnny Rodriguez, the McCoys' Rick Derringer, Viscaynes and Family Stone co-founder Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart, Bobby Sherman, Lou Christie, Lalo Schifrin, Connie Francis, Danny And The Juniors' Frank Maffei, Chuck Mangione, Ozzy Osbourne, Tommy McLain, Golden Earring's George Kooymans, Tom Lehrer, Col Joye, Terry Reid, the Castells' Chuck Girard, Bobby Hart, the Pretty Things' Viv Prince, the Crickets' Sonny Curtis, the Yardbirds' Chris Dreja, the Flamingos' Terry Johnson, the Moody Blues' John Lodge, KISS' Ace Frehley, the Champs' Dave Burgess, Soft Cell's David Ball, Jimmy Cliff, Booker T. And The M.G.s' Steve Cropper, the Four Lads' Bernie Toorish, Carl Carlton, Jethro Tull's Mick Abrahams, and Teenage Head's Jack Pedler.

Nonetheless, with so much promise demonstrated among the up and coming artists, there is indeed much reason to be optimistic about new music. In tandem with Blitz Magazine - The Rock And Roll Magazine For Thinking People's fiftieth anniversary, we hereby salute the following artists for their extraordinary contributions to the world of music in 2025.

BEST NEW SINGLES:

1). COVER GIRL - LAUFEY (AWAL)

2). Undressed / Back To Friends- Sombr (Warner)

3). Manchild - Sabrina Carpenter (Island)

4). The Big Goodbye - AJR (AJR Productions)

5). The Subway / The Giver - Chappell Roan (Island)

6). Anxiety - Doechii (Top Dawg / Capitol)

7). Love Me Not - Ravyn Lenae (Atlantic)

8). Sapphire - Ed Sheeran Featuring Anjit Singh (Gingerbread Man)

9). Love Me To Heaven - The Jonas Brothers (Republic)

10). Sally - Role Model (Interscope)

11). I Love You, I'm Sorry - Gracie Abrams (Interscope)

12). Everyday / I'm Gonna Look - Cinecyde (Tremor)

13). Azizam / Crashing - Ed Sheeran (Atlantic)

14). Mystical Magical - Benson Boone (Night Street)

15). What I Want - Morgan Wallen And Tate McRae (Big Loud)

16). Sorry I'm Here For Someone Else - Benson Boone (Night Street)

17). The Fate Of Ophelia - Taylor Swift (Republic)

18). Bloodline - Alex Warren And Jelly Roll (Atlantic)

19). Abracadabra - Lady Gaga (Interscope)

20). No Time To Talk - The Jonas Brothers (Republic)

21). Gabriela - Katseye (Geffen)

22). Toxic Till The End - Rose' (Atlantic)

23). Tears - Sabrina Carpenter (Island)

24). Nice To Meet You - Myles Smith (RCA / Sony Music)

25). Cranberry - Conan Gray (Republic)

26). Ordinary - Alex Warren (Atlantic)

27). Where Is My Husband - Raye (Human Re Sources)

28). Golden - Hunter X (Republic)

29). Praise Your Name - Talia Dean Featuring Brian May (brianmay.com)

30). Jump - Blackpink (YG Entertainment)

31). Still Don't Care - Meghan Trainor (Epic)

BEST NEW ALBUMS:

1). LOOK UP - RINGO STARR (LOST HIGHWAY)

2). Flying High - Jeremy Morris (JAM)

3). One Hour Mama - Maria Muldaur (Nola Blue)

4). A Matter Of Time - Laufey (AWAL)

5). Play - Ed Sheeran (Atlantic)

6). The Life Of A Showgirl - Taylor Swift (Republic)

7). Man's Best Friend - Sabrina Carpenter (Island)

8). Live From Radio City Music Hall - Gracie Abrams (Interscope)

9). Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow - The Sorrows (Big Stir)

10). You'll Be Alright, Kid - Alex Warren (Atlantic)

11). What No One's Thinking - AJR (AJR Productions)

12). The Teenage Songs - Brian Gari (Original Cast)

13). American Heart - Benson Boone (Warner)

14). A Night At The Symphony - Laufey And The Los Angeles Philharmonic (AWAL)

15). I Barely Know Her - Sombr (Warner)

16). Long After The Fire - John Cowsill And Vicki Peterson (Label 51)

17). Opener Of Eyes - Jeremy Morris (JAM)

18). Visions In The Bowling Alley - The Jack Rubies (Big Stir)

19). I'm The Problem - Morgan Wallen (Big Loud)

20). The Big Stir Records Hit Machine - Various Artists (Big Stir)

21). Greetings From Your Hometown - The Jonas Brothers (Republic)

22). Light It Up - Long Tall Deb And Colin John (Vizztone)

23). Who Believes In Angels? - Elton John And Brandi Carlisle (Rocket)

24). Keep On Pushing - Kirk Fletcher (Vizztone)

25). Mood Elevator - The Gold Needles (Big Stir)

BEST REISSUE / ANTHOLOGY ALBUMS:

1). PISCES, AQUARIUS, CAPRICORN AND JONES LIMITED (DELUXE EDITIONS) - THE MONKEES (RHINO)

2). Motor City Is Burning 1965-1972 - Various Artists (Grapefruit / Strawberry)

3). The Axis: Bold As Love Sessions - The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Legacy)

4). The Cocaine Drain Album - The Cowsills (Omnivore)

5). Make It Easy On Yourself: The Scepter Recordings - Dionne Warwick (Soulmusic)

6). Live Houston Music Theatre '67 - The Thirteenth Floor Elevators 

(International Artists)

7). Get Ready For The Countdown - Various Artists (Esoteric)

8). Strange Days 1967: A Work In Progress - The Doors (Elektra / Rhino)

9). Can't Stop It: Australian Post Punk - Various Artists (Chapter Music)

10). Mingus At Monterey - Charles Mingus (Candid)

11). Live At The Rainbow, London 1972 - Yes (Rhino)

12). Crashing Dream - The Rain Parade (Label 51)

13). Ready Set Go! - David Bowie (Iso)

14). A Box Of Scaffold - The Scaffold (Grapefruit / Strawberry)

15). The Return Of Captain Speed - Turquoise (Gear Fab)

16). Loco Live - The Ramones (Sire / Rhino)

17). Junk - Blue Cheer (Flatiron)

18). Kaleidoscope - Kaleidoscope (Gear Fab)

19). Live At The Plugged Nickel December 23, 1965 Second Set - 

Miles Davis (Columbia)

20). Songs From The Rocks - Roger Maglio (Gear Fab)

BEST NETWORK TELEVISON SERIES

(IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER):

Abbott Elementary (ABC)

Dancing With The Stars (ABC)

DMV (CBS)

Family Feud Canada (CBC)

Georgie And Mandy's First Marriage (CBS)

High Potential (ABC)

Law And Order (NBC)

Lopez Versus Lopez (NBC) *

Name That Tune (Fox)

North Of North (CBC)

Shifting Gears (ABC)

Son Of A Critch (CBC)

The Conners (ABC) *

The Neighborhood (CBS)

The Rookie (ABC)

The 700 Club (CBN)

22 Minutes (CBC)

Under The Radar Michigan (PBS)

When Calls The Heart (Hallmark)

Wild Cards (CBC)

* Indicates a series that completed its run in 2025.