10 rock albums we're excited for in 2021

The Foo Fighters' 10th studio album, "Medicine at Midnight," was originally set to release in February 2020 to celebrate the band's 25th anniversary, but was delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The album is almost here and was certainly worth the wait (in my humble opinion). Dave Grohl and company have made an absolute banger of an album that stays true to the band's '90s garage rock roots.

The opening track, "Making a Fire," is an earworm thanks to its funky 3/4 groove and "na-na-na-" refrain, and songs like "Cloudspotter" and "Waiting on a War" will no doubt be festival romps. "Chasing Birds" showcases the ease with which the band can slow things down and make us appreciate the little things in life.

If every album of 2021 is as good as "Medicine," we have a lot to look forward to.

On "Detroit Stories," the latest effort from Alice Cooper, the shock-rock king pays tribute to his home city and its role in music history. Cooper describes Detroit in the '70s as "Heavy Rock central" and explains its role in launching his career.

"After not fitting in anywhere in the US (musically or image wise) Detroit was the only place that recognized the Alice Cooper guitar driven, hard rock sound and our crazy stage show," the album's press release reads. "Detroit was a haven for the outcasts. And when they found out I was born in East Detroit… we were home."

According to Rolling Stone, Cooper tapped multiple Detroit musicians including MC5's Wayne Kramer and the Detroit Wheels' Johnny "Bee" Badanjek to play on the album.

The album's first single, a cover of The Velvet Underground's "Rock 'n' Roll," released in November and was followed up by "Our Love Will Change the World" in December.

Originally slated for sometime in 2020, Sting announced in November that the release of his forthcoming album "Duets" would be delayed until March 19, 2021.

Sting said the change in schedule was "due to unforeseen pandemic-related manufacturing delays."

"Duets" is, as its name implies, a 17-track collection of duets the musician performed with an array of talented musicians including Mary J. Blige, Herbie Hancock, Shaggy, and Annie Lennox.

Read more: The 10 best rock albums of 2020, ranked

Greta Van Fleet burst onto the scene with its 2017 EP "From the Fires" and expanded on that success in 2018 with the debut album "Anthem of the Peaceful Army."

Now GVF is looking to keep the classic rock train rolling with "The Battle at Garden's Gate."

Based on the two singles already released —"My Way Soon" and "Age of Machine" in October and December, respectively — the band has come into its own and is separating itself from being cast as a "mini Led Zeppelin."

Singer Josh Kiszka told Rolling Stone the album is "sophisticated" and revealed the "band wanted to do something on the scale of a film score."

Back in September 2019, Weezer announced that "Van Weezer," a Van Halen-influenced record, would release in May 2020.

But on January 18, the band dropped a surprise announcement that another album, "OK Human" — a play on Radiohead's "OK Computer" — was coming out first. Four days later the band released the track "All My Favorite Songs," which features some orchestral textures reminiscent of The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour."

Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo told NME that given the coronavirus pandemic, it felt right to release "OK Human" ahead of "Van Weezer."

"This is probably the best possible time for this album," Cuomo told NME. "It's about feeling isolated and alienated and secluded, so it's the perfect album for now."

Don't worry, the band has reassured fans that "Van Weezer" is still set to release on May 7, 2021, and has already shared three singles: "The End of the Game," "Hero," and "Beginning of the End."

Back in April 2020, Arcade Fire's Win Butler teased some of the band's new music on his Instagram story and in some now-deleted posts, according to Consequence of Sound.

Butler then revealed to NME in July that because of the pandemic, his bandmates were scattered around the world and ceased working on the new album.

But there may be an upside.

Butler appeared on Rick Rubin's podcast "Broken Record" in October and revealed that in lieu of finishing the album, he kept writing new material.

"We would've been getting towards wrapping up [recording the new album], I think," Butler told Rubin. "So instead we just wrote two or three."

There's still no release date for any new Arcade Fire material, but Butler told Rubin he planned to hold a recording session with his bandmates in Texas during the election, so it wouldn't be surprising if an album was released soon.

In December 2019, the Red Hot Chili Peppers announced that the band was parting ways with guitarist Josh Klinghoffer after 10 years and reuniting with John Frusciante.

In January 2020, drummer Chad Smith confirmed to Rolling Stone that the band was working on a new album.

Then the pandemic hit and halted things.

In an interview with Australian radio station Double J in October, Frusciante gave an update on where the new record stands: "We were rehearsing for a couple months, and then the quarantine started, and then we stopped rehearsing for a couple months, and then we went back to rehearsing."

In terms of new music, Frusciante added, "We're moving ahead with what we're doing, we're writing new music," but did not offer an expected release date.

Texas indie-rockers Spoon began working on new material to follow its 2017 hit album "Hot Thoughts" in late 2018.

They managed to finish recording 70% to 80% of the new album by early March 2020 before the pandemic hit the US and derailed its final recording sessions, according to a September Rolling Stone article.

Spoon's Britt Daniel said the band is tentatively eying an early 2021 release and even listed off a few potential album names.

"I've gone through a few titles," he told Rolling Stone. "'War Ballads' was one. 'Texas Is the Reason,' I really liked that. 'Nerve Damage.' I'm leaning on 'Winter of Love' right now."

Read more: 10 artists who confirmed we can expect new music in 2021

In August 2020, The Killers' released its latest album, "Imploding the Mirage," which made our list of the 10 best rock albums of 2020.

Then on December 22, only four months after the album's release, The Killers teased what appears to be the setlist of yet another album on Twitter.

In an interview with NME in August, frontman Brandon Flowers revealed he had enough material for another album and that "It might be better than [Imploding the Mirage]."

"You know when people just say that? Every time someone makes a record they say that they have 50 songs and they're going to release another record. We really are," Flowers told NME.

There's no official release date yet but if my math is correct, 10 months after August would mean we're in for a new Killers LP this June.

It's been almost nine years since The Offspring released their last album "Days Go By," so a new album has been long overdue.

In an interview with the UK's Download TV, frontman Dexter Holland explained that the new album is ready to go but didn't reveal a release date.

"It's basically done," Holland told host Kylie Olsson. "We're kinda just doing some last-minute tweaks and stuff and getting ready. We had a single scheduled to be released and all that stuff, and then this happened. So it's on hold at the moment."