6. TRANSGENDER DYSPHORIA BLUES by Against Me!

One of the great things about getting to a concert in time to see the opening act is that you just may discover an artist or band that you end up liking. That's what happened to me when I saw the band Against Me! open up for the Cult at the House of Blues in 2012. They're considered a punk rock band, similar in some ways to Green Day, in that their songs are punky but melodic and they always have a great guitar riff. It's funny that the last time I saw them (they were opening for Green Day), lead singer Laura Jane Grace told the story of how the first concert she ever went to was Green Day and now they were on tour with the band she idolized as a teenager. Transgender Dysphoria Blues is their 6th studio album and is considered the highlight of their career (so far). As the title implies, the focus of the album is gender dysphoria as this was the first album that Against Me! released following Grace's transition from a male (originally Tom Gabel) to a female. The album was met with critical acclaim by multiple publications, consistently ranking 20 or below in various top albums of 2014 lists.