Rank Your Top Albums and Songs! - 2022 Edition

[Schulzy]

Well, 2022 is almost over and it's time for my fourth edition of top albums. I had to look at my YouTube Music playlist to see how many new albums I listened to over the year.......31! I ended up with 13 that I'd consider for my top 10. There were several that I would put in my worst of list but will restrict that to 5. I'm going to also add my top 5 songs of the year. Here......we........go.

Honorable Mentions - The Lone Wolf - Grand Theft Audio. Palisades - Reaching Hypercritical. Papa Roach - Ego Trip.

10. Alter Bridge - Pawns & Kings - It barely made the list. Before I'm booted from The Nation please allow me to explain. I give it 6/10 and it was almost 5/10 due to the songs that I don't like (already discussed in other threads). It was saved by the best songs. One of them is in my top 5 songs of the year........guess which one.

9. Skillet - Dominion - hung on by a thread. I'd almost say the exact same thing about this album as I did with P&K. Some really solid songs (Standing In The Storm and Beyond Incredible). They have settled into complete predictability over the last three albums. 6/10.

8. Icon For Hire - The Reckoning - I wrote the complete review in the albums thread. A new band for me and I liked a lot of what I heard. Gatekeepers and Breakdown are well done. The rest is okay. 6.5/10.

7. Nothing More - Spirits - also did an extensive write up of this one in the albums thread. The albums SOUNDS great. It doesn't quite live up to The Stories We Tell Ourselves. Some mega standout tracks in Don't Look Back, The Other F Word, Face It, Dream With Me, and Valhalla (To Young To See). 7.5-8/10.

6. Boney James - Detour - almost topped his album Solid. The first six songs on this album are just wonderful. I can FEEL my body tension releasing. His saxophone can just put me to sleep - in a very good way. 8/10.

5. Motionless In White - Scoring The End of The World - I heard Sign Of Life on Pandora and thought they were Breaking Benjamin for a minute. Chris Motionless and Benjamin Burnley sound very similar to me. Meltdown, Porcelain, Masterpiece, and Cyberhex are my favorites. They have some moments where they also sound like Starset. 8/10.

4. Amongst The Giants - Desolate Minds EP - see the albums thread. I really like the sound of this album and all six songs are good. Love Pain is going to show up somewhere.....8/10.

3. Relentless Flood - Echoes EP - Wow! I listened to this over and over again. Loved every minute of it. Had a chance to see them live with Disciple earlier this year. Again, all six songs are good (just like Amongst the Giants). Hard to pick my favorite - maybe My Chaos. 8.5/10.

2. Memphis May Fire - Remade in Misery. Please visit the albums thread! I can't say any more than I've already said. It was a close race between this and number 1. 9/10.

1. Wolves At The Gate - Eulogies. It's in the albums thread! Features my top song of 2022.

Worst albums of the year. I will not bother trying to rank them.

Three Days Grace - Explosions - boring, forgettable, bland rock music.
Shinedown - Planet Zero - I've made my point about bands losing my interest over the years due to change in their sound. This is a perfect example.
Until I Wake - Inside My Head. This is one I thought might be better based on a few songs I heard. Nope.
Fight The Fade - APOPHYSITIS - the lead singer's voice unfortunately ruins almost every song.
Slash and The Conspirators - 4 - what happened to this band? I can't remember a single song title off of this album or how it goes. Maybe that's why I dislike Holiday so much.

Top Songs. Number 1 is easy. The rest are hard.

Honorable Mentions - Heartache - From Ashes To New. A Thousand Lifetimes - Fire From The Gods. Gatekeepers - Icon For Hire. Nothing More - Dream With Me. Lone Wolf - The War You Wanted. Spiritbox - Sew Me Up.

5. Love Pain - Amongst The Giants
4. Only Human - Memphis May Fire featuring AJ Channer
3. Skillet - Standing In The Storm
2. Last Man Standing - Alter Bridge
1. Weight Of Glory - Wolves At The Gate

The Official Albums Review Thread

[Dolo]

I've listened to 55 new albums this year (including the one I released myself) but I struggled to come up with top 4 even:

In no particular order:
Charlie Griffiths – Tiktaalika
Porcupine Tree – Closure / Continuation
Star One - Revel in Time
Pure Reason Revolution - Above Cirrus

Some honourable mentions:
Billy Howerdel – What Normal Was
JustLeo – Rolled Into One
Envy of None - Envy of None
James Labrie – Beautiful Shade of Grey

I actually might use December to revisit some of those, maybe I'll discover something cool about them.

[SHEAKENBAKEN]

1. Mark Tremonti - Mark Tremonti Sings Frank Sinatra
2. Alter Bridge - Pawns & Kings
3. Disturbed - Divisive

[Devil Inside You]

2022 was decent. More music came out this year that piqued my interest than the passed 2 years, but I would also say it less remarkable. There were albums I loved much more in 2021 and 2020 even though I had more to choose from in 2022. Still though of the gems I was into

10. Planet Zero by Shinedown . Not as strong as the prior album from beginning to end but still really good. It goes harder than Attention Attention. I'm surprised its as divisive as it is.

9. The Afterlife by Five Finger Death Punch. Same as Shinedown, the last album was better but this was still very good. Their new guitarist is a wonderful addition and he made their sound much more refreshing on here.

8. Patient No 9 by Ozzy Osbourne. Amazing collaboration album featuring all types of guitarists and musicians. Ozzy's been struggling a lot lately but the songwriting here is top notch, and the fact that Taylor Hawkins plays on a great deal of this album makes it that much more meaningful to me.

7. Just a Ride, fantastic new Grunge band from the UK. It has the spirit of Stone Temple Pilots which was an easy way for me to love this. I would say Stone Temple Pilots meets early Fuel.

6. Shaman's Harvest Rebelator Another solid post Grunge album from Shaman's Harvest. They've really mastered writing hooks and continue to sharpen their sound here.

5. Lessons Learned by Rob Deleo. The first solo record from STP's best songwriter. Its a collaborative acoustic album and in many ways is the little brother to STP's Perdida (which is still my favorite record of the decade). Its very gentle music that reflects on the crumbling of a marriage.

4. The End So Far by Slipknot. A very very unique album in their discography and the most polarizing since All Hope is Gone. While its nowhere near as heavy as AHIG it does show off a distinct side of Slipknot that no one's reallt seen before. Adderall is one of the most ominous songs they've ever made and the album closer Finale sounds like a Tim Burton song.

3. Alter Bridge Pawns and Kings. Best album they've done since Fortress. Its amazing how sharpened their sound has become and how much chemistry they have as a band. There were so many songs on here that made me realize how powerful these guys can be when they pick up their instruments in the same room. Also Holiday kicks ass

2. Mark Tremonti Sings Frank Sinatra. Honestly, just based off how much I listened to this, this should be my number 1 album of the year. Mark's vocal range has also grown so much since his debut record. I love this album and a lot of my happiest memories of 2022 are with it.

1. Korn Requiem. Another amazing album by Korn. The songwriting is consistent all throughout and this was also the last album I heard before my Grandma died, literally rhe next morning. Being that Korn was my favorite band in highschool and my Grandma was a very pivotal person in my childhood, there were a lot of inadvertent feelings and emotions with this one. I still think of her when I play it.

[gbruin]

I thought it was a great year for music as the industry digs out of the isolation brought on by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Lots of great albums this year - enough that releases from some of my favorite bands like Shinedown, Halestorm, and Journey couldn't crack my top 10

1. Queensrÿche - Digital Noise Alliance: One of QR's top 3 or 4 albums ever, and their best since the legendary Operation: Mindcrime. Addition by subtraction freed this band for its incredible renaissance and they are as good now as their classic era in the 80's.

2. Sarayasign - Throne Of Gold: I haven't been blown away by a band like this in years. This is their debut album and I bought it after hearing one song on Iridium Rock and Metal Reviews on YouTube (go subscribe, Leigh is fantastic there) and I absolutely love the whole thing. The album is the first of a wildly ambitious 4 album concept about a quest to reassemble a book that will save a world from an evil force and the stories of the people caught up in the drama. Saraysign is from Sweden and their music is modern metal with a hint of late 70's classic rock/Deep Purple to it, and any Alter Bridge fan who likes Find The Real would love their sound. Go buy this album. Now.

3. Avantasia - A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society: Typical Tobi, and that's a good thing. He writes intricate songs and melodies to match his guest singers (this one includes Ralf Scheepers, Floor Jansen, Michael Kiske, John Londe, Ronnie Atkins, Bob Catley, Eric Martin, and Geoff Tate) and creates an album that is orchestral, soaring, heavy, catchy, and fantastic, and deserving of a place along this project's excellent predecessors.

4. Seventh Wonder - The Testament: Seventh Wonder is a prog metal band (from Sweden) that never gets overly bogged down by the complicated layers and busyness that makes a lot of prog music overly exhausting to listen to. Incredible musicians, esp founder and bassist Andreas Blomqvist, and one of my favorite vocalists, Tommy Karevik, who also fronts Kamelot.

5. Battle Beast - Circus Of Doom: The band name and some of the costume stuff might seem a bit cliched at first but it's a blip because this is a super catchy tight power metal from Finland that is heavy, fun, and really creative. The songwriting is great and Noora's voice is spectacular.

6. Alter Bridge - Pawns and Kings: There's another thread (or 30 ) around here that goes into more detail. For me, this is their best album and best production since Fortress. The guys are such good musicians and songwriters that less is more. Stripped down AB is the best AB and P&K is more listenable and enjoyable to me than the last two AB records.

7. H.E.A.T. - Force Majure: Yet another Swedish band. Original singer Kenny Leckremo and his soaring vocals rejoined the band and they really polished their heavy/melodic/catchy/party arena metal sound. Think of a more metal Bon Jovi or a modern Whitesnake. Such a fun rocking album to listen to.

8. Nothing More - Spirits: Like most NoMo, this is a bit of a grower, and even more so than their last album, The Stories
We Tell Ourselves, which I grew to absolutely love. Spirits is a bit complicated on first listen, but it is creative, pounding, energetic, smart, and worth the few listens is takes to get familiar with the lyrics and melodies. These guys also put on about as good a live show as I've seen.

9. The Fallen State - Between Hope And Disillusion: A young band from Devon, England with a great maturing modern rock/metal sound. This is their first album with new vocalist Adam Methven and he brings some more diversity to the band's sound and this release highlights the band's range and great musicianship and songwriting. These guys have supported some major acts and are poised for big things.

10. Nordic Union - Animalistic - This is a collaboration of the amazing vocals of Ronnie Atkins (Pretty Maids) and the guitar artwork of Erik Mårtensson (Eclipse and WET). A Dane and a Swede. I don't know what they are doing in Scandinavia, but, please, keep doing it. Great melodic metal sound.

[Schulzy]

A Dane and a Swede. I don't know what they are doing in Scandinavia, but, please, keep doing it.

For some reason this struck me as absolutely hilarious. Thanks to you and Devil Inside You for offering some other bands/albums to check out. Happy New Year!

[maximzub]

I've only heard two full albums from 2022, and one of them is my own, so it shouldn't count. So obviously my number 1 album of the year is Pawns & Kings.

I must admit, though, that I like most of what I've heard from Back From The Dead by Halestorm.