I can’t believe we are through with another year. And what a year it was, It saw me complete my goal of one post for every day of the year and it saw me start and still not finish the massive Jeff Scott Soto Series. I still have about 6 months to go on that one. Crazy. It saw some struggles as I had a minor surgery but the two week recovery was hard and then I got sick and was miserable for another two weeks and that put a massive damper on my enthusiasm for writing. For October, I barely wrote anything. Thankfully, I keep ahead so it had no impact on my readers, you probably didn’t even notice, but for me, it was hard. But we are way past that now and all is good.
With the Soto series and the Scorpions series, I actually didn’t spend much time with new releases, but I did have a bunch that I liked and wish I spent more time with. So, we are going to go through the Top 10 Rock Albums of 2022 and of course there will be some honorable mentions, a worst of album and some of my favorite Non-Rock albums. Sit back, grab a cup of coffee if it is morning, or a beer if it is any other time of day…and enjoy!!
TOP ROCK ALBUMS OF 2022:
#10 – HALESTORM – BACK FROM THE DEAD: Lzzy Hale and the boys are back from the dead and they are rocking the hell out of you with this one. With the title track, then “Wicked Ways” and “The Steeple”, they showed they mean business and are carrying the torch for rock. Listen to this and you know Rock Ain’t Dead!! And if you want more great ones, I really like “Psycho Crazy” and the ballad “Raise Your Horns”…oh sooooo good!!
#9 – H.E.A.T. – FORCE MAJEURE: I thought there last album was amazing with Erik Gronwell on vocals, but Erik left and is now with Skid Row who also released an album this year. Original H.E.A.T. lead singer, Kenny Leckremo, returned and they released another stellar release. I like it way better than the new Skid Row…sorry Erik. Such stellar tracks as “Back to the Rhythm”, “Nationwide”, “Tainted Blood” and “Demon Eyes” to only name a handful.
Continue reading “The Top Rock Albums of 2022”
Smith/Kotzen – Better Days…And Nights (LIVE) – (BMG Rights): Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen are back and this time we get live and studio albums. You get 5 previously unreleased live tracks from theirTrans-Atlantic 22 Tour plus the four studio tracks featured on their sold out ‘Better Days’ vinyl EP!
Marcus Mumford – (self-titled) – (Capitol Records / UMG)
The Devil Wears Prada – Color Decay – (Solid State Records)
Michelle Branch – The Trouble with Fever – (Audio Eagle Records / Nonesuch Records)
Ringo Starr – EP3 E.P. – (Universal Music / Roccabella)
Pink Floyd – Animals (2018 Remix) – (Pink Floyd Music / Sony)
Creedence Clearwater Revival – At the Royal Albert Hall – (Craft Recordings / Concord)
LeAnn Rimes – God’s Work – (EverLe Records / Thirty Tigers)
Little Big Town – Mr. Sun – (Capitol Records / UMG)
Noah Cyrus – The Hardest Part – (Records Label / Columbia)
The Mars Volta – The Mars Volta – (Clouds Hill)
Death Cab for Cutie – Asphalt Meadows – (Atlantic Records / WEA)
Starcrawler – She Said – (Starcrawler Music / Big Machine Label Group)
Clutch – Sunrise on Slaughter Beach – (Weathermaker Music)
House of Lords – Saints & Sinners – (Frontiers Records)
Ginevra – We Belong to the Stars – (Frontiers Records)
Fans of the Dark – Suburbia – (Frontiers Records)
Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros – Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years – (Casbah Productions / Dark Horse Records / BMG)
The Black Angels – Wilderness of Mirrors – (Partisan Records)
Behemoth – Opvs Contra Natvram – (Nuclear Blast)
Edenbridge – Shangri-La – (AFM Records / Soulfood Music)
Wolfheart – King of the North – (Napalm Records)
Sumerlands – Dreamkiller – (Relapse Records)\
Lybica – Lybica – (Metal Blade Records)
Destrage – So Much. Too Much. – (3DOT Recordings / Many Hats Distribution)
Omophagia – Rebirth in Black – (Unique Leader Records)
Ondara – Spanish Villager No. 3 – (Verve Label Group / UMG)
Julian Lage – View With A Room – (Blue Note Records)
Miles Davis – That’s What Happened 1982-1985: The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 – (Columbia Records / Sony Music)
Samara Joy – Linger Awhile – (Verve Records / UMG)
Confessions of a Traitor – Punishing Myself Before God Does – (Facedown Records)
Bumpin’ Uglies – Mid-Atlantic Dub – (InEffable Records)
Danielle Ponder – Some of Us Are Brave – (Future Classic)
Surf Curse – Magic Hour – (Atlantic Records)
Cape Francis – Don’t Let Your Heart Walk Away – (Sleep Well Records)
Fletcher – Girl of My Dreams – (Capitol Records / Snapback Entertainment / UMG)
Djo – Decide – (AWAL Recordings)
Rhett Miller – The Misfit – (ATO Records)
Loveless – End of an Era – (Loveless)
The Murlocs – Rapscallion – (ATO Records)
The Darling Fire – Distortions – (Iodine Recordings)
Gogol Bordello – Solidaritine – (Das Grand Kapital / Cooking Vinyl)
Klangstof – Godspeed to the Freaks – (Velveteen Records)
The London Suede – Autofiction – (Suede Limited / BMG Rights Mgmt)
Rina Sawayama – Hold the Girl – (Dirty Hit)
Abstract – No More Hope for the Hopeless – (Abstract the Artist)
Whitney – Spark – (Secretly Canadian)
Maggie Lindemann – Suckerpunch – (swixxzaudio)
Lissie – Carving Canyons – (Lionboy Records)
The Beths – Expert in a Dying Field – (Carpark Records)
Electric Callboy – Tekkno – (Century Media Records)
Molly Lewis – Mirage E.P. – (Jagjaguwar)
Jimmy Carpenter – The Louisiana Record – (Gulf Coast Records / SoNo Recording Group)
Mitchell Tenpenny – This is the Heavy – (Riser House Entertainment / Sony Music)
We the Kingdom – We the Kingdom – (Sparrow Records / Capitol Records)
2 Loud 2 Old Music 