Best albums of 2022

[CureTheSane]

I guess my my top 10 in no particular order might be

The New Roses - Sweet Poison
Kissin' Dynamite - Not The End of The Road
Skid Row - The Gang's All Here
Def Leppard - Diamond Star Halos
Sammy Hagar - Crazy Times
Butch Walker - ... As Glenn
Cats In Space - Kickstart The Sun
Rust N Rage - One For The Road
Ronnie Atkins - Make It Count
Dynazty - Final Advent
 

[auslander]

My final list on the last day of 2022:

Favourite release: Fans of the Dark "Suburbia"

Favourite debut: Vypera "Eat Your Heart Out"

Favourite female-fronted album: Dorothy "Gifts from the Holy Ghost"

Favourite "supergroup" release: Iconic "Second Skin"

Favourite legacy band release: Skid Row "The Gang's All Here"

Favourite retrowave release: Dance With the Dead "Driven to Madness"

Favourite mainstream release: Muse "Will of the People"

Favourite prog-rock release: Porcupine Tree "Closure/Continuation"

Favourite single: Def Leppard "Take What You Want"

Final Top 5:

1. Fans of the Dark - Suburbia 

2. Crashdiet - Automaton 

3. Skid Row - The Gang's All Here 

4. Stryper - The Final Battle

5. Kissin' Dynamite - Not the End of the Road 

 

[The Rocker]

Kissin' Dynamite - Not the End Of The Road"
Treat - The End Game
Ginevra - We Belong
Wildness - Resurrection
Altzi - All Eyes On Me
Black Swan - Generation Mind
Gathering Of Kings - Enigmatic
Skid Row - Gangs All Here
House Of Lords - Saints & Sinners
Remedy - Something That Your Eyes
H.E.A.T -Force Majeure
Raider - Runaway
Degreed - Are You Ready
Rust N' Rage - One For The Toad
Iconic - Second Skin

[Geoff]

I may as well do my little rundown now that the year has been and gone. I was just looking at my list wondering where I start and I really struggled. To put that into context, this is why - I have rated 261 albums from 70-82% (82% being my highest rating of the year) so I kind of go to my point above. That it was a very solid year of music with a tonne of good stuff, but unlike other years - in fact, any that I can think of... there wasn't any truly killer album/s, in my opinion. A shitload of good to very good, bordering on great, which is where I'd rank an 80% album. But nothing slap-my-balls-excellent, imo. 

Anyway, enough rambling, and onto more rambling as I break down my top 30, which seems to be the number I usually go with. But as I look at it, there seem to be hundreds more albums worthy of a mention, just because they're only 1-2% less that what I'm mentioning, and if I revisited everything I'm sure there'd be plenty of changes. Anyway, I know no one else cares, so why should I, lol. Here's the top 30 as it stands today-

30    .     Memphis May Fire   -    Remade In Misery ; an early release in the year and one of the more enjoyable listens each time it hit the stereo. Very consistent, heavy and melodic album. Much enjoyment. 

29    .     Fame on Fire       -    Welcome to the Chaos ; really nice modern rock with a few killer cuts and good consistency throughout. 

28    .     Short Stack  -    Maybe There's No Heaven ; solid album from this Aussie pop punk band who have actually released a few albums, which I checked out after this. I remember a few hits way back when, before a hiatus. Either way, nothing before this is that good, but this is quite delicious. Some really killer tracks propel this high up my list, and the musicianship/production seems to be far higher in quality than anything previous to this. Very nice album.

27    .     Girish & The Chronicles  -    Hail To The Heroes ; one of the early ones from the year, and still a good solid listen. 'Clearing The Blur' alone probably puts this in this position. But this is good, solid hard rock.

26    .     Giant  -    Shifting Time ; we all know this isn't really "Giant" but it's also a good example of why such albums shouldn't be dismissed just because of that fact. Like all of Kenti Hill's albums, which is what this is, it's not all killer, but there's some really nice songs on here and again, one of the earlier releases of the year that stood the test of time. 

25    .     Find Me      -    Lightning in a Bottle ; don't know how this'd stack up in a re-rating, but I can't be bothered so it's here and it's solid. No rules re-written, but it is nice for what these guys offer consistently. 

24    .     Reckless Love      -    Turborider ; one of the more controversial albums of the year but as someone uninterested in irrelevant noise and only interested in whether the actual songs are good or not, I like this plenty. Probably not one of their best albums, but even something below their usual standard is better than most, imo. 

23    .     Peter Goalby       -    I Will Come Runnin' ; I could argue with myself about whether this and albums alike should be in this list or not (having been recorded several decades ago), and if I was running a tight ship I probably wouldn't include this, but it was released in 2022 so it stands. Another good album helped along by a few killer cuts like the opener 'I Will Come Runnin.'

22    .     Top Notch    -    Mean & Smooth ; again, should this be here? Probably not. Surprised I rated it this high as it's solid but not sure it should be above some of the ones I have above this... but oh well, it's a nice "lost gem" with mostly decent sound quality and some cool tunes from yesteryear. I dig it. 

21    .     In Her Own Words   -    Distance Or Decay ; nice modern rock... again, just really consistent throughout without any crud. 

20    .     Coldrain     -    Nonnegative ; as mentioned previously, these guys don't stray from what they do best, but this is quite possibly the best version of their tried and tested sound that I have heard yet. They always rank high, but the inclusion of a monster track like 'Bloody Power Fame' and a few other sweet cuts probably put them a bit higher than usual in 2022. 

19    .     First Signal       -    Closer to the Edge ; not sure how a re-rating would suit this one, though. This was a bit of a drag upon repeated listens, but with some time apart, I'm sure this will fare well in the future as it's still a good album... just doesn't need to be listened to constantly, lol. 

18    .     Altzi  -    All Eyes On Me ; just pure delicious melodic rock / AOR. Not talked about anywhere near as much as similar types of albums that this is far better than, imo. 

17    .     The Strike   -    The Lost Years ; jeez, this thing came on my iPhone over the weekend and I was wondering how far close to the top of my list this was. Probably let down by a couple of songs that aren't amazing, otherwise this could be a contender, with gear such as 'All the way,' 'Overtime,' 'Looking for love' and 'Miles ahead.' Some wonderful songs on this and a re-rating would probably see this climb. 

16    .     Rain City Drive    -    Rain City Drive ; pure class. Another start-to-finish very nice album from the soft-cocks formally known as Slaves. Just one of those bands that don't really know how to write poor songs. 

15    .     City Of Lights     -    Before The Sun Sets ; again, like Altzi, just a really nice collection of melodic rock / AOR. Every time this came on the speakers through the year I was surprised again by how good it actually is, considering a lot of these projects can be pretty average. But this is really nice and held in very high regard by myself. 

14    .     We Came As Romans  -    Darkbloom ; some of the year's best individual tracks on this one. Killer cuts on another consistently strong album from these guys. I think a re-rate would possibly nudge this closer to my top 10. 

13    .     Treat  -    The Endgame ; listening to this as I type. It's nothing ground-breaking or amazing, but these guys are so effortlessly good it's hard to ignore. Probably missing some truly killer cuts, but very consistent and a most enjoyable listen. 

12    .     Josh Dally   -    Speak Your Mind ; catchy, delicious synthwave / pop rock. So many tasty hooks on this one. 

11    .     The Motion Epic    -    Deep in the Heart of America ; every time these guys release an album you can guarantee they'll drop at least one of the best tunes of the year, as they did with 'Broken Heart' on this album. And the rest is very nice too. A very safe bet. 

10    .     Nerv   -    We're All Patients Here ; really strong debut from this band which was new to my ears. Great album with no weak tracks and a lot of good ones. I really like this one. 

9     .     Rob Moratti  -    Epical ; not an artist I ever really held in overly high regard up until recently. I always enjoyed bits and pieces of his output which was mostly pretty solid with varying degrees of quality. But this album, following up on a really great album prior to this one, is another homerun. I kind of said it all on the forum already. He's not re-inventing anything but he's nailing what he's doing - slick melodic rock - perfectly. 

8     .     Ultraboss    -    Yachtmaster ; very tasty synthwave, bordering on pure AOR at times. Would love to hear this with a thick, full production job, but great songs are great songs. 

7     .     Palace       -    One 4 The Road ; when he puts his mind to it, Dr Palace is arguably one of the leading creators in the melodic rock genre at the moment. I love that he does things with a unique twist, and with some of the biggest melodic hooks of the year. Great album with some really killer tunes on board.

6     .     The Midnight       -    Heroes ; another sure-fire winner when we get a new release from The Midnight. Another artist with some unique ideas, and hooks galore. So many great songs on this album. 

5     .     Degreed      -    Are You Ready ; Degreed being Degreed. As with several artists in my top 30, you could set a watch to these guys releasing a great album, and thankfully they deliver once again. Another album full of good to excellent songs. Always a treat. 

4     .     Friday Night Firefight   -    Somewhere Nowhere ; wasn't too familiar with these guys before this year, but this stuff is pure ear candy. In the past the accent may have been a slight dent in my enjoyment of it, but the songs are far too good for it to have any impact, and if I'm being honest, it's kind of cool, actually. If juicy hooks are your jam, then look no further than this. Well produced too, which isn't massively common in all of synthwave stuff. 

3     .     Dayseeker    -    Dark Sun ; I've thrown around the "class" word a couple of times in my list and I'll do it again by saying this one is all class. Excellent vocals and songs to match. 'Homesick' is easily one of the songs of the year, and there's an album full of songs not so far off that high mark to go alongside it. Ear candy. 
 
2     .     All The Damn Vampires    -    Synth City ; their last album was right at the top of my list in the year of it's release and I knew the moment I heard it that this would be too. Another great synthwave album with so many great, super catchy tunes. 

1     .     Eric Dalton  -    Playing Favorites ; and thus my favourite album of the year. Like I said above, it doesn't quite match it with previous albums of the year, but for it to shine that little bit brighter than the ridiculous amount of solid albums this year, it must be doing something right. Production-wise, it's my favourite sounding album of the year, and thankfully there's a batch of great songs to match the production. Heavy, melodic and catchy. All good things and a worthy album of the year for 2022. 

 

And out of curiosity, my own included, my top 20 HH only albums would look like this-

1    .    Degreed     -    Are You Ready
2    .    Palace     -    One 4 The Road
3    .    Rob Moratti     -    Epical
4    .    Treat     -    The Endgame
5    .    City Of Lights     -    Before The Sun Sets
6    .    The Strike     -    The Lost Years
7    .    Altzi     -    All Eyes On Me
8    .    First Signal     -    Closer to the Edge
9    .    Top Notch     -    Mean & Smooth
10    .    Peter Goalby     -    I Will Come Runnin'

11    .    Reckless Love     -    Turborider
12    .    Find Me     -    Lightning in a Bottle
13    .    Giant     -    Shifting Time
14    .    Girish & The Chronicles     -    Hail To The Heroes
15    .    Perfect Plan     -    Brace for Impact
16    .    Chez Kane     -    Powerzone
17    .    Ronnie Atkins     -    Make It Count
18    .    Lionville     -    So Close To Heaven
19    .    Remedy     -    Something That Your Eyes Wont See
20    .    91 Suite     -    Back In The Game

21    .    Mick White     -    Something's Got To Give
22    .    Restless Spirits     -    Second To None
23    .    Crashdiet     -    Automaton
24    .    Bloody Heels     -    Rotten Romance
25    .    Generation Radio     -    Generation Radio
26    .    Grand     -    Grand
27    .    Caught in Action     -    Devil`s Tango
28    .    Nordic Union     -    Animalistic
29    .    The Hot Summers     -    The Hot Summers
30    .    Santa Cruz     -    The Return Of The Kings
 

[Glen]

can only assume you forgot about Kissin Dynamite as it pretty much anhialates most of that HH top 30. IMHO of course

 

[Geoff]

3 hours ago, Glen said:

can only assume you forgot about Kissin Dynamite as it pretty much anhialates most of that HH top 30. IMHO of course

 

Haha, no mate. I wish I could forget about it, but sadly I couldn't. 

Haha, I jest in order to emphasise my point in a hilarious manner. 

Just checked, for interest, and I had it ranked at 154 on my list, still sitting behind albums I much prefer, like Crossing Rubicon, Iconic, Wildness, Loud Solution, Streetlore, Muna, Taboo, LA Cobra, Mr Zsolt, Toy Cannon, JSS, Nasson, Lone Wolf, Tango Down etc. etc. I assume the point is made. Aside from the many I already mentioned in my summary there's even more that I didn't mention that I prefer to Kissin' Dynamite. 

They're just one of those bands. You'll find one or two strong songs on their album and a whole bunch of okay stuff. It's the formula for most bands... they just do it a little worse than the rest.

 

[The Rocker]

11 hours ago, Geoff said:

I may as well do my little rundown now that the year has been and gone. I was just looking at my list wondering where I start and I really struggled. To put that into context, this is why - I have rated 261 albums from 70-82% (82% being my highest rating of the year) so I kind of go to my point above. That it was a very solid year of music with a tonne of good stuff, but unlike other years - in fact, any that I can think of... there wasn't any truly killer album/s, in my opinion. A shitload of good to very good, bordering on great, which is where I'd rank an 80% album. But nothing slap-my-balls-excellent, imo. 

Anyway, enough rambling, and onto more rambling as I break down my top 30, which seems to be the number I usually go with. But as I look at it, there seem to be hundreds more albums worthy of a mention, just because they're only 1-2% less that what I'm mentioning, and if I revisited everything I'm sure there'd be plenty of changes. Anyway, I know no one else cares, so why should I, lol. Here's the top 30 as it stands today-

30    .     Memphis May Fire   -    Remade In Misery ; an early release in the year and one of the more enjoyable listens each time it hit the stereo. Very consistent, heavy and melodic album. Much enjoyment. 

29    .     Fame on Fire       -    Welcome to the Chaos ; really nice modern rock with a few killer cuts and good consistency throughout. 

28    .     Short Stack  -    Maybe There's No Heaven ; solid album from this Aussie pop punk band who have actually released a few albums, which I checked out after this. I remember a few hits way back when, before a hiatus. Either way, nothing before this is that good, but this is quite delicious. Some really killer tracks propel this high up my list, and the musicianship/production seems to be far higher in quality than anything previous to this. Very nice album.

27    .     Girish & The Chronicles  -    Hail To The Heroes ; one of the early ones from the year, and still a good solid listen. 'Clearing The Blur' alone probably puts this in this position. But this is good, solid hard rock.

26    .     Giant  -    Shifting Time ; we all know this isn't really "Giant" but it's also a good example of why such albums shouldn't be dismissed just because of that fact. Like all of Kenti Hill's albums, which is what this is, it's not all killer, but there's some really nice songs on here and again, one of the earlier releases of the year that stood the test of time. 

25    .     Find Me      -    Lightning in a Bottle ; don't know how this'd stack up in a re-rating, but I can't be bothered so it's here and it's solid. No rules re-written, but it is nice for what these guys offer consistently. 

24    .     Reckless Love      -    Turborider ; one of the more controversial albums of the year but as someone uninterested in irrelevant noise and only interested in whether the actual songs are good or not, I like this plenty. Probably not one of their best albums, but even something below their usual standard is better than most, imo. 

23    .     Peter Goalby       -    I Will Come Runnin' ; I could argue with myself about whether this and albums alike should be in this list or not (having been recorded several decades ago), and if I was running a tight ship I probably wouldn't include this, but it was released in 2022 so it stands. Another good album helped along by a few killer cuts like the opener 'I Will Come Runnin.'

22    .     Top Notch    -    Mean & Smooth ; again, should this be here? Probably not. Surprised I rated it this high as it's solid but not sure it should be above some of the ones I have above this... but oh well, it's a nice "lost gem" with mostly decent sound quality and some cool tunes from yesteryear. I dig it. 

21    .     In Her Own Words   -    Distance Or Decay ; nice modern rock... again, just really consistent throughout without any crud. 

20    .     Coldrain     -    Nonnegative ; as mentioned previously, these guys don't stray from what they do best, but this is quite possibly the best version of their tried and tested sound that I have heard yet. They always rank high, but the inclusion of a monster track like 'Bloody Power Fame' and a few other sweet cuts probably put them a bit higher than usual in 2022. 

19    .     First Signal       -    Closer to the Edge ; not sure how a re-rating would suit this one, though. This was a bit of a drag upon repeated listens, but with some time apart, I'm sure this will fare well in the future as it's still a good album... just doesn't need to be listened to constantly, lol. 

18    .     Altzi  -    All Eyes On Me ; just pure delicious melodic rock / AOR. Not talked about anywhere near as much as similar types of albums that this is far better than, imo. 

17    .     The Strike   -    The Lost Years ; jeez, this thing came on my iPhone over the weekend and I was wondering how far close to the top of my list this was. Probably let down by a couple of songs that aren't amazing, otherwise this could be a contender, with gear such as 'All the way,' 'Overtime,' 'Looking for love' and 'Miles ahead.' Some wonderful songs on this and a re-rating would probably see this climb. 

16    .     Rain City Drive    -    Rain City Drive ; pure class. Another start-to-finish very nice album from the soft-cocks formally known as Slaves. Just one of those bands that don't really know how to write poor songs. 

15    .     City Of Lights     -    Before The Sun Sets ; again, like Altzi, just a really nice collection of melodic rock / AOR. Every time this came on the speakers through the year I was surprised again by how good it actually is, considering a lot of these projects can be pretty average. But this is really nice and held in very high regard by myself. 

14    .     We Came As Romans  -    Darkbloom ; some of the year's best individual tracks on this one. Killer cuts on another consistently strong album from these guys. I think a re-rate would possibly nudge this closer to my top 10. 

13    .     Treat  -    The Endgame ; listening to this as I type. It's nothing ground-breaking or amazing, but these guys are so effortlessly good it's hard to ignore. Probably missing some truly killer cuts, but very consistent and a most enjoyable listen. 

12    .     Josh Dally   -    Speak Your Mind ; catchy, delicious synthwave / pop rock. So many tasty hooks on this one. 

11    .     The Motion Epic    -    Deep in the Heart of America ; every time these guys release an album you can guarantee they'll drop at least one of the best tunes of the year, as they did with 'Broken Heart' on this album. And the rest is very nice too. A very safe bet. 

10    .     Nerv   -    We're All Patients Here ; really strong debut from this band which was new to my ears. Great album with no weak tracks and a lot of good ones. I really like this one. 

9     .     Rob Moratti  -    Epical ; not an artist I ever really held in overly high regard up until recently. I always enjoyed bits and pieces of his output which was mostly pretty solid with varying degrees of quality. But this album, following up on a really great album prior to this one, is another homerun. I kind of said it all on the forum already. He's not re-inventing anything but he's nailing what he's doing - slick melodic rock - perfectly. 

8     .     Ultraboss    -    Yachtmaster ; very tasty synthwave, bordering on pure AOR at times. Would love to hear this with a thick, full production job, but great songs are great songs. 

7     .     Palace       -    One 4 The Road ; when he puts his mind to it, Dr Palace is arguably one of the leading creators in the melodic rock genre at the moment. I love that he does things with a unique twist, and with some of the biggest melodic hooks of the year. Great album with some really killer tunes on board.

6     .     The Midnight       -    Heroes ; another sure-fire winner when we get a new release from The Midnight. Another artist with some unique ideas, and hooks galore. So many great songs on this album. 

5     .     Degreed      -    Are You Ready ; Degreed being Degreed. As with several artists in my top 30, you could set a watch to these guys releasing a great album, and thankfully they deliver once again. Another album full of good to excellent songs. Always a treat. 

4     .     Friday Night Firefight   -    Somewhere Nowhere ; wasn't too familiar with these guys before this year, but this stuff is pure ear candy. In the past the accent may have been a slight dent in my enjoyment of it, but the songs are far too good for it to have any impact, and if I'm being honest, it's kind of cool, actually. If juicy hooks are your jam, then look no further than this. Well produced too, which isn't massively common in all of synthwave stuff. 

3     .     Dayseeker    -    Dark Sun ; I've thrown around the "class" word a couple of times in my list and I'll do it again by saying this one is all class. Excellent vocals and songs to match. 'Homesick' is easily one of the songs of the year, and there's an album full of songs not so far off that high mark to go alongside it. Ear candy. 
 
2     .     All The Damn Vampires    -    Synth City ; their last album was right at the top of my list in the year of it's release and I knew the moment I heard it that this would be too. Another great synthwave album with so many great, super catchy tunes. 

1     .     Eric Dalton  -    Playing Favorites ; and thus my favourite album of the year. Like I said above, it doesn't quite match it with previous albums of the year, but for it to shine that little bit brighter than the ridiculous amount of solid albums this year, it must be doing something right. Production-wise, it's my favourite sounding album of the year, and thankfully there's a batch of great songs to match the production. Heavy, melodic and catchy. All good things and a worthy album of the year for 2022. 

 

And out of curiosity, my own included, my top 20 HH only albums would look like this-

1    .    Degreed     -    Are You Ready
2    .    Palace     -    One 4 The Road
3    .    Rob Moratti     -    Epical
4    .    Treat     -    The Endgame
5    .    City Of Lights     -    Before The Sun Sets
6    .    The Strike     -    The Lost Years
7    .    Altzi     -    All Eyes On Me
8    .    First Signal     -    Closer to the Edge
9    .    Top Notch     -    Mean & Smooth
10    .    Peter Goalby     -    I Will Come Runnin'

11    .    Reckless Love     -    Turborider
12    .    Find Me     -    Lightning in a Bottle
13    .    Giant     -    Shifting Time
14    .    Girish & The Chronicles     -    Hail To The Heroes
15    .    Perfect Plan     -    Brace for Impact
16    .    Chez Kane     -    Powerzone
17    .    Ronnie Atkins     -    Make It Count
18    .    Lionville     -    So Close To Heaven
19    .    Remedy     -    Something That Your Eyes Wont See
20    .    91 Suite     -    Back In The Game

21    .    Mick White     -    Something's Got To Give
22    .    Restless Spirits     -    Second To None
23    .    Crashdiet     -    Automaton
24    .    Bloody Heels     -    Rotten Romance
25    .    Generation Radio     -    Generation Radio
26    .    Grand     -    Grand
27    .    Caught in Action     -    Devil`s Tango
28    .    Nordic Union     -    Animalistic
29    .    The Hot Summers     -    The Hot Summers
30    .    Santa Cruz     -    The Return Of The Kings
 

Good stuff, but no Kissin' Dynamite??

 

[Geoff]

13 minutes ago, The Rocker said:

Good stuff, but no Kissin' Dynamite??

 

Please see above. I dunno chaps, they've never done anything for me and nothing really changed for me this year. They're okay, like so many albums were this year.

 

[nyoilers]

My top 5 of 2022

1. Ghost-Impera

2. Sammy Hagar and the Circle-Crazy Times

3. Ozzy Osbourne-Patient Number 9

4. Wild America-Old School Cool 

5. Nickelback-Get Rollin’

[The Rocker]

1 hour ago, Geoff said:

Please see above. I dunno chaps, they've never done anything for me and nothing really changed for me this year. They're okay, like so many albums were this year.

 

Sorry, I read that after the fact.  lol

[Glen]

2 hours ago, Geoff said:

Haha, no mate. I wish I could forget about it, but sadly I couldn't. 

Haha, I jest in order to emphasise my point in a hilarious manner. 

Just checked, for interest, and I had it ranked at 154 on my list, still sitting behind albums I much prefer, like Crossing Rubicon, Iconic, Wildness, Loud Solution, Streetlore, Muna, Taboo, LA Cobra, Mr Zsolt, Toy Cannon, JSS, Nasson, Lone Wolf, Tango Down etc. etc. I assume the point is made. Aside from the many I already mentioned in my summary there's even more that I didn't mention that I prefer to Kissin' Dynamite. 

They're just one of those bands. You'll find one or two strong songs on their album and a whole bunch of okay stuff. It's the formula for most bands... they just do it a little worse than the rest.

 

madness imo.

most of those albums you mention above are pure shit, but to each their own

 

[Glen]

21 minutes ago, nyoilers said:

My top 5 of 2022

1. Ghost-Impera

2. Sammy Hagar and the Circle-Crazy Times

3. Ozzy Osbourne-Patient Number 9

4. Wild America-Old School Cool 

5. Nickelback-Get Rollin’

no 1 is almost perfectly correct

Just an amazing unique album. Love it. 

[Geoff]

46 minutes ago, Glen said:

madness imo.

most of those albums you mention above are pure shit, but to each their own

 

Haha, to each their own indeed. Madness to me was just today, the sudden realisation that after churning out half a dozen below average albums, and not changing anything dramatically, Kissin’ Dynamite are now a band worth talking about? Definitely a memo I was not aware of.

[Glen]

8 hours ago, Geoff said:

Haha, to each their own indeed. Madness to me was just today, the sudden realisation that after churning out half a dozen below average albums, and not changing anything dramatically, Kissin’ Dynamite are now a band worth talking about? Definitely a memo I was not aware of.

I agree entirely prior to this pretty weak, but man they nailed this one imo. I love nearly every track. 

[Geoff]

4 minutes ago, Glen said:

I agree entirely prior to this pretty weak, but man they nailed this one imo. I love nearly every track. 

Yeah to each their own. Just never thought I'd see the day I get slapped with a cold trout for not including a Kissin' Dynamite album in my list, lol. I had a quick revisit to see if I missed something, but I didn't. For me, it's just another one of their albums. Possibly is their best, but I could kind of reverse my commentary about Reckless Love for them. KD at their best still doesn't do that much for me, I have to admit. I honestly wasn't aware of the enthusiasm for the album, even though, as I look back at recent posts, it seems to be in quite a few lists. I didn't even notice that. 

I don't see outside of this forum, but is it rating highly on lists from other voices in the genre? I can honestly say I don't get it, but then I always seem to be out of step with stuff like this, which is fine by me. Like I say, couldn't have guessed in a million years that not having KD in my favourite albums would ever be an issue, lol. 

[Glen]

4 hours ago, Geoff said:

Yeah to each their own. Just never thought I'd see the day I get slapped with a cold trout for not including a Kissin' Dynamite album in my list, lol. I had a quick revisit to see if I missed something, but I didn't. For me, it's just another one of their albums. Possibly is their best, but I could kind of reverse my commentary about Reckless Love for them. KD at their best still doesn't do that much for me, I have to admit. I honestly wasn't aware of the enthusiasm for the album, even though, as I look back at recent posts, it seems to be in quite a few lists. I didn't even notice that. 

I don't see outside of this forum, but is it rating highly on lists from other voices in the genre? I can honestly say I don't get it, but then I always seem to be out of step with stuff like this, which is fine by me. Like I say, couldn't have guessed in a million years that not having KD in my favourite albums would ever be an issue, lol. 

its not an issue lol

Odd choice of word.

if you don't like then fair dos

 

[Glen]

So out of interest, aside from Geoff, what does everyone else think of the latest Kissin Dynamite album?

My take on it is songs like Not the End, Only the Dead, Yoko Ono, Hallelujah, No One Dies, Defeat It, Voodoo Spell were all awesome slabs of melodic rock and miles better than virtually any other song they'd ever released??

Add to that 2 great ballads in Gone for Good & Scars and you have a consistently great melodic rock album.

So guys, am I right. or am I the only twat liking this thing?? 🤔 

 

 

[KarpetRydOFunk]

12 minutes ago, Glen said:

So out of interest, aside from Geoff, what does everyone else think of the latest Kissin Dynamite album?

My take on it is songs like Not the End, Only the Dead, Yoko Ono, Hallelujah, No One Dies, Defeat It, Voodoo Spell were all awesome slabs of melodic rock and miles better than virtually any other song they'd ever released??

Add to that 2 great ballads in Gone for Good & Scars and you have a consistently great melodic rock album.

So guys, am I right. or am I the only twat liking this thing?? 🤔 

 

 

I'm just glad you're accepting the fact you're a twat. 

;}

[KarpetRydOFunk]

On 1/3/2023 at 1:30 AM, Geoff said:

I may as well do my little rundown now that the year has been and gone. I was just looking at my list wondering where I start and I really struggled. To put that into context, this is why - I have rated 261 albums from 70-82% (82% being my highest rating of the year) so I kind of go to my point above. That it was a very solid year of music with a tonne of good stuff, but unlike other years - in fact, any that I can think of... there wasn't any truly killer album/s, in my opinion. A shitload of good to very good, bordering on great, which is where I'd rank an 80% album. But nothing slap-my-balls-excellent, imo. 

Anyway, enough rambling, and onto more rambling as I break down my top 30, which seems to be the number I usually go with. But as I look at it, there seem to be hundreds more albums worthy of a mention, just because they're only 1-2% less that what I'm mentioning, and if I revisited everything I'm sure there'd be plenty of changes. Anyway, I know no one else cares, so why should I, lol. Here's the top 30 as it stands today-

30    .     Memphis May Fire   -    Remade In Misery ; an early release in the year and one of the more enjoyable listens each time it hit the stereo. Very consistent, heavy and melodic album. Much enjoyment. 

29    .     Fame on Fire       -    Welcome to the Chaos ; really nice modern rock with a few killer cuts and good consistency throughout. 

28    .     Short Stack  -    Maybe There's No Heaven ; solid album from this Aussie pop punk band who have actually released a few albums, which I checked out after this. I remember a few hits way back when, before a hiatus. Either way, nothing before this is that good, but this is quite delicious. Some really killer tracks propel this high up my list, and the musicianship/production seems to be far higher in quality than anything previous to this. Very nice album.

27    .     Girish & The Chronicles  -    Hail To The Heroes ; one of the early ones from the year, and still a good solid listen. 'Clearing The Blur' alone probably puts this in this position. But this is good, solid hard rock.

26    .     Giant  -    Shifting Time ; we all know this isn't really "Giant" but it's also a good example of why such albums shouldn't be dismissed just because of that fact. Like all of Kenti Hill's albums, which is what this is, it's not all killer, but there's some really nice songs on here and again, one of the earlier releases of the year that stood the test of time. 

25    .     Find Me      -    Lightning in a Bottle ; don't know how this'd stack up in a re-rating, but I can't be bothered so it's here and it's solid. No rules re-written, but it is nice for what these guys offer consistently. 

24    .     Reckless Love      -    Turborider ; one of the more controversial albums of the year but as someone uninterested in irrelevant noise and only interested in whether the actual songs are good or not, I like this plenty. Probably not one of their best albums, but even something below their usual standard is better than most, imo. 

23    .     Peter Goalby       -    I Will Come Runnin' ; I could argue with myself about whether this and albums alike should be in this list or not (having been recorded several decades ago), and if I was running a tight ship I probably wouldn't include this, but it was released in 2022 so it stands. Another good album helped along by a few killer cuts like the opener 'I Will Come Runnin.'

22    .     Top Notch    -    Mean & Smooth ; again, should this be here? Probably not. Surprised I rated it this high as it's solid but not sure it should be above some of the ones I have above this... but oh well, it's a nice "lost gem" with mostly decent sound quality and some cool tunes from yesteryear. I dig it. 

21    .     In Her Own Words   -    Distance Or Decay ; nice modern rock... again, just really consistent throughout without any crud. 

20    .     Coldrain     -    Nonnegative ; as mentioned previously, these guys don't stray from what they do best, but this is quite possibly the best version of their tried and tested sound that I have heard yet. They always rank high, but the inclusion of a monster track like 'Bloody Power Fame' and a few other sweet cuts probably put them a bit higher than usual in 2022. 

19    .     First Signal       -    Closer to the Edge ; not sure how a re-rating would suit this one, though. This was a bit of a drag upon repeated listens, but with some time apart, I'm sure this will fare well in the future as it's still a good album... just doesn't need to be listened to constantly, lol. 

18    .     Altzi  -    All Eyes On Me ; just pure delicious melodic rock / AOR. Not talked about anywhere near as much as similar types of albums that this is far better than, imo. 

17    .     The Strike   -    The Lost Years ; jeez, this thing came on my iPhone over the weekend and I was wondering how far close to the top of my list this was. Probably let down by a couple of songs that aren't amazing, otherwise this could be a contender, with gear such as 'All the way,' 'Overtime,' 'Looking for love' and 'Miles ahead.' Some wonderful songs on this and a re-rating would probably see this climb. 

16    .     Rain City Drive    -    Rain City Drive ; pure class. Another start-to-finish very nice album from the soft-cocks formally known as Slaves. Just one of those bands that don't really know how to write poor songs. 

15    .     City Of Lights     -    Before The Sun Sets ; again, like Altzi, just a really nice collection of melodic rock / AOR. Every time this came on the speakers through the year I was surprised again by how good it actually is, considering a lot of these projects can be pretty average. But this is really nice and held in very high regard by myself. 

14    .     We Came As Romans  -    Darkbloom ; some of the year's best individual tracks on this one. Killer cuts on another consistently strong album from these guys. I think a re-rate would possibly nudge this closer to my top 10. 

13    .     Treat  -    The Endgame ; listening to this as I type. It's nothing ground-breaking or amazing, but these guys are so effortlessly good it's hard to ignore. Probably missing some truly killer cuts, but very consistent and a most enjoyable listen. 

12    .     Josh Dally   -    Speak Your Mind ; catchy, delicious synthwave / pop rock. So many tasty hooks on this one. 

11    .     The Motion Epic    -    Deep in the Heart of America ; every time these guys release an album you can guarantee they'll drop at least one of the best tunes of the year, as they did with 'Broken Heart' on this album. And the rest is very nice too. A very safe bet. 

10    .     Nerv   -    We're All Patients Here ; really strong debut from this band which was new to my ears. Great album with no weak tracks and a lot of good ones. I really like this one. 

9     .     Rob Moratti  -    Epical ; not an artist I ever really held in overly high regard up until recently. I always enjoyed bits and pieces of his output which was mostly pretty solid with varying degrees of quality. But this album, following up on a really great album prior to this one, is another homerun. I kind of said it all on the forum already. He's not re-inventing anything but he's nailing what he's doing - slick melodic rock - perfectly. 

8     .     Ultraboss    -    Yachtmaster ; very tasty synthwave, bordering on pure AOR at times. Would love to hear this with a thick, full production job, but great songs are great songs. 

7     .     Palace       -    One 4 The Road ; when he puts his mind to it, Dr Palace is arguably one of the leading creators in the melodic rock genre at the moment. I love that he does things with a unique twist, and with some of the biggest melodic hooks of the year. Great album with some really killer tunes on board.

6     .     The Midnight       -    Heroes ; another sure-fire winner when we get a new release from The Midnight. Another artist with some unique ideas, and hooks galore. So many great songs on this album. 

5     .     Degreed      -    Are You Ready ; Degreed being Degreed. As with several artists in my top 30, you could set a watch to these guys releasing a great album, and thankfully they deliver once again. Another album full of good to excellent songs. Always a treat. 

4     .     Friday Night Firefight   -    Somewhere Nowhere ; wasn't too familiar with these guys before this year, but this stuff is pure ear candy. In the past the accent may have been a slight dent in my enjoyment of it, but the songs are far too good for it to have any impact, and if I'm being honest, it's kind of cool, actually. If juicy hooks are your jam, then look no further than this. Well produced too, which isn't massively common in all of synthwave stuff. 

3     .     Dayseeker    -    Dark Sun ; I've thrown around the "class" word a couple of times in my list and I'll do it again by saying this one is all class. Excellent vocals and songs to match. 'Homesick' is easily one of the songs of the year, and there's an album full of songs not so far off that high mark to go alongside it. Ear candy. 
 
2     .     All The Damn Vampires    -    Synth City ; their last album was right at the top of my list in the year of it's release and I knew the moment I heard it that this would be too. Another great synthwave album with so many great, super catchy tunes. 

1     .     Eric Dalton  -    Playing Favorites ; and thus my favourite album of the year. Like I said above, it doesn't quite match it with previous albums of the year, but for it to shine that little bit brighter than the ridiculous amount of solid albums this year, it must be doing something right. Production-wise, it's my favourite sounding album of the year, and thankfully there's a batch of great songs to match the production. Heavy, melodic and catchy. All good things and a worthy album of the year for 2022. 

 

And out of curiosity, my own included, my top 20 HH only albums would look like this-

1    .    Degreed     -    Are You Ready
2    .    Palace     -    One 4 The Road
3    .    Rob Moratti     -    Epical
4    .    Treat     -    The Endgame
5    .    City Of Lights     -    Before The Sun Sets
6    .    The Strike     -    The Lost Years
7    .    Altzi     -    All Eyes On Me
8    .    First Signal     -    Closer to the Edge
9    .    Top Notch     -    Mean & Smooth
10    .    Peter Goalby     -    I Will Come Runnin'

11    .    Reckless Love     -    Turborider
12    .    Find Me     -    Lightning in a Bottle
13    .    Giant     -    Shifting Time
14    .    Girish & The Chronicles     -    Hail To The Heroes
15    .    Perfect Plan     -    Brace for Impact
16    .    Chez Kane     -    Powerzone
17    .    Ronnie Atkins     -    Make It Count
18    .    Lionville     -    So Close To Heaven
19    .    Remedy     -    Something That Your Eyes Wont See
20    .    91 Suite     -    Back In The Game

21    .    Mick White     -    Something's Got To Give
22    .    Restless Spirits     -    Second To None
23    .    Crashdiet     -    Automaton
24    .    Bloody Heels     -    Rotten Romance
25    .    Generation Radio     -    Generation Radio
26    .    Grand     -    Grand
27    .    Caught in Action     -    Devil`s Tango
28    .    Nordic Union     -    Animalistic
29    .    The Hot Summers     -    The Hot Summers
30    .    Santa Cruz     -    The Return Of The Kings
 

I was like, "Oh! Who's this Eric Dalton? Have I not heard of them?" And then I looked them up and realised I had checked them out before, and wasn't impressed. But it's Geoffrey's number one, so maybe I should give it another chance. I did. What in the fuck do you see in that album? Does absolutely nothing for me. 

[CMGiordano]

I really need to do a better job in 2023, because there's so many of these albums I still haven't gotten around to listening to yet.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

22 minutes ago, CMGiordano said:

I really need to do a better job in 2023, because there's so many of these albums I still haven't gotten around to listening to yet.

Leh. Did you enjoy what you were listening to in 2022? I've given up on trying to keep up for the sake of being caught up. The majority of the best albums are still from the 80's and early 90's. 

[The Rocker]

11 hours ago, Glen said:

I agree entirely prior to this pretty weak, but man they nailed this one imo. I love nearly every track. 

Their last 2 albums are fantastic, the ones before that were very hit and miss.

[Geoff]

6 hours ago, KarpetRydOFunk said:

I was like, "Oh! Who's this Eric Dalton? Have I not heard of them?" And then I looked them up and realised I had checked them out before, and wasn't impressed. But it's Geoffrey's number one, so maybe I should give it another chance. I did. What in the fuck do you see in that album? Does absolutely nothing for me. 

Yeah, it's not something I'd expect to do much for others, I just dig it. No weak tracks, killer production job and a few tracks I really dig. Let me quickly check something... With my sexy little rating system it would have just snuck in at #10 if it was released last year. And was 2021 an amazing year in music? I don't think so. It was cool, but probably not anything out of the ordinary. 

So, my top album this year would be about 10th (or lower, I think, generally speaking) if released in any other year, is basically the point I'm making. Yeah, it's cool, but as above, I just didn't think this year had any truly stand out releases, including my #1.

 

[Glen]

Plenty of albums in my top 10 will be played for years to come. Some great albums this year imo. 

[Geoff]

17 minutes ago, Glen said:

Plenty of albums in my top 10 will be played for years to come. Some great albums this year imo. 

I'll be playing something ridiculous like 1000+ great songs every time I spin my 2022 playlist well into the future. It's a killer playlist. Just a shame that when we're talking about albums, no artist could string together 10 killer cuts for any one truly great album, imo.