These are my picks for best 5 albums in 2018. We had some internal discussion in my friend group that not many good albums were released this year but thinking about it for a while, more and more good albums seemed to pop up. Here are my choices followed by honorable mentions.

5 Halestorm - Vicious

This album took me by storm and kind of after the fact of the release. It’s both seductive and aggressive and features amazing instrumentation as well as vocals. Go give it a listen!

4 Ghost - Prequelle

This album actually has an interesting story in relation to the law suit from the former band members of Ghost. Part of the suit is that they provided lots of the identity of Ghost (to my understanding) and this release is supposed to prove that they can indeed still make songs without them. In my opinion they succeeded (yet since every album has been different and this one is as well, how do you determine that?). In either case it’s a good album featuring a sax solo (bitchin’!) in Miasma. I like how the album quotes itself musically though I can see how that might seem “lazy” to some.

3 A Perfect Circle - Eat the elephant

This album starts off strong and falls off by track six or seven. But what a start. If it had kept up the pace there would have been no competition for first place. I think the disgusting artwork is amazing and disturbing and fits the general feel of the very ironically toned So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish (obviously an homage to hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy). I had the luck of being able to catch them live this year and they performed incredibly well.

2 The Pineapple Thief - Dissolution

I was excited to hear that this album was coming out but what excited me even more was when I realized that Gavin Harrison was drumming on here. In particular I think it’s worth listening to Try as I Might and Threatening War as they are some of the catchiest prog I have heard all of 2018. The entire album is amazing though and I would recommend giving it a listen.

1 Vulfpeck - Hill Climber

Over the years I’ve fallen deeper and deeper in love with Vulfpeck. Yes, it’s possible it’s because I play bass and their bassist is amazing but in reality the music is just very very good. This album is no exception and Lonely town is such a compelling song.

Honorable mentions

As is tradition, honorable mentions are albums I thought are worth discussing and listening to but are presented in no particular order.

First Aid Kid - Ruins

I only learned about this band this year. Absolutely stunning album and while I dug deeper into live performanced I learned that they perform lots of amazing covers live too. I think they’re a great band and worth a listen – in particular I am going to try to catch them live.

Shinedown - ATTENTION ATTENTION

I have listened to so much Shinedown throughout the years and I have some thoughts about this album in particular. Sorry for the incoming rant.

Their 2015 album Threat To Survival only provided a few hits to satisfy my need, it did not tick the boxes I had come to expect from a Shinedown release. 2012’s Amaryllis initially felt like an amazing return to hard rock for Shinedown but over time felt like an anti bully record for the children of the band members, I did not mind too much as the melodies were on point and did to some extent match the level of their magnus opus The Sound Of Madness from 2008.

ATTENTION ATTENTION seems like them lyrically trying to distance themselves from the Amaryllis “anti-bully” themes. The songs are good but what is strange is the all capitalized song titles except of course from special which is lower cased.

I would recommend listening to Shinedown and while I would not avoid ATTENTION ATTENTION newcomers should seek The Sound Of Madness or the live album Somewhere In The Stratosphere.

Alice in Chains - Rainier Fog

Great album which I feel I haven’t listened to enough to give a chance. I feel like I breeze the few times I’ve given the album a full listen.

Clutch - Book of Bad Decisions

Clutch is band that a colleague of mine introduced me to during 2017 and it suits my person very well. I look forward to discovering their discography more in the future.

Greta Van Fleet - Anthem of the Peaceful Army

Greta Van Fleet has caught a lot of flack but I like them. This current album is not as catchy as the last to me but they are surely in my regular rotations of songs.

Gorillaz - The Now Now

Had a few fun hits but not really for me, overall. Was better than Humanz in my opinion.

Muse - Simulation Theory

This album is full of actual hits that I wouldn’t necessarily attribute to Muse but yet again it’s unmistakably Muse. It is very much in tune with their “tick-tock” cycle of experimental/synth then more pure rock album cycle.

Slash - Living The Dream

I love both Myles Kennedy and Slash and I think that the songwriting works well on this entire album. I can put it on and rock out for the duration of the album without really realizing what happened.

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