Top Junkyard Albums of 2018
As is often the case at the end of every year, it’s time to reflect on what we’ve heard over the past 365 days—what thrilled us and what disappointed us. At first glance, it can be said that the year was satisfactory in terms of quantity, that is, the number of new releases. There was a bit of everything: new albums, reissues, compilations, releases from big bands, small bands, and so on.
However, if we compare some of this year’s albums with those from the previous one, it’s hard to argue that 2018 managed to surpass the previous year in terms of the quality of new releases. That’s also the opinion of our editorial team, making it quite challenging to select albums truly deserving the label of “the best”—those that will be remembered and talked about for years to come.
Here are the top 6 albums we painstakingly selected!
6. Dizzy Reed – Rock ‘N’ Roll Ain’t Easy
Dizzy Fn’ Reed is undoubtedly one of the most renowned keyboardists in rock ‘n’ roll today. With this album, his first solo record in a career spanning over 30 years, he’s proven himself capable of creating excellent songs without the machinery of Guns N’ Roses behind him. Years of accumulated experience and ideas from various periods have resulted in 13 high-quality and intriguing tracks, with Dizzy even undergoing a trial by fire as a vocalist. While this album might not be as memorable as others released this year, trust us when we say there’s plenty of great material here—some of which could have easily made it into the GNR catalog. Definitely worth a listen!
(Read our review here: Rock ‘N’ Roll Ain’t Easy.)
5. Ryan Roxie – Imagine Your Reality
Another solo album earns a spot on this shortlist! Imagine Your Reality is the work of Ryan Roxie, guitarist and one of the three maestros in Alice Cooper’s current band. This album contains ten hard rock tracks wrapped in masterful riffs, melodies, and Roxie’s great vocals—exactly what a guitar-driven rock ‘n’ roll album should sound like. Simple, energetic, and unapologetically rock without too much pretense!
4. Slash feat. Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators – Living The Dream
Oh, Slash! If it were 2017 or an earlier year, you wouldn’t have even made this list! All jokes aside, the fourth release from Slash and The Conspirators has, to be honest, not lived up to the expectations of a wide audience. Listening through the album’s tracks, you get the sense that something isn’t quite right and that the songs fall short of the level we’ve come to expect from this crew. The simple truth is that creating songs and making an album during breaks in a mega-tour with another band inevitably results in a dip in quality. While the album is good compared to this year’s competition, it falls a few steps behind Slash’s earlier works.
Here’s our appeal: Drop the side projects, man! We want new Guns N’ Roses music!
3. Judas Priest – Firepower
What more can be said about Judas Priest that hasn’t already been said? If we frame this question in the context of making new music, the answer is Firepower! This eighteenth studio album from the British heavy metal kings is proof that they have no intention of surrendering, despite significant lineup changes within the band. The new guitarists have shown they are more than capable of carrying Judas Priest’s massive legacy on their shoulders, led by the relentless Rob Halford. This album is undeniable evidence of their prowess. With 14 fantastic tracks forged in the fires of molten metal, we wouldn’t be surprised to see some of these songs on future “best-of” compilations.
2. A Perfect Circle – Eat The Elephant
The new album from this mega supergroup marks a slight departure from the usual rock/metal paradigm supported by Junkyard Rock. Simply put, we believe this album deserves a spot at the top of this year’s releases, which also explains why it’s a Top 6 list rather than 5 or 10. This album had to be included. Keenan, Howerdel, and the team are hard to overlook because their mastery of ambient, twisted, melodic, prog-rock music is simply unmatched. Eat The Elephant is an album that will undoubtedly be listened to for many years—unless Tool surprises us with something new in the meantime, as far as we know.
1. Halestorm – Vicious
For the best album of the year, we unhesitatingly select Halestorm’s latest release, Vicious. It’s only fair to highlight at least one band from the younger generation of musicians on this list, but when that band delivers such an outstanding album, there’s no reason it shouldn’t sit at the very top. Led by the unstoppable frontwoman Lzzy Hale, Halestorm has cemented their unique modern hard rock sound with this album, avoiding unnecessary detours into other influences, such as pop, which marred some of their earlier releases.
This time, that’s not the case. The band can proudly claim to have created the best album of their career. Vicious is packed with fantastic guitar riffs, grooves, volume, aggression, grit, sexual tension, and everything that defines a proper modern rock/metal band. And when this story is told by Lzzy herself—one of the best female vocalists and frontwomen ever—it becomes even more wicked and dangerous!
So, there you have it for this year. There are also some other releases that definitely deserve attention and at least a mention: Alice In Chains – Rainier Fog, Disturbed – Evolution, Godsmack – When Legends Rise, Stone Temple Pilots, and more.
As for the releases expected next year, we can already glimpse some albums that promise an exciting musical period ahead. But let’s wait and see when the time comes. All in all, it shouldn’t be too hard to surpass 2018!
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