Top 10 Junkyard Albums of 2022
Here it is, everyone. The voting is over, and these are the winning albums for 2022, chosen by you! The most exciting part of the year, as always. Let’s see how you voted.
This time, the voting took place both in our Facebook group and on Instagram. We compiled and tallied all the results. There were 30 albums in the final selection, and although many asked, “Where’s this one? Where’s that one?” we believe we made it clear—no one, not even us, can list every single album released in a year. We listed over 50 albums and, due to the sheer number, had to narrow it down to 30 releases for you to choose from.
Now, back to the point. First and foremost, thank you to everyone who participated in what we can now officially call a traditional album selection. Your opinions matter to us, and it’s always great when we do something together.
Here is your choice!
12th–8th Place: Dorothy, Ugly Kid Joe, The Hellacopters, H.E.A.T, Alter Bridge
As you can tell from the title, we wanted to have a clean Top 10, but it simply wasn’t possible. These five releases scored the same number of points, and we didn’t want to pick favorites among them, so we placed them all jointly in 8th to 12th place.
Gifts From The Holy Ghost by Dorothy is, in our opinion, definitely one of the top three albums of the year. It’s one of the best releases from these so-called “newer” bands, and we’re glad to see it made the Top 10 list. Rad Wings Of Destiny by Ugly Kid Joe, in our opinion, fell a bit short. However, they’re a great band, so we won’t hold it against them since the album still features some excellent tracks. Eyes Of Oblivion by Swedish garage rockers The Hellacopters is a top-tier release. And how could it not be, with Dregen returning to the band?
H.E.A.T released Force Majeure, a fierce album featuring the return of their original vocalist. H.E.A.T is an odd case when it comes to our region. For some reason, they’re the only band from the lineup of fantastic Swedish hard rock bands that are popular here, while the others aren’t. This list is further proof of that. Alter Bridge also made the list. Their quality has never been in question, not even Myles Kennedy’s singing, which, in our opinion, fits best within Alter Bridge.
7th Place: Ghost – IMPERA
Let’s start in order. Ghost takes 7th place. Another solid album from the “Pope from Hell.” A few great singles from it are sure to become staples in the band’s future performances, and maybe tracks like “Call Me Little Sunshine,” “Spillways,” or “Kaisarion” will achieve the same success as “Mary On A Cross” did on TikTok this year. Given they’re a newer band, we expected a slightly higher placement.
6th Place: Megadeth – The Sick, The Dying and The Dead
Megadeth brothers, not Metallica. Just kidding, of course. We debated whether to even include this album on the list since we didn’t write much about it. All in all, MegaDave proves he’s indestructible, and that’s definitely appreciated around here.
5th Place: RHCP – Unlimited Love and Return Of The Dream Canteen
We’re now entering the top rankings. The Red Hot Chili Peppers make the Top 5 with not one but two full albums released this year. Yes, there are some misses and boring tracks, but also a few brilliant new mega-hits. With John Frusciante back in the band, it seems like the Peppers are stronger than ever. We’re happy they made it onto the list, and at such a high position!
4th Place: Ozzy Osbourne – Patient No. 9
To be honest, this album is much better than the previous one, Ordinary Man. A host of incredible musicians contributed to this release, and it seems Ozzy made the best possible choice. Given his health issues and inability to tour, making albums like this is the right move. Okay, they may not be on the same level as the old classics (but really, whose are?), but the Prince of Darkness is still here, active on the scene. Perhaps others should take a cue from Ozzy and do the same.
3rd Place: Slash – 4
Honestly, truly… it’s a big question whether this album made it so high simply because “Slash” is written in bold letters on the cover or because of its content. If it were up to us, this album wouldn’t even crack the Top 15, let alone the Top 3. It’s just not it—generic, boring, predictable, with an uninspired title and a bland cover… It feels rushed, as if it was written during breaks on the Guns N’ Roses tour. This is not the level we expect from Slash. But oh well.
2nd Place: The Cult – Under The Midnight Sun
In 2nd place, we have the legendary The Cult. We said it all in our review of the album. This is a fascinating band, especially in our region. This high placement likely reflects the almost divine reverence people here have for them, which, to be honest, we’ve never really understood.
1st Place: Skid Row – The Gang’s All Here
And now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for. The best album of 2022, according to the readers of our site, is the new Skid Row album! Since we covered this release extensively in our review, we won’t go into details. You already know everything—new vocalist, new energy, and the machine is back in full swing, just like in the old days. We’re thrilled that out of all the albums from older bands that made the top rankings, this one came out on top—because it truly is better than the rest by every measure. A fantastic comeback for Skid Row this year, thanks to the brilliant move of bringing young Erik Grönwall into the fold. You recognized the quality, and that makes us happy. However, we must admit the battle for first place was very close!
To sum up:
2022 was a year with an enormous number of album releases. Compared to previous years, there was a much greater presence of albums from older, well-known bands, which led to this ranking, with only 3–4 relatively younger bands appearing, and those from 7th place down. We expected this, but it’s still a bit disappointing. There were plenty of excellent albums from lesser-known bands that will remain overshadowed simply because of that.
Additionally, this year was stronger in terms of names and quality than the previous two pandemic years. However, in our view, it was also the last pandemic year. All the albums created during a time of no touring have been released. We’re now returning to a normal flow, so there might be significantly fewer albums in 2023. But we’ll see.
All in all, thank you once again to everyone, and Happy New Year! 🎉
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