2018 Favorite Albums
Since 2019 has just started, everyone is writing about their favorite things from 2018. One of my favorite hobbies is listening to music, so I though I’d recap my favorite albums. Base on my last.fm listening data of what I play in Apple Music, out of the top 50 albums I’ve listened to in 2018, these are the ones that came out in 2018, in descending order:
#14 Gravity by Bullet for My Valentine
This one just didn’t grab me all that much. The singles Over It and Letting You Go are good enough, but the rest of the album just didn’t stick with me.
#13 Young & Dangerous by The Struts
Unlike all the other hard rock/metal bands in this list, The Struts are a rock band. And they have a great singer who often reminds me of Freddie Mercury’s vocal style. Check out Primadonna Like Me and Bulletproof Baby.
#12 Second Coming by Nordic Union
Nordic Union is a “label” band made up of members of other bands. In this case, the lead singer (Ronnie Atkins) from Pretty Maids (love them, BTW) and Erik Martensson (guitarist for Eclipse and many other things).
This album would be higher ranked, but it came out later in the year and didn’t get enough plays in 2018.
#11 Earthrage by W.E.T
W.E.T. are are another “label” band, led by Jeff Scott Soto and Erik Martensson. Their album Rise Up from 2013 is one of my favorites. This album is fine but not quite as good and had the misfortune of being released shortly after Judas Priest’s Firepower, which is higher up in this list.
#10 Prevail II by Kobra and the Lotus
Prevail I was a surprise favorite for me from 2017. Prevail II was originally also supposed to come out later in 2017, but was delayed to early 2018. Frankly, Prevail I is much, much better. I liked the singles Losing My Humanity and Let Me Love You, but the rest of the album didn’t have much that clicked with me. Most of the listens here are probably related to those two songs and me trying to give the album a fair shake.
#9 Evolution by Disturbed
This album is really good and would be ranked higher if I was not using stricly last.fm numbers. Since it only came out in October and shortly after that I went on a Queen binge in preparation for the Bohemian Rhapsody movie, It just didn’t get enough plays before the end of the year. But it will get plenty of plays in 2019, I’m sure.
#8 Ember by Breaking Benjamin
I’m a little surprised to see this here to be honest. Although I really liked Dear Agony from 2009, I never considered myself a big BB fan. And I didn’t think I actually listened to this album enough for it to rank this high. But the numbers don’t lie and it is a good album.
#7 Vale by Black Veil Brides
Released in January this was the first album I was expecting in 2018. I’ve been a BVB fan since The Wretched and the Divine. This band has a good grasp of melody, the singer is fine and the songs are catchy. This album is supposed to be a sequel to The Wretched and the Divine in some way and I found it a thoroughly enjoyable start to 2018.
#6 When Legends Rise by Godsmack
Now here’s a band I’ve not heard in a long time. In the early 2000s, I listened to a lot of Godsmack. But they faded away for me and I stopped paying attention. I did hear about this new album and I enjoyed the lead single, Bulletproof (and the video is hilarious). The album is more traditional hard rock and a bit different than their older stuff. Some songs are pretty basic, but overall this is an enjoyable listen. Try Bulletproof and Say My Name.
#5 Reverence by Parkway Drive
The top 5 have significantly more plays. For example. Reverence was played over twice as many times as #6, When Legends Rise.
Parkway Drive are a metalcore band that have been around a long time. I had never heard of them until 2017 when they released Devil’s Calling as a single from the Deluxe edition of Ire (from 2016). I really liked that song, but it took me a while to get into the rest of Ire.
But by the time Reverence was released I was fully on board. The album is pretty short and although there is more singing than screaming, this is still an aggressive, angry album. It really gets the blood pumping. Check out The Void and Shadow Boxing.
#4 Vicious by Halestorm
Halestorm have been a favorite of mine since their first album. Lzzy Hale is like a modern-day Pat Benatar with a heavier band behind her. They have yet to put out a bad album and this one is also great. What may have kept this down in the rankings is that the first three singles (Black Vulture, Uncomfortable and Do Not Disturb) are my least favorite songs on the album.
#3 Firepower by Judas Priest
Judas Priest has been around since 1972! I’ve always been a casual fan at best in that I prefer their Greatest Hits packages over their full albums. Before this I would have rated Painkiller as my favorite JP album. I like this one better. The songs all rock hard, and Rob Halford’s voice is still amazing. Never the Heroes and No Surrender are favorites. I hope these guys still have another album left in them.
#2 Prequelle by Ghost
I actually thought this might be #1, but it narrowly missed out. I’ve enjoyed Ghost since I first heard about them from the Cirice song on Meliora. I was eagerly awating Prequelle and it did not disappoint. For some reason Ghost is often categorized as a metal band, but I’m not sure I feel that is accurate. And certainly Prequelle is their most accessible album yet, with many catchy, melodic songs that stick in your head. Dance Macabre is a genius ear-worm and the instrumental Miasma right before it, with its saxophone solo at the end is a wonderful throwback to 80’s rock. You can also fine bonus tracks Avalanche and It’s a Sin (yes, a remake of the Pet Shop Boys song) on YouTube and they are both wonderful.
#1 ATTENTION ATTENTION by Shinedown
It’s been 10 years since I’ve enjoyed a Shinedown album this much. Back in 2008, Sound of Madness was my favorite album of the year. I’m not sure if ATTENTION ATTENTION is better, but it is close. Every song on this is amazing, especially the album closer BRILLIANT. Be sure to dig around YouTube for the bonus tracks, ANWTD and Headcase which are also great.
I hope take a moment to give one of these albums a listen. You never know what you might end up liking!
To track what I play in Apple Music with last.fm, I use QuietScrob on iOS and Bowtie on macOS (with a Keyboard Maestro script to make sure it is started anytime I start iTunes).
