Music of 2018 - Part 2

Well, here it is! As promised yesterday in the first part of my roundup of the 2018 musical year, this article will contain my very favourite albums that were released during the past year, as well as the best gigs which I have been fortunate enough to attend. Deciding on the best ten albums of any given year is always extremely difficult, but this list has been one of the hardest to finalise. There were a lot of worthy candidates this year as always but, in my opinion anyway, 2018 lacked those couple of albums that just instantly race to the top of the list without much thought. I felt that lots of the albums were of a similar standard, so narrowing it down to just ten was hard. Inevitably there will some albums that I have enjoyed a lot this year that miss the cut, including the new album from one of my very favourite bands, but I have to put these kind of biases to one side and pick the albums which I think are genuinely the best of the year. Of course if I sat down a week or a month from now and did this exercise again, the chances are the results would be different. That is the nature of trying to (arbitrarily really) order something as subjective as music. The list that I have come up with thought certainly will give you a glimpse of my musical year, and hopefully you will be able to make a new discovery here. The most obvious omission from the list for regular readers of this blog will be Mostly Autumn's new album White Rainbow - but this has not been included because it will officially be released to retails later this year, making it a 2019 album in my eyes. You will all have to come back to this blog in a year to see whether or not it made the cut!  Anyway, without further ado, I can now present you with my Top 10 Albums of 2018. As always only full-length studio albums are eligible for contention, meaning that EPs, live albums, compilations, or any other non-original collections of songs are ineligible for inclusion here.

10) Seventh Wonder - Tiara
Seventh Wonder fans were made to wait eight years for the band's fifth album, but when it finally dropped in October the fanbase was sent into raptures. While Tiara is very similar on a structural and musical level to their 2008 opus Mercy Falls, it is packed so full of tight songwriting, soaring melodies, and technical instrumental breakdowns that the comparisons do not seem to matter. Being another concept album, the album has a story weaved into the lyrics which adds more depth and enjoyment to repeated listen - but the music and melodies are enjoyable enough to absorb without that extra layer for more casual fans. The real star of the album however is frontman Tommy Karevik, who's extremely diverse and emotional vocal performance showcases his immense talent, and this album could well contain his very best recordings to date.
Listen to: Dream Machines, Victorious & Beyond Today (Farewell - Part 3)

9) Leaves' Eyes - Sign of the Dragonhead
A real early highlight of the year, the symphonic metal veterans Leaves' Eyes rocked January with their seventh album Sign of the Dragonhead - their first effort with frontwoman Elina Siirala. The personnel change did not lead to a big change in sound for the band, but did seem to bring with it more focus. The band's last album King of Kings was a little bit of a disappointment for me, and this new album saw the band really getting back to basics and showcasing everything that is great about their folky, dark symphonic sound. The songs were catchier, the riffs were bigger, and the orchestrations soared higher than on anything the band had attempted in the last few years, and it really took me back to hearing Njord for the first time nearly ten years ago! 2018 was also a great touring year for the band, and it seemed to complete the rebirth that has been going on over the past couple of years.
Listen to: Sign of the Dragonhead, Jomsborg & Waves of Euphoria

8) Alice in Chains - Rainier Fog
The grunge legends' sixth studio album dropped back in August after five year wait and was instantly welcomed with open arms by the band's large fanbase. I have been a fan of the band for quite some time, but this was the first album of theirs that I bought when it was released, and enjoyed it almost instantly. No-one quite does ghostly harmony vocals like Alice in Chains, and when William DuVall and Jerry Cantrell team up to sing then magic is sure to happen! Despite sticking closely to the band's well-established sound, this is a pretty diverse album with crushing heavy rockers sitting next to pseudo-southern rock ballads, and even stoner-like moments that are filled with dirty riffs and psychedelic chord progressions. This is probably the band's best work since reforming in 2005, and could well be the best the thing they have done since 1992's masterpiece Dirt.
Listen to: The One You Know, Drone & All I Am

7) Amorphis - Queen of Time
Finland's Amorphis have become one of the most consistent metal bands on the circuit over the past few years. The band's unique mix of progressive, folk, and melodic death metals has been honed to perfection over the past decade or so and Queen of Time - the band's thirteenth album - feels like pure Amorphis through and through. I thought it would be hard for the band to top 2015's Under the Red Cloud, but I feel that they have at least equalled it here and have managed to include a few extra little tricks too. The use of saxophone sparingly is great, and employing Anneke van Giersbergen to duet with frontman Tomi Joutsen on one song was a masterful idea. Despite these extras however, it is the band's core sound that shines through the most, with the folky guitar leads and retro-sounding synths sounding as good as ever.
Listen to: The Bee, Message in the Amber & Amongst Stars

6) The Temperance Movement - A Deeper Cut
Most of this list is dominated by heavier bands, but one less-heavy act that really impressed me this year was The Temperance Movement. I have been a fan since almost the beginning, but 2018 seemed to see the band finally coming through in a big way. The excellent new album A Deeper Cut is a big reason for this, and it more than makes up for the somewhat lacklustre White Bear - an album which saw the band unsure of the direction they wanted to go. Having firmly settled on the blues-based rock that made the popular in the first place, with a modern twist of course, A Deeper Cut is packed to the rafters with fabulous songwriting, catchy riffs, and some of the most beautiful ballads from the band yet. There is also a quirkiness throughout too that shows that the band do not take themselves too seriously, and that all helps to translate into a fun album that I can listen to over and over again.
Listen to: Built-In Forgetter, A Deeper Cut & Backwater Zoo

5) Uriah Heep - Living the Dream
One of the most prolific bands on this list, hard rock pioneers Uriah Heep rarely disappoint. The band's twenty fifth album, Living the Dream, released back in September was no different and contained the band's hard-hitting modern sound showcased in its best light. One ballad aside, Living the Dream is a powerful, in-your-face slab of hard rock that does not sound like a band that are soon approaching their fiftieth anniversary. Uriah Heep have a drive and an energy that puts bands that are a fraction of their age to shame, and all of that is perfectly captured on this latest album. As an aside, it is always great to hear a real Hammond organ, and this album is packed full of excellent moments courtesy of Phil Lanzon.
Listen to: Grazed by Heaven, Rocks in the Road & Waters Flowin'

4) Judas Priest - Firepower
Another older band with energy to spare is Judas Priest, who's eighteenth studio album Firepower hit with such force earlier this year when it was released onto an unsuspecting fanbase back in March. After 2014's enjoyable but fairly workmanlike Redeemer of Souls, I do not think that anyone was expecting Firepower to be quite as good as it is! The production is razor sharp, the riffs are heavy and packed with attitude, and frontman Rob Halford sounds better than he has for years. It should probably not be so surprising to see one of the pioneers of the heavy metal genre releasing an album that sounds so 'heavy', but Firepower really sounds like a band reborn. Judas Priest have not sounded as vital or as ready for action since 1990's Painkiller, and this is comfortably their best album since then too. Anyone who had written the Metal Gods off as being past it or nothing more than a nostalgia act needs to give this album a fair hearing.
Listen to: Firepower, Evil Never Dies & Children of the Sun

3) Saxon - Thunderbolt
Saxon albums impressing should no longer surprise me, but after a minor blip in the form of 2015's Battering Ram, Thunderbolt really gave the metal world a kick up the behind when it was released back in February. Much like the previous two bands featured on this list, Saxon are a band with energy and power beyond their years, and Thunderbolt is quite possibly their best album for many, many years despite some strong recent competition. While the band as a whole are responsible for this longevity, I cannot help but feel that frontman Biff Byford is the true driving force these days. His vocal style has never really changed throughout the band's near-forty year career, and he sounds like a man possessed here. It is quite possibly the heaviest the band have ever sounded on record too, showing that Saxon do not plan on slowing down just yet!
Listen to: Thunderbolt, They Played Rock and Roll & Predator

2) Angra - Ømni
The Brazilian progressive metal band Angra have gone through a bit of a rebirth during the past few years since frontman Fabio Lione joined the band in 2012. Ømni, the second Angra album to feature him, feels like the the culmination of this rebirth and a perfect springboard for the next stage of the band's career. More melodically-focused and less stylistically-varied than 2015's Secret Garden, Ømni is a powerhouse of tight, soaring progressive metal that is extremely easy on the ear all while bombarding the listener with idea after idea. All of the songs feature huge choruses, which showcase Lione at his best, but plenty of lengthy guitar solos and tricky instrumental passages should impress those who enjoy a good note-fest. This is an album that I have listened to a lot this year, and could possibly be my favourite offering yet from a band who have already given so much.
Listen to: Light of Transcendence, Black Widow's Web & Insania

1) Orphaned Land - Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs
When I first heard this sixth album from the Israeli metal act Orphaned Land back in January I had a feeling that it could well end up being my album of the year - and I was not wrong. I had only ever really been a casual fan of the band up to this point, but Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs changed all that and made me truly love them! The mixture of progressive and death metals, along with traditional folk music and instruments, make Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs such a deep and rich listen, that genuinely reveals a little more to me each time I listen to it. It is also somewhat more accessible than some of the band's dense and meandering early work, but still maintains the bite and heaviness that 2013's All Is One was largely missing. Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs is, in my eyes at least, the band's most complete work to date and an album that is more than worthy of being crowned my Album of the Year!
Listen to: The Cave, Like Orpheus & Only the Dead Have Seen the End of War

Well, there you have it, my Albums of 2018! As stated before, this was a very hard list to make, and there were lots of worthy albums that missed out. I feel very strange not including Kamelot's The Shadow Theory here, as I have listened to it a lot and really enjoy it, but I just do not feel it is quite up their usual high standard. Another worthy contender for inclusion was Ghost's Prequelle, the album which finally made me a fan of the Swedish occult rockers. I have listened to it a lot this year, but it just did not quite make the cut! A final shout out goes to MaYaN's Dhyana, an excellent symphonic metal album that threw everything - including the kitchen sink - into the mix! As with the last few years I would also like to highlight of the best gigs that I have been to this year. Again I have broken them down into the loose 'big' and 'small' categories with the former being arenas and stadiums and the latter being theatres and clubs. As with the albums, these little lists were hard to narrow down, but the below gives you a good idea of some of the very best of 2018's gigging:

Top 3 'Big' Gigs of 2018:

3) Nightwish, Arena Birmingham, 10/12/2018
Nightwish spent 2018 celebrating their twentieth anniversary with the Decades compilation and tour, and this included three UK arena shows. A two hour set that included fan favourites, epic sprawling progressive numbers, and deeper cuts was a Nightwish fan's dream, and included a number of songs that the band had not played for years. The closing double salvo of The Greatest Show on Earth and Ghost Love Score is hard to beat as a closing half an hour of music, and the large crowd that filled the Arena Birmingham lapped up every minute of it. As an aside, it is fantastic to see a band like Nightwish being able to successfully pull of three arena shows in the UK.

2) Roger Waters, Arena Birmingham, 07/07/2018
The former Pink Floyd leader has long been on my list of acts to see, and I finally got the opportunity to earlier this year when he brought his Us + Them tour to the UK. The setlist mostly focused on Pink Floyd's golden years, but included a good helping from his most recent solo album too to shake things up a bit. Waters and his excellent band stormed through the two hour-plus set with ease, which included some of the very best special effects I have ever seen at a concert. The second act in particular, with the Battersea Power Station extending down this middle of the arena is not something I will forget in a hurry - especially as Dogs was playing during most of it!

1) Def Leppard, Motorpoint Arena (Nottingham), 08/12/2018
While not as 'showy' as the other two concerts on this list, Def Leppard's showcasing of 1987's Hysteria has to be included here as it was one of the very best hours of live music I have ever sat through. The band were on fire, and ran through one of the best albums of the 1980s with ease as a capacity arena crowd hung on every word. Most of the album is full of classics, but even the deeper cuts really shone through and made for a varied set. An extended encore followed that featured even more well-loved songs, and I doubt that anyone who left the arena in Nottingham on that Saturday night would have been disappointed at the show that they got!

Top 3 'Small' Gigs of 2018:

3) The Quireboys, O2 Forum Kentish Town, 14/09/2018
Despite feeling like a 'small' show, especially in comparison to the above, the O2 Forum in Kentish Town is actually a big venue for a band like The Quireboys to play. The band booked the venue to showcase the tenth anniversary of their album Homewreckers & Heartbreakers, and managed to sell the place out! A fabulous bill that included H.E.A.T and Aaron Buchanan certainly helped, but the draw of seeing the whole of Homewreckers & Heartbreakers played live certainly was the main attraction. The first hour of the set flew by with the album featuring in full, with many of the deeper cuts standing out the most. Older classics followed and the evening became one big party that no-one is going to easily forget.

2) Marillion, Symphony Hall, 14/04/2018
While pushing the boundary for what could be considered a 'small' gig, this show in Birmingham featured Marillion at their best. I have seen the band live three years in a row now, and they just seem to get better and better. A large chunk of the band's latest album Fuck Everyone and Run made up most of the setlist, but there was still plenty of time for older material, including lots of songs I had not heard the band perform before. I am so glad that Marillion are at a stage in their career again where they can fill these larger venues successfully, as it makes for majestic and expansive shows for the fans. This was one of those evenings where you had to sit back and just let the music wash over you, and it was all the more powerful for it.

1) Saxon, The Great Hall, 23/02/2018
The first show since the Thunderbolt album was released, Saxon came out of the gates raring to go. They debuted six new songs throughout the evening as part of a two hour set that was packed full of classics from the 1980s and newer numbers that the huge crowd lapped up. I was down near the front and the energy whipped up throughout the night was insane. Everyone was there for a good time and the band knew it, and this seemed to spur them on to even greater heights. It was great to hear the excellent new Thunderbolt material for the first time live, and by the time the evening came to a close the classics were flowing and the crowd were in fine voice. A stunning evening and one that will certainly live long in the memory.