Over the course of a year, our Über team listens to literally hundreds of albums, and once again we set them the onerous task of selecting what they feel to have been the best new releases of the past 12 months. In total, our crack team submitted more than 170 albums for consideration, with their lists then fed into our state-of-the-art musical abacus to calculate our final top ten albums of 2018.

First, here are our writer’s individual selections…

 

David O’Neill

  1. Shinedown – ‘Attention! Attention!’
  2. Greta Van Fleet – ‘Anthem Of The Peaceful Army’
  3. Black Stone Cherry – ‘Family Tree’
  4. Stonesour – ‘Hydrograd’
  5. Theia – ‘The Ghost Light’
  6. Those Damn Crows – ‘Murder And The Motive’
  7. The Bad Flowers – ‘Starting Gun’
  8. Blackberry Smoke – ‘ Find A Light’
  9. Stone Broken – ‘Ain’t Always Easy’
  10. Massive Wagons – ‘Full Nelson’
  11. Monster Truck – ‘True Rockers’
  12. Myles Kennedy – ‘Year Of The Tiger’
  13. Bullet For My Valentine – ‘Gravity’
  14. The Dead Daisies – ‘Burn It Down’
  15. Cats In Space – ‘Cats Alive!’

 

DJ Astrocreep

  1. Evil Blizzard – ‘The Worst Show on Earth’
  2. Witchcryer – ‘Cry Witch’
  3. Awooga – ‘Conduit’
  4. The Courtesy Group – ‘2nd City Liquor’
  5. Clutch – ‘Book of Bad Decisions’
  6. High Priestess – ‘High Priestess’
  7. Mudhoney – ‘Digital Garbage’
  8. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats – ‘Wasteland’
  9. Black Stone Cherry – ‘Family Tree’
  10. Dead Sea Apes & Adam Stone – ‘Warheads’
  11. At The Gates – ‘To Drink From The Night Itself’
  12. Avatar – ‘Avatar Country’
  13. King Tuff – ‘The Other’
  14. The Tangent – ‘Proxy’
  15. Roine Stolt’s The Flower Kings – ‘Manifesto Of An Alchemist’
  16. Euringer – ‘Euringer’
  17. Between The Buried And Me – ‘Automata’
  18. Grusom – ‘Grusom II’
  19. Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – ‘King of Cowards’
  20. Martin Barre – ‘Roads Less Travelled’

 

DJ Monk

  1. The Radio Sun – ‘Beautiful Strange’
  2. Lock Horns – ‘Molṑn Labé’
  3. Blood Red Saints – ‘Love Hate Conspiracies’
  4. Donum Dei – ‘Contribute To Chaos’
  5. Midnite City – ‘There Goes The Neighbourhood’
  6. The Crawling – ‘Wolves And The Hideous White’
  7. The Last Great Dreamers – ‘13th Floor Renegades’
  8. White Widdow – ‘Victory’
  9. Angeline – ‘Shadowlands’
  10. The Bad Flowers – ‘Starting Gun’
  11. Villiers And The Villains – ‘Music Confounds The Machines’
  12. The Bar Stool Preachers – ‘Grazie Governo’
  13. East Town Pirates – ‘Ship Of Fools’
  14. IDLES -‘Joy As An Act of Resistance’
  15. Plastic Tears – ‘Angels With Attitude’
  16. Stone Broken – ‘Ain’t Always Easy’
  17. Maverick – ‘Stone Cold Dancer’
  18. Smoking Martha – ‘In Deep’
  19. Bad Touch – ‘Shake A Leg’
  20. Danny Bryant – ‘Revelation’

 

Gerald Stansbury

  1. Reverend Backflash – ‘Too Little Too Late’
  2. The Cruel Intentions – ‘No Sign Of Relief’
  3. Karen Jonas – ‘Butter’
  4. Tyla’s Dogs D’Amour – ‘In Vino Veritas’
  5. Dizzy Reed – ‘Rock n Roll Ain’t Easy’
  6. Natalie Christine – ‘Slow Climb’
  7. The Amorettes – ‘Born To Break’
  8. The Interrupters – ‘Fight The Good Fight’
  9. Nikki Hill – ‘Feline Roots’
  10. Atari Ferrari – ‘Rebel’
  11. Low Cut Connie – ‘Dirty Pictures Part 2’
  12. The Lazys – ‘Tropical Hazard’
  13. Kane’d – ‘Show Me Your Skeleton’
  14. Kalidia – ‘Frozen Throne’
  15. Boss Caine – ‘Loved By Trouble, Troubled By love’
  16. Wade Bowen – ‘Solid Ground’
  17. Nichole Wagner – ‘And The Sky Caught Fire’
  18. Dead Furies – ‘Rock City A Go Go’
  19. Mandy Barnett – ‘Strange Conversation’
  20. The Lockhearts – ‘Americana Doom Fuzz’

 

Jim Rowland

  1. The Damned – ‘Evil Spirits’
  2. Ghost – ‘Prequelle’
  3. Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats – ‘Wasteland’
  4. Clutch – ‘Book Of Bad Decisions’
  5. Brant Bjork – ‘Mankind Woman’
  6. Judas Priest – ‘Firepower’
  7. Fu Manchu – ‘Clone Of the Universe’
  8. Sharks – ‘Ready Set Go’
  9. Green Druid – ‘Ashen Blood’
  10. The Skids – ‘Burning Cities’
  11. Hammr – ‘Unholy Destruction’
  12. Monster Magnet – ‘Mindfucker’
  13. Aaron Buchanan & The Cult Classics – ‘The Man With Stars On His Knees’
  14. The Record Company – ‘All Of This Life’
  15. Ancestors – ‘Suspended In Reflections’
  16. Zeke – ‘Hellbender’
  17. Ace Frehley – ‘Spaceman’
  18. Paul Rodgers – ‘Free Spirit’
  19. Blackberry Smoke – ‘Find A Light’
  20. Bullet – ‘Dust To Gold’

 

Phil Cooper

  1. I Fight Bears – ‘I Fight Bears’
  2. Bury Tomorrow – ‘Black Flame’
  3. Coheed and Cambria – ‘Unheavenly Creatures’
  4. The Temperance Movement – ‘A Deeper Cut’
  5. Greta Van Fleet – ‘Anthem Of The Peaceful Army’
  6. Clutch – ‘Book of Bad Decisions’
  7. Massive Wagons – ‘Full Nelson’
  8. Brian Fallon – ‘Sleepwalkers’
  9. Skindred – ‘Big Tings’
  10. Saxon – ‘Thunderbolt’
  11. Phil Campbell and The Bastard Sons – ‘The Age of Absurdity’
  12. Judas Priest – ‘Fire Power’
  13. Andrew WK – ‘You’re Not Alone’
  14. Orange Goblin – ‘The Wolf Bites Back’
  15. Halestorm – ‘Vicious’
  16. Slash Ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators – ‘Living The Dream’
  17. Ghost – ‘Prequelle’
  18. Alien Weaponry – ‘TU’
  19. Vane – ‘Black Vengeance’
  20. Monster Truck – ‘True Rockers’

 

Rich Hobson

  1. Ghost – ‘Prequelle’
  2. The Armed – ‘Only Love’
  3. Marmozets – ‘Knowing What You Know Now’
  4. Turnstile – ‘Time and Space’
  5. IDLES – ‘Joy As An Act of Resistance’
  6. Zeal & Ardor – ‘Stranger Fruit’
  7. Table Scraps – ‘Autonomy’
  8. Nervus – ‘Everything Dies’
  9. Kaoteon – ‘Damnation Memoriae’
  10. Camp Cope – ‘How to Socialise & Make Friends’
  11. Andrew W.K. – ‘You’re Not Alone’
  12. Black Moth – ‘Anatomical Venus’
  13. Clutch – ‘Book of Bad Decisions’
  14. Alkaline Trio – ‘Is This Thing Cursed?’
  15. Haunch – ‘Lay My Bones Beside The Others’
  16. Rolo Tomassi – ‘Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It’
  17. The Primals – ‘All Love Is True Love’
  18. Drug Church – ‘Cheer’
  19. Forming The Void – ‘Rift’
  20. Skeletonwitch – ‘Devouring Radiant Light’

 

The Dark Queen

  1. Tremonti – ‘A Dying Machine’
  2. Allison McGrath – ‘At Long Last’
  3. Blood Red Saints – ‘Love Hate Cosnpiracies’
  4. Midnite City – ‘There Goes The Neighbourhood’
  5. The Amorettes – ‘Born To Break’
  6. Myles Kennedy – ‘Year Of The Tiger’
  7. The Dead Daisies – ‘Burn It Down’
  8. The Last Great Dreamers – ‘13th Floor Renegades’
  9. Maverick – ‘Cold Star Dancer’
  10. Creye – ‘Creye’

 

Tim Bolitho-Jones

 

  1. Powerwolf – ‘The Sacrament Of Sin’
  2. Alien Weaponry – ‘TU’
  3. Zeal & Ardor – ‘Stranger Fruit’
  4. Bleed From Within – ‘Era’
  5. Omnium Gatherum – ‘The Burning Cold’
  6. The Atlas Moth – ‘Coma Noir’
  7. Angelus Apatrida – ‘Cabaret De La Guillotine’
  8. For I Am King – ‘I’
  9. Soulfly – ‘Ritual’
  10. Bury Tomorrow – ‘Black Flame’
  11. Clutch – ‘Book Of Bad Decisions’
  12. Kamelot – ‘The Shadow Theory’
  13. Gama Bomb – ‘Speed Between The Lines’
  14. Leeched – ‘You Took The Sun When You Left’
  15. Sleep – ‘The Sciences’
  16. Chthonic – ‘Battlefields Of Asura’
  17. Unearth – ‘Extinctions’
  18. Bleeding Through – ‘Love Will Kill Us All’
  19. Kataklysm – ‘Meditations’
  20. Westfield Massacre – ‘Salvation’

 

So, there you have – our team’s individual choices of their favourite albums released during 2018. It clearly demonstrates the diversity of listening interests in our crüe.  So, now we had to set our ÜR goblins to work, crunching the numbers to work out the definitive list of  Über Rock’s Albums Of The Year – and, surprisingly, our winning title didn’t actually top any of our individual polls, but accumulated enough points overall to win the coveted title, albeit by a narrow margin:

 

  • Clutch – ‘Book of Bad Decisions’
  • Ghost – ‘Prequell’
  • Blood Red Saints – ‘Love Hate Cosnpiracies’
  • Myles Kennedy – ‘Year Of The Tiger’
  • Zeal And Ardor -Stranger Fruit’
  • Midnite City – ‘There Goes The Neighbourhood’
  • Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats – ‘Wasteland’
  • Bury Tomorrow – ‘Black Flame’
  • The Amorettes – ‘Born To Break’
  • Black Stone Cherry – ‘Family Tree’
  • Greta Van Fleet – ‘Anthem Of The Peaceful Army’
  • The Last Great Dreamers – ‘13th Floor Renegades’
  • Massive Wagons – ‘Full Nelson’
  • Judas Priest – ‘Firepower’
  • Alien Weaponry – ‘TU’