Tom’s Top Ten | ALBUMS 2022
Ok, 2022 has been a wild ride for music, there have been some absolutely incredible releases across the board, probably the hardest time I've had getting the definitive top ten since 2016 in terms of there just being so much good stuff! Also been something of a wild ride for this blog, I broke a thousand followers (and thank you all so much 🥰) and started getting a lot more asks from you guys than I used to have, which has been very cool — but anyway, let’s get into what you’re really here for: the music! Without further ado, here are my personal Top Ten Albums of 2022!
10. Harder Than It Looks by Simple Plan
This is one of my favourite start-to finish releases from Simple Plan in a long time; their past few albums I was meh on, but this one worked for me - the singles The Antidote and Ruin My Life were absolute bangers that both made my Wrapped, super cool for them to be working and touring with Sum 41 after all this time, an absolute solid record from SP here.
Favourite song: Ruin My Life (feat. Deryck Whibley)
9. Crisis Of Faith by Billy Talent
This one was a long-time coming; with a fairly sparse distribution of singles over the lockdown years it feels like the wind got knocked out of the sails in the build-up to this album, the album itself didn't disappoint. While I don't think it's as good as Afraid Of Heights was, it was certainly a very solid output with some incredible catchy songs.
Favourite song: Hanging Out With All The Wrong People
8. That Ain’t It by Gold Steps
Contrary to the album's name, this one very much was "it." Now various sources went back and forth over whether this was an album or EP, but y'know what, it's got enough songs and they're all fucking BANGERS! I vaguely knew of these guys before this year because they'd toured with Settle Your Scores, but I'm so glad I started paying more attention to them this year because this record was great.
Favourite song: Love Song
7. Distance Or Decay by In Her Own Words
Had never heard of these guys until I saw the video for their song with Derek from State Champs, and from there I was hooked. I'm definitely glad I found these guys during the run-up to this album, because the album itself is stellar. It earned itself several repeat listens from me this year.
Favourite song: Raining In Toronto (feat. Jonathan Vigil)
6. I Went To Hell And Back by As It Is
Rarely do As It Is release an album that does't end up on this list and with IWTHAB they'd done it again! A bit more experimental than their previous work, but stacked to the rafters with banger after banger, definitely a great one to listen to during a frustrating time early on in the year.
Favourite songs: I Miss 2003
5. Luv Sux by Avril Lavigne
I am honestly quite surprised by how much I liked Avril's new album, but from the moment Bite Me was released I had a strong incling it was gonna end up on this list - a return to early 00s' guitar driven sound is present throughout and her voice is still as great as it ever was.
Favourite song: Bite Me
4. Planet Zero by Shinedown
Shinedown!!! This was definitely the year of my Shinedown awakening, after previously only really knowing 'Enemies' and 'Unity' by them, I saw them at Download Festival and realised I had been sleeping on them before now. Since then I have been listening hard to their entire discography, all the way up to this year's release, Planet Zero, which was phenomenal! And it got released on my birthday, so that's an added bonus!
Favourite song: The Saints Of Violence And Innuendo
3. f.e.a.r. (fuck everything and run) by Stand Atlantic
The vibes of this album are IMMACULATE. While I've liked StAts previous albums a lot, it feels like in this one they have really hit their stride and found their sound. Bonnie's voice is great, the features are great, it's got such a fun atmosphere throughout the whole thing. Definitely Stand Atlantic's best work yet.
Favourite song: molotov (ok)
2. Upright Animals by Dragged Under
Last time I had Dragged Under on a top ten albums list they just snuck in at the ninth or tenth spot. With the last album I liked it well enough but I wasn't blown away by it. This album? I was BLOWN AWAY by it. Similar to StAt, it feels like they really found their sound in this one, I had this on a damn-near constant repeat after it came out, there's not a single skip on the album, every single song is just top notch. There's still a good variety keeping the balance between the more pop-punk stuff and the heavier stuff, but this time they don't feel like they 'kinda sound like ADTR' - this time they feel like they are definitively Dragged Under. This whole album was banger.
Favourite song: Long Live The King
Ok so now I’m gonna pull a WatchMojo and throw out some Honourable Mentions; those go to: Suckerpunch by Maggie Lindemann, Baku’s Revenge by Magnolia Park, Imposter Syndrome by Action/Adventure and Run by Future Palace
So now, to reveal which album made the number one spot 🥁🥁🥁
My ALBUM OF THE YEAR for 2022 is…
1. Kings Of The New Age by State Champs 👑👑👑
I honesty had a really tough time figuring out what order these final four were gonna go in, but as I was putting them into this list it became clear there really couldn't be any other choice for AOTY this year. After a, not bad, but not stand-out release in Living Proof, KOTNA brought the Champs back with a Bang! You know what I wanted to do the first time I finished listening to this record? Listen to it again! I will say the one thing that I thought could've been better on this was more integration with the featured guests in the songs, but the guest spots themselves are all really good! Especially Ben Barlow's and Four Year Strong's. As the guys themselves say, they are 'here to stay' and I for one am glad. This era of State Champs is glorious and I cannot wait for what's next, because it really does seem like it's all uphill from here.
And there you have it! Those are my Top Ten Albums of the 2022!
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I saw @when-the-music-fades do this and thought it looked fun.
Rules: List 9 songs you’ve been playing on repeat this last month.
Waking Up Dreaming by Shania Twain
She Had Me at Heads Carolina by Cole Swindell
Finish Line by Skillet (featuring Adam Gontier)
If You Go Down (I'm Goin’ Down Too) by Kelsea Ballerini
Hate My Heart by Carrie Underwood
Take What You Want by Def Leppard
Bite Me by Avril Lavigne
Ruin My Life by Simple Plan (featuring Deryck Whibley)
Whiskey Does by Tim Hicks
Tagging:
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@fireladybuckley
@all-alone-he-turns-to-stone
@fakesocialmediaa
@ode-to-joy
@damn-stark
@miyagifangkai
@ramblingdisaster73
@waiting-for-the-sun-to-shine
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