When I came up with this idea, I thought it was a great one - a chance to listen back to (at the time) my favourite music from the last 4 years, what isn’t there to like about that? Indeed, I think if it was just a re-listen it would have been a fine thing to do. Reappraising my thoughts over this time, with an ever evolving music taste, was always going to be tough. This is part of the reason why there has been a 5 month break between parts two and three. The other part of the reason is my head space over the last 5 months has been elsewhere. No matter though, I am back with the third instalment of this mammoth task. For the first time since starting it, I can refer to the Top 20 and honourable mentions from an older post on this blog (HERE, if you are interested)
The original Top 20.
1 Ithaca - They Fear Us
2 Frank Turner - FTHC
3 Zeal & Ardor - Zeal & Ardor
4 Orville Peck - Bronco
5 Bob Vylan - Bob Vylan Presents The Price Of Life
6 The Callous Daoboys - Celebrity Therapist
7 Wet Leg - Wet Leg
8 Conjurer - Páthos
9 Venom Prison - Erebos
10 Soul Glo - Diaspora Problems
11 Dropkick Murphys - This Machine Still Kills Fascists
12 Martha - Please Don't Take Me Back
13 Drug Church - Hygiene
14 Rina Sawayama - Hold The Girl
15 Jamie Lenman - The Atheist
16 KT Tunstall - NUT
17 Rolo Tomassi - Where Myth Becomes Memory
18 The Losing Score - Learn To Let This Go
19 Helpless - Caged In Gold
20 Avantasia - A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society
Honourable Mentions
Beachheads - Beachheads II
Cancer Bats - Psychic Jailbreak
Clutch - Sunrise on Slaughter Beach
Comeback Kid - Heavy Steps
Ghost - Impera
Gregor Barnett - Don't Go Throwing Roses In My Grave
Korn - Requiem
Machine Head - Of Kingdom and Crown
Pixies - Doggerel
PUP - The Unravelling of PUPTheBand
Slipknot - The End, So Far
The Antichrist Imperium - Volume III: Satan In His Original Glory
Taylor Swift - Midnights
Anyone who clicked the link above and went to the post to see the words I wrote in 2022 may notice that one of the albums on the honourable mentions list here wasn’t on it originally (and if you did notice that, good job!). The album that is here now that wasn’t there then is Taylor Swift - Midnights. The reason for that is not long after I posted part two, I watched her Eras Tour live show on Disney+ and wondered if I had missed something in 2022, so decided to add it to find out. Spoiler alert…not really.
How I am going to handle the next bit of this blog is the same way as I handled the last one - listing the honourable mentions in an A-Z list, but make a brief note against anything that fell out of the top 20 (or if there is anything else I want to note). Once that is done, I am going to treat the top 20 as though it is a new week of a chart and make notes about those that moved up and down on the list and why I thought this was. The final part will be to try and find a combined short list from 2020-2022. Just a heads up, the method of working out that combined list is very scientific (I cannot implore you enough to know that the method is strictly vibes). Before adding the new 20 to the big list, I looked over it again to see if there was anything I’d change and there wasn’t. The biggest change I've decided on going forward is that the combined list will now be a top 50. This means there will already be 10 albums cut from the long list.
Beachheads - Beachheads II - This for a little while had snuck its way into the bottom of the top 20, but the final listens to a few other albums meant it just fell out. This probably was 21st.
Cancer Bats - Psychic Jailbreak
Clutch - Sunrise on Slaughter Beach
Comeback Kid - Heavy Steps
Helpless - Caged In Gold - I remember really liking this in 2022, hence it being in my top 20. It fell out this time but I do still like it.
Korn - Requiem
Machine Head - Of Kingdom and Crown
PUP - The Unravelling of PUPTheBand
Slipknot - The End, So Far
Taylor Swift - Midnights
The Antichrist Imperium - Volume III: Satan In His Original Glory
The Losing Score - Learn To Let This Go - The second biggest dropping album from the original list. It is still a very good album, but there are other albums here I prefer more since the original ranking.
Venom Prison - Erebos - This band has just disappeared. I remember hearing some less than ideal things about views certain members of the band had, and honestly this task was the first time I’d really listened to them since then. The album is still very good…but I found myself enjoying it a lot less than I did originally. I struggle to separate the art from the artist sometimes (see part one when I chose not to revisit the Marilyn Manson album) and it is possible this is one of those. A shame.
All of that means the revised Top 20 for 2022 looks something like this:
- Zeal & Ardor - Zeal & Ardor (UP from 3) - This album is spectacular. I’ve had a soft spot for Zeal and Ardor since the first release, and this album is comfortably the best thing released by them (for context, this was written after the release of their 2024 album).
- Frank Turner - FTHC (NON MOVE) - I bloody love this album, and with some movement within the top 3, I wondered if this one might move to number 1. There is a cigarette paper between all three albums, but I think this one's placement is fair.
- Ithaca - They Fear Us (DOWN from 1) - This feels both wrong and right. I adore this album, and have loved revisiting it. There wasn't a chance this was dropping lower than 3rd, and even that was a tough call.
- Bob Vylan - Bob Vylan Presents The Price Of Life (UP from 5) - This is a really good album and one that has stayed with me over the last couple of years, hence why it has gone up a single place. That feels right.
- Martha - Please Don't Take Me Back (UP from 12) - Every time I listen to this album, I like it a whole lot more. I haven't seen this band live, but I would like to!
- Orville Peck - Bronco (DOWN from 4) - This one initially looked like it might drop further but another listen to be sure made me realise how much I do like it. It dropping below Martha and Bob Vylan feels right on balance.
- Rina Sawayama - Hold The Girl (UP from 14) - Similar to Martha, whenever I listen to this album I like it more and more each time.
- Jamie Lenman - The Atheist (UP from 15) - I thought this one could be higher when starting this revisiting the 2022 albums. I really like it and this section (Orville, Rina and this) was a tough one to sort out.
- KT Tunstall - NUT (UP from 16) - The times I've seen KT Tunstall live since this album came out have reinforced how good it is.
- Soul Glo - Diaspora Problems (NON MOVE) - This is a really good album. They played Southampton on a night I was out of town, which made me sad. That isn't relevant to owt, but I don't have much to add about this album not moving from the spot it had 2 years ago. It was a bit higher at one point but dropped back to its original place and that feels right.
- Conjurer - Páthos (DOWN from 8) - I do really like this album, but it is a dense listen and in the last couple of years it hasn't been a go-to album, and others have jumped it in enjoyment stakes.
- Avantasia - A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society (UP from 20) - This squeaked in last time, and I don't know why it was a squeak in. It is really good and I much prefer it to their previous album. Hope some of it will be on the set list when they are back in London next March.
- Dropkick Murphys - This Machine Still Kills Fascists (DOWN from 11) - I enjoyed revisiting this, but it dropping a small amount was fair.
- Gregor Barnett - Don't Go Throwing Roses In My Grave (NEW ENTRY) - I massively underrated this album in 2022, it is great!
- Rolo Tomassi - Where Myth Becomes Memory (UP from 17) - I don't know why I am surprised that this album went up, as it is really good. And yet, I find myself surprised.
- The Callous Daoboys - Celebrity Therapist (DOWN from 6) - This is a big drop, one I can only explain by loving the album in 2022 and not revisiting it almost at all between then and now for this. I still really like it though
- Drug Church - Hygiene (DOWN from 13) - This is one of those great albums that just hasn't stuck with me over time. Whenever a bit of it comes on though, I do have a lovely time.
- Wet Leg - Wet Leg (DOWN from 7) - I guess this is the biggest drop, and at one point it did almost drop out of the top 20. It deserves to be in here because I do really enjoy it, but it being as high as it was last time puzzles 2024 me writing this. The tastes have changed over time, which I guess is to be expected.
- Pixies - Doggerel (NEW ENTRY) - I have a lot of love for Pixies, and this jumping into the top 20 is a sign of this. Great band, really good album. It isn't one of their classics, but that is okay.
- Ghost - Impera (NEW ENTRY) - I don't know why this didn't make it last time. I am still surprised it only just made the cut this time, but there we are.
- Biffy Clyro - A Celebration of Endings
- Zeal & Ardor - Zeal & Ardor
- Run The Jewels - RTJ4
- Halsey - If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power
- Gojira - Fortitude
- Frank Turner - FTHC
- Code Orange - Underneath
- Employed To Serve - Conquering
- Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia
- Ithaca - They Fear Us
- Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR
- Idles - Ultra Mono
- Urne - Serpent & Spirit
- Svalbard - When I Die, Will I Get Better?
- Creeper - Sex Death and The Infinte Void
- Loathe - I Let It In and It Took Everything
- Bob Vylan - Bob Vylan Presents The Price Of Life
- Trivium - What The Dead Men Say
- Palm Reader - Sleepless
- Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend
- Taylor Swift - Folklore
- Pupil Slicer - Mirrors
- Turnstile - GLOW ON
- The Dirty Nil - Fuck Art
- Spanish Love Songs - Brave Faces Everyone
- Martha - Please Don't Take Me Back
- Orville Peck - Bronco
- Idles - Crawler
- Rina Sawayama - Hold The Girl
- Jamie Lenman - The Atheist
- Every Time I Die - Radical
- Bury Tomorrow – Cannibal
- Taylor Swift - Evermore
- Trivium - In The Court Of The Dragon
- Carcass - Torn Arteries
- KT Tunstall - NUT
- Pet Needs - Fractured Party Music
- Green Lung - Black Harvest
- Soul Glo - Diaspora Problems
- Conjurer - Páthos
- Avantasia - A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society
- Bruce Springsteen - A Letter to You
- Napalm Death - Throes Of Joy In The Jaws Of Defeatism
- At The Gates - The Nightmare Of Being
- Dropkick Murphys - This Machine Still Kills Fascists
- Gregor Barnett - Don't Go Throwing Roses In My Grave
- Sharptooth - Transitional Forms
- Bleed From Within - Fracture
- Volbeat - Servant Of The Mind
- Rolo Tomassi - Where Myth Becomes Memory
