So I’m a little late on this. What can I say? Life gets in the way sometimes! A pretty decent year for music, I think. I was late on listening to a lot of it (again, life getting in the way), but 2017 was pretty good. 2018 looks to be even better as a number of big names are confirmed/rumored to be releasing albums.
Top 10 Albums of 2017
- Alice Cooper – Paranormal
- Europe – Walk the Earth
- L.A. Guns – The Missing Peace
- Steel Panther – Lower the Bar
- Accept – The Rise of Chaos
- Night Demon – Darkness Remains
- The Darkness – Pinewood Smile
- Sainted Sinners – s/t
- Steelheart – Through Worlds of Stardust
- Babylon A.D. – Revelation Highway
Honorable Mention:
Tokyo Motor Fist – s/t. “Put Me to Shame” is my favorite song from 2017. The rest of the album is solid, but nothing else on it lives up to that one track, which is why I had to bump this album out of the Top 10.
The Worst Album of 2017:
Josh Todd & The Conflict – Year of the Tiger
Pretty disappointing side-project release from Buckcherry singer Josh Todd. And considering this album features 3 of the 5 members that now make up Buckcherry, I’m hoping it’s not a sign of what’s to come from that group.
Best Holiday Release:
Cheap Trick – Christmas Christmas
Okay, so I only listened to two new holiday albums this past year. I enjoyed both albums (shout out to Butch Walker’s Over the Holidays and Under the Influence), but this was the one I enjoyed the most.
My Most Played Songs Released in 2017 (according to Spotify):
This list doesn’t account for stuff I’ve played elsewhere (mainly Amazon Music) or 2017 releases that I didn’t check out until early 2018, nor is it a top ten favorites list, but I was able to put this together thanks to Spotify’s helpful personalized playlist of the top 100 songs I played in 2017.
Even if Spotify hadn’t told me I had played it the most, Tokyo Motor Fist’s “Put Me to Shame” is the song of the year for me.
- “Put Me to Shame” – Tokyo Motor Fist
- “Paranormal” – Alice Cooper
- “Anything Goes” – Steel Panther
- “Now the Fun Starts” – Steel Panther
- “Darkness Remains” – Night Demon
- “Goin’ in the Backdoor” – Steel Panther
- “We Are Forever” – Dream Evil
- “I know I’m Crazy” – Stephen Pearcy
- “Big Sandy” – Warrant
- “Sign of the Times” – Jack Russell’s Great White
My Most Anticipated Albums for 2018:
- Judas Priest – Firepower (out now!)
- Riot V – Armor of Light (April)
- Sainted Sinners – Back With a Vengeance (out now!)
- Stone Temple Pilots (March)
- Ace Frehley (rumored)
- Ratt (rumored)
- Sebastian Bach (rumored)
- Tesla – Shock (TBA)
- W.A.S.P. (rumored)
- Whitesnake – Flesh & Blood (TBA)
