Top 10 of 2012 - The Editor's Take

Today, we continue our posts regarding the albums we personally think are the best of 2012.

10. Rival Sons - Head Down. What classic rock should be... by a modern band!

 09. Charm City Devils – Sins. Straight up Glam from Baltimore. Charm City Devils deserve fame. "Man of Constant Sorrow" is a stand out.

08. Attack Attack – This Means War. The new one from the Columbus, Ohio metalcore band. Not as good as the band's self-titled album, but still darn good and way heavier.  

07. Van Halen – A Different Kind of Truth. Classic arena rock. No album could have lived up to the hype or expectation, but A Different Kind of Truth filled a void in our current commercial music landscape. It's not 1984 anymore, and that's okay. Van Halen has evolved and we can too.

06. The Darkness – Hot Cakes. Poppy Glam. High notes. Tons of energy. Hilarious videos. What's not to love? "Nothin's Gonna Stop Us" is a stand out track.  

05. Scorpions – Comeblack.Re-recordings of classics and covers, too. For Scorps fans, this is a great album. Plus it marked a turning point: with this release the band let their fans know that full retirement wasn't really happening after all.

04. Europe - Bag of Bones. Don't ever doubt the vocal prowess of Joey Tempest.

03. Kix – Live in Baltimore. A strong live album by one of my favorite bands. Plus, Live in Baltimore puts Kix back on the map... and back in the studio. Rarely does a live album capture the true energy of a given concert... but this album does that in droves.

02. Aerosmith – Music From Another Dimension. New music from my favorite band. This album doesn't get the top spot because of the sappy ballads. The rockers rock, though, and that's all we need from our bad boys from Boston.

01. I See Stars – Digital Renegade. My most-listened to, favorite album of the year bar none. This album would actually go into my "desert island" collection as well. I See Stars happens to be my favorite metalcore band, largely because of Digital Renegade. The songs are epic. The videos are epic. The guest stars (Cassadee Pope and Danny Worsnop) are epic. I can't say enough good things about this album. No, it's not Glam, but there are melodic breakdowns. Plus, I don't listen to Glam 24/7. If I did, I'd go crazy. Stand out tracks: "Electric Forest," "Filth Friends Unite" and "Endless Sky."

Honorable mention: Adler: Back from the Dead. This album is incredible, but it hasn't been out very long hence it's place below the top 10. I highly suggest you buy this one - you'll love it.

Comments

[BatLizard]

Allyson, I was certain that Aerosmith would top your favs. Nevertheless, I agree with you. Remove the five ballads and maybe both Joe Perry lead-vocal tracks and a very strong "Toys/Get A Grip" hybrid remains. They should have done what KISS did with "Monster" and Van Halen with "ADKOT," stack the album top to bottom with straightforward rockers. I was happy to see The Darkness on your list. I absolutely love their latest album. Justin and Dan Hawkins are great songwriters. I really wish more people in the US were hip to these guys. You should check them out next month in Columbus if you get the chance. Their live show is very reminiscent of all the things we loved to see in the Eighties.

[Christian]

We saw them at Rock on the Range ( I got close to the front ) and yes, they were really good, live.

[KixRules]

Nice list Allyson! Great to see Charm City Devils on a top list of 2012!
And Kix Live is great and hopefully a new stutdio al!!bum makes the 2013 list

[Rock-It]

2012 was a very good year... My list would look something like this:

10.) SISTER SIN - "Now And Forever".. This one pretty much picks up where the last release left off.. Cool mix of Hard Rock with elements of Glam.

9.) CHARM CITY DEVILS - "Sins".. Besides releasing a great Hard Rock CD their live set was a highlight at Rocklahoma 2012.

8.)SISTERS DOLL - "Welcome To The Dollhouse"... You want a band that can "bring back glam"?.. well here it is, A must for "REAL" Glam fans.

7.) JULIAN ANGEL'S BEAUTIFUL BEAST - "California Suntan"... This one is straight out of the late 80's.. Hard to believe this underrated gem was released in 2012. Nothing groundbreaking, just a fun bunch of songs and some great, killer hooks, and guitar. If you are a fan of 80's Hair Metal you need to check this one out.

6.) KIX - "Live In Baltimore"... When a band like KIX releases something new it has to break into my list. I suppose the fact that I was at the show that was recorded has something to do with this high rating. But with KIX you know what you've got.. Straight ahead Rock "N' Roll with a ton of energy.

5.) CYANIDE 4 - "Every Day Is A Masquerade"... It isn't often that you find a band from Greece that sounds like this. A great combination of Glam and Melodic Hard Rock. This release came from nowhere and was maybe the biggest surprise of the year.

4.) HESSLER - "Comes With The Territory".. Female Fronted Hard Rock. This one delivers on all cylinders. Saw this band play last summer and I was hooked.

3.) DORO - "Raise Your Fist".. Another strong release from the Metal Queen. It seems as I am never disappointed when Doro releases something new. Hard Rock/Metal that makes you want to .. well.. "Raise Your Fist".

2.) CRAZY LIXX- "Riot Avenue".. Another Glam / Sleaze masterpiece. Many people are turned of by the "raw sound" of this release.. some say it is under produced. Me.. I love it. A band shouldn't need to be over produced to sound good.

1.) DIEMONDS - "The Bad Pack".. Actually, this release would make my list of top releases of the 2000's. Female fronted Hard Rock/Metal. This release finds it into my CD player a couple times a week. Though it was "officially released" in 2012, I've had this one since late 2011. One of the best live bands I've seen in 15 years. 80's style Hard Rock / Metal. It's all here, the songs, the hooks, the twin guitars, the ATTITUDE. Check this band out if you get the chance.

There it is.. My Top 10 of 2013. I'm pretty sure that my list will vary from most on here. I hope maybe someone here discovers a cool band or two from my list..

[Christian]

Thanks - I've been thinking about getting the Doro, I'll be checking out a few from this list.

[Metalboy!]

Drum Roll, Please...

[Glamfly]

Can't say I've heard a ton from 2012, but one band you all should check out, that would make most people's lists, is Prophets of Addiction-Babylon Boulevard. It's Lesli Sanders' band (Talks Cheap, Queeny Blast Pop, Pretty Boy Floyd). It sounds like a cross between Hanoi, Dogs D'Amour, Ramones, and Rancid. Check 'em out!!

[Metalboy!]

METALBOY!'S TOP !0 BEST ALBUMS OF 2012

10) BITERS "Last of a Dying Breed" (November 1, 2012) -- The Last Great Rock'n'Roll Band hails from Atlanta. Thanks for the tip, Allyson!

9) CASABLANCA "Apocalyptic Youth" (March 16, 2012) -- Just look at the album cover and you get the picture. Irresistible Pop Metal.

8) L.A. GUNS "Hollywood Forever" (June 5, 2012) -- Sleeper album of 2012. Produced by the legendary Andy Johns.

7) DYNAZTY "Sultans of Sin" (March 5, 2012) -- Like their song says, they are the "Bastards of Rock n Roll".

6) BADMOUTH "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" (October 12, 2012) -- The title says it all. Brilliantly stupid.

5) BULLET "Full Pull" (September 12, 2012) -- It doesn't get any meaner than this, dudes.

4) TEXAS HIPPIE COALITION "Peacemaker" (August 14th, 2012) -- Oh, the Comedy!... with Bada*s Guitars!

3) MISS CRAZY "Grip" (December 7, 2012) -- Just listen to the opener "Make It Go Away" and you'll know EXACTLY why Miss Crazy damn near ran away with the whole thing! Totally Kick A*s!

2) THE DARKNESS "HOT CAKES" (August 21, 2012) -- Genius! What a talent Justin Hawkins is, frying out, drying out and then coming back bigger and badder than ever! A modern masterpiece!

1) ACCEPT "Stalingrad" (April 10, 2012) -- Okay, so it ain't "Blood of Nations" but it's close! And that right there makes it THE Best of 2012!

HONORABLE MENTION: ZZ Top "El Futura" (Rick Rubin produced!), Adler, Hotel Diablo, Little Caesar "American Dream", KISS "Monster", Hotel Diablo "The Return to Psycho, California", Trixter "Tattoos and Misery" (Better late than never!), Snew "What's It To You", Hard Riot "Living on a Fast Lane", Aerosmith "Music From Another Dimension", Dokken "Broken Bones", etc.

[Metalboy!]

Thanks, Rock-It, for putting up your FULL list! Let's hope others will do the same! You are giving me lots to check out!

p.s. Oops! I listed Hotel Diablo twice in Honorable Mentions. Let me sub in 77, "High Decibels". These guys are vintage Bon Scott-era AC/DC freaks and God Bless 'em for it!

[Christian]

Hey Metalboy. ZZ Top was on my top 10 for a bit and so was KISS and Aerosmith, but more briefly. 77 are also really good, but slavishly copying old bands is fun, but never top 10, for me. I thought Stalingrad was less than Blood of Nations, and enough to not make my list, but I do love Accept and did like that CD. Surprised to see Bullet so high, I loved those guys for a bit, but I've found they offer diminishing returns, their CDs are not improving, if anything, the quality is dropping, for me.

[bkallday]

My top 10 of 2012

10. Kiss
9. Charm City Devils
8. Chevelle
7. Prong
6. Jackyl
5. Manson
4. LA Guns
3. Deftones
2. Kreator
1. Testament

H.M.-Trixter, Soundgarden, Dokken

*still haven't heard new live Kix yet, its impossible to find those tracks to dl anywhere online.

[Metalboy!]

True, Christian, regarding your comments on ZZ, Aerosmith, and 77 which is why I only gave 'em honorable mentions. However, regarding Accept, as I said, it's not "Blood of Nations" but dang close and in my book, even a 2012 Accept album that's not as good as it's predecessor -- which was phenomenol -- is better than anything else out there, IMHO.

Similarly, I agree, Bullet's latest isn't up there with their first few releases but still, their latest blows away most anything else this year.

Now, I strongly suggest YOU revise your list by chucking out anything not released in 2012 and just sub in the FANTASTIC albums from my list you did not negatively comment on, hahaha!!! Or Miss Crazy is gonna come down there and kick yer "Dumb Metal" a*s!, hahaha!!!

[bkallday]

Revised mine, that Chevelle(hats off to the bull) was actually released in 2011. Put Trixter(new audio machine) at #10 & slide the rest down!

[Metalboy!]

BKaliday! Thanks for your list! AND revising it to ONLY include releases from 2012. Though I don't agree with a few of your selections, nor do I expect you to agree some of mine.

And that's what makes this whole exercise so much fun.

BTW, I actually dated the sister of Prong's main drummer for awhile while living in NYC. Because of that, I saw them open for Ozzy point blank. Gotta say, always loved their classic, "Prove You Wrong".

[fletch]

10) a different kind of truth
9) a different kind of truth.
8) a different kind of truth..
7) a different kind of truth...
6) a different kind of truth....
5) a different kind of truth.....
4) a different kind of truth......
3) a different kind of truth.......
2) a different kind of truth........
1) a different kind of irreverence

I told you I was coming back.

next up: the top ten reasons why people focus on me more.

[oper8n]

Kix live in Baltimore is available at Amazon in the mp3 store.
Enjoyed all the lists. Merry New Year.

[Snoot]

10. The Hangmen
9. Napalm Death
8. Redd Kross
7. Delta Riggs
6. Overkill
5. Against the Grain
4. Baroness
3. Mark Lanegan
2. Soundgarden
1. Testament

[Glenn]

I'm a little confused not to see Slash on any lists, for me it was easily in the top three

[Metalboy!]

Snoot! Just got The Hangmen! Awesome, Bro! Thanks for your list, no matter what I think of the rest of it, with the possible exception of Overkill and Red Cross.

[Metalboy!]

And Glenn! Just put up YOUR list and you will have your wish! BTW, Christian listed Slash "Apocalytic Love" at #8 on his post previous to this one.