The Best Music of 2022
With the turn of the calendar, it's time to unveil my favorite albums and songs from the year that just concluded.
Thanks for spending part of your day with Michael’s Record Collection. It’s hard to believe this newsletter recently passed the two-year mark and is starting its third year of existence. As always, I want to know what I can do to make this a better experience for you. What would you like to see more of? Less of? Please write to me at michaelsrecordcollection@gmail.com and let me know what you think of the content and provide any feedback on what you think will help improve the product.
For my first newsletter of 2023, I want to take a last look back at the music of 2022. I’ve compiled my annual list of the best albums and songs released during the calendar year. Your ears may beg to differ, and that’s perfectly fine, but hopefully this issue will introduce you to something new or get you to give an album a second try if it didn’t grab your attention the first time.
Let’s get to it.
The 2022 calendar year was another great one for music from new artists, legacy acts, and everything in between. It’s honestly hard to keep up with it all!
As with any “best of” list from any given year, there’s simply not enough time to get to every release and give all of that music sufficient attention, so what follows is a list of my picks as the best music from 2022 in the categories given, from what I heard. I will freely acknowledge what many other writers don’t — that there are lots of albums and songs I either know about and never got the chance to hear or that I’m completely unaware of (for example, what do I know about what’s going on in the music scene in Paraguay, Turkmenistan, or Laos?). I do my best but there’s only one of me.
Per usual, I did my best to get to as many new releases as I could, and I am preparing a public playlist to go live on Tidal soon with my favorites from 2022 that will continue to get new additions as I discover more music from what was a great calendar year for new albums.
With that said, let’s get to my year-end awards. Like last year, I didn’t limit myself to one winner (in most categories). I’m perfectly OK with ties!
Debut Albums
It was another strong year for debuts. Here are two that stood out to me. Even though it wasn’t the first rodeo for most of the musicians involved, these particular collections of musicians had not previously all worked together on a release before.
Kings of Mercia – Kings of Mercia
This is a supergroup of sorts, led by Fates Warning guitarist Jim Matheos and FM vocalist Steve Overland (the U.K.’s FM, not the Canadian one). Fates Warning bassist Joey Vera and legendary drummer Simon Phillips round out the lineup. I previously wrote about this album after talking to Overland about it. I find it to be an irresistible chunk of melodic rock with brilliant technical chops and standout vocals from Overland.
Favorite Tracks: “Wrecking Ball,” “Everyday Angels,” “Set the World on Fire.”
Envy of None – Envy of None
A stunning mix of industrial, rock, pop, electronica, shoegaze, and more, Envy of None has churned out an album that is both unexpected — given the presence of Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson and Coney Hatch bassist Andy Curran — and absolutely beautiful. The haunting vocals of the supremely talented Maiah Wynne steal the show for me, and I was fortunate enough to talk to her about the background and making of this album back in June.
Favorite Tracks: “Liar,” “Never Said I Love You,” “Old Strings.”
New (To Me) Discoveries
As previously mentioned, there’s just no way to get around to every band. Nobody has that kind of time. Before you can even listen to a band, you at least need to be aware of their existence, which is difficult to do across the span of the planet with how many people are out there playing music. This year, I’m honoring a band I’d never previously heard of, as well as a band I knew about but had never gotten around to hearing.
Dead City Ruins – Shockwave
Australia’s Dead City Ruins was a band I wasn’t familiar with prior to this year. Their excellent album Shockwave changed that for me, and after going back and hearing their older material, I would say this new release is easily my favorite from them. This is excellent hard rock music with amazing guitar work that is heavily influenced by classic grunge bands, especially Alice in Chains. I spoke with guitarist and Dead City Ruins founding member Tommy Cain about the record in late October.
Favorite Tracks: “Preacher,” “Speed Machine,” “Spiders.”
House of Lords – Saints and Sinners
I was aware of House of Lords as a band originally started by former Angel and Giuffria keyboardist Gregg Giuffria in the late 1980s, but I hadn’t really heard much of their music. Several lineup changes later, House of Lords released the terrific Saints and Sinners album in 2022. The new album prompted me to go back and listen to some of the band’s past material and I’d say the new one stands up pretty well against even the material that Giuffria was part of (he left the band in 1993 and returned for a spell in the early 2000s). This is a terrific melodic rock record with great keyboard work from Mark Mangold and standout guitar from Jimi Bell. I spoke with Bell in November about both this album and the new Autograph record — his first with that band — Beyond.
Favorite Tracks: “Saints and Sinners,” “Mistress of the Dark,” “Avalanche.”
Covers Album
With bands able to get out on the road for a while now, we’re not seeing as many releases of covers albums as we did following the pandemic lockdown periods in 2020. Many artists back then didn’t want to waste original material on albums they couldn’t tour to support, so they saved their originals and turned out covers or tribute albums to fulfill contractual obligations or just to make a little money while they couldn’t get out on the road. While there were a few worthy efforts, one stood out above the rest for me this year.
Mary Fahl – Can’t Get It Out of My Head
Former October Project lead vocalist Mary Fahl brought her considerable talents to bear on several classic tracks on Can’t Get It Out of My Head. The title has two meanings, because not only were these songs the ones that stuck with her over the years, but she also kicked off the album with the ELO classic of the same name. Like any good covers album, Fahl’s works because it retains the spirit of the original songs while offering something new that is uniquely hers. With her haunting voice and interesting arrangement choices, Fahl has created a masterpiece of an album out of 10 already classic tracks. She told me the story of this album last July, if you’re interested in learning more about it.
Favorite Tracks: “Can’t Get It Out of My Head,” “Beware of Darkness,” “Ruby Tuesday.”
Best Female Solo Albums
The 2022 calendar year was a great time for women in music, whether a seasoned veteran like Taylor Swift or much lesser-known, up-and-coming artists. My winners this year are both in the latter category.
Chez Kane – Powerzone
Welsh vocalist Chez Kane released her second album in 2022 and avoided a sophomore slump easily with Powerzone. Working with Danny Rexon from the Swedish rock band Crazy Lixx, Kane put out an album that pays loving tribute to the melodic rock of the 1980s but with a modern production and without too closely aping anyone in particular. Powerzone melds some of the sounds and styles of Def Leppard, Vixen, Bon Jovi, and Survivor with a little bit of Pat Benatar’s snarl. I spoke with Chez about this record back in early October.
Favorite Tracks: “(The Things We Do) When We’re Young in Love,” “Rock You Up,” “Love Gone Wild.”
Nevena – Nevena
Serbian vocalist Nevena Dordevic released her debut solo album under her first name in early December. Late submission or not, the album made a big enough impression on me to warrant this spot. The songs were written by Lithuanian-born, Swedish vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Michael Palace — who himself had a terrific 2022 album release with his band, Palace, entitled One 4 the Road. Nevena performed lead and backing vocals to 11 solid, melodic pop/rock tracks. Now residing in Boston, Nevena was the subject of my last Michael’s Record Collection of 2022.
Favorite Tracks: “Straight Into Madness,” “Bulletproof,” “Bad Sun Rising.”
Best Male Solo Albums
As with the women’s side, it seemed like there was a good mix of great new albums in 2022 from veteran musicians as well as those just starting out. However, both of my picks in this category kind of fit both molds. Both are established musicians who turned out their first solo records in 2022.
Tommy DeCarlo – Dancing in the Moonlight
Tommy DeCarlo’s story is right out of a movie. DeCarlo — a huge Boston fan — recorded some songs in the Boston style in the wake of Brad Delp’s death. He put them up on his MySpace page at his son’s insistence. Boston founder Tom Scholz discovered DeCarlo that way and soon he was Boston’s new singer. DeCarlo performed live with Boston from 2008 to 2017 and appears on the band’s 2013 Life, Love & Hope album on four tracks. In 2020, he released an album with his self-titled band, DeCarlo, called Lightning Strikes Twice. DeCarlo’s new solo album shows his obvious Boston influence but is still very much its own thing at the same time. DeCarlo turned out a terrific rock record with consistently high quality throughout.
Favorite Tracks: “Dancing in the Moonlight,” “No Surrender,” “Change Our Fate.”
Zadra – Guiding Star
Dennis DeYoung guitarist August Zadra has played in some impressive tribute bands in addition to being part of the Styx legend’s live band for years, but in 2022 he finally released his first solo record under his last name. Zadra found his own voice and worked with some talented musicians, such as songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Alessandro Del Vecchio, who helped shape some of his riffs and ideas into songs. DeYoung adds a keyboard solo to “Take My Hand,” and Jeff Scott Soto helps with some backing vocals. The guitarists whose influences Zadra brought out on the album include the likes of Michael Schenker, Neal Schon, and Warren DeMartini. I spoke with Zadra last March about how this album came together. It’s the kind of album that should appeal to fans of album-oriented rock from the mid-1970s to early 80s.
Favorite Tracks: “Take My Hand,” “Ship of Fools,” “Dream of You.”
Hard Rock/Metal
It was another standout year for hard rock and metal, and a lot of albums could have ended up in this section, but here are the two that did:
Ghost – Impera
Once you get past the oddball personas (Papa Emeritus, et al) and eye-rolling lyrics, Ghost is a terrific hard rock/metal band out of Sweden. I’ve only been following them for a couple of years but have heard their entire catalog and I think Impera is the band’s best album yet. Certainly it’s the band’s most accessible release to date, with some of the occult stuff not quite as in-your-face as on past records, or maybe it just struggles to break through the infectious melodies. This is probably the most consistently good hard rock/metal album of the year.
Favorite Tracks: “Spillways,” “Call Me Little Sunshine,” “Hunter’s Moon.”
Def Leppard – Diamond Star Halos
Sheffield’s finest band is back! The mighty Leppard has turned out its best album in years with Diamond Star Halos. Despite the title hinting at a tribute to glam rock — and there is some of that, particularly from lead single “Kick” — this album is quite varied stylistically, even delving into some country crossover on “This Guitar” (complete with vocal contributions by Alison Krauss). This album is a little uneven stylistically, and maybe a few tracks too long for my liking, but Def Leppard has earned the right to do what they want and it’s hard to complain about being given extra music.
Favorite Tracks: “Take What You Want,” “Kick,” “This Guitar.”
Progressive Rock
I think 2022 was a stronger year for progressive rock than 2021, although that says more about the qualitative strength of 2022 than any weakness in the previous year’s releases. I had the most difficult time of any category choosing two records to represent the prog rock genre from the past calendar year.
Ryo Okumoto – The Myth of the Mostrophos
Spock’s Beard keyboardist Ryo Okumoto released his first solo record in 20 years and it was worth the wait. With lots of support from his bandmates in Spock’s Beard and Progject, Okumoto recorded an instant classic. It’s got all the best prog rock tropes, while including some fusion-y instrumental fireworks as well. The musicianship is top notch, which is expected, but the songs are also well written and fun. The title track alone is worth the price of the album, clocking in at over 22 minutes. It’s the musical equivalent of a Godzilla movie. Sure, it’s a bit campy lyrically, but it’s also a lot of fun and contains some great hooks and virtuoso playing. Ryo was kind enough to talk to me about this album back in July.
Favorite Tracks: “The Myth of the Mostrophus,” “The Watchmaker (Time on His Side),” “Mirror Mirror.”
Marillion – An Hour Before It’s Dark
English prog rockers Marillion always turn out fascinating music, but the band’s 2022 release is its best in years. They’re one of the few bands who seemingly always get me to spring for the deluxe editions because they put a great deal of care and forethought into everything from the music to the packaging. An Hour Before It’s Dark is full of brilliant moments and can be heartbreakingly beautiful at times. It’s very much a pandemic album but it’s also more than that. It takes a while to unpack all of the layers of this amazing release but it’s worth the journey to get there.
Favorite Tracks: “Murder Machines,” “Be Hard On Yourself,” “The Crow and the Nightingale.”
Best Albums
It’s always difficult to whittle down a year’s worth of albums into just one (which is partly why I prefer to only narrow it to two). These are the albums that I connected with most in 2022.
Envy of None – Envy of None
Any time a band’s first release is good enough to be picked for best album, that’s both good and bad. It simultaneously fills one with anticipation for the band’s next release, but there’s also trepidation. What if the band can’t come up with the goods again? Can they actually improve upon this achievement? We’ll have to wait for those answers, but for now, this album, which came out on Kscope Records on April 8, 2022, gets to double dip in my year-end awards because if it’s one of the two best albums, and it’s a debut, it also has to be one of the two best debut albums, right? If you haven’t heard it, go listen and marvel at how Wynne’s vocals bring life and drama to these songs.
Favorite Tracks: (see above section in Best Debut Albums category).
Tears for Fears – The Tipping Point
It’s fair to say that this is my favorite record to come out in several years…possibly a decade. Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith reconvened and created one of their best albums in a considerable, 40-plus-year career. It is neck-and-neck with their debut, The Hurting, for my favorite album by the band. It’s rare that any band can put out an album of such high quality after even one decade, let alone four.
This album has its roots in 2021, as the advance single, “The Tipping Point,” dropped in that year’s final quarter and became one of my picks for the year’s best song. But when the band released The Tipping Point on Feb. 25, 2022 on Concord Records, it quickly became apparent that the title track was only the tip of the iceberg. A stunning and powerfully emotional album, the songs also hold up live, as I found out when I attended the band’s tour stop in Tampa, Florida. Tears for Fears performed most of the album’s 10 tracks at that show. I was moved to tears — sans fears — several times during that concert, and that also happens when I spin this record. It’s that good.
All the musicians on the planet had 10 months to knock this record off the top of my list and they couldn’t do it. The magic of Tears for Fears when they’re at their best (as they are on this album) is that they can take simple ideas and turn them into something transcendent, and that’s exactly what they did all over this record. It is a remarkable artistic achievement to create an album of this quality so deep into a recording career, with no filler whatsoever. Every listen is a wonderful and rewarding journey.
Favorite Tracks: “The Tipping Point,” “Master Plan,” “Rivers of Mercy.”
Best Songs of 2022
Many of the songs I loved this year are listed above and there were many more. As always, there is no shortage of great music being written, recorded, and released. These were the year’s best to my ears:
Marillion – “Murder Machines”
A COVID-19 pandemic song, this is simply a devastating composition from a lyrical perspective. The idea of killing someone you care about by getting close to them is terrifying, and it’s something that became all-too-real for many people in 2020.
I put my arms around her
And I killed her with love
Steve Hogarth’s vocal delivery just crushes me when he sings these lines. Guitarist Steve Rothery and keyboardist Mark Kelly have learned over the years to build incredible layers of sound together, while drummer Ian Mosely and bassist Pete Trewavas provide the perfect rhythmic bedrock to house those layers. Rothery’s solo is tasteful and understated, as befits the subject matter. Hogarth’s timbre and phrasing are unique (and, admittedly, not for everyone), but he nearly always conveys the proper emotional heft that best fits the song. He certainly did that on “Murder Machines.”
Tears for Fears – “Master Plan”
Honestly, “The Tipping Point” would have qualified for this award even though it was one of my songs of the year for 2021 with its pre-album release. I felt that was too much like cheating, and besides, there are multiple songs on the album that I love just as much. After giving them all a great deal of consideration, “Master Plan” emerged as my top choice.
Yesterday
All the lights were shining on the love we made
Out of sight was out of mind, a dream away
Lost between the Beatles and the Stones
The band’s obvious Beatles influence shines through not just in the lyrics from the opening verse above, but also in the music. Everything about this song is perfect. The call-and-answer of “Believe me now (believe me now)” is stunningly beautiful. The chorus is heartbreaking. The bridge even rocks a little bit and soars into the final section. I also want to call out Aaron Sterling’s superb drumming and just the overall production on the song. It’s brilliant.
Honorable Mentions
Here are some of the other albums not mentioned above that I enjoyed quite a bit from this past year. I’m sure most of these will become regular go-to listens. I’ve supplied links for those albums listed that have been covered in previous issues of Michael’s Record Collection.
Alan Parsons – From the New World
Black Swan - Generation Mind
Crashdïet – Automaton
D’Virgilio, Morse & Jennings - Troika
Fans of the Dark - Suburbia
Fortune – Level Ground
Frank Turner – FTHC
Galahad – The Last Great Adventurer
Generation Radio – Generation Radio
Ginevra – We Belong to the Stars
Imminent Sonic Destruction – The Sun Will Always Set
Lana Lane – Neptune Blue
Lonely Robot – A Model Life
Palace – One 4 the Road
Porcupine Tree – Closure/Continuation
Queensryche – Digital Noise Alliance
Ring of Fire - Gravity
Rob Moratti – Epical
Scorpions – Rock Believer
SiX By SiX – SiX By SiX
Skills – Different Worlds
The Tangent – Songs from the Hard Shoulder
Wet Leg – Wet Leg
I’m including this week’s video version below even though it doesn’t cover any additional ground. Sometimes it’s just fun to watch the goofy old man talk and see what new toys he’s learning to use in the video-making process. You can also hear brief clips from many of the albums above in Episode 92 of the Michael’s Record Collection podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts.
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