You can find the Collective List as well as all our Best of 2022 content including contributors’ individual lists, podcasts and radio DJ shows here: CGCM’s Best of 2022 (Year in Review)
BEST OF 2022 – Bob Bannister (Radio DJ/Voice ID) 🇨🇦
Welcome to the most “Commercial” list of all of the CGCM Rock Radio Top 10 lists. In my defence, as hard as I try, my many years in commercial radio have programmed me this way. I am trying to “deprogram,” but it is a long hard process. But I do have to say that 2022 was one helluva fantastic year for hard rock/heavy metal, and it was extremely hard to narrow it down to just ten. I would like to tip my hat to my three honourable mentions: Ghost – Impera, Five Finger Death Punch – AfterLife and Shinedown – Planet Zero. Each of these albums could have EASILY made this list, but I had to choose ONLY 10. So, with that being said, on with the show.
10 – ALTER BRIDGE – Pawns & Kings 🇺🇸
The seventh album from Alter Bridge was dropped on October 14th and is the follow-up to 2014’s Walk The Sky. Where they found the time to write and record a new album is beyond me, with both Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy dropping multiple releases and touring almost non-stop in 2021. Regardless, this album is great.
Mark Tremonti absolutely shines on guitar and while Kennedy’s vocals, while grating at times, deliver a solid performance on this album that flows well from start to finish. I recommend listening to it from start to finish for the full effect. However, if you just wish to cherry-pick songs, “Dead Among The Living, Silver Tongue” and the title track “Pawn & Kings” are a good start. An album to be enjoyed through headphones for sure.
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09 – SLASH feat. MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS – 4 🇺🇸
One of the “oldest” albums on this list, it was released February 11 on the new Gibson Records label. Hell, if they build some of the most iconic and sought-after guitars on the planet, I guess having their own record label is a natural evolution. 4, is a simple title but if the formula has worked for so many other bands, why not use it, right? I couldn’t stop listening to this album for a couple of weeks.
Every song has its own merits, with “Call Off The Dogs” being my favourite, but the epic, wandering six-minute and twenty-four-second long “Fall Back To Earth” wraps up the album with a vibe reminiscent of “November Rain”. Slash is in great form on this album and Kennedy’s vocal range is put on display masterfully. The common thread running through this album is that any of the songs could be a GN’R song, but that much is a given with Slash being that band’s primary songwriter. Another headphone classic.
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08 – CRASHDIET – Automaton 🇸🇪
Unknown to me before I joined the team here at CGCM, Crashdïet were one of the bands I always heard the other guys talking about. So, when I heard they were releasing a new album in 2022, I made it a point to have a really good listen to them. Needless to say, I was impressed.
Automaton is their sixth album, and as far as I am concerned, their best. Stand-out tracks for me have to be “Resurrection Of The Damned” and “Dead Crusade”. Now, please correct me if I am wrong, but there is something about this band that is reminiscent of Ratt. But that is nothing to complain about.
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07 – THUNDERMOTHER – Black and Gold 🇸🇪
In the words of my wife “Chicks can rock too!” And I have to admit she is 100% right. These four Swedes released Black and Gold in August and to date, four singles from this album have charted, including “Watch Out”, which topped the CGCM Rock Radio Top 20.
During the Intro to “I Don’t Know You”, I kept expecting to hear AC/DC’s Brian Johnson to start singing, but the intro was as far as it went. “Hot Mess” is an amazing bluesy ballad that showcases Guernica Mancini’s voice perfectly. And the title track, “Black and Gold”, is just a straightforward rocker. Kudos to the album’s producer Soren Anderson for perfectly capturing the energy and musicianship of this band perfectly. THIS is why they were chosen to open for Scorpions on their Rock Believer Tour.
06 – MONSTER TRUCK – Warriors 🇨🇦
Monster Truck hail from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Members include lead singer and bassist Jon Harvey, guitarist Jeremy Widerman, keyboardist Brandon Bliss and drummer Theo McKibbon. These guys have come out swinging with their 4th album titled Warriors.
Maybe I am biased because they are Canadian, but this album is one of 2022’s best and Monster Truck’s strongest to date. This entire album has an unmistakable 70’s vibe to it, especially “Get My Things And Go” and the album’s closing track, “Still Got Fire”. But the standout track is the album opener and title track “Warriors”. If you liked their 2020 collaboration “Love Become Law” with Black Stone Cherry, Then this is an album you need to listen to.
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05 – CLASSLESS ACT – Welcome To The Show 🇺🇸
The band that comes in at number 5 has the ability to take you on a trip back to the 1980s, if you lived through them you know how awesome that decade was for music, if you didn’t this album will give you a really big mouthful of it.
Twelve songs so expertly crafted they’ll have you digging in your closet for the aqua-net hairspray (if you have hair left) and those jeans you haven’t worn since 1989. Seriously though, this album has a lot of great tracks but the best is the opener “Classless Act” featuring Motley Crue’s Vince Neil, I am expecting big things in the future from this 5 piece band from Los Angeles.
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04 – OZZY OSBOURNE – Patient Number 9 🇬🇧
If somebody had told you back in January that 2022 would be the year of Ozzy, you’d have thought they were crazy, but now 12 months later and a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album and it has truly become the year of Ozzy. Aside from the impressive list of guest artists: Jeff Beck, Tony Iommi, Zakk Wylde, Eric Clapton and Mike McCready, the list of artists who contribute to this album as songwriters is equally impressive: Robert Trujillo, Chad Smith, Duff McKagen, Taylor Hawkins, Chris Chaney and Ozzy’s old stalwart Tony Iommi. My favourite track on this album aside from “Parasite” (feat. Zakk Wylde) is “One Of Those Days” (feat. Eric Clapton) Slowhand’s playing on this is nothing short of incredible. This is a long album, so give yourself a lot of time to absorb it. Well done Ozzy.
CGCM Rock Radio Album Review: OZZY OSBOURNE – Patient Number 9 (Dr. Tardis)
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03 – DOROTHY – Gifts From The Holy Ghost 🇺🇸
When my wife introduced me to the music of this band a few years ago, I was blown away, not only because my wife was listening to a hard rock act, but also the voice of the young lady from whom this band from Los Angeles get their name, Dorothy Martin. She is a combination of Bonnie Tyler and Janis Joplin. Gifts From The Holy Ghost is a tour de force from the opener “Beautiful Life” to the final notes of the album’s title track and closing song, “Gifts From The Holy Ghost”.
But by far the strongest offering from this entire album, in my opinion, is the seventh track, “Black Sheep”.But then why isn’t it ranked higher you might ask? Well, I’ll tell you. I thought the albums that sit in the final two spots are better. And that says a lot considering the fact that I thought that this album was almost perfect.
02 – DERAPS – Deraps 🇨🇦
Ok no surprise here, if you know me, you know that I am a MASSIVE Van Halen fan. So, when I heard this album, I was taken back to the early 80s when I was discovering classic VH.
My initial listen was a journey of unabashed nostalgia, yes there are a lot of parallels to that band from Pasadena, but when you get into the album you discover that this Montreal-based trio has their own sound and style that is influenced by such classic records as Fair Warning and Women And Children First. Jacob Deraps, for whom the band is named after, is an amazing guitarist and vocalist. Already, “Sex Drugs And Rock N’ Roll” and “My Side Of The City” have climbed rapidly on the CGCM Top 20 Countdown and have a permanent place on my personal playlist.
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01 – DISTURBED – Divisive 🇺🇸
This album was only released in November and when I heard the entire thing it shot straight to number one on my Top 10 albums of 2022, and that was after only one listen. It opens with “Hey You”, a song we got back in July, and it is a serious kick to the balls.
David Draiman’s voice hasn’t been in this form in a LONG time, and as a result, the rest of the band has upped their game. While some critics have panned this album, I have to say it is, 99.9% perfect, and therefore, my Album Of The Year. Other stand-out tracks, “Divisive”, “Part Of Me” and the seventh track which features Anne Wilson of Heart, “Don’t Tell Me”, ok on paper this sounds like an extremely strange pairing, but listen to it, it totally works.
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Tune in to Bob‘s show exclusively on CGCM Rock Radio. Details here.
