You can find the Collective List as well as all our Best of 2025 content, including contributors’ individual lists and radio DJ shows here: CGCM’s Best of 2025 (Year in Review)
BEST OF 2025 – Ben Scorz (Radio Host/Writer) 
Ben Hamel hosts the MixFix here on CGCM Rock Radio. Going by the handle of BenSCORZ! our DJ recently did a massive series of radio shows encompassing his top 200 songs of the year! You can now listen to those via on-demand streaming through the CGCM Rock Radio MixCloud page.
#10 
KARDANG – Bad Mistake
If it were not for the fact that this album was released later in the year, I am certain it would have ranked higher in the order because I would have listened to it more. My favourites off this LP are “We Don’t Live in the 80s Anymore”, “Bad Mistake” and my personal fave, “Out of My Head.” The whole album is uncomplicated and catchy. I’d go as far as saying this is Kardang’s best album.
#09 
GYASI – Here Comes the Good Part
The benefit of receiving mountains of pre-releases led me to discover Gyasi. Five tracks from the album were memorable and had me spin this album often. “Lightning”, “She Says” and “Cheap High” all earned a spot in my top 200 songs of the year. I love the 2025 take of glam that comes through on this album. I’m surprised not to hear more about Gyasi.
#08 
MäRVEL – Brain Drain Diaries
Right in the nick of time, this new Märvel album was released on December 5th. I came across it by chance during my research and assembling of my top 200 songs of the year. This album is a perfect and rare example of just throwing on the record and letting it play. Every song is good. “A Beautiful Corpse” and “Look! It’s Rock n Roll” are my faves. Play this one and enjoy.
#07 
VOLBEAT – God Of Angels Trust
The word came out early in 2025 that Volbeat had a new album coming out and the date was noted. Pre-release singles were out like “Time Will Heal” and “By a Monster’s Hand” and if the album sounded anything like these, man, it would be a smokin’ album. SPOILER ALERT! It is that hot. It’s pretty much what I was expecting; it sounds a lot like other Volbeat albums and if you ask me… there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s a really cool new sound and feel to it and I would rank this LP as one of their best.
#06
THREE DAYS GRACE – Alienation
I’ll be honest, Alienation ranked mostly on the strength of its AMAZING singles. They were released sporadically throughout the year until the eventual album release on Halloween. By then, Three Days Grace had been on top of the rock charts. All 4 singles are brilliant. So outstanding that the rest of the album is still rather unknown to me. Those four tracks was all it took because they’re that good….NO! EXCELLENT!
#05
DERAPS – Viva Rock n Roll
This album was laying in my stash with a whole lot of others I had started collecting. When came time to start my yearly countdown of my favourite songs, Viva Rock N Roll kept popping back into the rotation. It’s a fun album to just press play on and I’m looking forward to new stuff by Deraps in the near future.
#04
DYNAZTY – Game Of Faces
Word of mouth at CGCM Rock Radio brought Dynazty to my ear holes a couple of years ago. So, when I saw this album in our incoming mail, it jumped to the top of my list to sample at that time. Let me tell ya, the record (so to speak) never left my desk as it was a frequent go-to for my listening pleasure. It’s the heavy stuff I love and the production of it is superb. It is fun to listen to and it figured very well in my top 200 countdown.
#03 🇫🇮
BATTLE BEAST – Steelbound
I am admittedly, a newish Battle Beast fan. I procrastinated a bit in giving this band a shot. MY BAD… How can you not get into the tracks Steelbound, Last Goodbye and my fave, Here We Are? Just when I wanted to know more on this fantastic Finnish band, its current line up announced on December 15th that their lead vocalist would be pursuing her solo career and that they would continue with a new frontwoman. I hope they stay and perfect the formula they are on and wish them all the best.
#02 
SISTERS DOLL – Scars
Call it, being at the right place, at the right time and knowing the right people. I was fortunate to attend the first of three gigs by Australia’s Sisters Doll on the Monsters of Rock Cruise. I could not believe what I was seeing, AND HEARING!!! My good friend Bobby Miller saw my excitement and told me he knew the band and a chain of events unfolded from there. A meet and greet; an interview and a love for their Scars album. I’ve lost count as to how many times I’ve listened to it. I can’t wait to hear new stuff by Sisters Doll.
#01
BUCKCHERRY – Roar Like Thunder
I’ve been a so-so fan of Buckcherry since 1999. I’ve always given them a chance because each album of theirs had a good single and sometimes…. not much else. That’s the approach I took when I sampled their Roar Like Thunder LP. Thing is though, I never once skipped a song. In fact, after I heard the whole thing, I actually went back to a few tracks to see if I did actually like them as much as I thought I did. Well guess what? I DID! I will go on record and proclaim Roar Like Thunder to be THE BEST Buckcherry album EVER!
