Mike's Top 20 to 11 Albums of 2018

Hello again, friends and Skinn-heads. Mike here. As some of you may have heard, our episode we recorded for our Honorable Mentions/Top 20 to 11 Albums for 2018 had to be unfortunately discarded due to poor audio quality. Adam and I still want to share with our listeners and friends some of our favorite albums of this year so we decided that this format would be a decent way to do so. Below you'll find out which album I greatly enjoyed in 2018...but less so than 10 others. These are ranked in a completely subjective order of my own personal enjoyment, so please take them as they are. So without further adieu, here is my "(Okay, Adam, I'm Finally Going To Put A Little More Effort Into This 'Honorable Mentions'  List By Ranking Them In An Order That I Actually Enjoyed Them…Which Means That This Is Going To Be Less Of An Honorable Mentions List and More of My) Top 20 to 11 Albums of 2018"

#20 "Entertainment" by Waterparks

Release Date: January 26th, 2018

First off, I've never heard of this band before this year. And I've only heard of them because of curiosity due to negative comments that I've heard. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this album is full of catchy, fun, and entertaining pop-punk diddies. I still don't know anything about this band or the singer, but when you listen to just the music, I think you'd be in for a surprise.

#19 "Arbiter" by Hopesfall

Release Date: July 13th, 2018

It's been 14 years since I first heard this band with their fantastic experimental album, A-Types. After a long hiatus, the band is back with an album that's incredibly atmospheric, dark, and spacey. It suffers from a bit of saminess, but otherwise, this is a fun album to listen to if you're in the mood for some ethereal jams.

#18 "We Are Alive Beyond Repair" by Gatherers

Release Date: June 1st, 2018

A recommendation from friend of the show, Dave; this album is just a well written melodic hardcore record with good tunes, great balance between the musicianship, vocals, and overall tone. It's not going to blow you away, but I'd still definitely recommend this to anyone who hasn't heard it yet. If you're a fan of Thrice and Capsize, I'd say that this is an interesting mix between those two bands' sounds.

#17 "Rue" by Hellions

Release Date: October 29th, 2018

One of the most unique albums that I listened to this year. Imagine if Jason Butler (from letlive. and The Fever 333) sang on a haunted circus record written and composed by Tim Burton. That's 'Rue'. Unfortunately, while unique and fun in its own right, it's not as memorable as their previous album, 'Opera Oblivia'. Still, highly recommended. 

#16 "Sister Cities" by The Wonder Years

Release Date: April 6th, 2018

One of my favorite albums of 2015 was 'No Closer To Heaven' which was a turning point for this band. After three years, the follow up is an album that suffers from inconsistent song quality throughout. While a handful of songs are some of the band's best they've ever written, the rest of them are just "okay". Far from a bad album, it just would have been nice to get another home-run from The Wonder Years.

#15 "Palms" by Thrice

Release Date: September 4th, 2018

The unfortunate reality of 'Palms' is that it has to follow-up the masterpiece that was their 2016 come-back album 'To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere'. Just like with my #16, this is far from a bad album. However, I just wish I could have gotten something much more from one of my favorite bands. I think this album could have used a little more refinement and perhaps some re-tweaking or re-working. The songs that are "okay" still have glimpses of greatness in them.

#14 "Take Me To The Disco" by Meg Myers

Release Date: July 20th, 2018

I've only been acquainted with Meg Myers' music within the last year or so, but her albums have quickly garnered my interest as her songwriting skills have only gotten better with each release.  With her second album, 'Take Me To The Disco', she decided to take all of her frustrations, anger, and bitterness and use it as her muse for most her songs here. The tone shifts from time to time and it can get a little jarring, but overall, I highly recommend this if you enjoy singer-songwriter music.

#13 "If There Is Light, It Will Find You" by Senses Fail

Release Date: February 16th, 2018

The last few albums from one of my favorite bands, Senses Fail, have seen an ebb and flow of experimentation - to varying degrees of success depending on who you're asking. Personally, I was really enjoying the branching out into the hardcore scene, while a lot of longtime fans have longed for the days when they were one of the leaders of the emo/screamo scene. With their new album, I feel like Senses Fail sought to recapture their old fan-base while trying to stick with the more introverted and methodical lyrical content of the latter half of their career. While I'll admit that some of the songwriting sounds like a first draft and could have used a lot more refinement and rewrites, I can't deny that Buddy's stories of his life and his recent dark experiences are enthralling to listen to and demands multiple relistens. I'm sure fans who have dismissed the band because of their shift to a more hardcore sound are happy to hear this 'return to form' for the band, but now I'm curious to hear where the band goes from here.

#12 "Welcome To The Neighborhood" by Boston Manor

Release Date: September 7th, 2018

This amazing album from a band that I've never listened to before sounds like Royal Blood if they added some more instruments and knew how to write great songs again. I imagine that blending dark pop, electronics, and alternative rock is probably a difficult thing to do, but these bois do it so flawlessly! I can imagine in the near future this band blowing up and becoming big time because this is an album that everyone should listen to and then tell all of their friends about it.

#11 "Hard Feelings" by blessthefall

Release Date: March 23rd, 2018

Whenever blessthefall releases an album, I get excited! Even when blessthefall releases an album that isn't quite a home-run as far as creativity, impactfulness, or isn't as influential, I know that I can always count on them to create an album that is fun to listen to, gets me in the mood for more, and most importantly, keeps me coming back! While 'Hard Feelings' is admittedly not their best album - that distinction still goes to 'Hollow Bodies' in my mind - this album moves the needle just enough to keep me interested. The songs balance one another out and compliment each other greatly. And as corny as it may sound, at the end of the final song when Beau's young daughter sings a bit of the chorus, it still makes me tear up, especially knowing that the song is about her.