Best Rock Albums of 2022: 10 awesome rock albums from another crazy year, featuring releases from Placebo, Suede, Dead Cross, The Cult and more.
As 2022 comes to an end, it’s time to reflect. The pandemic has become more manageable, but is still with us, and on a global scale most things still feel out of whack. Thankfully, we had some good music to lift our spirits and distract us from doom scrolling.
And given the onslaught of pop detritus that feels unrelenting in mainstream music, it’s still comforting to know that there are some great alternative, metal, and hard rock artists working at the heights of their talents, the tastes of modern pop-culture be damned.
Without further ado, here are the 10 best rock-oriented albums of the year.
*If you’d like to purchase any of the entries on this list, just click the album image to go to Amazon.
10. Silversun Pickups Physical Thrills
At long last, the Silversun Pickups worked with Butch Vig, a huge no-brainer given the group’s affinity for the Vig-early 90’s Smashing Pumpkins sound. It’s not as bombastic as one might hope/expect, but it’s their strongest release in ages.
9. The Smashing Pumpkins ATUM
Speaking of the Pumpkins, should we be surprised that Billy Corgan remains the most overly ambitious musician of his generation? ATUM, the first in a three part trilogy that references both Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness and Machina: The Machines of God, may feel like a bit of an overreach given its lofty goal, but there is still plenty to enjoy here, with Corgan and co. finding a sweet spot between their 80’s New Wave dalliances and vintage 90’s guitar crunch.
I’m looking even more forward to future ATUM releases given the strength of singles like Beguiled and Empires, which didn’t make the cut on this inaugural disc for some strange reason probably only Corgan understands.
8. Astronoid Radiant Bloom
The vocals for this post-metal act may take some getting used to, but their euphoric, stratospheric delivery is a winning formula, offering a more-upbeat and hopeful dynamic that is largely missing from modern metal.
7. Dalek Precipice
The shoegaze-hip-hop mind-meld Dalek has forged for years is at its zenith here, with an effortless miasma of dream-pop guitars and potent lyrics that are as revelatory as they are cathartic.
6. Greg Puciato Mirrorcell
The Ex-Dillinger Escape Plan singer’s second solo album builds off the strengths of its first, while also reflecting upon his work in synth outfit The Black Queen, and Puciato’s recent collaboration with Jerry Cantrell, mixing dark wave soundscapes and grunge riffs with wild abandon.
5. The Cult Under The Midnight Sun
Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy return with this short but sweet collection of songs that waxes poetic about mortality and our shaky current global state, with Astbury’s coarse bellow and Duffy’s muscular fretwork in full effect.
4. Placebo Never Let Me Go
Nearly 10 years since their lackluster effort Loud Like Love, the melodramatic act, now a duo, return with their best effort since 2004’s Meds. Frontman Brian Molko always knows how to make looking at a glass half empty oddly appealing, and his incisive lyrics perfectly represent our modern hellscape.
3. Dead Cross II
The hardcore supergroup have had quite the trial by fire since their triumphant debut, with Mike Patton’s mental health issues, guitarist Mike Crain’s battle with cancer, and the death of original vocalist Gabe Serbian. This makes their sophomore effort Dead Cross II all the more remarkable, given its power, songcraft and range.
2. Billy Howerdel What Normal Was
While Howerdel is best known as the guitarist and songwriter of A Perfect Circle, he struck out his own a few years back with his Ashes Divide project. Now he’s released his first album under his legal name. It proved a revelation, with the musician indulging all of his 80’s post-punk and Goth obsessions into a series of instant earworms. And by putting his own vocals front and center, Howerdel proves that Maynard James Keenan isn’t the only vocal powerhouse in APC.
1. Suede Autofiction
The Britpop pioneers are still going strong on their ninth album, which frontman Brett Anderson dubbed their “punk” record. While it may not fit that textbook definition, it’s stripped-down sound, angst-ridden sonics and Anderson’s indefatigable energy makes for one of their most satisfying releases.
That wraps up our list of the best of 2022! Which albums made your top 10 lists this year? Tell us in the comments.