2018 Top Twenty Stoner Rock Albums (#10-1)

#20-11 was here if you missed it, but the following are my top ten stoner rock albums of 2018., starting with #10 and finishing with #1.  The video contains one tune from each, and all of them deserve to be played loud.  The track info is given for the first 20 seconds of each tune.

#10: "Blood's Thicker Than Love" by Blood of the Sun

          

          This kind of rock holds up in any era.  
           Flawless Victory.

#9: "Dunbarrow II" by Dunbarrow

        Reminiscent of the first few Witchcraft 
        albums, and just as good 

        

#8:  "Beyond The Sky" by La Chinga

        On first listen, I classified this as really good 
         but not that special, but I could not have 
         been more wrong.  Each successive listen 
         makes me appreciate this album more.  It's 
         like everything that was awesome about late 
         80's hair metal, without the cheesy parts.  

#7: "Radio Free Conspiracy Theory" by Mississippi Bones

        Mississippi Bones has done nothing but tear 
        it up since their debut album in 2010.  This 
        latest release has a dramatic/tongue-in-
        cheek humorous intro to each and every 
        song, and loving this album like I do, I feel 
        it's necessary to include the intro  with the 
        tune.  They go together.

#6: "Indecipher" by Spacelord

        Back to back years in my top 10, these guys 
        have great musical ideas, and you can smell 
        the sincerity on Spacelord from a mile away.

#5:  "Eye The Tide" by Spaceslug

        Spaceslug is the other band to make my top 
        10 albums list twice in a row.  Spaceslug has 
        produced four must-own albums in three 
        years.  Wish I could see them open up 

        for TOOL.  Breathtaking cover art too.

#4:  "III" by Weedpecker

         My top five albums are 40% Polish.  More 
         importantly, this album is transcendent, and 
         as important as a new Led Zeppelin album 
         used to be.  Every tune is great.

#3:  "Ranier Fog" by Alice In Chains

        Stoner rock?  Not even a question for me.  
        This is a high quality release from an all-
        time great rock band.

#2:  "Rootstock" by Crypt Trip

        Sheer perfection in a throwback rock album.  

        

#1:  "Book Of Bad Decisions" by Clutch

        How does a band stay this fresh and 
        aggressive after so many albums, and 
        so many years?  
        (PS: Tim Sult has morphed to the next level)

        An all-time classic album, from a
        legendary band

ALTERNATE ENDING:  

"The Wall (Redux)" by Various Artists: 
Probably deserves album of the year (pretty sure I've listened to it as many times as I've listened to Book of Bad Decisions)










Noteworthy: 15% of my top 20 albums are from a Vancouver area band (Death Wheelers, Hashteroid & La Chinga)
20% of my top 10 albums are in my top 10 for the second consecutive year (Spacelord & Spaceslug)
20% of my top 10 are from a Polish band (Spaceslug & Weedpecker)

Stay safe tonight, and make sure rock music is played really loud as you welcome in 2019.

Happy New Year, Over and Out 

-ULTRA

TOP TEN  ROCK TUNES OF 2018

Finishes with my pick for #1 Stoner Rock tune of 2018, but otherwise the order is simply determined by nice transitions.  These are the tunes I've played the most often this year, in no particular order:

Note: 30% of my top ten tunes are from Vancouver.
If you have given it a full listen, I would love to hear your feedback.  

Top 10 Albums of 2018 to be posted tomorrow.  

-ULTRA

2018 Best Of: September - December 

Best tunes from the final third of the year.  Order dictated only by pleasantness of transition:
  Did you check out my top 20 albums of 2018, #20-11 (scroll down)?  
-ULTRA

2018 Top Twenty Stoner Rock Albums (#20-11)

I am expanding to a top 20 this year.  Here are my #20 through #11 stoner rock albums of 2018.  The video contains one tune from each, not necessarily the best or my favorite.  If you have been following my prior top 10 lists, you may have noticed that I make a point of using tunes I have not previously posted or used in any playlist on this site.  The idea behind this policy is that if these are truly great albums, they should be deep enough that I can post two or three tunes in a review, maybe another in a playlist, and still be able to find a highly worthy tune for my top albums video.  I worked hard to have nice transitions too, so I hope you will have time to give the playlist a listen, beginning to end.  If not, see my picks listed below.  In the video, track info is given for the first 20 seconds of each tune.  

                 #20: "I Tread On Your Grave" by               #19: "Pandaemonium" by Black          

               The Death Wheelers                                Rainbows                   
                Dirty, raunchy and fun instrumentals          A heavy, aggressive Black Rainbows 
                                    classic 

#18: "Tusen år" by Abramis Brama              #17: "Hashteroid" by Hashteroid 

All the quality you expect from these                  Stoner rock on speed.  Stunningly  

masters of old-school hard rock                    perfect                                  

 #16: "Cosmic Blues" by Black Elephant.        #15:"Artificial Love EP" by Manchino 

Seven excellent tracks; top rate.                     This EP covers an impressive 

                                                                              amount of ground in just over 30 minutes     
                                                                                                                     

#14:  "Science Fiction" by Church       #13:  "Peace" by Graveyard         

                   of the Cosmic Skull                                                                                 

This album goes where no heavy rock          Every Graveyard album is a 

 album has gone before.  Pure genius           must have                       

                                                                                                                   

#12:  "Bitchcraft and Lizardry" by            #11: "Turtle Skull"  by Turtle Skull      

Reptilian Humanoid                              Never reviewed this one, but can't 

Thought it was really good                     stop playing it since I                
  when I first reviewed                                 downloaded it.                                    
and it just kept growing on me.                                                                       
Awesome                                                                                       

I'll be posting my top 10 on New Years Eve.  Until then, hope you've enjoyed this playlist.  Will I have left out some great albums from my top 20 list?  You bet.  There will be some great 2018 albums I'll find after the year's over, and personal taste is just that.  But if you frequent this site, there's no denying that this is a great collection of albums and a cool playlist.  Enjoy!

-ULTRA