Top 10 Studio Releases of 2017

Well Friends it’s that time of year where Ol DekE’s picks his annual Top Rock Releases of the year 2017!

This year I’m doing a Full Out Top 10 here. Studio releases only!!

Some surprises here I’m sure! But if you cruise around the site I have reviewed all of these albums throughout the year!

Thanks for reading!

Here we Go….

1- Cheap Trick: We’re All Alright- Cheap Trick blew me away with this album(John T Snow reviewed it and  upon his recommendation I bought We’re All Alright!) as this is easily their best one  since the self titled from  1997! Trick goes back to its Rock Roots from the late 70’s  and deliver an album full of catchy hooks/well written songs and Robin Zander delivers the goods vocally like its 1977 not 2017 all over again! The track Nowhere is pure Trick Bliss!

2-Whitesnake:1987 30th Anniversary Edition- Ah..what is a 30-year-old album doing on a 2017 Music List? Easy just listen to the SykeSnake demos of these songs that David Coverdale pieced together and called them Evolutions. John Sykes on guitar is pure Gold as he wails away on these(co written with Coverdale)demo  tracks like its nobodies business and the thanks Sykes gets is the boot from the Cov who in my mind has never recovered material wise since well 1987! Children of the Night in the demo stage is Friggin Brilliant!

3-Styx: The Mission- Who saw this one  coming around these parts? Styx deliver a total throwback 70’s Analog sounding album that is a concept album about Mars! As kooky as it sounds they deliver all the goods here! Big Guitars/Big Drums/Wicked Vocals and the track Hundred Miles From Home is worth the purchase of this album alone!(thanks to Mikey Ladano whose review of The Mission made me take the plunge!)

4-Headstones:Little Army- CanCon in at #4 and that would be the great Hugh Dillon and his posse of Stone’s who albeit are a little older( aren’t we all) but still have that Piss N Vinegar attitude on tracks like Dead To Me that make you want to break things! Thats what Rock N Roll is about …Thank God for these guys still tossing that middle finger! Crank the video posted below!

5-Stephen Pearcy:Smash- Well that Old Rock Dog Pearcy  mustered up a brilliant batch of L.A Street Sleaze Rock Tracks(13 in total) and totally delivered it in spades! Stephen sticks to what he knows best and if anything he has set the bar real high that  the reunited Ratt are really going to have to step up to beat this album and Stephen is in Ratt!

6-Greta Van Fleet:From The Fires- Ya gotta love these kids who basically listened to their parents albums and smashed out two real good EP’s which are combined here. I know, I know about the Zep comparisons and blah fuckin blah, Give these young dudes a chance as they will figure it out in time.

7-Europe:Walk The Earth- Europe continue on the path of good old-fashioned Hard Rock! Think Purple/UFO mashup. Joey Tempest has once again left the Heinz Ketchup bottle at the table and along with the brilliant John Norum have put together another solid outing as Europe know its 2017 and not 1987! Wolves is such a stellar track!

8-Royal Blood:How Did We Get So Dark- Another newbie rock act making a dent in the best of list here! Dig these guys heavy fuzzy sonic and better yet how about a shout out two anyone who can jam a 4 string Bass but make it sound like a friggin 6 String Guitar. Helps that the singer can play/sing and a drummer who can drum! This is worthy of some attention folk’s! Bonus points for being a Duo! The title track How Did We Get So Dark is a huge fuzzed up rock track that will give you a swift kick in the ASS!

9-Alice Cooper:Paranormal- Coop comes back with a real solid album of 12 song’s  filled with Anthems/Billy Gibbons and the biggest bonus of Larry Mullen Jr slamming the drums on a bunch of the studio tracks! How come no one talks about Mullen’s drums except me? Frigg the dude can play those skins as in check out the tracks Dead Flies and Fireball! 

10- Deep Purple: Infinite- Things that make you go hmmmm?! Thats what this Purple album did for me after I read Mikey Ladano’s review! My hmmmmm became a purchase and these old sod’s banged out a decent slab of rock in what may be their last album! Considering I have not bought much Purple in the last 20 years this was a pretty great effort. Love the booze induced lyrics of One Night In Vegas and the tall tale of Johnny’s Band. Hell,even the cover version of Roadhouse Blues is pretty damn decent proving that real old dudes can ROCK!

Well folk’s thanks for reading  this years TOP 10 which I expanded as I’m always having records that tie in the Top 5 so why not go Top 10??!

See ya in 2018 more specifically  Monday January 1st when I drop down my Top 10 Live Albums of 2017!