Best Rock Albums Of 2012

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Our Best Rock Albums of 2012 list presents a sensational line-up of albums including a top 10 from artists that mostly originated in the 60s and 70s. Only one band in our top 10 did not get their start in either the decades of the 1960s or 1970s. While Audioslave may have originated in the 2000s, their sound though has always been inspired by 70s bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. The rest of the top 10 is presented by great new studio album releases by artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Heart, Rush, Donald Fagan, Aerosmith, the return of David Lee Roth singing lead vocals for Van Halen, and even a new one from The Beach Boys. Now that’s what you call an impressive top 10 for a 21st-century year in music.

The Best Rock Albums of 2012 list is also represented by three new Green Day albums, a new Lynyrd Skynyrd record, a new Kiss album, and another fantastic album from Van Morrison who just keeps releasing new music every year. Modern bands like Garbage, No Doubt, The Killers, and many more all continued to grow their younger fan bases by releasing hot new albums. In the need, 2012 was a great year for rock fans of all ages.

# 50 – Port of Morrow – The Shins

# 49 – Koi No Yokan – Deftones

# 48 – The 2nd Law – Muse

# 47 – Dark Adrenaline – Lacuna Coil

# 46 – Glad All Over – The Wallflowers

# 45 – Push and Shove – No Doubt

# 44 – Battle Born – The Killers

# 43 – Silver Age – Bob Mould

# 42 – Dark Roots of Earth – Testament

# 41 – Rooster Rag – Little Feat

# 40 – The View from the Bottom – Lit

# 39 – Reign of Terror – Sleigh Bells

# 38 – Apocalyptic Love – Slash

# 37 – Choice of Weapon – The Cult

# 36 – New Horizons – Flyleaf

# 35 – The Afterman: Ascension – Coheed and Cambria

# 34 – Delayed Reaction – Soul Asylum

# 33 – Living Things – Linkin Park

# 32 – Get What You Give – The Ghost Inside

# 31 – The Strange Case Of… – Halestorm

# 30 – Oceania – The Smashing Pumpkins

# 29 – Born and Raised – John Mayer

# 28 – Old Ideas – Leonard Cohen

# 27 – Away from the World – Dave Matthews Band

# 26 – Charmer – Aimee Mann

# 25 – Monster – Kiss

# 24 – Uno! – Green Day

# 23 – ¡Tré! – Green Day

# 22 – The Lumineers – The Lumineers

# 21 – Last of a Dyin’ Breed – Lynyrd Skynyrd

# 20 – ¡Dos! – Green Day

# 19 – Havoc and Bright Lights – Alanis Morissette

# 18 – The Soul Sessions Vol. 2 – Joss Stone

# 17 – Not Your Kind of People – Garbage

# 16 – Bring It On Home – Joan Osborne

# 15 – Blunderbuss – Jack White

# 14 – Ringo 2012 – Ringo Starr

# 13 – Handwritten – The Gaslight Anthem

# 12 – Born to Sing: No Plan B – Van Morrison

# 11 – The Idler Wheel… – Fiona Apple

# 10 – That’s Why God Made the Radio – The Beach Boys

# 9 – Fanatic – Heart

# 8 – Clockwork Angels – Rush

# 7 – Sunken Condos – Donald Fagen

# 6 – King Animal – Soundgarden

# 5 – Psychedelic Pill – Neil Young & Crazy Horse

# 4 – Music from Another Dimension! – Aerosmith

# 3 – Tempest – Bob Dylan

# 2 – Wrecking Ball – Bruce Springsteen

# 1 – A Different Kind Of Truth – Van Halen

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