Best Rock Albums Of 2022

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Our Best Rock Albums Of 2022 looks back at a year in which we saw some great cover albums by both old and new rock stars and some brilliant new rock records that crossed many genres. For the first time in his career, Bruce Springsteen delivered a brand new studio album that was based entirely on cover songs. Modern rocker and blues singer Beth Hart also presented rock fans with a spectacular cover album of Led Zeppelin Songs that stands as one of the best records ever made based on covering Led Zeppelin material.

For the second year in a row, Sammy Hagar ends up in the top 10 with his new album with Circle entitled Crazy Times. Well into his 70s, the man shows no sign of slowing down. One of the biggest classic rock surprises of the year was the return of Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull. Ian Anderson had been releasing solo albums for years. Yet there had not been a new Jethro Tull original music studio album released since 1999’s J-Tull Dot Com.

Metal music forged ahead shining in popularity across all of its various genres. Metal bands from Europe continued to dominate the scene, although the U.S. still had its fair share of great Metal albums.

2022 was not a year in which the music scene saw any amazing rock and roll debut albums, but rather another year in a pandemic world that saw old-time rockers still working hard next to modern rock bands who had first come into the scene in the 2000s and 2010s instead of the 1970s and 80s.

# 100 – Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 – Johnny Marr

# 99 – Lucifer on the Sofa – Spoon

# 98 – Changes – King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard

# 97 – The Car – Arctic Monkeys

# 96 – Flood – Stella Donnelly

# 95 – The Hum Goes on Forever – The Wonder Years

# 94 – King Stingray – King Stingray

# 93 – The Long Road North – Cult Of Luna

# 92 – Synchro Anarchy – Voivod

# 91 – Sloan

# 90 – Color Decay – The Devil Wears Prada

# 89 – Weather Alive – Beth Orton

# 88 – Three Sides of One – Kings X

# 87 – Chloë and the Next 20th Century – Father John Misty

# 86 – The Trouble with Fever – Michelle Branch

# 85 – Chariot of the Gods – Hoodoo Gurus

# 84 – Obsidian – Northlane

# 83 – Rise – The Rasmus

# 82 – Explosions – Three Days Grace

# 81 – Harder Than It Looks – Simple Plan

# 80 – Give Me the Future – Bastille

# 79 – Zero and Below – Crowbar

# 78 – The War to End All Wars – Sabaton

# 77 – The Blues Don’t Lie – Buddy Guy

# 76 – Ego Trip – Papa Roach

# 75 – Apocalypse Whenever – Bad Suns

# 74 – Immutable – Meshuggah

# 73 – Scoring the End of the World – Motionless in White

# 72 –Fossora – Bjork

# 71 – The Other Side of Make-Believe – Interpol

# 70 – Hell Is in Your Head – Senses Fail

# 69 – Pawns & Kings – Alter Bridge

# 68 – Diamond Star Halos – Def Leppard

# 67 – Of Kingdom and Crown – Machine Head

# 66 – Life Is Yours – Foals

# 65 – Meet the Moonlight – Jack Johnson

# 64 – As I Try Not to Fall Apart – White Lies

# 63 – Radiate Like This – Warpaint

# 62 – Resist – Midnight Oil

# 61 – Angel in Realtime – Gang of Youths

# 60 – By Royal Decree – The Flower Kings

# 59 – Being Funny in a Foreign Language – The 1975

# 58 – Fix Yourself, Not the World – The Wombats

# 57 –Viva Las Vengeance – Panic! at the Disco

# 56 – Unwanted – Pale Waves

# 55 – Cool It Down – Yeah Yeah Yeahs

# 54 – Freedom – Journey

# 53 – Carry Me Home – Mavis Staples and Levon Helm

# 52 – Darker Still – Parkway Drive

# 51 – Happiness Not Included – Soft Cell

# 50 – Butterfly 3001- King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard

# 49 – Requiem – Korn

# 48 – Home, Before and After – Regina Spektor

# 47 – Time Skiffs – Animal Collective

# 46 – 40 oz. to Fresno – Joyce Manor

# 45 – Freewheelin’ Woman – Jewel

# 44 – Ghosts on Tape – Blood Red Shoes

# 43 – Chaos in Bloom – Goo Goo Dolls

# 42 – Anthem – Flogging Molly

# 41 – AM Gold – Train

# 40 – Halo – Amorphis

# 39 – The God Machine – Blind Guardian

# 38 – Totem – Soulfly

# 37 – Entering Heaven Alive – Jack White

# 36 – Mercury – Act 2 – Imagine Dragons

# 35 – A Bit of Previous – Belle and Sebastian

# 34 – Deceivers – Arch Enemy

# 33 – Closure/Continuation – Porcupine Tree

# 32 – Rock Candy – Orianthi

# 31 – The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead! – Megadeth

# 30 – Brightside – The Lumineers

# 29 – 5SOS5 – Five Seconds Of Summer

# 28 – 18 – Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp

# 27 – Vaxis – Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind – Coheed and Cambria

# 26 – What’s It Gonna Take? – Van Morrison

# 25 – Back From The Storm – Halestorm

# 24 – Detroit Muscle – Ted Nugent

# 23 – The Tipping Point – Tears For Fears

The band’s first new studio album in eighteen years.

# 22 – So Happy It Hurts – Bryan Adams

# 21 – Love Sux – Avril Lavigne

She’s more rock than pop than you think she is. And don’t tick her off…..

# 20 – Earthling – Eddie Vedder

# 19 – Just Like That… – Bonnie Raitt

# 18 – Return of the Dream Canteen – Red Hot Chili Peppers

# 17 – Afterlife – Five Finger Death Punch

# 16 – Will of the People – Muse

# 15 – World Record – Neil Young & Crazy Horse

# 14 – Chicago XXXVIII: Born for This Moment – Chicago

# 13 – Fear of the Dawn – Jack White

# 12 -4 – Slash feat. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators

# 11 – Unlimited Love – Red Hot Chili Peppers

# 10 – The Boy Named If – Elvis Costello & The Imposters

The man still continues to release music of substance and of course incredible fun.

# 9 – Strictly a One-Eyed Jack – John Mellencamp

While he might not be as fun as he used to be, his music has become darker, deeper, and much more compelling as we all age together.

# 8 – Rock Believer – Scorpions

The band’s ninetieth album finds them sounding as good as they have ever sounded.

# 7 – The Zealot Gene – Jethro Tull

Yes, that’s right my classic rock friend, a new Jethro Tull album!

# 6 – No More Worlds to Conquer – Robin Trower

One of the greatest guitarists of the classic rock era is also one of the greatest guitarists of the 21st century. This album is simply further proof that he remains of the best ever.

# 5 – Patient Number 9 – Ozzy Osbourne

Some people complained about the many guest appearances, but we thought it just added to all the fun.

# 4 – Only the Strong Survive – Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen breaks our long-running rule of not putting cover albums on “album of the year” list. We like to keep the list full of new material and put cover and live albums on separate lists. Nonetheless, this is Bruce Springsteen. His Only The Strong Survieb LP is a collection of soul music covers that focuses on Bruce Springsteen’s voice. If you’re a fan of Bruce, you are probably a fan of his very unique voice that sings with as much passion as anyone in rock has ever done. That’s what this album is all about and that’s why it’s at number four on this list.

# 3 – A Tribute to Led Zeppelin – Beth Hart

Like we mentioned with the Brice Springsteen LP, while we don’t usually put a covers album on best-of-the-year lists, once again and for the second album in a row on this list, we will make another exception for this one because this album is just so good. Beth Heart brings her own rock and roll blues style of singing to this recording that works ever so perfectly on this iconic material.

# 2 – From The New World – Alan Parsons

Another great album by Alan Parson and his second in the past three years after having been away for close to 15 years.

# 1 – Crazy Times – Sammy Hagar & Circle

Sammy Hagar returns with another kicking album with his hard-rocking band Circle. Joined by his Van Halen blood brother Michale Anthony along with Jason Bonham and Vic Johnsons, the band makes the argument for being the most enjoyable classic rock style band still performing and releasing great new music in today’s music scene. Sammy Hagar and Michale Anthony are classic rockers that play and sing like they are still 25. Jason Bonham’s father John would have been so proud to hear his son making music like this.

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