Top 5 Albums of 2022

As always, compiled from albums I purchased this year / listened to extensively - that out of the way, here we go, starting with:

Honorable mentions:

Goo Goo Dolls - "Chaos In Bloom" - They remembered how to write hooks again, and keep things a bit less over-produced this time.

Carly Rae Jepsen - "The Loneliest Time" - Somewhat uneven, but the highlights are still gold on this under-rated album.

Stabbing Westward - "Chasing Ghosts" - 21 years between albums makes the ears grow fonder - being a solid outing at what they do best doesn't hurt either.

Taylor Swift - "Midnights" - It's a nice return to pop land for T.S., but it could do with some more driving, upbeat tunes to balance out the haze.

5.Panic At The Disco - "Viva Las Vengeance"

3 albums in as this being Brendon Urie's solo project, the shift in sound is a welcome change. On "Death of a Bachelor" and "Pray For The Wicked" the guitars were toned down and Urie doubled down on the glitzy pop synth cheese with mostly appealing results, but occasionally tipping a bit into near-self parody. On Viva Las Vengeance, the cheese factor is very much alive, but the glitzy synth washes have been mostly replaced with pop-rock guitars that feature more prominently and songs that are less cluttered, and thus more enjoyable, which simply roll in, do their thing, and leave the room. Urie strains a bit towards higher register singing than he usually goes for, and sometimes that strain is obvious, but overall this collection delivers a solid batch of crunchy pop rock that is sure to please new and old Panic fans alike.

4.Steven Page - "Excelsior"

After the 2-part "Heal Thyself" series (Part 1 - Instinct and Part 2 - Discipline) one could almost have wished for Heal Thyself Part 3 - but what would the subtitle be? This album isn't that, and perhaps that's exactly the point. It toggles between the many moods we've all been going through the last few years, from the longing-for-connection opener "Feel" right into the "Is this really my life?" lament of "What'll I Do Now" and hits home for so many of the feelings many of us have been grappling with of late. If there were a sub-category on this list for "Most insanely catchy earworm of a hook" - then this one would have the winner easily in the form of latter-half track "The Golden Age of Doubling Down." It serves as both a cutting zing-infused takedown of internet callout culture and a case study in why few write intelligent, hooky pop songs with delightfully front-loaded blasts of snark as well as Steven Page does.

3.The Weeknd - "Dawn FM"

Considering that his biggest hit ever ("Blinding Lights") was blowing up at precisely the time none of us could be going anywhere, or engaging in the kind of giddy, reckless abandon celebrated in that song, the question was - how could he follow up 2020's "After Hours" and still make it stick? The answer turned out to be Dawn FM, a surprise-dropped album that arrived at the very beginning of 2022. If After Hours was the delirious rush of the early evening, Dawn FM is the fall back to earth as the sun rises. Jim Carrey's ghostly-DJ routine is the perfect opening to an album full of songs of songs about love, life, hedonism and the comedown after every last drop of that rush is gone. Aside from the 2 cuts with featured guests that bring next to nothing of value to the table (Tesfaye is perfectly capable of carrying a song by himself, so these are a strange choice) this is an otherwise perfect album, with an easy choice for best closing track on all of them with the sparkling "Less Than Zero."

2.American Aquarium - "Chicamacomico"

Lamentations, this band's previous effort, wasn't written with the events of 2020 in mind, but at times it feels like it could have been anyhow. Chicamacomico was very much forged in the middle of that time of uncertainty, loneliness and anxiety. True to form, Barham, always adept at spinning a sad moment into song, opens with the gut punch of a title track, and you feel his sorrow as acutely as if it was your own child that you never met - as though you were the one taking apart that room that never got used. This is American Aquarium cast in a much more subdued shade than most would expect, and it helps, since most all of these songs are the kind that demand some breathing room. "Wildfire" and "All I Needed" prove helpful in breaking up the sadness a bit, but in the final stretch, the ouch factor turns up past 11 with a lament for a friend lost to suicide in "Waking Up The Echoes." This one wins for the same reason the rest of their catalogue does - it stands true to the "sad songs make me happy" ethos - shared misery is misery lessened, as the saying goes.

1.Tears For Fears - "The Tipping Point"

As is customary when considering these lists, albums that I keep in heavy rotation all year long rise to the top, and this one is no exception. Their first new material in 18 years, and it's like they never left. According to Smith/Orzabal, this one started several years back in the form of "producers trying to shape what a Tears For Fears album ought to sound like filtered through current pop trends" and they ended up hating the result - even to the point of Curt telling Roland of the initial efforts that "If this is what you want to do, fine, but I'm not interested anymore." After that version stalled, the duo returned to a tried-and-true approach - sitting down in a room together with guitars, playing, and seeing what happens. This approach paid off, with the slow-burn-to-epic-finish opener "No Small Thing," and things only get better from there. The effortlessly catchy shuffle groove and warm vocals on the title track calls to mind past high points but still manages to turn in something fresh and worthwhile. Curt Smith once quipped that this album could be called a sequel of sorts to their debut album "The Hurting" - then The Tipping Point could be called "The Healing." From the first plaintive strums of the opener, to the insistent, driving synth stomps of "My Demons", on to the quiet lament of "Please Be Happy", right up to the last echoing percussive drops of "Stay", this album is stellar, and has earned its place at the top of the list.

Choice cuts playlists from each on either:

Youtube:

Spotify: