Wall of Sound presents: “2018 YEAR IN REVIEW” – by Wall of Sound Writer Jim 'Plugga' Birkin

A cracker of a year, in fact I’d go as far as to say monstrous. Maybe not the big band albums for 2018 but for depth and quality, it’s hard to find a better year in the last decade. Personally, The Vinyl Odyssey kicked off which had me diving head first into a bunch of black circles and uncovering some hidden bargains and finding out the best new releases, variants and all things vinyl geeks love. They’ll be more of that into 2019 and more reviews, both live and albums as well as some cool interviews which can’t get covered by Browny on his killer podcast, Wall of Sound: Up Against the Wall.
Anyway here's my list for the Wall of Sound 2018 Year In Review...
Top 20 ALBUMS of 2018
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1. SOULFLY – Ritual
2. CLUTCH – Book of Bad Decisions
3. THE WONDER YEARS – Sister Cities
4. DARON MALAKIAN AND SCARS OF BROADWAY – Dictator
5. POST MALONE – Beerbongs and Bentleys
- TASH SULTANA – Flow State
- SLASH, MYLES KENNEDY and THE CONSPIRATORS – Living the Dream
- EMINEM - Kamikaze
- GHOST – Prequelle
- BEARTOOTH – Disease
11. TESSERACT – Sonder
12. AMY SHARK – Love Monster
13. MONUMENTS – Phronesis
14. HIGH TENSION – Purge
15. BURN THE PRIEST – Legion:XX
- PENNYWISE – Never Gonna Die
- PAGAN – Black Wash
- CIRCLES – The Last One
- MYLES KENNEDY – Year of the Tiger
- ARCHITECTS – Holy Hell
Top 10 SONGS of 2018
1. TASH SULTANA – 'Blackbird'
2. SOULFLY – 'The Summoning'
3. TESSERACT – 'King'
4. EMINEM – 'Killshot'
5. AMY SHARK ft. MARK HOPPUS – 'Pyscho'
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYZeF26fO68&w=640&h=360]
6. PAGAN – 'Imitate Me'
7. DARON MALAKIAN AND SCARS OF BROADWAY – 'Dictator'
8. CLOWNS – 'I Shaved My Legs For This'
9. SLIPKNOT – 'All Out Life'
10. SOULFLY – 'Dead Behind the Eyes'
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRxqQUz7VeY&w=640&h=360]
Top 5 MUSIC VIDEOS of 2018
1. GHOST – 'Rats'
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_ijc7A5oAc&w=640&h=360]
- DARON MALAKIAN AND SCARS OF BROADWAY – 'Lives'
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsmmQ1EqSIc&w=640&h=360]
- TESSERACT – 'King'
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwW1d_KtkJw&w=640&h=360]
- CLUTCH – 'Hot Bottom Feeder'
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOTrHrGSeNM&w=640&h=360]
- JOYNER LUCAS – 'I’m Not Racist'
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43gm3CJePn0&w=640&h=360]
Top 5 GIGS of 2018
1. FOO FIGHTERS @ HBF Stadium (Gig Review & Gallery Here)
2. TESSERACT @ Capitol (Gig Review & Gallery Here)
3. POWER TRIP @ Amplifier (Gig Review & Gallery Here)
4. LIVE @ HBF Stadium (Gig Rerview & Gallery Here)
5. AMY SHARK @ Fremantle Metropolis
📷: Bec O'Reilly @bec.belles
[gallery ids="https://wallofsoundau.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Amy-Shark-@-Nightquarter-27.jpg|,https://wallofsoundau.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/love-monster-tour.jpg|" type="rectangular"]
Favourite Australian Band Discovered in 2018?
Self Harm out of Perth. If you like the extreme band, NAILS, you’re in for a treat. Not for the weak.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmue3M6-8OA&w=640&h=360]
Next Big Australian Band?
Happy I said, Pagan last year, a great debut album from that band, shame they didn’t make the Download bill for 2019. Nevermind, their time will come! I’m naming Hanny J for this year. Her EP, Possessions was great. For those who don’t know, Hanny is a guitarist/backing vocalist for the punk band, Clowns, but she has a great sound of her own.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq5tG5Ta3U0&w=640&h=360]
Most Looking Forward to in 2019?
Download. 2019 is all about Download. Cannot wait to taste the festival first hand this year and in particular witness Slayer for the last ever time! Besides that a new album from Slipknot will be cool and hopefully Cavalera returns to our shores in some format!
Written by Jim ‘Plugga’ Birkin
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DECp8LKurKs&w=853&h=480]