It’s not until you actually start combing through the hundreds of records you’ve listened to over a decade that you realize how daunting the task really is.

This best of 2018 list for hard rock and metal is capped by one mammoth record that made the whole year worth it.

Shooter Jennings decided to title his return to country music after himself, but it could just as easily be called ‘Junior’ or ‘Bocephus.’

I still can’t figure out why this wasn’t a huge summer hit.

I certainly don’t claim to be any sort of expert on country music. I’m a metal kid from the sticks who was reintroduced to my country roots through Johnny Cash’s resurgence in the early 1990s. You May Also Like: Shooter Jennings – ‘Shooter’ (2018) How Loretta Lynn Broke the CountryRead More

I’m pretty picky about my country and Southern rock listening, and to be honest, I don’t explore it as thoroughly as hard rock and metal. You May Also Like: Shooter Jennings – ‘Shooter’ (2018) How Black Country Communion’s Debut Brought Back ’70s-Style Hard Rock

Fifth on the Floor’s 2010 release Dark and Bloody Ground stands as one of the absolute best Southern rock albums of this generation. You May Also Like: Pink Floyd Engineer Alan Parsons Had the Perfect ‘Wizard of Oz’ Quip

You never know quite what to expect from Shooter Jennings.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHlBkZCcvwI&w=500&h=305] Though Shooter Jennings’ The Other Life, a companion piece to this year’s Family Man, is not due out until March, fans got a first taste of the record on Friday when Rolling Stone premiered “The White Trash Song.” You May Also Like: Shooter Jennings – ‘Shooter’ (2018) WarrenRead More

This is the first time that I’ve ever enjoyed enough records from the country and Southern rock genres to put together a list. Maybe I’m getting old and turning into that country music-loving guy that my relatives always told me I would when I “grew out of all that crazyRead More