Fred Phillips’ Best of 2022 includes Zeal & Ardor, Whiskey Mysters, Arch Enemy, Ozzy Osbourne and Skid Row, among others.

This year has been lousy for a lot of reasons, but as this Best of 2020 list shows, hard rock and heavy metal were not among them.

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.

Fred Phillips’ Best of 2019 list includes Gloryhammer, Tom Keifer, Soilwork, Sturgill Simpson, Wind Rose, Parkway Drive – yes, Parkway Drive – and others.

If there’s a template for the way to evolve gracefully, it might belong to Soilwork.

Any time my year-end list starts with more than 20 candidates, it’s been a pretty metal year for me. That was the case for 2013 You May Also Like: Black Sabbath – ‘Black Sabbath’ (1970): On Second Thought Why Black Sabbath Went Out on a High Note With ’13’ BeastRead More