Albums of the Year (Part 2)
We continue the countdown with numbers 2 and 3 on my list.
By now you have read about my Top 5 albums of the year and saw what I picked for numbers 4 and 5; now it is time to see numbers 2 and 3.
Number 3: The Oregon Trail (Music From the GameLoft Game), Nicholas Dube
Decca: April 2022.
Some may ask why I selected a video game soundtrack as my number 3 album ahead of the likes of Kirk Hammett from Metallica, but let me explain before you revoke my music critic and vinyl connoisseur cards.
When I was a kid I would spend my recesses in elementary school playing the Oregon Trail on the Apple IIE that we had in the library. Winters in Massachusetts meant we didn’t get to go outside much due to cold temperatures and snow. Instead of spending my free time in the lunch room with my Hunt’s Pudding Snack, I would make my way down to the library and play this ‘educational’ game.
This might not be the original soundtrack or even the 90s remake that used your CD-ROM but frankly I don’t care, this was the next best thing. I purchased this album as I was reading a book about a guy and his brother who actually did a modern day crossing of the Oregon Trail (the book was amazing in case you are wondering).
This is GameLoft Studios’ remake that you can play on your Apple or Android based device. Crazy right? If someone told 8 year old Joe that he could play the Oregon Trail on his phone I would have called you insane. Alas, lets ford the Snake River and stop dilly dallying at Fort Bridger and get to the point!
I was initially skeptical of how good this could really be as I picked up the album for nostalgia more than any other reason. I was soon blown away by the bluegrass instrumentals that covered this album. It was the perfect record to turn on as I was reading my book. It also had a way of bringing back my childhood and make me feel like I was on the trail myself (minus the dysentery and cholera). While I listened, I could see myself in a Schuttler Wagon (no they did not use Conestoga wagons, that’s a story for a different blog) traveling America’s great plains and seeing all that the mid 19th century had to offer a family heading west.
If you haven’t given this a listen, I would recommend it. The album can be found on most streaming services such as Spotify or Apple Music.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Nostalgia: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Number 2: The War to End All Wars, Sabaton.
Nuclear Blast, March 2022.
Moving from bluegrass to heavy metal? Yep, you know I couldn’t leave this album off my list. Hell, if you have been reading the blog long enough you will know I did a review of this album (if not, be sure to check out that article as well).
Sabaton checks a lot of boxes for me and I thoroughly enjoy their music and they are definitely in my top 5 of favorite groups for sure. They sing about actual history and their in your face metal is a delight to my ears.
Track 5: Soldier of Heaven
This song is an example of textbook metal. Shredding guitars that are loud and provide plenty of quality sound, the amazing lead vocals, and the hammering of the drums (not in a Lars Ulrich way that is just banging drums to bang them). It a pleasure for your ears and tells a good story as well.
Joakim Broden, the lead singer, manages to find the perfect lyrics in this song meanwhile Chris Rorland’s work on the guitar during this song bring you back to the great guitar solos from the hair metal days of the 1980s. What makes the song really shine is the work of the synthesizer in the beginning of the song that opens the rest of the track up.
This song is a memory to the soldiers that lost their life in December 1916 to the avalanches that took place on Mount Marmolada.
Track 10: Christmas Truce
How do I begin with this one? Well for starters it is a Christmas song! Yep, you heard it right; heavy metal meets Christmas.
If I was to pick a song of the year, this would be it, hands down. I mean it is not even close. I have been waiting a long time for a metal group to make a Christmas song I liked (Twisted Sister’s Christmas album is great but it is not heavy metal, sorry Dee!). Granted this song doesn’t play on the local or satellite radio stations during Christmas but I make due by listening to it on vinyl at least once a day during the holiday season.
Before you go crazy and say this guy is a hack for picking an album just because of the above mentioned criteria. I did not do this! This was just icing on the already amazing piece of cake that was served to me (think twice as much cream cheese frosting on a piece of red velvet cake).
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Cheers to 2022 by combining another one of my favorite things. Beer and donuts!
Thanks for reading this article and subscribing to the blog! Be sure to check out next weeks installment for my album of the year! In the words of Ferris Bueller, life moves pretty fast!