SOUND BITES

2017 was the first year in recent memory that my Album of the Year was solidified so damn early. By the time summer rolled around, I knew that nothing short of a miracle would dethrone Father John Misty's Pure Comedy as my favourite album of 2017; any last minute listening sessions only served to find the first runner-up. This year was a little different, so as to say, more like previous years; a lot of records came out this year which I consider great, and my choice for the top spot has changed many times over throughout the year. It was, if anything, worse than normal to figure it out; whereas I often have two and sometimes three records fighting it out in my mind by this time of the year, 2018 had more like six or seven serious contenders. From established artists turning out career highlights at a stage in their career when that shouldn't be possible to young bands hitting their stride and promising bright futures, this year's decision making process was tough....

With another year nearing its end and a very quiet December looming, I figured it's as good a time as any to jump in with all the other blogs and name my annual champs. The other day, I created my Year in Rock 2018 playlist on Spotify, fifty songs that I feel represent all of the good in rock music this year. I also realized I hadn't actually shared it here, so if you want to put yourself in suspense about this year's winner for about three hours, go ahead and check out the playlist right now: As you can tell, this year was a pretty diverse one for rock music, with a combination of established acts continuing their tradition of quality content and some relative newcomers coming out of the gate swinging. We had a lot of rock bands pushing the pop trend even further, which allowed for some pop associated acts to lean the other way and meet in the middle. Maybe the end result will be a mush of bland pop/rock at some point, but there are also plenty of bands willing...

Well, 2017 was an interesting year, and one full of choices in terms of music. That's already yesterday's news, though, as 2018 is here and wasting no time in giving us reasons to be excited. We already have a handful of releases confirmed, including some I'm really looking forward to from the likes of Corrosion of Conformity, Brian Fallon, Superchunk, Screaming Females and Manic Street Preachers. Of course, we both know you didn't start reading this article to hear about what we already know. "What Are the Chances?" is all about predicting the unknown, reading palms and gazing into crystal balls. Naturally, some releases are easier to predict than others (we have bands like A Perfect Circle virtually guaranteeing action in the form of advance singles, while for others it's been all but confirmed in interviews). Some are total shots in the dark, crapshoots that can go either way, while some are very unlikely to see light of day in the next year. Before...