New year and new TOP WAVES which opens a year hopefully more clement than the two previous ones, a year and a first classification under the sign of the returns.
Like its predecessors, the first TOP WAVES of 2022 is no exception to the rule, with a selection as heterogeneous as ever, in which rock stars such as Deep Purple, Jethro Tull and Steve Vai rub shoulders with established artists like Hypocrlsy, Magnum, Mostly Autumn, Omnium Gatherum, Praying Mantis or those who are starting to be like Wilderun, Whitechapel and of course, the Frenchies that are Beneath My Sins, Circle of Mud, Eternal Flight or Lalu
But before consulting this first TOP WAVES of the year, let's have a look at the official hexagonal ranking (source Snep).
All (good?) things must come to an end, Orelsan does not dominate anymore this ranking with "Civilisation". He is overtaken by "Jefe' by Ninho who stays at the second place and especially Jazzy Bazz who enters directly first with "Memoria".
As every month, our curiosity will be challenged by going to the deep waters of this ranking to find signs of artists reviewed in your webzine and especially at the 37th place to find "Mercury - Act 1" by Imagine Dragons. "The Lockdown Sessions" by Elton John is at number 94. "The Bridge" and "My Songs" by Sting are at 162nd and 196th, respectively.
And that will be... everything, the resistant "Senjutsu" by Iron Maiden and "Power Up" by AC/DC have given in and disappeared from the ranking but still remaining more than fifteen weeks for the first one and twenty for the second one...
Contrary to the end of the year when the "rock" representatives were doing well, the year 2022 looks less cheerful... while waiting for the next rankings which will hopefully change the situation!
TOP WAVES - GENERAL
This first TOP WAVES of the year 2022 highlights the return of Lalu eight years after "Atomic Ark".
And if the wait was long, it is justified even if "one did not expect Lalu in such a progressive rock register at the same time modern and heir of the marking times of the genre. Thanks to Lalu and "Paint The Sky" the new year is carried by a great breath of freshness which makes a crazy good. (Nuno777)
LALU Paint The Sky
The second place goes to Steve Vai with his new album "Inviolate" whose secret is "transgenic pieces all different and all composed with the fixed idea to marry originality and melody. This melodic research is the red thread of the whole album and only a passionate of musical theory as Steve Vai is able to make accessible such harmonically complex pieces, as well in the progressions of chords as in the changes of tonalities and scales inside the same title". (Newf)
STEVE VAI Inviolate
A second place that Steve Vai shares with the new album of Mostly Autumn.
"After a "White Rainbow" strongly impregnated with the memory of its guitarist Liam Davison tragically disappeared, Mostly Autumn signs its return with a new album marked by the seal of the pandemic of Covid 19, wanted as a very personal testimony of the lived of this so singular period"."King of the melody that hits the bull's eye, of the sumptuous arrangements and of an interpretation that regularly sticks shivers down the spine, Mostly Autumn delivers with "Graveyard Star" one of his most accomplished albums to date. (Tonyb)
MOSTLY AUTUMN Graveyard Star
The detailed ranking
LALU: Paint The Sky (Progressive Rock) 23
STEVE VAI: Inviolate (Guitar Hero) 16
MOSTLY AUTUMN: Graveyard Star (Progressive Rock) 16
SYNAPSE: Singularities (Progressive Metal) 8
DEEP PURPLE: Turning To Crime (Hard Rock) 8
JETHRO TULL: The Zealot Gene (Rock) 8
ORKHYS: A Way (Melodic Metal) 6
NASSON: Scars (Melodic Hard Rock) 5
OMNIUM GATHERUM: Origin (Death Metal) 5
DUST MOUNTAIN: Hymns For Wilderness (Progressive Rock) 5
FIREWOLFE: Conquer All Fear (Heavy Metal) 5
HYPOCRISY: Worship (Death Metal) 5
WILDERUN: Epigone (Progressive Metal) 5
DANIELE MAZZA: Immortals (Progressive Rock) 3
SORCERER: Reverence (Doom) 3
LEVERAGE: Above The Beyond (Melodic Metal) 3
MAGNUM: The Monster Roars (Melodic Hard Rock) 3
MALADY: Ainavihantaa (Progressive Rock) 3
AUTUMN'S CHILD: Zenith (A.O.R.) 2
KADABRA: Ultra (Hard Rock) 1
THE OMNIFIC: Escapades (Djent) 1
WHITECHAPEL: Kin (Death Metal) 1
TOP WAVES - METAL
According to the general ranking, the TOP WAVES METAL is largely dominated by Steve Vai's "Inviolate" which is ahead of Synapse's first album.
"Admittedly, this first Synapse record still bears some traces of its major influences [...] But one must admit that these are details in view of the quality of this varied, exciting, melodically brilliant and technically impressive album. "Singularities" is a discovery that highlights the potential of a very promising band that should be talked about in the future" as this first album of the French "contains only brilliant pieces by their melodic qualities and their mastery of interpretation. The revelation of this year in the progressive rock/metal category." (Nuno777)
SYNAPSE Singularities
With Orkhys at the third place, the podium of this first TOP WAVES METAL has very French accents.
One year after their first EP "Awakening", the quartet comes back with a metal album "unclassifiable and [which] carries a musical signature from now on clearly affirmed". "All metal fans will find in "The Way" reasons to rejoice and the expression is not overused because Orkhys proposes a very personal vision of music, devoid of any interest or calculation. Add to that a home production of a beautiful clarity and you will understand that this album is warmly recommended to you". (ProgRacer)
ORKHYS A Way
The detailed ranking
STEVE VAI: Inviolate (Guitar Hero) 29
SYNAPSE: Singularities (Progressive Metal) 18
ORKHYS: A Way (Melodic Metal) 13
WILDERUN: Epigone (Progressive Metal) 10
LEVERAGE: Above The Beyond (Melodic Metal) 10
OMNIUM GATHERUM: Origin (Death Metal) 9
FIREWOLFE: Conquer All Fear (Heavy Metal) 8
MASSACRE: Resurgence (Death Metal) 6
HYPOCRISY: Worship (Death Metal) 5
WHITECHAPEL: Kin (Death Metal) 4
EMIGRATE: The Persistence Of Memory (Indus Metal) 3
WONDERS: The Fragments Of Wonder (Melodic Metal) 3
OWL CAVE: Broken Speech (Black Metal) 3
THE OMNIFIC: Escapades (Djent) 2
THRASH LA REINE: Notre-dame-de-l'enfer (Heavy Metal) 1
ETERNAL FLIGHT: Survive (Melodic Metal) 1
LUCIFER: Lucifer Iv (Heavy Metal) 1
TOP WAVES - ROCK
Without surprise, this first TOP WAVES ROCK of the year 2022 is crushed by the new album of Lalu which precedes Mostly Autumn. But who to complete this podium?
This first ranking of the year will be under the sign of the returns, after the ten years of waiting to listen to the new Steve Vai, eight years for the new Lalu, Jethro Tull "publishes a new album 19 years after the last studio production".
"For 46 minutes, we are lulled by the sound of Ian Anderson's flute, which dominates the folk-rock compositions. Ian Anderson's playing is as voluptuous and agile as ever." "Jethro Tull rises from the ashes and Ian Anderson continues his musical quest for the absolute. If the album is more marked by appeasement and light, the inventiveness of the most famous Flamant-Pink flutist is still relevant. With this winning comeback, it's time to dive back into the history and discography of this exceptional band that has endured through the ages without losing its luster." (Adrianstork)
JETHRO TULL The Zealot Gene
The detailed ranking
LALU: Paint The Sky (Progressive Rock) 39
MOSTLY AUTUMN: Graveyard Star (Progressive Rock) 19
JETHRO TULL: The Zealot Gene (Rock) 16
DEEP PURPLE: Turning To Crime (Hard Rock) 11
DUST MOUNTAIN: Hymns For Wilderness (Progressive Rock) 9
MAGNUM: The Monster Roars (Melodic Hard Rock) 7
NASSON: Scars (Melodic Hard Rock) 6
AUTUMN'S CHILD: Zenith (A.O.R.) 5
DANIELE MAZZA: Immortals (Progressive Rock) 4
RED SAND: The Sound Of The Seventh Bell (Progressive Rock) 4
MALADY: Ainavihantaa (Progressive Rock) 3
KADABRA: Ultra (Hard Rock) 1
CIRCLE OF MUD: Circle Of Mud (Rock) 1
PRAYING MANTIS: Katharsis (Melodic Hard Rock) 1
More informations on http://www.musicwaves.fr/