Guess it's time for the annual best-of list thread.

New releases, reissues, compilations (single and various artists), box sets, songs, EPs, cover song albums- what are your favorites that were released this year?

I'm still working on my list, Right now there's a two-way tie for favorite new album between Tal National's "Tantabara" and Green Seagull's "Scarlet Fever".

This always reminds me I should really make a list of everything I buy each year so I can quickly scan it and make an intelligent post.
All I know is I liked all the reissues I bought.

If i don't start an Excel sheet for a best-of list with the first record i buy in January, then i''m lost for the rest of the year.

I don't pick up near as many reissues as new releases. I'm not as far behind in listening to newer music as i have been. Still, I'm a couple issues behind in reading Shindig and i always find great stuff through their articles & reviews, much to my wallet's displeasure!

I want to make a true confession right here, and right now.

I like to read, select & copy/post to my Best of the Year list selected by you my friends.
Yes, kind of cheating on my assignment but I really appreciate the help.

Now of course, some I will chose which are brilliant but sadly unselected but we all agree this was a banner year, especially in the reissue(s).

So, so many to chose from.

Ah, will offer a Box set listing of it's own category for the dwindling of the stack that is before us.
We need any kind of help, don't we?

But that was not much help, so sorry.

Well, I will prepare to read all of your selections and then plagiarize and post according.

Jimbo of course never participated in threads like this, he liked all the CDs he bought during the year. All favorites.

Speaking only for myself, of course, I like your style!!

I'll post my list after Banzaibid posts his, because I don't want to be the first one to choose Mike Love's Christmas album as my favourite of 2018.

I'll start !! I maintain a weekly list, in the spirit of the old days of ICE magazine where I wrote down things I wanted to obtain, on a Post-it note stuck to the front cover of each issue.

Every Sunday, I check Linda's "Release Roundup" thread and copy the thread titles of releases that interest me into an ongoing document. The ones that I end up buying get highlighted. I also often refer back to the list, sometimes ordering things that I didn't get when they were first released.

In chronological order of release, my favorites of 2018:

NEW RELEASES
Grant-Lee Phillips "Widdershins"
Yo La Tengo "There's A Riot Going On"
Sloan "12"
John Prine "The Tree Of Forgiveness"
Joe Bonamassa "British Blues Explosion Live"
Dawes "Passwords"
Crack The Sky "Living In Reverse"
Paul Weller "True Meanings"
Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit "Live From The Ryman"

VAULT RELEASES
Jethro Tull "Heavy Horses (New Shoes Edition)"
The Dwight Twilley Band "Live At The Main Point"
The Cars "Shake It Up" and "Heartbeat City"
Neil Young "Roxy: Tonight's The Night Live"
Steve Wynn "Kerosene Man" and "Dazzling Display"
Gomez "Bring It On" 20th Anniversary Edition
The Posies "Dear 23"
The Cure "Mixed Up (Deluxe Edition)"
Southside Johnny And The Asbury Jukes "The Mercury Years" 3CD box set
The Rolling Stones "From The Vault: No Security - San Jose '99"
Shoes "Black Vinyl Shoes: Anthology 1973-1978"
The Posies "Frosting On The Beater"
Bob Marley And The Wailers "Kaya (40th Anniversary Edition)"
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers "An American Treasure" 4CD box set
REM "REM At The BBC" 8CD/1DVD box set
The Posies "Amazing Disgrace"
The Long Ryders "State Of Our Union" and "Two Fisted Tales"
Neil Young "Songs For Judy"


*** (of course, I will have to check my collection to see what else I bought this year, like releases that we did not have a thread for, and things I bought locally or direct from artists' websites)

You, Lovely Linda, have almost captured the essence of my being. However, before revealing my Favorite Releases of 2018, I must publish a list that was much easier to compile. So, without further ado, I give you:

Doyle Bramhall II - Shades. That was my personal 'album of the year' and the only thing I bought.

Oh damn, I need to order that. Totally forgot he had a new one.

Thanks for starting this. I usually do it, but I haven't had the time to go through a year of Ice & a year of Wikipedia. I also need to start putting an "*" in my Excel list for all releases of the current year; which would make it really easy!

I have lots of vault releases but only one that is classified as a new release - full of old tunes older than most of the vault material.
Don’t You Feel My Leg - Maria Muldaur

Vault releases

Best was the Roxy Performances - Zappa with his most talented band playing most of my favorites in a great sounding place. As far as we know includes every note played during the Roxy run rehearsals and some studio materials.

Next best is the Kinks Village Green box. If it weren’t for Zappa or the Beatles this would have been the best looking ever.

The Beatles box. 50 years? How can that be? Love the out takes best

John Lennon Imagine box. Maybe his best lip. Nice box

McCartnry/wings- my favorite PM release, expanded with a dvd of his tv special. Sounds great.

Cheap Thrills Joplin & Big Brother wasn’t expecting much - I was blown away. Wish they did more together.

Years In the Making - LWIII. Two discs of stuff from the vaults...wish it were 20.

More Blood On the Tracks - Dylan. Always one of my favorites. Here is everything from those sessions

Roxy Tonight’s the Night - Neil Young one of my favorite NY periods. Just wish it was complete like FZ’s

This Was - Jethro Tull. Their first and one of my favorites.

Who Came First - Pete Townsend first solo release and IMO his best.

I could also add the Bobbie Gentry box and the Lulu box.

Lots of great music from the vaults came out in 2018.

Need to add a Bear Family Comp box - Battleground Korea

Though many obscure tunes (mostly blues and country) along with historical audio clips it tells the story of this long forgotten war. It also includes a nice giant book that only Bear Family seems to do.

Thank you my brother. The egg-nog induced a truth that needed to heralded.

Favorite songs of 2018:
Kandy Krush — Kim Wilde
What Kind of World — Tom Bailey
Spanish Sea — Toto
5 More Days ’Til Summer — Lenny Kravitz
She Remembers Everything — Rosanne Cash
Pop Don’t Stop — Kim Wilde
Happier — Marshmello + Bastille
Love Is You — Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Missing U — Robyn
Pink Lemonade — James Bay

Favorite new album releases:
Here Come the Aliens — Kim Wilde
Only Human — Calum Scott
Science Fiction — Tom Bailey
Honey — Robyn
Also liked these new ones (in no particular order):
Egypt Station — Paul McCartney
Blood Red Roses — Rod Stewart
Down the Road Wherever — Mark Knopfler
Golden Hour — Kacey Musgraves
Deeper — Lisa Stansfield
Wax — KT Tunstall
Under My Skin — Gabrielle
Record — Tracy Thorne

Favorite vault releases:
An American Treasure — Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Thief of Hearts — Original Soundtrack
Love An Adventure — Pseudo Echo
Shake It Up / Heartbeat City — The Cars
Introspect — Joe South

Favorite concert performances:
Lisa Stansfield
Elton John
Toto
Calum Scott
Tom Bailey

So much was released in 2018 that I wanted, I'll just try to list my "favouritest of favourites":

New
Paul Collins "Out Of My Head"
Graham Day And The Forefathers "Emmaretta"/"Love Help Me"
The Moot "Tomorrows Calling"
Razorlight "Olympus Sleeping"
Sloan "12"
Paul Weller "True Meanings"
The Wombats "Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life"

Vaults
The Action "Shadows And Reflections: The Complete Recordings 1964-1968"
Badfinger "Badfinger" and "Wish You Were Here"
The Beatles "The Beatles (The White Album)"
Big Star "Live At Lafayette's Music Room"
The Choir "Artifact: The Unreleased Album"
The Kinks "The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society"
The Long Ryders "State Of Our Union" and "Two Fisted Tales"
Lulu "Decade 1967-1976"
Paul McCartney And Wings "Wild Life" and "Red Rose Speedway"
Permanent Green Light "Hallucinations"
The Posies "Dear 23", "Frosting On The Beater" and "Amazing Disgrace"
Shoes "Black Vinyl Shoes: Anthology 1973-1978"
Bram Tchaikovsky "Strange Men, Changed Men: The Complete Recordings 1978-1981"
The Yachts "Suffice To Say: The Complete Yachts Collection"

I've listened to only a tiny fraction of the 2018 music that I bought, but I really enjoyed these five discs:

Kim Wilde - Here Come the Aliens
Tom Bailey - Science Fiction
The Vaccines - Combat Sports
Van William - Countries
Elise LeGrow - Playing Chess

Honorable Mention: J.D. McPherson - Socks

I was happily surprised by the new music from 1980s vets Wilde and Bailey, "Combat Sports" is simply good rock, William's album features beautiful folk (with guest appearances by First Aid Kit), LeGrow (someone I wasn't familiar with but had heard about her album on NPR) offers wonderful covers of Chess label songs, and McPherson's Christmas disc is rolicking and sly fun.

NEW
Charles Lloyd & the Marvels Vanished Gardens
Buddy Guy The Blues Is Alive And Well
Nicki Bluhm To Rise You Gotta Fall
Michael Franks The Music In My Head


VAULT
The Beatles (White Album) (50th Anniversary) Box Set
The Posies Dear 23 and Frosting On The Beater (Expanded Remasters)
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers An American Treasure 4CD Box Set
Neil Young Songs For Judy
Neil Young Roxy: Tonight's The Night Live
The Choir Artifact: The Unreleased Album
Kinks The Village Green Preservation Society (50th Anniversary Edition) Deluxe Box Set
John Lennon Imagine (The Ultimate Collection)
Big Brother & The Holding Company Sex, Dope & Cheap Thrills
Bob Dylan The Bootleg Series, Vol. 14: More Blood, More Tracks
Graham Nash Over The Years...
Lindsey Buckingham Solo Anthology: The Best Of Lindsey Buckingham
The Rolling Stones From The Vault: No Security - San Jose '99
Aretha Franklin The Atlantic Singles Collection 1967-1970
The Cars Shake It Up and Heartbeat City (Expanded Editions)
Buffalo Springfield What's That Sound Box Set

Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour
Young Fathers, Cocoa Sugar
Boy George & Culture Club, Life
Alien Weaponry, Tu
Florence + The Machine, High As Hope
Ghost, Prequelle
Paul McCartney, Egypt Station
Judas Priest, Firepower
Tracey Thorn, Record
Cypress Hill, Elephants on Acid

Honorable mention:
Peter Thomson (of Secession), 2001: I'm Afraid of Getting Old