2018 was certainly not a year in which there were great musical innovations. Instead, the anniversary year of 1968 cast its long shadows, which was extensively acknowledged by all major daily newspapers and music gazettes. The fact that some of the old heroes are still active is very pleasing, whereby various opulent Reissues (Jethro Tull, Procol Harum, The Rolling Stones, Spirit, Wishbone Ash) contributed to keep the memory of the rock and prog pioneers alive.
After the death of many musicians in the last two years, it is still amazing how many older artists have delivered greats in 2018. First and foremost Paul McCartney (76), who proved with "Egypt Station" that his creative fountain is still bubbling. In folk music, however, Joan Baez (77) impressed with "Whistle Down The Wind" and David Crosby (77) with "Here If You Listen". The Ü70-West-Coast-Ladies of Ace Of Cups, who released their self-titled debut work more than fifty years after their foundation, also received a lot of media echo. Other guarantors of quality were Mark Knopfler (69), who proved his fighting spirit with "Down The Road Wherever", and Elvis Costello (64), who reformed his band The Imposters for "Look Now".
Even in the harder sector some older semesters caused a sensation. For example Uriah Heep, whose album "Living The Dream" in eclipsed was voted "Album of the Month September". But Saxon ("Thunderbolt"), Nazareth ("Tattooed On My Brain") and Magnum ("Lost On The Road To Eternity") also demonstrated their lasting vitality. Also worth mentioning are the metal ancestors Judas Priest, who presented a strong late work with "Firepower" and also convinced younger listeners. Deep Purple were very busy again, who didn't release a new record, but went extensively on "The Long Goodbye"-Tour, as well as The Pretty Things, who unfortunately disbanded after their Farewell-Gigs.
Beside these warriors also some young groups came into the limelight, who absorbed the riffs of the forefathers with their mother's milk, first of all the US quartet Greta Van Fleet, who presented their first "real" album with "Anthem Of The Peaceful Army", but also got to hear some hype reproaches. Riverside were able to maintain their exceptional position in art rock with their comeback album "Wasteland", as the award for this year's "record of the year" proves. But the competition didn't sleep in 2018, so for example Crippled Black Phoenix ("Great Escape"), Long Distance Calling ("Boundless") and A Perfect Circle ("Eat The Elephant") also presented outstanding products. In Progmetal, the longtime hopeful Haken ("Vector") once again recommended themselves as the most convincing alternative to Dream Theater, while talented young bands like TesseracT ("Sonder") and Vola ("Applause Of A Distant Crowd") are already hoping for great deeds. Between The Buried And Me ("Automata I" and "Automata II") and the Canadians Voivod ("The Wake") also delivered high quality in the hard prog sector. Those who like softer progressive sounds could enjoy albums by Finally George ("Life Is A Killer"), Lazuli ("Saison 8"), Riversea ("The Tide") or The Pineapple Thief ("Dissolution").
