As the world begins to put the chaos and uncertainty of the last two years behind it, there’s no greater proof that rock has kept rolling than our round-up of the best albums of the year so far.
While it’s been a quiet year in some respects – no new albums from big hitters like AC/DC, Aerosmith, Iron Maiden or Metallica – there’s plenty to savour, and the fact that our list features the opening act on the already-fabled Stadium Tour alongside one of the headliners suggests that new bands are capable of breaking through at a time when the old guard are still producing the goods.
So here they are: young bucks and old stagers, guitar wranglers and prog noodlers, blues greats and faux-gospel cult rock misfits. All life is here, and it sounds good.