Best of 2017; and: Happy new year 2018 and may the force be with you; and the power, too.

Hey my dear readers, I hope you all celebrated the changing of the years from 2017 to 2018 in a great way and however you wanted and/or did it was hopefully the right for you to welcome the new year and say goodbye to the old year. I was 'on the road' and had a great time doing so, hell yeahr, and so yesterday I was a little bit out of order and on stand by and so this post just comes up today. To be honest then I have to admit that this very one here primarly should come up already at the 31st of december of 2017 but on this day I was simply just way too busy and yesterday, like already said, I was sort of put on stand by, yes, and so now this one comes up as the first post of 2018.

First of all I would like to say 'Thank you all!' to my readers, old and new, that follow this blog (again) since its 'revitalisation' since it's 'back from the dead' finally again since the summer of 2017. Thinking about it, hm, I think it had been (more or less) pretty decent six months up here and I decided to continue the work up here also now in 2018. When 'revitalizing' this very blog here in the july of 2017 I think I did sort of a 'Hey, I'm back!' post (or passages) in/with which I mentioned I sort of planned or thought about doing someting completly new, fresh'n'big... well, I thought about it again and again and finally decided 'not' or 'not yet'. In my life or better my private life I had to face a lot of 'complex situations'n'changes' that were challenging and that I had to overcome and while doing and succeeding in doing so I came to the conclusion that concerning this very blog I am happy with this blog being 'back a-live' and with the way it is now 'back a-live'. I decided to focus right now only on my-self for the next months or year and I have a lot on my agenda for 2018. Real life stuff, you know. It's not that I really had any sort of 'thought-through'n'worked-out plans' because in 2017 since the summer more or less all plans fell apart and I had to rebuild quite a lot since then and so any 'real'n'proper planning' is not of any concern for me in/for 2018 but a lot of 'things' I simply want to 'make real' sooner or later over the next twelve months and this 'on many fronts'. And after this whole blog or 'online-thing' is nothing else but a beloved but also just a little hobby for/of me I am realistic and don't want it all to become too 'time-intensive' but rather just keep it going and then maybe some/one day we will see if it starts to become more important to me again or anyway bigger but since then I will stick with this good old blog as long as possibel, so to say. So yes, starting something new... to be honest... maybe one/some day but simply and definitely not yet, nah, because it would be far too 'time-consuming' to do it in a proper way and so I decided to just stick with this very blog also in 2018. Something new would've been also filled with a lot of more 'nerdy stuff' because beside a lot of other stuff I am a huge fan of all this actionfigures'n'toylines stuff, as well as comics, animes, cartoons, games, movies, and such stuff, yes, and this sort of now all my life already... yes, it's true: I was a nerd before it was cool to be a nerd; so to say. So maybe I will add some of this stuff in the future to this blog as well as I am maybe doing some new 'sports' stuff up here again, time will tell. I will 'keep me this doors open', if you get what I say. But mostly this blog will also in 2018 be focussed and 'concentrated-the-most' on music and I will do from some point on also again more than just reviews on (brand)new, older, and old records up here, interviews, band-histories, 'specials', and such stuff. Don't ask me when and what but sooner or later more of this will be added up here - again. Just let me find the time to do so. Also don't ask me about how many posts I am planning to do per months, hell I have not a single clou. There will surely be very active months and then also more quite months and maybe also months that will proabably'r'maybe see no new (proper) posts at all, however, time will tell, but anyhow this blog will continue to go on.

Okay, with that all said... yes, what about any kind of 'top of 2017' list, like all blogs and sites do or (mostly) already did and like also I used to do them as well in the past? Well... okay, but this year I will do only a short overview and not a more or less deatiled list like in the past. In parts due to the fact I haven't done all record-reviews on 2017 releases that I sort of 'had-to-do' so far and in parts due to the fact that I simply can't name a that clear 'album of the year of 2017' for example and so I will just give you sort of a short and quick overview right now, right here. But just let me mention that I personally think that 2017 was a very strong year music-wise, yes, no matter at which particular genre (concerning this very blog here) we now may 'look'. So now follows my list of 2017 albums I would consider a must-have and please keep in mind that may on some of this records I still will or have to do my reviews (on) in the near future. Okay, here now my (hopefully complete) list, yes, here it comes:

(1.) Must-have albums of 2017 (in no particular order):

THE BROADSIDERS - "ALL THINGS MUST END" (review still to come; a 2016 release, I know, but you have to have it anyhow and so I will review it up here in the soon(er) future anyway)
RANCID - "TROUBLE MAKER"
THE OLD FIRM CASUALS - "WARTIME ROCK & ROLL" (review still to come)

STONE SOUR - "HYDROGRAD"
45 ADAPTERS - "THEY CALL IT JUSTICE" (review still to come)

BLACK STAR RIDERS - "HEAVY FIRE"

IMMOLATION - "ATONEMENT"

INTEGRITY - "HOWLING, FOR THE NIGHTMARE SHALL CONSUME" (review still to come)

DEEP PURPLE - "INFINITE"

WOLFBRIGADE - "RUNNING WITH THE HUNTED" (review still to come)

ELOY - "THE VISION, THE SWORD AND THE PYRE - PART ONE"

DROPKICK MURPHYS - "11 SHORT STORIES OF PAIN & GLORY"

MANILLA ROAD - "TO KILL A KING" (review still to come)

CANNIBAL CORPSE - "RED BEFORE BLACK"

HAYMAKER - "WE ARE HAYMAKER" (review still to come)

FLOGGING MOLLY - "LIFE IS GOOD"

THE TEMPLARS - "DEUS VULT" (review still to come)

JACK STARR'S BURNING STARR - "STAND YOUR GROUND"

LEGION 76 - "LEGION 76" (review still to come)

BODY COUNT - "BLOODLUST"

(2.) Albums you should definitely know (or even better own), too (in no particular order):

DANKO JONES - "WILDCAT"

BROKEN HOPE - "MUTILATED AND ASSIMILATED"

BROKEN HEROES - "MAKE Oi! GREAT AGAIN" (review still to come)

RIOT COMPANY - "DRUNK'N'RUDE"

TOXPACK - "SCHALL & RAUSCH"

HOUR OF PENANCE - "CAST THE FIRST STONE" (review still to come)

SPIDER CREW - "SOUNDS OF HATRED"

EGOISTEN - "DIESE LIEDER"

INCANTATION - "PROFANE NEXUS"

LONEWOLF - "RAISED ON METAL"

DYING FETUS - "WRONG ONE TO FUCK WITH"

ORDEN OGAN - "GUNMEN"

SUFFOCATION - "...OF THE DARK LIGHT"

ANNIHILATOR - "FOR THE DEMENTED"

ACCEPT - "THE RISE OF CHAOS"

NIGHT RANGER - "DON'T LET UP"

OVERKILL - "THE GRINDING WHEEL"
ABHORRENT DECIMATION - "THE PARDONER"

Three albums I haven't listened to so far, simply because they were just 'today' in my mail, but that I have anyhow very high aspectations of/for and that I will do in the near future detailed reviews on, too:

HARDSELL - "SUBCULTURE CRIMINALS" (review still to come)

CLOSE COMBAT - "SPIET VAAN NIKS" (review still to come)
LION'S LAW and STARS & STRIPES - "HERITAGE" (review still to come)

Okay, here or better there you have my list(s) on must-have-albums as well as of other highest recommended albums of 2017, yes, and if not otherwise noted above then you find my reviews on this albums already online spreaded over the last six months up here on this very blog. And if otherwise noted above then prepare yourself for the reviews to come up soon in the near future. Yes, I think that's all for it now and so more soon, for sure, and maybe best make also sure to check out other damn strong albums that were released in 2017 like for example the new albums of/by for example MORBID ANGEL, ÜBERGANG, SERIOUS BLACK, BLACKLIST LTD., PAPA ROACH, CKY, and RISE AGAINST, yes, because (like already said) 2017 was definitely a very strong year music-wise. Okay, and now so far thanks for your interest, time, and attention, and more again soon. Have a nice evening. Cheers.