Best Audio Albums, Long-Form Videos, and Songs from 2018

by | Dec 27, 2018 | Superlatives

Audio
2018 was an excellent year for music fans with a total of eleven releases earning ratings of 5 or 4 1/2 Stars. I did not go back to verify, but I believe this is the first year that three Christmas releases have landed on the A-list. Below I have ranked the 2018 releases. As always, please share your thoughts in the comments.

5 Stars
1. Fanny Crosby: Newly Discovered Hymns & Songs – Various Artists
2. One Day In the Past – Down East Boys

4 1/2 Stars
3. Love, Love, Love – Gordon Mote
4. Finest Hour – Talleys
5. Our Story – Three Bridges
6. self-titled – Carolina
7. Come Up Clean – Steve Ladd
8. Joy: The Ultimate Christmas Celebration – Various Artists 
9. BFA Christmas – Brian Free & Assurance
10. It Must Be Christmas – David Phelps
11. Gonna Sing, Gonna Shout – Various Artists


Video
The top long-form video releases of 2018 include a pair of companion products that earned a rating of 5 Stars and another that earned 4 1/2 Stars.

5 Stars
1. and 2. Tie – A Few Good Men and Country Roots And Gospel Favorites – Gaither Vocal Band/The Gatlin Brothers/The Oak Ridge Boys (The Hoppers also appear on A Few Good Men.)

4 1/2 Stars
3. We Have This Moment – Gaither Vocal Band

High Road & Jason Crabb sing “Christ, My Hope, My Glory” at the 2018 National Quartet Convention

Songs
The top songs of 2018 are selected from titles that appeared on the Top 80 chart in the January-December 2018 issues of Singing News magazine. The best songs of 2018, in order, are:

  1. Christ, My Hope, My Glory – High Road with Jason Crabb
  2. Give Me Jesus – Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
  3. The Last Big Thing – Kingdom Heirs
  4. Beat Up Bible – Down East Boys
  5. He Can Take It – Brian Free & Assurance
  6. Hope For All Nations – Karen Peck & New River
  7. If Church Pews Could Shout – Gold City
  8. Thankful, So Thankful – Triumphant Quartet
  9. Jailbreak – Joseph Habedank
  10. Sun’s Gonna Come Up – LeFevre Quartet

Top Songs from 2018 Albums That Should Be Radio Singles In 2019
Each year, I make a list of the top songs that were NOT released to radio in time to appear on the Singing News Top 80 chart during the preceding year. Typically, one or two of those songs eventually reach radio and sometimes do quite well. The best example from my 2017 list is “He Can Take It” by Brian Free & Assurance which ultimately made its way to the #2 position on the April & May charts in 2018.

The following is a list of songs you probably didn’t hear on radio in 2018, but hopefully you will hear some of them in 2019.

  1. I Know The Sweet Voice Of The Shepherd – Legacy Five
  2. Jesus – Jim Brady Trio
  3. A Crown Of Life – Mylon Hayes Family
  4. I Will Not Be Shaken – Gold City
  5. Live The Gospel – Three Bridges
  6. Set Your House In Order – Gordon Mote
  7. I Don’t Have To Stay – Carolina
  8. I’d Like To Tell It Again – Down East Boys
  9. Revival – LeFevre Quartet
  10. Grave Clothes – Steve Ladd

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David Bruce Murray

David Bruce Murray

David Bruce Murray is a church music director in Ellenboro, NC. He is the author of Murray's Encyclopedia Of Southern Gospel Music and the owner of both SGHistory.com and MusicScribe.com.

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