10 Best Hard Rock Albums Of The 2020s So Far

Let's see how many these will have stood the test of time when 2029 rolls around.

By Jacob Simmons /

Who knows where we're all going to be come 2029?

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Maybe global warming will have flooded our cities and we'll have all grown gills. Maybe a massive nuclear war will have turned us all into mutants. Or maybe everything will have sorted itself out and we'll all be living peacefully in our mansions.

Hmm, that last one seems unlikely.

Hopefully we'll still have albums by the time this decade is through, and hopefully some great ones will have come out between now and then. However, even if the next few years don't yield anything good, at least we'll have these ten bangers to fall back on.

The 2020s may only be a few years old, but they've already given us some absolutely smashing records from names old and new.

For this list, we've tried to create as broad a picture as possible of the musical scene of the decade thus far, taking into account fan favourites and critical darlings in equal measure.

Of course, this will also be a subjective list, so if we've missed your favourite release off, then we can only apologise. Please don't firebomb our houses.

10. Chubby And The Gang - Speed Kills

If you're a fan of old school British punk music, first of all we apologise for how old you are, and second of all we'd recommend you check out West London fivesome Chubby and the Gang.

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Led by Charlie "Chubby Charles" Manning-Walker (a nickname we really hope he gave himself), the group got together in 2019 and have already put out two full studio albums. The first was released back in 2020 and bore the name Speed Kills.

The irony of this is that most of the songs on the record are played extremely fast and the whole thing is over in under half-an-hour.

Taking heavy inspiration from Ramones, Blitz, and all those other old punk bands your dad likes, Speed Kills is an unapologetic throwback to a genre that had its heyday almost fifty years ago.

It's not just all pounding drums and rapid chords; there's some actual songwriting going on here too. Manning-Walker isn't totally incomprehensible, so you can make out some of the snappy lyrics that he and the rest of the group have come up with.

If you're after some fun but don't have much time to spare, this is the perfect album for you.

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