2008 was a pretty good year for music, many fantastic bands released great albums with rock fans being treated especially. While there were many high-profile comebacks in 2008, Metallica and Guns and Roses spring to mind, but I'd like to look at what were my personal favourites during 2008.

First up was the new Joe Satriani album released on March 31st, Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock. The album is about as typically Satch as you could get. Since his experimentations with electronica and drum machines on Crystal Planet and 2000's Engines of Creation, Satriani has settled into the comfort zone of blues rock for which he is so well known. For any other artist this would be a bad sign of a lack of fresh ideas or a good one gone stale. For Joe Satriani it means a string of quality albums. There's still no one that can replace a vocalist quite as effectively as Satriani. His contemporaries often sink into self indulgence or wild experimentation and excess (which is no bad thing at times).

However what Satchafunkilus brought us is an album that non-guitarists can genuinely enjoy. It's catchy, it's accessible, it's melodic and memorable. The album is also much leaner than previous outings at just ten tracks, although these have been given the freedom to breathe and develop. The average running time is slightly longer than Satriani fans have grown accustomed to over the years. Professor Satchafunkilus is about the most perfect guitar performance you'll hear until the next Satriani record and is a pleasure to listen to.

2008 saw Thrice release the second half of their Alchemy Index quadrilogy. On April 15th they released the Air and Earth EPs as one two-disc, twelve-track double album. Marking the completion of an epic project the album saw Thrice really exploring the other musical facets that were hinted at in their previous release. Earth is all acoustic and raw folk blues music while Air is a go-between the stripped down feel of Earth and the bombast of their Fire EP. Water, Fire and Earth show Thrice at their extremes of experimentation while Air binds the project together and perhaps shows a future direction for the band.

While I think that 2007's Fire and Water has consistently better songs the Earth and Air EPs, they have perhaps the two standout tracks of the project in folk anthem Come All You Weary and the driving and haunting Broken Lungs. These two songs alone are enough to elevate this album above much of 2008's musical output and cement Thrice as key players in the alternative and experimental rock scene, finally breaking out of their early punk rock roots. Hopefully the next Thrice album will get them some more recognition in Britain as I believe they stand head and shoulders above most mainstream rock bands.

My pick for the best album of 2008 is In Flames' ninth studio album, A Sense of Purpose. This is their most complete and consistent album to date, a perfect blend of melody and driving heavy metal. The band have strong death metal roots and are marketed as such, but really they have little in common now with their peers. What separates In Flames is their keen sense of melody and controlled mayhem that makes the 47 minutes of this album so listenable. Not afraid to experiment either, A Sense of Purpose sees In Flames record their longest song yet, the twisting Chosen Pessimist.

What makes the album so good for me is its consistency. Every single song feels like it belongs and you get the impression that if it were on any other In Flames album then it'd be a standout track. On A Sense of Purpose Gothenburg's finest band are at their peak of songwriting and creativity, showing that great metal is so much more than just growling and downtuned guitars.

For one of my favourite bands to release their best album to date makes 2008 a great year for music and it's one I think 2009 will have a tough act following. Hopefully something will come along that can live up to In Flames, and it'll be interesting to see just what we're given this year.