Parama's Accidental Top 50 Albums List! (Current: #1)

[425]

This would probably still be my number one. And who cares if it's a "cliché choice." It deserves to be picked all the time, it's a great album.

[Crow]

I've been meaning to check this band, but after listing to a part of a tune (I think it was Surrounded), it felt like fucking 80s. Ew.

yeah this one sounds pretty 80's but the rest of their albums after it are more modern, you should check them out

[jakepriest]

Eeeh. I don't dig I&W that much. Metropolis and Learning to Live (+ Wait for Sleep) are top 10 songs, but the rest are kinda just there imho. I can see why a lot of people like it but it just doesn't do that much for me outside of these songs.

[Crow]

#25: Tool - Lateralus

This album is just a combination of a lot of things I really love. There's a lot of bass and rhythm, a dark sound overall, and some cool grooves on most every song. It's also a pretty diverse album (and quite a long one). I actually first heard some of these songs in Guitar Hero, of all places, and loved what I heard, made me want to get the album. And I'm definitely glad I did.

Standout songs for me include Schism, with its excellent bass grooves and softer moments, coming to a gigantic climax at the end of the song; Parabol/Parabola, the former being a nice quiet track that builds well into the latter, probably the heaviest song on the album with a great main riff, and the sluggish outro works well for me too; Lateralus, the "epic" of the album, probably the most diverse song and probably the best too, and that fibbonacci sequence bit still makes me nerd out a little; and Reflection, which is just a really long groove that I loooove. But everything here is good, the only tracks I don't hugely care for are Mantra, which is so short that it doesn't matter, and Faaip de Oiad, which is just a bonus track anyways that I tend to skip.

Aenima has always come off as too immature to me in terms of... well, most everything, song titles, lyrics, even songwriting, from what I've heard I've kind of been curious but never curious enough to really give it a chance. And 10,000 Days seems too tame, too sluggish and a bit dull, again from what I've heard from it, though Vicarious is pretty good I guess. But this album hits the sweet spot for me, one that makes me want to come back to it.

[Fluffy Lothario]

Before this album came out, I couldn’t stand Tool.
After this album came out, I could stand Tool.

I’m not mad on any of their albums other than this, but they all have at least a few brilliant songs.

[jakepriest]

 

Glad to see Tool on the list. Schism is a classic, but my personal favourite off Lateralus is The Patient folowed closely by Reflection (what's not to love about that amazing drum/bass groove). Danny Carey was my drumming idol during the era when I listened to pretty much nothing else but Tool and Chancellor's bass work made me appreciate the instrument in all music.

It's about 50/50 between Lateralus and 10 000 Days for me. I love them both to death, depends greatly on my mood. I agree on the Aenima part, as it's probably my least favourite album musically and lyrically apart from Forty Six & 2 and the title track.

[Crow]

#24: Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3

Of all the Coheed albums, this is the one I find myself coming back to the most. It's not their most diverse, nor is it their most mature. But it's an album that does what it intends to really well. With the exception of the closing track, every song on this album is pretty upbeat and rockin' in nature, but each song brings its own flavor to the table.

The title track is a big, epic track with a huge chorus and group vocals, with some quieter moments at the start and in the middle to keep it dynamic. Cuts Marked in the March of Men is a bit faster and a bit less intense, and while not one of my favorites off the album it's still a fun little song. I think it's one of the stranger sounding songs on the album, at least. Three Evils is really bright and straightforward, despite being actually pretty dark lyrically. I dig a lot about this song, the transition from the second chorus to the extended outro is great and the outro itself is fantastic. The Crowing is probably the proggiest track on the album, toying around with a lot of time signature changes and a lot of different sounds, the drums on this track especially are great. Blood Red Summer is a lighter and brighter track that serves mostly to lighten the mood a little. The next three tracks form a suite with the story they tell. Faint of Hearts is a 70's rock inspired track, or sounds that way to me, it's a bit silly but pretty fun. Backend of Forever is another of my favorites on the album, a very dark and bitter song that I revel in listening to. Al The Killer is probably the heaviest track of the album, the very full sound of the track makes its darker tone work well too. A Favor House Atlantic is probably the only song that feels like a retread of earlier ideas, primarily Three Evils, but I think it brings enough new to the table to be worth it, I do like it a lot anyways, so. And The Light and The Glass is a lighter and longer track, gradually building up over its span to the absolutely epic outro, definitely the highlight of a really great album.

I like most of the band's other albums, too, but this has always been a standout to me, I like every song here and it's got some of their best tracks, period. Fantastic record, this one.

[jakepriest]

The best Coheed album. Three Evils is a standout track. 

[Train of Naught]

Yes yes yes Lateralus, thank you.

[Crow]

#23: Green Carnation - Light of Day, Day of Darkness

This is an album, but also a song, but also an album. Not a collection of songs that flows together like it's one song, just actually one song. 60 minutes of music. 60 minutes of great music, to be precise.

The sound of this songalbum is consistently dark and often heavy. There are a few melodies and riffs that the song reprises throughout its length, helping it to feel cohesive, and it helps that the stuff that gets reprised is pretty cool. There's quite a few instances of a riff being played on a clean guitar, then a heavy version of the same riff kicking in at some point, and while you think using the same trick several times would get tiresome, I never really feel it does, because each new idea the song explores is really cool and different from the previous. There's an upbeat triplet-feel section followed by a sluggish, doom metal section. A hugely distorted heavy section followed by an acoustic section. And honestly, I just love the general sound of this album; I wish I knew of more like it. Though to be fair, I've never checked out more of Green Carnation's discography and probably should at some point.

What are my favorite moments? Hmm. After the first "dream" section, there's a very beautiful acoustic and strings section with a heavy riff under it. This part is just massive and amazing and charged with emotion, I love it. Another highlight is the instrumental break and guitar solo around the 40 minute mark, the build-up there and the solo itself is just utterly gorgeous. And the entire stretch after it, going from a quiet verse to a reprise of earlier riffs in the song, building and building until it reaches the huge climax of the song around the 50 minute mark.

And if there's anything I'm not so keen on, it's the 5 minute stretch in the middle of the song with the female vocalist and the I think it's a sax? playing. It feels a bit jarring and goes on too long, I feel, I actually have a cut of the album with that section removed that I prefer to listen to a lot more.

But yes, this is really an epic done well, really well, probably a must-listen for any fan of progressive metal.

[Scorpion]

Awesome song. Easily my favourite 30+-minute epic.

Great writeup too.

[Sacul]

Lateralus

Coheed 

Light of Day, Day of Darkness 

[425]

I liked this when you sent it in my roulette.

I did not like that you sent something of this length in my roulette.

Nonetheless, I definitely am going to buy it soon and give it the dedicated listens that it requires.

[Evermind]

You're not missing much by not checking out the rest of Green Carnation discography, I found it pretty forgettable.

This album is awesome though, made my Top 50 too.

[Crow]

I did not like that you sent something of this length in my roulette.

again i'm gonna blame u for having an epic round in the first place then 'cause i really don't have many epics i really like listening to 

[425]

Yeah, well, the outcome of all that is a) you got a solid score for it, and b) whenever the subject of this song comes up, I have to make fun of the fact that you actually sent it in a roulette.

[Dr. DTVT]

You're not missing much by not checking out the rest of Green Carnation discography, I found it pretty forgettable.

I'll second this.  LoD,DoD is the only Green Carnation album you need, but you NEED it.

[Crow]

#22: Devin Townsend - Ocean Machine: Biomech

I promise this is the last Devin Townsend album on this list, I can't stop putting this guy on my list, I know, he should make less good music or something.

I will be upfront and say that the last four tracks of this album are the primary reason it's up this high. Not the only reason, but. Funeral and The Death of Music are both top 5 Devin, at the very least (The Death of Music is #1, for sure), and Bastard and Things Beyond Things are both excellent as well. Funeral being a straightforward but catchy as all heck and intensely emotional rock song, The Death of Music being a laid-back electronic song that builds to a PHENOMENAL CLIMAX holy hell, seriously. But really, everything before those four is generally pretty good. Seventh Wave is a rocker to start out the album, Life and Night are two pretty straightforward, kind of poppy-ish rockers. Sister and 3 AM are two shorter tracks with tons of atmopshere, Voices in the Fan is another maddeningly catchy track, and Regulator is one of the few heavier tracks of the album. If I had to single out a few weaker songs, I've never cared much for Hide Nowhere or Greetings, but neither are terrible.

But yeah, if it were just the first half of the album, this might not have made the list on its own; add in the phenomenal second half and YUP easy to rank it this high. I don't think I'll ever stop loving Funeral and The Death of Music.

[Sacul]

The Death of Music 

[Crow]

#21: Porcupine Tree - Deadwing

Ahh, now this. THIS is a great album. Unlike In Absentia, every song here is great, some of them pretty dang incredible. Though I feel that the best songs here prooobably aren't quite as good as the best off In Absentia, but the peaks of that album are hard to reach. But yes, this is the Porcupine Tree I like hearing.  It's got their heavier side, their lighter side, their proggier side, everything.

The shorter, more straightforward tracks are mostly heavy, with the exception of the poppier Lazarus. Shallow and Halo both have cool grooves in their riffs and are pretty catchy, and Open Car is moody, mixing both some heavier riffs and prettier light sections. And Lazarus is just an incredibly pleasant listen, probably the poppiest song of their entire discography and that's not a knock against it at all. Glass Arm Shattering, the album closer, is a very relaxed and pleasant song as well, post-rockish in nature, a great way for the album to end. The rest of the songs are a bit longer and probably all my favorites of the album, though. Deadwing has a cool main riff throughout the song that I like, but goes through a lot of other sections, including a quiet groove section in the middle that's probably the best part of the song for me. Arriving Somewhere, But Not Here is the highlight of the album for me, the album's epic. It starts off softly and builds on a light acoustic melody, a slow build but the payoff makes it more than worth it. The instrumental section is one of my favorites from the band, too, the loudest and most in-your-face section of the entire record and with a ton of cool riffs that seamlessly returns to the main melody of the song at the end. Mellotron Scratch is a softer, prettier song, with a great main melody and especially a fantastic outro. And The Start of Something Beautiful has just the coolest 9/8 groove in its verses and a great louder chorus, plus one of the most interesting instrumental sections from the band, another of my favorites for sure. This song took me a looong time to warm up to but when I did it grew to be easily my #2 from the album. I feel like a lot of Fear of a Blank Planet's sound came from this one song, it seems like it.

This is easily my favorite Porcupine Tree album and favorite of anything Steven Wilson's ever made (none of his solo records made this list, sadly). Just a great progressive rock album from beginning to end, with a unique sound and a ton of great songs.

[Crow]

i actually pivot between Arriving Somewhere and The Start of Something Beautiful, depends on my mood, generally the former wins but rn I think the latter is more my musical mood 

nothing touches Trains and Heartattack though, pretty untouchable songs, yep

[PuffyPat]

i like a lot of this list, so i'll let that bedlam thing slide.

[Obfuscation]

i like a lot of this list, so i'll let that bedlam thing slide.

You can't. We must change his view on it.

[mikemangioy]

Recently posted these two in my top 50, so I approve

[Crow]

i'm never listening to bedlam again, so gl with that

[425]

This is easily my favorite Porcupine Tree album and favorite of anything Steven Wilson's ever made

Yep. Along with FOBP for me. Raven is third and then nothing else is even close.

Steven Wilson is tough for me, though, because emotionally a lot of his stuff just doesn't resonate with me at all, or resonates with me infrequently. I really admire his ability as a songwriter, because he is fantastic at it, but I wouldn't rank him among my favorite artists.

[Crow]

#20: Mew - And the Glass Handed Kites

This is one of those albums where I always, always listen through the entire thing. As separate songs, everything here is good, but none of the tracks are my favorite Mew tracks. But as an album? Ooh boy. The songs flow between each other well, the overall sound is consistent while letting the album still be quite varied, and it's quite the pleasant listen from beginning to end. I don't know, really I just love the sound of this album. It's somewhere between indie rock and prog rock and both parts are just, done so well. I really like Bjerre as a singer but the rest of the band is good at what they do, too.

Hmm, a few songs to talk about...? Circuity of the Wolf kicks off the album nicely with a cool instrumental groove building into the next track. Apocalypso has a cool groove as well and a strong chorus, plus the frantic nature of the song is enjoyable. The Zookeeper's Boy has interesting instrumentation and a great intro jam as well, all-around one of my favorites. White Lips Kissed is a good climax and closer for the album, except not the closer, but still very grand and full sounding, another favorite.

...yeah, it's hard to talk about the songs much, I don't like the ones I mentioned -that- much more than the rest of the album, it's very consistent from beginning to end and something you really have to listen all the way through to get.

[Zantera]

This is a fantastic album and definitely my favorite Mew album.

[Tomislav95]

I will check this, it sounds interesting.

[Crow]

#19: fun. - Aim and Ignite

fun. has dabbled with mainstream success, I guess (had a #1 hit and Some Nights was a pretty big hit too, if I remember). But the album I listen to them for is their debut, which is just, leagues better, absolutely phenomenal record. It's a bright and generally upbeat record, too, as opposed to the generally darker stuff that makes up most of my higher-rated albums.

Half the songs on this album I find to be wonderful songs. Be Calm is the opener and it's... it's a thing. I always fail to know how to describe it, it's got orchestration, it's got quiet bits, it's got loud bits, it doesn't revisit its ideas or reprises them if it does, it goes so many places in 4 minutes that it's insane. Benson Hedges is a mostly upbeat and straightforward track, with a slower section after the second chorus to change up the pace a bit. I really like the lyrics of this song, as well; this album in general has lyrics I quite enjoy, though. Walking the Dog is a very upbeat and catchy track, seriously that prechorus and chorus get stuck in my head for days. The Gambler is the most believable love song I've ever heard, it's moving and it's pleasant and all sorts of thing that make me love it. As someone not a romantic in the slightest, it makes me kinda wish I was in a relationship sometimes but ehh! Take Your Time (Coming Home) is a grand epic of an ending, much longer than the other tracks and with a lot of different emotions pouring out into the music. It's really amazing how many different moods this song has, and it jams on its chorus for a few minutes to make for a surprisingly strong outro for a fadeout, I don't see how else they could've ended it there. Seriously, any of these five songs, incredibly stuff.

The other tracks are generally good, though I Wanna Be The One I don't care for quite so much. The band has a good way of making somewhat accessible but still very interesting rock songs, and this album shows that off well.

Shame their follow-up... was underwhelming, to say the least.

[Ruba]

Lateralus is amazing. I think Faaip de Oiad is a great closer though, very unsettling.

I still might prefer Aenima though.

[Crow]

#18: Pain of Salvation - Entropia

Mm. Entropia. How do I talk about Entropia.

...

What a stunning debut album, seriously. There's a lot of diversity here, and a lot of heavy music, both sonically and lyrically. The concept is pretty basic but it gives the band a lot of material to write about, and the tone of the music matches the lyrics in absolutely every case. ! (Foreword) is pretty dark, Winning A War is relatively bright, aside from the one quiet moment, People Passing By is a bit schizophrenic in a good way, the bass groove of the faster parts and the heavier, darker chorus of the first section creating some good contrast, the instrumental groove is cool, and the last section is very grand and emotional with some great solos. Oblivion Ocean sounds pained, as it should, and Stress sounds very frantic and confused, as it should. Revival is another one that's all over the place, darker moments and brighter moments, triumphant moments (the group vocal section is probably my favorite part). I don't know exactly why but this song I've always loved a lot, it flows well and there's no weak moments. Void of Her and Circles are two short tracks that are pretty empty and dark, and sandwiched inbetween them is the frantic To The End, which crashes for an instrumental groove at the end, and holy hell is that just a perfect representation of the song's themes. Nightmist deals with the protagonist's death itself, and naturally it's not the brightest of songs either, and there's a lot of frantic moments added in as well. The way the groove all falls apart at the end of the song works really well, too. And Plains of Dawn, dealing with the child's death, is a softer, reflective piece, that explodes with anger and heaviness at the end. Leaving Entropia is a somber, moving epilogue to the album that gets me every time, really good way to close off the album.

This one's... it's just a pretty emotional journey of nonlinear storytelling to keep the tension building, with music that matches the tone every step of the way, and it's probably their proggiest release to date; the songs are really all over the place a lot of the time, but in a way that still feels cohesive and makes the songs more interesting rather than more confused. I feel like I've done a poor job of this writeup but it's hard to know what to say about this one, for some reason. It certainly deserves to be this high up. It's just hard to put into words why, I guess.

[Scorpion]

Entropia

Definitely in my PoS Top 3, probably my second favourite. Such an amazing album.

Do you know Never Learn To Fly, the Japanese bonus track? It might be the most depressing song on the album, and that's no mean feat, and it's great too - one of my all-time PoS favourites.

[Zantera]

Entropia 

[LordCost]

First album of PoS I discovered, I became a fan at the first listen and it's still my second favourite album of them. Foreword and Revival (you're not the only one who likes a lot this song!) are my favourite songs here, but all the other songs are really close.