DTF's Favourite Albums of the Year (1/2)

[Train of Naught]

The start of the second half of the year is nearing and I want to track the favourite DTF albums similar to what Evermind did in the end-of-2016 album list. I PM'ed with him and thought it'd be cool to compare this one to the end of the year list that is bound to happen anyway, and check out the similarities. To compile this list, I will only look at the top 5. You can list more but they won't be included in your rankings, and if you have less than 5 on your list I will simply take into account everything you do have.

Also you can add any category you want here, I'm just listing whatever I found interesting myself.

Top albums of the year so far:
1. Artificial Language - The Observer
2. Ulver - The Assassination of Julius Caesar
3. Soen - Lykaia
4. Mastodon - Emperor of Sand
5. Persefone - Aathma
6. Vangough - Warpaint
7. Ulsect - Ulsect
8. At the Drive-In - in•ter a•li•a
9. SikTh - The Future in Whose Eyes?
10. Elder - Reflections of a Floating World

Need more listens to give proper judgement, but liked what I heard so far:
- Igorrr - Savage Sinusoid
- Solstafir - Berdreyminn

Most disappointing of the year so far:
- Royal Blood - How Did We Get So Dark?
- Anathema - The Optimist
- (Eidola - To Speak, To Listen (haven't given up just yet but it sounds way worse than Degeneraterra to me))

Most anticipated albums:
Leprous - Malina
The Contortionist - Clairvoyant
(possibly the new Between the Buried and Me album, but that might come out in 2018 as well, depending on how long recording and stuff will take)
I will probably wait about one month to one and a half months before adding up the votes to get the final top album list, until then you can edit your original lists or create a new one. So only the 5 highest ranking entries of the 'Top albums of the year so far' list will be taken into account, keep that in mind.

[Crow]

i don't actually have a ton of 2017 releases yet but of the ones i do have my favs are probably

The Flight of Sleipnir - Skadi
Fen - Winter
Pain of Salvation - In the Passing Light of Day

none of these are amazing though 
hopefully qTp will be an album of the year contender when i finally get that one in the mail

[Zydar]

Mastodon - Emperor Of Sand (best so far)
Pain Of Salvation - In The Passing Light Of Day
Mando Diao - Good Times
Deep Purple - Infinite
Big Big Train - Grimspound

But the best release so far this year has been the 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Sgt Pepper. Finally a glorious stereo remix and lots of bonus stuff.

I don't know if there are any anticipated albums left this year for me

[Elite]

Why is Steven Wilson's new one not mentioned as 'anticipated' yet?

Anyway:

1. Ulver
2. Pain of Salvation
3. Mastodon

Boring list.

[Evermind]

My list is pretty boring too, haven't checked a lot from this year yet.

1. Need - Hegaiamas: A Song for Freedom
2. Pain of Salvation - In the Passing Light of Day
3. Ayreon - The Source
4. Soen - Lykaia
5. Artificial Language - The Observer

Disappointment of the half a year so far: Anathema - The Optimist

Most anticipated so far: Steven Wilson, Anthriel (I think it's already released, but I haven't heard it yet), Big Big Train (haven't had a chance to grab this album anywhere), probably something else I'm forgetting right now.

[jingle.boy]

Was thinking about starting a thread just like this.  I've just run through the 18 albums that I've purchased, and will be going through what I have saved on Spotify this week.

Will report back later.

P.S. Ruslan, Anthriel is indeed out.  Good, but not as good as The Pathway

[bosk1]

Wow, I can't even slightly contribute to this thread.  Had to take a look at the release date list to confirm, but I haven't bought a single new album this year.  And the next few months don't look promising either.  For my interests, this is a pretty boring looking year.

[Crow]

There's a lot of stuff that came out since my last big order that I need to check out tbh and a few 2017 albums I have but haven't listened to enough yet (including that persefone one)

But 2017 is actually looking to really start shaping up especially with new leprous, Hirsch Effekt, and intronaut all on the horizon

It's just, not that great so far 

[home]

There are already so many great albums released, I haven't even listened to all the releases I want to listen to.

1 Mastodon - Emperor of Sand
2 Sleep Party People - Lingering
3 Pain of Salvation - In the Passing Light of Day
4 Elder - Reflections of a Floating World
5 Lorde - Melodrama
6 Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner & James McAlister - Planetarium
7 Solstafir - Berdreyminn
8 Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.
9 Ayreon - The Source
10 Eidola - To Speak, To Listen

Eidola - To Speak, To Listen (haven't given up just yet but it sounds way worse than Degeneraterra to me)

Yeah kinda agreeing with this, it's pretty solid imho but feels a lot less unique then Degeneraterra.

Albums I haven't listened to yet, or need more listenes before I can rank it:
David Maxim Mimic - Who Bit the Moon
Mew- Visuals
Soen - Lykaia
Igorrr - Savage Sinusoid
Anathema - The Optimist
Slowdive - Slowdive
Bent Knee - Land Animal

Most anticipated:
Steven Wilson - To the Bone
Caligula's Horse - In Contact
Leprous - Malina

[TAC]

Witherfall-Nocturnes And Requiems
Cellador-Off The Grid
Blaze Bayley- Endure And Survive
Iced Earth- Incorruptable
Victorius- Heart Of the Phoenix
Lancer- Mastery
Lux Perpetua- The Curse Of The Iron King
Bare Infinity- The Butterfly Raiser


..and to round out the Top 10, 2 albums that are a little out of my comfort zone, but enjoyed them a lot.
Horisont- About Time
Aeolias- The Architect



Oh...and Styx-The Mission. Can't forget that one!

[Sacul]

Haven't listened to much stuff but I'll prob update this post when I do:

• Ulver - The Assassination of Julius Caesar
• Mike Oldfield - Return to Ommadawn
• Blackfield - V
• Tim Bowness - Lost in the Ghost Light

Disappointment so far: new Infected Mushroom  (Wtf their previous album was amazing but new one is bland) and David Maxim Micic (dunno it's quite a weak record).

Looking forward to:

• Anathema - The Optimist
• Bent Knee - Land Animal
• Sufjan Stevens and others - Planetarium
• Steven Wilson - To the Bone
• Lunatic Soul - Fractured
• Wear your Wounds - WYW
• Boris - Dear

[PuffyPat]

father john misty - pure comedy
fleet foxes - crack-up
kendrick lamar - DAMN.
mac demarco - this old dog
2 chainz - pretty girls like trap music
pallbearer - heartless
portugal. the man - woodstock
thundercat - drunk
sampha - process
king gizzard and the lizard wizard - flying microtonal banana

[Samsara]

This hasn't been a good year for new music and I so far.

I would have to say Inglorious - II

It's really good, but in any other year, wouldn't be vying for the top spot. I know a lot of folks are blown away by Mastodon's new one...I like it a lot, but to my ears, it's nothing that blows me away. It's too early for me to tell on Iced Earth, but based on four listens...good, but not great.

[Stadler]

Wow, I can't even slightly contribute to this thread.  Had to take a look at the release date list to confirm, but I haven't bought a single new album this year.  And the next few months don't look promising either.  For my interests, this is a pretty boring looking year.

I DID buy albums, and other than Deep Purple "Infinite", I STILL have nothing.

Here's my list:

1. Deep Purple - Infinite
2. Everything else

[SoundscapeMN]

Midseason ended on April 30th (and began on November 1st) for myself and blog.

https://allmediareviews.blogspot.com/2017/05/2016-2017-midseason-albums-list.html

1. Anakdota - Overloading
2. Pain of Salvation - In the Passing Light of Day
3. 22 - You Are Creating: Limb 1
4. Mew - Visuals
5. The Reign of Kindo - (Patreon Songs)
6. Persefone - Aathma
7. Big Wreck - Grace Street
8. Ulver - The Assassination of Julius Caesar
9. The Family Crest, - Prelude to War [EP]
10. Tuxedo - Tuxedo II
11. Blackfield - V
12. Moonloop - Devocean
13. Rachel Flowers - Listen
14. The Barnum Meserve - When All is Lost
15. Waaktaar and Zoe - World of Trouble
16. Umphrey's McGee - Zonkey
17. Black Map - In Droves
18. Radical Face - SunMoonnEclippse [EP]
19. Thundercat - Drunk
20. Klimt 1918 - Sentimentale Jugend

Singles:
1. Fjokra - Sick Kids
2. 1000Faces - Sleeping for Dreamers (ft. Jimmy Gnecco)
3. Bend Sinister - Get Along
4. Kimbra and Young Dreams - Oban (Rework/Remix)
5. Hotel of the Laughing Tree - Electric City Rivalry
6. For the Imperium - We Cannot Face It

Video:
https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=amS4dva--lw

Part 2: Singles/Leftovers/Anticipation:
https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=E_QZr55n1Qw

[TAC]

Wow, I can't even slightly contribute to this thread.  Had to take a look at the release date list to confirm, but I haven't bought a single new album this year.  And the next few months don't look promising either.  For my interests, this is a pretty boring looking year.

I DID buy albums, and other than Deep Purple "Infinite", I STILL have nothing.

Here's my list:

1. Deep Purple - Infinite
2. Everything else

Some may refer to Everything Else as Infinite as well.

[twosuitsluke]

There are so many 2017 albums I've not even listened to yet. I'll try and add to this within the next two months 

[lonestar]

I only got a few new ones under my belt, so I'll list them in order of preference...

1- Mindmaze - Resolve (a strong frontrunner for AOTY so far)
2- Need- Hegamaias
3- Vandroya- Beyond the Human Mind
4- Secret Sphere- The Nature of Time (No. 2,3,4 are all pretty close for me)
5- Ayreon- The Source
6-
7-
8-
9-
Like no 27 or something- Anathema- The Optimist (this album did absolutely nothing for me on the first spin, might take another go on it but really have no desire)



Anticipated-

Tesseract and Steven Wilson, though Wilson hasn't done much for me on the singles released so far...

[dparrott]

Yea it's not been a good year for me either.  I'd say Slowdive and Snoop Dogg are the best albums for me this year.

[wolfking]

Not much has really grabbed me so far this year to worth noting but so far;

Firewind - Immortals
Kreator - Gods of Violence
Crazy Lixx - Ruff Justice
Pyramaze - Contingent
Dragonforce - Reaching Into Infinity
The Night Flight Orchestra - Amber Galatic

[RoeDent]

I've only bought two 2017 albums so far, Blackfield V and Grimspound. And there's only two I'm really looking forward to, The Slow Rust of Forgotten Machinery by The Tangent and To the Bone by Steven Wilson.

[Elite]

Steven Wilson, though Wilson hasn't done much for me on the singles released so far...

I kind of feel the same and I feel bad about it

[Kwyjibo]

I've bought three albums from 2017 (I bought more in 2017 but they are older records):

Great:
Pain Of Salvation - In The Passing Light Of Day
Ayreon - The Source

Solid:
Thunder - Rip It Up

Edit: if I had to rank them

1. The Source
2. Passing Light Of Day
3. Rip It Up

[Train of Naught]

Anticipated-

Tesseract and Steven Wilson

I should add these to my list as well. I actually really like Pariah, but haven't checked out the other 2 songs yet I believe. Also also also, new NeO is finished (recording), and will be out this year, woohoo

Not much has really grabbed me so far this year to worth noting but so far;

Have you checked out the new Persefone album? Really seems like your kind of thing to me.

I should also add Ayreon - The Source and Pain of Salvation to the 'like but haven't given enough spins for final judgment' list.

I'd also like to nominate a best song of the year but it's incredibly hard to pick. Each day it could change, probably between Artificial Language's "Fortune Teller", Persefone's Aathma suite, Mastodon's "Roots Remain" or "Jaguar God" and Ayreon's "The Day That the World Breaks Down".

[Luoto]

Official top 5 list (updated 17 July):

1. Cønstantine - Esthesia
2. White Ward - Futility Report
3. Foscor - Les Irreals Visions
4. Mastodon - Emperor of Sand
5. Anomalie - Visions

[The Curious Orange]

Best album of the year so far - Grimspound by Big Big Train.

Nice to see a lot of people disappointed by The Optimist, but for me that's the second most disappointing album of the year. Most disappointing album of the year so far - The Similitude of a Dream by Neal Morse.

That said, I haven't bought much new music so far this year...

[Polarbear]

I haven't bought a lot of new music this year also..

But these grabbed my attention:

1. Mastodon - Emperor of Sand
2. Depeche Mode - Spirit
3. Mike Oldfield - Return to Ommadawn
4. The Night Flight Orchestra - Amber Galactic

[jingle.boy]

The diversity here at DTF continues to astound me (not in a bad way).  For those that haven't found the year to be very good so far, you're just not listening hard enough.  There's SOOOOOOO much awesome stuff out there.  I've tried out 53 albums already this year, and that's forcing myself NOT to listen to too many new releases.

[Stadler]

I should say two things:
One, I have been stocking up on the Neal Morse catalogue, so that has taken a lot of focus (and is EXCELLENT, I might add; what a treasure trove I have discovered).
Two, I have Similitude of a Dream that I haven't listened to, and if the buildup (see "One") is any indication, it will be on the list.
Three, I should add the new "Harry Styles" to the list; I haven't heard the whole thing yet, but what I've heard is amazing.
Four, disappointed with the new Night Ranger, which I was looking forward too; they keep moving heavier and that's not what I listen to Night Ranger for. 

[Tomislav95]

I should say two things:
One, I have been stocking up on the Neal Morse catalogue, so that has taken a lot of focus (and is EXCELLENT, I might add; what a treasure trove I have discovered).
Two, I have Similitude of a Dream that I haven't listened to, and if the buildup (see "One") is any indication, it will be on the list.
Three, I should add the new "Harry Styles" to the list; I haven't heard the whole thing yet, but what I've heard is amazing.
Four, disappointed with the new Night Ranger, which I was looking forward too; they keep moving heavier and that's not what I listen to Night Ranger for.

I agree The single (Sign of the times) is one of the best pop songs I heard in a long time.

[ChuckSteak]

I think the only album I listened from 2017 is the new Anathema. I gotta say it's their weakest album by far.

[Samsara]

Not much has really grabbed me so far this year to worth noting but so far;

Firewind - Immortals

To give you an example of how underwhelmed I am, I love Firewind, and totally forgot that was this year. It's not a bad album at all. Just not very memorable (as has been with most of 2017 new music so far to me). Looking at it, Firewind, Iced Earth, and Mastodon are all...good. But none blow me away.

Perhaps Living Colour's upcoming album will be a great one.

[Luoto]

?. Foscor - Les Irreals Visions (this is quite promising, needs more listens)

Yep, best release of the year so far. Updated list:

1. Foscor - Les Irreals Visions
2. Mastodon - Emperor of Sand
3. Anomalie - Visions
4. Anthriel - Transcendence
5. Soen - Lykaia
6. Anathema - The Optimist
7. Sólstafir - Berdreyminn
8. Iced Earth - Incorruptible

[Mister Gold]

Yeah, the only album that's really "wowed" me so far this year has been Witherfall's debut album, Nocturnes & Requiems. So yeah, that one kinda wins for me so far by default. The new Iced Earth album (Incorruptible) is also pretty great, though still not on the same level of quality as Witherfall imo.

Aside from that, I'm really with Samsara on this. Haven't really been floored by the usual bands I love this year.

[Crow]

I think I listened to that Foscor album and found it rreeeeeaallly generic but I might have it confused with something else