Here's a pretty much final list of every album I've listened to this year, from worst to best, with my thoughts. Only have two albums [QotSA and Trivium] left to listen to, and I'll edit them in when I do. Y'know, assuming I remember. Also, long post warning!
20. Igorr - Savage Sinsuoid (2.0/5.0)
I've aired my opinions of this album in the Igorr thread, but I'll summarize: this album as a lot of really good moments, and writes a bunch of styles fairly well, but it doesn't worry about actually making sure those styles mesh together or any of the songs flow at all. The album often focuses on experimentation for its own sake rather than making any musical sense. Could be better, honestly.
19. Iglooghost - Neō Wax Bloom (2.5/5.0)
This album's a bit of a chaotic jumble. It has some cool moments, but after a while the album just gets tiring to listen to. Probably not my cup of tea over all.
18. Sons of Apollo - Psychotic Symphony (2.5/5.0)
With all the hype that surrounded this album, I was pretty disappointed after listening to it. This is one of the most cookie cutter prog metal albums I've ever heard. There's a decent song or two here or there, but almost everything on the album is mediocre at best. And some songs (like "Figaro's Whore" and "Opus Maximus") are actually just plain bad. Not a fan of the mix either, as I can't hear Derek Sherinian's keyboard parts half the time and the guitar and bass tones don't mix very well if you ask me.
And no, the band's ridiculous social medial comments did not effect my rating at all.
17. Converge - The Dusk in Us (3.0/5.0)
I've seen this in the middle of a couple of "Album of the Year" listings, so I figure I'd give this a spin. It's okay. Not great, not terrible, but just okay. I've seen a lot of comments about how great this band is live, but so far their studio work has fallen flat on me. Some good riffs and grooves scattered here and there, but the vocals are not even close to how I prefer harsh vocals. Not my cup of tea.
16. Incubus - 8 (3.0/5.0)
After dropping the fantastic Trust Fall Side A EP, my expectations for their 8th album were pretty high. This album proved to be a bit of a disappointment, and probably their worst album I've heard to-date. I'm not a huge fan of the production (especially the guitar tone) or the lyrics, and not many tracks stand out to me now.
15. Hadise - Şampiyon (3.5/5.0)
As far as pop albums go, this one's pretty solid. The title track's an outright banger, and there's some good stuff sprinkled throughout the album. This was a pretty good introduction to Turkish Pop music. Only ranked so low because there's a lot of stuff that was much better.
14. Paramore - After Laughter (3.5/5.0)
Paramore is a band that's hit or miss for me a lot of the time. When they pump out a really good song (Misery Business, Fences, crushcrushcrush, Ignorance, Ain't It Fun, Still Into You, All I Wanted Was You, etc.), that song tends to kick some serious butt. But a lot of their songs just don't do it for me. This album is probably their weakest of the four I've heard, and a lot of the songs fall in to that second category. This could be a grower, but so far it hasn't clicked.
13. Steven Wilson - To the Bone (3.5/5.0)
I could pretty much write the description for this by cutting and pasting blurbs from previous comments. It didn't hit me as strongly as the last four releases (including 4 1/2), but I still feel like it needs some time to grow on me. But, as of now, I haven't had much of an urge to go and listen to it again. Pretty decent, but there was just better stuff this year.
12. Краснознамённая дивизия имени моей бабушки - Посмертные приключения (4.0/5.0)
Yes, that's the actual band name. This album left a pretty good first impression on me, but I haven't really felt the need to revisit it that often. It's got a fun, bouncy atmosphere and mixes elements of Russian Folk, Chamber Pop, and Indie Rock together very cohesively. Very nice album overall.
11. Infected Mushroom - Return to the Sauce (4.0/5.0)
This year, I've tried to put at least some effort into getting into electronic music, and Infected Mushroom was a group that I had come across once or twice on Spotify's Radio and decided to listen to an album by them. Overall, this album's really good, and has a lot more varying moods and textures than a lot of electronic music I've heard so far. There's a lot of really good grooves in here, and it's an album that's hard not to bob your head to. It definitely makes me want to check out the rest of their discography!
10. Persefone - Aathma (4.0/5.0)
I'm still fairly new to Persefone (I just discovered them for the first time a few months ago), but this is probably the weakest of the three albums I've heard so far. It's still good, but it just didn't hit the spot quite like Core or Shin-ken did. Ah well.
The next three albums on the list are pretty close together in terms of quality, so they're pretty much interchangeable.
09. Mastodon - Cold Dark Place (4.0/5.0)
I was a bit surprised to hear Mastodon was dropping an EP right after releasing an album, and I can't say I'm disappointed that they did. This is some quality work here, and it fits in quite nicely with the rest of Mastodon's discography in terms of quality. I really love the acoustic intro to "Toe to Toes", it's one of my favorite moments from any Mastodon song. Probably selfish of me, but I wish there was more songs on this EP.
08. Mastodon - Emperor of Sand (4.0/5.0)
This album sounds like a mix of every other Mastodon album to date. There were moments that sounded like Crack the Skye, The Hunter, Once More Round the Sun, and even Leviathan and Blood Mountain a little. Some solid riffing, and a lot of cool moments and melodies. Not their strongest outing, but overall a really solid addition to their discography. Probably should listen to it more.
It definitely has worst album artwork of the year tho. Yeesh.
07. Flux Conduct - Yetzer Hara (4.0/5.0)
This is probably the most recent addition to this list, and I stumbled upon it by chance in the what album are you listening to thread. I mainly listened to it because of how freaking cool the album artwork is (a bit amusing coming right after Emperor of Sand in this list) and I can't say I'm disappointed that I did. The first track's a bit of a hiccup, but after that the quality gets much better, and this instantly became one of my favorite djent albums.
06. Epica - The Solace System (4.0/5.0)
Epica was firing on all cylinders for this EP, and it really feels like an extension of The Holographic Principle (which was another really solid album from last year). The EP feels pretty contained in itself, and didn't really leave me wanting after it was over. Solid songwriting overall, and Simone Simmons is...well, Simone Simmons. Can't beat that voice. Also, that riff in "The Wheel of Destiny" is delicious. Highlight of the album for me.
05. Taylor Swift - reputation (4.0/5.0)
Probably a weird thing to admit on a Dream Theater forum, but I'm actually a fairly big Swiftie. I've been pretty pumped for this album throughout the year, especially after she dropped two fantastic singles in the form of "Look What You Made Me Do" and "...ready for it?" (which is borderline metal at times. I'm not even kidding, you can almost headbang to that song). I was a bit disappointed that it had a delayed release towards Spotify, but I gave it a listen when it finally dropped and liked what I heard. One of her stronger albums so far and a worth successor to 1989. Like most Taylor Swift albums (and pop albums in general), it has some fat on it, but the overall quality is fairly high and there's some solid bangers on it.
04. Ayreon - The Source (4.0/5.0)
I can't believe this actually came out this year. It feels like it's been ages since this album dropped, and that's really a testament to how long this year has been. Ayreon always hits a pretty consistently high level of quality for me, and this album is no exception. There's a couple of duds on the album, but rock operas are more about the overall package. The album is a good addition to the Ayreon Rock Opera Cycle, and features some of his better work story-wise imo. I also like all the references to 101001101 in the album, and I wish he would do more things like that in Ayreon albums. Also, this is probably one of my favorite "casts" that he's assembled so far, and the singing is fantastic.
03. Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pacifisticuffs (4.5/5.0)
I was anticipating that this album would rank super highly, especially after I've been waiting almost 3 years for it (since the initial release of Jigsaw Hustle back in 2014). These guys did not disappoint me, and the album has been worth the wait. It doesn't quite live up to Pandora's Pinata (not a fault against it, PP was just that good), but there's a lot of really fun songs on this album and I've spun it quite a few times in the short time since it came out. Only major fault with it is that there's way too many short intro/interlude/outro pieces that don't fit the album very well (although, I did notice that the themes from "Climbing the Eyewall" show up a few times in those tracks so that was cool). The new singer fits the band like a glove, and I love the addition of a string quartet throughout the album. The album's their most classically focused since Butcher's Ballroom in terms of composition, which I appreciate greatly, and it has some of their most intricate and complex arrangements to date. Also, it's almost annoyingly catchy.
02. Lorde - Melodrama (5.0/5.0)
Without a doubt, the best pop album of the last decade (and probably even longer than that). A consistently great album from start to finish, that really illustrates what it's like to come of age in modern times. A huge step up from the already great Pure Heroine, this is a great display of maturity in both songwriting and composition. The album has an almost narrative like feel, but more in the sense of an emotional journey rather than an actual story. You really get taken on a rollercoaster with this album, and it's easy to latch on to the emotions being presented here. It peels back the layer of gold paint, and shows just how empty a lot of the youth and party culture of today is and how empty it makes us youngins feel. Might be a bit of a controversial opinion, but Lorde feels like the Nirvana of this generation, essentially painting a perfect picture of what it feels like to grow up in this day and age. The melodies are consistently fantastic and catchy, and her singing has improved by miles since Pure Heroine (there's also a lot more Kate Bush influence here, which is something I thought I'd mention). The production is top notch, and has gotten a lot better since Pure Heroine. Just an amazing and mature album.
And my album of the year is....
01. Ne Obliviscaris - Urn (5.0/5.0)
You ever listened to an album that sounds amazing on the first listen, and then somehow manages to grow on you even more? That's this album for me. This album is quite honestly a masterwork. NeO has built upon every facet of their style introduced in the past two albums, and pushed their compositional abilities to the max. The album loosely (again, loosely) follow the scheme of a four movement sonata: a weighty first movement (Libra), a more energetic second movement (Intra Venus), a slow third movement (Eyrie), and a finale (Urn). The band plays around with transforming a cyclic theme (heard most prominently in Libra Pt 2), and some reoccurring riffs and patterns (the introduction arpeggios to Intra Venus, for example) to give the album a more unified feel. And that's what the album feels like: a completely unified whole. Each song on the album stands strong on its own, but takes on a whole new life in context. This is an album that is completely focused in artistic vision, and there's not a trace of fat to be found on it. Each moment perfectly flows from one to the next, and shows (much like Portal of I and Citadel) how metal can be strangely beautiful. The playing is top notch, as always, and it feels like they've grown from already being great musicians. There's always something new to discover with each listen, and another layer of depth to be uncovered. An album that's both emotionally and musically complex, and quite honestly one of the finest albums ever made.