Retro Albums of the Year 2010's: 2020

[LithoJazzoSphere]

More Than a Dream still had a couple decent tunes, but the next two albums might be the worst case of a band falling off a cliff that I've ever heard.  Still, that debut is one of the more interesting things I've come across in awhile, with the modern Motown sound, and managing to have such an energetic and full sound without guitar. 

[SoundscapeMN]

More Than a Dream still had a couple decent tunes, but the next two albums might be the worst case of a band falling off a cliff that I've ever heard.  Still, that debut is one of the more interesting things I've come across in awhile, with the modern Motown sound, and managing to have such an energetic and full sound without guitar.

yeah, kind of echoes my wife's feeling and I agree with her for the most part. Fitz unfortunately sold out and in-effect jumped the shark.

But those earlier records are quite good.

[SoundscapeMN]

2011

2011, I don't find quite as good as 2010, but it still had a lof of favorites that I listen to semi-regularly.

Kimbra, Mutemath, The Dear Hunter, Team Me, Three, Battle Circus and East of the Wall released albums that are some of it not the best of their careers.

1. The Dear Hunter - The Color Spectrum
2. Hotel of the Laughing Tree - Terror and Everything After
3. Kimbra - Vows
4. Mutemath - Odd Soul
5. The Beach Boys - The Smile Sessions
6. Three - The Ghost You Gave to Me
7. Team Me - To the Treetops
8. East of the Wall - The Apologist
9. Battle Circus - Battle Circus
10. Arch/Matheos - Sympathetic Resonance
11. Arafel - For Battles Once Fought
12. Mercies - Three Thousand Days
13. Vektor - Outer Isolation
14. Jimmy Gnecco - The Heart: X Edition
15. Miracles of Modern Science - Dog Year
16. Bruce Peninsula - Open Flames
17. Tangled Thoughts of Leaving - Deaden the Fields
18. *Shels - Plains of the Purple Buffalo
19. For the Imperium - For the Imperium
20. The Baltic Sea - Period Piece
21. O'Brother - Garden Window
22. Brice Plays Drums - I Laugh at Your Greener Pastures
23. dredg - Chuckles & Mr. Squeezy
24. Radical Face - The Family Tree: The Roots
25. Water & Bodies - Light Year
26. Pain of Salvation - Road Salt Two
27. Neverending White Lights - Act III: Love Will Ruin (Part One)
28. Erick Serna and the Killing Floor - The Grip
29. Anathema - Falling Deeper
30. Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events
31. UneXpect - Fables of the Sleepless Empire
32. Meniscus - War of Currents
33. NewVillager - NewVillager
34. White Denim - D
35. Nicole Atkins - Mondo Amore
36. Hands of Despair - Hereafter
37. Tokyo Jihen - Daihakken
38. Kaddisfly - Demos & Rarities [Compilation]
39. Mother Falcon - Alhambra
40. Al Di Meola - Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody
41. Gotye - Making Mirrors
42. Mayer Hawthorne - How Do You Do
43. Marketa Irglova - Anar
44. Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning
45. Jolly - The Audio Guide to Happiness (Part 1)
46. The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra - All Out of Peaches
47. Protest the Hero - Scurrilous
48. Malajube - La caverne
49. What's Left of Her - Perceptions
50. Falling Up - Your Sparkling Death Cometh
51. Trent Romens - Aware
52. Canon Blue - Rumspringa
53. Metronomy - The English Riviera
54. Stateless - Matilda
55. Skeleton Staff - Psychomorphism
56. Thurisaz - The Cimmerian Years
57. Fair to Midland - Arrows & Anchors
58. Long Distance Calling - Long Distance Calling
59. Younger Brother - Vaccine
60. Glen Campbell - Ghost on the Canvas
61. Jonas Bjerre - Songs and Music from the Movie Skyscraper
62. Other Lives - Tamer Animals
63. Opeth - Heritage
64. Yes - Fly From Here
65. Born of Osiris - The Discovery
66. Cynthesis - DeEvolution

Concerts
1/24/11 School of Seven Bells/Mystery Palace - The 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, MN
2/17/11 Deerhoof/Ben Butler and Mouse Pad/Heatdeath - The Triple Rock Social Club Minneapolis, MN
3/1/11 Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea/Buffalo Moon/Cotton Jones - The Turf Club St.Paul, MN
3/4/11 Menomena/Cloak Ox - The Whole Music Club Minneapolis, MN
3/19/11 The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra - The Dakota Jazz Club Minneapolis, MN
3/19/11 Brute Heart/The Great Confinement/The Funeral and the Twilight - The Kitty Cat Klub Minneapolis,MN
3/24/11 Fair to Midland/Periphery/Scale the Summit - Station 4 St.Paul, MN
3/26/11 Judgement Day/Metropolis/Ruth and Rosie/The Gatino Quartet - The 400 Bar Minneapolis, MN
5/13/11 Dean Magraw's Red Planet - The Artists' Quarter St.Paul, MN
5/14/11 Brute Heart/Tender Meat/Lighted/Patches/Jerusalem and the Starbaskets - The Turf Club St.Paul, MN
5/19/11 Progasm
Orphan Bloom/Watercolors/The Royal Veil/Brice Plays Drums - The 400 Bar Minneapolis, MN
6/4/11 Raphael Saadiq - The Cabooze Minneapolis, MN
6/25/11 Zebulon Pike/The Book of Right On/Battlefields - The Triple Rock Social Club Minneapolis, MN
6/29/11 Elvis Costello and the Imposters - The State Theatre Minneapolis, MN
7/16/11 Fair to Midland/10 Years/Kyng - Station 4 St.Paul, MN
7/2/11 The Monkees - The Minnesota Zoo Amphitheater Apple Valley, MN
7/22/11 The Dear Hunter - The Triple Rock Social Club - Minneapolis, MN
7/29/11 Cloud Cult/Caroline Smith - Orchestra Hall Minneapolis, MN
8/13/11 Chris Isaak - The State Theatre Minneapolis, MN
8/24/11 Return to Forever/Zappa Plays Zappa - The Orpheum Theatre Minneapolis, MN
9/7/11 Vasen - The Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis, MN
10/1/11 The Besnard Lakes/Malajube - The Triple Rock Social Club Minneapolis, MN
10/2/11 St.Vincent/Cate Le Bon - McGuire Theater Walker Art Center Minneapolis, MN
10/2/11 St.Vincent/Cate Le Bon - McGuire Theater Walker Art Center Minneapolis, MN
10/6/11 Kaki King - The Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis, MN
10/7/11 Opeth/Katatonia - First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
10/10/11 Minus the Bear/The Velvet Teen - The Varsity Theater Minneapolis, MN
10/30/11 East of the Wall/Iron Thrones/Witchden/Earthrise - The Triple Rock Social Club Minneapolis, MN
11/4/11 Boogie Wonderland - Minnesota Music Cafe St.Paul, MN
11/5/11 Manchester Orchestra/The Dear Hunter/White Denim - The Cabooze Minneapolis, MN
11/11/11 The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra/Trent Romens/Karmic Sound System/Z-Puppets Rosenschnoz - The Ritz Theater Minneapolis, MN
11/13/11 Cynic/Three/Scale the Summit - Station 4 St.Paul, MN
11/25/11 Rush Heads/Quadrant 4 - The Red Parrot Eau Claire, WI
12/13/11 Fair to Midland/Dead Letter Circus/Aficionado/Throw the Fight - The Varsity Theater Minneapolis, MN
12/17/11 The Book of Right On/Kill the Vultures/Gay Witch Abortion - The Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis, MN

[MirrorMask]

My 2011:

1. Nightwish - Imaginaerum

I worship Floor like any other sane person, but damn this is my favorite Nightwish album, love everything about it.

2. Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events
3. Alice Cooper   - Welcome 2 My Nightmare

4. Iced Earth - Dystopia
5. Powerwolf - Blood of the Saints
6. Edguy - Age of the Joker
7. Korpiklaani - Ukon Wacka
8. Symphony X   - Iconoclast


Gonna edit later if I'm forgetting something, from time to time I see bands when I check out a given year's releases and go "ah yeah, their previous album was so great and I didn't put it in my list".

[HOF]

2011. Awfully thin year for me. Two of these are EPs, one features new arrangements of old songs, and one only has like two listenable songs on it. Making Mirrors is the only full album of original, listenable music here.

1. Gotye - Making Mirrors
2. Nick D'Virgilion - Pieces
3. Peter Gabriel - New Blood
4. Robin Boult & Pete Trewavas - Acoustic Industry
5. Mr. Big - What If

[jingle.boy]

Oh man, 2011 was a most excellent year.  I dunno what you guys are talkin 'bout.

Not mentioned yet:

Amaranthe - s/t
The Anabasis - Back From Being Gone
Anubis - A Tower of Silence
Borealis - Fall From Grace
Consortium Project - V: Species
Constantine - Divine Design
Damnation Angels - Bringer of Light
Dec Burke - Paradigms and Storylines
Eagleheart - Dreamtherapy
Echoes - Nature | Existence
Eden's Curse - Trinity
Epysode - Obesssions
Eumeria - Rebel Mind
Evergrey - Glorious Collusion
Everwood - Without Saving
Expedition:Delta - s/t
Flaming Row - Elinoire
Glass Mind - Haunting Regrets
House of Lords - Big Money
Innosense - Outcast
Iris Divine - Convergence
Journey - Eclipse
League of Lights - s/t
Lost In Thought - Opus Arise
The Magnificent - s/t
Myrath - Tales of the Sands
Nemesea - The Quiet Resistence
Neonfly - Outshine the Sun
Domain - Oceans of Night
Odd Dimension - Symmetrical
Pagan's Mind - Heavenly Ecstacy
The Poodles - Performocracy
Presto Ballet - Invisible Places
Presto Ballet - Love What You've Done With The Place
Prospekt - s/t
Redemption - This Mortal Coil
Royal Hunt - Show Me How To Live
Rush - Time Machine
Serenity - Death and Legacy
Seven Steps to the Green Door - Step in 2 My World
Shattered Skies - Reannimation
Shy - s/t
Soul Secret - Closer to Daylight
Stream of Passion - Darker Days
Subsignal - Touchstones
Sun Caged - The Lotus Effect
Ten - Stormwarning
Theocracy - As the World Bleeds
Toby Hitchcock - Mercury's Down
Transcend - The Mind
WarMachine - Left for Dead
Within Temptation - The Unforgiving
Work of Art - In Progress

[KevShmev]

2011 was not a strong year, but those top four albums for me are all tremendous.

01 Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning
02 Neal Morse - Testimony Two
03 Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
04 Devin Townsend - Ghost
05 Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events
06 Haken - Visions
07 Death Cab for Cutie - Codes and Keys
08 Opeth - Heritage
09 Radiohead - The King of Limbs
10 Blackfield = Welcome to My DNA

[ReaperKK]

Some of my favorite albums come out in 2011. I'm super jealous of your Fair To Midland show in 2011, that's an amazing line up. Some really high highs this year and some pretty disappointing releases:

2011:

1. Fair To Midland - Arrows & Anchors - 5/5 - This is such a killer album
2. Michael Kelsey - Submerged - 5/5 - One of the best instrumental acoustic records out there
3. Grails - Deep Politics - 4.5/5 - Fantastic post rock album
4. Above & Beyond - Group Therapy - 4.5/5 - first EDM record I fell in love with
5. Foo Fighters - Wasting Light - 4/5
6. The Devin Townsend Project - Ghost - 4/5
7. Acoustic Labs - Aerial - 3.5/5
8. The Aristocrats - The Aristocrats - 3.5/5
9. Jeremy Soule - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - 3.5/5
10. Blackmill - Miracle - 3.5/5
11. The Lonely Island - Turtleneck & Chain - 3.5/5
12. The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow - 3/5
13. Blackmill - Reach For Glory - 3/5
14. Eisley - The Valley - 3/5
15. Limp Bizkit - Gold Cobra - 3/5
14. Incubus - If Not Now, When? - 3/5
15. Dark New Day - Hail Mary - 3/5
16. Adele - 21 - 2.5/5
17. Blackfield - Welcome To My DNA - 2.5/5
18. Blue Sky Black Death - NOIR - 2.5/5
19. TesseracT - One - 2/5
20. dredg - Chuckles & Mr. Squeezy - 2/5 - This pains me being so low
21. The Antlers - Burst Apart - 2/5
22. Antoine Dufour - Sound Pictures - 2/5
23. Easily Embarrassed - Tales Of The Coin Spinner - 2/5
24. Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn Of Events - 2/5
25. Opeth - Heritage - 1/5

[nick_z]

2011

Another relatively thin year, especially for real time purchases...of course, A Dramatic Turn of Events came out, and that was a solid statement that the band was in good shape. I loved Within Temptation's The Unforgiving, it's my favorite of theirs (pity their more recent output hasn't grabbed me that much). Fantastic albums from Leprous and Fair to Midland. Late(r) career highlight from Foo Fighters -  imo, Wasting Light is their most consistently good album along with The Colour and the Shape.

As usual, (*) for albums purchased later

Top 15

Within Temptation – The Unforgiving
Leprous – Bilateral *
Fair to Midland – Arrows & Anchors
Dream Theater – A Dramatic Turn of Events
Dead Letter Circus – This is the Warning
Foo Fighters – Wasting Light
Mastodon – The Hunter
Rival Sons – Pressure and Time
Adele – 21
Evanescence – Evanescence
Omnium Gatherum – New World Shadows *
Draconian – A Rose for the Apocalypse *
Haken – Visions *
Amorphis – The Beginning of Times *
Gotye – Making Mirrors


The Honorable Mentions:

Anubis Gate – Anubis Gate *
Arch/Matheos – Sympathetic Resonance *
Black Stone Cherry – Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea
Civil Wars – Barton Hollow *
Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto *
Evergrey – Glorious Collision *
Florence + The Machine - Ceremonials
The Fray – Scars and Stories
In Solitude – The World; The Flesh; The Devil *
Jolly – The Audio Guide to Happiness – Part One
Journey – Eclipse *
Machine Head – Unto the Locust
Mr. Big – What If…
Nightwish – Imaginareum *
Pagan’s Mind – Heavenly Ecstasy *
Soen – Cognitive *
Subsignal – Touchstones *
Symphony X – Iconoclast *
Tesseract – One *
Theocracy – As the World Bleeds *
Vektor – Outer Isolation *
Steven Wilson – Grace for Drowning *
Work of Art – In Progress *
 

[HOF]

2011

Civil Wars – Barton Hollow *

This is a really good album.

[425]

So, I meant to come participate in this thread when it got to years I could do, and then I lost track of it and all of a sudden it was 2011! I guess I'll join for the 2010s, and then maybe after the progress through the years is done, I'll go back and do some previous ones.

I don't have a massive collection, so for every year, I'll probably just rank everything I own that I've listened to enough times to have a good handle on it.

Before actually writing anything down or even looking, I'll just mention that in my mind, 2011 is a strong year. It's the last year before I really started listening to music seriously, so there's nothing real-time for me yet, but in my mind there are a lot of excellent releases from that year.

After looking: Yeah, this year is pretty stacked. The top three, maybe four, albums from this year are all most likely top 50 albums overall for me. All the full-lengths I have listed are at least pretty strong, and I got some enjoyment out of Beyond Magnetic, although I haven't returned to it in a very long time.

The winner for me is an album that is certainly not well-liked, but, on the one hand, it has a lot of sentimental value, and on the hand, I think it legitimately has great songs that people overlook because of the synthpop exterior. And that's Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto. To me, this is just a beautiful and emotionally impactful little 44-minute album. It's really bright and melodic, but it has some appropriately-placed touches of darkness. Every Teardrop is a Waterfall is my favorite song here, I just love how it goes from one awesome melody to another without ever going backward. I also think Us Against the World is a beautiful acoustic song, Hurts Like Heaven is a powerful opener (that I used to play really loud ) and Don't Let It Break Your Heart is one that snuck up on me.


1. Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto
2. Nightwish - Imaginaerum
3. Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events
4. Opeth - Heritage
5. Neal Morse - Testimony 2
6. Haken - Visions
7. Death Cab for Cutie - Codes and Keys
8. Metallica - Beyond Magnetic

[ariich]

2011 was superb, and another big step up in the number of albums I love compared to all the previous years (but that doesn't peak for a few more years still - damn the 2010s really were amazing). Think it's time to start making top 25s now.

1. Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones
2. The Dear Hunter - The Color Spectrum
3. Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events
4. Submotion Orchestra - Finest Hour
5. Within Temptation - The Unforgiving
6. Petter Carlsen - Clocks Don't Count
7. Insomnium - One for Sorrow
8. Haken - Visions
9. Moonsorrow - Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa
10. Leprous - Bilateral
11. The King Blues - Punk & Poetry
12. Protest the Hero - Scurrilous
13. Hiromi - Voice
14. Pain of Salvation - Road Salt Two
15. Kauan - Kuu..
16. Floex - Zorya
17. Ulver - Wars of the Roses
18. Tori Amos - Night of Hunters
19. Thomas Giles - Pulse
20. Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math
21. The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
22. Von Hertzen Brothers - Stars Aligned
23. VNV Nation - Automatic
24. Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
25. Gotye - Making Mirrors

Also great:
Amorphis - The Beginning of Times
Amplifier - The Octopus
Anathema - Falling Deeper
Arcane Roots - Left Fire EP
Arch / Matheos - Sympathetic Resonance
Arkona - Slovo
Arms and Sleepers - The Organ Hearts
Andrew Bayer - It's Artificial
Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues
Bright Eyes - The People's Key
Chaos Divine - The Human Connection
Daughter - The Wild Youth EP
dredg - Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy
Euphoreon - Euphoreon
Fair to Midland - Arrows & Anchors
Falling Up - Your Sparkling Death Cometh
Nils Frahm - Felt
Ghost Brigade - Until Fear No Longer Defines Us
Gloomcatcher - Starla Over the Fences
Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band - That's How We Roll
The Human Abstract - Digital Veil
In Flames - Sounds of a Playground Fading
Markιta Irglovα - Anar
Justice - Audio, Video, Disco
Karmakanic - In a Perfect World
Maribou State - Habitat EP
Mastodon - The Hunter
Mutemath - Odd Soul
Myrath - Tales of the Sands
Nightwish - Imaginaerum
Norther - Circle Regenerated
Omnium Gatherum - New World Shadows
Ott - Mir
Phideaux - Snowtorch
Tony Sly - Sad Bear
Sons of Seasons - Magnisphyricon
Stateless - Matilda
Textures - Dualism
Thrice - Major / Minor
Thy Catafalque - Rengeteg
Toehider - To Hide Her
Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction
Devin Townsend Project - Ghost
Turisas - Stand Up and Fight
Wolverine - Communication Lost

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Very interesting year.  The top tier isn't as strong as '10, but the lower tiers are deeper, and I was almost tempted to break out a fourth one, there were so many I had to leave out.  Since I haven't peeked into this thread until just the last few days, and I haven't done quite this sort of structure before, it'll be interesting to see when we get to '12 and beyond whether this year turns out to be an anomaly. 

Tier 1:

Autumn - Cold Comfort
Francesca Battistelli - Hundred More Years
Vanessa Carlton - Rabbits On the Run
Deadlock - Bizarro World
Draconian - A Rose For the Apocalypse
Kate Havnevik - You
Alison Krauss & Union Station - Paper Airplane
Marissa Nadler - s/t
November's Doom - Aphotic
Opeth - Heritage
Tedeschi Trucks Band - Revelator
TesseracT - One
Chelsea Wolfe - Apokalypsis

Tier 2:

Above & Beyond - Group Therapy
Adele - 21
Amaranthe - s/t
Animals As Leaders - Weightless
Anubis Gate - s/t
Ava Inferi - Onyx
Black Country Communion - 2
Bonamassa/Hart - Don't Explain
Entrails - The Tomb Awaits
Hahn/Lisitsa - Four Sonatas
Warren Haynes - Man In Motion
Sierra Hull - Daybreak
Sarah Jarosz - Follow Me Down
Lights - Siberia
Mercenary - Metamorphosis
NeraNature - Foresting Wounds
Nero - Welcome Reality
Of Monsters & Men - My Head Is An Animal
One Without - Sweet Relief
Only Fate Remains - Breathe
Torchbearer - Death Meditations
Wailin' Jennys - Bright Morning Stars
Within Temptation - The Unforgiving

Tier 3:

Amorphis - The Beginning of Times
Sithu Aye - Cassini
Lisa Batiashvili - Echoes of Time
Beyond Creation - The Aura
Bjork - Biophilia
The Devil's Blood - The Thousandfold Epicentre
Disma - Towards the Megalith
Dragonland - Under the Grey Banner
Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events
Emika - s/t
Fair To Midland - Arrows & Anchors
Fiora - Blue Muse
Haken - Visions
Halcyon - Pastures
Heavenwood - Abyss Masterpiece
Imperative Reaction - s/t
Intervals - The Space Between
Krypts - s/t
Lock-Up - Necropolis Transparent
David Maxim Micic - Bilo
Leszek Mozdzer - Komeda
Nightrage - Insidious
Obscura - Omnivium
Owl City - All Things Bright and Beautiful
Paatos - Breathing
Panzerchrist - Regiment Ragnarok
Madeleine Peyroux - Standing On the Rooftop
Puscifer - Conditions of My Parole
Puteraeon - The Esoteric Order
Ravenscry - One Way Out
Regardless of Me - Pleasures and Fear
Ribspreader - The Van Murders
Scar Symmetry - The Unseen Empire
Shaded Enmity - Hijo perdido
Derek Sherinian - Oceana
Stream of Passion - Darker Days
Symphonian - Incarnation of Reality
Symphony X - Iconoclast
Uneven Structure - Februus
Vallenfyre - A Fragile King
Tom Waits - Bad As Me
Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning

So, I meant to come participate in this thread when it got to years I could do, and then I lost track of it and all of a sudden it was 2011! I guess I'll join for the 2010s, and then maybe after the progress through the years is done, I'll go back and do some previous ones.

Yeah, I wish I'd started at least back in the summer when I was beginning to post again after a very long absence, but reorienting myself to the forum format took awhile, navigating all these massive threads.  I'd love it if we looped back around to the beginning again (or even started earlier, there's plenty of great albums in the 50s and early 60s, I can start making pretty reasonable ones around '56), but there may not be enough turnover in active forum membership for that to be worthwhile. 

[SoundscapeMN]

So, I meant to come participate in this thread when it got to years I could do, and then I lost track of it and all of a sudden it was 2011! I guess I'll join for the 2010s, and then maybe after the progress through the years is done, I'll go back and do some previous ones.

Yeah, I wish I'd started at least back in the summer when I was beginning to post again after a very long absence, but reorienting myself to the forum format took awhile, navigating all these massive threads.  I'd love it if we looped back around to the beginning again (or even started earlier, there's plenty of great albums in the 50s and early 60s, I can start making pretty reasonable ones around '56), but there may not be enough turnover in active forum membership for that to be worthwhile.

there's no problem posting older lists, and I or I recall Reaper was saying he was going to make a Spreadsheet with a cumulative list from each year, and that has no happened yet.

As far as going further back, you could post in this topic or start a new one if you want for that. I personally wouldn't have much of a list for those years, but other may.

I am planning to try and compile a personal Playlist from each year, soon on both Spotify and YouTube (I suspect some tunes will not be found on both). Others could/should do the same.

[ReaperKK]

So, I meant to come participate in this thread when it got to years I could do, and then I lost track of it and all of a sudden it was 2011! I guess I'll join for the 2010s, and then maybe after the progress through the years is done, I'll go back and do some previous ones.

Yeah, I wish I'd started at least back in the summer when I was beginning to post again after a very long absence, but reorienting myself to the forum format took awhile, navigating all these massive threads.  I'd love it if we looped back around to the beginning again (or even started earlier, there's plenty of great albums in the 50s and early 60s, I can start making pretty reasonable ones around '56), but there may not be enough turnover in active forum membership for that to be worthwhile.

there's no problem posting older lists, and I or I recall Reaper was saying he was going to make a Spreadsheet with a cumulative list from each year, and that has no happened yet.

As far as going further back, you could post in this topic or start a new one if you want for that. I personally wouldn't have much of a list for those years, but other may.

I am planning to try and compile a personal Playlist from each year, soon on both Spotify and YouTube (I suspect some tunes will not be found on both). Others could/should do the same.

I did start a master sheet with all the albums and got through the 60's and some of the 70's but it is a bigger task than imagined. I'll keep chipping away at it here and there when I have the time.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

So, I meant to come participate in this thread when it got to years I could do, and then I lost track of it and all of a sudden it was 2011! I guess I'll join for the 2010s, and then maybe after the progress through the years is done, I'll go back and do some previous ones.

Yeah, I wish I'd started at least back in the summer when I was beginning to post again after a very long absence, but reorienting myself to the forum format took awhile, navigating all these massive threads.  I'd love it if we looped back around to the beginning again (or even started earlier, there's plenty of great albums in the 50s and early 60s, I can start making pretty reasonable ones around '56), but there may not be enough turnover in active forum membership for that to be worthwhile.

there's no problem posting older lists, and I or I recall Reaper was saying he was going to make a Spreadsheet with a cumulative list from each year, and that has no happened yet.

As far as going further back, you could post in this topic or start a new one if you want for that. I personally wouldn't have much of a list for those years, but other may.

I am planning to try and compile a personal Playlist from each year, soon on both Spotify and YouTube (I suspect some tunes will not be found on both). Others could/should do the same.

I'll have to ponder this some.  I don't think anyone wants to read all my older lists at once (and it's too much time to generate them that quickly anyway), but maybe I'll start peppering them in one or two extra a week working backwards if I get to it.  Is there a plan for what to do once we get through '20?  Or were you thinking the thread would probably just end then?  Since this started in '65 we could potentially go backwards starting from '64 until collectively we can't make decent lists, or if you don't want that in this thread I may just make a separate one. 

These lists are making me realize even more keenly just how much music there is, with less overlap on some of the lists than I would have expected.  And so many albums I just haven't spent enough time with in my lower tiers that I know are good, but I'm just not familiar enough with them yet to place them higher. 

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Accidental duplicate post. 

[HOF]

These lists are making me realize even more keenly just how much music there is, with less overlap on some of the lists than I would have expected.  And so many albums I just haven't spent enough time with in my lower tiers that I know are good, but I'm just not familiar enough with them yet to place them higher. 

There's so much music out there, and I would imagine from about 2000 on there's significantly more than in prior decades as home recording software and online distribution made it so much easier to make and release music without record company support.

[nick_z]

2011

Civil Wars – Barton Hollow *

This is a really good album.

Indeed. Great voices.

[SoundscapeMN]

So, I meant to come participate in this thread when it got to years I could do, and then I lost track of it and all of a sudden it was 2011! I guess I'll join for the 2010s, and then maybe after the progress through the years is done, I'll go back and do some previous ones.

Yeah, I wish I'd started at least back in the summer when I was beginning to post again after a very long absence, but reorienting myself to the forum format took awhile, navigating all these massive threads.  I'd love it if we looped back around to the beginning again (or even started earlier, there's plenty of great albums in the 50s and early 60s, I can start making pretty reasonable ones around '56), but there may not be enough turnover in active forum membership for that to be worthwhile.

there's no problem posting older lists, and I or I recall Reaper was saying he was going to make a Spreadsheet with a cumulative list from each year, and that has no happened yet.

As far as going further back, you could post in this topic or start a new one if you want for that. I personally wouldn't have much of a list for those years, but other may.

I am planning to try and compile a personal Playlist from each year, soon on both Spotify and YouTube (I suspect some tunes will not be found on both). Others could/should do the same.

I'll have to ponder this some.  I don't think anyone wants to read all my older lists at once (and it's too much time to generate them that quickly anyway), but maybe I'll start peppering them in one or two extra a week working backwards if I get to it.  Is there a plan for what to do once we get through '20?  Or were you thinking the thread would probably just end then?  Since this started in '65 we could potentially go backwards starting from '64 until collectively we can't make decent lists, or if you don't want that in this thread I may just make a separate one. 

These lists are making me realize even more keenly just how much music there is, with less overlap on some of the lists than I would have expected.  And so many albums I just haven't spent enough time with in my lower tiers that I know are good, but I'm just not familiar enough with them yet to place them higher.

there's really no plan exactly. I could change the topic title for those older years once we're through 2020, although I'd be curious how many people actually would be contributing to those older years. Perhaps more than I am thinking of.

I dunno, this whole thing was spawned by a topic I linked in the 1st post which was Albums of the Year by-year, and if you look at many of the posts in that topic and see how many have Albums that go back into the 50's and early 60's, that might give you an idea.

I guess the issue of catching up and doing older years, later-on, might have been avoided had this been done the way I originally thought, by giving each year or even each decade a separate thread, but i worried that might have resulted in less participation and too many separate threads.

I dunno, maybe we could start a new one next year for SONGS? that would go along with the Playlist thing I am looking to start doing soon.
It might be neat to listen to someone else's Playlist for different years, etc..they just could link them in the topic.

[ReaperKK]

I'd personally love a song one next.

[SoundscapeMN]

These lists are making me realize even more keenly just how much music there is, with less overlap on some of the lists than I would have expected.  And so many albums I just haven't spent enough time with in my lower tiers that I know are good, but I'm just not familiar enough with them yet to place them higher. 

There's so much music out there, and I would imagine from about 2000 on there's significantly more than in prior decades as home recording software and online distribution made it so much easier to make and release music without record company support.

you're right about this. I don't think I realized it at the time, but at some point in the late 2000's it hit me that there's so much more music out there to hear and likely being made, compared to the previous eras. And I concluded it was largely due to what you said about the ease of recording music, often at home on one's computer with ProTools, Cubase, etc.

[jingle.boy]

I'd personally love a song one next.

I'd be down for this.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I dunno, maybe we could start a new one next year for SONGS? that would go along with the Playlist thing I am looking to start doing soon.
It might be neat to listen to someone else's Playlist for different years, etc..they just could link them in the topic.

I like that idea.  I've found that prog fans can tend to be overly album-focused, sometimes refusing to listen any other way, considering compilations, greatest hits and such to be anathema.  Which is kind of weird because even most of these artists mix up their songs in setlists when they play live, so even the bands don't consider the exact ordering sacrosanct.  But while I do listen plenty to full albums, I also constantly make playlists from individual songs.  It probably comes from my days making mix-tapes with my best friend back in junior high-high school, but of course Spotify and such make it easy to accomplish the digital version of now. 

[425]

A song one would be cool. Maybe a compromise between doing all one thread and having a thread for each year would be a thread for each decade (with the last one also including 2020 and 2021). That way if someone wants to go back and do older ones, they can do so without doing 20 or 30 years' worth in a single thread.

I'll try to go back and do some previous years for albums in this thread pretty soon, and try to get some of the earlier years done before we get to the present day so that I'm not posting a bunch of years after we've finished.

[WardySI]

Songs albums whatever, I enjoy these lists I've already discovered a few noteworthy albums have missed from years past from reading/sharing others lists although you won't get much from me from 50 and 60's afraid the best I could offer would be 70's and beyond 


2011

1. FOO FIGHTERS Wasting Light
2. PAGAN'S MIND Heavenly Ecstacy
3. MEGADETH Thirteen
4. REECE / KRONLUND Solid
5. AMORPHIS Beginning Of Times


REDEMPTION This Mortal Coil
SYMPHONY X Iconoclast
GEORGE LYNCH Kill All Control
DISTURBED The Lost Children
ANTHRAX Worhip Music
CHICKENFOOT Chickenfoot III
HOUSE OF LORDS Big Money
ICED EARTH Dystopia
SIXX AM This Is Gonna Hurt
3 DOORS DOWN Time Of My Life
SAXON Call To Arms

[TAC]

REDEMPTION This Mortal Coil
ANTHRAX Worhip Music
SAXON Call To Arms

I personally rate these as the three best albums on your list.

[WardySI]

REDEMPTION This Mortal Coil
ANTHRAX Worhip Music
SAXON Call To Arms

I personally rate these as the three best albums on your list.

Sweet!  It really was a toss up between Amorphis and Redemption both bands high on my list of essentials but while neither album is to the highest strengths of their creators (IMO), I do probably reach for that particular Amorphis a little more often than Coil is all 

[TAC]

REDEMPTION This Mortal Coil
ANTHRAX Worhip Music
SAXON Call To Arms

I personally rate these as the three best albums on your list.

Sweet!  It really was a toss up between Amorphis and Redemption both bands high on my list of essentials but while neither album is to the highest strengths of their creators (IMO), I do probably reach for that particular Amorphis a little more often than Coil is all 

This Mortal Coil is a handful for sure. A few years ago, we drove across Wyoming and I had it on. It was weird, but the music blended perfectly with the serene landscapes. It gave those special lyrics a whole 'nuther level of meaning.

[WardySI]

REDEMPTION This Mortal Coil
ANTHRAX Worhip Music
SAXON Call To Arms

I personally rate these as the three best albums on your list.

Sweet!  It really was a toss up between Amorphis and Redemption both bands high on my list of essentials but while neither album is to the highest strengths of their creators (IMO), I do probably reach for that particular Amorphis a little more often than Coil is all 

This Mortal Coil is a handful for sure. A few years ago, we drove across Wyoming and I had it on. It was weird, but the music blended perfectly with the serene landscapes. It gave those special lyrics a whole 'nuther level of meaning.

Ahhh well said mate I've been explaining this very thing to folks for years when they ask why it is certain albums mean what they do to us often it's the time place and whatnot.  I've quite a few examples but one that always comes to mind is the debut Candlebox, I remember when that was new was touring some country on my motorcycle back in the day, was rural with pastures as far as the eye could see with barely any other traffic, the sun casting long shadows while Far Behind playing in ears.  Perfect!

Re Coil, I think tbf off the back of Snowfall On Judgement Day it had a hard task in front if it and initial listens suggested would require extra attention, and it did!

That said Coil was again a huge album lyrically was so on point at that particular time given Nik's cancer diagnosis etc, some incredible stuff!  Let It Rain was immediate and remains a fave, one of their best slower songs it's simply beautiful and heart wrenching it brings me the same vibes as Parker's Eyes albeit very different songs...  Also on initial listens was drawn to both the Path OT Whirlwind 'no way back no way home again' and Stronger Than Death, but it took a little more time for the record to really sink in. 

Am starting to feel bad I didn't include it in my 5 now LOL but like I said it's not the one I often reach for but sure as heck am going to reach for it today see what more magic it can throw me

[SoundscapeMN]

2012

2012 I think back of largely for a couple of albums and EPs towards the top. Queen of the Wave is a stone cold classic, from a band I only found out about per just randomly checking out given it was #1 on the 2012 Rateyourmusic.com chart. Wondering at 1 point if Ne Obliviscaris was #1, although Portal of I came out May 7th, and Queen of the Wave came out much earlier on January 30th, so it likely wasn't just the case of looking at the charts and finding Pepe Deluxe.

But it's a perfect pop opera in many ways, channeling a lot of Dick Dale, 50's and early 60's Cinema among many other styles.

The Brice Plays Drums album "Man the Animal Cannon" is probably my favorite "prog" album from my home state of Minnesota, ever. Vuvuzela, Gatherer, Anathema, Spawn of Possession, Ramona Falls, House of Fools; and EPs from Forest Park and Bruce Peninsula and many others are still releases I listen to and love.

1. Pepe Deluxι - Queen of the Wave
2. Brice Plays Drums - Man the Animal Cannon
3. Vuvuzela - The Hollow Choir
4. Bend Sinister - Small Fame
5. Gatherer - So Be It
6. Anathema - Weather Systems
7. House of Fools - Versus the Beast
8. Ramona Falls - Prophet
9. Spawn of Possession - Incurso
10. Mike Linden - Bubble & Squeak
11. Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra - Theatre Is Evil
12. Media Addicts - Autonomy
13. Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I
14. Marillion - Sounds That Can't Be Made
15. Sucrι - A Minor Bird
16. The Gathering - Disclosure
17. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
18. The Family Crest - The Village
19. Debashish Bhattacharya - 'Madeira'
20. Muse - The 2nd Law
21. Rush - Clockwork Angels
22. Crippled Black Phoenix - (Mankind) The Crafty Ape
23. The Mars Volta - Noctourniquet
24. Menomena - Moms
25. Umbrella Tree - To the Memory of a Once Great Man
26. King Bathmat - Truth Button
27. Bryan Scary - Daffy's Elixir
28. Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax II: Future Sequence
29. Memoryhouse - The Slideshow Effect
30. Archive - With Us Until You’re Dead
31. Oedipus - Vicious Little Smile
32. Flying Colors - Flying Colors
33. Black Ribbons - Neuromancer
34. Guante and Big Cats - You Better Weaponize
35. Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pandora's Piρata
36. Ihsahn - Eremita

Andre Matos - The Turn of the Lights
Early Ghost - Cadaques
The Bewitched - Without a Net
Exotic Animal Petting Zoo - Tree of Tongues
Chrome Canyon - Elemental Themes
Jessie Ware - Devotion
The Beach Boys - That's Why God Made the Radio
Coheed and Cambria - The Afterman: Ascension
Alcest - Les voyages de l'βme
Minus the Bear - Infinity Overhead
Jazzkamikaze - The Return of JazzKamikaze
Moonloop - Deeply From the Earth
Oddland - The Treachery of Senses
Josh Benash - The Dismal; The Beautiful
Emanuel and The Fear - The Janus Mirror
Negroni's Trio - On the Way
Bloc Party - Four
nosound - At the Pier
Barock Project - Coffee in Neukφlln

EPs
1. Forest Park - Forest Park
2. Bruce Peninsula - Of Songs
3. Mercies - The Ballet
4. Northern Abbey - Northern Abbey
5. Pretty & Nice - Us You All We
6. Agalloch - Faustian Echoes
7. British Theatre - Dyed in the Wool Ghost
8. British Theatre - British Theatre
9. Water & Bodies - American Dream
10. Bend Sinister - On My Mind
11. Crippled Black Phoenix - No Sadness or Farewell
12. Hotel of the Laughing Tree - Mammoth Skin, Pt. 1
13. The Barnum Meserve - Broken Window
14. The Royal Veil - The Royal Veil

Concerts
2/18/12 Mutemath/Canon Blue - First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN
3/3/12 Memoryhouse - The Turf Club St.Paul, MN
3/28/12 Timbre/Samuel Lockridge/Amy Courts - The Beat Coffee House Minneapolis, MN
4/4/12 Gotye/Kimbra - Epic Minneapolis, MN
4/28/12 Fountains of Wayne/Nicole Atkins - The Varsity Theater Minneapolis, MN
5/18/12 Mayer Hawthorne and the County/The Stepkids - First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
6/1/12 Jon Anderson - The Dakota Jazz Club Minneapolis, MN
6/5/12 Ramona Falls/The Darcy's - The 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, MN
6/6/12 Soap performs Pink Floyd's Animals - The Cabooze Minneapolis, MN
6/23/12 Marillion - Park West Chicago, IL
6/22/12 Marillion - Park West Chicago, IL
6/27/12 Dream Theater - State Theatre Minneapolis, MN
7/10/12 Ours - The 400 Bar Minneapolis, MN
8/16/12 Brice Plays Drums/Super Pilots/Peregrine Perspective/There Are No Words - The 400 Bar Minneapolis, MN
8/18/12 Randy Brecker/Super Pilots - Nicollet Commons Park Burnsville, MN
8/21/12 Dean Magraw - Cafe Maude Minneapolis, MN
8/24/12 Media Addicts - The Artists' Quarter St.Paul, MN
8/27/12 The Turtles/Micky Dolenz/Gary Puckett - Minnesota State Fair Grandstand Falcon Heights, MN
9/4/12 Dean Magraw with Davu Seru - Black Dog Cafe St.Paul, MN
9/22/12 Kansas/King's X - Myth Maplewood, MN
9/24/12 Rush - Target Center Minneapolis, MN
10/3/12 Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra/The Ronald Reagans First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
10/6/12 Timbre - The Lion's Lair Northfield, MN
10/12/12 Debashish Bhattacharya/Steve Sklar/Johnna Morrow - The Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis, MN
10/16/12 Kimbra/The Stepkids - The Varsity Theater Minneapolis, MN
10/20/12 Menomena/PVT - The Triple Rock Social Club Minneapolis, MN
10/26/12 Poncho Sanchez - The Ordway Theater St.Paul, MN
10/29/12 Brute Heart performs live score for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari/MAKR - The Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis, MN
11/8/12 Ramona Falls/The Helio Sequence - The Turf Club St.Paul, MN
11/15/12 The Monkees - The State Theatre Minneapolis, MN
11/27/12 The Who - Target Center Minneapolis, MN
12/19/12 Billy Graczyk - The Artists' Quarter St.Paul, MN

[HOF]

2012 is a shorter list for me, but it really was a pretty strong year.

1. Sweet Billy Pilgrim - Crown and Treaty
2. Marillion - Sounds That Can't Be Made
3. Flying Colors - Flying Colors
4. Lo-Fi Resistance - Chalk Lines
5. Paul Buchanan - Mid Air
6. Neal Morse - Momentum
7. Rush - Clockwork Angels

[LithoJazzoSphere]

2012:

Pretty strong year.  I'm going to try four tiers this time, three just isn't seeming nearly a fine enough amount of gradation. 

Tier 1:

Anathema - Weather Systems
And One - S.T.O.P.
The Birthday Massacre - Hide and Seek
Daylight Dies - A Frail Becoming
Grimes - Visions
Katatonia - Dead End Kings
Look Right Penny - Sugar Lane
Jeff Loomis - Plains of Oblivion SE
mind.in.a.box - Revelations
Sybreed - God is an Automaton
To-Mera - Exile
Tremonti - All I Was
triosence/Sara Gazarek - Where Time Stands Still
Trust - TRST

Tier 2:

Andain - You Once Told Me
Celldweller - Wish Upon a Blackstar
Delain - We Are the Others
Engel - Blood of Saints
Lazerhawk - Visitors
Perturbator - I Am the Night
Purity Ring - Shrines
Skyharbor - Blind White Noise: Illusion & Chaos
Velvet Acid Christ - Maldire
Chelsea Wolfe - Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs

Tier 3:

Aeternam - Moongod
Akphaezya - Anthology IV: The Tragedy of Nerak
Sithu Aye - Invent the Universe
Francesca Battistelli - Christmas
The Chromatics - Kill For Love
Dark Princess - The World I've Lost
Desultor - Masters of Hate
The Gathering - Disclosure
Sara Gazarek - Blossom & Bee
Anneke van Giersbergen - Everything Is Changing
Paul Gilbert - Vibrato
Haji's Kitchen - Twenty Twelve
Halestorm - The Strange Case Of...
Lethian Dreams - Season of Raven Words
Light Asylum - s/t
Miseration - Tragedy Has Spoken
Ram-Zet - Freaks In Wonderland
Rush - Clockwork Angels
Soen - Cognitive
Testament - Dark Roots of the Earth
Van Halen - A Different Kind of Truth
Woods of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light

Tier 4:

Absent Hearts - August Earth
Aeon - Aeons Black
Antimatter - Fear of a Unique Identity
Assemblage 23 - Bruise
Atrium Carceri - Void
Nicola Benedetti - The Silver Violin
Black Breath - Sentenced To Life
Joe Bonamassa - Driving Towards the Daylight
Natasha Borzilova - Out of My Hands
Call Me No One - Last Parade
Jimmy Cliff - Rebirth
The Contortionist - Intrinsic
Dark New Day - New Tradition
Desecresy - The Doom Skeptron
De/Vision - Rockets & Swords
Enabler - All Hail the Void
Evadne - The Shortest Way
Evoken - Atra mors
The Foreshadowing - Second World
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!
Grave - Endless Process of Souls
The Great Old Ones - Al Azif
Anna von Hausswolff - Ceremony
Headspace - I Am Anonymous
Gustaf Hildebrand - Heliopause
Hooded Menace - Effigies of Evil
Hour of Penance - Sedition
iamthemorning - ~
Jess and the Ancient Ones - s/t
Lacuna Coil - Dark Adrenaline
Mass Burial - Of Carrion and Pestilence
David Maxim Micic - Bilo 2.0
The Night Flight Orchestra - Internal Affairs
Nonexist - From My Cold Dead Hands
One-Way Mirror - Destructive By Nature
Panzerballett - Tank Goodness
Projected - Human
Puteraeon - Cult Cthulhu
Ribspreader - Kult of the Pneumatic Killrod (And a Collection of Ribs)
Sabled Sun - 2146
Silversun Pickups - Neck of the Woods
Sixpence None the Richer - Lost in Translation
Slash/Myles Kennedy - Apocalyptic Love
Snarky Puppy - groundUP
S U R V I V E - s/t
Swallow The Sun - Emerald Forest and the Blackbird
Threshold - March of Progress
Devin Townsend - Epicloud
Troum - Grote Mandrenke
VCMG - Ssss
When Nothing Remains - As All Torn Asunder
Words of Farewell - Immersion
Zonoria - Arrival of the Red Sun

[MirrorMask]

Relatively short list for my 2012...

1. ELVENKING - Era (Excellent power / folk metal album, highly recommended!)

2. Halestorm - The Strange Case Of... (One of the best hard rock albums out there)

3. Flying Colors - Flying Colors (Excellent debut album, the perfect blend of catchy tunes and music virtuosity!)

And then, somehow maybe in order...

Rage - 21
Kamelot - Silverthorn
Sonata Arctica - Stones Grow Her Name
Grave Digger - Clash of the Gods
Eluveitie - Helvetios
Therion - Les Fleurs du Mal

[LithoJazzoSphere]

2009:

It's interesting to do this one now.  This is the last year I actually somewhat tried to listen to new albums in the year.  For most of the 10s I grew disinterested in keeping up with newer music and often didn't find things until a few years after they'd come out.  This didn't change until last year, where I've gotten back to trying to keep up more.  My old '09 list was woefully out of date, so it's still just easier to start from scratch again.  This is a bit of a weaker year than the last few I've done, but somehow has even more releases I liked than other years, I had to cut out at least three tiers and there's still arguably too many. 

Tier 1:

Amorphis - Skyforger
Autumn - Altitude
Darzamat - Solfernus' Path
Dejafuse - s/t
Delain - April Rain
Imogen Heap - Ellipse
Katatonia - Night is the New Day
Kings of Convenience - Declaration of Dependence
Lethian Dreams - Bleak Silver Streams
Lights - The Listening
Liquid Divine - Autophobia
Nightrage - Wearing a Martyr's Crown
Silversun Pickups - Swoon
Sybreed - The Pulse of Awakening

Tier 2:

Animals As Leaders - s/t
Anubis Gate - The Detached
Colbie Caillat - Breakthrough
Stanley Clarke Trio - Jazz in the Garden
D Creation - Silent Echoes
dredg - The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion
Elysion - Silent Scr3am
The Gathering - The West Pole
Sarah Jarosz - Song Up in Her Head
Novembers Doom - Into Night's Requiem Infernal
Nox Aurea - Vis Gnosis
Obscura - Cosmogenesis
Ram-Zet - Neutralized
Swallow The Sun - New Moon
Devin Townsend - Addicted
Vertical Horizon - Burning the Days
The Yeah You's - Looking Through You

Tier 3:

Alice In Chains - Black Gives Way To Blue
Apoptygma Berzerk - Rocket Science
Atrium Carceri - Phrenitis
Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
Behemoth - Evangelion
Joe Bonamassa - The Ballad of John Henry
Anouar Brahem - The Astounding Eyes of Rita
Code For Silence - D.Ecaying M.Atter O.Rganic N.Emesis
Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe
Depressed Mode - ...For Death...
Disarmonia Mundi - The Isolation Game
Don Johnson Big Band - Records Are Forever
Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings
The Eden House - Smoke & Mirrors
Lawrence English - A Colour For Autumn
Exivious - s/t
Fleshgod Apocalypse - Oracles
Anneke van Giersbergen - In Your Room
Grammatics - s/t
Halestorm - s/t
Hiromi - Place To Be
La Roux - s/t
Aynsley Lister - Equilibrium
Miseration - The Mirroring Shadow
Mystica - Second Dive
One Without - Thoughts of a Secluded Mind
Panzerballett - Hart Genossen von Abba bis Zappa
Shaded Enmity - Like Prayers On Deaf Ears
Raving Season - The Brightness of My Disaster
Regardless of Me - The World Within
Scar Symmetry - Dark Matter Dimensions
Shirock - Everything Burns
Stream of Passion - The Flame Within
Theatre of Tragedy - Forever is the World
To-Mera - Earthbound EP (I might start including more of these if they're closer to a half-hour like this one is, I've mostly ignored them on the '10-'12 lists so far)
Yuja Wang - Sonatas & Etudes

Tier 4:

Adagio - Archangels in Black
Demonical - Hellsworn
Editors - In This Light and on This Evening
The Few Against Many - SOT
For Selena and Sin - Primrose Path
Krypts - Open the Crypt
Lacuna Coil - Shallow Life
Megadeth - Endgame
Nile - Those Whom the Gods Detest
Omega Lithium - Dreams in Formaline
Owl City - Ocean Eyes
Porcupine Tree - The Incident
Derek Trucks Band - Already Free
Witchbreed - Heretic Rapture