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General => General Music Discussion => Topic started by: Moor on December 09, 2014, 05:37:46 AM
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Mine are as follows:
5. Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope
4. Flying Colors - Second Nature
3. Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun
2. Haken - Restoration
1. Opeth - Pale Communion
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In preference order, only studio albums:
1. Flying Colors – Second Nature
2. Opeth – Pale Communnion
3. Enchant – The Great Divide
4. Winger – Better Days Comin’
5. KXM (the coolest/killer drums work of the year for me) or Mr Big – Stories We Could Tell. I can’t decide between these two
Haken - Restoration is wonderful, but it really has an "EP feel", different than an "album feel" or a "live album feel". By the way, Tiles - Off the Floor 2 is very very nice (besides DT - Breaking the Forth Wall, of course!)
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Why only 5? :(
1. Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun
2. Schizoid Lloyd - The Last Note in God's Magnum Opus
3. Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope
4. Pain of Salvation - Falling Home
5. Flaming Row - Mirage: A Portrayal of Figures
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5. Mastodon - Once more 'round the sun
4. Weezer - Everything will be alright in the end
3. Eels - The Cautionary tales of Mark Oliver Everett
2. Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope
1. Damon Albarn - Everyday robots
Also really good: Slipknot, Flying colors, The Sixxis, Mac Demarco and Coldplay.
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Not 100% sure on the order of the top 3 and I know Restoration is an EP, but the OP listed it, so this is my 5:
1. Transatlantic - 'Kaleidoscope'
2. Vanden Plas - 'Chronicles Of The Immortals - Netherworld'
3. Haken - 'Restoration'
4. Anathema - 'Distant Satellites'
5. Opeth - 'Pale Communion'
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1- Anathema - Distant Satellites
2- Destiny Potato - Lun
3- Solstafir - Otta
4- Jordan Rudess - Explorations
5- Casualties of Cool - Casualties of Cool
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5- Casualties of Cool - Casualties of Cool
Never heard of this band before :P
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It's Devin Townsend's new ambient/country project. It's quite space-y.
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Subject to change (very much so given my indecisiveness in this regard), and definitely in no particular order:
Edguy - Space Police
Epica - The Quantum Enigma
Flying Colors - Second Nature
MØ - No Mythologies To Follow
Taylor Swift - 1989
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It's Devin Townsend's new ambient/country project. It's quite space-y.
That was meant as a joke but the joke's on me. I thought it was a Devin Townsend album. My bad.
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1. Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways
2. Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun
3. Opeth - Pale Communion
4. Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope
5. Threshold - For The Journey
If we can have EPs also I'd like to add Haken - Restoration.
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Why only 5? :(
Yeah, I got 45 or so to rank. Rather than starting a new thread, I'll post/follow here, and do that sometime in the middle of the month. Still have a few recent releases to figure out where they will likely fit.
Top 5 is pretty much set though:
1. Vanden Plas: Chronicles Of The Immortals - Netherworld
2. Flying Colors: Second Nature
3. Evergrey: Hymns for the Broken
4. Transatlantic: Kaleidescope
5. Anubis: Hitchhiking To Byzantium
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No particular order
Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways
Pink Floyd - The Endless River
Flying Colors - Second Nature
Opeth - Pale Communion
Haken - Restoration (I don't care that it's only an EP)
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Most of the music I listen to on any given year is catching up from previous years/decades, so I don't listen to too many new albums, but these are my favorites, in no particular order.
Within Temptation - Hydra
Alestorm - Sunset on the Golden Age
Judas Priest - Redeemer of Souls
Kobra and the Lotus - High Priestess
Tech N9ne - Strangeulation
One of these is not like the others. :lol
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Handy that I've bought exactly 5 albums from this year.
1. Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope
2. Flying Colors - Second Nature
3. IQ - The Road of Bones
4. Enchant - The Great Divide
5. Panic Room - Incarnate
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1. IQ - The Road of Bones
2. Vanden Plas - Chronicles of the Immortals: Netherworld
3. Opeth - Pale Communion
4. Evergrey - Hymns for the Broken
5. Unisonic - Light of Dawn
This was tough, heard and bought a lot of albums this year. The Endless River still hasn't arrived, so I'll probably change the list if I like it.
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This was tough, heard and bought a lot of albums this year. The Endless River still hasn't arrived, so I'll probably change the list if I like it.
Doubt it.
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This was a really meh year compared to 2013.
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1. Skyharbor- Guiding Lights
2. The Contortionist- Language
3. Fallujah- The Flesh Prevails
4. Distorted Harmony- Chain Reaction
5. Imogen Heap- Sparks (tie), Stealing Axion- Aeons.
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Have yet to complete my list but so far i'm happy:
1. Evergrey - Hymns For The Broken
2.
3.
4.
5.
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1. Unisonic- Light Of Dawn
2. Accept-Blind Rage
3. Thoughts Factory- Lost
4. Riot V- Unleash The Fire
5. Mike Lepond's Silent Assassins
I've only had Harmony's Theatre Of Redemption less than a week, but I am loving it. It may hit the Top 5.
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1. Unisonic- Light Of Dawn
2. Accept-Blind Rage
3. Thoughts Factory- Lost
4. Riot V- Unleash The Fire
5. Mipe Lepond's Silent Assassins
Oh yeah, forgot about Mipe. I wasn't overly impressed with it though.
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If you ask me, the world definitely needs more Mipe.
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Long live Mipe!!
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I Mipe check it out.
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I Mipe not.
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:lol
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No particular orderPink Floyd - The Endless River
Oh, I missed the release on that! How is it?
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No particular orderPink Floyd - The Endless River
Oh, I missed the release on that! How is it?
It's a nice album to have as background music while you're doing something
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Didn't hear many albums from this year but, anyway, here they are:
1. Run The Jewels - RTJ2
2. Aphex Twin - Syro
3. Freddie Gibbs/Madlib - Piñata
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IQ- The Road of Bones
Flaming Row- Mirage- A Portrayal of Figures
Intervals- A Voice Within
Thoughts Factory- Lost
Destrage- Are You Kidding Me? No.
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I didn't think I had heard that many albums this year, but when I counted there were more than I expected.
1. Haken - Restoration EP
2. Anathema - Distant Satellites
3. White Moth Black Butterfly - One Thousand Wings
4. Skyharbor - Guiding Lights
5. Kadawatha - The World of Hipocracy
Meshuggah also released a re-mastered or something version of their 'I' EP this year. I don't know if that would count, but that's a really freakin' cool 20 min beast.
I also saw that many of you had Flying Colors new on your list, so I gave it a try, and I didn't like it. It wasn't bad, just very very average.
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1. Sevendust's Time Travelers and Bonfires
2. Big Wreck's Ghosts
3. Foo Fighters' Sonic Highways
4. Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators' World on Fire
5. California Breed's California Breed
Great year for me. I've listened to 28 albums released in 2014. Some were great (Black Stone Cherry), some were dull (Coldplay), some I found weird (Nickelback), and some I found surprisingly good (Linkin Park).
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... and some I found surprisingly good (Linkin Park).
I feel the oppisite. The Hunting Party was quite the disappointment, very uninspired music.
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Albums eh?
Well my real number 1 is Nobel - The River's Rise EP, but here's my top 5 albums:
1. Job For a Cowboy - Sun Eater
2. Kimbra - The Golden Echo
3. Usnea - Random Cosmic Violence
4. Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails
5. Behemoth - The Satanist
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This is hard
1. IQ - Road of bones
2. Anathema - Distant Satellites
3. Ownl John - Owl John
4. Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope
5. Nightingale - Retribution
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No particular orderPink Floyd - The Endless River
Oh, I missed the release on that! How is it?
Gorgeous, beatiful, and ambient. Reminiscent of old PF.
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If you know (not sure which edition you got), is the deluxe edition worth it?
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No particular orderPink Floyd - The Endless River
Oh, I missed the release on that! How is it?
Gorgeous, beatiful, and ambient. Reminiscent of old PF.
... without the vocals
Bosk... let me allow you to test drive the album. Put "Cluster One" on a loop for about 45 minutes. You've just listened to The Endless River.
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1 - Z2 by Devin Townsend
2 - Are You Kidding Me? No. by Destrage
3 - Pale Communion by Opeth
4 - Museica by Caparezza
5 - Heroes by Sabaton
6 - Restoration EP by Haken
7 - Sonic Highways by Foo Fighters
Yeah, I know they're seven but I couldn't exclude anything.
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1. Primal Fear - Delivering the Black
2. Evergrey - Hymns for the Broken
3. Live - The Turn
4. Vanden Plas: Chronicles Of The Immortals - Netherworld
5. In Flames - Siren Charms
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If you know (not sure which edition you got), is the deluxe edition worth it?
I didn't get the deluxe. And, in general, ignore Canadians. But yes, most of it is instrumental.
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And, in general, ignore Canadians.
One of the most basic tenets I live by.
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Put "Cluster One" on a loop for about 45 minutes. You've just listened to The Endless River.
Yeah, this is pretty much spot on. It's all nice, but gets a bit boring after a while.
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1. Angel At My Table - Light
2. Taylor Swift - 1989
3. Amaranthe - Massive Addictive
4. Shear - Katharsis
5. Arion - Last of Us
6. Rainover - Transcending the Blue and Drifting into Rebirth
7. Anathema - Distant Satellites
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No particular order:
1: Opeth - Pale Communion
2: Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope
3: Swans - To Be Kind
4: Clipping - Clppng
5: Mastodon - Once More Round the Sun
Great year, was really hard to choose 5 but these are the ones that got the most plays from me I think.
And just for fun, here's 5 EP's:
1: Haken - Restoration
2: Periphery - Clear
3: Chon - Woohoo!
4: Val Emmich - Autobio, Pt 1
5: The Helix Nebula - Meridian
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If you know (not sure which edition you got), is the deluxe edition worth it?
I didn't get the deluxe. And, in general, ignore Canadians. But yes, most of it is instrumental.
And by "most", you mean "everything except the last track".
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I could probably do 10, but I'm sure about these 5. Got a tie for the one spot. I tried to decide which I liked better, but I couldn't, so I just stuck 'em both at the top.
1. Bear Hands – Distraction
1. The Guru – Pretty Things
3. The Black Keys – Turn Blue
4. Antemasque – Antemasque
5. Future Islands – Singles
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1. Swans - To Be Kind
2. YOB - Clearing The Path To Ascend
3. Darkest Era - Severance
4. Evergrey - Hymns For The Broken
5. Cynic - Kindly Bent To Free Us
Honorable Mention:
Agalloch - The Serpent And The Sphere
Horrendous - Ecdysis
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1- Primal Fear- Delivering the Black
2- Judas Priest- Redeemer of Souls
3- Accept- Blind Rage
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Most of the music I listen to on any given year is catching up from previous years/decades, so I don't listen to too many new albums
I'm pretty much in the same boat. I've only listened to maybe 10 releases this year.
1. Swans - To Be Kind
2. Have a Nice Life - The Unnatural World
3. Behemoth - The Satanist
4. Haken - Restoration
5. Agalloch - The Serpent & the Sphere
6. Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
Went ahead with a top 6 cause Restoration isn't an album, but really deserves a spot there anyways.
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Locktender - Kafka
alt-J - This is All Yours
Damien Rice - My Favourite Faded Fantasy
Jakob - Sines
Anathema - Distant Satellites
If I could put Haken - Restoration in, it'd be fourth, but it's an EP, so I'm not sure I'd rank it with the other albums. Its quality, however, fits in just fine.
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1. Flying Colors - Second Nature
2. Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun
3. Opeth - Pale Communion
4. Scar Symmetry - Singularity (Phase 1 - Neohumanity)
5. Ghost Brigade - 4: One With The Storm
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1- Primal Fear- Delivering the Black
I thought this might be the case. :tup
3. Behemoth - The Satanist
This would probably be number 6 or 7 for me.
4. Scar Symmetry - Singularity (Phase 1 - Neohumanity)
This one would probably make my top 10.
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1. Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
2. Need - Orvam: A Song for Home
3. Casualties of Cool - Casualties of Cool
4. Dog Fashion Disco - Sweet Nothings
5. Evergrey - Hymns for the Broken
Honourable mentions:
Devin Townsend - Sky Blue
Agalloch - The Serpent & The Sphere
Farin Urlaub - Faszination Weltraum
Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails
Destiny Potato - Lun
Triptykon - Melana Chasmata
Destrage - Are You Kidding Me? No.
Haken - Restoration
Psycrence - A Frail Deception
Vanden Plas - Chronicles of the Immortals: Netherworld
Damn, it's been a good year.
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3. Behemoth - The Satanist
This would probably be number 6 or 7 for me.
Oh didn't know there were some love for Behemoth on the forums. Cool to hear!
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The Satanist is great! Barely missed my list.
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1. Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
2. Need - Orvam: A Song for Home
3. Casualties of Cool - Casualties of Cool
4. Dog Fashion Disco - Sweet Nothings
5. Evergrey - Hymns for the Broken
Damn, it's been a good year.
Need would definitely make my top 10, brilliant album. It's outstanding how many good ones were released this year that it didn't made my top 5, great year indeed.
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Agreed, a tremendous piece of music.
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1) IQ - The Road Of Bones (everything else pales in comparison)
2) Priest - Redeemer Of Souls
3) Soen - Tellurian
4) TA - Kaleidoscope
5) Earth Wind And Fire - Now Then And Forever
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What the hell, forgot to mention the gorgeous Belighted, by iamthemorning.
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1. Anathema- Distant Satellites
2. David Gray- Mutineers
3. Agalloch- Serpent and the Sphere
4. Edguy- Space Police
5- Kayo Dot - Coffins on Io
6. Need- Orvam: A Song for Home
7. Petter Carlsen- Sirens
8. The Antlers- Familiars
9- Voyager- V
10- Ne Obliviscaris- Citadel
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off the top of my head
Edguy - Space Police
Dynazty - Renatus
H.E.A.T - Tearing Down The Walls
MindMaze - Back fROM tHE Edge
Red Zone Rider - S/T
Lots of good stuff bubbling under - Winger, Age Sten Nilsson's Ammunition, Primal Fear, Flying Colors, Accept, Threshold, Unisonic, Ace Frehley, Silent Force (was that this year?), MAsterplan, Stryper, Project Arcadia. I thought it was a good year.
Still deciding on the Harem Scarem, Rated X, Lynch Mob
Biggest disappointment - Judas Priest (liked it at first but... I was wrong),
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1. While Heaven Wept-Suspended At Aphelion
2. Scar Symmetry-The Singularity Part 1
3. Pink Floyd-The Endless River
4. Sanctuary-The Year The Sun Died
5. Flying Colors-Second Nature.
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Dynazty - Renatus
a great album!
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1. Foo Fighters Sonic Highways
2. Pink Floyd The Endless River
3. Bruce Springsteen High Hopes
4. Slash & Myles Kennedy World on Fire
5. The Roots ...and then you shoot your Cousin
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Biggest disappointment - Judas Priest (liked it at first but... I was wrong),
Priest pretty much met my expectations. I didn't really expect anything great, but I didn't think it'd be bad. And that's pretty much what I got. Some solid classic Metal. It's middle of the road for them but it's really consistent (only one or two songs I don't really like) and there are a few songs that could become favorites of mine down the road, such as Sword of Damocles and Hell and Back. The bonus disc is really great too, some of the best "bonus tracks" I've heard.
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Lots of good stuff bubbling under - Winger, Age Sten Nilsson's Ammunition, Primal Fear, Flying Colors, Accept, Threshold, Unisonic, Ace Frehley, Silent Force (was that this year?), MAsterplan, Stryper, Project Arcadia. I thought it was a good year.
Silent Force was December 2013. What did Masterplan release this year?
It's been a GREAT year, imo. And I'm just remembering (and discovering) some new things here because of these lists. :evilmonkey: to some of you.
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Jordan Rudess - Explorations :rollin
Adrenaline Mob - Men of Honor ;)
Hammerfall - (r)Evolution :o
Animals As Leaders - The Joy of Motion :tup
Haken - Restoration (not an album, but... anyway) :smiley:
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off the top of my head
Edguy - Space Police
Dynazty - Renatus
H.E.A.T - Tearing Down The Walls
MindMaze - Back fROM tHE Edge
Red Zone Rider - S/T
Lots of good stuff bubbling under - Winger, Age Sten Nilsson's Ammunition, Primal Fear, Flying Colors, Accept, Threshold, Unisonic, Ace Frehley, Silent Force (was that this year?), MAsterplan, Stryper, Project Arcadia. I thought it was a good year.
Still deciding on the Harem Scarem, Rated X, Lynch Mob
Biggest disappointment - Judas Priest (liked it at first but... I was wrong),
Lowdz, what turned you off the Priest release?
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Jordan Rudess - Explorations :rollin
I'm quite surprised nobody mentioned it before. Killer album.
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While that Judas Priest release wasn't great, the biggest disappointment for me is definitely Ian Anderson's new record.
Edit: ugh, I forgot that Allen/Lande thing. This can rival Homo Erraticus alright.
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off the top of my head
Edguy - Space Police
Dynazty - Renatus
H.E.A.T - Tearing Down The Walls
MindMaze - Back fROM tHE Edge
Red Zone Rider - S/T
Lots of good stuff bubbling under - Winger, Age Sten Nilsson's Ammunition, Primal Fear, Flying Colors, Accept, Threshold, Unisonic, Ace Frehley, Silent Force (was that this year?), MAsterplan, Stryper, Project Arcadia. I thought it was a good year.
Still deciding on the Harem Scarem, Rated X, Lynch Mob
Biggest disappointment - Judas Priest (liked it at first but... I was wrong),
Forgot about HEAT, that would definitely make top 10.
My biggest disappointment also is Judas Priest, by a long long margin. Definitely the worst album I've heard all year.
Also, Masterplan was last year along with Silent Force.
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Yes was easily my biggest disappointment.
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1.) Every Time I Die - From Parts Unknown (This band keeps getting better. Flawless release.)
2.) Destrage - Are You Kidding Me? No. (Another flawless release. Just barely missed making my number 1.)
3.) DragonForce - Maximun Overload (Surprise hit of the year for me)
4.) Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter
5.) Devin Townsend - Z² (I'm counting them both)
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off the top of my head
Edguy - Space Police
Dynazty - Renatus
H.E.A.T - Tearing Down The Walls
MindMaze - Back fROM tHE Edge
Red Zone Rider - S/T
Lots of good stuff bubbling under - Winger, Age Sten Nilsson's Ammunition, Primal Fear, Flying Colors, Accept, Threshold, Unisonic, Ace Frehley, Silent Force (was that this year?), MAsterplan, Stryper, Project Arcadia. I thought it was a good year.
Still deciding on the Harem Scarem, Rated X, Lynch Mob
Biggest disappointment - Judas Priest (liked it at first but... I was wrong),
Forgot about HEAT, that would definitely make top 10.
My biggest disappointment also is Judas Priest, by a long long margin. Definitely the worst album I've heard all year.
Also, Masterplan was last year along with Silent Force.
Jeez, time flies!
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Fire! Orchestra - Enter (the only album from this year I've heard in full)
Ben Howard - I Forgot Where We Were (have this, still haven't played it start to finish)
Damien Rice - My Favourite Faded Fantasy (have this, still haven't played it start to finish)
Two albums I was really anticipating, but upon sampling them, found them average to shite, and never bothered looking further, were Kimbra's and Coldplay's.
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I could probably do 10, but I'm sure about these 5. Got a tie for the one spot. I tried to decide which I liked better, but I couldn't, so I just stuck 'em both at the top.
1. Bear Hands - Distraction
1. The Guru - Pretty Things
3. The Black Keys - Turn Blue
4. Antemasque - Antemasque
5. Future Islands - Singles
5. Jack White - Lazaretto
I forgot that after being disappointed by Lazaretto, that I actually love it. Singles is still up there, though.
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I seriously have not heard of half of the bands listed in this thread. Maybe more.
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off the top of my head
Edguy - Space Police
Dynazty - Renatus
H.E.A.T - Tearing Down The Walls
MindMaze - Back fROM tHE Edge
Red Zone Rider - S/T
Lots of good stuff bubbling under - Winger, Age Sten Nilsson's Ammunition, Primal Fear, Flying Colors, Accept, Threshold, Unisonic, Ace Frehley, Silent Force (was that this year?), MAsterplan, Stryper, Project Arcadia. I thought it was a good year.
Still deciding on the Harem Scarem, Rated X, Lynch Mob
Biggest disappointment - Judas Priest (liked it at first but... I was wrong),
Forgot about HEAT, that would definitely make top 10.
My biggest disappointment also is Judas Priest, by a long long margin. Definitely the worst album I've heard all year.
Also, Masterplan was last year along with Silent Force.
Jeez, time flies!
Stryper was 2013 too ;D
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Compared to the last few years, 2014 was a bit of a slow year for me (as I've stated before around here). So these are my Top 5, in no real order (although it might be SLIGHT preference):
Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope
Flying Colors - Second Nature
Anathema - Distant Satellites
IQ - The Road Of Bones
Kaipa - Sattyg
Pretty much this, although the last two I have NOT listened to as much as I should, although IQ's album is pretty damn good, I've yet to give a good listen to Kaipa's latest, but my initial listen was pretty positive. Only the top 3 have gained a lot of play from me this year.
Honorable mentions to Enchant's The Great Divide, Neal Morse's Songs From November, Pink Floyd's The Endless River, Opeth's Pale Communion, and Andy Tillison's Multiplex. And while it's not a full album, I'd like to give a shout-out to Haken's Restoration EP.
There were a few good live albums out this year, like part 2 of Tiles' Off The Floor in-studio live album, Dream Theater's Breaking The Fourth Wall and Transatlantic's KaLIVEoscope.
-Marc.
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off the top of my head
Edguy - Space Police
Dynazty - Renatus
H.E.A.T - Tearing Down The Walls
MindMaze - Back fROM tHE Edge
Red Zone Rider - S/T
Lots of good stuff bubbling under - Winger, Age Sten Nilsson's Ammunition, Primal Fear, Flying Colors, Accept, Threshold, Unisonic, Ace Frehley, Silent Force (was that this year?), MAsterplan, Stryper, Project Arcadia. I thought it was a good year.
Still deciding on the Harem Scarem, Rated X, Lynch Mob
Biggest disappointment - Judas Priest (liked it at first but... I was wrong),
Forgot about HEAT, that would definitely make top 10.
My biggest disappointment also is Judas Priest, by a long long margin. Definitely the worst album I've heard all year.
Also, Masterplan was last year along with Silent Force.
Jeez, time flies!
Stryper was 2013 too ;D
Maybe he meant the live album haha.
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This has been a really weird year for me as far as albums go. Before making any effort at a top 5 list, I'd definitely have to go back and check what actually came out this year, as well as probably listen to some albums I missed.
Second Nature by Flying Colors would definitely be on there. Phenomenal album.
Kaleidoscope by Transatlantic would definitely have a chance at a spot.
I've gone back and forth on whether or not Xscape by Michael Jackson would make the list. Largely because, for most of the songs, the 'original' versions are good, while the reworked main album versions are almost all garbage.
I'd probably put Little Secret by Nikki Yanofsky on there. Catchy as hell, with some good song writing and some real talent to back it up. Finding out that Quincy Jones was involved wasn't at all surprising. Fun jazzy pop with a bit of substance.
Mandatory Fun by Weird Al was quite good, and I'd probably lean toward including it, since his original compositions that make up half of the tracks are the strongest material on there. Jackson Park Express alone makes this album worth a consideration.
Sonic Highways by Foo Fighters is good. It is absolutely a solid Foo Fighters record. This one is still finding its place with me, and didn't click as quickly as Wasting Light did, but I have enjoyed it quite a bit so far.
Commonwealth by Sloan probably doesn't make the top 5, but there are enough tracks I really liked that it would probably net an honorable mention.
Carry On the Grudge by Jamie T is something I'll have to spend more time with before forming an opinion. I just recently discovered that he had actually finally released a new album.
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1. The Quantum Enigma by Epica
2. Restoration by Haken
3. Second Nature by Flying Colors
4. Broken Crown Halo by Lacuna Coil
5. The Hunting Party by Linkin Park
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blurbs and a lot of other records included there. I mean to film a video soon as well.
https://allmediareviews.blogspot.com/2014/12/2013-2014-albums-countdown.html
21. The Dang ol' Tri ole - Rise and Shine
20. Archive - Axiom
19. Big Wreck - Ghosts
18. Imogen Heap - Sparks
17. Genders - Get Lost
16. Clone - Clone
15. Brice Plays Drums - ProgTagonist
14. Nomia - Iron and Rust
13. Dream the Electric Sleep - Heretics
12. iamthemorning - Belighted
11. Marketa Irglova - Muna
10. Team Me - Blind as Night
9. Kimbra - The Golden Echo
8. Major Parkinson - Twilight Cinema
7. Grimus - Emergence
6. The Mercury Tree - Countenance
5. The Family Crest - Beneath the Brine
4. The Tea Party - The Ocean at the End
3. Anathema - Distant Satellites
2. Bend Sinister - Animals
1. Fjokra - Thoughtsteps [EP]
extra:
Nordic Giants - Build Seas / Dismantle Suns
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awesome to see Bend Sinister mentioned (finally)!
and to see someone that listens to so much music rank em so high?! ...even better. :metal
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yeah, I love Bend Sinister, so go figure. Great to notice someone else around here. The tours with BigElf and Flying Colors probably has helped them with exposure more than any others in recent years. Although Animals and their other records have next to no ratings/reviews on rateyourmusic for some strange reason still.
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If it's just 5, then I'm going with:
1. Swans - To Be Kind
2. Kimbra - The Golden Echo
3. Low Roar - 0
4. Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else
5. Musk Ox - Woodfall
My full list is here though: https://www.sputnikmusic.com/list.php?mode=1&listid=154081
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Dang, I still haven't the new Low Roar. I need to get on that, I loved the first one.
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*snip*
After letting some more records sit in with me, I'd revise my top 5 to
1. Swans - To Be Kind
2. Have a Nice Life - The Unnatural World
3. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra - Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything
4. Behemoth - The Satanist
5. Agalloch - The Serpent & the Sphere
Not a huge change, but it somehow slipped over my head how awesome the new Silver Mt. Zion album was.
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1. Swans – To Be Kind
2. St. Vincent – s/t
3. Kairon; IRSE – Ujubasajuba
4. Aphex Twin – Syro
5. Kayo Dot – Coffins on Io
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In order:
1. Machine Head - Bloodstone & Diamonds
2. Opeth - Pale Communion
3. Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun
4. U2 - Songs Of Innocence
5. In Flames - Siren Charms
Honorable Mentions:
Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways
Unearth - Watchers Of Rule
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Still have a couple to listen to a bit more, but pretty sure Archive - Axiom is my runaway favorite for 2014.
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Axiom is quite a good record/soundtrack. Just in case you or others didn't know, they have a new record dropping next month titled "Restriction."
3 or 4 of the tracks are up online in fact.
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Pooled a list together after lots o' listening...
2014 Album Rankings
1.Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun
2.Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
3.Casualties of Cool - Casualties of Cool
4.The Contortionist - Language
5.Animals As Leaders - The Joy of Motion
6.Devin Townsend - Z²
7.Prince - Art Official Age
8.Nothing More - Nothing More
9.Destiny Potato - Lun
10a.Skyharbor - Guiding Lights
10b.Pink Floyd - The Endless River
Just missed the cut:
Killer Be Killed - Killer Be Killed
Big Wreck - Ghosts
Royal Blood - Royal Blood
Prince & 3rdEyeGirl - PLECTRUMELECTRUM
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In approximate order:
Nightingale - Retribution
IQ - The Road of Bones (thanks Evermind! :tup)
Opeth - Pale Communion
Delain - The Human Contradiction
KYPCK - Imena Na Stene
Overall, this was a good year with plenty of great releases, but not as awesome as 2013. On the other hand, I was a lot busier this year and didn't have as much time for listening.
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Sad to see 2014 go already but man it was an awesome year for music! :metal
My top 5 albums for this year:
1. The Quantum Enigma - EPICA
2. Sunset of The Golden Age - Alestorm
3. Shadows of The Dying Sun - Insomnium
4. Earthbound Revolution - Beyond Creation
5. For The Journey - Threshold
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Can't really put them in order.
KXM - KXM
Nothing More - Nothing More
Pharrell Williams - GIRL
Starset - Transmissions
The Amity Affliction - Let the Ocean Take Me
Honorable Mentions: (Actually equal to the above, but I had to make it 5 and these two bands are less new to me than the other 5)
Mastodon - Once More Round the Sun
Periphery - Clear
Good lists. Full of bands I hadn't heard before that I sampled and liked; or I had heard before but overlooked them this year.
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Here is the top 10 (and other goodies) from Mason (Dr. DTVT) and myself. : https://www.wpapu.com/2014.html
As always there is audio commentary for anyone who wants to get a better idea of why the picks were made.
And yes, I realize in hindsight that (for my commentary at least) this year's drinking game can revolve around the word "solid". Drink responsibly!
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I'll go with a top 7 of:
1. Casualties of Cool - Casualties of Cool
2. Flying Colors - Second Nature
3. Devin Townsend - Sky Blue
4. Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope
5. Pink Floyd - The Endless River
6. U2 - Songs of Innocence
7. Opeth - Pale Communion
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1. Opeth - Pale Communion
2. Die Fantastischen Vier - Rekord
3. The Sixxis - Hollow Shrine
4. Pomplamoose - Season 2
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1. Opeth - Pale Communion
2. Devin Townsend - Sky Blue
3. Mastodon - Once More Round the Sun
4. Scar Symmetry - The Singularity Phase I
5. Anathema - Distant Satellites
And too many honorable mentions to list.
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For 2014, let's see....in no particular order, except for #1:
1. Opeth - Pale Communion (my favorite Opeth to date!)
2. Flying Colors - Second Nature
3. Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope
4. Threshold - For The Journey
5. Appearance of Nothing - A New Beginning (attention frustrated Opeth fans! ;) )
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Honorable mentions:
Flaming Row - "Mirage: Figures of Portraits of Some Completely Indecipherable and Convoluted Concept Lyrics Woven Into a Good Instrumental Album"
IQ - The Road of Bones
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Cea Serin - The Vibrant Sound of Bliss and Decay
Opeth - Pale Communion
Cynic - Kindly Bent To Free Us
Tim Bowness - Abandoned Dancehall Dreams
and, for nostalgic reasons:
AC/DC - Rock or Bust
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So many people put 'Pale Communion' in their top 10. Other than 'River' and 'Faith In Others being good, and 'Elysian Woes' and 'Eternal Rains Will Come' being sort of nice, that album really wasn't top 5 material.
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1. "Opinions, how do they work?"
2. A lot of the times people's lists are reflective of what kind of music fans they are. A very mixed top5 indicates that the listener might be very open minded and has listened to a lot of very different albums during the year, a top5 with five albums from the same genre might indicate that the person is mainly a fan of that one genre, and that might explain why some albums make it onto the list.
3. Some people aren't THAT interested in new albums so they might just check out a handful during the year, and those albums are the ones that make the list.
In the end it comes down to taste and opinions, but sometimes it feels like albums are just there because it's band X or Y. Like for example, the new Pink Floyd. Even if you are the biggest PF fan on the planet, I can't see that album being worth of any top5 spot unless you only heard five albums this year. That's just my opinion though.
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With so many Opeth fans here, it should be no surprise that Pale Communion makes a lot of lists.
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Pale Communion is about the same as their other albums for me. As in, the songs are good but I find it impossible to sit through in its entirety.
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1. "Opinions, how do they work?"
I can't tell if you are joking, or if this is you being snappy, and only half-joking.
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1.) Ne Obliviscaris- Citadel
2.) Devin Townsend Project- Dark Matters
3.) Anathema- Distant Satellites
4.) Devin Townsend Project- Sky Blue
5.) Nightingale- Retribution
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I have two sets:
1. Anathema - Distant Satellites
2. The Pineapple Thief - Magnolia
3. Opeth - Pale Communion
4. Epica - The Quantum Enigma
5. Pain of Salvation - Falling Home
1. Gazpacho - Demon
2. Syd Arthur - Sound Mirror
3. Tim Bowness - Abandoned Dancehall Dreams
4. Messenger - Illusory Blues
5. Cosmograf - Capacitor
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In no particular order:
Animals As Leaders - The Joy Of Motion
Anubis Gate - Horizon
Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
Haken - Restoration
Chris Letchford - Lightbox
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Mike Portnoy https://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/m2914115.aspx
MP's Top 10 Albums of 2014
(in alphabetical order):
1. Bend Sinister - Animals
2. Beck - Morning Phase
3. Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways
4. The Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger - Midnight Sun
5. Killer Be Killed
6. KXM
7. Opeth - Pale Communion
8. Pink Floyd - The Endless River
9. Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter
10. Triggerfinger - By Absence Of The Sun
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Pretty meh year for me. I only got a handful of albums, and only a few of them stuck out as being great.
1: Devin Townsend - Z2 (If I were to count Sky Blue and Dark Matters as separate they'd be #2 and #1 respectively)
2: Dir En Grey - Arche
3: Periphery - Clear (EP, but it's better than nearly all of the albums I heard this year so I'm including it)
4: Alcest - Shelter
5: Agalloch - The Serpent And The Sphere
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1. Skyharbor - Guiding Lights
This album is an absolute masterpiece. Plain and simple. One incredible blend of TesseracT, Tool and Porcupine Tree! :metal :hefdaddy
Highlights: The whole damn album, but for the sake of samples, check out Allure (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzpA7EXQjLM), the title track (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CeizYLcdu4) and The Constant (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eppE-34zuNk)
2. Starbomb - Player Select
An unusual choice, I don't deny, but what can I say? I love this album! It's one of the best comedy music albums I've heard and it does a great job satirizing many classic video games that I grew up on, much like the first Starbomb album. This time however, the band "matured" and moved away from their usual schtick of dick jokes and coming up with more creative and versatile jokes.
Highlights: The Simple Plot of Metal Gear Solid (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTCgi9YOVmM), Smash! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=And-vdjC71E)
3. Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun
I'd expected this to be at the top of the list, but Once More wasn't quite as strong as I'd hoped it to be. It's not bad at all, by any means and I think it's a better album than The Hunter was. But for all the talent and catchy music they've created with this album, there does seem to be that magical "something" missing that was on albums like Leviathan or Crack the Skye.
Highlights: The Motherload (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz56aruweJY)
4. Animals as Leaders - The Joy of Motion
I'll be honest: aside from TesseracT's incredible Altered States in 2013, I hadn't been a fan of the djent movement that's been going on for the past few years. That's changed a bit now, thanks to this album. 'Nuff said.
5. Sanctuary - The Year the Sun Died
Sanctuary is pretty freaking amazing, as was Nevermore. The Year the Sun Died is a great album, but I don't think it's quite as good as either band's best works (Into the Mirror Black, Dreaming Neon Black), which Warrel Dane said were his go-to points for this album. But hey, this is a band that hasn't put out a new album in twenty-five years. The fact that it's actually a great album is impressive enough.
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4. Animals as Leaders - The Joy of Motion
I'll be honest: aside from TesseracT's incredible Altered States in 2013, I hadn't been a fan of the djent movement that's been going on for the past few years. That's changed a bit now, thanks to this album. 'Nuff said.
I've never bean able to get into these guys. I have tried listening to their albums, but instrumental djent is quite a drag. I even saw them live a few months ago, and maybe 15 minutes in me and my friends felt like we've heard it all twice already. And by the end we were a bit tired of listening to Tosin basically doing various technical excercises over and over, and just wanted TesseracT to finally come on stage.
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The Joy of Motion proves that AAL are truly capable and have potential to do something great. While it wasn't one of my favorites from 2014, it was a huge step up from their previous two albums, which I honestly didn't really like at all.
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If y'all want good djent (I do like AAL), check out Cloudkicker. Albums are free online on his bandcamp.
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Mike Portnoy https://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/m2914115.aspx
9. Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter
:metal
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I always like reading through these threads because I see so many bands or albums I haven't heard of or listened to before.
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I swear I haven't heard of 95% of the bands in this thread.
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Kyng - Burn The Serum
Judas Priest - Redeemer of souls
California breed - California breed
Accept - Blind Rage
AC/DC - Rock Or Bust
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Accept - Blind Rage
Awesome album. Made my list too!
AC/DC - Rock Or Bust
Wow! Like it that much? That's cool and all. What would you have to say about it?
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Still haven't tired of that Accept release. Awesome album and it's still amazing the rejuvenation that this band has experienced
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Still haven't tired of that Accept release. Awesome album and it's still amazing the rejuvenation that this band has experienced
This. :metal
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AC/DC - Rock Or Bust
Wow! Like it that much? That's cool and all. What would you have to say about it?
I probably should have mentioned that my list is in no particular order (because i'm terrible at making lists.) This year wasn't a particularly big year in music for me, Just the fact that It's a new AC/DC album and its a solid album by them put it on my list. If I were to put the list in order Rock or bust would most likely be #5 with either Kyng or Judas Priest as my #1
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1. Beck - Morning Phase
2. Mastodon - One More 'Round The Sun
3. Swans - To Be Kind
4. U2 - Songs of Innocence
5. Prince - Art Official Age
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So I might have to revise my list slightly.
1. Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
2. Need - Orvam: A Song for Home
3. Casualties of Cool - Casualties of Cool
4. Dog Fashion Disco - Sweet Nothings
5. Nightingale - Retribution
Honourable mentions:
Destrage - Are You Kidding Me? No.
Evergrey - Hymns for the Broken
Tryptikon - Melana Chasmata
Farin Urlaub Racing Team - Faszination Weltraum
Devin Townsend - Sky Blue
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All of those would be 5/5 records for me, this has been an amazing year.
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No particular order.
- Animals As Leaders - The Joy Of Motion
- Thank You, Scientist - Maps Of Non-Existent Places (remixed, rereleased) (highly recommend to those who haven't heard it, holy shit)
- Dream Theater - Breaking The Fourth Wall (yeah, it fuckin made it on my list)
- Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope
- Flying Colors - Second Nature
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Since I've seen neither of the two albums that really blew me away this year get another mention, I will take it upon myself to pimp them.
Fire! Orchestra - Enter
(https://www.runegrammofon.com/sitefiles/site10/shop/fire-orchestra-enter-cd-2lp_19_2014-04-27-22-23-46.jpg)
A catchy description of this band I've seen thrown around this year is "Godspeed You! Jazz Emperor" - as in, an experimental jazz take on post-rock. It's not perfect, but you could do worse. This whole album is one suite with a theme that appears in I think all four of the tracks. There are about 30 members in the band, so it gets damn dense in parts, and the singers are both brilliant and batshit insane - the second track features perhaps the most committed screaming I've ever heard in music, and the third track starts with one of the girls making various animal noises. So yeah, this album's pretty out there, but if you like your avant garde / free jazz / post rock type shit, you could love this.
First track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpEF1nWCHrM
Ben Howard - I Forget Where We Were
(https://nbhap.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads//2014/10/ben-howard-cover-300x300.jpg)
(To anyone who follows The Walking Dead, if you remember the episode Internment in Season 4, the one where Hershel tries desperately to maintain the prison quarantine, there was a song used in the episode which the show writers regarded as The Hershel Theme. That song was Oats in the Water by Ben Howard. I mention this because that song, and The Burgh Island EP, was my introduction to him.)
Ben Howard's an English folk-rock singer-songwriter dude. While his first album wasn't full on sunshiney, it is largely acoustic and pretty, and there are some tracks that are blatantly upbeat, so it was considered a very happy album.
If that's the case, this album is the polar opposite, a full-fledged break-up album, and one of the bleakest I can think of. Damien Rice might have made an album like this had he thrown himself in a well for a few months. The acoustic guitar is mostly gone, and his playing reminds me a bit of The Edge in the late '80s - very effects driven and echoey (I don't play guitar, so I suck at describing it, sorry). Every track is great, and most of them are totally devastating. This is my favourite album since Fleet Foxes' Helplessness Blues, which came out in 2011.
The song that I've seen getting the most praise, Conrad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuM_UFXkIys
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Firstly, I just want to say thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread. I've discovered some excellent prog thanks to you guys.
1. Linkin Park - The Hunting Party (for those who miss heavy Linkin Park, this is your salvation :heart)
2. Haken - Restoration
3. Steven Wilson - Cover Version
4. Hans Zimmer - Interstellar
5. Thank You Scientist - Maps Of Non-Existent Places
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4. Hans Zimmer - Interstellar
I usually don't consider movie scores for 'top albums of the ear', but yeah, the score to Interstellar was amazing.
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I suck at doing tops so I'll just put my most listened to albums for 2014:
05. Benighted: Carnivore Sublime
Extreme metal is rarely synonymous with fun for me, especially the gore/brutal stuff. But this deathgrind album is just so wild. Just enough brutal death metal to slow things down and make it groovy, but most of the time it's fast and loud. Extremely varied for the genre too.
04. La Roux: Trouble in Paradise
Perfect retro '80s pop.
03. Manic Street Preachers: Futurology
Refreshingly varied and creative album with an Empires & Dance-era Simple Minds influence, much more interesting than the stadium rock thing they've been doing in the 2000s.
02. Interpol: El Pintor
Almost as good as Antics, and at this point that's all I ask from Interpol.
01. Cloud Nothings: Here and Nowhere Else
Almost as good as Attack on Memory. Still a perfect mix of punk and indie rock, but noisier with a very Sonic Youth-esque track.
(https://cdn2.pitchfork.com/albums/20281/homepage_large.1e6df0d9.jpg)
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I liked Here and Nowhere Else more than Attack on Memory actually. The latter was really good, but Here and Nowhere Else took it to another level.
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Here and Nowhere Else is more consistent, but it doesn't have any songs half as good as Wasted Days. I mean, I don't expect them to top that song because of how unbelievably good it is, but my point being it didn't have any songs that I thought stuck out as amazing.
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5. Miranda Lambert - Platinum
4. Drive By Truckers - English Oceans
3. Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope
2. The Tea Party - The Ocean at the End
1. Bruce Springsteen - High Hopes
Agree that 2014 was not a stellar year.
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Here and Nowhere Else is more consistent, but it doesn't have any songs half as good as Wasted Days. I mean, I don't expect them to top that song because of how unbelievably good it is, but my point being it didn't have any songs that I thought stuck out as amazing.
What I especially liked about Attack on Memory were the more pop punk tunes like "Fall in" or "Our Plans" and they haven't really done anything similar on the new album. But it's okay because as far as poignant anthemic songs go, "I'm Not Part of Me" is even better.
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Here and Nowhere Else is more consistent, but it doesn't have any songs half as good as Wasted Days. I mean, I don't expect them to top that song because of how unbelievably good it is, but my point being it didn't have any songs that I thought stuck out as amazing.
I would say Pattern Walks and I'm Not a Part of Me comes close. Wasted Days is still their best song, but in terms of consistency and cohesiveness I gotta give the edge to the new album. Attack on Memory was fantastic, but I feel like the overall quality on each song has gone up, with maybe the exception of Wasted Days, which is one of those perfect home runs.
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1. "Opinions, how do they work?"
2. A lot of the times people's lists are reflective of what kind of music fans they are. A very mixed top5 indicates that the listener might be very open minded and has listened to a lot of very different albums during the year, a top5 with five albums from the same genre might indicate that the person is mainly a fan of that one genre, and that might explain why some albums make it onto the list.
3. Some people aren't THAT interested in new albums so they might just check out a handful during the year, and those albums are the ones that make the list.
In the end it comes down to taste and opinions, but sometimes it feels like albums are just there because it's band X or Y. Like for example, the new Pink Floyd. Even if you are the biggest PF fan on the planet, I can't see that album being worth of any top5 spot unless you only heard five albums this year. That's just my opinion though.
Hilariously I say that Opeth made so many lists just because they were Opeth myself. Around here Opeth, Devin Townsend, and Steven Wilson could put out albums that were 60 minutes of fart sounds and they'd make DTF's top five. And Pink Floyd made my top five because I fucking liked it.
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But apparently people just liking the Opeth album is unthinkable.
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Yea I don't understand that logic. If these bands were putting out sub par material than I could see your point but they're not. The Opeth and Devin albums were really well received by lots of people, not just DTF. It makes sense that they make a lot of lists. :lol
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I've kind of developed a low expectation level for a lot of artists, mainly due to my own current taste not being as into their more recent work.
I kind of wrote a bit of a diatribe about it a little while ago in my blog
https://allmediareviews.blogspot.com/2014/09/album-anticipation-false-hope-of-my-own.html
I've kind of concluded unless it's a debut album or an artist that can't go wrong for me, I have come to hope but not expect a masterpiece record from any artists.
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I really don't care what the motivations are for anybody's list. Personally, I just enjoy the following process:
Highlight recommendation, copy
paste into youtube or google
listen to recommendation
decide if this is something I like
If I like it, I'm glad somebody took the time to bring it to my attention
If I don't like it, move onto the next recommendation
Anything beyond that is noise (like this post)
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1. "Opinions, how do they work?"
2. A lot of the times people's lists are reflective of what kind of music fans they are. A very mixed top5 indicates that the listener might be very open minded and has listened to a lot of very different albums during the year, a top5 with five albums from the same genre might indicate that the person is mainly a fan of that one genre, and that might explain why some albums make it onto the list.
3. Some people aren't THAT interested in new albums so they might just check out a handful during the year, and those albums are the ones that make the list.
In the end it comes down to taste and opinions, but sometimes it feels like albums are just there because it's band X or Y. Like for example, the new Pink Floyd. Even if you are the biggest PF fan on the planet, I can't see that album being worth of any top5 spot unless you only heard five albums this year. That's just my opinion though.
Hilariously I say that Opeth made so many lists just because they were Opeth myself. Around here Opeth, Devin Townsend, and Steven Wilson could put out albums that were 60 minutes of fart sounds and they'd make DTF's top five. And Pink Floyd made my top five because I fucking liked it.
I'm 100% with you man. I think it's always a shame when some albums have firm spots in people's top5/top10 before the year starts.
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I think the same but i didn't want to step on other people's toes.
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I don't know why anyone would be surprised by the fact that people who are big fans of Opeth, Devin Townsend or Steven Wilson rank albums by those artists highly. I assume they're fans in the first place because they like their music. And I'm also not sure why others seem to derive a sense of self-satisfaction from not having those albums in their top whatever.
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I think some people just like to feel smart, like, "I am enlightened enough to know not to rank a band's non-best album in my top 5 for the year," as if that means anything. It's like the people who listen to like 100 new CDs a year. Who in the hell has time for that? And even if you do, how can you possibly listen to each enough to accurately rank them? I guess if you have a job where you can have headphones all day and jam while you work, then you would, but most of the time, it just strikes me as posturing, as if listening to more music makes them bigger and better music fans. But hey, it's the internet, where a musical e-penis is important to some. :lol :lol
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Why only 5? :(
1. Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun
2. Schizoid Lloyd - The Last Note in God's Magnum Opus
3. Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope
4. Pain of Salvation - Falling Home
5. Flaming Row - Mirage: A Portrayal of Figures
Forget this above post; here's a real list:
1. Schizoid Lloyd - The Last Note in God's Magnum Opus
2. Soen - Tellurian
3. Mastodon - Once More 'Round The Sun
4. Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope
5. Flaming Row - Mirage: A Portrayal of Figures
5. The Contortionist - Language
6. Destrage - Are You Kidding Me? No.
7. Pain of Salvation - Falling Home
8. Cartographer - A Sea of Sunshine
9. The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream
10. Opeth - Pale Communion
Random honourable mentions:
Devin Townsend - Z2
Anathema - Distant Satellites
Skyharbor - Guiding Lights
Lesoir - Luctor et Emergo
Haken - Restoration (EP)
Destiny Potato - Lun
Overhaul - Daybreak (EP)
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I think some people just like to feel smart, like, "I am enlightened enough to know not to rank a band's non-best album in my top 5 for the year," as if that means anything. It's like the people who listen to like 100 new CDs a year. Who in the hell has time for that? And even if you do, how can you possibly listen to each enough to accurately rank them? I guess if you have a job where you can have headphones all day and jam while you work, then you would, but most of the time, it just strikes me as posturing, as if listening to more music makes them bigger and better music fans. But hey, it's the internet, where a musical e-penis is important to some. :lol :lol
That's exactly why i didn't wanted to say anything because there's always someone who will take it the wrong way but, i don't blame you.
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LOL, very true. I went through a nice phase of musical discovery in the mid 00s, when I got into a lot of stuff I never would have before, but I have reached the point now where I don't have time to listen to nearly as much music as I used to, and I am not gonna spend most of my musical listening time trying to get into new stuff. Call that boring, but I have so much awesome music at my disposal, that if I miss out on something new and great, because I am listening to my many reliables, oh well.
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I think some people just like to feel smart, like, "I am enlightened enough to know not to rank a band's non-best album in my top 5 for the year," as if that means anything. It's like the people who listen to like 100 new CDs a year. Who in the hell has time for that? And even if you do, how can you possibly listen to each enough to accurately rank them? I guess if you have a job where you can have headphones all day and jam while you work, then you would, but most of the time, it just strikes me as posturing, as if listening to more music makes them bigger and better music fans. But hey, it's the internet, where a musical e-penis is important to some. :lol :lol
::) ::)
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1. "Opinions, how do they work?"
2. A lot of the times people's lists are reflective of what kind of music fans they are. A very mixed top5 indicates that the listener might be very open minded and has listened to a lot of very different albums during the year, a top5 with five albums from the same genre might indicate that the person is mainly a fan of that one genre, and that might explain why some albums make it onto the list.
3. Some people aren't THAT interested in new albums so they might just check out a handful during the year, and those albums are the ones that make the list.
In the end it comes down to taste and opinions, but sometimes it feels like albums are just there because it's band X or Y. Like for example, the new Pink Floyd. Even if you are the biggest PF fan on the planet, I can't see that album being worth of any top5 spot unless you only heard five albums this year. That's just my opinion though.
Hilariously I say that Opeth made so many lists just because they were Opeth myself. Around here Opeth, Devin Townsend, and Steven Wilson could put out albums that were 60 minutes of fart sounds and they'd make DTF's top five. And Pink Floyd made my top five because I fucking liked it.
I'm 100% with you man. I think it's always a shame when some albums have firm spots in people's top5/top10 before the year starts.
It also made for a very boring but easily predictable top albums of the year voting when this forum did that, although that was more due to the quantity of votes the regular bands got as opposed to a really great album of another genre maybe four people had heard.
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Cynic - Kindly Bent To Free Us
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I think some people just like to feel smart, like, "I am enlightened enough to know not to rank a band's non-best album in my top 5 for the year," as if that means anything. It's like the people who listen to like 100 new CDs a year. Who in the hell has time for that? And even if you do, how can you possibly listen to each enough to accurately rank them? I guess if you have a job where you can have headphones all day and jam while you work, then you would, but most of the time, it just strikes me as posturing, as if listening to more music makes them bigger and better music fans. But hey, it's the internet, where a musical e-penis is important to some. :lol :lol
::) ::)
Echoing that sentiment.
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I'm 100% with you man. I think it's always a shame when some albums have firm spots in people's top5/top10 before the year starts.
I think we have to give people the benefit of the doubt that they aren't doing that. Or that they have listened to only five or six albums from this year (I've only heard six so far). The new Opeth was highly anticipated for me, and I assumed it would probably end up in my top 3 or so, but it would rank fifth for me at this point out of the six I've heard.
I think people certainly go in with expectations, but I honestly can't see anyone saying "I don't like this Opeth album, but I'll rank it #2 anyway because I like Opeth." They would only rank it in their top 5 if it was actually in their opinion one of the top 5. And again, not everyone listens to more than five or six new albums in a given year. So even if they thought that the new Opeth was mediocre, it might still make their top 5 if they only heard six albums that year and one was awful.
On topic of the thread (since this post is my entrance to it), I don't tend to have definitive answers for what my favorite albums are in a timely fashion, because I generally go back early in the next year to ones that I missed. I've listened so far to six albums, from which I would rank a top four (because I only find these four to be worthy of special mention) of:
1. Coldplay - Ghost Stories
2. Anathema - Distant Satellites
3. Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope
4. Tuomas Holopainen - Music Inspired by the Life and Times of Scrooge
The other two were Pale Communion by Opeth and Restoration by Haken. The former was hit-and-miss for me, and I've only listened to the latter once (though I hope to listen to it more in the future)
My ranking of albums really won't be set in stone though until I listen to Restoration a few more times and get some of the ones I missed, definitely including 1989 by Taylor Swift, and possibly including The Road of Bones by IQ and Second Nature by Flying Colors.
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1. Beck - Morning Phase
2. Mastodon - One More 'Round The Sun
3. Swans - To Be Kind
4. U2 - Songs of Innocence
5. Prince - Art Official Age
I now may have to knock down U2 and Prince for Run The Jewels. That album is fucking fantastic
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Run the Jewels was great but slightly overrated. There were 2 or 3 hip hop albums this year that I enjoyed a lot more.
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I'm only speaking for myself, but as I said in my previous post in this thread, I had a fairly busy fall and sadly didn't have a lot of time to immerse myself in the music of every interesting band I came across. I listened to a dozen or so new albums last year, and although most of those were by bands I had known already, three of the spots in my top 5 were taken by new discoveries (Nightingale, IQ, Delain). I know those are within the metal/prog realm and hence not a million miles away from the stuff I usually listen to, but I think it still shows that the same old bands don't always conquer the top even if you're a big fan and happy with their latest releases. For example, I was so disappointed with DT12 that it didn't make my top 10 in 2013, while bands I had just discovered occupied top 4.
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Favourite Albums (Alphabetical Order)
Elbow - The Take Off And Landing of Everything
Flying Colours - Second Nature
IQ - Road of Bones
Opeth - Pale Communion
Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope
Favourite Live album...
DT live at Boston, that version of Illumination Theory still gives me chills, fantastic performance.
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Opeth - Pale Communion
Anathema - Distant Satellites
This Will Destroy You - Another Language
Alcest - Shelter
Coldplay - Ghost Stories
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the last two lists contain Pale Communion and are therefore invalid.
j/k, it's close to the top of my list. Love that album.
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I'm 100% with you man. I think it's always a shame when some albums have firm spots in people's top5/top10 before the year starts.
I think we have to give people the benefit of the doubt that they aren't doing that. Or that they have listened to only five or six albums from this year (I've only heard six so far). The new Opeth was highly anticipated for me, and I assumed it would probably end up in my top 3 or so, but it would rank fifth for me at this point out of the six I've heard.
Yes, I do want to give people the benefit of the doubt when it comes to it. Some people fall into the category of either having very limited time, and so they only listen to maybe 5-10 albums in a year, and logically they go for the albums by artists they already know & like, and you also have people who just aren't interested in listening to new things or expanding their horizons so to speak. It's fine. There are always gonna be a small amount of blind fanboys who put anything by their favorite bands on a pedestal. Quotes like: "Even their worst album/song is still better than 95% of the music out there" and so on.
Reading through some of the lists it seems several people just didn't hear that many albums in 2014, and then it makes sense that some albums appear. Opinions are still opinions of course, and I don't mind people liking an album I feel lukewarm about, but I think some people sometimes put albums on their list because it was kind of a thin year. Usually when I do my top100 for each year, sometimes the lower albums on that list are very "meh". I put them on there to round out the list, but I don't go crazy for them.
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I'm 100% with you man. I think it's always a shame when some albums have firm spots in people's top5/top10 before the year starts.
I think we have to give people the benefit of the doubt that they aren't doing that. Or that they have listened to only five or six albums from this year (I've only heard six so far). The new Opeth was highly anticipated for me, and I assumed it would probably end up in my top 3 or so, but it would rank fifth for me at this point out of the six I've heard.
Quotes like: "Even their worst album/song is still better than 95% of the music out there" and so on.
I don't see a problem with that even. Obviously people are going to be partial to their favorite bands. It doesn't mean that they're "blind", it makes sense that they're going to favor music from the bands they like. :lol
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My third list:
1. Annot Rhul - Leviathan
2. Lee Abraham - Distant Days
3. Closure in Moscow - Pink Lemonade
4. Asia - Gravitas
5. Curved Air - North Star
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I wish I could go back in time and force me to listen to Are You Kidding Me? No. by Destrage and put it in the top 3. Insane album.
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There are always gonna be a small amount of blind fanboys who put anything by their favorite bands on a pedestal. Quotes like: "Even their worst album/song is still better than 95% of the music out there" and so on.
Yeah, and I think that's a fair point to make. That particular statement is one of the most cringeworthy sentences in music discussion for me, which is a proclamation I make knowing well that I've said that exact thing in the past.
I've said this elsewhere, but I think there are two general patterns that music fans follow in their listening. Either they listen to a lot of different music growing up and thus start out knowing artists a number of different genres, or they aren't terribly interested in music until a certain artist or genre awakens their interest. I think genres like prog and metal attract a disproportionate number of the second type of fans, because their advocates claim to subvert popular trends. Some of the type 2 people diversify their tastes at some point and begin to seek out genres outside of the one they started with (I'm towards the beginning of that phase in my own life), but some never do. People who say things like "better than 95% of the music out there" either haven't reached the point where they diversify their tastes or never will. And it's hard to change the mind of someone with that perspective.
Reading through some of the lists it seems several people just didn't hear that many albums in 2014, and then it makes sense that some albums appear. Opinions are still opinions of course, and I don't mind people liking an album I feel lukewarm about, but I think some people sometimes put albums on their list because it was kind of a thin year. Usually when I do my top100 for each year, sometimes the lower albums on that list are very "meh". I put them on there to round out the list, but I don't go crazy for them.
Yeah, that's definitely something that can happen. I intentionally posted a top 4, because if I'd done a top 5 I'd have had to include Pale Communion, which I just don't think merited it. I'm bad at appropriately scaling an album rating out of ten, but hypothetically we could say that my top 4 were 7/10 or higher, and PC was like 5/10 or 6/10. It was just below the threshold for me to want to include it in a year-end list. That may be why I don't like to constrain a list to an arbitrary number—different numbers work for different people. For someone with your listening habits, 100 or 90 would be the best number, while for someone with my listening habits, a better number would be 4 or 5. In my lists, I basically just do an album of the year, which in this case is the Coldplay, and however many honorable mentions are deserving of the title "honorable mentions," which are the Anathema, the Transatlantic and the Tuomas Holopainen.
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I've said this elsewhere, but I think there are two general patterns that music fans follow in their listening. Either they listen to a lot of different music growing up and thus start out knowing artists a number of different genres, or they aren't terribly interested in music until a certain artist or genre awakens their interest. I think genres like prog and metal attract a disproportionate number of the second type of fans, because their advocates claim to subvert popular trends. Some of the type 2 people diversify their tastes at some point and begin to seek out genres outside of the one they started with (I'm towards the beginning of that phase in my own life), but some never do. People who say things like "better than 95% of the music out there" either haven't reached the point where they diversify their tastes or never will. And it's hard to change the mind of someone with that perspective.
I think this is pretty spot on, and would say that I'm a type 2 guy as well, towards the beginning of my 'diversification'. I still listen to mostly progressive metal or rock, but not as exclusivly as I did a few years back.
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Yeah, I'm type 2 also. My live for prog has diminished a lot this last year, but 'cause I've discovered lots of amazing stuff from another genres - great music doesn't know about labels :coolio