What was your No.1 musical discovery of 2018?

[Fritzinger]

I hope this thread doesn't already exist!

At the end of a year I always look back on what music it brought to me. In most cases I can distinguish the one newly discovered artist that blew me away. Of course, in 2005 it was Dream Theater. In 2006 it was Spock's Beard/Transatlantic/Neal Morse. In 2008 it was Genesis. In 2011 it was Muse. In 2012 it was Steely Dan.

In 2018 it was Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and all of its derivatives. This may sound a little random, given that a lot of people here are American and probably know these guys very well. But I have completely fallen in love with this music. Of course, I don't even know a quarter of it yet, given that there are around 2300 combinations of the guys. But what I know as of now is:
Crosby, Stills & Nash
Deja Vu (CSNY)
CSN
Croz (Crosby)
Sky Trails (Crosby)
Harvest (Young)
And I'm very much looking forward to discovering more!!!!


So, do you guys feel the same; do you have a number 1 musical discovery of 2018?

[Zantera]

I actually had quite a few as I spent a lot of the year getting into older bands and their discographies rather than just checking out 2018 albums.

Blur - One of those bands I was familiar with the name but other than Song 2 (which I don't care for that much) was unfamiliar with their music. Became a really big surprise for me as their discography had tons of variety and quality, and I put a lot of time into listening to all their albums and I was really pleasantly surprised. I think Song 2 still remains a bit meh (decent 2 min song but nothing mindblowing) but Blur overall has really become one of my favorite bands and I would rank them higher than a band like Radiohead who are from the same country and have been active kinda the same time period.

Pavement - Another big discovery, I decided to check out Pavement after hearing Mike Vennart say they were one of the most influential bands for him, and also doing some digging and seeing their albums getting rave reviews helped push me over the edge. There's definitely a lot of music like Pavement (or inspired by) that has come since this band, but IMO their take on the genre is on its own level. They only put out 5 albums and some EPs but I think all their albums are great or better. Wowee Zowee is my favorite, what an album. They also infuse their albums with a lot of variety.

Suede - Really unique band I think mostly because of the vocals from Brett Anderson, but the combination of the vocals and the instrumentation is what pulled me in. Their first 3 albums are amazing and their most recent, released in 2018 was surprisingly great for me, because I thought "it's probably not gonna reach that level". I've yet to dive into the middle albums of their discography but even if those albums aren't as good, I'm still more than happy with the rest. Their self-titled debut and the follow-up, Dog-Man Star especially stands out just slightly for being really great albums.

Yo La Tengo - I had heard this name around before, but for whatever reason I got the idea it was something completely else and not something that would intrigue me. But I saw they were an indie rock band that had been going strong for 20-30 years and had some really highly rated albums. Started giving those albums some spins and they're definitely a band with lots of variety in their music for being a trio. For example the album "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out" features a nice mix of different songs like the dreamy 3 ½ minute "Madeline" which is really beautiful, to the 18 minute long closer "Night Falls on Hoboken" which is just really nice, chill and atmospheric. Other great albums include "I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One", "Painful" and "I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass".

[?]

Probably R.E.M. for me - I've listened to their first 8 albums now, and it's cool to see how they evolved in those first 10 years and what a consistent band they were. I really like Peter Buck's guitar playing, and Michael Stipe wrote some great lyrics, at least after the first few records on which he was just mumbling away They wrote catchy songs without going out of their way to please the masses and strived not to go with the obvious solutions or repeat themselves. My favorite record is probably Document, which has a bit of a concept album feel with all the political themes and recurring lyrical motifs like fire.

[The Curious Orange]

For me it's a band I've always been aware of, the Grateful Dead. Something in their music just clicked for me this year, and I've spent too much money hunting down every release on eBay I can find. I finally get it, why this band is so revered, there's nothing else quite like them.

Newer music? 2018 was the year I discovered Riverside.

[Zantera]

Probably R.E.M. for me - I've listened to their first 8 albums now, and it's cool to see how they evolved in those first 10 years and what a consistent band they were. I really like Peter Buck's guitar playing, and Michael Stipe wrote some great lyrics, at least after the first few records on which he was just mumbling away They wrote catchy songs without going out of their way to please the masses and strived not to go with the obvious solutions or repeat themselves. My favorite record is probably Document, which has a bit of a concept album feel with all the political themes and recurring lyrical motifs like fire.

I feel like I should give a few of their albums a listen because I have their Greatest Hits (fond memories of my dad playing it at home when i was younger) and there's some really good songs on it. I guess I always feel a bit bad when coming off a greatest hits as my starting point as it kinda ruins the chance to go into the albums 100% blind.

[Fritzinger]

Probably R.E.M. for me - I've listened to their first 8 albums now, and it's cool to see how they evolved in those first 10 years and what a consistent band they were. I really like Peter Buck's guitar playing, and Michael Stipe wrote some great lyrics, at least after the first few records on which he was just mumbling away They wrote catchy songs without going out of their way to please the masses and strived not to go with the obvious solutions or repeat themselves. My favorite record is probably Document, which has a bit of a concept album feel with all the political themes and recurring lyrical motifs like fire.

I feel like I should give a few of their albums a listen because I have their Greatest Hits (fond memories of my dad playing it at home when i was younger) and there's some really good songs on it. I guess I always feel a bit bad when coming off a greatest hits as my starting point as it kinda ruins the chance to go into the albums 100% blind.

REM, good call! I know and like Around The Sun quite a bit, but the album that I've been listening to for around 15 years (yes, since I was 10) is Automatic For The People. One of the best 90s albums for me!

[Zydar]

I started listening to The Flower Kings in December, so I'd say that one. Otherwise, I didn't really discover anything new in 2018 like I've done the previous years.

Hopefully, 2019 will be a year of discovery (like XTC was in 2016, Ghost in 2013, Haken in 2012, Dream Theater in 2007 and so forth).

[Stadler]

Probably R.E.M. for me - I've listened to their first 8 albums now, and it's cool to see how they evolved in those first 10 years and what a consistent band they were. I really like Peter Buck's guitar playing, and Michael Stipe wrote some great lyrics, at least after the first few records on which he was just mumbling away They wrote catchy songs without going out of their way to please the masses and strived not to go with the obvious solutions or repeat themselves. My favorite record is probably Document, which has a bit of a concept album feel with all the political themes and recurring lyrical motifs like fire.

That run of Lifes Rich Pageant -> Document -> Green -> Out Of Time is pretty gosh darn strong.   But Document is probably my favorite as well.  Great record.

[Stadler]

Probably R.E.M. for me - I've listened to their first 8 albums now, and it's cool to see how they evolved in those first 10 years and what a consistent band they were. I really like Peter Buck's guitar playing, and Michael Stipe wrote some great lyrics, at least after the first few records on which he was just mumbling away They wrote catchy songs without going out of their way to please the masses and strived not to go with the obvious solutions or repeat themselves. My favorite record is probably Document, which has a bit of a concept album feel with all the political themes and recurring lyrical motifs like fire.

I feel like I should give a few of their albums a listen because I have their Greatest Hits (fond memories of my dad playing it at home when i was younger) and there's some really good songs on it. I guess I always feel a bit bad when coming off a greatest hits as my starting point as it kinda ruins the chance to go into the albums 100% blind.

REM is one of those odd bands that the singles are the odd-balls, not the other way around.  I like it, of course, but "Fall On Me" isn't even in the top half of best songs on Lifes Rich Pageant, and "The One I Love", in my opinion, sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the first fouor or five songs on the record, which, in my opinion, just SLAY.  I love that band, seen them four times, and own most of the records three times (because of the different versions with bonus tracks) but songs like "Man On The  Moon"? Almost unlistenable.  They are so much more than that.

Have to throw some love to Murmur, one of my favorite debut albums ever, and still a unique record in their catalogue (they never quite made another just like it).

[Stadler]

For me:

- Devin Townsend Project
- Ayreon/Star One
- Loverboy
- Wolfmother

[KevShmev]

XTC - they went from being a band I knew 4-5 songs by to a band I listened to non-stop for like six months and is still in heavy rotation on my CD player/iPhone.  Great band.

[Mladen]

The Olivia Tremor Control, The Get Up Kids, Death, Kino and My Chemical Romance.

[cramx3]

In no order:

Alestorm - I didn't discover them in 2018, I actually had an album from 2011 that I enjoyed, but kind of forgot about and really didn't think too much of the gimmicky band.  But when they were announced for ProgPower I went back and noticed the newer albums and fell in love with them.  Their latest, No Grave But the Sea from 2017 would have been near or at the top of my list of best albums that year if I had known about it.  Then of course they were probaby the most fun band at ProgPower too.  So while not techinically a new discovery, they were a new found love.

Angra - Another ProgPower band but legit never heard until this year. Omni is an awesome album.  I didn't go back to their other albums, but I will one day.  They were really cool and I'm sure they have more music I would love.

Voyager - OK we get it, I discovered a lot of music from ProgPower.  This band kind of feels like the next band on my list.  A newer prog metal band that has a very original sound that takes a tad to get used to but once you listen a couple times you get sucked into the coolness of this very fresh sounding prog metal music.

Leprous - They toured with Haken and I started listening before seeing them.  I got two albums and while both are different, I enjoy both and I really like this singer.  Thought he was amazing live and the band had a ton of energy (same as Voyager too).

Greta Van Fleet - Heard about them earlier in the year and enjoyed the few songs they had released at the time.  Sure they sound like Led Zeppelin, but that doesn't bother me.  I liked their debut album, but when I saw them live was when I realized how good this band really is.  They blew the roof off the Forum for the KROQ show playing the mid card but easily had a bigger crowd and better performance than the bands that followed.  I went back to the debut album after this show and fell in love with it.

Steven Wilson - Took a chance and saw a concert of his while on a work trip in Denver.  I had only listened to a few songs before seeing him live the day before the show.  So I went in fairly blind and really enjoyed the show.  I only ended up getting his new live cd/bluray which was mostly the same set of the show I saw, but I really like it and ended up seeing him again locally recently. 

[King Postwhore]

I hope this thread doesn't already exist!

At the end of a year I always look back on what music it brought to me. In most cases I can distinguish the one newly discovered artist that blew me away. Of course, in 2005 it was Dream Theater. In 2006 it was Spock's Beard/Transatlantic/Neal Morse. In 2008 it was Genesis. In 2011 it was Muse. In 2012 it was Steely Dan.

In 2018 it was Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and all of its derivatives. This may sound a little random, given that a lot of people here are American and probably know these guys very well. But I have completely fallen in love with this music. Of course, I don't even know a quarter of it yet, given that there are around 2300 combinations of the guys. But what I know as of now is:
Crosby, Stills & Nash
Deja Vu (CSNY)
CSN
Croz (Crosby)
Sky Trails (Crosby)
Harvest (Young)
And I'm very much looking forward to discovering more!!!!


So, do you guys feel the same; do you have a number 1 musical discovery of 2018?

Sky Trails is an amazing album.  I just saw Crosby on tough with the Lighthouse project.

[T-ski]

I discovered Kingcrow.  "Persistence" is a great album and I'm currently getting into the rest of discog.

[jcmoorehead]

IQ were probably the biggest one for me, I had Road Of Bones for quite some time and really liked it but last year was when I really started to delve into the rest of their discography and find out what a great band they are.

I don't really think I got into too many new bands though. I did discover a few new bands towards the end of the year like The Proxy who I need to check out a bit more of. So hopefully this year I'll discover a few new bands

[Fritzinger]

Sky Trails is an amazing album.  I just saw Crosby on tough with the Lighthouse project.

True! I was instantly hooked with She's Got To Be Somewhere, because I'm a huge Steely Dan nerd and this song is one of the few songs I know that managed to get close to that style (and are not by the Dan). But also the rest is killer. The guy is almost 80 and his voice sounds like he's in his mid 20s! His new album Here If You Listen from last October is on its way with the mail Until then I have Croz - I found the vinyl in my favourite Dresden record store, still sealed. I listened to it twice, and already LOVE it.

Plus, I'd like to share this little story: When I first heard Steely Dan's Time Out Of Mind, the drum beat started and two guitar notes were heard and I instantly went "this is him, this is Mark Knopfler, I'm 100% sure" (some of you might know that I'm an even bigger Knopfler nerd than Dan nerd). That was a few years ago and it hasn't happened again ever since. But the other day it put on Croz for the first time. AND it happened again! There's only one guy who can make me shiver with only one note on the guitar, and it's Mark Knopfler. And I'm so happy he plays on Croz.

[Samsara]

Lost Domain

THANK YOU, TAC.

I also really fell in love with Rush's Counterparts in 2018. For some reason, that record just completely clicked with me toward the end of 2018.

[SwedishGoose]

Ostura for me.... love, love, love The Room and while Ashes of the Reborn is not nearly as good I'm still glad I got it.

[Architeuthis]

I finally came to really appreciate the Neal Morse Band.

[King Postwhore]

Mike Marker Zero - The Fifth Row from 2017.  Fantastic album.

[pg1067]

do you have a number 1 musical discovery of 2018?

YYNOT.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpF9KnCcZM9KWovxn3TtZ9Q and https://yynot.bandzoogle.com/home

YYNOT was formed when its guitarist (Billy Alexander) came across a bass player (Tim Starace) who was posting Rush covers to YouTube.  They connected and started working together (remotely).  They recruited a young female singer named Rocky Kuner based on a Deep Purple cover video she had posted while she was attending the Orange County (CA) High School of the Arts.  A drummer was added, and they began posting full band covers of Rush songs (primarily from the Rush through Signals era).  They also began working on original material and released a self-titled debut album in 2018.

YYNOT's Rush covers are the best I've ever heard -- primarily because Rocky's voice can handle the high-range Geddy Lee vocals of the era.  Their cover of the entirety of side 1 of Hemispheres is simply amazing.  The originals are fairly heavily Rush inspired, but they manage to blend virtually the entirety of Rush's various sounds into something cohesive.  Their songs aren't as "proggy" as 1970s Rush and not as GUPpy as the "synth era," but they incorporate elements from both eras, and the result is really well done.

The band is currently working on playing gigs throughout the U.S. and (probably) trying to find a label to release the debut album on a wider basis.

[Grappler]

I had a handful of bands that I dicovered this year and have listened to a ton:

Powerwolf
Lost Domain
Seventh Wonder
Warbringer
Burning Witches
Xandria

Powerwolf is definitely #1.  Huge, catchy, gothic power metal.  Essentially Sabaton, but the traditional keyboard sound is replaced by a church organ, and lyrics focusing on vampires and werewolfs instead of war.

[cramx3]

I keep thinking this Powerwolf band might be up my ally but haven't yet taken the time to check them out.  I've heard the comparisons to Sabaton.

I was thinking of putting them on my list, similar to Alestorm, but I had seen them before as an opener a few years ago so I didn't think that should count even though I fell in love with them this year.

[Adami]

Icon for Hire.

Northward.

[Stadler]

do you have a number 1 musical discovery of 2018?

YYNOT.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpF9KnCcZM9KWovxn3TtZ9Q and https://yynot.bandzoogle.com/home

YYNOT was formed when its guitarist (Billy Alexander) came across a bass player (Tim Starace) who was posting Rush covers to YouTube.  They connected and started working together (remotely).  They recruited a young female singer named Rocky Kuner based on a Deep Purple cover video she had posted while she was attending the Orange County (CA) High School of the Arts.  A drummer was added, and they began posting full band covers of Rush songs (primarily from the Rush through Signals era).  They also began working on original material and released a self-titled debut album in 2018.

YYNOT's Rush covers are the best I've ever heard -- primarily because Rocky's voice can handle the high-range Geddy Lee vocals of the era.  Their cover of the entirety of side 1 of Hemispheres is simply amazing.  The originals are fairly heavily Rush inspired, but they manage to blend virtually the entirety of Rush's various sounds into something cohesive.  Their songs aren't as "proggy" as 1970s Rush and not as GUPpy as the "synth era," but they incorporate elements from both eras, and the result is really well done.

The band is currently working on playing gigs throughout the U.S. and (probably) trying to find a label to release the debut album on a wider basis.

They are good, but my god do I hate that name.   

[The Walrus]

+1 hate the name but they can definitely play.

[Mebert78]

Valis Ablaze.  Their album Boundless ended being my favorite of 2018.

[Crow]

Mithras and Poly-math come to mind

[jammindude]

Bent Knee

Almost like The Mars Volta with a young Grace Slick at the helm.

[DTA]

Kind of an oddball here, but Carly Rae Jepsen's Emotion album. I was kind of burnt out on the stuff I was listening to and wanted something catchy and fun instead, and this album certainly is that. I've always been a fan of poppier music and this album is probably my most listened to album of 2018. It kind of opened my eyes to a world of pop music that I've ignored or looked down upon for whatever reason. A few weeks ago I listened to Burzum's Filosofem then Emotion back-to-back and thought how goddamn bizarre that pairing is, yet somehow I love both equally.

[Kwyjibo]

For me probably Symphony X, I knew of them and saw them open for DT but never took the time for more. But this past year I got The Divine Wings Of Tragedy, man what a great album that is.

[Crow]

Bent Knee

Almost like The Mars Volta with a young Grace Slick at the helm.

yeah it was a good show 
I still need to revisit land animal sometime, I wasn't too big on it when they released it but maybe I'd like it more now, dunno

[Learning2Live]

King Crimson

I'm working my way through to the origins of prog rock and went through their discography for the first time in '18 and really enjoy most of their work up through Three of a Perfect Pair, with the Wetton/Bruford era being my favorite. Can't get in to the 3 albums after that though.

[twosuitsluke]

I reckon these are my best discoveries, in order of how much they impacted me:

Zeal & Ardor
Deafheaven
Sigh
Black Peaks
The Dillinger Escape Plan
VOLA
Vennart
The Interrupters
Agent Fresco
Persefone
Boss Keloid
Circles
Ostura
Telepathy

Edit: obvs I didn't read the OP properly