1. Beyond the Bridge - The Old Man and the Spirit
Quite possibly my favourite progressive metal album after The Human Equation at this point. The biggest advantage over most Ayreon albums is that it's more concise. Also, the story is fantastic. Definitely and without any doubt my favourite album of the decade.
2. Ayreon - The Theory of Everything
The album that reignited my love for progressive rock and metal and made me start buying physical CDs way more actively than earlier. My wallet isn't thankful, but I am. The story is good, the sinners are great, also the art is gorgeous. I still have a poster with the art hanging on the wall at work. Hopefully I'll witness this album performed live one day.
3. Haken - Aquarius
Quirky, adventurous and gorgeous, and once again, concise enough to fit on one CD. Haken may be more mature now, but they didn't re-capture that spark that's present on Aquarius. Maybe it's a good thing as their other albums are also very strong, but they're not as amazing as this one, in my opinion. The last three songs run is spectacular.
4. Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused to Sing
The album that got my best friend and his wife, who are both metal fans, into prog rock. Maybe not very original material here, but the execution is flawless. The title track is one of the few things that usually makes me shed a few tears at the live show.
5. Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase.
I didn't think Steven could top Raven, and maybe he didn't, I'm not sure because these two are interchangeable for me, but this album is also fantastic. Not a weak track here, and a lot of fantastic ones. I saw Ancestral on all three SW shows I witnessed, and man, it never gets old.
6. Headspace - I Am Anonymous
Another incredible prog metal record, and one I'm surprised isn't mentioned more often in this thread. This is the album where Damian shines most, I think. I mean, if you don't count Ayreon live shows. Almost all tracks are on the longer side here, but they never get boring. Fantastic songwriting.
7. Nightwish - Imaginaerum
About two years ago I was quite surprised to realize that this is my favorite Nightwish album now. This album was in my heavy rotation for the last few winters and I don't expect it to change for the next few years. The band sounds very inspired here, not afraid to make some risky decisions for the song's directions. The result is stellar.
8. Avantasia - The Mystery of Time
Yeah, I know. Not Ghostlights and not Moonglow. The Mystery of Time is still my favorite Avantasia from this decade. I raved about it quite a lot in the respective band thread.
9. IQ - The Road of Bones
I remember including this album in my Top 50 in 2014, and hoping it wasn't too soon, worrying about its staying power and so on. I needn't have worried. This record is still going strong after five years. Definitely my favorite IQ record and one of the finest albums of the decade.
10. Fates Warning - Theories of Flight
After mediocre DiaDL, this album surprised me. Fantastic songs, Ray sounds great, it's as if the band suddenly found its second wind. Very impressive album this late in a career.
11. iamthemorning - Lighthouse
You've seen me raving about this around GMD, so yeah, this is still great.
12. Leprous - Bilateral
My opinion about this changes from month to month. Sometimes it's Bilateral that amazes me, sometimes it's The Congregation. I'll give a nod to Bilateral today as a more diverse album and the milestone in the band's career.
13. Anathema - Weather Systems
This album is unlike anything else in my audio library, I think, and a great example of the band capturing something unique on the record. Always lovely to listen to this.
14. Arch / Matheos - Winter Ethereal
Judging simply by the fact I've been spinning this for probably half a year now and that I'm yet to get tired of it, and none of the 2019 releases came close to it so far... Yeah, I think this album deserves to be here.
15. Mark Knopfler - Privateering
To be honest, sometimes I do skip a track on this one, but to be fair, it has twenty tracks. It also has some of my favourite ballads ever on this, and plenty of other fantastic songs.
Honorable mentions:
Primal Fear - Delivering the Black
Dimension Act - Manifestation of Progress
Leprous - The Congregation
David Gilmour - Rattle that Lock
The Gentle Storm - The Diary
Haken - The Mountain
Evergrey - Hymns for the Broken
Blind Guardian - At the Edge of Time