Retro Albums of the Year 2010's: 2020

[jingle.boy]

Dayum... and I thought *I* bought a lot of music!

Not mentioned yet:

Absolute Priority - Hunter
Affector - Harmaggedon
Arjen Anthony Lucassen - Lost in the New Real
At Vance - Facing Your Enemy
Bad Salad - Uncivilized
Beyond the Bridge - Old Man and the Spirit
Blessed By A Broken Heart - Feel the Power
Circus Maximus - Live in Japan
Circus Maximus - Nine
Cloudscape - New Era
Delain - We Are The Others
Dimension Act - Manifestation of Progress
Dynazty - Sultans of Sin
Eclipse - Bleed and Scream
End of September - s/t
Europe - Bag of Bones
Fatal Force - Unholy Rites
The Great Gamble - Book 1
Hardline - Danger Zone
Harry Hess - Living in Yesterday
Heart of Cygnus - The Voyage of Jonas
Hemina - Synthetic
Infinite Spectrum - Misguided
It Bites - Maps of the Past
Kamelot - Silverthorn
Machine Men - Circus of Fools
Mob Rules - Cannibal Nation
Moon Safari - A Doorway to Summer
Moon Safari - Lover's End Pt III: Skelleftea Serenade
Mystery - The World is a Game
Presto Ballet - Relic of the Modern World
Pretty Maids - It Comes Alive: Maid in Switzerland
Primal Fear - Unbreakable
Pyramid Theorem - s/t
The Ralph - Fragments
Sacrum - Criminal
Secret Sphere - Portrait of a Dying Heart
Shadow Circus - On a Dark and Stormy Night
Speaking to Stones - Elements
Spheric Universe Experience - The New Eve
Stargate - Beyond Space and Time
Sturm Und Drang - Graduation Day
Ten - Heresy and Creed
Teramaze - Anhedonia
Trail of Murder - Shades of Art
Vision Divine - Destination Set To Nowhere
Yargos - Magical Karma

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Yeah, I really only spend money on food, music, and music gear. 

[KevShmev]

2012.  Really good year for music.

01 Storm Corrosion - Storm Corrosion
02 Flying Colors - Flying Colors
03 Rush - Clockwork Angels
04 Taylor Swift - Red
05 The Flower Kings - Banks of Eden
06 Van Halen - A Different Kind of Truth
07 Muse - The 2nd Law
08 Neal Morse - Momentum
09 Devin Townsend - Epicloud
10 Anathema - Weather Systems
11 Alanis Morissette - Havoc and Bright Lights
12 Trevor Rabin - Jacaranda

[ariich]

My top 3 from 2012 are all pretty outrageously amazing.

1. Anathema - Weather Systems
2. Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax II: Future Sequence
3. Thank You Scientist - Maps of Non-Existent Places
4. Mors Principium Est - ...And Death Said Live
5. Blue Food - Engines
6. Caravan Palace - Panic
7. Flying Colors - Flying Colors
8. Infected Mushroom - Army of Mushrooms
9. Muse - The 2nd Law
10. Moon Safari - Lover's End Pt. III EP
11. Submotion Orchestra - Fragments
12. Beyond the Bridge - The Old Man and the Spirit
13. Halestorm - The Strange Case Of...
14. Devin Townsend Project - Epicloud
15. In Mourning - The Weight of Oceans
16. Threshold - March of Progress
17. Wintersun - Time I
18. Regina Spektor - What We Saw From the Cheap Seats
19. Sonata Arctica - Stones Grow Her Name
20. Twelve Foot Ninja - Silent Machine
21. Hypno5e - Acid Mist Tomorrow
22. Katatonia - Dead End Kings
23. Hiromi - Move
24. Lazerhawk - Visitors
25. Portico Quartet - Portico Quartet

Also great:
Aeternam - Moongod
Alcest - Les voyages de l'âme
Architects - Daybreaker
Art by Numbers - Reticence: The Musical
Au4 - …And Down Goes the Sky
Baroness - Yellow & Green
Barren Earth - The Devil's Resolve
Be'lakor - Of Breath and Bone
Bend Sinister - Small Fame
Borknagar - Urd
David Maxim Micic - Bilo 2.0 EP
Devin Townsend Project - By a Thread
Dimension Act - Manifestation of Progress
Ensiferum - Unsung Heroes
Enslaved - RIITIIR
The Flower Kings - Banks of Eden
Foxy Shazam - The Church of Rock and Roll
Gabrielle Aplin - Home
Headspace - I Am Anonymous
Hidden Orchestra - Archipelago
Imagine Dragons - Night Visions
In the Silence - A Fair Dream Gone Mad
Jeff Wayne - War of the Worlds: The New Generation
Khonsu - Anomalia
The King Blues - Long Live the Struggle
Kyte - Love to Be Lost
Linkin Park - Living Things
Lucy Rose - Like I Used To
Mare Cognitum - An Extraconscious Lucidity
Mumford & Sons - Babel
North Atlantic Oscillation - Fog Electric
Obsidian Kingdom - Mantiis
Oddland - The Treachery of Senses
Periphery - Periphery II: This Time It's Personal
Public Service Broadcasting - The War Room EP
Sabaton - Carolus Rex
Shinedown - Amaryllis
Sleeping at Last - Yearbook Collection
Susanne Sundfør - The Silicone Veil
The Tea Club - Quickly Quickly Quickly
Tremonti - All I Was
Woods of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light
Xanthochroid - Blessed He With Boils

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I look at some people's lists and feel like I'm oversharing, and then I look at Soundscape's and ariich's and feel better. 

[SoundscapeMN]

I look at some people's lists and feel like I'm oversharing, and then I look at Soundscape's and ariich's and feel better. 

 ...don't worry about it.

It does go back to the point made a page back about their being so much more music out there/being made. And some of us just got so addicted/attached to trying to listen to dozens of albums every year.

Personally, over the last 5+ years, I find I still check out a lot of new albums, but I don't feel I invest the same amount of time with it because it in some ways felt like it was quantity over quality.

[425]

I look at some people's lists and feel like I'm oversharing, and then I look at Soundscape's and ariich's and feel better. 

I think it's just a matter of how much time a person dedicates to new music. If a person works in music or has a lifestyle that leaves them a lot of time to spend on music, then it makes sense that they'd have really long lists. That's not my situation, so I literally would not have the time to listen to as many albums as y'all do. But it's cool to see these more extensive lists!

Here's my 2012. This is another pretty strong year, although not as good as 2011 IMO. A lot of albums I like a lot, but not that many that I consider favorites. I would say that 2-9 are all pretty close, with #1 standing out as a clear favorite.


1. Anathema - Weather Systems
2. Neal Morse - Momentum
3. Kamelot - Silverthorn
4. Beyond the Bridge - The Old Man and the Spirit
5. Rush - Clockwork Angels
6. Mystery - The World is a Game
7. The Flower Kings - Banks of Eden
8. Taylor Swift - Red
9. Coheed and Cambria - The Afterman: Ascension
10. Headspace - I Am Anonymous
11. Steve Harris - British Lion
12. Flying Colors - Flying Colors

Haven't listened enough: Devin Townsend Project - Epicloud

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Personally, over the last 5+ years, I find I still check out a lot of new albums, but I don't feel I invest the same amount of time with it because it in some ways felt like it was quantity over quality.

Yeah, over the last couple years again it's been a struggle to slow down and appreciate all the newer artists I've found.  I know I'm going to spend most of next month churning through more '21 releases and giving additional listens to ones I've already heard to finish crafting my year-end lists, but I think come January I'm going to try and have a soft moratorium on new music for a month and give myself some time to absorb everything I'm behind in. 

1. Anathema - Weather Systems

This appears to be the collective forum favorite of '12.  I didn't fully rank mine, but it would be #2 for the year, behind Dead End Kings.  I didn't "get" Anathema back in the 00s, but that was the album that sold me on them when I heard it a couple years after it came out, and now they're one of my favorite artists. 

[ariich]

I look at some people's lists and feel like I'm oversharing, and then I look at Soundscape's and ariich's and feel better. 

 ...don't worry about it.

Go team!

I look at some people's lists and feel like I'm oversharing, and then I look at Soundscape's and ariich's and feel better. 

I think it's just a matter of how much time a person dedicates to new music. If a person works in music or has a lifestyle that leaves them a lot of time to spend on music, then it makes sense that they'd have really long lists. That's not my situation, so I literally would not have the time to listen to as many albums as y'all do. But it's cool to see these more extensive lists!

Yeah, definitely this. I'm fortunate that, unless I'm in a meeting, I can (and do) listen to music while I work, which means I can check out a hell of a lot of stuff. I go through phases for sure - if you're permanently in checking-out-new-stuff mode then it doesn't leave time for actually getting to know the music. I tend to run a roulette when I really want to get to know some stuff I don't already know, but after that I'll generally spend some time going over what I've discovered again and replaying some older favourites.

By the way, congrats on having the correct #1 for 2012.

[nick_z]

2012

More albums this year, although still a ton purchased later (*)

Weather Systems is my favorite latter-day Anathema album, by some margin. Still not quite at the same level as Eternity-Alternative 4-Judgement, but the best since their more "positive-prog" comeback. Great final statement from Rush (which we didn't know at the time  ). Good stuff from Paradise Lost and Katatonia too...

Top 15 (somewhat fluid)

Anathema – Weather Systems
Rush – Clockwork Angels
Paradise Lost – Tragic Idol
Audrey Horne – Audrey Horne *
Deftones – Koi No Yokan
Katatonia – Dead End Kings
Prong – Carved Into Stone
Halestorm – The Strange Case Of… *
Rival Sons – Head Down
Shinedown - Amaryllis
Pharaoh – Bury the Light *
Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball
Stone Sour – House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 *
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals – The Lion the Beast the Beat

The Honorable Mentions

Atoma – Skylight *
Avatar – The Black Waltz *
Be’Lakor – Of Breath and Bone *
Brandi Carlile – Bear Creek *
Gary Clark Jr. – Blak and Blu
The Cult – Weapon of Choice
Dawnbringer – Into the Lair of the Sun God *
Enslaved – Ritiir *
Flying Colors – Flying Colors *
The Gathering – Disclosure *
Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage *
Heart – Fanatic *
Imagine Dragons – Night Visions
Insomnium – One for Sorrow *
Killing Joke – MMXII
Lamb of God - Resolution
Matchbox 20 – North *
Meshuggah - Koloss
Moonspell – Alpha Noir *
Mors Principium Est - …And Death Said Live *
Ne Obliviscaris – Portal of I *
Pallbearer – Sorrow and Extinction *
Riverside – Anno Domini High Definition *
Royal Thunder – CVI *
Sahg – III *
Taylor Swift – Red *
Teramaze – Anhedonia *
Testament – Dark Roots of Earth
Sylosis – Monolith *
Tremonti – All I Was *
Van Halen – A Different Kind of Truth
Woods of Ypres – Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light *
Year of the Goat – Angels’ Necropolis *
Zac Brown Band – Uncaged *

[SoundscapeMN]

I look at some people's lists and feel like I'm oversharing, and then I look at Soundscape's and ariich's and feel better. 

 ...don't worry about it.

Go team!

I look at some people's lists and feel like I'm oversharing, and then I look at Soundscape's and ariich's and feel better. 

I think it's just a matter of how much time a person dedicates to new music. If a person works in music or has a lifestyle that leaves them a lot of time to spend on music, then it makes sense that they'd have really long lists. That's not my situation, so I literally would not have the time to listen to as many albums as y'all do. But it's cool to see these more extensive lists!

Yeah, definitely this. I'm fortunate that, unless I'm in a meeting, I can (and do) listen to music while I work, which means I can check out a hell of a lot of stuff. I go through phases for sure - if you're permanently in checking-out-new-stuff mode then it doesn't leave time for actually getting to know the music. I tend to run a roulette when I really want to get to know some stuff I don't already know, but after that I'll generally spend some time going over what I've discovered again and replaying some older favourites.

By the way, congrats on having the correct #1 for 2012.

I actually used to do work where wearing headphones for 5+ hours a day..some days/weeks even more with Overtime available, I would listen to 4-7 albums a day, while also actually listening to talk radio and podcasts/youtube video rips.

I still work for that same company, but my work requires more time without headphones (or just with something off, per I've been working from home like many since COVID, and having music on in the room doesn't disturb anyone, lol). But it used to be more right-brain/left-brain for me, but sadly with meetings, emails, direct messaging, I don't find I'm allowed as much time for music during my workday.

Then again..I designate every Afternoon at 3PM for my daily dose of Three's Company, lol  (which they air 2 episodes every week day on Antenna TV in the States).

I am finding most of the music I listen to now is in my car, lol. Which is why I still try and pickup hardcopies or download albums (preferably from bandcamp), vs relying on Spotify or YouTube. And some of it is, finding older albums that I never knew about, or just revisiting a band's albums. For example this year, the album I have listened to the most is probably Eldren's album "Miss Information Aged" which came out in 2018. The same kind of thing happened with Dirt Poor Robins a few years ago. It just so happens I discovered them years after they were released, for better or for worse. Which I guess lends reason to do a Retrospective Albums of the Year because I may now enjoy an album more than the album I had as my AOTY in said year.

[jingle.boy]

Yeah, definitely this. I'm fortunate that, unless I'm in a meeting, I can (and do) listen to music while I work, which means I can check out a hell of a lot of stuff. I go through phases for sure - if you're permanently in checking-out-new-stuff mode then it doesn't leave time for actually getting to know the music.

This is me exactly as well.  So long as I'm not on a call, I always have music in my ears.  I've been working from home since 2011, and used to travel a lot, so that also afforded a lot of time to listen to music.  I used to sample about 200 albums per year, and would usually buy about 50-60.  I've pruned that back a little (usually listening to around 100), and once Spotify became legal in Canada, reduced my purchases to about 25, whilst saving another 25 or so on Spotify.  To Rich's last comment there, I just found I wasn't spending enough time with the music I loved when I was constantly on the prowl.  And having accumulated 500 new albums in the last 10 years, without accumulating any extra listening time, all I do is reduce the amount of time I end up giving the bands/albums I already have.

[ReaperKK]

The past few years have changed for me. I sort went through this funk of getting tired of everything I've already heard and when I started listening to more music is when I started to venture out to discover new stuff. Currently I dedicate to listening to one new album a day every work day. I've been able to find some really great stuff doing this without letting some of my older stuff I like get stale. Anyway, onto 2012 for me:

1. Kaki King - Glow - 5/5 - My favorite Kaki album and one of my favorite albums of all time. He song writing and playing reaches a new heights on this album
2. Espen Eriksen Trio - What Took You So Long - 5/5
3. Lana Del Rey - Born To Die - 4/5
4. John 5 - God Told Me To - 4/5
5. Matthew Halsall - Fletcher Moss Park - 4/5
6. Jessica Curry - Dear Esther: Official Soundtrack - 3.5/5
7. OSI - Fire Make Thunder - 3.5/5
8. Minus The Bear - Infinity Overhead - 3.5/5
9. Haywyre - The Voyage - 3/5
10. Pyramid Theorem - Pyramid Theorem - 3/5
11. Dave Matthews Band - Away From The World - 3/5
12. Hidden Orchestra - Archipelago - 3/5
13. Tenacious D - Rize Of The Fenix - 2.5/5
14. KOAN Sound - The Adventures Of Mr. Fox 2/5
15. Devin Townsend Project - Epicloud - 2/5
16. Soundgarden - King Animal - 2/5
17. Trifonic - Ninth Wave - 2/5
18. Candlebox - Love Stories & Other Musings - 1.5/5
19. The Mars Volta - Noctourniquet - 0.5/5 - I never understood the appeal of this band

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Yeah, definitely this. I'm fortunate that, unless I'm in a meeting, I can (and do) listen to music while I work, which means I can check out a hell of a lot of stuff. I go through phases for sure - if you're permanently in checking-out-new-stuff mode then it doesn't leave time for actually getting to know the music.

To Rich's last comment there, I just found I wasn't spending enough time with the music I loved when I was constantly on the prowl.  And having accumulated 500 new albums in the last 10 years, without accumulating any extra listening time, all I do is reduce the amount of time I end up giving the bands/albums I already have.

Yeah, but that's why it's a balancing act.  I routinely find newer bands that I like more than many of the bands I've discovered in earlier years.  If I never explore at all I won't find them.  So for me it's an endless vacillation between new music, old favorites, and music I've heard and like but am not yet intimately familiar with.  And sometimes even "new" music is just an extension of music I already love.  If one of my favorite artists releases a new album, spending time with it is more akin to unearthing a treasure trove of unheard songs that I already had and forgot about than it is exploring a completely foreign artist to me.  Sometimes this is true for a new artist in a genre you already know well, you're adding a variant on a flavor you know you love rather than something that will take a lot more processing to grasp.  But everyone has a different balancing point.  I know there are people who listen to the same album(s) every day and have done so for years.  I couldn't do that, but for some people it's what makes them happy. 

[WardySI]

2012 wasn't the greatest of years  but some great relases a few of which remain constants on my stereo and some big names to boot (Soundgarden notable for added nostalgic points but is what it is folks )


SOUNDGARDEN - King Animal

THRESHOLD - March Of Progress

LILLIAN AXE - VI The Days Before Tomorrow

BARONESS - Yellow & Green

VAN HALEN - A Different Kind Of Truth


HEADSPACE - I Am Anonymous
MOONSPELL - Alpha Noir
STEVE HARRIS - BRITISH LION
JORN - Bring Heavy Rock To The Land
ADRENALINE MOB - Omerta
PARADISE LOST - Tragic Idol
THE CULT - Weapon Of Choice
BANGALORE CHOIR - Metaphor
EUROPE - Bag Of Bones
STONESOUR - House Of Gold & Bones
CANDLEBOX - Love Stories & Other Musings

[SoundscapeMN]

2013

2013: every decade it seems there's 1 or 2 years where I feel like a lot of my time listening to music was compromised by other things. 2013 in some ways was..either that, or I have long since felt did not have any go-to "2013 Albums" that defined and I got attached to. That being said, now remembering and looking at my list, there were a lot of very good albums in 2013. Steven Wilson, Daft Punk, Typhoon, Mayer Hawthorne..all put out records I still enjoy and have not made records as good since (or any in the case of Daft Punk).

I guess even 8 years later, I see 2013 as not being so Top Heavy, but I guess at least have a decent amount of records I enjoyed and still enjoy, with some coming into my playlist since that year, and some I enjoy more now than back then; Pretty & Nice, Cloud Cult, Capital Cities, Josh Rouse.

Also my top 2 EPs are like most years, have music on them that are among my favorites in those bands catalogs.

1. The Reign of Kindo - Play With Fire
2. Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories)
3. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
4. Typhoon - White Lighter
5. Local Natives - Hummingbird
6. In Vain - Ænigma
7. The Dear Hunter - Migrant
8. Ours - Ballet the Boxer 1
9. Dirt Poor Robins - The Raven Locks Act 1
10. Mayer Hawthorne - Where Does This Door Go
11. Janelle Monáe - The Electric Lady
12. Foals - Holy Fire
13. Pretty & Nice - Golden Rules for Golden People
14. Capital Cities - In a Tidal Wave of Mystery
15. Cloud Cult - Love
16. Brooke Waggoner - Originator
17. The Red Paintings - The Revolution Is Never Coming
18. K Será - Collisions and Near Misses
19. Genders - Get Lost
20. Debashish Bhattacharya - Beyond the Ragasphere
21. Orphaned Land - All Is One
22. Persefone - Spiritual Migration
23. For the Imperium - Hail the Monsters
24. Radical Face - The Family Tree: The Branches
25. Josh Rouse - The Happiness Waltz
26. The Age of Rockets - Adults
27. Biffy Clyro - Opposites
28. Renaissance - Grandine il vento
29. Leprous - Coal
30. Fitz & the Tantrums - More Than Just a Dream
31. Mother Falcon - You Knew
32. Eldren - Eldren
33. Dream Theater - Dream Theater
34. Evarusnik - In a Poker Slash Refrain
35. The Royal Veil - King of the Ocean
36. RisingSide - Arrow: The Onus Key
37. Cynthesis - ReEvolution
38. Revere - My Mirror/Your Target
39. Everything Everything - Arc
40. Falling Up - Hours
41. Spock's Beard - Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep
42. Fates Warning - Darkness In a Different Light
43. David Bowie - The Next Day
44. Karnivool - Asymmetry
45. Shelter Red - The Split Sabre
46. Protest the Hero - Volition
47. Sigur Rós - Kveikur
48. Annuals - Time Stamp
49. The Winery Dogs - The Winery Dogs
50. Fish -A Feast of Consequences
51. Nosound - Afterthoughts
52. Scale the Summit - The Migration
53. Coheed and Cambria - The Afterman: Descension
54. Baliset - Exordium
55. The Aristocrats - Culture Clash
56. Long Distance Calling - The Flood InsideCulture Clash
57. The Greening - Eon V. Aeon
58. The Polyphonic Spree - Yes, It's True.
59. Alpha Rev - Bloom
60. The Grape and the Grain - Better Keep Digging


Rhye - Woman
The Appleseed Cast - Illumination Ritual
Buke and Gase - General Dome
Worldengine - Dark Matters
Graham Butler - Dread Fascination
The Cloak Ox - Shoot the Dog
Jamie Lidell - Jamie Lidell
Flaud Logic - Flaud Logic
Arsis - Unwelcome
Incura - The Lost
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito
Andrew Stockdal-  Keep Moving
Riverside - Shrine of New Generation Slaves
OneRepublic - Native
Jolly - The Audio Guide to Happiness (Part 2)
Jimi Hendrix - People, Hell and Angels
Falling Up - Midnight on Earthship
Eisley - Currents
Editors - The Weight of Your Love
The Besnard Lakes - Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO
Blackfield - Blackfield IV
Born of Osiris - Tomorrow We Die ∆live
Levin Minneman Rudess - Levin Minneman Rudess
White Denim - Corsicana Lemonade
Avenged Sevenfold - Hail to the King
Dead Letter Circus - The Catalyst Fire
East of the Wall - Redaction Artifacts
The Stepkids - Troubadour
Pinnick Gales Pridgen - Pinnick Gales Pridgen
Dug Pinnick - Naked
Russian Circles - Memorial
The Elephant In The Room - The Collective & The Individual


EPs
1. The Dear Hunter - The Migrations Annex
2. Miracles of Modern Science - Meems
3. Subterranean Masquerade - Home / Beyond the Pale
4. Northern Abbey - The Sounds of Glowing
5. Sir Video - On and On/Do What You Wanna/Never Knew
6. Bed of Stars - I Fell in Love in the City
7. Tangled Thoughts of Leaving - Failed by Man and Machine
8. Mals Totem - Mals Totem
9. Cloud Caverns - Blind Willow
10. Infantephant - Cyclelicoptippopacalypse
11. Timmy Sean - East Coast Girls
12. Aaron & the Sea - Cloak & Dagger

Concerts
1/19/13 The Champions of Nothing: Kevin Gilbert Tribute - Shank Hall Milwaukee, WI
1/23/13 Ramona Falls/Wolfhoppers/Prissy Clerks - The 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, MN
2/10/13 Coheed and Cambria/Between the Buried and Me/Russian Circles - First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
3/20/13 Bend Sinister - JBTV Studios Chicago, IL
3/20/13 Bend Sinister/Single Channel Stereo - Township Chicago, IL
3/23/13 Local Natives/Superhumanoids - First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
6/5/13 Michael Nesmith - The Fitzgerald Theater St.Paul, MN
4/14/13 The Dear Hunter/Naive Thieves - The 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, MN
4/25/13 Mindless Self Indulgence/The Red Paintings - Mill City Nights Minneapolis, MN
5/4/13 Steven Wilson - The Fine Line Music Cafe Minneapolis, MN
5/17/13 Laura Stevenson/Field Mouse - The Triple Rock Social Club Minneapolis, MN
5/20/13 Foals/Surfer Blood/Blondfire - First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
6/15/13 Josh Rouse/Field Report - The Dakota Jazz Club Minneapolis, MN
6/15/13 Josh Rouse/Field Report - The Dakota Jazz Club Minneapolis, MN
6/17/13 Fitz and the Tantrums/ Sons of Valory/Ivy Levan - The Varsity Theater Minneapolis, MN
6/28/13 The Polyphonic Spree - The Varsity Theater Minneapolis, MN
6/30/13 Wishbone Ash/Nektar - Famous Dave's Calhoun Square Minneapolis, MN
8/9/13   Yes - Mystic Lake Casino Prior Lake, MN
9/15/13 Debashish Bhattacharya's Modern India - The Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis, MN
9/17/13 The Dear Hunter/Rogue Valley - The Varsity Theater Minneapolis, MN
9/19/13 Typhoon/Radiation City - The Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis, MN
9/22/13 David Cassidy/Peter Noone/Micky Dolenz - Grand Casino Hinckley, MN
9/22/13 Anathema/Alcest - Mill City Nights Minneapolis, MN
10/1/13 Billy Cobham - The Dakota Jazz Club Minneapolis, MN
10/11/13 Between the Buried and Me/The Faceless/The Contortionist/The Safety Fire - The Varsity Theater Minneapolis, MN
10/16/13 Radical Face/Jonny Rodgers - The Varsity Theater Minneapolis, MN
10/22/13 Janelle Monae/Strange Names - The Skyway Theater Minneapolis, MN
11/1/13  Living Colour - Mill City Nights Minneapolis, MN
11/16/13 Umami/Aaron and the Sea/Genders - Kitty Cat Klub Minneapolis, MN
11/20/13 Miracles of Modern Science/The Loose Cannons - The Lion's Pause Northfield, MN
11/21/13 Fitz and the Tantrums/Capital Cities/Beat Club - Myth Maplewood, MN
11/24/13 Michael Nesmith - Turner Hall Ballroom - Milwaukee, WI
11/30/13 Goblin/Zombi - The Varsity Theater Minneapolis, MN
12/12/13 Boiled in Lead: Acoustic Yule- Celtic Junction St.Paul, MN

[nick_z]

2013

Back full-time in the US after three years working abroad, the list for 2013 is a bit thicker again (although still a good number of albums purchased later (*))

Dream Theater's S/T is still my favorite of the Mangini-era. Time will tell if A View...will challenge that. Great album from Alter Bridge - definitely better than ABIII (which was good but not great). Overall, lots of good stuff (including one of my favorite late-career Satriani records, with a super backing-band)

The Top 15:

Dream Theater – Dream Theater
Alter Bridge – Fortress
Audrey Horne – Youngblood
Haken – The Mountain
Clutch – Earth Rocker *
Steven Wilson – The Raven That Refused to Sing
Joe Satriani – Unstoppable Momentum
In Solitude – Sister *
Kingcrow – In Crescendo
Paramore – Paramore
Onerepublic – Native
Vhol – Vhol *
Beastmilk – Climax *
Carcass – Surgical Steel
Dark Tranquillity - Construct

The Honorable Mentions:

Alice in Chains – The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here
Amon Amarth – Deceiver of the Gods *
Amorphis – Circle *
Annihilator – Feast *
The Answer – New Horizon *
Avatarium – Avatarium *
Avenged Sevenfold – Hail to the King
Sara Bareilles – The Blessed Unrest
Biffy Clyro - Opposites
Black Sabbath – 13 *
Bring Me the Horizon – Sempiternal *
Dead Letter Circus – The Catalyst Fire
Death Angel – The Dream Calls for Blood
Dillinger Escape Plan – One of Us is the Killer
Fates Warning – Darkness in a Different Light
Five Finger Death Punch – The Wrong Side of Heaven…
Ghost – Infestissumam
Haim – Days Are Gone *
Jimmy Eat World – Damage
Karnivool - Asymmetry
Kacey Musgrave – Same Trailer Different Park *
Leprous – Coal *
Lorde – Pure Heroine
The Ocean – Pelagial *
Queensryche – Queensryche
Sahg – Delusions of Grandeur *
Soilwork – The Living Infinite
Bruce Soord & Jonas Renske – Wisdom of Crowds *
Spiritual Beggars – Earth Blues
Stone Sour – House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 *
Subsignal – Paraiso
Tesseract – Altered State *
Van Hertzen Brother – Nine Lives *
Voivod – Target Earth
Volbeat – Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies
The Winery Dogs – The Winery Dogs
Witherscape – The Inheritance *

[ReaperKK]

Surprisingly no 5 out of 5 albums for me this year:

2013:

1. Ludovico Einaudi - In A Time Lapse - 4/5
2. Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels - 4/5
3. The Aristocrats - Culture Clash - 4/5
4. Sarah Jarosz - Build Me Up From Bones - 4/5
5. Emancipator - Dusk To Dawn - 3.5/5
6. Alter Bridge - Fortress - 3.5/5
7. The Winery Dogs - The Winery Dogs - 3/5
8. Aaron Static - Redemption - 3/5
9. Dream Theater - Dream Theater - 3/5
10. Palms - Palms - 2.5/5
11. St. Lucia - When The Night - 2.5/5
12. Andrew Bayer - If It Were You, We'd Never Leave - 2/5
13. MS MR - Secondhand Rapture - 2/5
14. ASG - Blood Drive - 2/5
15. City And Colour - The Hurry And The Harm - 2/5
16. Haken - The Mountain - 2/5
17. Atoms For Peace - Amok - 0.5/5

[KevShmev]

It feels like 2013 was the year where quite a few bands I love or really like released albums that were either just good or disappointing (Dream Theater, Bowie, Flower Kings, Arcade Fire, Blackfield, Ayreon).  Still, there were three that I thought were great, and those are the ones I am listing.

01 Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused to Sing
02 Haken - The Mountain
03 Spock's Beard - Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep

[TAC]

It feels like 2013 was the year where quite a few bands I love or really like released albums that were either just good or disappointing (Dream Theater, Bowie, Flower Kings, Arcade Fire, Blackfield, Ayreon).  Still, there were three that I thought were great, and those are the ones I am listing.

01 Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused to Sing
02 Haken - The Mountain
03 Spock's Beard - Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep

You should've played in my current roulette.

[KevShmev]

It feels like 2013 was the year where quite a few bands I love or really like released albums that were either just good or disappointing (Dream Theater, Bowie, Flower Kings, Arcade Fire, Blackfield, Ayreon).  Still, there were three that I thought were great, and those are the ones I am listing.

01 Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused to Sing
02 Haken - The Mountain
03 Spock's Beard - Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep

You should've played in my current roulette.

I've stuck my nose in there, but that seems like too much dedication. Too much crap going on in real life to dedicate myself to something like that at the moment, otherwise I might have considered it (I have never participated in the roulettes).

[TAC]

It feels like 2013 was the year where quite a few bands I love or really like released albums that were either just good or disappointing (Dream Theater, Bowie, Flower Kings, Arcade Fire, Blackfield, Ayreon).  Still, there were three that I thought were great, and those are the ones I am listing.

01 Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused to Sing
02 Haken - The Mountain
03 Spock's Beard - Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep

You should've played in my current roulette.

I've stuck my nose in there, but that seems like too much dedication. Too much crap going on in real life to dedicate myself to something like that at the moment, otherwise I might have considered it (I have never participated in the roulettes).

Nah, it's really not a lot of dedication. For this one, it's pick two songs for each round and take part in a little banter.

[KevShmev]

Nah, it's really not a lot of dedication. For this one, it's pick two songs for each round and take part in a little banter.

I suppose.  Just seemed a bit too daunting at the moment.  :shrug:

[425]

So I take it Kev is not the Omnipotent One

I hear you on it taking a lot of time, but I could have used a little more pro-NM company on the Neal Morse round!

[HOF]

2013 was a short list but a big (big) year.

1. Big Big Train - English Electric: Full Power
2. The Winery Dogs - The Winery Dogs
3. Sound of Contact - Dimensionaut
4. Spock's Beard - Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep

And that's it for all new releases! But there were two big re-mix/re-issues that year too:

1. Marillion - Radiation 2013
2. Rush - Vapor Trails (Remixed)

Also, I had Moon Safari's Himlabacken Vol. 1 and Lover's End Pt. III as 2013 on my computer, but it appears the actual release year for both is 2012. All these newer small budget releases don't get cataloged right by online databases.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I'm trying to get slightly more selective, we'll see how this goes.  Hmm, maybe slightly less, it's still so hard to leave things off.  A pattern I'm noticing is that most of my tier 4 albums stand out as salient against lower tiers that get cut, but I still haven't spent enough time with them for them to be very memorable, just a very vague, warm fuzzy feeling about them that lower tiers have less of.  Without listening to everything again to more properly rank it all, it seems listening time and memorability is more important than any arbitrary judgement of quality, at least for the lower tiers.  Tier 3 I usually remember a decent amount about.  Tier 2 albums all tended to have their moment in the sun for me, but there's usually some slight thing lacking about them compared to the tier 1 entries, which are treasured favorites. 

2013:

Tier 1:

Alter Bridge - Fortress
CHVRCHES - The Bones of What You Believe
Daughter - If You Leave
Ruth Moody - These Wilder Things
Raving Season - Amnio
Soilwork - The Living Infinite
Sulphur Aeon - Swallowed By the Ocean's Tide
Witherscape - The Inheritance
Chelsea Wolfe - Pain Is Beauty

Tier 2:

Amaranthe - The Nexus
Amorphis - Circle
Ashes of Ares - s/t
Ayreon - The Theory of Everything
Sara Bareilles - The Blessed Unrest
Carcass - Surgical Steel
Deadlock - The Arsonist
Dido - Girl Who Got Away
Entrails - Raging Death
Anneke van Giersbergen - Drive
Mercenary - Through Our Darkest Days
Noumena - Death Walks With Me
Sevendust - Black Out the Sun
Tedeschi Trucks Band - Made Up Mind
TesseracT - Altered State
Vertical Horizon - Echoes From the Underground

Tier 3:

Bonamassa/Hart - Seesaw
Dance With the Dead - Out of Body
Kelly Clarkson - Wrapped In Red
Mike Dawes - What Just Happened?
Depeche Mode - Delta Machine
The Eden House - Half Life
Exivious - Liminal
Gorguts - Colored Sands
Sarah Jarosz - Build Me Up From Bones
James LaBrie - Impermanent Resonance
Lazerhawk - Skull and Shark
David Maxim Micic - Bilo 3.0
Agnes Obel - Aventine
October Tide - Tunnel of No Light
Ogre - Calico Brawn
Shatter Messiah - Hail the New Cross
Skinny Puppy - Weapon
Volto! - Incitare
Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories)

Tier 4:

Alice In Chains - The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here
Ataraxie - L'etre et la nausee
Sithu Aye - 26
Dark Tranquillity - Construct
Darkane - The Sinister Supremacy
Deafheaven - Sunbather
Dream Theater - s/t
Enshine - Origin
Esben and the Witch - Wash the Sins Not Only the Face
Exhumed - Necrocracy
Front Line Assembly - Echogenetic
Hail of Bullets - III: The Rommel Chronicles
Haken - The Mountain
Hamferd - Evst
Jess and the Ancient Ones - Astral Sabbat
Krypts - Unending Degradation
Modern Day Babylon - Travelers
Moon Safari - Himlabacken Vol. 1
Persefone - Spiritual Migration
Quest of Aidance - Misanthropic Propaganda
Revocation - s/t
Sirenia - Perils of the Deep Blue
Snarky Puppy - Family Dinner: Volume One
When Nothing Remains - Thy Dark Serenity
White Moth Black Butterfly - One Thousand Wings
Windhand - Soma
Wine From Tears - Glad To Be Dead
Wisdom of Crowds - s/t

[jingle.boy]

Off the top of my head, I seem to recall that 2013 was relatively soft.  Let's see now that I list 'em out

Not mentioned yet:
Alpha Rev - Bloom
Avantasia - The Mystery of Time
Constantine - Resign Due
Damnations Day - Invisible, The Dead
DGM - Momentum
Dream Theater - Happy Holidays 2013
Eden's Curse - Symphony of Sin
Epysode - Fantasmagoria
Illusion Suite - The Iron Cemetary
James Labrie - Impermanent Resonance
Jorn - Traveller
Karnya - Coverin Thoughts
Lord - Digital Lies
Maestrick - Unpuzzle!
Magnus Karlsson's FreeFall - s/t
Materplan - Nova Initium
Mindmaze - Mask of Lies
Nightwish - Showtime, Storytime
Now or Never - s/t
Odd Dimension - The Last Embrace to Humanity
The Poodles - Tour de Force
Powerworld - Cybersteria
Pretty Maids - Motherland
Queensryche - s/t
Rage of Angels - Dreamworld
ReVamp - Wild Card
Royal Hunt - A Life to Die For
Rush - Clockwork Angels Tour
Serenity - War of Ages
Silent Force - Rising from Ashes
Stratovarius - Nemesis
Tellus Requiem - Invictis (The 11th Hour)
Thought Chamber - Psykerion
Vandroya - One
Withem - The Point of You

Ok... so it was pretty decent.  Quite a few gems up there, and lots of really good stuff.  Not too many duds.  Only 35 albums though - so it was kinda light.

[MirrorMask]

First off, for 2012 I'm pretty sure I forgot Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball.

Now, onto my 2013:

1. Lingua Mortis Orchestra - LMO

Rage in everything but the name of the project, this orchestral album by the german power metal titans is a masterpiece of the genre, and my favorite of the year.

2. Avantasia - The Mystery of Time
3. Helloween - Straight Out of Hell

An all-german podium, with good albums from both Avantasia and Helloween - SOOH might not have all killer songs, but those who are, are among the best of their recent era.

Filling it all out:

4. Blood Ceremony - The Eldritch Dark
5. Avatarium – Avatarium
6. James LaBrie - Impermanent Resonance
7. Dream Theater – Dream Theater
8. Ghost – Infestissumam
9. Wardruna - Runaljod - Yggdrasil
10. Avenged Sevenfold - Hail to the King

Honorabile mentions:

Black Sabbath – 13
Anneke van Giersbergen - Drive
Royal Hunt - A Life to Die For

[WardySI]

2013

1. FATES WARNING Darkness In A Different Light

2. ALICE IN CHAINS The Devil Put Dino's Here

3. DREAM THEATER Dream Theater

4. QUEENSRYCHE Queensryche

5. AMORPHIS Circle


W.E.T. Rise Up
JORN Traveller
BLACK WATER RISING Black Water Rising
MERCENARY Through Our Darkest Days
CIRCLE II CIRCLE Seaons Will Fall
KINGDOM COME Outlier

ETA Amorphis can't believe I forgot it!

[ariich]

Epic year!

1. Haken - The Mountain
2. TesseracT - Altered State
3. Submotion Orchestra - 1968 EP
4. Enshine - Origin
5. Caligula's Horse - The Tide, the Thief & River's End
6. The Dear Hunter - Migrant
7. Spock's Beard - Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep
8. Frank Turner - Tape Deck Heart
9. Von Hertzen Brothers - Nine Lives
10. Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories)
11. Arcane Roots - Blood & Chemistry
12. Protest the Hero - Volition
13. Monica Heldal - Boy From the North
14. Amorphis - Circle
15. Omnium Gatherum - Beyond
16. Persefone - Spiritual Migration
17. Owel - Owel
18. Anathema - Universal
19. Plini - Other Things EP
20. Soilwork - The Living Infinite
21. Jason Isbell - Southeastern
22. Moon Safari - Himlabacken Vol. 1
23. Ólafur Arnalds - For Now I Am Winter
24. Kauan - Pirut
25. Alter Bridge - Fortress

Also great:
65daysofstatic - Wild Light
Amon Amarth - Deceiver of the Gods
Anamanaguchi - Endless Fantasy
Arctic Monkeys - AM
Biffy Clyro - Opposites
Big Big Train - English Electric: Full Power
Blindead - Absence
Blue October - Sway
Bring Me the Horizon - Sempiternal
BT - A Song Across Wires
Burden of Life - The Vanity Syndrome
The Cat Empire - Steal the Light
Cloud Cult - Love
Dance Gavin Dance - Acceptance Speech
David Maxim Micic - Bilo 3.0
Dream Theater - Dream Theater
Falling Up - Hours
Feed Me - Calamari Tuesday
Frightened Rabbit - Pedestrian Verse
Gabrielle Aplin - English Rain
Goldfrapp - Tales of Us
Hamferð - Evst
Hands Like Houses - Unimagine
Heaven's Basement - Filthy Empire
Ihsahn - Das Seelenbrechen
James LaBrie - Impermanent Resonance
Kardashev - Excipio
Kiev - Falling Bough Wisdom Teeth
Leprous - Coal
Like Thieves - The Wolves at Winter's Edge
The Longest Johns - Christmas at Sea EP
Marah in the Mainsail - Devil Weeds & Dour Deeds
Maribou State - Tongue EP
MyGrain - Planetary Breathing
Ninjaspy - No Kata
Norma Jean - Wrongdoers
The Ocean - Pelagial
Olaf Stuut - Equilibre
Ólafur Arnalds - Broadchurch OST
The Ongoing Concept - Saloon
Plini - Sweet Nothings EP
Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork
The Reign of Kindo - Play With Fire
Shade Empire - Omega Arcane
Shpongle - Museum of Consciousness
Subsignal - Paraíso
Tigran Hamasyan - Shadow Theater
Vangough - Between the Madness
VNV Nation - Transnational
Witherscape - The Inheritance

[LithoJazzoSphere]

2008:

This is a surprisingly strong and deep year.  Tier 4 really needs to be split into a few more tiers, but it's too daunting to slice up right now, so it's all staying for the moment. 

Tier 1:

All Ends - s/t
Ayreon - 01011001
Daylight Dies - Lost To the Living
Deadlock - Manifesto
Dido - Safe Trip Home
Draconian - Turning Season Within
Iced Earth - I Walk Among You EP (still mostly ignoring EPs, unless they are incredible which this one is)
Mercenary - Architect of Lies
Opeth - Watershed
Scar Symmetry - Holographic Universe
To-Mera - Delusions

Tier 2:

Anti-Depressive Delivery - Chain of Foods
Francesca Battistelli - My Paper Heart
Bloodbath - The Fathomless Mastery
Bloodbath - Unblessing the Purity EP (same deal, "Blasting the Virginborn" might be the most menacing Akerfeldt has ever sounded)
Bon Voyage - Lies
Communic - Payment of Existence
Warrel Dane - Praises To the War Machine
Ebony Ark - When the City is Quiet
Eventide - Planet Plague EP
Evergrey - Torn
Galaxy Hunter - We Came From Space
Illdisposed - The Prestige
King's x - XV
Jeff Loomis - Zero Order Phase
OceanLab - Sirens of the Sea
Origin - Antithesis
Panzerballett - Starke Stucke
Sevendust - Chapter VII: Hope and Sorrow
Susan Tedeschi - Back To the River
Telemetrik - My Lightyear
Universum - Leto Destinatus
Unleashed - Hammer Battalion
UnSun - The End of Life

Tier 3:

Abigail Williams - In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns
Adele - 19
Aesthetic Perfection - A Violent Emotion
Akphaezya - Anthology II: Links From the Dead Trinity
Lisa Batiashvili - Violin Concerto/Miniatures
Celldweller - Soundtrack For the Voices In My Head Vol. 01
Chaoswave - Dead Eye Dreaming
Coldplay - Viva la vida or Death and All His Friends
Cynic - Traced In Air
Darkane - Demonic Art
Dead Congregation - Graves of the Archangels
Demiurg - The Hate Chamber
Dismember - s/t
Divinefire - Farewell
DOOM:VS - Dead Words Speak
Edenbridge - MyEarthDream
Eluveitie - Slania
Flowing Tears - They Kingdom Gone
Grave - Dominion VIII
Hail of Bullets - ...Of Frost and War
Hour of Penance - The Vile Conception
Sierra Hull - Secrets
Imagika - Feast For the Hatred
Machinae Supremacy - Overworld
Kathy Mattea - Coal
Lady Gaga - The Fame
MyGrain - Signs of Existence
Pyramaze - immortal
One-Way Mirror - s/t
Testament - The Formation of Damnation
Todesbonden - Sleep Now Quiet Forest
Trivium - Shogun
Vassilis Tsabropoulos - Melos
Zappa Plays Zappa - s/t

Tier 4:

Natasha Borzilova - Cheap Escape
Chain Collector - Unrestrained
Coffins - Buried Death
Dagoba - Face the Colossus
Disfear - Live the Storm
Endanger - Revolt
The Faceless - Planetary Duality
Firewind - The Premonition
Fleet Foxes - s/t
genCAB - II transMuter
Grand Magus - Iron Will
Buddy Guy - Skin Deep
Lisa Hannigan - Sea Sew
Roy Hargrove - Earfood
Hate - Morphosis
Heaven Shall Burn - Iconoclast
Heavenwood - Redemption
Hiromi's Sonicbloom - Beyond Standard
Joanne Hogg - Raphael's Journey
Hooded Menace - Fulfill the Curse
Iced Earth - The Crucible of Man (Something Wicked Part 2)
In Flames - A Sense of Purpose
Into Eternity - The Incurable Tragedy
Meshuggah - obZen
Metallica - Death Magnetic
Midnight Syndicate - The Dead Matter: Cemetery Gates
Moon Safari - [blomljud]
Gary Moore - Bad For You Baby
Mostly Autumn - Glass Shadows
Myhybris - The Sweet Melody of Resilience
Panic Lift - Witness To Our Collapse
Aaron Parks - Invisible Cinema
Portishead - Third
Rational Diet - At Work
Res - Black.Girls.Rock!
Rotten Sound - Cycles
Scrapomatic - Sidewalk Caesars
Secret Chiefs 3 - Xaphan: Book of Angels Volume 9
Shadow - Forever Chaos
Snarky Puppy - Brings Us the Bright
Snow Goons - Black Snow
Esperanza Spalding - s/t
Straight Line Stitch - When Skies Wash Ashore
Synthetic Breed - Catatonic
Terminal Function - Measuring the Abstract
Trap Them - Seizures in Barren Praise
Venetian Snares - Reality Dysfunction
Whitesnake - Good To Be Bad
Steven Wilson - insurgentes
Rachael Yamagata - Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart

[Crow]

i'm way behind on this thread bcuz i've been busy working on a feature-length youtube video 

2010:
#1: Blindead - Affliction XXIX II MXMVI
#2: Haken - Aquarius
#3: Shining - Blackjazz
#4: Oceansize - Self Preserved While the Bodies Float Up
#5: Alcest - Ecailles de Lune
#6: East of the Wall - Ressentiment
#7: Eluvium - Static Nocturne
#8: Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here

absolutely not a banner year considering how strong pretty much every other year of the decade is going to be for me on these lists. none of these would make even my top 5 in 2011 or 2013
which, speaking of:

2011:
#1: East of the Wall - The Apologist (surprise)
#2: Midnight Odyssey - Funerals From the Astral Sphere
#3: Leprous - Bilateral
#4: Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction
#5: Alrakis - Alpha Eri
#6: Unexpect - Fables of the Sleepless Empire
#7: Protest the Hero - Scurrilous
#8: Amplifier - The Octopus
#9: M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
#10: Caligula's Horse - Moments From Ephemeral City

christ what a year, i'm being picky keeping it to only 10 but that's a lotta great music for one year

2012:
#1: The Hirsch Effekt - Holon : Anamnesis
#2: Thank You Scientist - Maps of Non-Existent Places
#3: Enslaved - RIITIIR
#4: Dordeduh - Dar de duh
#5: A Forest of Stars - A Shadowplay for Yesterdays
#6: Xanthochroid - Blessed He With Boils
#7: Beyond the Bridge - The Old Man and the Spirit
#8: Obsidian Kingdom - Mantiis
#9: Headspace - I Am Anonymous
#10: The Faceless - Autotheism

still lots of good stuff and even two 5-star albums but the dropoff is a lot sharper and faster here

2013:
#1: El Drugstore - Plague Ship
#2: Persefone - Spiritual Migration
#3: Exist - Sunlight
#4: Haken - The Mountain
#5: The Ocean - Pelagial
#6: Caligula's Horse - The Tide, the Thief & River's End
#7: Intronaut - Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words With Tones)
#8: Amendfoil - Skyline Escape
#9: David Maxim Micic - Bilo 3.0
#10: Progenie Terrestre Pura - U.M.A.
#11: Leprous - Coal
#12: TesseracT - Altered State
#13: Lorde - Pure Heroine
#14: Oceans of Slumber - Aetherial
#15: Oranssi Pazuzu - Valonielu
#16: Capital Cities - In a Tidal Wave of Mystery
#17: Coheed and Cambria - The Afterman: Descension

y'know what i'll be honest i did not realize until now just how stacked 2013 was. maybe it's because a whole lot of these were retrospective finds but even then a lot of them weren't, either, so. yeah wow

[RoeDent]

My 2013 albums.

Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories)
Spock's Beard - Brief Nocturnes & Dreamless Sleep
Sound of Contact - Dimensionaut
The Tangent - Le Sacre du Travail
Maschine - Rubidium
Haken - The Mountain
Dream Theater - Dream Theater
Big Big Train - English Electric: Full Power
Sand - Sand
The Flower Kings - Desolation Rose

[SoundscapeMN]

2014

2014, while I think of more favorably than 2013, I don't know if actually has more better records. It maybe has a little more depth and more new artists/new artists-to-me; The Family Crest, Bent Knee, Major Parkinson Dream the Electric Sleep, iamthemorning, Grimus, and The Mercury Tree among others were bands who I didn't know in 2014, put out new excellent albums.

And then there is Fjokra, who released in-effect a debut EP that totally blew my mind. The way Fjokra combined so many genres so well in just an EP completely floored me and got me going back to the Thoughtsteps EP over and over and over again.

And while i have mixed thoughts about whether an EP really should be considered an Album of the Year, Thoughtsteps was my AOTY in 2014, but I have flipped and decided to rank EPs separately for now. But without question, that EP is my favorite thing still from 2014 and one of my all-time favorite EPs. My biggest beef though is, we have barely heard from Fjokra since. Some singles here and there in the last 7 years, but logically, with an EP as great as Thoughtsteps is, you'd think a Full-Length album would eventually come soon after, but for whatever reason, it has not still. Hopefully 7 years from now, I'm not still saying the same thing.

1. The Family Crest - Beneath the Brine
2. Bent Knee - Shiny Eyed Babies
3. Anathema - Distant Satellites
4. The Tea Party - The Ocean at the End
5. Bend Sinister - Animals
6. Kimbra - The Golden Echo
7. Team Me - Blind as Night
8. Dream the Electric Sleep - Heretics
9. Major Parkinson - Twilight Cinema
10. Grimus - Emergence
11. Clone - Clone
12. Imogen Heap - Sparks
13. Dirt Poor Robins - The Raven Locks Act 2
14. Markéta Irglová - Muna
15. iamthemorning - Belighted
16. The Mercury Tree - Countenance
17. Nomia - Iron and Rust
18. Brice Plays Drums - ProgTagonist
19. The Contortionist - Language
20. Cynic - Kindly Bent to Free Us
21. Agalloch - The Serpent & the Sphere
22. Big Wreck - Ghosts
23. Archive - Axiom
24. Moron Police - Defenders of the Small Yard
25. Toria - Octave
26. Put Down the Muffin - Charged Particles
27. Dog Fashion Disco - Sweet Nothings
28. Adebisi Shank - This Is the Third Album of a Band Called Adebisi Shank
29. Nordic Giants - Build Seas, Dismantle Suns
30. Opeth - Pale Communion
31. Sólstafir - Ótta
32. Jeremy Messersmith - Heart Murmurs
33. The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra - Zombie Mouth
34. "Weird Al" Yankovic - Mandatory Fun
35. The Dang Ol' Tri'ole - Rise and Shine
36. Josh Benash - Stasis
37. Umphrey's McGee - Similar Skin
38. Casey Crescenzo - Amour & Attrition
39. Nicholas Krgovich - On Sunset
40. Chromeo - White Women
41. Sheena Ringo - 日 出処 (Hi izuru tokoro)
42. Jessie Ware - Tough Love
43. Pink Floyd - The Endless River
44. Rx Bandits - Gemini, Her Majesty
45. Chris Letchford - Lightbox
46. Warpaint - Warpaint
47. The Aston Shuffle - Photographs
48. Flying Colors - Second Nature
49. Dave Kerzner - New World
50. Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
51. flying forms - New Music for Old Instruments: Music for Baroque Instruments by Nissim Schaul
52. Enchant - The Great Divide
53. U2 - Songs of Innocence
54. The 4 Korners - The 4 Korners
55. Pat Metheny Unity Group - Kin (← →)
56. Syd Arthur - Sound Mirror
57. Nicole Atkins - Slow Phaser

*The Midnight - Days of Thunder
*Bjørn Riis - Lullabies in a Car Crash
Destrage - Are You Kidding Me? No.
Crippled Black Phoenix - White Light Generator
The Grape and the Grain - The Grape and the Grain
Hannes Grossmann - The Radial Covenant
Thomas Giles - Modern Noise
Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope
Spiral - Our Final Days on Bellicus Prime
Bigelf - Into the Maelstrom
The New Pornographers - Brill Bruisers
Yes - Heaven & Earth
Cloud Caverns - Gypsy Loft
Behemoth - The Satanist
Fallujah - Starlit Path   
Gavin Castleton - Blessed   
The Antlers - Familiars
Pharrell Williams G I R L
KXM - KXM
Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun
St. Vincent - St. Vincent
Fire Garden - Sound of Majestic Colors   
Eatliz - All Of It
Antemasque - Antemasque
Field Mouse - Hold Still Life
Karen O - Crush Songs
Motopony - Idle Beauty   
Wolfmother - New Crown

EPs
1. Fjokra - Thoughtsteps
2. Fjokra - The Mellowsound Sessions
3. sElf - Super Fake Nice
4. Hotel of the Laughing Tree - Mammoth Skin Pt. 2
5. Sir Video - Light Years
6. Alphabetical Order Orchestra - AOO1
7. Three - Sugarlife + You Are the Alien
8. Sucré - Loner
9. Bed of Stars - Tell Me If It's True
10. Tangled Thoughts of Leaving - Downbeat
11. The Stepkids - Wanderers

Concerts
2/13//14 Mayer Hawthorne - First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
3/7/14  The Musical Box - The Skyway Theatre Minneapolis, MN
3/21/14 Led Zeppelin 2 - The Varsity Theater Minneapolis, MN
3/29/14 Warpaint//Cate Le Bon - First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
3/30/14 Bend Sinister - The Turf Club - St.Paul, MN
4/8/14  Dream Theater - Performing Arts Center Burnsville, MN
4/23/14 XTC Tribute: Senses Working Overtime 2 - The Icehouse Minneapolis, MN
5/15/14 Cage the Elephant/Foals/J Roddy Watson and the Business - Myth Maplewood, MN
5/16/14 Chromeo/Oliver - First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
6/2/14 The Monkees - The Minnesota Zoo Amphitheater Apple Valley, MN
6/6/14 Mother Falcon/The Family Crest - The 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, MN
6/9/14  Elvis Costello - O'Shaughnessy Auditorium - St.Paul, MN
6/18/14 Agalloch/Blood and Sun/Obsidian Tongue - The Triple Rock Social Club Minneapolis, MN
6/29/14 Michael McDonald - Mystic Lake Casino Prior Lake, MN
7/18/14 The Human Empire/Narrow Vines/RisingSide - Minnesota Music Cafe St.Paul, MN
7/25/14 Yes/Syd Arthur - Overture Hall Madison, WI
8/23/14 Nomia/Hardcore Crayons/Morality Crisis/More is More - The Triple Rock Social Club Minneapolis, MN
9/7/14 Genders/Strange Relations - The Turf Club St.Paul, MN
9/9/14 The Mercury Tree/Brice Plays Drums - Whiskey Junction Minneapolis, MN
9/27/14 A Progressive Soundscape Evening
Scotty Horey/Rising Side/Harakiri - Old Arizona Minneapolis, MN
10/8/14 Motopony/The Family Crest - The Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis, MN
10/10/14 Sloan - The Turf Club St.Paul, MN
10/17/14 Marketa Irglova/Rosi Golan - The Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis, MN
10/30/14 Kimbra/Empress Of - The Fine Line Minneapolis, MN
11/9/14 Captial Cities/Cherub/Night Terrors of 1927 - First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
12/12/14 Greg Herriges at Dreamland Arts St.Paul, M
12/13/14 The Birthday Massacre/The Red Paintings - The Triple Rock Social Club Minneapolis, MN

[KevShmev]

2014:

01 Devin Townsend - Casualties of Cool
02 Opeth - Pale Communion
03 Flying Colors - Second Nature
04 Devin Townsend - Sky Blue
05 Taylor Swift - 1989
06 U2 - Songs of Innocence
07 Transatlantic - Kaleidoscope
08 The Pineapple Thief - Magnolia
09 Pink Floyd - The Endless River
10 Neal Morse - Songs from November

What's wild for me is that if I could count the Casualties of Cool bonus disc as its own disc, that would also be top 3 for me for this year.