Retro Albums of the Year 2010's: 2020

[jingle.boy]

Evergrey – The Atlantic

Except it was released in 2019

....aaaand you are correct  Not really sure why I had it archived as 2018. Weird. I'll amend my post

I think more than a couple of us have had a few tags updated because of this thread.   

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Evergrey – The Atlantic

Except it was released in 2019

....aaaand you are correct  Not really sure why I had it archived as 2018. Weird. I'll amend my post

I think more than a couple of us have had a few tags updated because of this thread.   

I know I have. I noticed when we were still making our way through the '70s that all of my Scorpions album tags were off by 1 year for some reason.

[SoundscapeMN]

2019

2019, the last *normal* year it seems in the current climate of history.

As the final year of the 2010's, 2019 kind of felt like the end of an era and it didn't measure up quite as well to many of the other recent years. However, I I think for my taste, it was about on par and in some ways maybe a little better than some of the other recent years. I probably enjoy more records from it right now, than the 2 years that have come since for what it's worth.

The Vonavi record sort of came out of nowhere to win my Album of the Year, maybe because how different it is, and with it's cinematic quality.
Foals, A Formal Horse, Arch/Matheos, Lehto & Wright, E.B. The Younger, Motorpsycho, Tuxedo are among albums I enjoyed then and have enjoyed since that I see for the year in music 2019.

Also the music I probably listend to the most in 2019 were those 2 EPs from Dirt Poor Robins that of course all of the music ended up on the proper full-length album from the next year.

1 more year to go in a few days, and then on to the Songs of the Year/Yearly Playlists thread in about 1 week...

1. Vonavi - Reflection
2. Foals - Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost (Parts 1-2)
3. Local Natives - Violet Street
4. A Formal Horse - Here Comes a Man From the Council With a Flamethrower
5. Arch / Matheos - Winter Ethereal
6. Moron Police - A Boat on the Sea
7. The Claypool/Lennon Delirium - South of Reality
8. Thank You Scientist - Terraformer
9. Motorpsycho - The Crucible
10. Disillusion - The Liberation
11. Bjorn Riis - A Storm is Coming
12. Lehto & Wright - Curios
13. Barock Project - Seven Seas
14. Owel - Paris
15. E.B. The Younger - To Each His Own
16. Tuxedo - Tuxedo III
17. The Tea Club - If / When
18. Flying Colors - Third Degree
19. Sheena Ringo - 三毒史 (Sandokushi)
20. Cousin Tony's Brand New Firebird - New Romancer
21. Courtney Swain - Between Blood and Ocean
22 Leprous - Pitfalls
23. Bent Knee - You Know What They Mean
24. Ray Alder - What the Water Wanted
25. Jolly - Family
26. Jon Anderson - 1000 Hands
27. Dan Moxon - Lounge Singer
28. Black Belt Eagle Scout -  At the Party With My Brown Friends
29. The Mercury Tree - Spidermilk
30. Rocco of the Snow - Prime Mover
31. Big Wreck - But for the Sun
32. Snarky Puppy - Immigrance
33. Dream Theater - Distance Over Time
34. Guerilla Toss - What Would the Odd Do?
35. Rosalie Cunningham - Rosalie Cunningham
36. iamthemorning - The Bell
37. Rhiannon Giddens - There Is No Other
38. East of the Wall - NP-Complete
39. Maraton - Meta
40. Hiromi - Spectrum
41. The Pneumatic Transit - Chordae Tendineae
42. Cats in Space - Day Trip to Narnia
43. Misha Bower - Trying to Have It All (2019)
44. Equipose - Demiurgus
45. Biffy Clyro -  Balance, Not Symmetry (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
46. Glasys - Defective Humanity
47. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Fishing for Fishies
48. Sermon - Birth of the Marvellous
49. Steve Hackett - At the Edge of Light
50. The Bird and the Bee - Interpreting the Masters Vol.2 Van Halen
51. Negroni's Trio - Acoustico

EPs
1. Dirt Poor Robins - Dead Horse, Alaska (GOLD)
2. Dirt Poor Robins - Dead Horse, Alaska (RED)
3. Northern Abbey - Ceremonies
4. Erthlings - Indigo
5. Vesper Sails - On to the Moon
5. Robyn Hitchcock and Andy Partridge - Planet England
6. The Tea Party - Black River
7. Paige Drobot - Zero Thought
8. The Contortionist - Our Bones
9. Radical Face - Therapy

Live
Long Distance Calling - STUMMFILM (Live From Hamburg)
Michael Nesmith and Red Rhodes - Cosmic Partners
3 - Live at Bearsville Theater, Woodstock, NY

Others
Alan Parsons - The Secret
Alcest - Spiritual Instinct
Alter Bridge - Walk the Sky
Amanda Palmer - There Will Be No Intermission
Banco del Mutuo Soccorso - Transiberiana
Battles - Juice B Crypts
Billie Eilish - When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Black Mountain - Destroyer
Blue Hawaii - Open Reduction Internal Fixation
Buke and Gase - Scholars
Cannons - Shadows
Coyote Kid - The Skeleton Man
Danger Mouse & Karen O - Lux Prima
Dan Mangan - More or Less
Earthquake Lights - Distress Signals
Elbow - Giants of All Sizes
Emily King - Scenery
False - Portent
Friendly Fires - Inflorescent
Gavin Castleton - Weak Ltd.
Glen Hansard - This Wild Willing
Iapetus - The Body Cosmic
Iapetus - The Body Cosmic
Infinity Train - Infinity Train: Book 1 (Original Soundtrack)
Izz - Don't Panic
Jeff Buckley - In Transition
Joe Jackson - Fool
Jouis - Mind Bahn
Kai Danzberg -Welcome to Euphoria
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Infest The Rats' Nest
Landroid - Imperial Dunes
Masvidal - Mythical
Men I Trust - Oncle Jazz
Mind Cinema - Sleep Clinic
Nightmare Scenario - Beyond What Is Real
Oh Sees - Face Stabber
Omega District - The Machine Destiny
Opeth - In cauda venenum
Our Destiny - Awakening
Plaguebringer - Diabolos
Prince - Originals
Queensryche - The Verdict
Raphael Saadiq - Jimmy Lee
Refused - War Music
Sigur Rσs - 22° Lunar Halo
Sonoride - 101
Son Step - Fossilillies
Susanne Sundfψr - Music for People in Trouble: Live from the Barbican
The Appleseed Cast - The Fleeting Light of Impermanence
The Comet Is Coming - Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery
The Hu Band - The Gereg
The Japanese House - Good at Falling
The New Pornographers - In the Morse Code of Brake Lights
The Ninth Wave - Infancy
Tinlicker - This is Not Our Universe
Tropical Fuck Storm - Braindrops
TWRP - Return to Wherever
Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising
Wheel - Moving Backwards
Wilco - Ode to Joy
Wilderun - Veil of Imagination
Zeta - Mochima
ZW Band - If it's Real
長谷川白紙 [Hakushi Hasegawa] - エアにに (Air ni ni)

Concerts

3/7/19 Jimmy Gnecco/Royston Langdon at the 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, MN
3/14/19 The Mike and Micky Show at Mystic Lake Casino Prior Lake, MN
3/16/19 Queensryche/Fates Warning at Medina Entertainment Center Medina, MN
4/3/19 Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets at the Orpheum Theater Minneapolis, MN
4/20/19 Jon Anderson at The Fitzgerald Theater St.Paul, MN
4/25/19 Thank You Scientist/Kindo/In the Presence of Wolves at The Amsterdam Bar and Grille
4/30/19 Foals/Preoccupations/Omni at First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
8/9/19 Kindo/Sirintip/Rocco of the Snow/Adrian Bellue at the Skyway Theater Minneapolis, MN
8/11/19 The Bird and the Bee/Samantha Sidley/Alex Lilly at The Turf Club St.Paul, MN
8/14/19 Tuxedo at The Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis, MN
10/1/19 Billy Cobham Crosswinds Project feat. Randy Brecker at the Dakota Jazz Club Minneapolis, MN
10/7/19 Steve Hackett at The Pantages Theater Minneapolis, MN
10/9/19 Big Wreck at The Turf Club St.Paul, MN

[WardySI]

2019 A good music year!

1. RAY ALDER What The Water Wants

2. SPREAD EAGLE Subway To The Stars

3. EVERGREY The Atlantic

4. QUEENSRYCHE The Verdict

5. DIAMOND HEAD The Coffin Train

DREAM THEATER Distance Over Time
ARCH/MATHEOS Winter Ethereal
PRETTY MAIDS Undress Your Madness
TOOL Fear Inoculum
ALCEST Spiritual Instinct
LANCE KING Reprogram
SUPERHEIST Sidewinder
DAD A Prayer For The Loud
KXM Circle Dolls
JIMMY BARNES My Criminal Record

[jingle.boy]

My Top 20:

M.I.GOD. - Spectres on Parade
Ark Ascent - Downfall
Noveria - Aequilibrium
Darkwater - Human
IQ - Resistance
The Ferrymen - A New Evil
Andy Gillion - Never After
Dream Theater - Distance Over Time
Avantasia - Moonglow
Vanden Plas - The Ghost Xperiment: Awakening
Restless Spirits - Restless Spirits
Chaos Magic - Furyborn
Hollow Haze - Between Wild Landscapes and Deep Blue Seas
Arch/Matheos - Winter Ethereal
Secret Chapter - Chapter One
Soen Anderson - Guilty Pleasures
Anthem - Nucleus
Dimhav - The Boreal Flame
Axenstar - End of All Hope
Scarleth - Vortex

And the rest .... not mentioned yet:
Aeon Zen - Inveritas
Agonizer - New Tomorrow
All Things Fallen - All Things Fallen
Arch Echo - You Won't Believe What Happens Next
Crazy Lixx - Forever Wild
Diamond Head - The Coffin Train
Divided Multitude - Faceless Aggressor
Diviner - Realms of Time
Eclipse - Paradigm
Frozen Crown - Crowned in Frost
Hardline - Life
Huis - Abandoned
HYVMINE - Retaliation
Into the Great Divide - A Life in Six Acts
Knight Area - D-Day
Lord - Fallen Idols
Myrath - Shehili
Narnia - From Darkness to Light
Our Destiny - Awakening
Savage Messiah - Demons
Seven Steps to the Green Door - The?Lie
SinHeresY - Out of Connection
Starbreaker - Dysphoria
Stormwarrior - Norsemen
Teramaze - Are We Soldiers
Timo Tolkki's Avalon - Return to Eden
Valis Ablaze - Render

[nick_z]

2019

As it turns out, it's a relatively thin year for me, quantity-wise. But some good stuff nonetheless. Idle Hands was the big surprise - I don't know if it's "objectively" (in my world, that is) the best of the year, but it's for sure the one I listened to the most.

Top 15

Idle Hands – Mana
Mother of Millions – Artifacts
Dream Theater - Distance Over Time
Spirit Adrift – Divided by Darkness
Alter Bridge – Walk the Sky
Black Sites – Exile
Cellar Darling – The Spell
Lacrimas Profundere – Bleeding the Stars
Rammstein – Rammstein
Evergrey – The Atlantic
Wilderun - Veil of Imagination
Slipknot - We are not your kind
Lacuna Coil – Black Anima
Borknagar – True North
Opeth – In Cauda Venenum

The Honorable Mentions:

Avantasia – Moonglow
Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race
Crown of Autumn - Byzantine Horizons
Dead to a Dying World - Elegy
Inculter – Fatal Visions
Insomnium – Heart Like a Grave
Leprous - Pitfalls
Lunar Shadow - The Smokeless Fires
Myrath - Shehili
The Offering - Home
Paladin – Ascension
Pectora - Untaken
Rival Sons – Feral Roots
Sermon – Birth of the Marvellous
Swallow the Sun - When a Shadow is Forced Into the Light   
Tool - Fear Inoculum
Unfathomable Ruination - Enraged and Unbound
Voyager – Colours in the Sun

[TAC]

Lunar Shadow - The Smokeless Fires

THIS is an awesome album! I had this Saved in my Spotify.

[TAC]

I few albums I really enjoyed in 2019:

Aephanemer-Prokopton
Illyria-The Carpathan Summit
Riot City-Burn The Night
Not Otherwise Specified-Deadweight
Lahmia-Resilience
Howling Sycamore-Seven Pathways To Annihilation
Mirror-Pyramid Of Terror
Gygax-High Fantasy

[nick_z]

Lunar Shadow - The Smokeless Fires

THIS is an awesome album! I had this Saved in my Spotify.

Agreed - really cool album. The vocals are a bit of an acquired taste, but they do have a certain charm that fits with the overall mood  Their first release is good too, although this is a little darker and aligns better with what I like. Haven't explored their most recent album (from 2021) yet.

[MirrorMask]

My 2019, at the top there has to be an aex equo 'cause I can't decide:

1.1 Elvenking - Reader of the Runes – Divination
1.2 Cellar Darling – The Spell

Both are masterpieces that I enjoyed (and listened) to death..

Then

3. Mδgo de Oz - Ira Dei

And then...

4. Avantasia - Moonglow
5. Blind Guardian's Twilight Orchestra - Legacy of the Dark Lands
6. Avatarium - The Fire I Long For
7. Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars
8. Dream Theater - Distance Over Time
9. Eluveitie - Ategnatos
10. The Hu - The Gereg


Please tell me I'm not the only one that looks up albums, sees a band name and goes "oh yeah, I totally forgot their previous albums"....

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Anyway, is it me or we're burning through these later years? it felt that it took forever to get through the '70s, and now I feel like I barely did my list for a year that I already have to do another 

Indeed.  I'm going to have to catch up on '17 and '18 sometime, I guess.  Too busy lately with holiday and house stuff, and when I've been at the computer I've been working on my lists for '21, not these. 

2019:

This was the last year before I started paying attention to new releases again.  So I'm a little surprised at how much I managed to listen from the year, when I spent much more of '20 and '21 listening to music from those current years.  It doesn't begin to compare in volume to the 00s, but I was much more plugged in back then, and have had years since then to accrete even more compared to these recent years. 

Tier 1:

Autumn - Stacking Smoke
Dido - Still On My Mind
Opeth - In Cauda Venenum
Red Handed Denial - Redeemer
Tool - Fear Inoculum
Vetrar Draugurinn - Hinterlands
We Are The Catalyst - Ephemeral
Wheel - Moving Backwards
White Ward - Love Exchange Failure
Chelsea Wolfe - Birth of Violence

Tier 2:

Aghora - Entheogenic Frequencies
Alcest - Spiritual Instinct
Batushka - Panihida and Господи - don't remember which iteration of the band is which, I haven't gotten deep enough into the drama to care, I like both versions
Cult of Luna - A Dawn To Fear
Delain - Hunter's Moon EP
Drab Majesty - Modern Mirror
Dream Theater - Distance Over Time
Evergrey - The Atlantic
The Great Old Ones - Cosmicism
Hanging Garden - Into That Good Night
Mecha Maiko - Let's!
November's Doom - Nephilim Grove
Thayer Sarrano - Wings Alleluia
Swallow The Sun - When a Shadow is Forced Into the Light
Tomb Mold - Planetary Clairvoyance
Vintersea - Illuminated

Tier 3:

Alter Bridge - Walk the Sky
AntropomorphiA - Merciless Savagery
Arch/Matheos - Winter Ethereal
Atrium Carceri/Cities Last Broadcast - Black Stage of Night
Azmari - Ekera
Blackbriar - Our Mortal Remains
Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race
The Dark Element - Songs the Night Sings
Deathswarm - Shadowlands of Darkness
Dreadnought - Emergence
Eleine - All Shall Burn
Entrails - Rise of the Reaper
Gatecreeper - Deserted
Sara Gazarek - Thirsty Ghost
Hildur Guonadottir - Chernobyl
Hiromi - Spectrum
Idle Hands - Mana
Illdisposed - Reveal Your Soul For the Dead
Iris - Six
ISON - Inner - Space
KANGA - Eternal Daughter EP
Krypts - Cadaver Circulation
Mega Drive - 199XAD and Encoder EP
Memoriam - Requiem for Mankind
The Moth Gatherer - Esoteric Oppression
Marissa Nadler/Stephen Brodsky - Droneflower
Shahin Novrasli - From Baku to New York City
October Tide - In Splendor Below
Paganizer - The Tower of the Morbid
Phlebotomized - Deformation of Humanity
Soilwork - Verkligheten
Spoil Engine - Renaissance Noire
Swans - leaving meaning.
T.O.Y. - Silent Soldiers
Tedeschi Trucks Band - Signs
Devin Townsend - Empath
Molly Tuttle - When You're Ready
Moriah Woods - Old Boy
Wormed - Metaportal

Tier 4:

Sara Bareilles - Amidst the Chaos
Crypt Sermon - The Ruins of Fading Light
Entombed A.D. - Bowels of Earth
Festerday - lihtallan
Fuming Mouth - The Grand Descent
Marko Hietala - Mustan sydamen rovio
Lacuna Coil - Black Anima
Left Behind - No One Goes To Heaven
Master Boot Record - Internet Protocol
Mephorash - Shem Ha Mephorash
Musmahhu - Reign of the Odious
Nemesea - White Flag
Nocturnus AD - Paradox
Street Cleaner - Annihilation
Totengott - The Abyss

[HOF]

Was traveling over the weekend and am just now getting to 2019. This was a super-thin year and a bit of a letdown after 2017 and 2018 were filled with lots of great new prog albums.

1. Big Big Train - Grand Tour
2. Fernando Perdomo - Out to Sea 2
3. Flying Colors - Third Degree
4. Randy McStine - Idle

And that's it for new releases. But there were some nice re-issues and compilations in 2019.

1. Marillion - Afraid of Sunlight reissue
2. Marillion - Clutching at Straws reissue
3. Peter Gabriel - Rated PG (this is really great BTW)
4. Marillion - With Friends from the Orchestra (they consider this a studio album, but it's not new material so I'm not ranking).
 

[ReaperKK]

Completely forgot to update this for 2019:

1. Tool - Fear Inoculum - 5/5 - Took a few spins but I love this album
2. Jakub Zytecki - Nothing Lasts, Nothing's Lost - 5/5 - One of the most unique, interesting albums I've ever heard
3. Neil Cowley & Ben Lukas Boysen - Grains & Motes - 5/5
4. Ekcle - Yoja - 4.5/5
5. Ola Englund - Master Of The Universe - 4.5/5
6. KOAN Sound - Intervals Above - 4.5/5
7. Bryan Beller - Scense From The Flood - 4.5/5
8. Dream Theater - Distance Over Time - 4/5 - Best Mangini album hands down
9. Ludovico Einaudi - Seven Days Walking - 4/5
10. Rabea Massaad - Grinding Gears, Vol. 2 - 4/5
11. Acoustic Labs - Drive Sessions - 3.5/5
12. Haywyre - Panorama: Form Remixes 3.5/5
13. Above & Beyond - Flow State - 3/5
14. Arch Echo - You Won't Believe What Happens Next! - 3/5
15. Emancipator & 9 Theory - Cheeba Gold - 3/5
16. Portico Quartet - Memory Streams - 3/5
17. Tal Wilkenfeld - Love Remains 3/5
18. Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell! - 2.5/5
19. Delta Empire - Vanquish - 2.5/5
20. Killswitch Engage - Atonement - 2.5/5
21. The Raconteurs - Help Us Stranger 2.5/5
22. Alter Bridge - Walk The Sky - 2/5
23. Dog Fashion Disco - Tre Pendejos - 2/5
24. Flying Colors - Third Degree - 2/5
25. Cave In - Final Transmission - 1.5/5
26. Opeth - In Cauda Venenum - 1.5/5
27. Jordan Rudess - Wired For Madness - 0.5/5 - I can't believe how terrible this album is

[SoundscapeMN]

2020

2020 was of course an odd year for obvious reasons. And I honestly felt somewhat apathetic to listening to music throughout a lot of it. it felt like the world had ended or was put on hold, with no in-person live music to see and a lot of work in Arts and Entertainment being delayed if not cancelled altogether.

I do find some of the records at the top of my list to still be quite good, but I also look at 2020 and have not returned to that many of the albums on my list that much in the last 12+months. But, I think time may be more kind to 2020, and years from now I'll at least find it was still a good year for new music, especially considering the circumstances.

Comebackes from Doves, Bruce Peninsula, Green Carnation, Psychotic Waltz and Pure Reason Revolution...and in a way Pat Metheny are still the albums I think of it a lot for. Dirt Poor Robins released what was their 3 previous EPs of the Dead Horse, Alaska trilogy which came out pretty well, even having knowing most of the record beforehand.

1. Dirt Poor Robins - Dead Horse
2. Pure Reason Revolution - Eupnea
3. Pat Metheny -  From this Place
4. Vennart - In the Dead, Dead Wood
5. Pain of Salvation - Panther
6. Everything Everything - Re-Animator
7. Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure?
8. Bruce Peninsula - No Earthly Sound
9. Green Carnation - Leaves of Yesteryear
10. Fates Warning - Long Day Good Night
11. Doves - The Universal Want
12. Mayer Hawthorne - Rare Changes
13. Tigran Hamasyan - The Call Within
14. Long Distance Calling - How Do We Want to Live?
15. Psychotic Waltz - The God-Shaped Void
16. Fish - Weltschmerz
17. The Dear Hunter - The Fox and the Hunt
18. Protest the Hero - Palimpsest
19. The Monkees - The Monkees Live – The Mike & Micky Show
20. NDV - Invisible
21. Nektar - The Other Side
22. Other Lives - For Their Love
23. John Petrucci - Terminal Velocity
24. Maraton - Meta
25. Misha Bower - Trying to Have it All
26. Childish Japes - The Book of Japes

Android Superstation - This Side of Nowhere
Battlemaster - Ghastly, Graven & Grimoireless
Biffy Clyro - A Celebration of Endings
Blackfield - For The Music
Ghostpoet - I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep
IAMX - Echo Echo
Jessy Ribordy - Adrift In The Whereabouts
Jσnsi - Shiver
Kristoffer Gildenlφw - Homebound
Mariana Semkina - Sleepwalking
Max Richter - Voices
McStine & Minnemann - McStine & Minnemann
Motorpsycho - The All Is One
Mr. Bungle - The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo
Skott - Always Live for Always
Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension
Sσlstafir - Endless Twilight of Codependent Love
The Chap - Digital Technology
The Greening - The Color of Television
The Midnight Callers - Red Letter Glow
Thurisaz - Re-Incentive

EPs
1. Bend Sinister - Why Can't We Be Happy
2. Honorary Astronaut - EP. 001
3. Ours - Media Age
4. Dirt Poor Robins - Dead Horse, Alaska (Onyx)
5. Lickerish Quartet - Threesom Vol. 1
6. Local Natives - Sour Lemon
7. Chromeo - Quarantine Casanova
8. The Midnight - Horror Show
9. iamthemorning - Counting the Ghost
10. K Serα - Revolution in Retrospect
11. McStine & Minnemann - II
12. Dirty Loops - Phoenix

Concerts/Live Streams
02/13/20 The Family Crest/Brian Just at the 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, MN
02/16/20 Lehto and Wright at Hook and Ladder Minneapolis, MN
05/09/20 Prog from Home (Live Stream)
05/15/20 Major Parkinson (Live Stream)
05/27/20 Imogen Heap (Live Stream)
06/11/20 Neverending White Lights (live Stream)
08/01/20 The Dear Hunter (live stream)

So, there you have it. Please post your 2020 lists of course, and feel free to catch-up on older years that you never did post your list for, or even UPDATE/MODIFY your list which I may do so myself.

As far as tallying results/most voted for albums by-year, like I mentioned, Reaper or someone else can do it. I might give it a go eventually if no ones else does as I am curious and would almost go for predicting what the consensus favorite album or Top 5 albums are for each year. I do think clearly, the lists from the 60's-90's will probably have more clear favorites. But the 2000's-2020, it may be pretty fragmented per the discussion we had a few weeks ago about tastes changing and there just being a lot more music available to hear.

SONGS/PLAYLISTS OF THE YEAR - Assuming others are still up for it, I am looking to start doing soon. Maybe even in a few days or by this weekend. I am going a little into uncharted water here per I struggle often RANKING SONGS, so i'm still unsure how easy /how much time it will take me to do, especially for years with sohhhh many albums and songs to look at. But I'm hoping that will be part of the FUN of it, and I don't lose sleep over trying to make them, LOL.

[KevShmev]

2020:

01 Taylor Swift - Evermore
02 Taylor Swift - Folklore
03 Alanis Morissette - Such Pretty Forks in the Road
04 John Petrucci - Terminal Velocity
05 Neal Morse - Sola Gratia
06 The Flower Kings - Islands

The Haken and BOC albums were both too disappointing to get ranked.  I still need to circle back to the Fleet Foxes album and give that more listens.

[TAC]

01 Taylor Swift - Evermore
02 Taylor Swift - Folklore
03 Alanis Morissette - Such Pretty Forks in the Road

Did you request these at the Junior High prom?

[KevShmev]

01 Taylor Swift - Evermore
02 Taylor Swift - Folklore
03 Alanis Morissette - Such Pretty Forks in the Road

Did you request these at the Junior High prom?

Did you forget that some of us actually have diverse musical tastes?

[HOF]

2020 was a nice rebound after 2019 musically speaking. Lots of strong stuff that I really enjoyed.

1. McStine & Minnemann - MicStine & Minnemann
2. Dyble Longdon - Between a Breath and a Breath (man this one took on a ton of meaning in a year)
3. Rikard Sjoblom’s Gungfly - Alone Together
4. Jakko Jakszyk - Secrets & Lies
5. Echorec - The Island
6. The Flower Kings - Islands
7. Yaatri - Reach
8. Tim Bowness/Peter Childers - Modern Ruins
9. Mark Kelly’s Marathon - Marathon
10. McStine & Minnemann II
11. Fernando Perdomo - Out to Sea 3
12. Field Music - Making a New World
13. Paul McCartney - III

And then some notable live albums and compilations:
1. Big Big Train - Empire
2. The Blue Nile - High (Deluxe Remaster)
3. Big Big Train - Summer’s Lease
4. The Basics - SHOULDACOULDAWOULDA (EP)

[jingle.boy]

I actually didn't have any problem finding good/great albums in 2020.  Concerts on the other hand ...

My top 20:
Defecto - Duality
Vanishing Point - Dead Elysium
Vanden Plas - The Ghost Xperiment - Illumination
The Unity - Pride
Amahiru - s/t
Ad Infinitum - Chapter 1: Monarchy
Xstasy - Eye of the Storm
Sinners Blood - The Mirror Star
DGM - Tragic Separation
Confess - Burn 'em All
One Desire - Midnight Empire
Exlibris - Shadowrise
Virtual Symmetry - Exoverse
Girish and the Chronicles - Rock the Highway
Marty Friedman - Tokyo Jukebox 3
Teramaze - I Wonder
Kim Mitchell - The Big Fantasize
Pyramaze - Epitaph
John Petrucci - Terminal Velocity
Lords of Black - Alchemy of Souls, Pt 1

And the others ... not mentioned yet:
Andy James - C.S.I.L.
Ayreon - Transitus ..... God, what a disappointment.
Black Fate - Ithaca
Bloody Heels - Ignite the Sky
Carthagods - The Monster in Me
Cats In Space - Atlantis
Conception - State of Deception
Damnation Angels - Fibre of our Being
Diabulus In Musica - Euphonic Entropy
Dukes of the Orient - Freakshow
Dynazty - Dark Delight
Gathering of Kings - Discovery
H.E.A.T. - HEAT II
Harem Scarem - Change the World
Ian Parry  - In Flagrante Delicto
Intervals - Circadian
Iron Saviour - Skycrest
Katatonia - City Burials
Kiko Loureiro - Open Source
Lonely Robot - Feelings are Good
Magnus Karlssons FreeFall - We Are The Night
Nightmare - Aeternam
Nightwish - Human || Nature ... this too was pretty disappointing.
Paralydium - Worlds Beyond
Primal Fear - Metal Commando
Pyramid Theorem - Beyond the Exosphere
Royal Hunt - Dystopia
Shining Black - s/t
Signum Regis - Flag of Hope - EP
Silent Skies - Satellites
Skintrade - The Show Must Go On
Smackbound - 20/20
Starmen - Welcome to My World
Striker - Alive in the Studio
The Night Flight Orchestra - Aeromatic
The Waymaker - s/t
Thoughts Factory - Elements
Unleash the Archers - Abyss
Vandenberg - 2020

[ReaperKK]

Pretty mixed year for me but there was some great music in 2020:

1. Ola Englund - Stars & Ponies - 5/5
2. leavv - Tales Of A Flowing Forest - 5/5 - The only complaint I have about this record is that it's too short
3. Porcupine Tree - Pure Narcotic - Acoustic Session 2012 - 5/5
4. Kaki King - Modern Yesterdays - 4.5/5
5. KOAN Sound - Silk Wave - 4.5/5
6. Nili Brosh - Spectrum - 4/5
7. Tomas Dvorak - Pilgrims - 4/5
8. Deftones - Ohms - 3.5/5
9. Ben Harper - Winter Is For Lovers - 3.5/5
10. John Petrucci - Terminal Velocity - 3.5/5
11. Ethan Gruska - En Garde - 3/5
12. Wiz Khalifa - The Saga Of Wiz Khalife - 3/5
13. Darren Korb - Hades: Original Soundtrack - 3/5
14. Rabea Massaad - Grinding Gears, Vol. 3 - 3/5
15. Neal Schon - Universe - 3/5 - Starts off really weak but gets much better towards the end
16. Sons Of Apollo - MMXX - 3/5
17. Al Di Meola - Across The Universe: The Beatles, Vol. 2 - 2/5
18. Elephant Tree - Habits - 2/5
19. Haken - Virus - 2/5
20. Incubus - Trust Fall (Side B) - 2/5 - Sad to see this so low
21. Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit - Reunions - 2/5
22. Alain Johannes - Hum - 2/5
23. The Pineapple Thief - Versions Of The Truth - 2/5
24. Run The Jewels - RTJ4 - 2/5
25. The Weeknd - After Hours - 2/5
26. Yukihiro Atsumi - Kachofugetsu - 1.5/5
27. EOB  - Earth - 1/5
28. Neal Morse - Sola Gratia - 1/5
29. Joe Satriani - Shapeshifting - 1/5

[nick_z]

2020

Remote work made me rely more heavily on streaming (Amazon for me) and I had music in the background pretty much all day long. Sampled plenty of bands/albums. I still very much like to buy physical versions of albums - there's a bunch of stuff in the "not purchased yet" list below that I'd like to get at some point (sooner or later  ).

As for my faves for the year - Dawn of Solace was right up my alley. Unleash the Archer managed to do even better than Apex (imo), adding some cool influences in the mix. Katatonia's album was up there in the most-listened albums of 2020 (and my first "live streaming" concert! Got myself "Dead Air" as a souvenir for it). I loved Paradise Lost's Obsidian. Lots of great death metal too!


Top 15:

Dawn of Solace – Waves
Unleash the Archers – Abyss
Katatonia – City Burials
Paradise Lost – Obsidian
Armored Saint – Punching the Sky
Green Carnation - Leaves of Yesteryear
Conception – State of Deception
Wytch Hazel - III: Pentecost
Fates Warning - Long Day Good Night
Countless Skies – Glow
Thy Catafalque – Naiv
Kvaen – The Funeral Pyre
Vredehammer - Viperous
Sacred Outcry - Damned for All Time
Spirit Adrift - Enlightened in Eternity

The Honorable Mentions:

Adamantis – Far Flung Realm
Afterbirth – Four Dimensional Flesh
Dark Forest - Oak, Ash & Thorn
Dark Tranquillity - Moment
Deathwhite – Grave Image
Decembre Noir - The Renaissance of Hope
Draconian – Under the Godless Veil
Enslaved – Utgard
Earth Rot - Black Tides of Obscurity
Eternal Champion – The Ravening Iron
Hyborian – Volume II
Katatonia - Dead Air
Night - High Tides - Distant Skies
Pain of Salvation - Panther
Paralydium - Worlds beyond
Psychotic Waltz - The God-Shaped Void
Secrets of the Moon – Black House   
Shores of Null - Beyond the Shores (On Death and Dying)   
Sweven - The Eternal Resonance
Ulthar - Providence
Undeath - Lesions of a Different Kind

Streamed (not yet purchased):

Afsky – Ofte Jeg Drommer Mig Dod
Akurion – Come Forth to Me
Autonoesis - Autonoesis
Awake by Design – S/T
Butcher – 666 Goats
Cellar Vessel – Vein Beneath the Soil
Cryptic Shift – Visitations from Enceladus
Counting Hours – The Will
Dead Lord – Surrender
Descend – The Deviant
Exgenesis – Solve et Coagula
Faceless Burial – Speciation
Fluisteraars - Bloem
Godthrymm – Reflections
Gorephilia – In the Eye of Nothing
Greyhawk – Keepers of the Flame
Haken – Virus
Havukruunu – Uinuos Syomein Sota
Ironflame – Blood Red Victory
Kepler Ten – A New Kind of Sideways
Lord Vigo – Danse de Noir
Lonely Robot – Feelings are Good
Lor – Edge of Eternity
Loviatar – Lightless
Luna’s Call - Void
McStine & Minnemann – S/T
Nawabs of Destruction – Rising Vengeance
Nexorum – Death Unchained
Omnivortex – Diagrams of Consciousness
Ormskrik - Ormskrik
Panzerfaust – Suns of Perdition Chapter II
John Petrucci – Terminal Velocity
Plague – Portraits of Mind
Possessed Steel – Aedris
Seven Spires – Emerald Seas
Ulver – Flowers of Evil
Vulkan – Technatura
Wanderer – Awakening Force
Warp Chamber – Implements of Excruciation

[LithoJazzoSphere]

2020:

So this was a very bizarre year for manifold reasons, but it did get me staying on top of music releases again for the first time in over a decade, which has been enjoyable for a change of pace.  With the way everything became, I was spending even more time than normal listening to and updating lists, which made this a monster year for releases.  Probably the most albums I've loved in a calendar year.  This year I listened to even more albums (partially just due to starting a few months earlier), but my replays were a bit more song-focused than '20, so '20 I think wins for albums. 

Tier 1:

Darzamat - A Philosopher at the End of the Universe
Delain - Apocalypse & Chill - I don't know whether this or Poppy's "Don't Go Outside" was the more prescient album for the year, both coming out just a month or two before everything went haywire.
Draconian - Under a Godless Veil
Anna von Hausswolff - All Thoughts Fly
Katatonia - City Burials
The Midnight - Monsters
Agnes Obel - Myopia
Oceans of Slumber - s/t
PRVIS - Use Me
Rein - Reincarnated
ROB - Gretel & Hansel OST
Shedfromthebody - A Dead and Aimless Hum
Soilwork - A Whisp of the Atlantic EP
Sordid Pink - s/t
Daniel Tompkins - Ruins
Turboslash - Speed
Volkor X - This Is Our Planet Now
Wytch Hazel - III: Pentecost
Aziza Mustafa Zadeh - Generations

Tier 2:

Ad Infinitum - Chapter I - Monarchy
Aeonian Sorrow - A Life Without EP
Angerot - The Divine Apostate
Demonical - World Domination
Eleine - Dancing In Hell
Ensnared - Inimicus Generis Humani
Iress - Flaw
Lethian Dreams - A Shadow of Memories
Light Field Reverie - Another World
Lights - How to Sleep When You're On Fire EP
The Midnight - Horror Show EP
Noumena - Anima
Puteraeon - The Cthulhian Pulse: Call From the Dead City
Thou/Emma Ruth Rundle - May Our Chambers Be Full
Triptykon/Metropole Orkest - Requiem

Tier 3:

Anaal Nathrakh - Endarkenment
The Anix - Graphite
Assemblage 23 - Mourn
Bohren & der Club of Gore - Patchouli Blue
Clan of Xymox - Spider on the Wall
Dark Tranquillity - Moment
Disrupted - Pure Death
Jessie Frye - Kiss Me in the Rain
Grimes - Miss Anthropocene
Kaki King - Modern Yesterdays
Lianne La Havas - s/t
Lik - Misanthropic Breed
Manticora - To Live To Kill To Live
Nightmare - Aeternam
NightStop - Pursuer and Stalking Danger EP
Anika Nilles/Nevell - For a Colorful Soul
NINA - Synthian
The Ocean Collective - Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic
Panzerballett - Planet Z
Persuader - Necromancy
Pyramaze - Epitaph
Temple Nightside - Pillars of Damnation
Unleash the Archers - Abyss

Tier 4:

Aeternam - Al Qassam
Aleah - s/t
Anubis Gate - Covered in Colours
Ayreon - Transitus
Alina Baraz - It Was Divine
William Basinski - Lamentations
Francesa Battistelli - This Christmas
Batushka - Raskol and Black Liturgy
Communic - Hiding From the World
Cryptic Shift - Visitations From Enceladus
DGM - Tragic Separation
Firewind - s/t
Haken - Virus
Hallas - Conundrum
Sierra Hull - 25 Trips
Inno - The Rain Under
Intervals - Circadian
Sarah Jarosz - World on the Ground
Long Night - Tick Tock EP
Kiko Loureiro - Open Source
Lucifer - Lucifer III
Mrs. Piss - Self-Surgery EP
Necrophobic - Dawn of the Damned
Necrot - Mortal
Night - High Tides - Distant Skies
Ondskapt - Grimoire ordo devus
Ripped To Shreds - Luan
Scardust - Strangers
Derek Sherinian - The Phoenix
Testament - Titans of Creation
Unlucky Morpheus - Unfinished
Vader - Solitude in Madness

Tier 5:

Russell Allen/Anette Olzon - Worlds Apart
Amaranthe - Manifest
Blue Stahli - Quartz
Joe Bonamassa - Royal Tea
Caligula's Horse - Rise Radiant
Carcass - Despicable EP
Carnation - Where Death Lies
Carpent Brut - Blood Machines
Deadlife - City of Eternal Rain
Dool - Summerland
Earth Rot - Black Tides of Obscurity
Faceless Burial - Speciation
Tigran Hamasyan - The Call Within
Heaven Shall Burn - Of Truth and Sacrifice
Imperial Triumphant - Alphaville
Norah Jones - Pick Me Up Off the Floor
Kommand - Terrorscape
Stuart Duncan/Edgar Meyer/Yo-Yo Ma/Chris Thile - Not Our First Goat Rodeo
Mors Subita - Extinction Era
Neaera - s/t
Night in Gales - Dawnlight Garden
Nonexist - Like the Fearless Hunter
Paradise Lost - Obsidian
Perilaxe Occlusion - Exponential Decay EP
John Petrucci - Terminal Velocity
Pure Reason Revolution - Eupnea
Purity Ring - Womb
Purtenance - Buried Incarnation
Sepultura - Quadra
Sevendust - Blood & Stone
Sons of Apollo - MMXX
Svartkonst - Black Waves
Troum - Vorbei Der Tod
Molly Tuttle - ...but i'd rather be with you
Veil of Secrets - Dead Poetry
Paul Wardingham - Day Zero: Rise of the Horde

Tier 6:

Aesmah - Walking Off the Horizon
Atrium Carceri - Mortal Shell OST
The Birthday Massacre - Diamonds
Body Count - Carnivore
Nili Brosh - Spectrum
Vanessa Carlton - Love is an Art
Carnosus - Dogma of the Deceased
Carthagods - The Monsters in Me
Celestial Season - The Secret Teachings
Countless Skies - Glow
Darkened - Kingdom of Decay
Deftones - Ohms
Demons & Wizards - III
Enslaved - Utgard
Exgenesis - Solve et coagula
Fleet Foxes - Shore
The Flower Kings - Islands
Frayle - 1692
Green Carnation - Leaves of Yesteryear
Helion Prime - Question Everything
Incantation - Sect of Vile Divinities
King Witch - Body of Light
Master Boot Record - Floppy Disk Overdrive
Megascavenger - Songs in the Key of Madness
Meteor - System Failure
Mors Subita - Extinction Era
My Dying Bride - The Ghost of Orion
Napalm Death - Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism
NeuroWulf - Trinity
Night Crowned - Impius Viam
The Night Flight Orchestra - Aeromantic
Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts V: Together
Orbit Culture - Nija
Plini - Impulse Voices
Poppy - I Disagree
Psychotic Waltz - The God-Shaped Void
Repuked - Dawn of Reintoxication
Revolting - The Shadow at the World's End
Sweven - The Eternal Resonance
Trigg & Gusset - The Way In
Trivium - What the Dead Men Say
Tru-nembra - Mare Vetus
Ulcerate - Stare Into Death and Be Still
Vulta - Swarm
Warbringer - Weapons of Tomorrow
Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure?
The Weeknd - After Hours

[LithoJazzoSphere]

4. Kaki King - Modern Yesterdays - 4.5/5
6. Nili Brosh - Spectrum - 4/5

Two albums I never see talked about.  The instrumentation Kaki uses is really fascinating, there are some cool videos on YouTube about it.  I prefer Nili's first two, but this was so experimental and wide-ranging that I suspect it may grow on me in later listens. 

Wytch Hazel - III: Pentecost

Another really under the radar album, probably my overall favorite of the year.  I didn't even listen to it in '20, but discovered it on another list on January 1st of last year and instantly wished I'd discovered it sooner.  "He Is the Fight" floored me from the opening second, and the whole first half is insanely strong.  Retro production done right, some of my favorite guitar tones ever. 

Nightmare - Aeternam

And another really overlooked one.  2016's Dead Sun has become one of my favorite power metal albums ever, and I wish they'd done more than one album with Maggie.  I was worried there was no way you could replace her, and really, you can't, but Madie does a damn fine job, really exceeded my expectations on additional listens. 

[ReaperKK]

4. Kaki King - Modern Yesterdays - 4.5/5
6. Nili Brosh - Spectrum - 4/5

Two albums I never see talked about.  The instrumentation Kaki uses is really fascinating, there are some cool videos on YouTube about it.  I prefer Nili's first two, but this was so experimental and wide-ranging that I suspect it may grow on me in later listens. 

I think that Kaki really hit her stride with Modern Yesterdays. I thought that Neck Is A Bridge was a good album with some good ideas but didn't feel that consistent, even in a live setting having seen that show a few times

Nili was a completely new artist to me that I heard about through Guitar Player. Usually their album recommendations aren't great but I really liked Spectrum.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Her first two are much more cohesive and focused, in that style of instrumental prog rock/metal that a lot of players have done in the last decade or so.  She just has a really unique voice and tone that resonates with me more than your standard shredder. 

[nick_z]

Wytch Hazel - III: Pentecost

Another really under the radar album, probably my overall favorite of the year.  I didn't even listen to it in '20, but discovered it on another list on January 1st of last year and instantly wished I'd discovered it sooner.  "He Is the Fight" floored me from the opening second, and the whole first half is insanely strong.  Retro production done right, some of my favorite guitar tones ever. 

I noticed you had it in your list and I was about to comment - you were faster  Yes, this is a VERY strong album. Definitely retro-sounding, but in a way that kinda makes it sound "out of time" rather than old. Agreed on the guitar tones. And the vocal delivery is perfect for the songs (that chorus in "Archangel"!)

[nick_z]

Wytch Hazel - III: Pentecost

Another really under the radar album, probably my overall favorite of the year.  I didn't even listen to it in '20, but discovered it on another list on January 1st of last year and instantly wished I'd discovered it sooner.  "He Is the Fight" floored me from the opening second, and the whole first half is insanely strong.  Retro production done right, some of my favorite guitar tones ever. 

I noticed you had it in your list and I was about to comment - you were faster  Yes, this is a VERY strong album. Definitely retro-sounding, but in a way that kinda makes it sound "out of time" rather than old. Agreed on the guitar tones. And the vocal delivery is perfect for the songs (that chorus in "Archangel"!)

Also a big +1 to "He Is the Fight" being a fantastic opener...and I love how the chorus melody is reprised later in the instrumental ("Sonata")

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I often create my own tracklist for it, and I can't decide whether "Sonata" is more fun as a prelude or a postlude for "He Is the Fight", I've done it both ways countless times.  Maybe just both, like I just put on now, actually.  I like having my cake and eating it too.  But those clean guitars in it are angelic.  It's ever so slightly out of tune in the harmonies, which gives it this aura I've never heard on any other album ever. 

[MirrorMask]

In making my 2020 list I realized I forgot at least 2 2019 entries 

Anyway, here's my 2020:

01. Nightwish - Human || Nature
02. Taylor Swift - Folklore
03. Ensiferum - Thalassic

04. Rage - Wings of Rage
05. Taylor Swift - Evermore
06. Royal Hunt - Dystopia
07. Bruce Springsteen - Letter to You
08. Demons & Wizards - III
09. Uncle Bard and the Dirty Bastards - The Men Behind the Glass
10. Amy MacDonald - The Human Demands

Honorable mentions:
Brothers of Metal - Emblas Saga (totally forgot their even better 2017 debut)
The White Buffalo - Widow's Walk (totally forgot to mention his previous albums)
Black Stone Cherry - The Human Condition (totally forgot to mention their previous albums)
Grave Digger - Fields of Blood
Ayreon - Transitus

[TAC]

2020 was fairly light for me.

1. Armored Saint-Punching The Sky
2. Dawn Of Solace-In Waves
3. Bloody Tyrant-Myths Of The Islands



@Nick....checking out the Wytch Hazel. Damn, this is easy on the ears. Love the classic hard rock style.

[SoundscapeMN]

curious..

Retro Songs of the Year interest?

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Lots of it. 

[ReaperKK]

curious..

Retro Songs of the Year interest?

Definitely. I feel like we'd need some sort of cap like only top 20 songs, or maybe a song per artist.

[HOF]

Would be fun. I’m down.

[TAC]

I feel like we'd need some sort of cap like only top 20 songs

Yes, this.