Lonestar's Top 50 Album Thread v 2.0 - #1!!!!!!!!!!

[TAC]

The thing about a roulette round is that any song in a vacuum can hit the spot, and sometimes, it comes out of nowhere, not necessarily aligned with your tastes.

[lonestar]

The thing about a roulette round is that any song in a vacuum can hit the spot, and sometimes, it comes out of nowhere, not necessarily aligned with your tastes.

Yup...and lots of what sounds good on a few spins loses flavor in the long run.

[wolfking]

My favorites from it have kind of leveled out over time, and at this point  over half the tracks on it have arguments as my favorite.  The title track is nuts, easily the proggiest thing they'd done to that point.

Guess I'll be listening to the album tomorrow!

For those participating in my roulette, and are looking to send songs with great solos (which can really sell a song to me) the solo in Deus Ex Machina, that starts at like 3:53, is a great example! It starts all slow and melodic and builds to a shred fest    Kade, you tried sending that song I think, so I know you know what you're about...

I sent Ghost Prototype 1 which also has an epic solo.  GP2 is a wonderful closer and yeah, that solo again is fantastic.  I think I may like Kjellgren's solo on that one a bit better than Nilssons!

[wolfking]

Yep, also in Nocturnal Rites and Zierler (and a ton of guest spots).  Meshuggah is especially fascinating since Thordendal was one of the pioneers of bringing a jazz/fusion style into metal, both through soloing and through some of the ambient clean work.  But he's almost always much more abstract, where Nilsson is generally quite melodic.  Scar Symmetry is my favorite project of his though.  Holographic Universe is just incredible, with the duality between Per's guitar wizardry and Alvestam's vocal sorcery.

HU is one of the best melodeath albums of all time.  Just incredible.

Agreed 

It's the only Scar Symmetry album I know, but hot damn it's great.

It's bookended by the two best tracks, Deus Ex Machina being the best. It's a thing of beauty.

Most of their albums are worth it, but that one is by far their best work.  It's another tier above the rest.

[jingle.boy]

The thing about a roulette round is that any song in a vacuum can hit the spot, and sometimes, it comes out of nowhere, not necessarily aligned with your tastes.

Yup...and lots of what sounds good on a few spins loses flavor in the long run.

La Mer!!!

It's been a while since I spun Karnya.  It's a beaut alright... though I don't think I was as enamoured with it as you were.

[lonestar]

The thing about a roulette round is that any song in a vacuum can hit the spot, and sometimes, it comes out of nowhere, not necessarily aligned with your tastes.

Yup...and lots of what sounds good on a few spins loses flavor in the long run.

La Mer!!!

It's been a while since I spun Karnya.  It's a beaut alright... though I don't think I was as enamoured with it as you were.

I was thinking the Astonishing, but LA Mer qualifies, talk about beating a metaphor to fucking death.

[twosuitsluke]

#48 Kaipa- Vittjar (2012)





This one I got as a submission for review, one of many situations where I went into the album completely blind, the only name connected with it that I recognized was Per Nilsson. Kaipa is full on prog rock, as proggy as they come. The album is a buffet of instrumental noodling, pretentiously deep lyrics, and all the other trappings that we nerds love about prog that normal society ridicules us for. It's all there, and done very, very well. I think the difference between Kaipa and other prog bands is that there's a certain playfullness about what they do, they're having so much fun creating their music, and it shows so well in the final product. Per's guitar work is by far the highlight of this album, it's loaded with brilliance beginning to end. The other highlight is Aleena Gibson's vocals, she brings that playful element to the album, and really makes the work stand out. For anyone heavy into prog, it's worth checking out, unfortunately, this specific album only has the opening track available on Youtube. Their subequent album Sattyg is on Spotify, but it just didn't shine as brightly as Vittjar.

Favorite tracks- Our Silent Ballroom Band, Treasure House, Light Blue and Green

Here's the opening track, it shows some of what I'm talking about, and displays a bit of Per's playing as well...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrFiG-pv-8s&ab_channel=thehillcefis

Yea this was a nice listen. I can't remember exactly which song, but at some point I heard something that reminded me of video game music, which is always a plus for me!

Yep, also in Nocturnal Rites and Zierler (and a ton of guest spots).  Meshuggah is especially fascinating since Thordendal was one of the pioneers of bringing a jazz/fusion style into metal, both through soloing and through some of the ambient clean work.  But he's almost always much more abstract, where Nilsson is generally quite melodic.  Scar Symmetry is my favorite project of his though.  Holographic Universe is just incredible, with the duality between Per's guitar wizardry and Alvestam's vocal sorcery.

HU is one of the best melodeath albums of all time.  Just incredible.

Agreed 

It's the only Scar Symmetry album I know, but hot damn it's great.

It's bookended by the two best tracks, Deus Ex Machina being the best. It's a thing of beauty.

Most of their albums are worth it, but that one is by far their best work.  It's another tier above the rest.

I've queued up a few more Scar Symmetry albums to listen to today 

[wolfking]

 

[wolfking]

Hmmm....okay, will sample tonight.  Never heard these guys before.

Gotta be honest, I think I've totally outgrown this style of pretty prog with clean vocals.  It's solid but meh.  I thought the Aeternam was much more my thing.

[jingle.boy]

Hmmm....okay, will sample tonight.  Never heard these guys before.

Gotta be honest, I think I've totally outgrown this style of pretty prog with clean vocals.  It's solid but meh.  I thought the Aeternam was much more my thing.

I'm not sure we can be friends anymore.   

[lonestar]

Hmmm....okay, will sample tonight.  Never heard these guys before.

Gotta be honest, I think I've totally outgrown this style of pretty prog with clean vocals.  It's solid but meh.  I thought the Aeternam was much more my thing.

Well, the next offering will be of no use to you then.

[jingle.boy]

Hmmm....okay, will sample tonight.  Never heard these guys before.

Gotta be honest, I think I've totally outgrown this style of pretty prog with clean vocals.  It's solid but meh.  I thought the Aeternam was much more my thing.

Well, the next offering will be of no use to you then.

[lonestar]

Hmmm....okay, will sample tonight.  Never heard these guys before.

Gotta be honest, I think I've totally outgrown this style of pretty prog with clean vocals.  It's solid but meh.  I thought the Aeternam was much more my thing.

Well, the next offering will be of no use to you then.

You're very familiar with it bud.

[jingle.boy]

Hmmm....okay, will sample tonight.  Never heard these guys before.

Gotta be honest, I think I've totally outgrown this style of pretty prog with clean vocals.  It's solid but meh.  I thought the Aeternam was much more my thing.

Well, the next offering will be of no use to you then.

You're very familiar with it bud.

So you're saying my initial reaction is going to be "too low"?   

[lonestar]

#46 Lalu- Paint the Sky (2022)




My relationship with French keyboardist Vivian Lalu began after coming across his first album, Oniric Metal, on a random Spotify rabbit hole, and deciding to review it. I reviewed his subsequent album, and did some editing for a story script for a still unfinished project of his. Needless to say, when he announced Paint the Sky was in production, I was elated, he has a special flavor of prog that digs deep with me. When he announced that one of my favorite vocalists, Damian Wilson, would be doing all the vocals and vocal melodies, I was floored. I knew this went from solid album to AOTY potential (which might still hold, but Nemophila has an album coming out in 3 weeks, so that hold is tenuous at best). Paint the Sky met all expectations, and then some. Lalu manages to produce a fiercely paced brand of metal that manages to be instrumentally intricate without losing the beautiful melodies that a lot of the more wankery prog bands to, for some reason, it's a sacrifice he manages to avoid to the great pleasure of it all. Damian is just outstanding on this, as I knew he would be. The core musicians besides Viv, Jelly Cardarelli on drums and Viv's usual partner in crime Joop Walters on guitar and bass, do the heavy lifting on this, along with a scattering of guests artists like Gary Wehrkamp, Jens Johansson, Marco Sfogli, Vik Shankar., Simone Mularoni, and our very own Jordan Rudess. For anyone who loves the more classic breed of prog and prog metal, this is a must listen.

Favorite tracks- Paint the Sky, Reset to Preset, The Chosen Ones


Unlike the last two submissions, this one is fully on all services.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8TypXY-tJM

[twosuitsluke]

This is one I've given a few spins this year. It was definitely promising. I'm planing to revisit a shit load of 2022 albums before the year is out, and this is definitely one of them, good stuff

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Well thank goodness it's not Lulu. 

I love Damian, but hadn't gotten around to this yet, so I'm looking forward to it. 

Edit:  Interesting, so far he has a Jon Anderson feel to his voice in spots, and the music has some Yes qualities, I wonder if both are intentional. 

[jingle.boy]

This was my first purchase of 2022.  Love it.  Not sure it's AOTY material for me (the lyrics/story don't quite click with me).  It's been a couple months since I spun it.

[lonestar]

This was my first purchase of 2022.  Love it.  Not sure it's AOTY material for me (the lyrics/story don't quite click with me).  It's been a couple months since I spun it.

Yeah, for me I think it's in the discussion, but strong outputs from Allegaeon, Bloodywood, BAND-MAID and of course Nemophila will probably top it, especially Allegaeon, Damnum is a fucking masterpiece. (probably too much growling for your sensitive Canadian ears though)

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Yeah, Lalu lost me when Damian Wilson came on board. I don't like his voice at all.

[lonestar]

Yeah, Lalu lost me when Damian Wilson came on board. I don't like his voice at all.

Yeah, I know there's a few anti-Damian peeps out there, can't please everybody.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Yeah, Lalu lost me when Damian Wilson came on board. I don't like his voice at all.

Yeah, I know there's a few anti-Damian peeps out there, can't please everybody.

It's starting to look like an infestation. 

[HOF]

I’ve never listened to anything with Damien Wilson on it. I only know of him because he is frequently hated on around here.

[lonestar]

Just filled out all the dates...oldest albums are from 2004, busiest year is 2012 with 7 albums.

[jingle.boy]

Yeah, Lalu lost me when Damian Wilson came on board. I don't like his voice at all.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

People keep posting that one, and I think it's probably the only set of frames from that scene that are SFW.   

[lonestar]

 

People keep posting that one, and I think it's probably the only set of frames from that scene that are SFW.   

[lonestar]

#45 Amahiru- Amahiru (2020)





This will be the first submission that falls under the J-metal blast zone, even though this project is more international in flavor. I found it because the band was formed by Nemophila/Mary's Blood guitarist Saki and Kreator/ex Dragonforce bassist Frederic Leclercq. The flavor of this one is straight up hard hard rock to power metal, and it's very well executed. Filling out the bill is Epica keyboardist Janssen, Fear Factory drummer Mike Heller and relatively unknown singer Archie Wilson. The album as a whole is definitely guitar driven, with both Saki and Leclercq doing lead duties. Wilson's vocals are outstanding, they manage to takeover the songs with mostly full cleans and a few, well placed growls here and there. It's a tremendous album full of solid riffage and killer solos (anyone unfamiliar with Saki needs to check this out, this girl is a serious talent).

Favorite tracks- WTTP, Hours, Lucky Star (with Elyze Ryd), and Samurai

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxQVamkeoKQ&ab_channel=WardRecords

https://youtu.be/DTQjIjYvEM8

[jingle.boy]

Yup, you pimped this one on me, and it made it to #5 on my AOTY list for 2020. 

[wolfking]

Hmmm....okay, will sample tonight.  Never heard these guys before.

Gotta be honest, I think I've totally outgrown this style of pretty prog with clean vocals.  It's solid but meh.  I thought the Aeternam was much more my thing.

I'm not sure we can be friends anymore.   

I knew this was coming haha.  It's a me thing but these days all this stuff is just too clean for my liking.  Lacks balls IMO.

For Lalu, I have Atomic Ark which was decent, but never bothered to check this one.  I remember the couple of songs I heard didn't wow me.

[jingle.boy]

Hmmm....okay, will sample tonight.  Never heard these guys before.

Gotta be honest, I think I've totally outgrown this style of pretty prog with clean vocals.  It's solid but meh.  I thought the Aeternam was much more my thing.

I'm not sure we can be friends anymore.   

I knew this was coming haha.  It's a me thing but these days all this stuff is just too clean for my liking.  Lacks balls IMO.

Nah... it's not just a you thing - it's a me thing too.  People change, tastes change... I'm just quite happy with my musical tastes.  I just have no desire to evolve those tastes.  Some can adopt to the growls - FFS, even Tim did.  Some of us (me, Lowder, JJ) are just fine sticking with the status quo.

[Lethean]

Following - I'll have to spend more time catching up on the first few posts.  But just chiming in to say that Damian Wilson is awesome. 

Also, I love clean vocals.

[TAC]

If this album has Damian Wilson, I will be waiting for the next entry. He's a deal breaker for me.

[lonestar]

If this album has Damian Wilson, I will be waiting for the next entry. He's a deal breaker for me.

I'd imagine you'll love the Amahiru album.

[TAC]

If this album has Damian Wilson, I will be waiting for the next entry. He's a deal breaker for me.

I'd imagine you'll love the Amahiru album.

Oh, I didn't see the Amahiru post. I just saw the Wilson comment at the bottom of the page.

Hell yes, I love that album, and it's my current (or as current as can be...) submission in 425's roulette.
I'm a huge Frederic Leclercq fan. I thought he added a new dimension to Dragonforce. I became aware of him with Heavenly. He is incredible, and a great all around musician.