Album Of The Year

[No-Personality]

I only heard one album last year. And I'd rate it 3.5/5. I'm guessing there was something better out there.

I'd give Gotye my vote for best single. Was there any real competition?

[Avaitor]

I swear, "Somebody That I Used To Know" has got to be the first top 40 hit in years that everyone but the main demographic that supports the charts- teenage girls- generally likes.

Or at least the first to be the highest-ranking song of the year. Talk about a crazy fluke.

[Avaitor]

Just finished My Bloody Valentine's new album.

Loveless it ain't, but I wasn't expecting it to be. It's still pretty good, though. Good enough for me to look out for a physical copy.

[Karamazova]

The only album of last year I bought that was actually FROM last year was Gotye's Making Mirrors. Which I love and still listen to a lot since buying.

Oh wait, and Led Zeppelin's Celebration Day came out last year and it was pretty damn awesome, too. I went without dinner one night so I could buy it and it was so worth it.

[No-Personality]

Is there a good free place you can hear albums anyway? I'm not too keen on piece-by-piece from YouTube and having to watch goddamn ads on nearly everything if you don't embed on certain message boards. Oh, and, I know record companies want people to buy everything but I'm never going to pay money to test drive anything (unless I decide I want to).

[Avaitor]

The whole album was available in one vid on YouTube, but it looks like that was pulled.

This was supposed to stream on their site, but it crashed almost instantly when it was revealed, and I don't think it's back up yet. Looks like it's either the torrents or a physical copy for now, unless NPR is streaming it and I didn't know.

Edit: Nope, not on NPR. Their stie does tend to stream a lot of good albums around the time they should come out, but not MBV.

[Foggle]

Mediafire and torrent, usually. Then I buy the good stuff.

[Avaitor]

1- Torche- Harmonicraft
2- Silversun Pickups- Neck of the Woods
3- Pallbearer- Sorrow and Extinction
4- High on Fire- De Vermis Mysteriis
5- Alcest- Les Voyages de l'Ame

Did not listen to much this year.

Definitely putting Neurosis's new album to the top of this list, and Ensiferum's Unsung Heroes might or might not make it in the top 5 as well.

2012 wasn't a super year, but there were some real gems.

[Avaitor]

This still gets my vote for album of the year. It's pretty much everything I was hoping for in their follow-up. Bigger sounding, stronger production, more varied musical influences. The lyrical content is basically the same as always though (Satan Satan Satan), but lyrics are the least important part of music anyway.

And this is my runner-up choice. Again, a necessary evolution that just continues to add to the band's legacy.

[Nel_Annette]

Still need a week or two to decide my top ten. There's a few lingering albums I've had for months that I haven't gotten a chance to get through yet.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Massively unpopular, but I'm going to throw my vote in to the Paramore album. I've never found anything they did particularly great, but the album had some great songwriting and lyrics (though the lyrics to Crazy Girls are fairly out of place) and is the first 17 track album where I've enjoyed about every song. I'm still listening to it, too, so I guess that has to count for something.

I know most aren't too big on the album, but I really am. To a surprising degree, really.

[No-Personality]

Remember that I still haven't listened to almost Any Full Albums this year...

But, I still think Miley's Bangerz is worthy of consideration in a top 10. Even if we're being abstract and considering it a memorably odd or shockingly unexpected career move. But, the more I've listened to it, the more I've grown to respect the brains behind these lyrics and - yes - Miley's vocals.

[Nel_Annette]

So, uh... I made a top 16, not a top ten. Pretty much just a ranking of everything I enjoyed this year in one form or another. Will probably edit in reasons later. Or not.

1. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
2. Haken - The Mountain
3. Panic! At The Disco - Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!
4. Gold Fields - Black Sun
5. Coheed And Cambria - The Afterman: Descension
6. Queensryche - Queensryche
7. Spock's Beard - Brief Nocturnes And Dreamless Sleep
8. Alter Bridge - Fortress
9. Atlas Genius - When It Was Now
10. Fates Warning - Darkness In A Different Light
11. Arctic Monkeys - AM
12. Alice In Chains - The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here
13. Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused To Sing
14. The Strokes - Comedown Machine
15. Capital Cities - In A Tidal Wave Of Mystery
16. Pearl Jam - Lightning Bolt

[Avaitor]

2014 has barely just started, but 2 of my favorites have pulled out worthy contenders for AOTY- Cynic and Alcest. Both are steering away towards the heavier styles of music that made their names (death and black metal, respectively) and have been focusing almost exclusively on the style they've mixed with their music since day 1 (jazz fusion and prog rock; shoegaze and post-rock) for the betterment of their music.

As far as I'm concerned, this is a great thing, and I can't wait to play both of their albums dozens of times over.

Oh, and I got around to a particular 2013 holdover of mine- The Winery Dogs. This is a super group featuring Mike Portnoy, who I've always found to be talented but have constantly felt disappointed whenever listening to Dream Theater; Billy Sheehan, who rocked with David Lee Roth and Mr. Big, yet the general songwriting from these acts have always left me cold; and Richie Kotzen, who kicks ass as a guitarist and blues singer. Together, they made a hell of a super group. It's always hard for me to get into a super group's first album, since there's usually some stylistic differences that takes time to settle and hone, but they knock it right out of the park here. There isn't any hair metal pandering material like what Mr. Big became known for, there are jams which last appropriately long enough, and Kotzen's voice reminds me of pre-blown out Cornell. Good stuff, do recommend, especially for fans of bluesy hard rock acts or traditional metal fans. Think Cream and Zeppelin meet Maiden and 70's Priest.

[Nel_Annette]

Awww yeah, so ready for the new Cynic. I loved Traced In Air, but I've tired of the EPs they keep releasing. I just found out today that Animals As Leaders has a new album out next month as well. Huzzah!