The Analog Cub

FII has some of the weakest material. Trial of Tears and Line in the Sand are good. Systematic Chaos is really uneven. The highs are high but the lows are incredibly low, and the lows tend to be wherever Portnoy decided he needed to overindulge himself

My personal rankings of what's left 1. Grand Illusion 2. Pieces Of Eight 3. Paradise Theater 4. The Mission 5. Equinox 6. Crash of the Crown 7. Crystal Ball

Down to the good stuff now. I'd vote to eliminate Crystal Ball next, but it won't happen. Seems like the clear ones up for elimination are their latest, and Equinox. Their latest is decent but it doesn't have Suite Madame Blue or Midnight Ride.

The Dominici album, like parts of Images, has too much cheese, and The Astonishing is a freaking Disney soundtrack by Petrucci/Rudess. Voting these out now and then planning on sending FII and Systematic Chaos next.

Oddly enough Images isn't one of my favorites. I think it would be if I could get past the dated production. Way too drenched in 80s reverb. I find myself preferring Awake. I disagree on the post-Portnoy albums except for the self-titled. That one apart from Illumination Theory and Enemy Inside just feels a little uninspired. The latest two I felt they figured out how to make something decent again.

Still would like to see a PT/Steven Wilson series but it looks like turnout would be lower

This is how I feel regarding U2

Hoping to get Six Degrees to #1 and keep BC&SL and the latest two in as long as I can

Out with Cornerstone next. Huge drop-off in quality between Pieces of Eight and Paradise Theater.

This is tough but I went with eliminating High N Dry. Pyromania should be #1.

I think even the mounds of recent goodwill TRF has towards The Mission and Crash Of The Crown aren't going to keep Crystal Ball out of the picture. I forget Crystal Ball exists, tbh. The title track is a classic. Shooz and Put Me On are okay but they've done better, including on the last two albums. I'd easily put it above Kilroy though

Top 6 prediction: 1. Grand Illusion 2. Pieces of Eight 3. Paradise Theater 4/5/6. Some permutation of Equinox/Mission/CotC

All of them...these guys are so sanctimonious

Cyclorama is pretty bad...One With Everything and These Are The Times are good but everything else is just awful. I think TSIR and BNW are worse but they're all not good.

Shameful. Euphoria deserves justice and sending that turd Adrenalize off is the closest form of it

This is one of those polls where I question how many of those voting to eliminate something (Euphoria in this case) have actually even listened to it.

Love Paper Sun but it doesn't run circles around White Lightning. Overall, Euphoria is the better album. It's actually a better follow up to Hysteria than Adrenalize which was pretty much just a cut and paste not as good version of Hysteria. White Lightning is probably worth a re-listen.

Adrenalize ain't better than Euphoria, guys. Make Love Like a Man and Kick Love Into Motion tank the album so hard, and Paper Sun runs circles around anything they've done since Hysteria.

Euphoria is better than their latest, and it's also better than Adrenalize.

Blackstar is top 5. Let's Dance is also too low. Ziggy will win and I'm cool with that but man, this forum definitely has a boner for 70s albums from anyone

Personal rankings: 1. Pyromania 2. Hysteria 3. High N' Dry 4. Euphoria 5. On Through The Night 6. Adrenalize 7. Def Leppard The last three are pretty terrible. 8. Slang 9. Songs from the Sparkle Lounge 10. X Also a shoutout to Undefeated, a fantastic single that accompanied Mirror Ball, a fantastic live album.

Ahhh I look forward to Pyromania winning this one, because it is clearly the best album. Certainly better than Hysteria, which is a respectable #2. But Pyromania should win :moon:

In no particular order (I can't get to 10): Iron Maiden - Senjutsu: Fantastic album. The Parchment is too damn long. Rest of it is excellent 21st century Maiden Dream Theater - A View From The Top Of The World: The rebellious sibling of Distance Over Time. They cut loose on this album and it works well. CHVRCHES - Screen Violence: I highly encourage rock/metal fans to try this one and their debut album. It's synthpop but the music is very interesting. I'd kill for an all-instrumental version of this. The Pineapple Thief - Nothing But The Truth: Feels a bit like cheating because it's a live album, but these guys sound incredible live, and the set list is awesome. Liquid Tension Experiment - LTE3: If you liked older LTE you'll like this. If you didn't, you probably won't. I'm in the former camp. Steven Wilson - The Future Bites: I hated To The Bone, but oddly enough really enjoy this one. Most underwhelming? Foo Fighters - Medicine At Midnight. They went way too hard into "dance-rock". I applaud them for trying new things but it just didn't hit this time. My favorite "new discovery" this year has to be Riverside, a prog band from Poland

Goddamn Lifeson, get it! That was an awesome solo

Really down to the good stuff now.