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Top Ten Albums Of The Year: 2021


Segue Myles
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Twelve, in no particular order. Will think about which two to demote

 

Detroit Stories - Alice Cooper

 

Native Sons - Los Lobos

 

Jump For Joy - Gary Louris

 

Treasure Of Love - The Flatlanders

 

Heavy Load Blues - Gov't Mule

 

Gotta Have The Rumble - Brian Setzer

 

Time Clocks - Joe Bonamassa

 

Freeze! - The Aristocrats

 

Dreamers Are Waiting - Crowded House

 

Hardware - Billy Gibbons

 

Smith/Kotzen - Smith/Kotzen

 

Holy Ground - The Dead Daisies

 

At first I thought that the left side was the artists and the right was the albums, and I was gonna say like "wow, you sure do listen to a ton of obscure artists! Who is Hardware?" Lol.

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Twelve, in no particular order. Will think about which two to demote

 

Detroit Stories - Alice Cooper

 

Native Sons - Los Lobos

 

Jump For Joy - Gary Louris

 

Treasure Of Love - The Flatlanders

 

Heavy Load Blues - Gov't Mule

 

Gotta Have The Rumble - Brian Setzer

 

Time Clocks - Joe Bonamassa

 

Freeze! - The Aristocrats

 

Dreamers Are Waiting - Crowded House

 

Hardware - Billy Gibbons

 

Smith/Kotzen - Smith/Kotzen

 

Holy Ground - The Dead Daisies

 

At first I thought that the left side was the artists and the right was the albums, and I was gonna say like "wow, you sure do listen to a ton of obscure artists! Who is Hardware?" Lol.

 

Haha! There have been a few bands named Hardware over the years.

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The first few that spring to mind for me (and just in the order they come into my head) are -

 

Mastodon - Hushed & Grim

Iron Maiden - Senjutsu

Dream Theater - A View From The Top Of The World

Drifting Sun - Forsaken Innocence

Styx - Crash Of The Crown

 

 

I'm sure some more will pop into my head later.

 

1. ACCEPT "Too Mean To Die"

2. VOLBEAT "Servant of The Mind"

3. DREAM THEATER "A View From The Top Of The World"

4. IRON MAIDEN "Senjutsu"

5. STYX "Crash Of The Crown"

6. CRAZY LIXX "Street Lethal"

7. U.D.O. "Game Over"

8. THE PRIEST "Sermons Of The Sinner"

9. YYNOT "Light And Shade"

10. NIGHT RANGER "ATBPO"*

 

 

*"AND THE BAND PLAYED ON!"

 

I instantly thought of SAXON "And The Bands Played On!" 1983 Baby!

Edited by RUSHHEAD666
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Okay I'm gonna do a top ten ranking tonight, before I've had a chance to revisit everything, and I'll do a final ranking after Christmas once I get a chance to go through everything I think might qualify and decide what really is the cream of the crop.

 

So here's my top ten preliminary:

 

1. Weezer - OK Human

2. Foo Fighters - Medicine At Midnight

3. Spellling - The Turning Wheel

4. Dream Theater - A View From The Top Of The World

5. Mastodon - Hushed And Grim

6. Styx - Crash Of The Crown

7. Rise Against - Nowhere Generation

8. Weezer - Van Weezer

9. Olivia Rodrigo - Sour

10. Black Country, New Road - For The First Time

 

Also thinking very hard about Steve Hackett - Under A Mediterranean Sky, Steven Wilson - Personal Shopper, Passenger - Songs For The Drunk And Broken Hearted, Alice Cooper - Detroit Stories, Gojira - Fortitude, The Killers - Pressure Machine, Imagine Dragons - Mercury ~ Act I, Tash Sultana - Terra Firma, Evanescence - The Bitter Truth, Twenty-One Pilots - Scaled And Icy (this one especially feels like it should make my top ten...), and Mammoth WVH - s/t. Expect to see any of them replace most anything on the current list by the time I make my final one.

 

Also there are more than a handful of records I've been really meaning to get around to this year that I'm going to give a fair shake before I make my final list. Some just big names I want to stay up to speed on (Billie Eilish, Lorde, Kanye, etc.), and others records I specifically thought sounded interesting or cool that I might like (Squid, Myles Kennedy, St. Vincent, etc.). Wouldn't be surprised if a few of those broke into the list as well.

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Every Time I Die - Radical

Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! - Gone Are The Good Days

Night Ranger - ATBPO

Never Loved - Over It

Chevelle - NIRATIAS

Jason Davis - Guitar Flambe!

Dropkick Murphys - Turn Up That Dial

Weezer - OK Human

Dirty Honey - Dirty Honey

Cemetery Sun - Ascension (I could see EP liking this)

Favorite EPs:

Young Culture - Godspeed

Real Friends - Torn In Two

 

Honorable mentions:

Concrete Castles - Wish I Missed You (And maybe this)

Like Pacific - Control My Sanity

Mayday Parade - What It Means To Fall Apart

Eidola - The Architect

Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever

Save Face - Another Kill For The Highlight Reel

Can't Swim - Change of Plans

Spiritbox - Eternal Blue

Weezer - Van Weezer

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Every Time I Die - Radical

Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! - Gone Are The Good Days

Night Ranger - ATBPO

Never Loved - Over It

Chevelle - NIRATIAS

Jason Davis - Guitar Flambe!

Dropkick Murphys - Turn Up That Dial

Weezer - OK Human

Dirty Honey - Dirty Honey

Cemetery Sun - Ascension (I could see EP liking this)

Favorite EPs:

Young Culture - Godspeed

Real Friends - Torn In Two

 

Honorable mentions:

Concrete Castles - Wish I Missed You (And maybe this)

Like Pacific - Control My Sanity

Mayday Parade - What It Means To Fall Apart

Eidola - The Architect

Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever

Save Face - Another Kill For The Highlight Reel

Can't Swim - Change of Plans

Spiritbox - Eternal Blue

Weezer - Van Weezer

 

Well shoot, then I'll have to add it to my plate for albums to listen to before I make my final list!

 

Very pleased to see both Weezer albums in this post. I agree with the placements as well. Van Weezer is great, maybe not top 10 material. OK Human is one of the best things they've done, full stop.

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With this year's c.d., and album releases, for me, it's the similar thing as last year's. I'm not able to list a top ten, but here are this year's releases in not any order.

 

Iron Maiden - Senjutsu

ABBA - Voyage

Carrie Underwood - My Savior

Daughtry - Dearly Beloved

Colin James - Open Road

Coldplay - Music of the Spheres

Edited by Derek19
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Okay I'm gonna do a top ten ranking tonight, before I've had a chance to revisit everything, and I'll do a final ranking after Christmas once I get a chance to go through everything I think might qualify and decide what really is the cream of the crop.

 

So here's my top ten preliminary:

 

1. Weezer - OK Human

2. Foo Fighters - Medicine At Midnight

3. Spellling - The Turning Wheel

4. Dream Theater - A View From The Top Of The World

5. Mastodon - Hushed And Grim

6. Styx - Crash Of The Crown

7. Rise Against - Nowhere Generation

8. Weezer - Van Weezer

9. Olivia Rodrigo - Sour

10. Black Country, New Road - For The First Time

 

Also thinking very hard about Steve Hackett - Under A Mediterranean Sky, Steven Wilson - Personal Shopper, Passenger - Songs For The Drunk And Broken Hearted, Alice Cooper - Detroit Stories, Gojira - Fortitude, The Killers - Pressure Machine, Imagine Dragons - Mercury ~ Act I, Tash Sultana - Terra Firma, Evanescence - The Bitter Truth, Twenty-One Pilots - Scaled And Icy (this one especially feels like it should make my top ten...), and Mammoth WVH - s/t. Expect to see any of them replace most anything on the current list by the time I make my final one.

 

Also there are more than a handful of records I've been really meaning to get around to this year that I'm going to give a fair shake before I make my final list. Some just big names I want to stay up to speed on (Billie Eilish, Lorde, Kanye, etc.), and others records I specifically thought sounded interesting or cool that I might like (Squid, Myles Kennedy, St. Vincent, etc.). Wouldn't be surprised if a few of those broke into the list as well.

You mentioned a couple I had forgotton about - Steve Hackett - Under A Mediterranean Sky and Passenger - Songs For The Drunk And Broken Hearted ...... I loved both of these.
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Every Time I Die - Radical

Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! - Gone Are The Good Days

Night Ranger - ATBPO

Never Loved - Over It

Chevelle - NIRATIAS

Jason Davis - Guitar Flambe!

Dropkick Murphys - Turn Up That Dial

Weezer - OK Human

Dirty Honey - Dirty Honey

Cemetery Sun - Ascension (I could see EP liking this)

Favorite EPs:

Young Culture - Godspeed

Real Friends - Torn In Two

 

Honorable mentions:

Concrete Castles - Wish I Missed You (And maybe this)

Like Pacific - Control My Sanity

Mayday Parade - What It Means To Fall Apart

Eidola - The Architect

Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever

Save Face - Another Kill For The Highlight Reel

Can't Swim - Change of Plans

Spiritbox - Eternal Blue

Weezer - Van Weezer

 

Well shoot, then I'll have to add it to my plate for albums to listen to before I make my final list!

 

Very pleased to see both Weezer albums in this post. I agree with the placements as well. Van Weezer is great, maybe not top 10 material. OK Human is one of the best things they've done, full stop.

Definitely let me know what you think of Cemetery Sun! As for Weezer, I loved Van Weezer. I thought it was a very fun listen, and pretty solid overall. I had to mention it somewhere. But OK Human is on another level. It belongs in their top five, easily.
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this thread really makes me realize how much new music I don't listen to haha, I've been spending all year checking out older bands, and some other rock genres

 

 

1. Styx - Crash of the Crown | I'm the biggest Styx fan on this forum, why wouldnt this be my #1

 

2. Kansas - Point of Know Return: Live and Beyond | Much better than Leftoverture Live and Beyond because of 2 words: No Autotune. Leftoverture Live may have a better setlist, but the autotune is a huge album killer.

 

3. Yes - The Quest | Good album. Still a low tier Yes album. Not the biggest fan of Jon Davison, but he's alright.

 

4. Imagine Dragons - Mercury Act I | Awful. 4 good songs... I didn't think it was possible but I think they made an album worse than ƎVOLVE. Still, going from Smoke + Mirrors, a masterpiece, to ƎVOLVE is still one of the biggest drop offs in history

Edited by ST3V
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this thread really makes me realize how much new music I don't listen to haha, I've been spending all year checking out older bands, and some other rock genres

 

 

1. Styx - Crash of the Crown | I'm the biggest Styx fan on this forum, why wouldnt this be my #1

 

2. Kansas - Point of Know Return: Live and Beyond | Much better than Leftoverture Live and Beyond because of 2 words: No Autotune. Leftoverture Live may have a better setlist, but the autotune is a huge album killer.

 

3. Yes - The Quest | Good album. Still a low tier Yes album. Not the biggest fan of Jon Davison, but he's alright.

 

4. Imagine Dragons - Mercury Act I | Awful. 4 good songs... I didn't think it was possible but I think they made an album worse than ƎVOLVE. Still, going from Smoke + Mirrors, a masterpiece, to ƎVOLVE is still one of the biggest drop offs in history

 

See, to me the drop-off was from Evolve (a great little pop record that lives on super efficient songwriting and a touch of 80s influence) to Origins (the blandest most radio-pandering record I've heard from any entity calling themselves a band). So Mercury was a huge step up in my estimation. The bigger production of Night Visions and Smoke And Mirrors is back, along with the more experimental bent of Smoke And Mirrors, without forsaking that efficient songwriting they learned on Evolve. Not everything works, but what does work is some of their best material in years.

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this thread really makes me realize how much new music I don't listen to haha, I've been spending all year checking out older bands, and some other rock genres

 

 

1. Styx - Crash of the Crown | I'm the biggest Styx fan on this forum, why wouldnt this be my #1

 

2. Kansas - Point of Know Return: Live and Beyond | Much better than Leftoverture Live and Beyond because of 2 words: No Autotune. Leftoverture Live may have a better setlist, but the autotune is a huge album killer.

 

3. Yes - The Quest | Good album. Still a low tier Yes album. Not the biggest fan of Jon Davison, but he's alright.

 

4. Imagine Dragons - Mercury Act I | Awful. 4 good songs... I didn't think it was possible but I think they made an album worse than ƎVOLVE. Still, going from Smoke + Mirrors, a masterpiece, to ƎVOLVE is still one of the biggest drop offs in history

 

See, to me the drop-off was from Evolve (a great little pop record that lives on super efficient songwriting and a touch of 80s influence) to Origins (the blandest most radio-pandering record I've heard from any entity calling themselves a band). So Mercury was a huge step up in my estimation. The bigger production of Night Visions and Smoke And Mirrors is back, along with the more experimental bent of Smoke And Mirrors, without forsaking that efficient songwriting they learned on Evolve. Not everything works, but what does work is some of their best material in years.

In my opinion Origins is the best album of the 3 post-Smoke albums. Still not nearly as good as the first two, but I could tolerate most of the songs. Take the songs that I enjoy from Evolve and Mercury and that's a pretty nice 8 or 9 song album there.

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this thread really makes me realize how much new music I don't listen to haha, I've been spending all year checking out older bands, and some other rock genres

 

 

1. Styx - Crash of the Crown | I'm the biggest Styx fan on this forum, why wouldnt this be my #1

 

2. Kansas - Point of Know Return: Live and Beyond | Much better than Leftoverture Live and Beyond because of 2 words: No Autotune. Leftoverture Live may have a better setlist, but the autotune is a huge album killer.

 

3. Yes - The Quest | Good album. Still a low tier Yes album. Not the biggest fan of Jon Davison, but he's alright.

 

4. Imagine Dragons - Mercury Act I | Awful. 4 good songs... I didn't think it was possible but I think they made an album worse than ƎVOLVE. Still, going from Smoke + Mirrors, a masterpiece, to ƎVOLVE is still one of the biggest drop offs in history

 

See, to me the drop-off was from Evolve (a great little pop record that lives on super efficient songwriting and a touch of 80s influence) to Origins (the blandest most radio-pandering record I've heard from any entity calling themselves a band). So Mercury was a huge step up in my estimation. The bigger production of Night Visions and Smoke And Mirrors is back, along with the more experimental bent of Smoke And Mirrors, without forsaking that efficient songwriting they learned on Evolve. Not everything works, but what does work is some of their best material in years.

In my opinion Origins is the best album of the 3 post-Smoke albums. Still not nearly as good as the first two, but I could tolerate most of the songs. Take the songs that I enjoy from Evolve and Mercury and that's a pretty nice 8 or 9 song album there.

 

Dang, totally opposite opinions! Next you'll be telling me Night Visions isn't very good! lol

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this thread really makes me realize how much new music I don't listen to haha, I've been spending all year checking out older bands, and some other rock genres

 

 

1. Styx - Crash of the Crown | I'm the biggest Styx fan on this forum, why wouldnt this be my #1

 

2. Kansas - Point of Know Return: Live and Beyond | Much better than Leftoverture Live and Beyond because of 2 words: No Autotune. Leftoverture Live may have a better setlist, but the autotune is a huge album killer.

 

3. Yes - The Quest | Good album. Still a low tier Yes album. Not the biggest fan of Jon Davison, but he's alright.

 

4. Imagine Dragons - Mercury Act I | Awful. 4 good songs... I didn't think it was possible but I think they made an album worse than ƎVOLVE. Still, going from Smoke + Mirrors, a masterpiece, to ƎVOLVE is still one of the biggest drop offs in history

 

See, to me the drop-off was from Evolve (a great little pop record that lives on super efficient songwriting and a touch of 80s influence) to Origins (the blandest most radio-pandering record I've heard from any entity calling themselves a band). So Mercury was a huge step up in my estimation. The bigger production of Night Visions and Smoke And Mirrors is back, along with the more experimental bent of Smoke And Mirrors, without forsaking that efficient songwriting they learned on Evolve. Not everything works, but what does work is some of their best material in years.

In my opinion Origins is the best album of the 3 post-Smoke albums. Still not nearly as good as the first two, but I could tolerate most of the songs. Take the songs that I enjoy from Evolve and Mercury and that's a pretty nice 8 or 9 song album there.

 

Dang, totally opposite opinions! Next you'll be telling me Night Visions isn't very good! lol

I wouldnt dare

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this thread really makes me realize how much new music I don't listen to haha, I've been spending all year checking out older bands, and some other rock genres

 

 

1. Styx - Crash of the Crown | I'm the biggest Styx fan on this forum, why wouldnt this be my #1

 

2. Kansas - Point of Know Return: Live and Beyond | Much better than Leftoverture Live and Beyond because of 2 words: No Autotune. Leftoverture Live may have a better setlist, but the autotune is a huge album killer.

 

3. Yes - The Quest | Good album. Still a low tier Yes album. Not the biggest fan of Jon Davison, but he's alright.

 

4. Imagine Dragons - Mercury Act I | Awful. 4 good songs... I didn't think it was possible but I think they made an album worse than ƎVOLVE. Still, going from Smoke + Mirrors, a masterpiece, to ƎVOLVE is still one of the biggest drop offs in history

 

See, to me the drop-off was from Evolve (a great little pop record that lives on super efficient songwriting and a touch of 80s influence) to Origins (the blandest most radio-pandering record I've heard from any entity calling themselves a band). So Mercury was a huge step up in my estimation. The bigger production of Night Visions and Smoke And Mirrors is back, along with the more experimental bent of Smoke And Mirrors, without forsaking that efficient songwriting they learned on Evolve. Not everything works, but what does work is some of their best material in years.

In my opinion Origins is the best album of the 3 post-Smoke albums. Still not nearly as good as the first two, but I could tolerate most of the songs. Take the songs that I enjoy from Evolve and Mercury and that's a pretty nice 8 or 9 song album there.

 

Dang, totally opposite opinions! Next you'll be telling me Night Visions isn't very good! lol

I wouldnt dare

 

Good :D-13:

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this thread really makes me realize how much new music I don't listen to haha, I've been spending all year checking out older bands, and some other rock genres

 

 

1. Styx - Crash of the Crown | I'm the biggest Styx fan on this forum, why wouldnt this be my #1

 

2. Kansas - Point of Know Return: Live and Beyond | Much better than Leftoverture Live and Beyond because of 2 words: No Autotune. Leftoverture Live may have a better setlist, but the autotune is a huge album killer.

 

3. Yes - The Quest | Good album. Still a low tier Yes album. Not the biggest fan of Jon Davison, but he's alright.

 

4. Imagine Dragons - Mercury Act I | Awful. 4 good songs... I didn't think it was possible but I think they made an album worse than ƎVOLVE. Still, going from Smoke + Mirrors, a masterpiece, to ƎVOLVE is still one of the biggest drop offs in history

 

See, to me the drop-off was from Evolve (a great little pop record that lives on super efficient songwriting and a touch of 80s influence) to Origins (the blandest most radio-pandering record I've heard from any entity calling themselves a band). So Mercury was a huge step up in my estimation. The bigger production of Night Visions and Smoke And Mirrors is back, along with the more experimental bent of Smoke And Mirrors, without forsaking that efficient songwriting they learned on Evolve. Not everything works, but what does work is some of their best material in years.

In my opinion Origins is the best album of the 3 post-Smoke albums. Still not nearly as good as the first two, but I could tolerate most of the songs. Take the songs that I enjoy from Evolve and Mercury and that's a pretty nice 8 or 9 song album there.

 

Dang, totally opposite opinions! Next you'll be telling me Night Visions isn't very good! lol

 

Shit! I forgot "The Quest!" Amazing album.

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The first few that spring to mind for me (and just in the order they come into my head) are -

 

Mastodon - Hushed & Grim

Iron Maiden - Senjutsu

Dream Theater - A View From The Top Of The World

Drifting Sun - Forsaken Innocence

Styx - Crash Of The Crown

 

 

I'm sure some more will pop into my head later.

 

1. ACCEPT "Too Mean To Die"

2. VOLBEAT "Servant of The Mind"

3. DREAM THEATER "A View From The Top Of The World"

4. IRON MAIDEN "Senjutsu"

5. STYX "Crash Of The Crown"

6. CRAZY LIXX "Street Lethal"

7. U.D.O. "Game Over"

8. THE PRIEST "Sermons Of The Sinner"

9. YYNOT "Light And Shade"

10. YES "The Quest"

 

11. NIGHT RANGER "ATBPO"*

 

 

*"AND THE BAND PLAYED ON!"

 

I instantly thought of SAXON "And The Bands Played On!" 1983 Baby!

 

Damnit! Sorry! NIGHT RANGER has to go. YES "THE QUEST" is in.

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Been doing a ton of listening to new albums in the past day to work on my final list. So far not very many have shown much top 10 potential... but you know, I might just make a top 25 to talk about all the ones I really want to talk about... maybe more!

 

I'll probably want to give everything that makes my list more than a single listen though, lol.

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Finally going to try:

 

1. Mastodon- Hushed And Grim

2. Iron Maiden- Senjutsu

3. Epica- Omega

4. Biffy Clyro- The Myth Of The Happily Ever After

5. The Killers- Pressure Machine

6. Trivium- In The Court Of The Dragon

7. Kings Of Leon- When You See Yourself

8. Taylor Swift- Fearless (Taylor's Version)

9. Taylor Swift- Red (Taylor's Version)

10. Dream Theater- A View From The Top Of The World

Edited by Segue Myles
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1. Dream Theater - A View From The Top of The World

2. Iron Maiden - Senjitsu

3. YYNOT - Light and Shade

4. Transatlantic - The Absolute Universe Forevermore Extended Version

5. Styx - Crash of the Crown

6. Liquid Tension Experiment 3

7. John Petrucci - Terminal Velocity

 

That is pretty much it for me.

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