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Best albums of 2017

Started by funkster, Thu, 2017-12-28, 13:18:00

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funkster

What did we all make of music in 2017 ? Which albums worked for us and which didn't

Two I enjoyed were E by Enslaved and Emperor of sand by Mastodon

Over to you 

Teunis

#1
Too early for a definite top-10 yet, but my number 1 will certainly be:
Leprous - Malina

And I've heard very beautiful albums from:
Alan Reed, John Mitchell's 'Lonely Robot', Bjorn Riis, Knight Area and Soup. Slightly disappointed in: Ayreon and Anathema ...
'I will surrender my heart to the sky
Oh, our love doesn't end here, it lives forever on the wings of time'
-------------------------------------------------------
Toto - Wings of time (Kingdom of Desire)

maddox

I'm almost ready with my top 20. Emperor of Sand is in it as well, maybe even in the top ten.
Briliant album.
It will also contain a disappoinment of the year. ;)
Cause of Injury: Lack of Adhesive Ducks.

funkster

Quote from: maddox on Fri, 2018-01-05, 15:14:42
I'm almost ready with my top 20. Emperor of Sand is in it as well, maybe even in the top ten.
Briliant album.
It will also contain a disappoinment of the year. ;)

We are waiting

maddox

Quote from: funkster on Tue, 2018-01-09, 13:18:24
We are waiting

It shouldn't be long now.
The last contestant for the top-whatever list arrived today, though I already heard the album on Spotify.
But the artwork and the music, darn...it's good. :) *building the tension.
Cause of Injury: Lack of Adhesive Ducks.

maddox

01 : Pain of Salvation ~ In Passing Light of Day
02 : Black Country Communion ~ IV
03 : The Tangent ~ The Slow Rust of Forgotten Machinery

04 : Leprous ~ Malina
05 : Von Hertzen Brothers ~ War is Over
06 : Ayreon ~ The Source
07 : Mastodon ~ Emperor of Sand
08 : Barock Project ~ Detachment
09 : Caligula's Horse ~ In Contact
10 : Soul Doubt ~ The Dance of Light and Shade

11 : Anathema ~ The Optimist
12 : Gösta Berlings Saga ~ Sersophane
13 : Semistereo ~ Trans Earth Injection
14 : Discipline ~ Captives of the Wine Dark Sea
15 : Riviere ~ Heal
16 : Foo Fighters ~ Concrete and Gold
17 : White Willow ~ Future Hopes
18 : Threshold ~ Legends of the Shire
19 : Sons of Apollo ~ Psychotic Symphony
20 : Lunatic Soul ~ Fractured
21 : Odd Logic ~ Effigy

½ : Steven Wilson ~ To the Bone.
Wilson's album spot on the list is out of courtesy because of his previous albums and the albums of PT.
There are some tracks on the album that reminds me of PT, Lightbulb Sun for instance but overall his Wilson-goes-pop experiment is not for my liking.
Worst album he has ever made.
Cause of Injury: Lack of Adhesive Ducks.

PH

And yet another year has passed.

My top ten, for what it's worth:

1. Threshold - "Legends Of The Shires"
Threshold's new album has been in my music player on a daily basis for more than two months since release date, so I knew this would be number one. It's a modest double album. When they'd cut off three minutes, it would have fitted on one disc, but you know, with vinyl and all that, they decided to spread the tracks and call it a double album. This is a really cool album. And well balanced between heavy rockers, grand (not necessarily lenghty) epics and sweet ballads. The flow of this album is just perfect and the second disc is of the same level as the first. This album is a bit controversial because of the exit of Damian. Maybe it's my imagination, but sometimes I hear certain melody lines that seem to have been written for him but obviously delivered by new/old guy Glynn Morgan who really does an excellent job! There's more ways to reflect on their decision of replacement, but I can't deny the fact that this album is easily my favourite by them.

2. Barock Project - "Detachment"
One of my discoveries of the year. I hadn't heard of them before the start of the year, but I checked out their previous album ("Skyline") because of my intended attendence at Progdreams. In the end I never went to the festival, which I now regret because "Detachment" is soooo good! ProgArchives calls this Neo-Prog, but this has so much more. The best thing is of course the classical influence, which is most obvious in the piano parts. It's awesome. And I really like the harmonies in the singing.

3. The Tangent - "The Slow Rust Of Forgotten Machinery"
A Tangent album always takes a while before you discover the beauty. I really like the jazzy parts, and also the more classical music approach in some of the songs. I was amazed when I read that Andy Tillison did all the drum parts! He does a great job. For some reason I both hate and love his vocals. He is far from the best when it comes to singing, and at times it just sounds off. But I can also not imagine someone else singing this stuff. His voice is pretty distinctive (rather than distinctively pretty). Another first (apart from Andy drumming) is the more prominent addition of female vocals. There's a lot to find on this album, it's just very hard to start looking.

4. Damanek - "On Track"
Another discovery. I might have called this Tangent-Lite somewhere, but if I didn't, someone should, because it is. Or maybe you shouldn't, because it's more than that.
The Tangent (or should I say Andy?) can be very angry (Angry Tillison hah! ;D), but Damanek (Guy Manning) is peace and love. For example, where The Tangent's latest album has some themes around a very subjective view on a current political topic in a very direct manner, Damanek's themes are more cautious, and a bit more timeless and less polarizing. It reflects on the music. I don't mind either approaches. I find Damanek's music warm and relaxed.


5/6. Tangerine Dream - "Quantum Gate"
This also surprised me. I never thought something so electronic, so ambient, could end up so high in my year list. But here it is. My first Tangerine Dream album, and their one-hundred and fiftieth. ;D It's the first without Edgar Froese, who passed away two years back. It is so very relaxed and sonically pleasing. Spatial soundscapes and subtleties. I love it.

5/6. Leprous - "Malina"
Ok, so Leprous really blew me away with their previous two albums. This one is also really good, but didn't grab me instantly, initially. And it's less heavy and more mainstream. At least, that's what I read everywhere. To be honest, I wish this was mainstream. Nothing like this on Dutch radio. Every time I put this album on I think I should rate it higher. Therefore, the least I can do, is give it a shared fifth spot with Tangerine Dream.

7. Big Big Train - "Grimspound"
When Big Big Train releases an album, I simply cannot ignore it. I have to listen to it and it just has to end up in my end of year list. I'm too lazy to check, but if I remember correctly BBT ended way higher in 2016 with "Folklore". That they're now seventh on the list is probably because of a few reasons. One of these reasons is that "Grimspound" started as some sort of B-sides of "Folklore". The songs are simply not as strong (still very good of course!). Also, the top 3 of this year didn't release an album in 2016. BBT also didn't really surprise me with this new release. Or maybe, maybe, maybe, I'm becoming a bit tired of BBT... Could that be possible? Nah!

8/9. Kaipa - "Children Of The Sounds"
Kaipa albums are always growers. And most of the time their albums are somewhat interchangeable too. It's not too big of a problem, because their sound is their own.
Unfortunately they stopped using flutes, which means that this album is a little less folky. Also their music is sooooo full, it makes me feel worn-out.


8/9. Tim Bowness - "Lost In The Ghost Light"
When this album came out, I was instantly hooked. This is a very beautiful album. I always thought Steven Wilson was the genius in No-Man, but this album made me realise that Tim is no less of a genius. This album is better than No-Man. There are only two or three (short) songs on this album that I didn't really like.

10. Lunatic Soul - "Fractured"
And then, at the bottom, there is Lunatic Soul. By no means a bad album! It really grew on me in the past couple months. I just think "Walking On A Flashlight Beam" is a bit better.

After this top ten there's still some more albums by Anathema, Ayreon, Big Big Train, Blackfield, Steve Hackett, Lonely Robot, Mastodon, Mike Oldfield, Pain Of Salvation and Steven Wilson. These albums all have their moments, but I don't play them as often as the top ten.

Maddox, since you have Pain Of Salvation on your number 1, I want to make it clear that they are the best of my not-on-the-list albums. ;D I started listening to that album a little too late. Musically it has some very fine moments, (and then again a few moments I don't like that much). Lyrically I think it's way too dark and explicit for my liking. It puts me off a little too much.

Anyway, this was my top ten. What a year! And now 2018 seems to be another fantastic year with a lot of promising releases! I can't wait!