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Emeritus
Reviews 107
Approval 96%
Soundoffs 127
News Articles 30
Band Edits + Tags 62
Album Edits 78
Album Ratings 3493
Objectivity 66%
Last Active 01-12-23 5:14 pm
Joined 08-27-12
Review Comments 20,969
| Talons' 2017 Favorites
Here we are, another year gone by. I feel really fortunate and proud to have been able to review most of my favorite records of the year, all while hitting some big milestones in real life as well, like graduating college, getting my first full-time job, an amazing new car, and others. Thanks to all of you for the great conversations and recommendations, and feel free to drop your own favorites and recs in the comments. | | 25 |  | Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Luciferian Towers
A solid, subtle album from Godspeed with an excellent finale. | | 24 |  | Blackfield
Blackfield V
A really great art pop/rock album with great production and addicting songs. A nice preview for To The Bone, Wilson's solo effort later in the year. | | 23 |  | CHON
Homey
A lush, fun prog rock record reminiscent of Animals as Leaders. | | 22 |  | Beck
Colors
Beck goes pop, and results in addicting songs with enough layers and interesting songwriting choices to end up as another excellent album from the musical chameleon. | | 21 |  | alt-J
Relaxer
Wildly uneven, but the first song and last three tracks are amazing. No idea what they were thinking with the middle few songs, but the beauty of the last three save it. | | 20 |  | Paramore
After Laughter
Paramore pushed themselves and made something new, no longer sounding like their early-mid 2000s albums and going for a more rhythmic and Talking Heads-influenced style. It's their best album to date, with "Pool" being one of my favorite songs of the year. | | 19 |  | Toby Driver
Madonnawhore
This album reminds me of Bark Psychosis, but is even more sparse. Really nothing like the bands maudlin of the Well or Kayo Dot, this is a quiet, mysterious record that requires multiple listens to really digest. His live album of new material from later this year is also excellent. | | 18 |  | Heretoir
The Circle
A great blackgaze record with a lush sound and beautiful melodies galore. The debut was decent, but this shows all kinds of excellence and great potential for the band going forward. | | 17 |  | Soen
Lykaia
A very solid progressive metal album from progressive metal veterans. Not the most addicting or memorable album all the way through, but every time I throw this on, it's always a great listen. "Lucidity" and "Jinn" are highlights. | | 16 |  | Tim Bowness
Lost in the Ghost Light
A lush and addicting album from the other musician behind No-man, with Steven Wilson. There's a lot of Porcupine Tree and Pink Floyd influences, but Tim Bowness is no imitator. His latest solo effort is an intelligently crafted art rock record with great instrumental layering and carefully laid out progressions of each song. | | 15 |  | The Contortionist
Clairvoyant
The band go darker and most post-rock influenced here, similar to the new Anathema as well. It's a bit long, but the epic tracks have some amazing moments. | | 14 |  | Sleepmakeswaves
Made Of Breath Only
A really solid post-rock record, Sleepmakeswaves get a bit proggier and more ambitious for excellent results. "Tundra" and "Midnight Sun" are highlights. | | 13 |  | Fen
Winter
This is an excellent atmospheric metal album with beautiful post-rock sections, and just fantastic songwriting all around. The metal sections go on a bit too long for me, but it's all great stuff. Phenomenal production too. | | 12 |  | Ninet Tayeb
Paper Parachute
This is underrated, being a really great rock record with a lot of dynamics. The singles in particular are great, with "Child" being her best song in my opinion. The title track is one of the best rock songs of the year too, and the rest of the album holds up really well. It's great to hear a solo effort from her after becoming familiar with her great contributions to the latest Steven Wilson albums. | | 11 |  | Tom Rogerson with Brian Eno
Finding Shore
This is a late year entry, but it's an addicting and well made record. It's varied, unpredictable, and has just enough touches from '70s Brian Eno to lend it that sense of magic that projects like The Pearl and Cluster & Eno did. This combines improvisational piano, electronica, and ambient seamlessly for an exciting and dynamic album, and one of Eno's best collaborations in many years. | | 10 |  | LCD Soundsystem
American Dream
I only recently got into LCD Soundsystem, and it took me a while. Maybe I haven't jammed them enough, but to me, this is just as good as any of their previous records. The Talking Heads and Brian Eno influences really push it to excellence, with the lush synths in the slower, moodier songs and bouncy rhythms of the more danceable tracks making for a really enjoyable album experience overall. | | 9 |  | Anathema
The Optimist
A little uneven, but this sees Anathema shaking up their sound for a darker and more post-rock direction, like the new Contortionist. Lee Douglas is on many of the best songs, like "Endless Ways" and "Close Your Eyes." | | 8 |  | The War on Drugs
A Deeper Understanding
Another excellent The War on Drugs album, despite some familiar elements. I can't help but think at times that this style is going to run out of steam soon, but for now it's still going strong with some of the band's best cuts to date including "Thinking of a Place," "Strangest Thing," "Pain," and "In Chains." | | 6 |  | Slowdive
Slowdive
An excellent collection of dreamy shoegaze tracks, ranging from melancholy to more upbeat. The dual vocals really elevate the songs, and the band have not lost their touch after 20 years. Slowdive are still capable of exceeding expectations for a modern, invigorating comeback album that cements their talent and emotional resonance. | | 5 |  | Fleet Foxes
Crack-Up
This band is incredible, releasing another fantastic album after six years since Helplessness Blues. The music is just as beautiful as it ever was, the arrangements are more ambitious, and there's such a liberating feeling of freedom to this after the more conflicted and anxious Helplessness Blues. I still can't decide which is better, and it's clear that Fleet Foxes are one of the most exiting and innovative groups of the past decade. | | 4 |  | Ulver
The Assassination of Julius Caesar
Ghostly atmospheres are abound in Ulver's latest. Being their "pop" album, there are electro-pop melodies, dark synth passages, and even a few bass drops scattered throughout the run time. The lyrics traverse all times of history and mythology, while the music recalls a strange blend of their turn of the millennium records and Wars of the Roses. Garm's vocals are back in full force as well, all making for a resounding meditation on the dark side of history, mythology, and human nature. | | 3 |  | Brand New
Science Fiction
Brand New unceremoniously dropped their long-waited fifth album, Science Fiction, yet another rewarding new direction. Jesse & co. stray even farther from their roots, resembling the latest Thrice in some ways. The scattershot direction of Daisy comes to mind here, though the angst, fire, and rage is replaced with exciting, mature songwriting and a confident new direction. Whether it's superior to Daisy, or even The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me is not yet clear. What matters is that Brand New have exceeded expectations yet again, providing some of the most emotional and fascinating music of the year. | | 2 |  | The National
Sleep Well Beast
The National return with a sprawling and adventurous new album that holds up to their legendary career. They certainly aren’t afraid to take risks, as this is a masterful departure from recent predecessors, seeing the band enter a new era of their sound with further musical experimentation. The electronic elements add new dimensions and possibilities to each song. Despite the changes The National have undertaken, their brand of indie rock remains as impressive and fresh as their previous classics. Their musical world is one rife with unique insights and dark, detailed songwriting always able to emotionally connect and inspirit. Everything falls into place masterfully, being the second best album of the year. | | 1 |  | Steven Wilson
To the Bone
Steven Wilson strays further from progressive rock with his most forward thinking album yet. To The Bone is a colorful, accessible yet diverse rock album that explores the modern age of distorted truths and volatile nature of world affairs in 2017. Steven Wilson doesn't just revel in doom and gloom as one might anticipate him doing, but phases in and out of joyful moments ("Nowhere Now" and "Permanating"), being the most surprising here, and more progressive songs like the title track and "Detonation." Much of To The Bone follows a more straightforward rock pacing, but not without wide shifts in tone and mood. All in all, this is a hugely impressive statement from Wilson. It's an album that hearkens to Porcupine Tree's Stupid Dream in that it has the potential to be enjoyed by anyone, riding the line impressively between going very accessible (at times), and furthering artistry. | |
TalonsOfFire
12.19.17 | One of the best years for music this decade imo | TalonsOfFire
12.19.17 | Thanks, and I know many don't agree, but there were just so many fantastic comebacks and fascinating stuff all year for me. | Orb
12.19.17 | Always nice to see #6 getting some love | Dewinged
12.19.17 | Agreed, it's been a good year. Sweet list Talons! | TalonsOfFire
12.19.17 | Thanks guys. Thats one of my favorite musician pics. | ashcrash9
12.19.17 | Fell off hard on metal/prog/experimental stuff this year, just rarely found myself in the mood for it, but what we do share is pretty solid. Nice list, buddy | TalonsOfFire
12.19.17 | Thanks ash, yeah there was a good amount of that this year. Aiwaz they were my most listened to band for years, and Lateralus is tied for my top favorite album with OK Computer by Radiohead. | Toondude10
12.19.17 | 7 and 14 need more love | BrushedRed
12.19.17 | So very true. Slowdive and The National are quite underrated. I knew Brand New would be near the top. Glad to see the love for the ones of whom deserved the love but were on the back burner. Your list is the most like mine so far. | Artuma
12.19.17 | lol | Ulshad
12.19.17 | Nice list. I'm happy to see 16 getting some love. | Confessed2005
12.19.17 | Some cool albums here. I need to check some of these also at some stage. | TalonsOfFire
12.19.17 | Thanks. I listened to Ghost Light and Paper Parachute today cause it's been a while, and I beefed up their descriptions a bit. | Gyromania
12.20.17 | Steven Wilson at 2? Fer real? | sixdegrees
12.20.17 | proggin | TalonsOfFire
11.18.20 | To The Bone is actually #1, tied with Carrie and Lowell Live by Sufjan Stevens. | Lord(e)Po)))ts
11.18.20 | Well
6 is good | TalonsOfFire
11.18.20 | You like Ulver don't you? And cool that you dig Slowdive. | Lord(e)Po)))ts
11.18.20 | I have conflicted feelings about ulver
I dont remember if I listened to 4 or not but with the new one for instance, instrumentally I think it's cool but the vocals and lyrics RUIN it |
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