bgillesp's 2017 Albums of the Year
Format: Rating (description) Approximate Number of Listens
This is all the albums I gave a rating of 4/5 or higher on the site for the year.
Ranking is hard for first 20ish, moderate for the next 40ish, and pretty loose afterwards. |
| 101 |  | (Sandy) Alex G
Rocket
3.75 (from Pinback sounds to banjo and fiddle pieces, this has it all but not quite all of it works) 1
102. Ayreon- The Source
3.75 (very cheesy prog metal but the instrumentation is so good) 1 |
| 100 |  | Lambsbreath
MANFEELINGS
3.75 (Potsy is good at music apparently, Sput-OTY just barely beating out Dzo-Nga and Boring Bathtimes) 1 |
| 99 |  | Nothing But Thieves
Broken Machine
3.75 (a ton of really cool instrumentals but the album flow is a little off for me, very easily could grow on me) 2 |
| 98 |  | Sampha
Process
3.75 (early year gem full of soul) 1 |
| 97 |  | Christian Scott
The Emancipation Procrastination
3.75 (better than Ruler Rebel, not as good as Diaspora, but really interesting as a few songs incorporate an alt-fusion type sound centered around the album highlight, the Radiohead-Videotape sample-based cover? song) 2 |
| 96 |  | Ghost Atlas
All Is In Sync, and There's Nothing Left to Sing
3.75 (there's been a lot of Circa Survive tribute bands lately but this has been one of the best of them) 1 |
| 95 |  | Slow (BE)
V - Oceans
3.75 (awesome atmosphere, but funeral doom can sometimes get boring) 1 |
| 94 |  | Spoon
Hot Thoughts
3.75 (interesting sounds mixed with post punk) 2 |
| 93 |  | Hallas
Excerpts From a Future Past
3.8 (super fun old-school style proggy psych rock, another thanks to Uni) 1 |
| 92 |  | Landlady
The World Is A Loud Place
3.8 (indie pop with a post-punkish flair, thanks Papi) 1 |
| 91 |  | Milo
Who Told You To Think??!!?!?!?!
3.8 (a bit too try hard in spots but otherwise really great) 2 |
| 90 |  | Havukruunu
Kelle Surut Soi
3.8 (great folk metal with the right aesthetic, thanks to whoever rec'd me this I forget [2]) 1 |
| 89 |  | Trivium
The Sin and the Sentence
3.8 (I am just as surprised as you) 2 |
| 88 |  | Xiu Xiu
Forget
3.8 (not what I expected based on the band name) 1 |
| 87 |  | Bestia Arcana
Holokauston
3.8 (really full and interesting heavy death) 2 |
| 86 |  | The Horrors
V
3.8 (another good post punkish album on the list) 1 |
| 85 |  | Julien Baker
Turn Out The Lights
3.8 (I feel like she tried a little too hard to write what people wanted to hear on this album, killer voice and writing anyway though) 2 |
| 84 |  | The National
Sleep Well Beast
3.8 (some great songs but there's a fair share of bad moments when they try to get too pretentious) 4 |
| 83 |  | Chepang
A Tale Of Wildfire
3.8 (grindcore that you can tell is from Nepal, which makes for a very interesting sound) 1 |
| 82 |  | Rosalia
Los Angeles
3.8 (nice little Spanish folk outing) 1 |
| 81 |  | DragonForce
Reaching into Infinity
3.8 (surprisingly not that cheesy power metal and it is very well developed) 1 |
| 80 |  | Dvanov
For Gathering Dust
3.8 (check this, it's good Russian ambient country indie folk maybe?) 1 |
| 79 |  | Slowdive
Slowdive
3.8 (dreamy) 2 |
| 78 |  | Marty Friedman
Wall of Sound
3.8 (the guy who wrote the tornado of souls solo is good at guitar) 1 |
| 77 |  | Grafvitnir
Keys to the Mysteries Beyond
3.8 (late year black metal with a very interesting vocal style, thanks Seven) 1 |
| 76 |  | Enslaved
E
3.8 (really great proggy black metal but their vocals have faded and the songwriting is a bit stale) 2 |
| 75 |  | Hammock
Mysterium
3.8 (this album is freaking gorgeous but maybe slightly samey, I really want to check their discog now, thanks DinosaurJones) 1 |
| 74 |  | yMusic
First
3.8 (jazzy modern classical experiment that's really good, check their collabs w/ Tallest Man on Earth and more, I'm pretty sure Twig had something to do with me checking this, so thanks to you for having good taste and participating in the prog tourney) 1 |
| 73 |  | Dalek
Endangered Philosophies
3.8 (a bit repetitive but an amazing sound) 1 |
| 72 |  | The Smith Street Band
More Scared of You Than You Are of Me
3.85 (sad old emo guy makes good post hardcore) 1 |
| 71 |  | Creeper
Eternity, In Your Arms
3.85 (really interesting gothic-emo-pop-punk, well done on the emotive level) 1 |
| 70 |  | White Ward
Futility Report
3.85 (this combo of jazzy black metal really needed to happen, but it needed to happen better) 3 |
| 69 |  | Billy Corgan
Ogilala
3.85 (reminiscent of some of the softer moments in Mellon Collie with a welcome, warm, and humble feel, neekafat has an excellent review for this) 1 |
| 68 |  | Arca
Arca
3.85 (I like Bjork so this is really good too, album flow isn't the best at times but some cool moments) 2 |
| 67 |  | Cradle of Filth
Cryptoriana – The Seductiveness of Decay
3.85 (having only jammed Nymphetamine before, I had low expectations, but it turned out to be great, especially that Allison Hell cover, which is funny considering that while I was listening to this, I was comparing the vocalist to Annihilator's) 1 |
| 66 |  | Circa Survive
The Amulet
3.85 (nothing new for them but they did it very well again, best in a while) 2 |
| 65 |  | A/T/O/S
Outboxed
3.85 (trip hop is good, thanks Fripp for hyping this enough for me to discover them) 2 |
| 64 |  | The Ruins Of Beverast
Exuvia
3.85 (good black metal worth checking, killer production) 2 |
| 63 |  | Cormorant
Diaspora
3.85 (prog-rock black metal done really really right, but some sections just drag on too long) 1 |
| 62 |  | Kelela
Take Me Apart
3.9 (really great R&B release from a killer voice) 1 |
| 61 |  | The Tiger Lillies
Edgar Allan Poe's Haunted Palace
3.9 (overlong but good concept and wierd as ever) 1 |
| 60 |  | CHON
Homey
3.9 (super fun even if a bit cheesy math rock) 5 |
| 59 |  | Mutoid Man
War Moans
3.9 (ridiculously fun stoner rock/metal album but the lyrics aren't the best and the vocalist uses his scream/yell thing without any discrimination for when it is appropriate) 2 |
| 58 |  | '68
Two Parts Viper
3.9 (if they got rid of Ric Flair on vox, they'd be amazing) 2 |
| 57 |  | Christian Scott
Diaspora
3.9 (overlooked awesome jazz/jazz-hop, best of the trilogy) 2 |
| 56 |  | Ariel Pink
Dedicated to Bobby Jameson
3.9 (a lot of really great ideas and interesting bits but it was a bit drawn out in some places while too busy in others) 1 |
| 55 |  | Arcane Roots
Melancholia Hymns
3.9 (One of the most stylistically diverse and competent releases of the year, in other words, what Nothing More's latest should have could have been) 2 |
| 54 |  | Lil Peep
Come Over When You're Sober
3.9 (RIP, never heard of him until he OD'd but to my enormous surprise, I actually really enjoyed this, although it is an emo album with some hip-hop, not the other way around, also it's not that this is actually "good" per se, you might could even call it objectively mediocre, but something about it just hits you in the feels and sticks with you, he had potential as an emo artist) 12 |
| 53 |  | Blanck Mass
World Eater
3.9 (maybe if I knew more about electronic I'd dig this more, but seeing as it's one of my first electronic albums I've listened to and enjoyed, I call it a win, I'm sure once I learn more about the genre it'll grow on me) 2 |
| 52 |  | Angles 9
Disappeared Behind the Sun
3.9 (pretty cool avant jazz fusion thing, underrated) 5 |
| 51 |  | Glassjaw
Material Control
3.9 (I mean it's good but not that special, comeback overhype confirmed) 3 |
| 50 |  | Nokturnal Mortum
Verity
3.9 (good folk metal, not too cheesy until the end, thanks to whoever rec'd me this I forget) 3 |
| 49 |  | Ne Obliviscaris
Urn
3.9 (a little too busy and wanky but good prog metal nonetheless) 2 |
| 48 |  | Employed to Serve
The Warmth Of A Dying Sun
3.95 (no matter how much the album title sounds like a stereotypical melodeath release, this is a pretty killer hardcore-metalcore album) 1 |
| 47 |  | Artificial Brain
Infrared Horizon
3.95 (hate the vox but riffs super hard) 2 |
| 46 |  | Grizzly Bear
Painted Ruins
3.95 (great songwriting, with a great layer of sounds but a tad repetitive, thanks to my girlfriend for getting me into this band) 4 |
| 45 |  | Big K.R.I.T.
4eva Is a Mighty Long Time
3.95 (real southern hip-hop with a hometown flavor that feels so genuine and soulful, a couple tracks fall flat though) 2 |
| 44 |  | Boris
Dear
3.95 (my introduction to Boris was a good one with this doomy fuzzball) 2 |
| 43 |  | The War on Drugs
A Deeper Understanding
4.0 (borders on too much of the same thing but only a little, otherwise awesome, thanks to my coach for getting me into this band) 3 |
| 42 |  | J. Roddy Walston and The Business
Destroyers of the Soft Life
4.0 (this under-recognized act has one of the freshest sounds of the year, and their eclectic songwriting styles is executed well enough to keep your attention throughout, thanks to my girlfriend for getting me into this band) 2 |
| 41 |  | Tricky
Ununiform
4.0 (idk why this got such poor ratings because it's awesome, he's a trip hop legend for a reason folks) 5 |
| 40 |  | Spectral Voice
Eroded Corridors of Unbeing
4.0 (really solid doomy death, comparable to Venenum crossed with Ulcerate without theft from either) 3 |
| 39 |  | The White Buffalo
Darkest Darks, Lightest Lights
Darkest Darks, Lightest Lights 4.0 (that old school outlaw sound with a modern twist) 2 |
| 38 |  | Tyler, the Creator
Flower Boy
4.0 (really good album that apparently is much different than his usual style, idk if it's worth checking his older stuff since people say this is much better and different, but this is all I've heard from him and I was impressed) 2 |
| 37 |  | Spirit Adrift
Curse of Conception
4.0 (a major improvement for the band who wishes they were Khemmis just a bit less now because they've begun to find their own sound that might could rival that of their rivals) 3 |
| 36 |  | Desolate Shrine
Deliverance From The Godless Void
4.05 (another great blackened death release from the year with a really great atmosphere and production) 2 |
| 35 |  | Counterparts
You're Not You Anymore
4.05 (solid hardcore-metalcore without any cheese and some good emotion) 3 |
| 34 |  | Caligula's Horse
In Contact
4.05 (hanging on tightly but not *quite* standing on the shoulders of giants like Plini for a surprise great prog metal album, some weak moments but Graves is an absolutely killer track, near SOTY contention) 3 |
| 33 |  | Ensnared
Dysangelium
4.05 (straight up kick in the gut dm) 2 |
| 32 |  | Dvne
Asheran
4.05 (really smooth and undiscovered stoner metal with a touch of proggy sludge) 3 |
| 31 |  | Shade Empire
Poetry of the Ill-Minded
4.05 (overlooked and underrated symphonic jazzy black metal) 3 |
| 30 |  | Kauan
Kaiho
4.05 (some more of the first post rock I've really enjoyed, these guys and Exquirla have opened me up to the genre) 2 |
| 29 |  | IDLES
Brutalism
4.05 (great noisy Punk record, thanks Papi) 2 |
| 28 |  | Mount Eerie
A Crow Looked At Me
5.0/0.5 (Descriptions Fail. who cares, never listen to this, but it's the best album ever made, but I hate it; in the words of our fellow Sputniker, Astral Abortis; "Words fail. Ratings Fail." my Review-OTY) 3 |
| 27 |  | Rata Negra
Oido Absoluto
4.1 (thanks Dewinged, this is a ridiculously fun female-fronted Spanish hardcore release) 1 |
| 26 |  | Der Weg Einer Freiheit
Finisterre
4.1 (not a bad year for bm at all, this remains fresh in a genre on its downward slope in terms of real innovation rather than just genre blending) 4 |
| 25 |  | Ryuichi Sakamoto
Async
4.1 (thanks Fripp, really great minimal) 2 |
| 24 |  | Benjamin Clementine
I Tell A Fly
4.1 (an unusual piece that stands out from its peers by creating beautiful melodies blended with unconventional songwriting, a grower, thanks Uni) 2 |
| 23 |  | Flotation Toy Warning
The Machine That Made Us
4.1 (thanks butch, underrated indie dream rock) 4 |
| 22 |  | Fen
Winter
4.1 (a subtle best black metal LP of the year, really great atmosphere that feels genuine and not too polished) 4 |
| 21 |  | Manchester Orchestra
A Black Mile to the Surface
4.1 (this one is tough because it really does sound quite amazing, but something about the production really feels as if it tries too hard and isn't fully genuine, very good regardless of how you view it on that spectrum, thanks to my girlfriend for getting me into this band) 3 |
| 20 |  | The Magnetic Fields
50 Song Memoir
4.1 (not as well done as 69 love songs but the earlier songs are great with plenty of humor, so very long though) 1 |
| 19 |  | Big Thief
Capacity
4.15 (calling up thoughts of everything from Tallest Man on Earth to Smashing Pumpkins, Big Thief put out a huge lo-fi folk release that went under the radar here on Sput, I was even a hold out until it popped up on all the year end lists) 2 |
| 18 |  | Blood Cultures
Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday 4.15 (having not even heard of this until the staff list, I was surprised to see it place so highly, but after listening, it haunted it's way right into my top 20 as well) 2 |
| 17 |  | Brand New
Science Fiction
4.15 (overrated but still awesome, will have trouble listening to this band in the near future thanks to Lacey though, but even though my enjoyment may be affected my rating remains the same) 8 |
| 16 |  | Bjork
Utopia
Utopia 4.15 (a solid album falling amongst the middle of her discography, but that's pretty darn good, Body Memory SOTY contender) 6 |
| 15 |  | Portugal. The Man
Woodstock
4.15 (underrated like crazy and super fun, thanks to my girlfriend for getting me into this band a few years ago) 3 |
| 14 |  | Chelsea Wolfe
Hiss Spun
4.2 (very gutsy and I like it, really unique sound and I will definitely check her older stuff soon) 4 |
| 13 |  | Fleet Foxes
Crack-Up
4.2 (prog folk ftw, nearly flawless except for that it is only slightly bloated, but their best yet, thanks to my girlfriend for getting me into this band) 5 |
| 12 |  | The Tiger Lillies
Cold Night in Soho
4.2 (thanks Doof, not many people may have noticed your crusade to promote the Lillies here, but it worked for at least one person I guarantee, Lillies do Lillies well here making one of their best I've heard) 3 |
| 11 |  | Venenum
Trance of Death
4.2 (best death of the year, great builds, lots of blackened influence, can't wait to see what this band has in store for the future) 7 |
| 10 |  | Forest Swords
Compassion
4.2 (powerful electronic music with a chorus of semiunintelligible vocal samples that are guaranteed to move you, thanks to my friend Graham) 5 |
| 9 |  | Oxbow
Thin Black Duke
4.25 (really entrancing stuff, killer atmosphere to this thing but I wish there had been more, thanks once again butch) 6 |
| 8 |  | Kendrick Lamar
DAMN.
4.25 (not his best but it's still Kendrick, so pretty incredible as usual) 5 |
| 7 |  | Pain of Salvation
In the Passing Light of Day
4.3 (really great prog metal with a lot of terribly catchy moments, some deeply sincere moments, but a couple suspiciously insincere moments, potential SOTY in Meaningless) 12 |
| 6 |  | Protomartyr
Relatives In Descent
4.3 (what can I say other than Papi knows his Post-Punk very well, thanks for a fun year on the Sput because I really enjoyed you being here, thanks for hyping this album, for your hilariously awful and fun tourney, for rec roulette, for all your contributions to the site, and much more, it went well for you too at least until Tyler said to "Defenestrate the [former] King", song in the album joke plus you lost the post punk tourney... potential SOTY in A Private Understanding) 5 |
| 5 |  | Amenra
Mass VI
4.4 (killer atmosphere on this *mass*ive outing, hehe, A Solitary Reign is transcendental and a potential SOTY, Metal-OTY) 5 |
| 4 |  | Gang of Youths
Go Farther in Lightness
4.5 (truly awesome album from a newer indie alt group, several SOTY contenders, thanks Uni for hyping this because now both me and my girlfriend love it) 4 |
| 3 |  | Perfume Genius
No Shape
4.55 (genius perfume, several SOTY contenders, thanks to my friend Cameron) 10 |
| 2 |  | The Afghan Whigs
In Spades
4.65 (genius combo of indie and grunge, thanks butch for introducing me to this band who has several incredible albums, also thanks for a good year on Sput with your reviews and rec roulette, several SOTY contenders, potential someday 5) 15 |
| 1 |  | Exquirla
Para Quienes Aún Viven
4.65 (huge thanks to Sniff for his monthly lists where I found this, essential post-flamenco by the post-rock band Toundra teaming up with flamenco singer Niño de Elche, several SOTY contenders but Un Hombre takes the cake, potential someday 5) 13 |
|
