| Waking The Cadaver Perverse Recollections Of A Necromangler | 1.0 |
| 2Cents Lost At Sea | 1.5 |
| Mogwai Mr. Beast | 3.0 |
| The one big post-rock band that doesn't wow me. |
| Sufjan Stevens Illinois | 5.0 |
| Following the release of "Illinois", Sufjan Stevens was immediately credited as being the man who released the best indie album of the decade so far. The title is fitting. "Illinois" is the most diverse, exciting, relevant, intriguing indie album that I have ever heard. Even though some of the song titles are pretentious, it's made up for, as the record is simply brilliant. "Illinois" is one of the records where I can say that 'filler' tracks actually fit with the album and are not superfluous. Even the 7 second "One last Who-oo for the Pullman" serves it's relaxing purpose. I'm also pretty content that I'm not the only one who acclaims this so highly; dozens of magazines and reviewers have named this one of the best of the decade for indie, and again, that title is fitting, because this is the best record that 21st century indie has to offer. Intelligent. Heartfelt. Entertaining. Endless. Extraordinary. The best indie record of the decade. Period. |
| Converge Petitioning the Empty Sky | 4.0 |
| Converge Jane Doe | 4.0 |
| BORING. BAD FLOW. AWFUL HIGH PITCHED VOCALS. THE MUSIC IS NOTHING SPECIAL. GET OVER IT. IT'S A BAND THAT PIONEERED THE GENRE, BUT MANY HAVE SURPASSED THEM. GET THE FUCK OVER IT. PROBABLY THE WORST ALBUM OF ALL TIME. |
| Converge Axe to Fall | 2.5 |
| Yndi Halda Enjoy Eternal Bliss | 4.5 |
| An epic, drawn out, diverse piece of post-rock. One of the best bands in the genre, definitely over those overrated post-rock guys like Mogwai and or This Will Destroy You. The album is never boring and simply genius, very similar to Godspeed You! Black Emperor. |
| Genesis Calling All Stations | 1.0 |
| Genesis A Trick of the Tail | 4.0 |
| King Crimson VROOOM VROOOM | 3.5 |
| Pink Floyd The Final Cut | 3.0 |
| Pink Floyd The Division Bell | 3.0 |
| Bon Iver For Emma, Forever Ago | 3.0 |
| This guy has an awesome voice but the music can get really boring. |
| Animal Collective Fall Be Kind | 4.0 |
| Edge of Sanity Purgatory Afterglow | 4.0 |
| Coldplay X&Y | 1.0 |
| Coldplay Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends | 1.5 |
| Death Cab for Cutie Transatlanticism | 3.0 |
| Death Cab for Cutie Plans | 3.0 |
| Sigur Ros Takk... | 5.0 |
| Sigur Ros is, was, and always will be the weirdest fucking band ever. However, their arrangements are not only astounding... but possibly the best in their class. The use of bells and strange icelandic vocals is highly original and simply used phenomenal throughout every track. The music itself is simply hypnotizing, intoxicating, and beautiful. I simply love everything about Sigur Ros, and this is my favorite effort from them... even over the almost equally phenomenal "( )". Sigur Ros is so fucking fantastic, possibly the most entertaining post-rock group, but the most inaccessible, which can be a problem, but not for me. Flawless. |
| Sigur Ros ( ) | 4.5 |
| Lovely album. Many prefer it over Takk, and though I do not, I still love it. |
| Sigur Ros Agætis byrjun | 4.0 |
| Skillet Awake | 1.0 |
| Insomnium Across the Dark | 3.0 |
| Mutiny Within Mutiny Within | 4.0 |
| Spoon Transference | 3.5 |
| The Mercury Program A Data Learn the Language | 4.0 |
| Maps and Atlases You and Me and the Mountain | 4.0 |
| mewithoutYou It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All A Dream! It's Alright! | 4.0 |
| Brand New Daisy | 3.0 |
| Manchester Orchestra I'm Like a Virgin Losing a Child | 3.5 |
| Manchester Orchestra You Brainstorm, I Brainstorm, But Brilliance... | 3.5 |
| Genesis Trespass | 4.0 |
| Genesis Duke | 3.0 |
| Manchester Orchestra Mean Everything to Nothing | 4.0 |
| One of the best indie records of 2009; the best from Manchester thus far; highly entertaining album and an intriguing growth for Manchester Orchestra. It's an excellent record, not really 'superb' or 'classic' but the replay value is stunning. I may have bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mastodon at 5, but I listen to this album like it is a 5. One of my favorite indie records. |
| Modest Mouse No One's First, and You're Next | 2.5 |
| Modest Mouse The Moon & Antarctica | 3.0 |
| Broken Social Scene You Forgot It in People | 3.5 |
| Arcade Fire The Arcade Fire | 3.0 |
| The National Cherry Tree | 3.5 |
| The Arusha Accord The Echo Verses | 4.0 |
| Really impressive mathcore record; full of originality and complexity. Very interesting listen, one of my favorites in the genre as of right now. |
| Botch We Are the Romans | 4.0 |
| Not really a classic, but an awesome mathcore album nonetheless. Kind of repetitive at times, but when being redundant isn't an issue, there are some golden moments on here. |
| Botch American Nervoso | 3.5 |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Calculating Infinity | 4.0 |
| I listened in and out to Dillinger's enitre discography, and this is a personal favorite. Looking at the 1999 release date, it seems a little impossible but it is possible indeed. The tritones are actually used tastefully and the music is just offensive enough to make indie fan's ears bleed. It's truly a brilliant album full of time changes galore, and I really dig this one. We'll have to see if they can top this with their new record. |
| Katatonia Night Is the New Day | 3.5 |
| Psyopus Ideas of Reference | 1.0 |
| Psyopus Odd Senses | 1.0 |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Ire Works | 4.0 |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Miss Machine | 4.0 |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan The Dillinger Escape Plan | 3.0 |
| Miles Davis Nefertiti | 3.5 |
| Miles Davis In a Silent Way | 3.0 |
| Charles Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus | 4.0 |
| Charles Mingus Mingus Ah Um | 3.5 |
| Limp Bizkit Greatest Hitz | 1.0 |
| Linkin Park Meteora | 1.5 |
| Limp Bizkit Three Dollar Bill Y'all | 1.0 |
| Limp Bizkit New Old Songs | 1.5 |
| Limp Bizkit Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water | 1.0 |
| Sonic Youth The Eternal | 2.5 |
| Dinosaur Jr. Farm | 2.0 |
| Soft Machine Third | 3.0 |
| Baroness Blue Record | 3.5 |
| Baroness Red Album | 3.0 |
| Gentle Giant Gentle Giant | 3.0 |
| Gentle Giant Giant for a Day | 1.5 |
| Gentle Giant Octopus | 4.0 |
| Gentle Giant In a Glass House | 4.0 |
| Sigh Scenes from Hell | 4.0 |
| So far, it's the most entertaining album of 2010. The production is a little weak, and a little too weird sometimes are the jazzy sections, but this is highly original and fun to listen to. While it's not the classic that staff writer Tyler Munro claims it to be, it's one hell of an interesting listen, it's really excellent to say the least. Probably the most interesting metal band I've heard in a while. |
| Pelican March Into the Sea | 4.0 |
| Thelonious Monk Monk's Dream | 4.0 |
| Miles Davis The Essential Miles Davis | 4.0 |
| Miles Davis Kind of Blue | 4.5 |
| Miles Davis Jack Johnson | 3.5 |
| Miles Davis Bitches Brew | 5.0 |
| Bitches Brew. Some call "Kind of Blue" the best of this jazz genius, but this one contains the best arrangements in the history of jazz. While in the overall scheme of things I prefer both Coltrane and Monk to Davis, this remains my favorite jazz record ever. It's just so flawless, all epic 10 minute plus tracks full of the weirdest shit you will ever hear. It attacked my mind for 90 minutes. Usually, for me, Miles Davis has this and Kind of Blue, and I'm not a giant fan of the others, (as I said, overall I prefer Monk and Coltrane) but this one is a different story. It's diverse, colorful, it varies all the time. It's just phenomenal. |
| John Coltrane Giant Steps | 4.0 |
| John Coltrane Blue Train | 4.5 |
| Grizzly Bear Veckatimest | 3.0 |
| Vampire Weekend Contra | 3.0 |
| The Red Chord Fed Through the Teeth Machine | 4.5 |
| Of all the metal records this year, this one stands near the top. Unrivaled brutality mixed with a vast multitude of colorful and original riffs, accompanied by machine gun grind drumming. This album is the epitome of the entertainment and has an extremely high replay value. This is a must get for any death metal/grind/deathcore fan. The best that The Red Chord has put out yet, a step forward in originality. Fantastic. |
| The Black Dahlia Murder Miasma | 3.0 |
| Darkest Hour The Eternal Return | 3.0 |
| Darkest Hour Deliver Us | 3.0 |
| Arsis Starve for the Devil | 2.5 |
| The new release from tech/death band Arsis, is not a total failure by any means, but a step back nonetheless. What ever happened to the uncontested brutality of their first two efforts, where has the originality gone? On this record, it seems that Arsis is attempting to draw from it's influences a bit too much, instead of being a tech death metal band that they once were, they are now a technical thrash band that sounds like Megadeth with unclean vocals. I enjoyed some of this record indefinitely, but it is still a step back for Arsis, they lost their edge. The bright side is that while the solos and high-neck leads are placed in cliche thrash areas of each track, the guitar work and harmonies are still pretty fucking cool, which one would expect with Arsis. For a fan of 80's thrash or bands like Shadows Fall or Children of Bodom, this album may impress, but for fans of the old Arsis, you will walk away slightly irritated by the lack of originality and brutality. |
| Stars Set Yourself On Fire | 2.0 |
| The Appleseed Cast Two Conversations | 4.0 |
| Arsis We Are the Nightmare | 3.5 |
| Arsis United in Regret | 3.0 |
| Arsis A Diamond for Disease | 4.0 |
| The Mars Volta Octahedron | 3.5 |
| Rush Caress of Steel | 3.5 |
| Rush A Farewell to Kings | 3.5 |
| Yes Open Your Eyes | 2.5 |
| Genesis Abacab | 3.0 |
| Dark Tranquillity Fiction | 4.0 |
| Black Sabbath Heaven and Hell | 4.0 |
| Architects Hollow Crown | 2.0 |
| Listened to this in full, unfortunately. Boring, dry and unoriginal best describe this album. The singer is a copycat of Sikth's vocalist but with less range. Every time a song starts to descend into a clean, proggy section, it's no different than the small clean section from the song before, and accompanied by this section are those awful vocals. The riffs show some original potential, but mostly just fall to overused tritones, a generic mathcore mistake. This album was painfully boring, and made no impact on me at all. Avoid it if looking to get into the genre, as this is not the place to look. |
| In Flames The Jester Race | 4.0 |
| Maps and Atlases Tree, Swallows, Houses | 4.5 |
| The Format Dog Problems | 2.5 |
| fun. Aim and Ignite | 2.0 |
| Agalloch Pale Folklore | 5.0 |
| Perfection. Absolute perfection. Agalloch effortlessly combines folk, doom, death, black and post-metal into a powerhouse of a record. My reason for this being my favorite Agalloch album is because it has less filler than the others; it's without boring/repetitive tracks like "Odal" or "The Lodge". Every piano note, every variation of the acoustic guitar, every second is worth your time if you are a fan of Black/Folk metal. I truly consider this record timeless; and I don't think that Agalloch can top this immense perfection. |
| Dirty Three Whatever You Love, You Are | 2.5 |
| Dirty Three Ocean Songs | 4.0 |
| ISIS Wavering Radiant | 4.0 |
| Definitely the best from Isis, I'm not really a huge fan of Isis. Oceanic and Pantopticon were a little hard to listen to at times, but this album flows much better than previous works and is definitely more interesting. One of the best albums of 2009. |
| ISIS Celestial | 3.0 |
| ISIS The Red Sea | 3.5 |
| ISIS Oceanic | 3.5 |
| The Twilight Sad Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters | 3.5 |
| Frightened Rabbit Sing The Greys | 2.0 |
| The Decemberists The Hazards of Love | 3.5 |
| The Decemberists Her Majesty the Decemberists | 3.0 |
| Okkervil River Black Sheep Boy | 3.5 |
| The National Alligator | 4.5 |
| Minus the Bear Bands Like It When You Yell YAR at Them | 4.0 |
| Minus the Bear This is What I Know About Being Gigantic | 4.0 |
| Minus the Bear They Make Beer Commercials Like This | 4.0 |
| Minus the Bear Into the Mirror | 4.5 |
| Minus the Bear Interpretaciones Del Oso | 1.5 |
| Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene | 3.0 |
| The National The Virginia EP | 3.5 |
| The National Boxer | 5.0 |
| Upon hearing this album initially, I gave it a 2. Then it went to a 3. Then a 3.5. Than a 4. Than a 4.5. Now it's borderline between a classic and a superb rating. This one is a grower, as it took me time to realize just how well written and consistent the music is. The arrangements, and the way certain instruments are combined and overlapped never fails within any track and the subdued vocals are perfect for a rainy day. While my favorite track from these guys is "The Geese of Beverly Road", "Boxer" is a perfect mellow indie album that is far superior to similar bands like Interpol. The National has finally grown on me, after weeks of rigorous listening. It's really the arrangements that get me, no arrangements sound alike and every track is relevant. I love the emotion that is so hidden behind the beautiful arrangements, and because of the above reasons, I deem this a classic and it remains one of my favorites in the genre. Can't wait to see what these guys do next. |
| The National The National | 2.5 |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor F♯ A♯ ∞ [Vinyl] | 4.0 |
| Eluvium An Accidental Memory in the Case of Death | 3.5 |
| Eluvium Copia | 4.0 |
| Mono Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined | 4.0 |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven | 5.0 |
| The epitome of epic buildups, the opus of post-rock, Godspeed has proven to me to be the most unpredictable, jaw-dropping post-rock band ever. The climax's of each track are relentless, the sounds and ideas that are combined are flawless and the way it all comes together is unimaginable. This is the most artistic, flawless and astounding post-music album that I have ever heard, and I don't think that any record in the genre could top this masterpiece. |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor Yanqui U.X.O. | 3.5 |
| God Is an Astronaut All Is Violent, All Is Bright | 3.0 |
| Cult of Luna Somewhere Along the Highway | 3.0 |
| Pelican City of Echoes | 3.5 |
| Pelican Australasia | 4.0 |
| Pelican What We All Come to Need | 3.5 |
| ISIS SGNL>05 | 3.0 |
| Mogwai Come On Die Young | 2.5 |
| Agalloch The Mantle | 4.5 |
| Agalloch Ashes Against the Grain | 4.5 |
| Jethro Tull War Child | 3.0 |
| Jethro Tull Thick as a Brick | 4.0 |
| Genesis The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway | 4.0 |
| A 90 minute story in the form of an impressive album. People do tend to overrate this album, for me, it's hit and miss. The vocals flow poorly in each song but the instrumental aspects are at the top of their game. The album itself flows effortlessly but some ideas just don't work. Still awesome though, yet I prefer Selling England, Foxtrot and even Nursery Cryme. |
| Emerson Lake and Palmer Brain Salad Surgery | 4.5 |
| ELP was a successful Progressive band from the 70's, but they aren't as appreciated as they should be. The best part about Brain Salad Surgery is that it never drags. I love Pink Floyd and Camel, but sometimes 70's Prog bands like that tend to have certain parts drag on for no reason. When I listen to ELP, the time changes, the chord changes, the 'everything' changes constantly. Emerson is one of the most intelligent and skilled pianist of the 70's prog scene, and Palmer is a fantastic drummer. The writing capabilities of this band are utterly phenomenal, the arrangements are genius, the ideas work, the disjointed song structures are entertaining and sophisticated. The piano work is out of this world, and every track is interesting and diverse, from Benny the Bouncer's western feel to the classical interpretation track Toccata. The album integrates genres tastefully without mashing ideas that don't work, and the album is a must listen for any piano fan or any fan of Progressive music at all, the arrangements are unreal. I know that lately I've been rating a lot of these Classic Prog albums 4.5's and 5's, but I'm a sucker for good old fashioned prog, and I have not heard many Classic prog bands that I don't like. This record is not given enough credit, and I truly believe it's one of the better 70's prog records. This album is unbelievable in every way, and is now one of my favorite Progressive records ever. Yeah it's pretentious, maybe they don't write "songs" like Neil Young does, but these arrangements sound like they are made by aliens. |
| Boston Boston | 4.0 |
| Styx The Grand Illusion | 2.5 |
| Genesis Selling England by the Pound | 5.0 |
| Genesis is one of the leading bands of 70's prog, and this record is a reason why. Selling England by the Pound is considered to be on the best Progressive records ever spawned, and it is, just as divinely perfect as everyone claims. The best part is the fact that the record is highly consistent; there are so many good ideas meshed into each track. The synths are handled tastefully, and the piano riffs are brilliant. The only negative aspect about the album was the some of track "The Battle of Epping Forest". I found this track to be a jumbled mess, the lyrics flowed terribly and the song was disjointed, in a bad way. On a good note, it had some truly epic and controlled parts as well, so it wasn't all bad. A large positive to the album was the the second of two epics. The second epic, "The Cinema Show" was a flawless, mellow masterpiece that is among the best epics I've ever heard. This album is fantastic, and remains one of my top Progressive albums ever. Genesis is truly awesome. |
| Jethro Tull Aqualung | 3.5 |
| Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here | 5.0 |
| Pink Floyd is undoubtedly considered the best Progressive Rock band in history, and they are the most commercially successful one. While I may be the first to argue that Floyd definitely isn't the best of their genre, I can safely say that "Wish You Were Here" is one of the best records that 70's prog has to offer. To me, Pink Floyd has always had an issue with consistency. "Animals" featured some of the best moments in Progressive history, while at the same time, other sections of the album were horrific and underdeveloped. Similarly, the acclaimed "Dark Side of the Moon" had a similar issue; some tracks were phenomenal while some were just synth-heavy filler. "Wish you Were Here" is void of these issues, as the synth/keyboard use is more tasteful than ever, in fact, the keyboards used by Pink Floyd on this record are the best I've ever heard in Progressive Rock. They are handled flawlessly and actually flow with music, and are used as segues into other moods in a track, such as the effortless transitions in "Welcome to the Machine". While I'm the first to say that Pink Floyd is a tad overrated (seriously, there is better), this album is a must. Not only their most consistent album, but their best album. |
| Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon | 4.0 |
| "Dark Side of the Moon" is not only usually considered Pink Floyd's finest album, but it is considered one of the most experimental and important albums in history. While it is not Floyd's opus, it is definitely a close second or third. Released in 1973, this record experimented with sounds and audio clips that had never been used in modern music before, (such as the themes in "Money" and "Time") and this album is monumental for doing that, however, although this album was a futuristic epitome of creativity, it does fall to the Pink Floyd curse. That curse is inconsistency. There are tracks such as "On the Run" that were definitely 'cool' back in the day for being so spacey, but when observed carefully, one would have to question the tastefulness of such superfluous repetition. This repetition is also present on some of the other tracks on the album. The album definitely has some of that old Floyd filler, but "Dark Side" is still a fantastic achievement. It may seem like I'm bashing one of the most important albums ever, but I'm not, I'm simply pointing out the tiny flaws that need to be addressed. This record contains some of Pink Floyd's finest work, like Floyd's opus track, the virtually flawless "Us and Them", the totally awesome "Money" and the highly entertaining "Any Colour you Like". There are some unnecessary progressions in a few songs, but this is still an excellent progressive record nonetheless. This CD is fantastic though full of filler, but it's legacy shall live on. For me, tied with "Meddle". |
| Pink Floyd Meddle | 4.0 |
| "Meddle" marked the transition of Pink Floyd's art pop sound into a more progressive, experimental type of music. Meddle is clearly one of Floyd's best to this day, clearly espoused by the beauty and magnificence of the 23 minute "Echoes". The rest of the album is great too, especially "San Tropez" and "A Pillow of Winds". The album is also very consistent, which is not a normal characteristic of Pink Floyd because in my opinion, some of their work is usually hit and miss. The only thing I truly disliked about "Meddle" was the song "One of these Days". I found it a little tiresome and unnecessary. This is a truly awesome album, and I believe it's underrated by most Pink Floyd fans. |
| Rush Counterparts | 3.0 |
| Rush Rush | 3.0 |
| Rush Snakes & Arrows | 3.5 |
| maudlin of the Well My Fruit Psychobells... A Seed Combustible | 3.5 |
| Pink Floyd Animals | 5.0 |
| I wrote a really long sound-off on why this is only a 3. It's only gone up since them. It now stand at a 5. It's nearly flawless when I go back and listen to it. The theme of the "Animals" are handled masterfully and intrigue me. While I deem this a classic, it is not 'perfect'. It has a few moments where certain combos don't work and do not mesh correctly. But this record also has Pink Floyd's finest moments. In terms of listening, this is my true 'favorite' simply because the album is all epics- and since I'm a prog wannabe, I love it for that. However, the 'best' Floyd album is "Wish you Were Here". That's the one where everything works, but on Animals, Pink Floyd's finest moments shine. Pink Floyd is swiftly becoming my favorite 70's Progressive band, though I don't think they'll ever surpass King Crimson. |
| Mastodon The Workhorse Chronicles [DVD] | 3.5 |
| Mastodon Call of the Mastodon | 3.5 |
| Mastodon 9 Song Demo | 3.0 |
| Edge of Sanity Crimson | 4.5 |
| A GIANT. This album sounds like Opeth on crack for about 40 minutes. Not a weak spot to be found. |
| Opeth Burden | 2.5 |
| Misery Signals Controller | 4.5 |
| Pelican The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon... | 4.5 |
| One of my favorite post-metal bands is Pelican, so it would be fitting that this is one of my favorite post-metal albums. |
| Blind Guardian A Night at the Opera | 3.0 |
| Sonata Arctica Unia | 2.5 |
| Camel Moonmadness | 4.0 |
| Another one of Camel's best, although not on the same level as Mirage or Snow Goose when speaking of quality and consistency. I credit this work for being one of the most diverse Camel records, along with Snow Goose, however, while containing a vast multitude of musical textures, the album can be a tad inconsistent. For example, "Song within A Song" shows promise within the first half but then drags on for the rest of the track, a similar problem with the next track "Chord Change". To that end, the album also has some of Camel's best moments, such as the gripping intro track called "Aristillus" and the perfectly executed tracks "Another Night" and "Lunar Sea". This album floats between a 4 and a 4.5 but usually ends up on the lower side because of the inconsistency. Don't fret, it's still a largely underrated album, just not as consistent as Camel's prior works, and even with this, it is still among their best. One has to appreciate the fact that each track has it's own unique sound and collection of riffs, just as other songs from previous Camel albums do. |
| Camel The Snow Goose | 4.5 |
| So here it is, Camel's acclaimed "The Snow Goose". After hitting decent success with the undoubtedly fantastic sophomore effort "Mirage", Camel decided to take things in a more experimental direction. Even though Mirage was just as spacey and artistic as the next Progressive album, The Snow Goose takes what Mirage did to a new level- in many ways. First off, the album is entirely instrumental, and flows as one big instrumental frenzy. Within the album are perfect keyboard passages, that never seem to bore, the use of even more symphonic instruments then ever before, like the heavy emphasis on horns, strings and even wind instruments, which are used colorfully throughout every song. Every track flows effortlessly into the next, and just when a song may start to drag a bit, The Snow Goose immediately throws you into another setting. The album has so many different moods on each track, varying from sad and depressing to upbeat and happy, but never becomes "too much" and never gets out of hand like some other Progressive music. The shifts between soft and heavy are flawless and make the album entertaining from start to finish. Each track utilizes a different number of instruments and they are never used out of context. This album is my favorite instrumental record ever, it is just so diverse and colorful in every way. It also doesn't contain a whole lot of filler, which is a common trait of 70's progressive music. "The Snow Goose" is a truly phenomenal work of art in every possible way and remains, to this day, Camel's most influential contribution to the genre of Progressive Rock. |
| Elton John Madman Across the Water | 4.5 |
| Pink Floyd A Saucerful of Secrets | 3.0 |
| Pink Floyd Ummagumma | 2.5 |
| Camel Mirage | 4.5 |
| I heard about Camel through this site, and thought they were some unknown band from the 70's who help pioneer the Progressive/Space Rock scene. Later I learned that they actually had some commercial success, but upon hearing Mirage, they should have garnered far more respect and popularity that they were given. Camel's Mirage is between a 4 and 4.5 for me, as it is excellent nonetheless. It's a 4 because of too much filler at some points, but can be brought up to a 4.5 because of the spacey and different synth patterns they use in each track. Camel is truly fantastic, and this was my first exposure to them. They were so ahead of their time in terms of the guitar and synth progressions they used, and this makes them one of the most intriguing bands that I have ever listened to. It floats between a 4 and a 4.5, from day to day, sometimes it can't be a 4.5 because of slight inconsistency, sometimes it' a 4.5 because of the synth work. It's so hard to decide, but nevertheless, it is a monumental achievement for a band that is sometimes looked over too quickly. |
| Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion | 4.0 |
| The Decemberists Castaways and Cutouts | 3.5 |
| Arcade Fire Funeral | 4.0 |
| Arcade Fire's "Funeral" may not be the absolute masterpiece that it's hailed as, but it's a hell of an album nonetheless. The wide use of instruments and sounds make each track memorable and distinguishable from one another. That said, the album can be a bit inconsistent at times, and the vocals/lyrics flow strangely and don't always fit with the actual music. |
| Pink Floyd Pulse — The Film | 3.0 |
| Kansas Point of Know Return | 2.5 |
| Rush 2112 | 3.5 |
| Rush Roll the Bones | 3.0 |
| Yes Yessongs | 4.5 |
| Yes Yes | 3.0 |
| Yes 90125 | 3.0 |
| Pink Floyd Atom Heart Mother | 2.0 |
| Pink Floyd Pulse | 3.0 |
| King Crimson Earthbound | 3.0 |
| King Crimson The ConstruKction of Light | 3.0 |
| Emerson Lake and Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer | 4.0 |
| Gentle Giant Free Hand | 4.0 |
| Opeth Lamentations | 4.0 |
| Opeth The Roundhouse Tapes | 4.0 |
| DevilDriver Pray for Villains | 3.0 |
| Chimaira Resurrection | 3.0 |
| Chimaira Pass Out of Existence | 1.5 |
| Chimaira The Impossibility of Reason | 4.0 |
| Hatebreed Rise of Brutality | 2.0 |
| Hatebreed Perseverance | 2.5 |
| Lamb of God New American Gospel | 3.0 |
| As I Lay Dying Beneath the Encasing of Ashes | 2.0 |
| Bleeding Through The Truth | 2.0 |
| Unearth III: In the Eyes of Fire | 3.0 |
| Unearth The March | 3.5 |
| Unearth The Oncoming Storm | 3.0 |
| Mogwai Happy Songs for Happy People | 3.0 |
| Mogwai The Hawk Is Howling | 3.0 |
| Mogwai Young Team | 3.5 |
| Jeff Mangum Live at Jittery Joe's | 2.5 |
| Neutral Milk Hotel On Avery Island | 2.0 |
| The Shins Wincing the Night Away | 3.0 |
| Misery Signals Of Malice and the Magnum Heart | 4.0 |
| It's math/metalcore done the right way. It's got brutality, technicality, quirky genre breaks, and most of all fantastic clean guitar work. This is one of the best mathcore albums I've ever heard, though most songs are about 30 seconds too long, but not to worry, the tracks are awesome. |
| The Number Twelve Looks Like You Nuclear. Sad. Nuclear. | 1.5 |
| The Number Twelve Looks Like You Worse Than Alone | 2.5 |
| The Number Twelve Looks Like You Put On Your Rosy Red Glasses | 2.5 |
| Six Feet Under Commandment | 1.0 |
| The lead man from this band once said that without weed, he couldn't write songs. Truthfully, he can't write songs with weed either. |
| Six Feet Under Death Rituals | 1.5 |
| Underoath Define the Great Line | 2.5 |
| Blessthefall Witness | 2.0 |
| The Decemberists The Crane Wife | 4.5 |
| With The Crane Wife, The Decemberists expand their art rock sound and dip into the surface of Progressive Rock, and it works exceptionally well, as this, without out a doubt, is their magnum opus. The album flows effortlessly, and each track is memorable. They also show that they can handle epics well, clearly espoused by the album's key track "The Island" and by the other epic "The Crane Wife 1 and 2". This is easily one of my favorite indie records ever, to not appreciate it's beauty is pure musical blasphemy. |
| Arcade Fire Neon Bible | 3.0 |
| Flyleaf Flyleaf | 1.0 |
| Hollywood Undead Swan Songs | 1.5 |
| brokeNCYDE I'm Not a Fan, but the Kids Like It! | 1.0 |
| The Mars Volta De-Loused in the Comatorium | 4.0 |
The first Volta album is simply their opus. They don't take it too far like on some sections of Frances, and they entertain throughout. However, I still don't feel that they have the true intelligence to go as far as they do with genre mashing. This album is still pretty damn awesome in it's own right, but Mars Volta really has to omit the extended sections of avant-garde sounds. Nothing wrong with quirky little beats, even if they are all over the place, but for 5 minutes of "Cicatriz ESP' this is what I hear:
KAJWDBNAWKJFB;AKJFBW;KAJFBAK;FBW;FKWA;JKFBWA;JWAFA.
The Mars Volta still rocks, but they have to tone it down. Televators is the true gem on the album. I really enjoy listening to these guys... when their not masturbating with electronics into the recording device. |
| Cult of Luna Salvation | 4.0 |
| The most hypnotizing, artistic post-metal album I have ever listened to. It's sludgy, ugly, gross, loud, nasty, awesome, entertaining and mesmerizing to every degree of the word. Easily a 4.5 if it didn't have some of the cliche post-rock flaws. |
| Weezer Weezer | 4.0 |
| Weezer Pinkerton | 4.0 |
| Weezer The Green Album | 3.5 |
| Weezer Make Believe | 3.0 |
| Weezer The Red Album | 3.0 |
| Weezer Raditude | 2.0 |
| dredg Catch Without Arms | 3.5 |
| dredg Leitmotif | 3.0 |
| dredg El Cielo | 4.5 |
| El Cielo is a an artistic piece of beauty, and while the album and it's ideas are fantastic, there are a couple of flaws that need to be addressed. The album is very original and accessible, however it does get a tad tedious while listening to the whole thing. Some of the acoustic work is excellent, and some just misses the mark. The vocals are very inviting yet they lack in variety, a trait which I am not a huge fan of. However, these are truly the only even slight flaws that I found with masterpiece. This is one hell of an album and it's uniqueness makes it one of the most addicting albums that I have ever encountered. A riff can lead you into one direction, or throw into another, and it's entertainment cannot be rivaled by any other album in the genre. |
| Bullet for My Valentine Scream Aim Fire | 1.5 |
| Frightened Rabbit The Midnight Organ Fight | 4.0 |
| The Antlers Hospice | 3.5 |
| maudlin of the Well Leaving Your Body Map | 4.0 |
| maudlin of the Well Part the Second | 3.5 |
| The Appleseed Cast Low Level Owl, Vol. 2 | 4.0 |
| Minus the Bear Menos El Oso | 4.0 |
| While less technical than the higher acclaimed "Highly Refined Pirates", this record is definitely more cohesive and consistent than Pirates. Fantastic guitar and vocal work are present throughout, and it just seems a little bit more mature than Pirates was. Pirates was still fucking awesome, but this is definitely smoother and more accessible. At times however, the arrangements may get a little out of hand, but most of the time this album is genius. |
| Minus the Bear Acoustics | 2.5 |
| While the arrangements are fantastic and fit perfectly with the original tracks, the production is extremely weak, which takes a lot of the quality away from the overall sound. The vocals are also pretty awful and out of tune, which is very odd considering Jake Snider usually does some great vocal work. |
| Minus the Bear Highly Refined Pirates | 4.0 |
| Minus the Bear are one of the most complex and layered bands in Indie/Alternative, and this album is yet another gem in their discography. This is simply a pretty awesome album, but it has it's flaws. While their most complex and technical album, the tracks are a bit inconsistent and sometimes the songs get out of hand with technicality, but not too often. While not as impressive and focused as Planet of Ice, Highly Refined Pirates is still one hell of an album, and continues to impress me more through every listen. |
| Circle Takes the Square As the Roots Undo | 2.0 |
I seriously don't get it. Just don't get it. Most of it sounds like:
"BLAH BLAH BLAH (emo-sounding pussy screams) BLAH BLAH BLAH, accompanied by some quirky drum fills, strange and awkward guitar riffs and then more BLAH BLAH BLAH YAAHHHH EMO SCREAMMS YELL YELLLLLL BLAHHHH BLAAHHHH and then it immediately shifts to a cleaner, more progressive style. That's about it. |
| August Burns Red Looks Fragile After All | 3.0 |
| Breaking Benjamin Saturate | 3.0 |
| Breaking Benjamin Phobia | 2.5 |
| Breaking Benjamin Dear Agony | 2.5 |
| James LaBrie Elements Of Persuasion | 2.0 |
| Yes The Yes Album | 4.0 |
| Yes Tales from Topographic Oceans | 4.0 |
| Yes Tormato | 3.0 |
| Yes Going for the One | 4.0 |
| Yes Big Generator | 2.0 |
| King Crimson The Power to Believe | 3.0 |
| The Mars Volta The Bedlam in Goliath | 4.0 |
| The Mars Volta Amputechture | 2.0 |
| Fates Warning A Pleasant Shade of Gray | 3.5 |
| Fates Warning Awaken the Guardian | 4.0 |
| Dream Theater Greatest Hit | 3.5 |
| Dream Theater Live at the Marquee | 4.0 |
| Dream Theater When Dream and Day Unite | 3.0 |
| Rush Power Windows | 3.0 |
| Rush Fly by Night | 4.0 |
| Rush Grace Under Pressure | 3.0 |
| Pink Floyd The Piper at the Gates of Dawn | 3.5 |
| King Crimson Three of a Perfect Pair | 3.5 |
| King Crimson Beat | 3.0 |
| King Crimson THRAK | 3.0 |
| King Crimson Starless and Bible Black | 4.0 |
| King Crimson Discipline | 4.0 |
| King Crimson Islands | 3.0 |
| Bayside The Walking Wounded | 4.0 |
| Bayside Bayside | 3.5 |
| Bayside Sirens & Condolences | 3.5 |
| Bayside Acoustic | 3.5 |
| Neutral Milk Hotel In the Aeroplane Over the Sea | 2.5 |
| I'm sorry sputnik, but this album is so blatantly average that I felt the need to say something. The lyrics defnitely prove that Milk Hotel are smart song writers, but the lyrics don't make the album a 5, which many have given it. Meaning in a song is important, but when songs are ultimately boring, it kind of ruins it. Each song is pretty much the same musically; just a couple catchy acoustic chord progressions in each song accompanied by some truly heartfelt lyrics. This album is way to overrated...something needs to be done... |
| Stratovarius Visions | 2.5 |
| CHEESE CHEESE CHEESE CHEESE CHEESE CHEESE CHEESE CHEESE CHEEEEESSSSEEE CHEESE CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| HORSE the band Desperate Living | 2.5 |
| The band annoys me. One of the weaker bands in mathcore for sure. |
| Between the Buried and Me The Anatomy Of | 3.5 |
| Cynic Traced in Air | 4.5 |
| It may not be the groundbreaking, genre-defining album that Focus was, but Traced in Air is fantastic nonetheless. The unique solos from Focus were kept throughout this album, and so were the spacey, robot vocals. The one element that was missing from this record was the heaviness that was present on Focus. To be honest, it feels like less of a Progressive Metal record and more of an avant-garde rock album, but hell, it's still magnificent. Cynic is truly back. |
| The Decemberists Picaresque | 4.0 |
| A simple band, a smooth sound, an awesome album. The Decemberists continue to incorporate their wide use of instruments and catchy lyrical techniques in their simple, yet highly unique music. While some tracks may fall a little short at times, this album is consistent overall and is great music for any mood. The best part of the whole album is how damn catchy it is, whether it's the broodingly simple chorus of "The Engine Driver" or the polka influenced "Mariners Revenge Song". Picaresque will entertain any indie fan, and will warm hearts within the first few minutes of the record. Great job guys. |
| Oasis Be Here Now | 3.5 |
| Oasis (What's the Story) Morning Glory? | 4.0 |
| Jet Get Born | 2.0 |
| Metallica Live Shit: Binge & Purge | 4.5 |
| Metallica Garage Inc. | 3.5 |
| SikTh The Trees Are Dead and Dried Out, Wait for Something Wild | 4.0 |
| A tad bit more offensive and in-your-face than the astounding "Death of a Dead Day" but a little less focused and simply to extreme at some points. While being inferior to Death of a Dead Day, this album is still pretty damn awesome in it's own right. |
| Oceano Depths | 2.0 |
| I have to be honest, musically, the album is a 3. Oceano actually uses some pretty decent techniques, not great but they show potential. All this said, there is a limit to how intense a growl can be... they take the art out of screaming... |
| The Appleseed Cast Low Level Owl, Volume I | 4.0 |
| Some parts may drag on for too long, but this album is highly original and very fun to listen to. Soft, relaxing music= a happier me. It also helps that the band uses atmospheric instrumental work to fill the background with something truly beautiful. |
| Minus the Bear Planet of Ice | 5.0 |
| This album means so much to me. When I first arrived at sputnikmusic, I was a metalhead, eager to learn more about music and eager to experience different genres. While still a metalhead, I began to explore other genres; such as Jazz, soft rock, post-rock and finally indie. After listening to about 4 or 5 indie albums, I wasn't sure the genre was for me, but Minus the Bear changed my opinion. The use of odd sounds, synths and vibrations create a quirky and beautiful atmosphere for the verses and choruses to easily fall into a perfect place. The guitar work is pretty intricate, especially for indie, and is handled tastefully, effortlessly and flawlessly. Every riff is engaging and every giant amalgamation of synth and guitar never becomes tiresome or "too much". There is not a weak track to be found. The album is simply marvelous in every way and has opened up a new musical horizon for me to venture into. It was the first album in this genre that I truly loved, and I will always appreciate it's beauty. This is probably my favorite'indie' album of all time, though Minus the Bear is more math/alternative rock than indie. But whatever, Planet of Ice owns life. |
| Atheist Elements | 3.5 |
| Amon Amarth The Crusher | 3.5 |
| Amon Amarth Twilight of the Thunder God | 4.0 |
| Amon Amarth With Oden on Our Side | 4.0 |
| Lamb of God Walk with Me in Hell | 3.5 |
| Lamb of God Wrath | 3.0 |
| Lamb of God Killadelphia | 4.0 |
| Shadows Fall Retribution | 3.0 |
| Antoine Dufour Existence | 4.5 |
| Between the Buried and Me Colors_Live | 4.0 |
| Between the Buried and Me Between the Buried and Me | 3.5 |
| Aerosmith Aerosmith | 3.0 |
| Blue Oyster Cult Agents of Fortune | 4.0 |
| Kashiwa Daisuke Program Music I | 4.5 |
| This album was nearly impossible to find, simply because it is not well known or popular whatsoever. Consisting of only two tracks, "Program Music I" is not like anything I have ever heard, and manages to tastefully/brilliantly combine electronic elements into new age classical music. This band is phenomenal, and so is this album. |
| Meshuggah Nothing | 3.0 |
| To be honest, I'm not a huge Meshuggah fan. That said, Destroy Erase Improve was a fabulous and original album. Whenever I listen to a Meshuggah album, I can't help but notice that all of them sound like a down-graded version of Destroy Erase Improve. They haven;t put out a record where they have progressed yet, and it kind of annoys me, seeing how they are one of the most talented group of musicians in metal. I wish Meshuggah would take it in another direction, because everything they have produced so far is just a hillbilly version of the great Destroy Erase Improve. Nothing is not bad album, but it's just not good enough. |
| Alice in Chains Black Gives Way to Blue | 4.0 |
| I was very surprised at how awesome this album was. After 15 years, and the death of their lead singer, Alice in Chains still manages to put out an excellent record that rivals their old, legendary material. They haven't lost a step. Definitely one of the best albums of the year, and probably the most diverse Alice in Chains record. |
| Coheed and Cambria In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 | 4.0 |
| I've been listening to Coheed and Cambria for years now, and this album never gets old. In my opinion, this is the best work Coheed has ever done, and it even includes my favorite Coheed and Cambria track which is In Keeping Secrets of Silent:3. This is one of the few mainstream bands that I find to be pretty awesome. Claudio also went to a High School that's five minutes from my house... Which I think is pretty cool. |
| Metallica S&M | 4.0 |
| Kamelot Epica | 3.0 |
| Evergrey The Inner Circle | 2.5 |
| Evergrey Recreation Day | 3.0 |
| Evergrey In Search Of Truth | 3.5 |
| SikTh Death of a Dead Day | 5.0 |
Complex, layered, intricate, strange, quirky, bizarre, odd, offensive, rude, outrageous, brilliant, intelligent, disjointed, structureless, risky, weird, diverse, scary, frightening, abrasive, aggressive, monumental, unique, extraordinary, intense, chilling, beautiful, brutal, dark, creepy, fantastic...
If you happen to look up any of these words in Webster's dictionary, don't be surprised to find a picture of the album cover of Sikth's "Death of a Dead Day" next to the word itself. Best mathcore album I've ever heard. Best tech metal next to Botch and Dillinger. |
| King Crimson In the Wake of Poseidon | 3.5 |
| Many consider this album an utter failure. Yeah, it's not one of Crimson's better albums but it's still very good, entertaining throughout. "Cat Food" and "Cadence and Cascade" are among some of Crimson's best songs. |
| The Mars Volta Frances the Mute | 3.0 |
| I like this album, a lot actually. Upon hearing the first half of the album I was ready to give this a 4.5. However, and many people may hate me for saying this, I thought the final 30 minute track was a bit to much. Not that no band can handle a track of such a monstrous length, but that The Mars Volta doesn't really have the capacity to do it competently, at least on Frances the Mute. Besides Miranda (which I wasn't a huge fan of either) and Cassandra Gemini, the album was pretty awesome. The Mars Volta is taking it to far for what they can handle however. |
| Attack Attack! Someday Came Suddenly | 2.0 |
| King Crimson Larks' Tongues in Aspic | 4.5 |
| I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this is one of my favorite King Crimson albums. No more needs to be said, the album left me speechless. Though what seriously needs to be said is this: King Crimson are the gods of music, whether you like their sound or not. My favorite band next to Metallica. |
| In Flames Colony | 4.0 |
| In Flames Whoracle | 4.5 |
| In Flames Reroute to Remain | 3.0 |
| In Flames Soundtrack to Your Escape | 1.5 |
| In Flames A Sense of Purpose | 2.0 |
| Soilwork The Chainheart Machine | 4.0 |
| Soilwork A Predator's Portrait | 4.0 |
| 65daysofstatic The Fall of Math | 4.0 |
| One of the more diverse and exciting bands in post-rock is 65days, take a listen if you are a post-rock fan. |
| Sonata Arctica Reckoning Night | 3.0 |
| Sonata Arctica The Days of Grays | 2.0 |
| Rush Hemispheres | 4.5 |
| I can't decide with album is better, Moving Pictures or Hemispheres. Point is, they are both incredible and Hemispheres is an extraordinary record. |
| Yes Relayer | 4.5 |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor F♯ A♯ ∞ | 4.0 |
| I can't normally say that post-rock is one of my favorite genres, but after hearing this brilliant, yet surprisingly simplistic masterpiece, I can safely say post-rock is an excellent genre. This album emits one of the darkest moods ever put to record, and should not be over-looked by any post-rock fan. While the tracks seem to fall into wide open spaces at times, that is simply because post-rock is a genre that uses empty spaces to it's advantage by filling the background with strange and intriguing patterns, and of course the "Soft/Heavy equation." Although this is considered the best of Godspeed, it's flaws keep it from being worthy of it's apparent classic status. At times, the empty spaces become a little annoying, and it seems to take away from the quality. Also, I usually consider Godspeed the masters of mood transition, but on this record they don't do that as fluently as they do on "Zero Canada" or my personal favorite "Lift Your Skinny Fists...". Nevertheless, this album is still a post-rock punch in the face. |
| Rush Moving Pictures | 4.5 |
| The legendary Rush at their best, this album happens to be one of my favorite classic rock albums. Any fan of YES or Zeppelin would enjoy this. |
| Meshuggah Destroy Erase Improve | 4.5 |
| Meshuggah is one of those bands that is hard to listen to, because of the abundant odd time meters and repetition. While I am one who is not a fan of superfluous repetition, Meshuggah seems to make it work on this incredible album filled with some of the weirdest rhythms, strangest jazz influences, and oddest lyrics. A brilliant album that is a 4 musically, a 5 because of it's uniqueness, but at times it is hard to listen to/grasp a song because of it's odd timing, so a 4.5 is what "Destroy Erase Improve" deserves. |
| Fates Warning No Exit | 4.0 |
| Easily one of the best Progressive albums I've ever heard. Upon hearing the first 5 tracks I would have given this album a 3, but after hearing the Ivory Gates of Dreams, the whole album began to come together, and so I deem this a 4. |
| Insomnium Above the Weeping World | 4.0 |
| Excellent melodic death metal album, filled with some great riffs and it's entertaining throughout. It's a shame bands like this aren't more popular. |
| Meshuggah obZen | 3.0 |
| Most would say that Meshuggah is a very unique band, which they are. "obZen", like many other Meshuggah albums, features some of the oddest time patterns and most outlandish song writing styles of any progressive band I've ever heard. While still a solid record, the tracks are way too alike in terms of sound and production, and most of the main riffs fall to similar intricacies that begin to annoy the listener after a while through multiple listens. (the eight string-low-pitched guitar attacks begin to aggravate your ear drums by the 4th song). Overall, the album is definitely distant and of higher quality then some of the garbage metal out there, but the fact that there are many boring and redundant parts take away from the quality. "obZen" is easily a 4/5 if there was more diversity among the songs in terms of stylistic approach. Meshuggah normally uses repetition very well, like on the groundbreaking, earth shattering "Destroy Erase Improve" but it ultimately fails some of the time on this record. Simply put, the tracks were all too similar to be a truly fantastic release, no true diversity was explored and Meshuggah did not progress at all as a band. It's sad to see such an obviously talented group of musicians make albums that all sound like a down-graded version of their magnum opus. |
| Arsis A Celebration of Guilt | 4.5 |
| For the most part, Technical Death metal is a genre of incredibly impressive instrumental work. The only problem is, sometimes extreme technical metal bands take that ideal too far and focus on brutality and raw energy over the more important collection of unique riffs and originality. Arsis is not one of these bands, as they blend crushing ascending scales, machine gun drumming, chilling vocals, and display their talent in a variety of ways. Arsis has both the quantity of magnificent riffs and song quality too. This is one of the best death metal albums that I have ever listened to, the hard part for Arsis is how they could surpass this excellent attempt. The only slight problem I found with this album is that the songs sounded too alike, which is a cliche in some aspects of the genre, but that didn't take too much away from the shear brilliance of this record. Another slight flaw was that it began to get a tad boring and redundant at the end, but again, this is still a monster of a record. |
| Wintersun Wintersun | 3.5 |
| Wintersun's self titled album combines power and death metal to make a pretty balanced and consistent record. Unfortunately, it falls to blandness and superfluous repetition in many spots and what's being repeated isn't always that interesting. That said, the drum work is spectacular and the guitar work isn't half bad either. Definitely not a classic, but intriguing and mostly original. If the songs didn't drag as much, this could be 4. |
| Dark Tranquillity The Gallery | 5.0 |
| Although I haven't heard a giant load of melo-death, this album has made me a fan. I can safely say that I've listened too enough to realize that this album is one of the best. So far, this is my favorite melodic death metal album of all time; the guitar riffs the malicious vocals and the way it all comes together is just breathtaking. The sophistication and prominent use of acoustic sections in many tracks add to the albums divine status. Absolutely incredible album, essential melo-death. |
| Parkway Drive Horizons | 2.5 |
| Parkway Drive Killing with a Smile | 3.5 |
| Darkest Hour Undoing Ruin | 3.0 |
| Darkest Hour is a decent place to start for the simple side of melodic death metal. Although they suffer from too many riff cliches and boring vocals, they actually do some very interesting stuff on this album, like the tracks "Pathos" and "Ethos". Not great, but they have potential. |
| Antoine Dufour Development | 4.5 |
| Andy McKee Art of Motion | 4.5 |
| Arcturus The Sham Mirrors | 4.5 |
| I have never been a huge fan of Black metal, but this album has changed my opinion entirely. Arcturus is an avant-garde black metal band that, on The Sham Mirrors, uses odd sounds, brilliant piano riffs and passages, and other things of that nature that really captured my attention throughout every track. This is certainly one of the strangest and most gripping albums I have ever heard in my life and besides a good amount of awkward vocal moments, it is perfect. There are barely any bland spots on this album. Any fan of Progressive metal or Black Metal should take a listen to the Sham Mirrors. |
| Pink Floyd The Wall | 2.5 |
| Rush Permanent Waves | 4.0 |
| Between the Buried and Me The Great Misdirect | 4.5 |
| While it did not capture the raw emotion of Colors or the 'in-your-face' attitude of The Silent Circus, The Great Misdirect is a step forward for Between the Buried and Me, as it takes the Colors formula and adds even more musical diversity while taking away the slight flaws that Colors may have had. I personally cannot decide whether or not this is better than the great Colors, but both are amazing and this is yet another step forward for a brilliant band. No joke, probably my favorite progressive metal record of the decade besides Blackwater Park. |
| Scale the Summit Carving Desert Canyons | 4.0 |
| This band has so much potential, simply put. Craving Desert Canyons is one the better instrumental albums I've heard in my life. |
| Scale the Summit Monument | 4.0 |
| maudlin of the Well Bath | 4.5 |
| I've never heard a band play music like this in my entire life. If you haven't heard this album already, pick it up now. |
| Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin | 4.0 |
| Led Zeppelin 1 is the first Zeppelin album. It speaks for itself everybody. In fact, it has one of my favorite classic rock songs ever; Dazed and Confused. |
| John Coltrane A Love Supreme | 5.0 |
| So entertaining, so full of life. Any fan of music should be able to appreciate A Love Supreme. The master of jazz handles the tracks without any impediment whatsoever. Scintillating to every degree of the word. |
| Sonata Arctica Silence | 2.5 |
| Dark Tranquillity Character | 4.5 |
| Full of sorrow and emotion, when I first heard this album I was stunned at it's dark and heart-touching sound. A death metal band using spacey, depressing keyboard riffs? Absolutely, and never has it worked so well. While no incredible instrumental work is present, the simple yet beautiful keyboard riffs are among the most passionate I have ever heard. Don't forget the skull pounding vocals. Dark Tranquility goes beyond death metal and makes a heartfelt, magnificent and evil record that showed me another side of death metal. While musically this album is only a 3.5, a 4 must be given for it's pure emotion and originality. Definitely worth a listen. |
| Atheist Unquestionable Presence | 3.5 |
| While one of the pioneering bands of their genre, I can't help but notice that Cynic and Death are far superior to Atheist. Atheist isn't bad by any means, but this album is highly overrated, the way the vocals flow is kind of what does it for me. I must say, this album is definitely growing on me. |
| The Beatles Revolver | 3.5 |
| The Beatles are the most important band in history, not really for 'music' and for the genre, but they were marketing genius's who did what anyone could have done first- they made art pop a highly profitable business. I may not be a fan of these guys, but they propelled the music industry into a whole new universe. |
| Death Individual Thought Patterns | 4.0 |
| Death Leprosy | 3.0 |
| Death Human | 3.5 |
| Death The Sound of Perseverance | 4.5 |
| Love it, I love it so much. This album grows on me every damn day. It's outstanding. Could eventually become a 5. |
| Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin II | 4.0 |
| Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin III | 3.5 |
| Suicide Silence The Cleansing | 1.5 |
| Suicide Silence No Time to Bleed | 1.5 |
| Horrible band, horrible record, horrible, horrible, horrible. But I laugh every time I listen to Unanswered... it's so funny to watch them play it live. |
| Whitechapel This Is Exile | 1.5 |
| Misery Signals Mirrors | 4.0 |
| Mirrors is one the best metalcore albums I have ever listened too. It is more complex and layered than most metalcore, and Misery Signals does a fantastic job distancing themselves from the cliches of average hardcore. |
| Cynic Focus | 5.0 |
| Not only of the most influential albums in metal history, but one of the most epic journey's through music that I have ever experienced. Absolutely incredible. In every way. Robot vocals? Hell fucking yeah. Incredible jazzy instrumental called Textures? Hell fucking yeah. Revolutionary in the genre of death-tech/death fusion? Hell fucking yeah. Entertaining throughout? Hell fucking yeah. Epic ending solos like the one in the track "How Could I"? Hell fucking yeah. Years ahead of it's time? Hell fucking yeah. A true classic? HELL FUCKING YEAH. |
| At the Gates Slaughter of the Soul | 3.5 |
| Some might call them a more aggressive, more melodic version of Slayer. They are also a better version. At The Gates actually writes solos and riffs that can be distinguished from one another |
| Porcupine Tree In Absentia | 3.0 |
| The Who Quadrophenia | 4.5 |
| The Who's 1973 album is beyond a masterpiece. It even closes with the best song that the Who has ever written, Love Reign O'er Me. Hey, do you like Neil Peart? Well although it is obvious that Neil is a drumming machine, Keith Moon was doing what he did 10 years earlier. |
| Black Sabbath Paranoid | 4.5 |
WAR PIGS WAR PIGS WAR PIGS WAR PIGS WAR PIGS WAR PIGS WAR PIGS
"Generals gather in their masses, just like witches at black masses."
Come on man, it's Paranoid! This is the album that shaped metal as we know it. |
| Black Sabbath Black Sabbath | 4.5 |
| Sabbath's first album is also one of their best, easily in the Sabbath Top 3. This is possibly the album that began the genre we all know as metal. It's unreal, this metaltastic masterpiece was released in 1970... light years ahead of it's time. The blues-rock feel on the record is timeless. While this is musically inferior to "Heaven and Hell", "Paranoid" and "Master of Reality" it is definitely one of my choice cuts from their impressive discography. |
| King Crimson In the Court of the Crimson King | 5.0 |
This 1969 record is considered to be the 'father' of Progressive/Symphonic Rock. Every track is unrelenting, every lyric is unforgettable.
"An uncanny masterpiece"- The Who's Pete Townshend on this album.
It speaks for itself. This is, the most flawless album ever. There is not one error, not one weak point, not one bad idea. Brilliant. Amazing. Epic. |
| Symphony X Twilight in Olympus | 4.0 |
| Poison the Well The Opposite of December | 2.5 |
| King Crimson Red | 5.0 |
| Red is a journey, a voyage if you will. Like many have said before, their is no band quite as strange as King Crimson. This is the album that marks a heavy progression for Crimson- it was pretty much just as jazzy and spacey as their previous works, but added was a heavy metal emotion, present on songs like Red and One More Red Nightmare. While I actually personally prefer Larks Tongues in Aspic and Lizard over this album, it is apparent that this is really Crimson's 'best' work besides their acclaimed debut, simply because of the cross-over with metal and the accessibility. |
| ISIS Panopticon | 3.0 |
| I'm trying to get into these guys more, and now that I listen to more post-rock/metal it's probably going to be easier. |
| Chimaira Chimaira | 4.0 |
| This is the best album of the underrated metalcore act Chimaira. If you want to headbang for a full 60 minutes, get this album now. |
| Megadeth The World Needs a Hero | 1.5 |
| Megadeth The System Has Failed | 2.5 |
| Megadeth United Abominations | 2.5 |
| King Crimson Lizard | 4.0 |
| King Crimson is just one of those bands whose discography is received in a half and half fashion, as many classic rock bands who continued for decades are. In a critic's eyes, about 30-40% of Crimson's discography is undeniably outstanding, and the other percentage just falls to mixed reviews. This album, Lizard, is usually considered the 'best of the worst' in KC's discography. In the best, but at the bottom of the list nonetheless. I cannot figure out the reason for this, as this is undoubtedly in Crimson's top 3. I will never understand why this record is not valued better. Sure at times it may be 'too weird' (even for King Crimson) and this may be their least accessible album, but it contains some of there most intriguing arrangements. This album is brutally difficult to get into, which is one of the reasons it is slightly discredited, but after intense listening, I have come to the conclusion that this one of Crimson's best works, only being surpassed by their groundbreaking debut album. Say what you want about Lark's Tongues and Discipline, and while those are still fantastic, Lizard proves triumphant. |
| Yes Close to the Edge | 5.0 |
| Only three tracks, really? For the album's full 40 minutes, I was never bored once. Possibly my favorite Classic Progressive Rock album of all time, alongside King Crimson's debut and the 1973 album Selling England by the Pound from Genesis. |
| Opeth Orchid | 4.5 |
| This is by far Opeth's most underrated album, especially on this site. Some of Pethy's best material can be found within these few tracks. |
| Opeth Deliverance | 4.0 |
| Opeth Watershed | 3.5 |
| Texas in July I Am | 3.5 |
| Although their overall sound has been done before, by bands like August Burns Red and Misery Signals, Texas in July takes the prog metalcore sound and twists it, makes it darker, adds some guitar solos and ultimately releases an unforgettable album. |
| Yes Fragile | 4.5 |
| If you like classic rock, progressive rock, or hell, even music at all, listen to Roundabout by YES. If you do not feel the need to get the full album immediately following the conclusion to the song, you are insane. |
| Symphony X V: The New Mythology Suite | 4.5 |
| This album, while it has 1 or 2 weak tracks on it, it is still one of my favorite concept albums. Essential for any power-prog fan. |
| Death Symbolic | 4.5 |
| The Devil Wears Prada With Roots Above and Branches Below | 1.5 |
AUTO TUNE.AUTO TUNE.AUTO TUNE.AUTO TUNE.AUTO TUNE.AUTO TUNE.AUTO TUNE.AUTO TUNE.AUTO TUNE.AUTO TUNE.AUTO TUNE.AUTO TUNE.AUTO TUNE.AUTO TUNE.AUTO TUNE.AUTO TUNE.
AUTO TUNE!!! YAY!!! This album is painful and plain. Hate it. Hate those faggots who walk around and think that they 'know metal' because they listen to this pathetic bullshit. Please, this is panzy metal. |
| Breaking Benjamin We Are Not Alone | 2.5 |
| Machine Head The Burning Red | 1.5 |
| Machine Head Burn My Eyes | 4.0 |
| Children of Bodom Are You Dead Yet? | 2.5 |
| Children of Bodom Hatebreeder | 2.5 |
| Children of Bodom Blooddrunk | 1.5 |
| Shadows Fall The Art of Balance | 2.0 |
| As I Lay Dying Shadows Are Security | 2.5 |
| As I Lay Dying An Ocean Between Us | 3.0 |
| The Human Abstract Midheaven | 1.5 |
| The Human Abstract Nocturne | 4.0 |
| Protest the Hero Kezia | 4.0 |
| Protest the Hero Fortress | 5.0 |
| Ultimately, this album is a 4.5. However, this album influenced me as a guitar player more than anything else. After hearing Protest the Hero, I immediately began to learn how to sweep pick, and in the end it made me a much better musician and guitar player. The shear complexity of every track is unreal. |
| Killswitch Engage Alive or Just Breathing | 3.5 |
| Killswitch Engage The End of Heartache | 3.5 |
| System of a Down Steal This Album! | 2.5 |
| System of a Down Mezmerize | 3.5 |
| Cannibal Corpse Gallery of Suicide | 1.5 |
| Cannibal Corpse Vile | 1.5 |
| Iron Maiden Live After Death (DVD) | 3.5 |
| Iron Maiden Dance of Death | 3.5 |
| Iron Maiden A Matter of Life and Death | 1.5 |
| +44 When Your Heart Stops Beating | 1.5 |
| blink-182 Enema Of The State | 3.0 |
| Green Day Warning | 3.0 |
| Green Day 21st Century Breakdown | 2.5 |
| Green Day Insomniac | 4.0 |
| Green Day Dookie | 4.5 |
| Dookie is a rollercoaster, although punk is a repetitive and commercial genre, nobody does it quite like Green Day. Green Day's old work is among the best punk I have ever heard in my life. Drop 21st Century Breakdown and get Dookie. The cover art takes this album from a 4 to a 4.5. |
| Korn Life Is Peachy | 2.0 |
| Limp Bizkit Results May Vary | 1.0 |
| Disturbed The Sickness | 2.0 |
| Disturbed Indestructible | 2.5 |
| Disturbed Ten Thousand Fists | 2.5 |
| Disturbed Believe | 3.5 |
| Soilwork Figure Number Five | 4.0 |
| Soilwork Natural Born Chaos | 3.5 |
| Soilwork Stabbing the Drama | 3.5 |
| Stabbing the Drama is a unique album, and Soilwork is one the better bands in Melodic Death metal. They have some really catchy stuff on here, and they have some excellent riffs. |
| Soilwork Sworn to a Great Divide | 3.5 |
| August Burns Red Constellations | 4.5 |
| People are going to despise me for saying this, but Constellations is not only one of the best metal album of 2009, it's one of the best metalcore records I've ever heard. It wasn't even an honor, but it was a privilege for this piece of audible chocolate (credit to South Park) to slither through my ears. Yes, I know musically it's probably no greater than a 4, but the raw energy radiating from every track is truly magnificent. Also, it's one of the best records in the genre, and as I have an unhealthy lust for metalcore, this record was an instant fave. This, ladies and gentlemen, is my guilty pleasure. |
| August Burns Red Thrill Seeker | 3.0 |
| August Burns Red Messengers | 4.0 |
| In the wide world of average metalcore, August Burns Red does a lot to set themselves aside from the average. Yes, too many breakdowns take away from the quality at times, but the song structures are exciting enough to keep you intrigued throughout every song. The drum work is among the best and most brutal I've ever heard in metalcore and it never bores. Excellent guitar work is also a major contributor to the overall incredible quality of this excellent album. Put down The Devil Wears something boring and pick up some real metal. |
| Between the Buried and Me Alaska | 4.5 |
| Between the Buried and Me The Silent Circus | 4.5 |
| Between the Buried and Me Colors | 5.0 |
| This is, with a doubt,the most sophisticated and tasteful album (and yes I love the superfluous genre breaks) that I have ever listened to. Few may argue that "BTBAM forgot how to write songs". They didn't forget, they just decided to go beyond the realms of music and create a masterpiece that combines elements from many different genres and put them together. This album is fantastic and has influenced me as a guitar player more than anything else in the world. I have began to question the tastefulness of the genre breaks recently, as these genre breaks are a bit more organized on the follow up, "The Great Misdirect". I generally think that the album can flow incredibly, but sometimes it flows in a sloppy manner. Point is, this is a step in the right musical direction for a truly awesome band. To me, this is a 5. |
| Led Zeppelin Houses of the Holy | 3.0 |
| Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin IV | 4.5 |
| Led Zeppelin's 'IV' is one of those albums that must be owned by EVERY, yes EVERY classic rock fan. Actually, screw that, everybody should own this album. Put down the new Lil Wayne album and pick this up. You can't go wrong with some good, old fashioned Zeppelin. |
| AC/DC For Those About To Rock We Salute You | 1.5 |
| AC/DC Highway To Hell | 1.0 |
| AC/DC Black Ice | 2.0 |
| Shadows Fall Of One Blood | 1.5 |
| Shadows Fall Somber Eyes to the Sky | 2.5 |
| Shadows Fall The War Within | 3.5 |
| Shadows Fall Threads of Life | 3.5 |
| Alice in Chains Alice in Chains | 4.5 |
| The heaviest album in Alice in Chain's discography is undoubtedly their best musically, maybe it didn't have the diversity that Dirt did, but it's still incredible. If you are a fan of 90's rock, this is an album you have to pick up. |
| Alice in Chains Dirt | 4.5 |
| Astounding Hard rock/Metal album, one of my favorite albums of the 1990's and it's my favorite album from my favorite grunge band. The album is that damn impressive. The vocal harmonies are bone-chilling |
| Alice in Chains Facelift | 4.0 |
| Iron Maiden Somewhere in Time | 3.0 |
| Iron Maiden Seventh Son of a Seventh Son | 2.5 |
| Iron Maiden Piece of Mind | 4.5 |
| Piece of Mind is my second favorite album by Iron Maiden. It's got The Trooper and Revelations, two of my favorite Maiden tracks. Maiden is one of those bands who just couldn't write a bad riff in their first few albums. This is no exception. Up the Irons. |
| Iron Maiden Brave New World | 2.5 |
| Iron Maiden Iron Maiden | 2.5 |
| Iron Maiden Killers | 4.0 |
| Iron Maiden Powerslave | 4.5 |
| This is the last incredible Maiden album, and in my opinion the best. From the crushing riffs in The Duellists to the opening metaltastic riff of Flash of the Blade, this album has some of Maiden's best moments. |
| Iron Maiden The Essential Iron Maiden | 3.0 |
| Symphony X The Divine Wings of Tragedy | 5.0 |
| The Divine Wings of Tragedy is by far the best Power Metal album I have ever heard. If you like bands like Evergrey or Sonata Arctica, and you haven't heard this album, this album will make those bands look as talentless as Suicide Silence. Well, maybe not that talentless, but pretty close. |
| Symphony X The Odyssey | 3.5 |
| Lamb of God Sacrament | 3.5 |
| Lamb of God As the Palaces Burn | 3.0 |
| Lamb of God Ashes of the Wake | 3.5 |
| Pantera Metal Magic | 1.0 |
| Pantera Power Metal | 1.5 |
| Pantera Cowboys from Hell | 4.0 |
| Pantera Far Beyond Driven | 3.0 |
| Pantera Vulgar Display of Power | 4.0 |
| Pantera The Great Southern Trendkill | 3.5 |
| Avenged Sevenfold Sounding the Seventh Trumpet | 1.5 |
| Avenged Sevenfold City of Evil | 2.0 |
| Avenged Sevenfold Waking the Fallen | 3.5 |
| Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold | 1.0 |
| All That Remains Behind Silence and Solitude | 2.0 |
| All That Remains This Darkened Heart | 3.5 |
| All That Remains The Fall of Ideals | 4.0 |
| I honestly don't give a shit what people say about All That Remains on this site. Yes, upon listening to other melodic death metal, All That Remains seems like one of the weaker bands. While this is sort of true, The Fall of Ideals is not only their magnum opus, but it is a beautifully brutal masterpiece. |
| All That Remains Overcome | 3.0 |
| Trivium Trivium | 3.0 |
| Trivium Ember to Inferno | 3.5 |
| Trivium The Crusade | 2.5 |
| Trivium Shogun | 3.5 |
| Anthrax Volume 8: The Threat Is Real | 3.0 |
| Anthrax We've Come for You All | 2.5 |
| Anthrax Stomp 442 | 3.5 |
| Anthrax Spreading the Disease | 4.5 |
| Another underrated album in the catalog of the great Anthrax. Anthrax has about 4 awesome albums and the rest suck, I know. |
| Anthrax Armed and Dangerous | 4.5 |
| Anthrax Fistful of Metal | 4.0 |
| Anthrax Among the Living | 4.5 |
| Anthrax is, has been, and always will be underrated compared to the other bands in the 'big four'. While not musically superior to bands like Megadeth and Metallica (although in my opinion, Anthrax is better than megadeth), Anthrax was fast, heavy and absolutely the second best band of the big four. Anthrax demonstrates the true art of speed metal throughout every song, and this is the ultimate thrash album. Too bad these guys don't get more recognition, the quality of each song is outstanding. |
| Anthrax State of Euphoria | 4.0 |
| Anthrax Persistence of Time | 4.0 |
| Anthrax Sound of White Noise | 3.5 |
| Megadeth Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! | 2.5 |
| Megadeth So Far, So Good... So What! | 3.0 |
| Megadeth Youthanasia | 4.0 |
| Megadeth Rust in Peace | 4.5 |
| Megadeth Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? | 4.0 |
| Megadeth Countdown to Extinction | 4.0 |
| Megadeth Risk | 2.0 |
| Opeth My Arms, Your Hearse | 4.5 |
| People usually say that My Arms and Your Hearse and Still Life are very similar. 99% of those people say that Still Life is far superior. I am not one of those people. |
| Opeth Morningrise | 5.0 |
| Dear Opeth, praised be thy name, thank you for giving us the gift of Morningrise. Although many view Morningrise as one of Opeth's weaker albums (though, in all honesty, Opeth has no weak albums), it is actually their most complex album. That's not to say that complexity=greatness every time, but this album raw energy channeled through it's complexity in a tasteful way. Each song has a few brilliant acoustic passages within and all songs have a dark feel to them. This is such an underrated album, and deserves the credit of being the most sophisticated release from the gods known as Opeth. |
| Opeth Still Life | 4.0 |
| Overrated as all hell, but still kickass. Godhead's Lament and White Cluster are fantastic. |
| Opeth Damnation | 4.0 |
| Metallica No Life 'til Leather | 4.0 |
| This is the CD that samples some of the first recording of the best band in metal history. |
| Metallica St. Anger | 2.0 |
| Metallica Ride the Lightning | 4.5 |
| Ride the Lightning is one of those albums that I could listen to from start to end one hundred times in a row. I can't take how people on this site like Megadeth more... in fact, Dave Mustaine wrote the title track on this album, and it's his best work besides Hangar 18 and Black Friday, and he's not even in Metallica any more!!! But seriously, extraordinary album. Don't mean to bash Mustaine either, he's absolutely brilliant. I'm a Metallica fan boy for life. This really deserves a 4.5, but the highest you can give a 4.5, because of the repetitiveness of Call of Ktulu and the mediocrity of Escape. But sorry, again, I am a Metallica fan boy. |
| Metallica Master of Puppets | 5.0 |
| In 1986, Metallica released one the greatest albums ever made. This one is a must-own for any metal head or any fan of music in general, it's simply flawless. I find myself always citing this album as my biggest musical inspiration, and it is. Welcome Home Sanitarium, Orion, Master of Puppets and Battery would all be among my favorite songs of all time. The infinite awesomeness of this record is timeless and the impact that it's had on society is astronomical. Master of Puppets is the essential album of the 1980's and an important record for any fan of music. |
| Metallica Kill 'Em All | 4.5 |
| One of the best thrash albums in the history of metal is released by metal's greatest band in 1983. |
| Metallica ...And Justice for All | 5.0 |
| A lot of people may hate me for saying this, especially the elitists of sputnik, but this is my favorite album of all time. I know, many consider Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets to be the best of The Four Horsemen, but this is my favorite for many reasons. It's the heaviest, most engaging, most stylistically complex effort of Metallica. Sure, Master of Puppets is their most important and influential, but And Justice for All was the last great effort of Metallica and I will always appreciate this work. It's basically tied with Master Of Puppets for my favorite album of all time, but this usually wins by a hair, because "One" is my favorite song of all time. |
| Metallica Metallica | 3.5 |
| Metallica Load | 2.5 |
| Metallica Reload | 2.5 |
| Metallica Death Magnetic | 4.0 |
| An excellent comeback for an excellent band. Nuff'said... |
| Mastodon Remission | 4.0 |
| Mastodon Lifesblood | 3.0 |
| Mastodon Leviathan | 4.5 |
| Mastodon blends the 'horse metal' sound from their first album but ultimately adds some diversity, and the result is a monster of a record. |
| Mastodon Crack the Skye | 4.0 |
| Dream Theater Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence | 3.5 |
| Dream Theater A Change of Seasons | 4.5 |
| Dream Theater Awake | 4.5 |
| Probably the most diverse DT album, not in terms musically, but more of the fact that the album goes back between light and heavy songs. Every song is great, every song is entertaining. even the broodingly simple "Silent Man" is exceptional. get it now! |
| Dream Theater Falling into Infinity | 2.5 |
| Dream Theater Images and Words | 5.0 |
| Many would say that Scenes from a Memory is Dream Theater's best album. While it's one of the best Concept albums ever made, it cannot outshine the great Images and Words, my favorite Dream Theater album. Not one song on the album sounds too much like another. Sorry guys, but Scenes from a Memory doesn't have Under a Glass Moon. Many critics consider this a genre defining album for Progressive Metal, and I consider it the best one. |
| Dream Theater Master of Puppets | 4.0 |
| Dream Theater Train of Thought | 4.0 |
| Dream Theater's heaviest album is one of their most underrated. |
| Dream Theater Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory | 5.0 |
| Probably my favorite concept album of all time. No it's not overrated, no it's not 78 minutes of Dream Theater 'masturbating with their instruments'. Don't listen to the elitists. This album is divine. |
| Dream Theater Octavarium | 3.0 |
| Dream Theater Black Clouds and Silver Linings | 4.5 |
| Most Dream Theater fans would say that the golden age of Dream Theater was from 1992-1996 and then after the atrocious Falling into infinity, 1999-2000. Since then the decent Six Degrees, the excellent Train of Thought, the average Octavarium and the not-so-great Systematic Chaos were released. Even though there are a couple great ones in there, most would say Dream Theater has been declining since Scenes from a memory. Not anymore. |
| Dream Theater Systematic Chaos | 3.5 |
| Symphony X Paradise Lost | 4.0 |
| As I Lay Dying Frail Words Collapse | 2.0 |
| Killswitch Engage Killswitch Engage (2009) | 1.5 |
| Mastodon Blood Mountain | 5.0 |
| When I was 13, and I all I knew was Trivium, I thought this "sucked". Since then I have realized that Mastodon are reinventing Modern Prog and making it marketable as it once was briefly in the 70's. This album is fantastic in every fucking way, it's really inventive and different than everything else that you will hear. |
| Opeth Ghost Reveries | 4.0 |
| Iron Maiden The Number of the Beast | 3.5 |
| System of a Down System of a Down | 4.5 |
| System of a Down by System of a Down is the magnum opus of experimental hard rock/political rock. get the album right now |
| System of a Down Hypnotize | 4.0 |
| System of a Down Toxicity | 4.5 |
| There is no album in the world like Toxicity, and there is no band like System of a Down. |
| Opeth Blackwater Park | 5.0 |
| Thou shall love and bow down to the almighty Opeth. Thou shall love and bow down to the almighty Opeth. Thou shall love and bow down to the almighty Opeth. Thou shall love and bow down to the almighty Opeth. Thou shall love and bow down to the almighty Opeth. Thou shall love and bow down to the almighty Opeth. Thou shall love and bow down to the almighty Opeth. Thou shall love and bow down to the almighty Opeth. So far, Blackwater Park is the best metal album of 21st century. |
| Killswitch Engage As Daylight Dies | 4.0 |
| Trivium Ascendancy | 3.5 |
| Great album, highly underrated, people just bash it because of it's slightly generic sound. It's definitely not as good as I thought it was when I was 13, but it's not 'horrible'. |
