Your albums/music of the year

[ComradeDavo]

So as 2012 ends, whats been your fave tunes of the year? Albums or individual songs, I don't mind which you select!

Here's my top 5 albums of 2012 (copy and pasted from my blog):

1. Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage
2. Lamb Of God – Resolution
3. Devin Townsend Project – Epicloud
4. Soundgarden – King Animal
5. Katatonia – Dead End Kinds

Gojira’s latest offering is just mind blowing. The opening track Explosia is a pretty apt title, and the next 3 tracks continue in that vain. Then nice little interlude of the kind they do so well before the albums settles down nicely (if you can call heavy as a really heavy thing riffs settled!). The thing I love about Gojira is how they mix the heavyness with emotion, a balance of agression with that sense of urgency that we need to act to save the planet/ourselves. If you didn’t know , the title translates as The Wild Child and I think it’s a perfect album title. Also they make me really want to headbang. Alot.

Any other normal year and Lamb Of God would have got the number 1 spot. Resolution is really stong, lots of great songs on there, which can fit into their life set easy. Desolution is made for mosh pits and King Me is personally I think the greatest song they’ve ever written, and probably one of the greatest metal songs ever. Must mention that in Desolution the line ‘All that for nothing, what a ing waste of time’ certainally is sentiment which I can appreciate.

Devin Townsend is known for his ability to completely mix it up from album to album, the variation in his music is just plain awesome. Epicloud reminds me of Addicted in a sense, but more random and edgy. The perfect album to follow Deconstruction and Ghost for me.

Soundgarden’s return after many years was highly anticipated, abd after their stunning performance at Download I had high hopes for the album. It’s not perhaps as great as I would have liked but it’s a good addition to the catalouge, though I can’t help feel that if they’d released it after Supernknown it would have had the same kind of fate as Down On The Upside. It reminds me more of the Louder Than Love era that the Bad Motor Finger/Superunknown double that made the band so great. Still though it’s a good album and a good comeback.

Katatonia’s Dead End Kings is another good addition to their catalogue. I’ve seen a few lows this year and they are a band which is custom made for dealing with depression. The opening track and the closing track are probably the 2 strongest on the album, The Parting and Dead Letters.

Mentions for Paradise Lost – Tragic Idol, Therapy? – A Breif Crack Of Light and Fear Factory – the Industrialist as well, all ok albums, just not as strong as previous work. I haven’t got the new Deftones album yet mind and i’ve heard many posistive things about it.

 

[holy king]

i cannot name a single album that came out in 2012...

 

[Ozbenno]

3 albums I loved from this year

1. Godspeed You! Black Emporer - Hallelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!

Like Soundgarden above, was their first album in ages (10 or so years). Doesn't disappoint at all, more of their trademark 20 minute sonic blasts.

2. Sigur Ros - Valtari

Another brilliant soundscape from Iceland's best!

3. Spiritualized - Huh?

Back to their best, more gospelly than previous albums.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

I only got three albums that came out this year.

1: Threshold - March of Progress
The last Threshold record came out in 2007, and headed towards a more heavier metal sound. With this one they returned to their first vocalist, and the sound builds upon the progressive metal sounds of their earlier albums.

2: Arjen Anthony Lucassen - Lost in the New Real
This is essentially an Ayreon album turned into a solo album. It's lighter and simpler, with each song showing off a different influence on the sound. The first disc is a concept that can fit in with the Ayreon albums, while the second disc is of songs that didn't quite fit, along with cover songs.

3: Kamelot - Silverthorn
Kamelot have a new vocalist, and this album returns to revolving around a story instead of just a bunch of songs. It leans more towards a progressive direction then their last couple of albums, which will annoy their fans. The main problem I have with the album is that it's too short, but I guess that's because it's made for vinyl release along with CD.

 

[azzaman333]

#1 - Hot Chip - In Our Heads
Very good electro-pop album. Every song holds its own, personal highlight being How Do You Do. Most of the songs are quite catchy without being annoying, and there's a good variety of sounds in the album to keep things from getting samey.

#2 - Billy Talent - Dead Silence
Excellent punk album. The aggression and passion can be felt in all the songs. Viking Death March is the stand out IMO.

#3 - The Siren Tower - A History Of Houses
I first heard these guys when they were supporting The Butterfly Effect. Instantly fell in love with how they were able to tell a story with their music. Whether they're singing about something personal, as in I Could Tell You Things That Would Break Your Heart, or something wider like King River, the ability to share an idea through music remains phenomenal.

#4 - Silversun Pickups - Neck of the Woods
A solid album of altrock, rather than a spectacular one. It's a lot moodier than Swoon, but without a standout song like Panic Switch to carry it. But it's still a good album, with many good songs. Just lacks that knockout punch.

#5 - The Presets - Pacifica
Such a varied electronic album. There's a couple of songs that fall flat, but Youth In Trouble, Ghosts, Push and Fast Seconds more than make up for the low points.

Honourable mentions;
Children Collide - Monument
Muse - The 2nd Law
Two Door Cinema Club - Beacon

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

#3 - The Siren Tower - A History Of Houses

Children Collide - Monument

Two Door Cinema Club - Beacon

They'd need to make very good albums to overcome the terrible band names and record titles. "A History of Houses" is just a poor man's "Songs about Buildings and Food" (an old Talking Heads record) while the less said about Monument and Beacon the better.

 

[ComradeDavo]

Have to say I got the new Deftones album yesterday and have listened to it several times already, it's fantastic, deffo would have been high up in my 5 if i'd gotten it earlier!

 

[tuckerkao]

i cannot name a single album that came out in 2012...

Believe

Justin Bieber album

Believe is the third studio album by Canadian recording artist Justin Bieber, released on June 15, 2012 by Island Records. Wikipedia

Release date: June 15, 2012

 

[Integral]

Four of my top five are Touhou-related albums.

Touhou is a series of Japanese vertical scrolling shooter games. They have a rather energetic fanbase, and each year a few hundred albums are released that remix the in-game music. No, really, hundreds: to the extent that a partial and incomplete collection of Touhou remix albums weighs in at 1.2 terabytes.

These albums are released at the various music, media and anime conventions that Japan holds from time to time. The most important are the Comic Markets (Comiket), occurring twice per year, and the Hakurei Shrine Festival (Reitaisai), occurring once per year.

I've placed some samples in spoiler tags. Without further ado...

1. Syrufit - Blossom.
Release: Reitaisai 9.

Spoiler :

Sample track:


Link to video.

2. Alstroemeria Records - Abandoned Dancehall.
Release: Reitaisai 9.

Spoiler :

Full album:


Link to video.

3. Yuuhei Satelite - Kachou Fuugetsu
Release: Reitaisai 9.

Spoiler :

Title track:


Link to video.

4. Alstroemeria Records - Dominated Dancehall
Release: Comiket 83

Spoiler :

Crossfade:


Link to video.

5. Soundgarden - King Animal
Really, this is just too easy.


Comments
Syrufit and Alstroemeria Records are my two favorite doujin artists; it's no surprise that they dominate this list. I was crushed when I learned that Syrufit wouldn't be releasing an album at Comiket 83; ah well, we must wait until Reitaisai 10.

An honorable mention goes to Syrufit's White Clear and to the albums by ShibayanRecords, RD-Sounds, and IOSYS.

As to the lone American album on this list: new Soundgarden? It's like it's my birthday! Now if only Tool would release an album more than once per decade...

 

[Ozbenno]

Now if only Tool would release an album more than once per decade...

New album is due in a couple months I believe

 

[Traitorfish]

Corrosion of Conformity - Corrosion of Conformity


Link to video.

An interesting comeback for C.O.C., because it's in line with neither the Southern-inflected stoner sludge of their middle career nor the crossover thrash of their early career, but carrying strong overtones of each. Possibly this is just a matter of losing Pepper Keenan on guitar and vocals, but I think it's also a genuine attempt to produce avoid a comeback that just feels like a bunch of sadsacks trying to relive past glory, but without losing what made them great in the first place.

Baroness - Yellow & Green


Link to video.

Unapologetically continuing moving towards their progressive/psychedelic side of things, with considerable tracts of the album barely, if at all, qualifying as "metal". Despite some of the backlash, I'm happy to see them put exploration first, and tracks like "Take My Bones Away" prove that they can still bring the heavy when they feel the need.

Propagandhi - Failed States


Link to video.

Mitch Clem already has the best summary for this one: "These guys haven’t made a bad album yet. To hell with the nonbelievers. Political speed metal from a band that used to sound like NOFX. Or that NOFX used to sound like, I kinda forget how it works again. This record sounds exactly like you’d expect it to. And it’s great."

Down - IV, Vol 1.: The Purple EP


Link to video.

Nothing much to say about this than the fact it's more Down, which: yes. Not their best work, but my towering and wholly unreasonable biases lead me to declare that the worst of Down still comes ahead of the best of almost anything else.

(Also, technically, it's a 6 track EP rather than an album, but whatever, close enough.)

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Blood Lust


Link to video.

Picked this up on a whim because it was on Rise Above and looked kinda like an Electric Wizard album, which is usually a good sign, and sure enough it proved to be a keeper. Great piece of fuzzy, psychedelic doom.

Honourable mentions go to The Beards - Having a Beard Is the New Not Having a Beard and Satan's Wrath - Galloping Blasphemy, which may not have been the best albums of 2012, but were the most fun.

 

[Arwon]

My favourite track of the year was probably either Grimes - Oblivion or Mountain Goats - Amy aka Spent Gladiator 1.

I'm a pretty big fanboy for Mountain Goats so I'd probably name Transcendental Youth as my album of the year too. Though the Japandroids one was very good too.

Here's what I voted for in the Triple J hottest 100:

Asta - My Heart Is On Fire
Black Keys, The - Gold On The Ceiling
Gaslight Anthem - 45
Gossip - Melody Emergency
Gossling - Wild Love
Grimes - Oblivion
Hot Chip - Motion Sickness
Japandroids - The House That Heaven Built
Mountain Goats - Cry For Judas
Of Monsters And Men - Little Talks

 

[Arwon]

They'd need to make very good albums to overcome the terrible band names and record titles. "A History of Houses" is just a poor man's "Songs about Buildings and Food" (an old Talking Heads record) while the less said about Monument and Beacon the better.

Monument just makes me think of REM's Document.

 

[azzaman333]

Here's what I voted for in the Triple J hottest 100:

Asta - My Heart Is On Fire
Black Keys, The - Gold On The Ceiling
Gaslight Anthem - 45
Gossip - Melody Emergency
Gossling - Wild Love
Grimes - Oblivion
Hot Chip - Motion Sickness
Japandroids - The House That Heaven Built
Mountain Goats - Cry For Judas
Of Monsters And Men - Little Talks

Little Talks has got to be one of the favourites to finish #1.

My votes when to;
Billy Talent - Surprise Surprise (would've been Viking Death March if it were an option)
Bloc Party - Octopus
British India - I Can Make You Love Me
Children Collide - My Heart Came Alive
Hot Chip - How Do You Do?
Muse - Panic Station
The Prestes - Ghosts
Silversun Pickups - Skin Graph (would've been The Pit)
The Siren Tower - Floods
Two Door Cinema Club - Someday

They'd need to make very good albums to overcome the terrible band names and record titles. "A History of Houses" is just a poor man's "Songs about Buildings and Food" (an old Talking Heads record) while the less said about Monument and Beacon the better.

Fortunately, album names have no bearing on the quality of the music.

 

[Arwon]

I've an awful feeling that thrift store song is going to win.

 

[Leifmk]

With the reservation that there's lot of stuff from 2012 I haven't gotten around to checking out properly yet, I think I can at least assemble a preliminary top 5 albums list:

5. My Dying Bride - A Map of All Our Failures

Link to video.
This one barely gets onto the list, speaking as a fan of this band for over 20 years now it's not my favourite album of theirs by a long shot, but still good. Just maybe... a bit too pretty, perhaps?

4. Dødsengel - Imperator

Link to video.
Now this album is something. A 2.5 hour slab of experimental, psychedelic black metal; surprisingly easy (or at least "not terribly difficult") to listen to for all that.

3. Hour of 13 - 333

Link to video.
Again, proof that the Devil has all the best music. Old-school mix of doom metal and heavy rock with some NWOBHM influence; never overstays its welcome.

2. Nekromantheon - Rise, Vulcan Spectre

Link to video.
Nothing very new or anything here, this could almost have been made by Slayer or Sepultura back in the 1980s when those bands were really good, but this band captures the #2 spot for me because of their sheer energy and enthusiasm. Bonus points for using Greek mythology.

1. Panopticon - Kentucky

Link to video.
Band discovery of the year for me: Black metal with heavy bluegrass elements, and a left-anarchist political viewpoint. "Their" (it is, of course, a one-man band) fourth album came out in 2012 and is a concept album about old-timey coal mining and the struggle of the labour movement. It owns (and also takes the bluegrass element further, to the point of letting it take over entire tracks).

 

[ShahJahanII]

Linkin Park's Living Things:

Link to video.

I'm also starting to like Muse's 2nd Law:

Link to video.

 

[Kjotleik]

Tourniquet: Antiseptic Bloodbath

Link:

Tourniquet's own YouTube channel

For me this new Tourniquet album was a real "YES, THAT'S GREAT" album from the first time I listened to it. It has been an album well worth the wait...




Yours Sincerely

Kjotleik of Norway

 

[SamSniped]

Looking back at the albums released in 2012, I can only name two albums that aren't a soundtrack album that was good. For me, this was definitely not the best year for new releases. Rap has gone down and has been doing so for a while, and except for Big Boi's album, I was pretty disapointed on that front. In alternative, all I really liked was Linkin Park's new album. And as for rock...I haven't listened to Aerosmith's new stuff yet, and I'm not all that fond of Papa Roach's new release. Ayways, here's my list (not in any order):

1. Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors-Big Boi
For those of you who don't know Big Boi, go listen to ATLiens or Southernplayalisticadillacmusick by Outkast. Big Boi was one of the lead singers of OutKast, and the raps he sings always seem to be different than more "popular" rappers. Sure, the subjects are the same, but unlike someone like Lil' Wayne, who just repeats the same phrases over and over, Big Boi uses his skills from when he was with OutKast to sing what I think is some of the best rap i have ever heard. This album also has some very interesting things that you don't hear in more mainstream rap- spoken word part (including one in French), trumpets, and even a solid minute or two of electronic music in one song. This is definitely one of the best rap albums I have ever listened to.

2. Signed and Sealed in Blood-The Dropkick Murphys
Although technically relesed in 2013, I first heard some songs off of this in December of 2012. Now, I am a Massachusetts resident, and have a great deal of Irish heritage. So does this band. I have grown up listening to the Dropkick Murphys, and every time I have gone to a Boston Red Sox game, I hear this band's famous song, "Shipping Up To Boston," play. This new album, Signed and Sealed in Blood, is amazing. The songs in this album vary from Prisoner's song, very reminiscent of Shipping Up To Boston, to Rose Tattoo, which is a truly beautiful song IMO.
Oh, and 2 songs in 3/4 time, which always adds an interesting dynamic. One of which is a hilarious Cristmas-themed song, The Season's Upon Us. I recommend looking it up.

3. Living Things-Linkin Park
'Tis Linkin Park. Chester Bennington varies from calm, sweet, melodic singing to violent screams; Mike Shinoda is my favorite rapper, and a good singer too. This album has an interesting sound to boot, as it is influenced by electronic music.

4.
Okay, can I even count this as an album? The Django Unchained soundtrack was great. Thanks for putting that together, Quentin Tarantino.

And that's all I have to say.

 

[shadowplay]

I think this is the only new album I picked up in 2012. Dead Can Dance's first new album in 16 years. It's good.