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Best And Worst Albums of 2011

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tonagamu Since: Jun, 2010
#1: Nov 7th 2011 at 8:26:58 PM

Yes, I know, we still got almost 2 months left before the end of the year actually hits, but I don't think it's too early to talk about this. What have been your favorite and least favorite albums of 2011?

My top 5 favorite:

5.) Wilco- The Whole Love 4.) The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart- Belong 3.) M83- Hurry Up, We're Dreaming 2.) The Horrors- Skying 1.) Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues

Wicked223 from Death Star in the forest Since: Apr, 2009
#2: Nov 7th 2011 at 8:29:23 PM

Watch The Throne (decent), Burst Apart (awesome), and Helplessness Blues (ambivalent) are the only records from this year that I've listened to this year, but going by press alone, there seem to be a lot of good albums this year.

edited 7th Nov '11 8:29:51 PM by Wicked223

You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!
Saeglopur Resident Hipster from Various places in the UK Since: Jan, 2001
Resident Hipster
#3: Nov 8th 2011 at 2:28:52 AM

This year certainly started promisingly, but seems to have tailed off a little bit since September.

Anywho, when it comes to the end of the year I will produce a full list of my best albums of the year, but for the moment I'll just go with my top 5:

  1. A Winged Victory For The Sullen - A Winged Victory For The Sullen
  2. Battles - Gloss Drop
  3. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
  4. The Antlers - Burst Apart
  5. Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place

Biggest disappointment for me was Ornaments From The Silver Arcade by an old favourite band of mine, The Young Knives. Frankly it was just a little bit shit.

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AsTheAnointed Since: Jan, 2010
#4: Nov 8th 2011 at 6:05:44 AM

1. Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn Of Events
2. Devin Townsend - Ghost
3. Symphony X - Iconoclast
4. Explosions In The Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
5. Born Of Osiris - The Discovery

2-5 are pretty much interchangeable, and Haken's Visions is a recent release that could have made its way in there. The DT album is definitely number 1 though. Fanboy I may be, but that album was a tour de force even by their usual standards.

I still need to check out more of this year's ambient/post-rock releases, however, so this list may not be final.

Wicked223 from Death Star in the forest Since: Apr, 2009
#5: Nov 8th 2011 at 8:46:54 AM

Anyway, the chief contender for worst album of the year is pretty obvious.

You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!
JHM Apparition in the Woods from Niemandswasser Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: Hounds of love are hunting
Apparition in the Woods
#6: Nov 8th 2011 at 8:53:29 AM

That is possibly the most monumentally disappointing thing that I have ever heard in my life.

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
Wicked223 from Death Star in the forest Since: Apr, 2009
#7: Nov 8th 2011 at 9:00:26 AM

That's actually the general consensus regarding the album.

You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!
JHM Apparition in the Woods from Niemandswasser Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: Hounds of love are hunting
Wicked223 from Death Star in the forest Since: Apr, 2009
#9: Nov 8th 2011 at 9:11:10 AM

I know, I was saying the music criticism establishment agrees with you.

You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!
inane242 Anwalt der Verdammten from A B-Movie Bildungsroman Since: Nov, 2010
Anwalt der Verdammten
#10: Nov 8th 2011 at 9:12:15 AM

Now all it needs is Brian Wilson rapping and a music video featuring Michael Jordan playing baseball. :D

The 5 geek social fallacies. Know them well.
NULLcHiLD27 Since: Oct, 2010
#11: Nov 8th 2011 at 10:10:08 AM

edited 8th Nov '11 10:45:13 AM by NULLcHiLD27

Litis from Israel Since: Jul, 2009
#12: Nov 8th 2011 at 11:45:36 AM

There's been a thread earlier that discussed this. Please use search next time and necro.

I actually can't remember most of the 10+ new albums I've heard this year, which probably has to do with me giving most of them only a single listen each. So I can't really make up a list.

Out of a not terribly big selection, TesseracT's debut is probably my favorite so far. It feels a bit ADD sometimes, but it does have moments of sheer brilliance. Too bad that Dan "Chief Reason for Listening to TesseracT" Thompkins left and now I probably won't be paying much attention to them any more.

TKOL is a testament to Thom Yorke's ego and a soulless, shallow album. Disappointment of the year.

NEO from Qrrbrbirlbel Since: Oct, 2009 Relationship Status: GAR for Archer
#13: Nov 8th 2011 at 3:05:13 PM

As of now my list still remains largely the same. Not in particular order:

  • Deconstruction by Devin Townsend Project (probably my favorite)
  • The Unseen Empire by Scar Symmetry (because Scar Symmetry)
  • Princess Ghibli by Imaginary Flying Machines (because Studio Ghibli + Disarmonia Mundi can only equal awesome
  • εpsilon by Blood Stain Child (also participating in the previous album)

Those are probably the ones I enjoyed the most.

No regret shall pass over the threshold!
TheGloomer Since: Sep, 2010
#14: Nov 8th 2011 at 3:43:58 PM

As far as pop albums go, I think 21 is quite good. Good Things by Aloe Blacc (which I don't think got as much attention in America as it did in Europe) was also quite enjoyable.

dxman Since: Oct, 2009
#15: Nov 9th 2011 at 5:07:20 PM

@Wicked223: About the worst album of the year, you're not even close.

edited 9th Nov '11 5:07:53 PM by dxman

...
MetaFour AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN from A Place (Old Master)
AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN
#16: Nov 9th 2011 at 5:25:07 PM

Let's see.

  1. Axial: SiMBiOSE
  2. Winter's Fall: At All Angles
  3. My Brightest Diamond: Everything Will Unwind
  4. Korpiklaani: Ukon Wacka
  5. Julianna Barwick: The Magic Place

I really haven't listened to as much new music this year.

JHM Apparition in the Woods from Niemandswasser Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: Hounds of love are hunting
Apparition in the Woods
#17: Nov 9th 2011 at 5:46:10 PM

@Wicked 223: I misread your comment as "disagrees"; hence, the response. But yes, incredibly disappointing on several levels.

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
sca_punk Not-Not-Not Your Academy from sca_punk's computer Since: Apr, 2010
Not-Not-Not Your Academy
#18: Nov 10th 2011 at 3:00:34 PM

Best: La Dispute - Wildlife
Second-Best: The Antlers - Burst Apart
Worst: Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events
Second-Worst: Hillsong United - Aftermath

edited 10th Nov '11 3:01:53 PM by sca_punk

They're off the streets now, and back on the road on the riot trail. http://www.last.fm/user/sca_punk
Surenity Since: Aug, 2009
#19: Nov 17th 2011 at 11:17:56 PM

For me it'd be:

  • 1. TanzomatAnd One
  • 2. Riding a Black Unicorn Down the Side of an Erupting Volcano While Drinking from a Chalice Filled with the Laughter of Small ChildrenVoltaire

Other than that I haven't actually listened to a lot of music that came out this year. But I'm still waiting for Plastic Makes Perfect by Ayria to come out, dunno if it will come out before 2011 ends but it was supposed to be out in September. Dang Schedule Slip. And Nagash of The Kovenant said Aria Galactica was coming out at the end of this year. For some funny reason (maybe because he's said the same thing year after year since 2003), I doubt it.

edited 17th Nov '11 11:18:29 PM by Surenity

My tropes launched: https://surenity2.blogspot.com/2021/02/my-tropes-on-tv-tropes.html
pagad Sneering Imperialist from perfidious Albion Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Sneering Imperialist
#20: Nov 18th 2011 at 2:49:05 AM

Top 5 favourite albums of this year:

  1. Devin Townsend - Deconstruction
  2. Mastodon - The Hunter
  3. Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning

...fuck, I can't think of anything else. I haven't listened to much new music this year...

Worst album of the year goes to Opeth's Heritage, for being dull as ditchwater and a massive disappointment.

edited 18th Nov '11 2:49:26 AM by pagad

With cannon shot and gun blast smash the alien. With laser beam and searing plasma scatter the alien to the stars.
Bananaquit Since: Jan, 2001
#21: Nov 20th 2011 at 1:31:25 PM

  • Best— Sanhedrin: Ever After
  • Honourable mention— Ske: 1000 autunni, Wobbler: Rites at Dawn

  • Worst— Journey: Eclipse (someone talked me into wasting my time listening to this)
  • Dis-honourable mention— TCP: Fantastic Dreamer, Ginger Trees: Along With the Tide

iamathousandapples The Collective from Northeast Ohio Megablob Since: Oct, 2009
The Collective
#22: Nov 30th 2011 at 5:29:03 PM

Best: Powder! Go Away - Laika Still Wants Go Home
Runner Up: Pain of Salvation - Road Salt Two, Devin Townsend - Ghost
Worst(Shit, does this even count?): Metallica and Lou Reed - Lulu
Worst(Not because it's necessarily bad, 2011 has been all-around a good year): Opeth - Heritage

edited 30th Nov '11 5:29:23 PM by iamathousandapples

"I could eat a knob at night" - Karl Pilkington
AsTheAnointed Since: Jan, 2010
#23: Nov 30th 2011 at 11:50:19 PM

OK, I definitely have a worst album of the year now. Divided By by Structures is one of the greatest musical disappointments I've ever heard. I liked their debut EP a lot, reminded me of a more metalcoreish Veil Of Maya, but their full-length is just a bunch of horrible shouty brodowns punctuated by random pop-punk and electronic segments.

And I'm definitely gonna have to revise my list, since I've realized I forgot to include We's With The Stars As An Audience and I've now checked out the absolutely fantastic A Winged Victory For The Sullen.

inane242 Anwalt der Verdammten from A B-Movie Bildungsroman Since: Nov, 2010
Anwalt der Verdammten
#24: Dec 1st 2011 at 5:05:32 PM

Best:

  1. (*By far and away*) Amon Tobin - ISAM
  2. God Module - Seance

...Most of this year has been finding good older music for me, so...

The 5 geek social fallacies. Know them well.
Saeglopur Resident Hipster from Various places in the UK Since: Jan, 2001
Resident Hipster
#25: Dec 14th 2011 at 5:10:44 PM

Time to revive this thread with the Official Saeglopur Top 50 albums of 2011 List. Short reviews for the top 10 as well. Yes, I'm bored, why do you ask?

  1. Battles - Gloss Drop
  2. A Winged Victory For The Sullen - A Winged Victory For The Sullen
  3. Snowmine - Laminate Pet Animal
  4. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
  5. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
  6. Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place
  7. Russian Circles - Empros
  8. The Antlers - Burst Apart
  9. Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972
  10. Dutch Uncles - Cadenza
  11. Three Trapped Tigers - Route One Or Die
  12. And So I Watch You From Afar - Gangs
  13. Nils Frahm - Felt
  14. The Mountain Goats - All Eternals Deck
  15. Blanck Mass - Blanck Mass
  16. Bon Iver - Bon Iver
  17. The Field - Looping State Of Mind
  18. Grails - Deep Politics
  19. Petrels - Haeligewiele
  20. The Psychic Paramount - II
  21. Omega Massif - Karpatia
  22. Youngteam - Daydreamer
  23. Mara Carlyle - Floreat
  24. LITE - For All The Innocence
  25. Hymns From Nineveh - Hymns From Nineveh
  26. Explosions In The Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
  27. Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
  28. Memory Tapes - Player Piano
  29. Vessels - Helioscope
  30. Harrys Gym - What Was Ours Can't Be Yours
  31. True Widow - As High As The Highest Heavens And From The Center To The Circumference Of The Earth
  32. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Tao Of The Dead
  33. Belong - Common Era
  34. Parts & Labor - Constant Future
  35. *shels - Plains Of The Purple Buffalo
  36. Atlas Sound - Parallax
  37. Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica
  38. Guillemots - Walk The River
  39. Okkervil River - I Am Very Far
  40. British Sea Power - Valhalla Dancehall
  41. Johann Johannsson - The Miner's Hymns
  42. Beirut - The Rip Tide
  43. Quiet Evenings - Transcending Spheres
  44. Deaf Center - Owl Splinters
  45. Akron/Family - S/T II: The Cosmic Birth And Journey Of Shinju TNT
  46. Mark Mc Guire - Get Lost
  47. Whirl - Distressor
  48. Demdike Stare - Triptych
  49. Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
  50. Grouper - A I A: Alien Observer/Dream Loss

edited 14th Dec '11 5:15:00 PM by Saeglopur

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