I think 2021 was a great year for music. As the year draws to a close, time to share your top 10 releases of 2021. This is always hard, so I’ll allow you to post more than once . Here’s my first shot at it, in no particular order:
Inglorious - We Will Ride
This Winter Machine - Kites
Spiritbox - Eternal Blue
The Raven Age - Exile
Lady Blackbird - Black Acid Soul
Monolink - Under Darkening Skies
The Dust Coda - Mojo Skyline
Vienna Circle - Secrets of the Rising Sun
Veronica Swift - This Bitter Earth
Tash Sultana - Terra Firma
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AceRimmer
(Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast!)
2
OK as we are closing in on the end of the year, these are my most listened to albums as tracked by Last.fm and Roon combined
Empyrrium - Über den Sternen
Wheel - Preserved in Time
Deafheaven - Infinite Granite
Swallow the Sun - 20 Years of Gloom, Beauty and Despair
Kauan - Ice Fleet
Cassandra Jenkins - An Overview On Phenomenal Nature
Aimee Mann - Queens of the Summer Hotel
Lana Del Rey - Blue Banisters
Iron Maiden - Senjutsu
Actors - Acts of Worship
Bubbling under (and all relatively close to breaking the 10)
The Weather Station - Ignorance
Thy Catafalque - Vadak
Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers
Mogwai - As the Love Continues
Big Big Train - Common Ground
Anneke van Giersbergen - The Darkest Skies Are The Brightest
The Record Company - Play Loud
David Gray - Skellig
Ben Bohmer - Begin Again
Lady Blackbird - Black Acid Soul
Ross from Friends - Tread
Joy Orbison - Still slipping vol 1
London Grammar - Californian Soil
Fat Freddy’s Drop - Wairunga
Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever
Solomun - Nobody Is Not Loved
Fred Again - Actual Life (April 14-December 17)
Although I’ve listened to so many older albums, but new to me since starting with Roon this year.
AceRimmer
(Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast!)
15
In no particular order…
Senjutsu/Iron Maiden
Kites/This Winter Machine
Graveyard Star/Mostly Autumn
Detroit Stories/Alice Cooper
Brighten/Jerry Cantrell
The Ides Of March/Myles Kennedy
A View From The Top Of The World/ Dreamtheater
Fortitude/Gojira
Marching In Time/Tremonti
We Will Ride/Inglorious
Mostly Autumn - Graveyard Star
Evergrey - Escape of the Phoenix
Evanescence - The Bitter Truth
The Quill - Earthrise
The Raven Age - Exile
The Black Keys - Delta Kream
Chevelle - Niratias
Iron Maiden - Senjutsu
Billy Gibbons - Hardware
Inglorious - We Will Ride
Anneke Van Giersbergen - The Darkest Skies Are The Brightest
Diablo Swing Orchestra - Swagger & Stroll Down the Rabbit Hole
Joe Bonamassa - Time Clocks
Ross Jennings - A Shadow of My Future Self
Aquilus - Bellum I
Leprous - Aphelion
Secret Sphere - Lifeblood
Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers
Cynic - Ascension Code
Tremonti - Marching in Time
I also add the biggest disappointments of the year:
Dream Theater - A View from the Top of the World
From my point of view, an album should be evaluated for what it is without being influenced by the band and its history. And this is a mediocre album where, among the biggest problems, we can put the usual LaBrie performance. Even at the compositional level, it remains boring without particular interesting ideas
Iron Maiden - Senjutsu
I was waiting for it a lot but, as for DT, an anonymous album that doesn’t leave me wanting to listen to it again