Your top ten albums of 2021

I like your list but have to disagree on Dream Theater and Iron Maiden, been enjoying them both a lot, especially Shenjitsu. They both improve the more you listen, as many of us wrote Shenjitsu off on first listen.

Also great to see Moonflowers on the list, came out a bit late for mine as I did it as a most played, but what a phenomenal album.

There are a couple on your list that I have not listened to, so I will try to put that right.

EDIT: Totally missed the Ross Jennings and really liking that thanks

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My list for 2021 goes like this :

  1. Evergrey : Escape of the phoenix
  2. The Neal Morse Band : Innocense & Danger
  3. Transatlantic : The absolute universe
  4. Dream Theater : A view from the top of the world
  5. Teramaze : And the beauty they perceive
  6. The Cyberian : Connected
  7. Paradigm Blue : Transist
  8. Aeon Zen : Transversal
  9. Hillward : Alternate timelines
  10. Frost : Day and age
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Here are 10 from 2021 that I’ve enjoyed, no order:

Sedibus - The Heavens
Mogwai - As The Love Continues
Godspeed You! Black Emporer - G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END!
Jordsjø - Pastoralia
A Formal Horse - Meat Mallet
Black Midi - Cavalcade
Trees Speak - PostHuman
Fly Pan Am - Frontera
Masayoshi Fujita - Bird Ambience
Takeshi’s Cashew - Humans In a Pool

And here’s 10 re-issues / compilations from 2021 that I’ve also enjoyed, no order:

The KLF & The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu- Come Down Dawn
Goat - Headsoup
Faust - 1971-1974
T2 - It’ll All Work Out In Boomland
War - The Vinyl: 1971-1975
Gnod - Easy to Build, Hard to Destroy
Various Artists - Somewhere Between: Mutant Pop, Electronic Minimalism & Shadow Sounds of Japan 1980-1988
Various Artists - Virtual Dreams: Ambient Explorations in the House and Techno Age, 1993 - 1997
Various Artists - Strain Crack & Break: Music from the Nurse With Wound List, Vol. 2 (Germany)
Various Artists - Think I’m Going Weird: Original Artefacts from the British Psychedelic Scene 1966-1968

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I make no apologies, it’s a pure Hard Rock Heaven list :sunglasses:

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01 - In Mourning - The Bleeding Veil

02 - Witherfall - Curse of Autumn

03 - First Fragment - Gloire Éternelle

04 - Obscura - A Valediction

05 - Archspire - Bleed the Future

06 - 1914 - Where Fear and Weapons Meet

07 - Thy Catafalque - Vadak

08 - Stortregn - Impermanence

09 - Liquid Tension Experiment - LTE3

10 - Canvas Solaris - Chromosphere

11 - Ninkharsag - The Dread March of Solemn Gods

12 - Djevel - Tanker Som Rir Natten

13 - Soen - Imperial

14 - Ashes For the Mute - Celestial Revelations

15 - Tremonti - Marching in Time

16 - Dormant Ordeal - The Grand Scheme of Things

17 - Inglorious - We Will Ride

18 - Sol Sistere - Sol Sistere

19 - Netherbird - Arete

20 - Todd La Torre - Rejoice in the Suffering

2021 had been a great musical year for me. Although, the pickings were a bit thin in the black metal department. In Mourning released, what I consider to be, one of their very best albums. I was taken by surprise by the First Fragment album. Their previous album was 5 years ago. Am I glad they released another one!

2021 was also the year that this forum developed a thriving metal community. It was a joy to behold.
Thanks for all the great interactions and have a great 2022, everyone.

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Great albums, thanks for sharing - most of which I have enjoyed this year too. Like @Michael_Harris, I felt the DT album was one of their better efforts in recent years - I kind of went off them after Systematic Chaos but have enjoyed their last two much more. I haven’t listened to the Iron Maiden album.

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Thanks for sharing your excellent list Henri - a good few in there that I have really enjoyed listening to also. All the best for 2022!

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Nice! A couple in there that I need to check out, so thanks for the reminder!

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Thanks!

A great 2022 to you as well.

After a fair bit of thought I couldn’t nail this down to just ten albums :thinking:

Looking through this years purchases I came up with the below list, in no particular order…apart from Kings of Convenience being the album with the most plays.

Kings of Convenience - Peace or Love
Nils Frahm - Old Friends, New Friends
Aimee Mann - Queens of the Summer Hotel
Andrew Wasylyk - Balgay Hill Morning In Magnolia
Angus and Julia Stone - Life is Strange
Arab Strap - As Days Get Dark
Arlo Parks - Collapsed in Sunbeams
Daniel Lanois - Heavy Sun
Death Valley Girls - Street Venom
Hammock - Elsewhere
Jane Weaver - Flock
Mammoth WVH - Mammoth WVH
Nightmares On Wax - Shout Out! To Freedom
Pachyman - The Return of…
Poppy Ackroyd - Pause
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raise The Roof
Robin Trower, Maxi Priest, Livingstone Brown - United State of Mind
Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine - A Beginner’s Mind
Teenage Fanclub - Endless Arcade
The Limiñanas & Laurent Garnier - De Película

2022 is looking to be the end of a musical era for me. My wife gave me a QOBUZ subscription as a Christmas present. Initial thoughts are that the selection of available music is amazing! However, I think it will signal the start of the end of my music collecting habit.
I need to give some thought as to the necessity of ‘owning’ the physical product.

Edit: How could I have forgotten this one!!!
Bevis Frond - Little Eden.

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Thanks for sharing Nigel, a fine list :sunglasses:.

Even though I have used Tidal extensively (about 1000 out of the 3000 albums in my collection), I still buy a lot of downloads, and the occasional CD. Stuff comes and goes from streaming services quite a bit, so if it is something I will play regularly I buy it - buying also helps the artists more than streaming, with Bandcamp particularly good in that regard.

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Hi. This has been very hard to choose. I don´t know if i´m losing my taste for music because my list is very different from some lists i´ve seen in musical magazines. Any way, i don´t know if they are best but at least think they are the albums I have played most during this year. Maybe not in this order.









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A perfectly eclectic mix, some really good album’s in there and a few I need to check out

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What a great thread and shows what different taste in music we all have . Great to see.
Here is my 10 in no particular order apart from first one which is my album of the year.
So difficult to keep it to 10

Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend
Deap Vally - Marraige
Self Esteem - Prioritise Pleasure
Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes - Sticky
Sam Fender - Seventeen Going Under
Lil Nas X - Montero
Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Extrovert
AJ Tracey - Flu Game
Arlo Parks - Coolapsed in Sunbeams
Turnstile - Glow On

Could add so many more

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Great list - a couple in there that I’ve been meaning to check out.

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Certainly don’t think you’re losing your taste! Very nice selection indeed.

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Great selection Steve - must give that Arlo Parks album a listen, lots of great reviews.

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No, you’ve got some great choices there, and thanks for mentioning the Parcels album - I missed that one when it came out. I’ve been playing it all afternoon :slight_smile:

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Not at all…I very rarely read or pay attention to magazine or online reviews or lists as far as music is concerned.

By far my two largest influence,s for music are.
Roon.
This forum and all the most excellent members within who inhabit and enrich the music threads.

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