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To start things off I would like to point out that my "true" musical taste, as I call it, didn't start until 2004, so most albums I was into before 2004 I've forgotten. 2004 was the year I was introduced to bands like Opeth, Avenged Sevenfold, and Dimmu Borgir. On top of my new found metal taste I had a huge explosion of progressiveness especially between the years 2006 and 2008 which included bands like Dream Theater, Muse, King Crimson, Anekdoten, Katatonia, The Flower Kings, and Between the Buried and Me. Since 2004 the music I've listened to has influenced me beyond anything else.

I have specific awards that I will also include in this note for those bands and instrumentalists that are best in my opinion in different aspects.

So 2009 was a pretty damn good year for music. Surprisingly, it was not my top favorite bands that put out the best albums but those bands that I still liked a lot but never really considered all time favorites. Without further ado here is my 2009 Top 10!


Best of 2009

1. Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect
2. Katatonia - Night Is The New Day
3. Lamb of God - Wrath
4. The Dear Hunter - Act III: Life and Death
5. Mastodon - Crack The Skye
6. Obscura - Cosmogenesis
7. Porcupine Tree - The Incident
8. The Mars Volta - Octahedron
9. dredg - The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion
10. Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings


During 2009 I was fully exposed to bands like The Mars Volta and dredg who I heard a few songs from before but never realized how good they really were! The best additions to my collection of artists were Mastodon and The Dear Hunter. Mastodon's earlier stuff was kinda hard for me to get into but Crack the Skye, like for many others, has blown me away. Now their post 2009 catalogue is easy and fun to listen to. I "get" them now.

Best new band of the year undoubtedly goes to The Dear Hunter. On the same musical page as The Mars Volta, dredg, and Coheed and Cambria, The Dear Hunter are a band that should be on top of EVERYTHING popular right now. Casey Crescenzo is a fucking genius.

Between the Buried and Me takes the top spot because they progressed out of Colors! I wasn't sure how they'd do it but they did it! The Great Misdirect is definitely not Colors Part 2, and that's exactly how I wanted it to be!

The top three bands that I've come to love a lot ended up more progressive and innovative than even my most anticipated releases by Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, and Muse.

And now for the first Off Beat Award!! The Biggest Disappointment of 2009!!
The Winner is.....

Muse - The Resistance

What the hell. How does one of my favorite bands put out the worst album of the year. I mean Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree were still decent, but this album sucked... hard. Come on Matt, you had three years to write something good. Katatonia did it, and they are on their 10th album!! Sadness was to be had. Muse has fallen in my books a little bit.


Ok now we're on to the hard stuff. This is where we dive into the entire decade. But first some more awards!!


The best years in music this decade!!
Runner up is... 2003!! and the winner is......

2007!

This year was PACKED with new releases from so many bands. Long awaited releases from bands like Type O Negative, Symphony X, and Rush as long as Top Notch releases from bands like Dream Theater, Explosions in the Sky, Anekdoten, Porcupine Tree, and BTBAM.


Best drummers of the decade!!

Martin Lopez, Martin Axenrot, Gavin Harrison, and Blake Richardson! Portnoy would probably be included if LTE and Scenes were 00's releases and not 90's :p


And Now for my decade's Top 20! I made a self rule of only 1 album per band. I did this because there are too many albums that I liked from the same 5 or 6 bands that it wouldn't be fair to many of the newer bands I've discovered over the last few years. And I certainly want to represent them in my list. These ones were both important and favorite. No between talk either. These albums are beyond anymore words other than "BEST"

Without further ado.



20. Explosions in the Sky - The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place (2005)

19. Mastodon - Crack The Skye (2009)

18. Pain of Salvation - Remedy Lane (2002)

17. Meshuggah - obZen (2008)

16. Protest the Hero - Fortress (2008)

15. Gojira - The Way Of All Flesh (2008)

14. Frost* - Milliontown (2006)

13. BeardFish - Sleeping In Traffic: Part Two (2008)

12. The Tangent - The Music That Died Alone (2003)

11. The Flower Kings - Unfold the Future (2002)


The Top Ten Albums Of The Decade


10. The Dear Hunter - Act III: Life and Death (2009)

9. Muse - Absolution (2003)

8. System of a Down - Steal This Album! (2002)

7. Avenged Sevenfold - Waking The Fallen (2003)

6. Lamb of God - Sacrament (2006)

5. Dream Theater - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002)

4. Between the Buried and Me - Colors (2007)

3. Katatonia - The Great Cold Distance (2006)

2. Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet (2007)


And finally... My Number One Album Of The Decade....





1. Opeth - Blackwater Park (2001)

Opeth is by far my band of the Decade. It was my gateway drug to other metal, prog, and even jazzier dudes. Watershed or Porcupine Tree's "Fear" would have been the number one album if Blackwater Park didn't come out this decade.



Some last awards!

2008 gets the award for "Deadest musical year but every album that did come out all ended up being masterpieces" lawl

Runner up albums!
Oceansize - Frames
Bloodbath - Nightmares Made Flesh
Anekdoten - A Time Of Day
Spock's Beard - V

And my favorite band right now

Between the Buried and Me!!
-Alaksa, Colors, and The Great Misdirect have all owned me for a while now, and it's safe to say that BTBAM is my favorite band now.


To wrap things up.... I know most of you guys haven't heard all of these albums, but if you ever get the chance to hear any of them I assure you it's worth your while in some way. I live for music, and I hope I end up on some random kid's list in the future. That would be pretty cool.

yeah, 13. i'm picky. deal with it.

1. Tomahawk - Anonymous
2. Fever Ray - Fever Ray
3. The Knife - Silent Shout
4. Tricky - Knowle West Boy
5. Gojira - From Mars to Sirius
6. Peeping Tom - Peeping Tom
7. M.I.A. - Kala
8. Depeche Mode - Playing The Angel
9. Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
10. Bark Psychosis - Codename:Dustsucker
11. Laibach - Volk
12. Gotan Project - La Revancha Del Tango
13. Gojira - The Way Of All Flesh

Sanguine_Sky's top albums (7 days) 1. Betray-Ed - An Everlasting Drift (55) 2. Empyrium - Where at Night the Wood Grouse Plays (45) 3. Avrigus - The Secret Kingdom (30) 4. Estatic Fear - A Sombre Dance (30) 5. Uaral - Lamentos A Poema Muerto (21) 6. Betray-Ed - Woods of Eternity (20) 7. Ensiferum - Dragonheads (18) 8. Empyrium - Songs of Moors & Misty Fields (18) 9. On Thorns I Lay - Crystal Tears (17) 10. Swallow the Sun - New Moon (16) 11. Synthesia - The Time Travellers (15) 12. Orphanage - Driven (14) 13. Kerion - Holy Creatures Quest (14) 14. Björk - Volta (13) 15. Paradise Lost - In Requiem (13) 16. Ebony Ark - When The City Is Quiet (13) 17. Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows - The Inexperienced Spiral Traveller (13) 18. Angellore - Les Promesses De L'Aube (13) 19. Dejafuse - DejaFuse (12) 20. Saturnus - Martyre (12) 21. Nemesea - Mana (12) 22. Arkona - Ot Serdtsa K Nebu (12) 23. Liv Kristine - Enter My Religion (12) 24. Coronatus - Fabula Magna (12) 25. Katatonia - The Great Cold Distance (12) 26. Septic Flesh - Ophidian Wheel (11) 27. Ghost Brigade - Isolation Songs (11) 28. Gojira - The Link (11) 29. Battlelore - The Last Alliance (11) 30. Ador Dorath - bestiari (11) 31. Samael - Solar Soul (11) 32. Angra - Fireworks (11) 33. Finntroll - Ur Jordens Djup (11) 34. Moonspell - Night Eternal (11) 35. The Sisters of Mercy - First and Last and Always (11) 36. Deadlock - Wolves (11) 37. The Provenance - Red Flags (10) 38. Ambeon - Fate of a Dreamer (10) 39. Macbeth - Superangelic Hate Bringers (10) 40. Catafalque - Dialectique (10) 41. Crematory - Crematory (10) 42. Collide - Chasing the Ghost (10) 43. Immortal - Battles in the North (10) 44. End of You - Mimesis (10) 45. Ashes You Leave - Songs For The Lost (9) 46. Ram-Zet - Intra (9) 47. Siouxsie and the Banshees - Hyaena (9) 48. Draconian - Turning Season Within (9) 49. Septic Flesh - Communion (9) 50. My Dying Bride - The Dreadful Hours (8)

Monthly Top Artists

Jun-2007
Norah Jones (35 plays)
Jul-2007
Bryan Adams (81 plays)
Aug-2007
Iron Maiden (120 plays)
Sep-2007
Rihanna (27 plays)
Oct-2007
Joe Satriani (8 plays)
Nov-2007
Metallica (43 plays)
Dec-2007
Iron Maiden (3 plays)
Jan-2008
System of a Down (40 plays)
Feb-2008
A.R. Rahman (38 plays)
Mar-2008
Iron Maiden (21 plays)
Apr-2008
Poets of the Fall (32 plays)
May-2008
The Who (18 plays)
Jul-2008
Rock On!! (9 plays)
Aug-2008
Iron Maiden (75 plays)
Sep-2008
Cradle of Filth (112 plays)
Oct-2008
Children of Bodom (167 plays)
Nov-2008
Deep Purple (126 plays)
Dec-2008
Children of Bodom (124 plays)
Jan-2009
Insomnium (102 plays)
Feb-2009
Iron Maiden (75 plays)
Mar-2009
Cradle of Filth (145 plays)
Apr-2009
Cradle of Filth (173 plays)
May-2009
Dimmu Borgir (117 plays)
Jun-2009
The Beatles (276 plays)
Jul-2009
The Velvet Underground (232 plays)
Aug-2009
Rotting Christ (214 plays)
Sep-2009
Alice Cooper (149 plays)
Oct-2009
Napalm Death (243 plays)
Nov-2009
Aerosmith (235 plays)
Dec-2009
Xasthur (160 plays)



Monthly Top Tracks

Jun-2007
Bryan Adams : Here I Am (5 plays)
Jul-2007
Poets of the Fall : Carnival Of Rust (3 plays)
Aug-2007
Green Day : American Idiot (6 plays)
Sep-2007
Dhoom : Dhoom Dhoom (4 plays)
Oct-2007
Yanni : Flight Of Fantasy (5 plays)
Nov-2007
Shreya Ghoshal : Yeh Ishq Hai (8 plays)
Dec-2007
Iron Maiden : The Mercenary (1 plays)
Jan-2008
The Doors : Break on Through (3 plays)
Feb-2008
Harsh Deep : Is Pal Ki Soch (3 plays)
Mar-2008
Aitraaz : Gela Gela Gela (5 plays)
Apr-2008
Cradle of Filth : Nymphetamine Fix (8 plays)
May-2008
Savage Garden : To the Moon and Back (1 plays)
Jul-2008
Iron Maiden : Dance of Death (3 plays)
Aug-2008
Cradle of Filth : The Foetus Of A New Day Kicking (16 plays)
Sep-2008
Cradle of Filth : The Foetus Of A New Day Kicking (23 plays)
Oct-2008
Children of Bodom : Towards Dead End (31 plays)
Nov-2008
28 weeks later : In A Heartbeat (17 plays)
Dec-2008
Children of Bodom : Towards Dead End (29 plays)
Jan-2009
Lamb of God : Now You've Got Something to Die For (28 plays)
Feb-2009
Metallica : Fade To Black (31 plays)
Mar-2009
Green Day : Whatsername (40 plays)
Apr-2009
Iron Maiden : Running Free (37 plays)
May-2009
Charlie Clouser : Hello Zepp (43 plays)
Jun-2009
Insomnium : Resonance (26 plays)
Jul-2009
Flyleaf : All Around Me (57 plays)
Aug-2009
Gojira : Global Warming (30 plays)
Sep-2009
Madonna : Die Another Day (19 plays)
Oct-2009
After Forever : Leaden Legacy (The Embrace That Smothers, Pt. 1) (27 plays)
Nov-2009
Dark Tranquillity : The Mundane And The Magic (48 plays)
Dec-2009
DevilDriver : Horn of Betrayal (27 plays)


link:: http://lastfm.heathaze.org/randomSongStats.aspx

Datarock - Huset
Jethro Tull - Sentrum Scene


Hove festival
Faith No More
Major Parkinson
The Prodigy
Bring Me the Horizon


Roskilde festival
Katzenjammer
Fucked Up
The Soft Pack
Cancer Bats
Cut Off Your Hands
Yoga Fire
Hot 8 Brass Band
Steinski
Alamaailman Vasarat
First Aid Kit
Analogik
Micachu and the Shapes
Groundation
Gojira
Isis
Friendly Fires
Skambankt
Jenny Wilson
balstyrko
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
Oh No Ono
Klovner i Kamp
Dungen
The Bronx
Volbeat
Faith No More
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Oasis
Nine Inch Nails
Håkan Hellström
Gogol Bordello
Slipknot
Pet Shop Boys
Ulf Lundell
Eagles of Death Metal
Madness
Coldplay
Social Distortion
Mew
The Mars Volta
Röyksopp
Elbow
Amadou & Mariam
Peter Doherty
The Whitest Boy Alive
Yeah Yeah Yeahs

In my opinion, the quintessential albums from the year of my birth onward

1988: Reek of Putrefaction by Carcass
1989: Pretty Hate Machine by Nine Inch Nails
1990: Rust in Peace by Megadeth
1991: Use Your Illusion I by Guns N' Roses / Use Your Illusion II by Guns N' Roses
1992: Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious by Carcass
1993: Heartwork by Carcass
1994: Let Love In by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
1995: Electric Wizard by Electric Wizard
1996: October Rust by Type O Negative
1997: Warpath by Six Feet Under
1998: Grind Bastard by Benediction
1999: IX Equilibrium by Emperor
2000: The Mystick Krewe of Clearlight by The Mystick Krewe of Clearlight
2001: Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise by Emperor
2002: Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow by Down
2003: Life Is Killing Me by Type O Negative
2004: Occult Medicine by Yyrkoon
2005: Those Once Loyal by Bolt Thrower / From Mars to Sirius by Gojira / Harvest Ritual, Vol. 1 by Necrophagia
2006: Ruun by Enslaved / Monotheist by Celtic Frost
2007: The Novella Reservoir by Novembers Doom
2008: Electrocution by Unearthly Trance
2009: With Echoes in the Movement of Stone by Minsk

maleohcc's top albums (overall) 1. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (534) 2. Schizma - Hardcore Enemies (443) 3. Hurt - Musisz to kupić (162) 4. Alice in Chains - Alice in Chains (161) 5. Alice in Chains - MTV Unplugged (160) 6. Hurt - Nowy początek (154) 7. Hurt - Dokładny Czas (140) 8. Hurt - Czat (128) 9. Gojira - From Mars to Sirius (127) 10. Hurt - Babilon / Serki Dietetyczne (123)

First, make a list of your top-20 artists overall. Then, for each of these artists, add the 8 most similar artists to your list. Delete any duplicates, count up the number of entries on your list and this will give you some idea of how eclectic your listening habits are. A score of 9 represents an extremely unvaried musical taste while a 160 represents an extremely varied one.

1.In Flames
-Soilwork
-Dark Tranquillity
-Sonic Syndicate
-Children of Bodom
-Arch Enemy
-Scar Symmetry
-Passenger

2.Morbid Angel
-Immolation
-Suffocation
-Nile
-Malevolent Creation

3.Entombed
-Dismember
-Death Breath
-Grave
-Unleashed
-Gorefest
-Nihilist
-Asphyx

4.Dream Theater
-Liquid Tension Experiment
-Jordan Rudess
-James LaBrie
-John Petrucci
-Transatlantic
-Symphony X
-Pain of Salvation

5.Obituary
-Pestilence
-Autopsy
-Bolt Thrower

6.Sepultura
-Soulfly
-Cavalera Conspiracy
-Slayer
-Nailbomb
-Kreator
-Pantera
-Ektomorf

7.Death
-Control Denied
-Atheist
-Necrophagist

8.Deicide
-Vital Remains
-Krisiun
-Hate Eternal

9.Carcass
-Napalm Death
-Blackstar Rising
-At the Gates

10.Metallica
-Megadeth
-Iron Maiden
-Anthrax
-Machine Head
-Motörhead

11.Opeth
-Bloodbath
-Katatonia
-Cynic
-Porcupine Tree
-Gojira
-Riverside

12.Alice in Chains
-Mad Season
-Jerry Cantrell
-Soundgarden
-Mother Love Bone
-Temple of the Dog
-Stone Temple Pilots

13.Pearl Jam
-Eddie Vedder
-Stone Gossard

14.King Diamond
-Mercyful Fate
-King Diamond & Black Rose
-Metal Church
-Halford
-Venom
-Judas Priest
-Running Wild

15.Absu
-Deströyer 666
-Melechesh
-Aura Noir
-Razor of Occam
-Averse Sefira
-Gospel Of Horns
-Archgoat

16.Cannibal Corpse
-Six Feet Under
-Dying Fetus

17.Al Di Meola
-Return to Forever
-John McLaughlin
-Paco De Lucia, Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin
-Allan Holdsworth
-Pat Metheny Group
-Jean-Luc Ponty
-Chick Corea

18.Bloodbath
-Hypocrisy
-Vomitory
-Decapitated

19.Atheist
-Gorguts
-Nocturnus
-Martyr
-Obscura

20.Led Zeppelin
-Pink Floyd
-Page & Plant
-Jimi Hendrix
-Robert Plant
-The Doors
-Cream
-The Jimi Hendrix Experience