I've been working on this list for ages, and because I had so little time to listen to any new music due to my army service, the list of unlistened albums just grew BIG and not until January did I have the time to solve the mess. But now it is ready!
Let's start with the one's I don't want to list with the others, for they are something I don't really enjoy but I still had (for some odd reasons) to check them out.
65daysofstatic -
The Destruction of Small Ideas
Okay, I was supposed to check this out a long time ago, but this album was the first one I really got interested about, so I checked it out.
Let me get one thing straight: this is actually a good album. The drum sound just ruins my mood to listen to this. The composions are good and the electronic stuff really bring a nice feel to the music. Maybe I just need to give this some more time. I really have to check their other releases though.
Behemoth -
The Apostasy
I'm really no friend of death metal, so this fails to impress me in any way. Cool riffs and stuff at times, but no interest. I have a feeling the two previous albums were a bit better.
Between the Buried and Me -
Colors
This album has been praised EVERYWHERE. I just haven't seen a bad review of it. Sad enough, it just didn't get me. The last half of
White Walls was cool, but that's about it.
Darkthrone -
F.O.A.D.
The opening track,
These Shores are Damned is awesome. After that, it's just no go. I can listen to this with no problems, but it just doesn't get me.
Deathspell Omega -
Fas
Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum failed to fill all of my excpectations. Nothing cool here. I have to check out
Kénôse. Maybe I can enjoy that one.
Down -
Over the Under
The third Down was the first one of the "trilogy" that I checked out and will probably be the last. =P
Musically somewhat similar to
Black Label Society, this is just too boring to me. As is BLS also, but not as much. It did contain a few good tracks, though.
Dødheimsgard -
Supervillain Outcast
I really like some stuff from
666 International and
Satanic Art, but there was obviously nothing for me on this one.
Impaled Nazarene -
Manifest
ImpNaz never was my favourite nor is it now. I can easily listen to this, but nothing is really "good".
Absence of War does not Mean Peace and
All that you Fear were much better.
Machine Head -
The Blackening
Being my first collision with Machine Head, I actually enjoyed this quite a bit. The style isn't just my type and way too boring. I just can't bring myself to evaluate this album efficiently, so I just threw it in here. :D
Mayhem -
Ordo Ad Chao
No this was unfortunate. I have heard nothing from these guys after their epitome,
De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. Ordo Ad Chao was in no way anything I expected. Must be the second to worst album from last year. :E
Sear -
Lamentations Of Destruction
This too was actually an enjoyable record, but the musical style, again, just isn't for me. So I stashed it here.
Tarja -
My Winter Storm
And now for the worst album of the year. This is just plain horrid. And I'm not even comparing this to the new
Nightwish-album.
Oasis is easily the best track, and actually the only good track. Somehow brings the japanese composer,
Toshio Masuda with his works on the anime series Naruto to my mind. Tarja's good voice is just a waste on this record.
That's it for the mixed random stuff. Following is the whole list from bottom to top. The positions may wary (maybe even a lot), but... Well, one has to try. =D
The bad ones
90.
Ozzy Osbourne -
Black Rain
I really haven't listened much of Ozzy's solo stuff, only random songs from some albums. That is, until now. Black Rain just fails on almost all aspects. The vocals are too compressed, Wylde's riffing doesn't really fit the songs and the composions are uninteresting. Tolerable tracks:
The Almighty Dollar and
Black Rain.
89.
Ari Koivunen -
Fuel For The Fire
Not as bad as I thought it would be.
Our Beast,
God of War,
Hear my Call,
Angels are Calling and
Stormwind are actually quite good tracks. This just lacks everything known as a soul. And Ari just isn't that good a singer yet. He needs time and maybe his own band. =P
88.
Ajattara -
Kalmanto 
This disappointed me. After the quite good
Äpäre Ruoja offers us with something this bad? The middle section beats the other tracks, but even they aren't that awesome.
87.
Megadeth -
United Abominations
I have never been a fan of Megadeth or Mustaine's singing, but after hearing the first single off the album, I just wanted to check this out. The remake of
A Tout Le Monde isn't as good as the original one (now that I have heard it), but neither is it as bad as people claim it to be.
Sleepwalker is also a great track, but after the first tree tracks I just lose my interest.
86.
Freedom Call -
Dimensions
Decrease that low level of heaviness that the previous Freedom Call-albums had and add some not-as-good compositions and you get Dimensions.
Blackened Sun is one hell of a track, and most of the stuff is tolerable, but WHY must there be a track like
Far Away? Just horrible.
85.
Sonata Arctica -
Unia 
Definitely better than
Reckoning Night, but still not very good. Some good tracks (like the first three and the last one) included and the others are mediocre or not even that. Fails to include a great song (like
My Selene on the previous one).
The mediocre
84.
Iced Earth -
Framing Armageddon
Hey, Schaffer and the first entry in the Something Wicked story! You know what? YOU SUCCEEDED IN DISAPPOINTING ME GREATLY. After the great
The Glorious Burden (which is actually their best release so far) you just make up this? This self-repeating excuse of an album. Too long. Too much interludes. Most of the compositions lack hooks, that Schaffer's songwriting is normally so full of. I really like Owens' vocals (not as much as Barlow's, obviously), but they seem to lack all power and emotion.
...let's not be that harsh. =P
The Clouding,
The Order of the Rose, the first part of
Something Wicked and some other songs are good, really they are! Maybe even great. But this is just so... WRONG! I can't even clearly remember the last half of the album, because every song is just so similar to the other. This one has FAIL written all over it.
I hope the second part with MATT FUCKIN' BARLOW goes better. I really do.
83.
Ensiferum -
Victory Songs
The opener,
Ad Victoriam is great, maybe even their best intro track so far (
Ferrum Aeternum is cool too :P). It really gets me excited about this album. The album just has to be great. How wrong I can be...
The exchange of the vocalist, from Mäenpää to Lindroos just was the wrong step. Lindroos has never impressed me with his delivery, luckily he doesn't sing the clean parts here... which Toivonen does pretty well actually. At least those one I can enjoy.
Wanderer is a great track, with Lindroos keeping his mouth shut. It's epic and stuff.
Victory Song is the other one of the two good songs on this album, with Finnish-parts and all. Very nostalgic! The rest is just a part of my daily morning crap.
82.
Eppu Normaali -
Syvään Päähän
Haistakoon veen is a great track, a bit in the vein of their old stuff. The others are just mainly mediocre. Nothing horrible here, though. Still, i'm pretty much sticking with their oldies. Not even as good as their previous one.
81.
Swallow the Sun -
Hope
I really looked forward to this album. After two awesome albums these guys just couldn't fail. How wrong I was. The album starts with
Hope, a great, growing opener. After that we get two pretty similar tracks with the latter being starred by Jonas Renkse of
Katatonia-fame. A great vocal part from him, by the way. Next in the line is the single,
Don't Fall Asleep. Awesome track, just love it. The next three tracks are pretty mediocre. The last one gets my mood up a bit, but it isn't even as good as Don't Fall Asleep and Hope. A great track, all together. With three great tracks and the rest being just similar to each other and in all ways mediocre, I am feeling REALLY disappointed.
80.
Dir en grey -
THE MARROW OF A BONE
I'm not a fan of these guys, but after being repeatedly recommened by some friends, I just could not to listen to this. The opener is great. A slow track with no absurd screams from Kyo. Some other slower tracks I also enjoy, but most of the stuff just falls into mediocrity. Not a bad efford at all, though. I have also heard some of their older albums, but I just can't remember how they were like.
79.
Gamma Ray - Land of the Free Part II
A bunch of good tracks, some
Iron Maiden-rip offs and a masterpiece called
Empress. I haven't heard the original
Land of the Free, so there isn't any base of comparison, but this isn't so bad.
78.
Epica -
The Divine Conspiracy 
The first album from their discography that I dared to check out. The stuff is pretty usual, but Simone is a good vocalist and still there's something that makes me enjoy this more than just a bit. Obviously the album is too long.
77.
Kamelot -
Ghost Opera
After the absolutely awesome
The Black Halo I was waiting for yet another great release from them. But that I just didn't get... The great intro,
Solitaire brings us to
Rule the World, which is a great track... weren't it for the absolutely horrid chorus. And this is the problem in most of the tracks on this album. They are otherwise good or even great, but the choruses are just... BAD.
The Human Stain and
Anthem are the only awesome tracks here, being backed up by
Ghost Opera,
Blücher and
Love you to Death. The rest... Puh-lease.
76.
Nine Inch Nails -
Year Zero
Listening to this album I can't help but feel disappointed. About half of the tracks are great or good, but the rest are just too mediocre. That is something I'm not used to, when it comes to Reznor. There is also too much awkward noises on some tracks, and some parts just bring the previous (and great!) release,
With Teeth to my mind.
75.
Dream Theater -
Systematic Chaos
Octavarium was a great effort from DT and finally brought them back to the top after two not-that-good albums. Systematic Chaos takes a warp back at
Train of Thought, and not in a good way. I'm not really sure which of them is the better one, but this is just too much after Octavarium.
I was so shocked after I first heard this, that I instantly doomed this as their worst effort ever. Well, luckily things look a BIT better now. There's still much wanking with the guitars and keyboards, but luckily it's gotten better since
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence and ToT.
The Dark Eternal Night is maybe the strongest effort on the album, despite the compressed vocals. The chorus is cool and the riffs are nice. A bit too long, perhaps, but great.
The Ministry of Lost Souls would easily be the best track, weren't it for the 5-minute wanking in the middle. This massive ballad would be just AWESOME without that, now it leaves me a bit cold, still being a great effort. The radio tracks are quite mediocre, with both lacking a good chorus.
Constant Motion also irritates me with LaBrie having trouble deciding whether to be Mustaine, Hetfield or himself. The opus,
In the Presence of Enemies is good, but nothing great. The latest addition to the AA-suite, now as a long ballad, isn't anything special.
Prophets of War... let us not speak about it.
The "quite good" ones
74.
Björk -
Volta
I'm not a fan of Björk, but I can enjoy a bit of her music every once in a while.
Earth Intruders,
Dull Flame of Desire,
Declare Independence and some other tracks are cool.
73.
Insert Remedy -
A state of constant change
I was strongly recommended to listen this, but it failed to fulfill the hopes I had set for it.
And Bitter Suffering is an awesome track, but otherwise the album is not that special.
72.
Minotauri -
II
The first release I heard from these guys and it wasn't really as good as I expected. It's fine, all around.
71.
Soilwork -
Sworn to a Great Divide
Sworn to a Great Divide is definitely a improvement from their last two records. It's nothing special, but enjoyable, all in all.
70.
Havoc Unit -
h.IV+
I really waited for this album. Ever since
...and Oceans changed their name to HU I have been expecting this. I didn't check any of the split-releases or samples, so this was really my first touch with their material. I'm a bit disappointed though, this is nowhere as good as ...aO was. It's listenable, but it really doesn't get truly enjoyable before
Man Vs. Flesh starts. All the tracks after that are great too.
69.
Rush -
Snakes and Arrows
I haven't heard anything from these prog-legends before this album, but I sure have to check their older stuff out. The album starts with a rocker,
Far Cry, and it really is a great track. The album is very enjoyable, but nothing special.
68.
Dimmu Borgir -
In Sorte Diaboli
This was better than I expected. The single track isn't even the best one. Vortex's clean vocals are as great as ever and the compositions are better than on the previous album.
67.
Foo Fighters -
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Impressed by the single track,
The Pretender, i just had to check this out. It turned out it's full of enjoyable rock music! I have to check their former releases too.
66.
Aereogramme -
My Heart Has A Wish That You Would Not Go
This is the first post-rock (post-metal not included) band that I've listened to that has vocals and this is also the first release from them that grabbed my attention. The vocals aren't anything special, but fit the music quite well. The compositions are the things that don't pass my test with flying colors. Some repetitive choruses that irritate me mixed with some really basic structures and conclusions lower the points a bit. It gets better after a rough start.
65.
Hidria Spacefolk -
Symetria
I'm not really into the psychedelic side of progressive rock (enter:
Kingston Wall), but leaving the crazy stuff out and centering on atmospheres really brings a great feel to the music. Their previous releases have been praised, I must check them out.
64.
Mors Principium Est -
Liberation = Termination
Some pretty basic melodic death metal. Some good stuff after the two mediocre tracks at the beginning. Their second album is great, I hear.
63.
Battlelore -
Evernight
Some folky Tolkien-based stuff. Nothing special, but an improve. Best so far. The riff in the opener is a killer.
62.
The Ocean -
Precambrian
Being praised everywhere, I had to take a spin or few with this. The first disc, Hadean/Archaean is pretty mediocre with varying musical styles being presented. A great opener, gladly it's short. The second disc, Proterozoic is a bit better, with a good length and cool compositions. The varying isn't as drastic as on the first disc, which is a good thing. Good overall. Put together this is just too long to listen to and the mixed feelings with Hadean/Archaean lower the score. A cool package, btw.
61.
Vintersorg -
Solens rötter
More organic than
The Focusing Blur and
Visions from the Spiral Generator with lyrics all-Swedish now. Nothing really bad, but maybe a bit too long.
60.
Drudkh -
Estrangement
A weak drum sound lowers the score, but overall it's really enjoyable.
59.
Nightingale -
White Darkness
Haven't heard these guys before, but it really picked up my interest (Dan Swanö!).
The Fields of Life is a killer, but otherwise there isn't anythin really special. Maybe the previous releases are better, with more of Dan's songwriting.
58.
Thunderstone -
Evolution 4.0
After almost getting to the Eurovision-contest (second, beaten by
Hanna Pakarinen), I feared this album would be a total disaster. Luckily it's not. Of course it's not
Tools of Destruction or
The Burning, but it's full of good songs. And even the hits,
Forevermore and
Face in the Mirror are good.
57.
Agua de Annique -
Air
I haven't heard that much
The Gathering yet, but I must admit that Anneke is a damn good vocalist. This album isn't anything special, but shows off her voice quite well mixed with some soft rock songs.
56.
Blackfield -
Blackfield II
Not being a huge
Porcupine Tree fan, but still liking it quite a bit I, for some reason, still wanted to check this poprock-outfit out. I haven't heard the debut, but this is pretty good stuff. Nicely calm, and Wilson's voice is pretty good. I couldn't distinguish the difference in Wilson's and Geffen's vocals, so I guess Geffen is a pretty nice vocalist too.
55.
ShamRain -
Goodbye To All That
Delivering a softer side of Finnish gothic rock, ShamRain is far more better than the vocalist-Tauriainen's own band,
Entwine. Their third record is quite good with highlights like
Shallow Delusion and
Goodbyes Painted Black. I have to check the two previous albums too.
The good ones
54.
Candlemass -
King of the Grey Islands
With Messiah Marcolin leaving again, the shoes of the vocalist were filled by Robert Lowe (of
Solitude Aeternus-fame). He is quite a good vocalist, but not as good as Messiah obviously. The album is filled with good tracks with no real low-points. I still haven't checked their old stuff, just their previous, selftitled album.
53.
Before the Dawn -
Deadlight
A clear improvement from the debut album. I haven't heard the two albums in the middle of these, but that doesn't matter now.
Reign of Fire and
... gain the first price on this one, but
Faithless and some other tracks are nice too. Nothing really bad here. The clean vocals work in some parts, but somewhere they are just too weak, as presented on the opening track,
Wrath.
52.
Turisas -
The Varangian Way
The debut album of these guys failed to impress me in any ways, but this time the story is a whole lot different. A lot of improvement has happened. The songwriting is way better and the vocals are now more tolerable (but still not great or anything).
To Holmgard and Beyond opens the album with a blast, being epic as hell. The epicness doesn't come to the same level until the ending track,
Miklagard Overture.
KONSANTINOPOLIS! Now what would be more epic.
A Portage to Unknown and the last half of
The Dnieper Rapids are awesome too, otherwise some mediocre and somewhat good stuff.
51.
Therion -
Gothic Kabbalah
Sirius B/Lemuria was a great dual release, but this one doesn't get as good as that. The first disc is great, with no clearly bad tracks, but I lose my interest during the middle half of the second disc. As a surprise, the last few tracks manage to suprise me. A bit too long, but good.
50.
Riverside -
Rapid Eye Movement
Relaxating soundscapes, a fine touch of progressive rock and a great vocalist. That's what Riverside is to me. They don't fail me on their newest release either, a good album with a bunch of great tracks.
49.
Dauntless -
Execute The Fact
I'm not a friend of thrash metal, but Dauntless' mix with death metal is just so damn hard, I can't but like this album. It's rocking my fuckin' socks off. =D
Nothing too great, after all, but a good listen.
48.
Finntroll -
Ur Jordens Djup
They have loosened on the funny stuff and are now more serious about this. ...or so it would seem. Any way, better than
Nattfödd. The new vocalist ain't that bad either.
47.
Paradise Lost -
In Requiem
At some point I listened to
Draconian Times and
Icon, but didn't really understand them at all. But this is a different story. Great melodies, great vocals and great songs all together. I have to check the older ones again!
46.
Bruce Springsteen -
Magic
I bought this as a christmas present to my dad and gave it a spin on a whim. And it turned out it was pretty good. I had heard the single,
Radio Nowhere before and it's great, but the album is filled with other great tracks too. Some songs in the middle are maybe a bit boring, but they go too.
45.
Elend -
A World in Their Screams
I have liked Elend since my friend showed it to me a few years ago, but they have never been anything that special to me. Accompanying this, I've heard the two previous albums, both being great too.
Winds Devouring Men is propably my favourite. The mood on this album is as haunting as ever with some very disturbing elements. Love 'em, it's a pity they quit. :/
44.
The Flower Kings -
The Sum Of No Evil
Being their first release that I've listened to, this really suprised me with it's happy and a bit hippy feeling. Not a single bad moment on the album.
43.
Marduk -
Rom 5:12
I'm not really a fan of this kind of black metal, but Marduk really got me this time. The aggressive style combined with good sounds works really well.
42.
Radiohead -
In Rainbows
Again, being recommended by a friend, In Rainbows grew on me pretty fast. Good overall, but
Reckoner really kicks some style to this. Every song after that is great.
41.
Saul Williams -
The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!
Now how would have thought that a rap-album would appear here. Being completely outside my taste for music, Niggy surprised me, like, totally. Produced by
Nine Inch Nails's Trent Reznor and that is something that you really can see. Way better than NIN's this year's effort,
Year Zero. Williams is a good rapper and (!) singer. The lyrics work very well and the background music is cool.
No One Ever Does is awesome.
40.
*shels -
Sea of the Dying Dhow
A fine mixture of post-rock and post-metal, *shels seemed like nothing new, but managed to offer me a good album. Nothing really special here.
39.
Type O Negative -
Dead Again
I was really disappointed with
Life is Killing Me, but Dead Again is actually a very good record. Every song is great, and there are absolutely no low-points here. For a Type O-fan this is a pure 5/5-album, I'm sure of it. For me, it loses one point for being a tad too long and I must point that I really am not into the type of gothic stuff that Type O plays. Competing with
October Rust of the best album -title! (I haven't heard
World Coming Down or the first three releases, sadly.)
38.
Do Make Say Think -
You, You're A History In Rust
Again, being something that seemed like normal and just basic post-rock, DMST surprised me by bying much more than that. At many parts this really brought
Grails to my mind, with similar use of instruments, melodies and the overall sound. Very interesting release, indeed.
37.
Porcupine Tree -
Fear of a Blank Planet
A clear improvement from
Deadwing, FoaBP provides us with a mixture of styles starting from post-rock, going through ambient and ending in metal. The "ballads"
My Ashes and
Sentimental are both good, the latter being absolutely fantastic and the best track on the album. The magnum opus,
Anesthetize didn't get me at first, but it's definitely a grower.
Way out of Here has a mindblowing chorus and a really good beginning, but the wanking at the end just isn't for me. The title track is a bit mediocre and I'm not into
Sleep Together, but this is a good album, non the less!
36.
After Forever -
After Forever
A pretty good symphonic power metal release, with Floor's beautiful operatic vocals (that really works with the more rocking approach too!) and some good beastly growls from what's-his-face.
Energize Me,
Dischord,
Cry with a Smile... bunch of good tracks here.
35.
Ghost Brigade -
Guided By Fire
The debut album of these guys is pretty good, and the mixture of some post-metal and something... well, something. It's in no way "pure post-metal", but the influence is strong. Great tracks just come from every hole, with
Minus Side as the jewel. Gets a bit boring towards the end. But only a bit.
34.
Novembers Doom -
The Novella Reservoir
This is something, that I have planned to check out a loooong time ago, but just haven't got the time. The Novella Reservoir is a good album, with a few mediocre tracks during the second half. Otherwise, great compositions. The vocals are a bit beyond me, though.
33.
Helloween -
Gambling With The Devil
Helloween surprised me by compiling a pretty good album.
Final Fortune and
Paint a New World are not as good as the other tracks. This albums has been compared with
The Dark Ride, which is of course better, but not even by miles!
32.
Minsk -
The Ritual Fires of Abandonment
A small camp fire blazing with the smallest possible flame, barely even aflame. Sometimes a flare bursts from between the embers and heats it up a little. That's how I see this album. Great, but maybe a bit generic in the end.
31.
Rosetta -
Wake/Lift
Opens up with the awesome
Red in Tooth and Claw. Sadly, the album doesn't pick up to the quality of that song at any point.
Lift and
Tement Noise are pretty basic stuff, even slightly boring, but
Wake and
Monument are great.
30.
Caspian -
The Four Trees
Some pretty basic post-rock, but surprisingly it's full of hooks. Take the drums from
Book IX. Now how amazing is that? :D
29.
Nightwish -
Dark Passion Play
Not daring to compare Anette and Tarja, I just like this one!
Cadence of Her Last Breath is pretty weak, but
Whoever Brings the Night is absolutely horrible. Their worst effort since
Angels Fall First-era stuff. Tuomas, please, restrict Emppu from writing anymore songs. :(
A clear improvement from
Once.
The great ones
28.
Symphony X -
Paradise Lost
Not as good as
The Odyssey, and clearly not as good as people tend to tell ya. No weak songs, but in it's entirety it gets a bit boring, as some of the songs are quite similar to each other.
Set the World on Fire and
Paradise Lost dominate the other songs completely.
27.
Novembre -
The Blue
Surprised me with being actually really good. A tad too long, but it really isn't that big a bother.
26.
Tristania -
Illumination
Softer and lighter when compared to previous releases, this really serves well as Vibeke's swan song in the band. Vibeke sings a LOT here, much more than on older releases. The album is full of good songs, and none of them is weak.
25.
Fall of the Leafe -
Aerolithe
Slightly weaker than
Vantage. On Aerolithe FotL have improved their sound and it sounds really fresh.
Minor Nuisance is just what it's name implies, a minor nuisance due to it's repetitive nature. Sadly the band broke up last autumn. :I
24.
Viikate -
Marraskuun Lauluja I
The heavier of the two albums released last year, the only flaw this release really has is that it's not diverse enough. Filled with awesome songs, though. A natural follower for
Unholan urut, but doesn't even come near it's brilliance.
23.
Dark Tranquillity -
Fiction
DT diversed it's style a bit, and it really works. Of course this isn't
Projector (when it comes to diversity), but it's a really great album. Some tracks are a bit similar with each other, but no weak links here.
22.
Samael -
Solar Soul
After
Reign of Light and
Era One Samael decided to take a small step backwards. The outcome is something from between
Passage and Reign of Light. It's a great album, but just isn't Reign of Light. =P
21.
Viikate -
Marraskuun Lauluja II
Being more diverse than the first part, this album beats the crap out of it. =P
Kaarle's vocals seem slightly weak, but that might just be me. The
Amorphis-cover is cool and fits the album's style well.
20.
Wolves in the Throne Room -
Two Hunters
The opening track has almost a post-rocking feeling to it, the way it just floats through is awesome. The other tracks are just great black metal with a good atmosphere. Everything works here.
19.
Devin Townsend -
Ziltoid the Omniscient
Enter Devin's crazy-album. The plot of this album is just hilarious, but it doesn't really affect the music in a bad way, luckily.
By Your Command,
Ziltoidia Attaxx!,
Solar Winds... Great songs everywhere. And the storytelling is awesome too. :D
18.
Pelican -
City Of Echoes
Following the simply awesome
The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw, Pelican decided to loosen up a little. Long, heavy songs are gone and replaced with shorter, lighter and catchier songs. This doesn't get over the previous album, but still manages to be a very good album, that I enjoy thoroughly.
17.
Mokoma -
Luihin ja Ytimiin
After releasing two near-perfect albums, Mokoma have fallen into mediocrity. ...well, not really, but this album fails to fill the shoes that
Kuoleman laulukunnaat left empty. The black metal elements here are a really fresh idea, and work really well! Annala's vocals are awesome as always (and he tries out new stuff also. OLEN ELÄIN!). Some of the songs just are weaker than others. And I sense
Sarvipää ripping off their old material, like
Vade Retro, Satana and
Punainen kukko. It might be just me, though.
16.
Pain of Salvation -
Scarsick
After
"BE", that is obviously the best damn album ever written, I knew PoS couldn't stand up to that. Scarsick still managed to shock me completely. Daniel rapping, lyrics about MTV cribs... wtf is this. Well, after the shock it really turned out to be a great album.
Scarsick,
Cribcaged,
Kingdom of Loss,
Idiocracy and
Enter Rain (especially the last one) are awesome as hell. The only one's I'm not fully in tune with are
Mrs. Modern Mother Mary and
Flame to the Moth. I'm not really being bothered by the fact that we have The Perfect Element Part II here.
15.
Amorphis -
Silent Waters
How I waited and waited for this album... The single,
Silent Waters didn't get me at first and I got a bit worried. Well, I wasn't completely wrong to feel like that. This clearly isn't
Elegy or
Tuonela, but not even
Eclipse or
Am Universum... Basically there are no weak links here, but all the slightly weaker tracks (
Towards and Against,
I of Crimson Blood,
Her Alone) being stashed in the middle of the album lowers the score. Some great compositions here, though. And Silent Waters turned out to be one hell of a song!
14.
Threshold -
Dead Reckoning
Some easy-going prog from the UK with an awesome vocalist like McDermott. I really like this stuff. Epics like
Hollow,
Pilot in the Sky of Dreams,
Disappear,
Safe to Fly and
One Degree Down just dominate the scenery.
13.
Antimatter -
Leaving Eden
Being my first touch with the band, Leaving Eden really got me. The songwriting is top-notch, I just can't but like this. Great for laying in bed. Btw, the guitars in
Ghosts remind me of
Metallica's
Fade to Black. Right, anyone?
12.
Shiina Ringo -
heisei fuuzoku
This would be a full 5/5 release, weren't it for the fact that some of the songs are remakes. There's no problem with that, but after releasing
Singles Box the previous year, she really needs to come up with some new stuff for her solo albums. The songs are great, though, so I'm not really complaining.
11.
Jesu -
Conqueror
Better when compared to their previous full-length, but still easily beaten by the
Silver EP. The album is a lot lighter in style than
Jesu, and it works for Jesu really well. Thoroughly enjoyable.
10.
God Is an Astronaut -
Far From Refuge
This one suprised me (surprising?). Again, I expected to hear just some basic post-rock, but the compositions are so awesome here, that I can't help but love it. A few songs in the end are a bit (but only a bit!) weaker, so that lowers the score.
The best of 2007
9.
Explosions in the Sky -
All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone
This album just flows through different sceneries... it's awesome! No weak tracks. Great atmosphere. Their best release so far!
8.
Moonsorrow -
V: Hävitetty
This ain't as good as their previous album,
Verisäkeet, but still manages to be great as hell. Two LONG songs is what this is, and oh my GOD how good the first one is. The slightly weaker track #2 lowers the score a tiny bit.
7.
Tokyo Jihen -
Variety
The main aspect on the album that you need to realise is that the songs aren't composed by Ringo, but the other band members. Now, being used to hear Ringo sing only stuff composed by herself, this was a bit difficult to listen to. But I was worried for nothing, the songwriting is still top-notch with Ringo's brilliant voice souring through the air. The male vocalist was great too! The album is not as good as the previous one,
Adult, but still awesome.
6.
Reverend Bizarre -
III: So Long Suckers
The last album of the Bizarre Reverend, sadly, opens up to be something, that they have never released before, and at the same time easily their best effort! Filled with songs like
Ceasar Forever,
Anywhere out of this World and
They Used Dark Forces / Teutonic Witch this album just has SUCCESS painted all over it. Albert's vocals are better than ever and the compositions just beat basically anything from their previous releases (well, some tracks like
Doom over the World are of course still pure gold :P).
5.
Primordial -
To The Nameless Dead
I don't really know why this is the first album I've heard from these guys, but... well. It turned out to be worth every praise it's gotten. This is just thoroughly awesome, no discussing about that.
4.
Ulver -
Shadows of the Sun
After hearing that ULVER are releasing a new album I really got worked up.
Blood Inside was great, but I was hungry for more and even better stuff. Well, luckily that's just what I got. Not perhaps beating the likes of
Kveldssanger,
Perdition City or
Svidd Neger, this is still among the best of Ulver. The
Black Sabbath-cover,
Solitude is great btw. The step back to more organic and somewhat "closer to the nature" sounds really did good to Ulver.
3.
CMX -
Talvikuningas
Okay, Talvikuningas is perhaps the biggest surprise of the year. I have never really liked CMX and haven't heard a single album before this one. But Talvikuningas blows my mind everytime I listen to it. With science fiction-related lyrics, a heavier approach (or so I believe) and a progressive touch A.W. Yrjänä really blew the bank this time. Just listen to
Kaikkivaltias, that should explain everything. =P
2.
Neurosis -
Given to the Rising
Not having heard
Through Silver in Blood (yes, I have high hopes for it!) yet, I consider this as Neurosis' best record. Just completely awesome from start to beginning. My favourite track is propably
Origin. A friend of mine had a good theory about the song titles. The album is all about a really bad hangover! Look into it and you'll realise he just can't be wrong. ;D
The spoken parts work really well.
Shadow is just... brilliant.
1.
Grails -
Burning Off Impurities
Now here we have a surpriser as the winner. Grails with their slightly post-rocking music is really something I like. All their releases so far have been great, but this tops every single one of them (which I didn't think they could do)! The atmosphere is just relaxating in every possible way, but the music is still totally FILLED with hooks that catch every single time I listen to this album. Great, great, great, great.
...did I mention that this album is AWESOME?
Phew, that's it. Finally it is ready! The year 2007 was very good, producing lots of great albums.
...I don't think I have nothing more to say. Comments, please! =P
ShamRain
F-F-F-Falling :DD
