First top ten in years

[Random Axe]

This is the first one of these I’ve done in a few years as I am generally terrible at ranking music. However, 202 is an unusual year and I’ve had so many good albums and older discoveries that I feel for sanity’s sake I should make a list. This year was so great that instead of my normal top five I’ve expanded.

10A Paralydium/Worlds Beyond – Yes, a tie with Pyramid Theorem. This is crunchy, punchy prog metal in the style of Pagan’s Mind without the bombast. The production is super clear but to me a bit sterile, so not a lot of warmth and depth. However, this is a fantastic album that I’ll be listening to many years from now.

10. Pyramid Theorem/Beyond the Exosphere – It takes both musical chops and balls to open an album with a 19-minute epic. I finally warmed up to that and it’s pretty great. The rest of the album is some tasty slices of prog that skirts the rock/metal line.

9. Taskaha s/t - This one really floored me and truly came out of nowhere, well actually Norway. This is neo prog that is somewhere between Enchant and Hourglass. The melodies/harmonies are smooth with a great production. It’s only digital for now but they may release physical early 2021.

8. Kansas/Absence of Presence – I am not much of a Kansas fan. Outside of a greatest hits comp and a few deep tracks I’ve just never really connected with the band. What I do like from them I REALLY like, the rest I never had much interest in. So, without any prior attachment to the band or its members, this is seriously refreshing. I really like the focused songwriting on this and the vocals are superb. This may be blasphemous but it’s my favorite Kansas album.

7. Echosoul/End of Darkness – This one hit me late in the year. As mentioned elsewhere, I’m not a Ripper Owens fan. He’s just not for me, and that’s fine. He sings on two of these songs. The standout is Rob Lundgren, who does vocals on the rest. He’s got a huge catalog of cover songs on youtube and I think 8 albums full of them. Imagine a Soto and Scheepers hybrid. He’s kinda like that. The music is just super melodic US powermetal that has some Iced Earth and Primal Fear influences.

6. Judicator/Let There Be Nothing – This is one of my discoveries during the year of Covid. This is not my normal listening at all. The speedy Euro bands like Rhapsody, Blind Guardian, Dragonforce, Dragony, Dragon Tears, Dragonheart or whatever dragon and elf bands are out there. This stuff is just fantastic, and that’s primarily from the vocals of John Yelland. He crafts super melodic choruses that just work for me. Going back, I’ve never had a traditional powermetal album in my top lists, so that should say something about this one. Currently the best American power metal band.

5. Black Fate/Ithaca – I payed with the idea of dropping them down the list simply because I still don’t have the album. This happened with the previous in that there were no US vendors at the time of release so I ordered from the label. That’s in Italy, and they shipped three weeks after I placed the order. Anyway, this is ridiculously catchy stuff and instantly memorable. And that’s just from youtube. Yeah, there’s the Conception clone thing and it’s mostly true. While he sounds dead on Khan, he writes better choruses and unconventional melodic lines that Roy never attempted. This is better than the last album, and that one was great.

4. Awake By Design – I have to thank Stevie for the rec on this one. They have two previous albums but I’d not heard of them. This is warm, inviting and lush prog with fantastic key/guitar interplay. I always really liked Ascension Theory even though the production wasn’t great and I dig Leon Ozug’s vocals. This is more of a modern production version of them. There’s really good variety in the songs as well. Outstanding release.

3. Hittman/Destory All Humans – Surprise of the year for me. I vaguely remember these guys from late 80s and I think I had a cassette. This is a spectacular return to form for most and a debut to me. They managed to capture a QR vibe without being dated. I’m likely way off but once this album clicked with me I was thinking they were kinda like Superior a bit as well. They have a little Criss Oliva going in the guitars too, especially on the title track. This is one of those albums you play on a road trip and never even think about the skip button.

2. Pinnacle Point/Symphony of Mind – This is going to directly contradict what I said above about Kansas. This album absolutely slays with tons of energy and intelligence. They are essentially a Kansas clone but with modern production, heavier guitar and Jerome Mazza who really channels the best years of Walsh. I could have done without having a violin in every song but that’s a minor gripe compared to the awesomeness they released. It’s strange but the debut from them didn’t register with me at all. I need to back to that one.

1. Fates Warning/LDGN – I suppose it was never in question. Even though it took me a couple of weeks to warm up to this one, there was pretty much no way this wouldn’t end up in my top spot. My sentiment and their pedigree were too much to overcome. Initially I thought this was a low energy swan song. I also didn’t care for Jim’s guitar tones on this one. But, there’s a lot of subtle nuances here that I didn’t pick up on at first. Plus, Ray is a goddam beast on this. Obviously he kept his chops together with the solo album, and this appears to be a continuation of that melody-wise. I think he was writing these at the same time. I still by far prefer Theories of Flight, but this is great too in it’s own melancholy way.

[introclaus]

This is the first one of these I’ve done in a few years as I am generally terrible at ranking music. However, 202 is an unusual year and I’ve had so many good albums and older discoveries that I feel for sanity’s sake I should make a list. This year was so great that instead of my normal top five I’ve expanded.

10A Paralydium/Worlds Beyond – Yes, a tie with Pyramid Theorem. This is crunchy, punchy prog metal in the style of Pagan’s Mind without the bombast. The production is super clear but to me a bit sterile, so not a lot of warmth and depth. However, this is a fantastic album that I’ll be listening to many years from now.

10. Pyramid Theorem/Beyond the Exosphere – It takes both musical chops and balls to open an album with a 19-minute epic. I finally warmed up to that and it’s pretty great. The rest of the album is some tasty slices of prog that skirts the rock/metal line.

9. Taskaha s/t - This one really floored me and truly came out of nowhere, well actually Norway. This is neo prog that is somewhere between Enchant and Hourglass. The melodies/harmonies are smooth with a great production. It’s only digital for now but they may release physical early 2021.

8. Kansas/Absence of Presence – I am not much of a Kansas fan. Outside of a greatest hits comp and a few deep tracks I’ve just never really connected with the band. What I do like from them I REALLY like, the rest I never had much interest in. So, without any prior attachment to the band or its members, this is seriously refreshing. I really like the focused songwriting on this and the vocals are superb. This may be blasphemous but it’s my favorite Kansas album.

7. Echosoul/End of Darkness – This one hit me late in the year. As mentioned elsewhere, I’m not a Ripper Owens fan. He’s just not for me, and that’s fine. He sings on two of these songs. The standout is Rob Lundgren, who does vocals on the rest. He’s got a huge catalog of cover songs on youtube and I think 8 albums full of them. Imagine a Soto and Scheepers hybrid. He’s kinda like that. The music is just super melodic US powermetal that has some Iced Earth and Primal Fear influences.

6. Judicator/Let There Be Nothing – This is one of my discoveries during the year of Covid. This is not my normal listening at all. The speedy Euro bands like Rhapsody, Blind Guardian, Dragonforce, Dragony, Dragon Tears, Dragonheart or whatever dragon and elf bands are out there. This stuff is just fantastic, and that’s primarily from the vocals of John Yelland. He crafts super melodic choruses that just work for me. Going back, I’ve never had a traditional powermetal album in my top lists, so that should say something about this one. Currently the best American power metal band.

5. Black Fate/Ithaca – I payed with the idea of dropping them down the list simply because I still don’t have the album. This happened with the previous in that there were no US vendors at the time of release so I ordered from the label. That’s in Italy, and they shipped three weeks after I placed the order. Anyway, this is ridiculously catchy stuff and instantly memorable. And that’s just from youtube. Yeah, there’s the Conception clone thing and it’s mostly true. While he sounds dead on Khan, he writes better choruses and unconventional melodic lines that Roy never attempted. This is better than the last album, and that one was great.

4. Awake By Design – I have to thank Stevie for the rec on this one. They have two previous albums but I’d not heard of them. This is warm, inviting and lush prog with fantastic key/guitar interplay. I always really liked Ascension Theory even though the production wasn’t great and I dig Leon Ozug’s vocals. This is more of a modern production version of them. There’s really good variety in the songs as well. Outstanding release.

3. Hittman/Destory All Humans – Surprise of the year for me. I vaguely remember these guys from late 80s and I think I had a cassette. This is a spectacular return to form for most and a debut to me. They managed to capture a QR vibe without being dated. I’m likely way off but once this album clicked with me I was thinking they were kinda like Superior a bit as well. They have a little Criss Oliva going in the guitars too, especially on the title track. This is one of those albums you play on a road trip and never even think about the skip button.

2. Pinnacle Point/Symphony of Mind – This is going to directly contradict what I said above about Kansas. This album absolutely slays with tons of energy and intelligence. They are essentially a Kansas clone but with modern production, heavier guitar and Jerome Mazza who really channels the best years of Walsh. I could have done without having a violin in every song but that’s a minor gripe compared to the awesomeness they released. It’s strange but the debut from them didn’t register with me at all. I need to back to that one.

1. Fates Warning/LDGN – I suppose it was never in question. Even though it took me a couple of weeks to warm up to this one, there was pretty much no way this wouldn’t end up in my top spot. My sentiment and their pedigree were too much to overcome. Initially I thought this was a low energy swan song. I also didn’t care for Jim’s guitar tones on this one. But, there’s a lot of subtle nuances here that I didn’t pick up on at first. Plus, Ray is a goddam beast on this. Obviously he kept his chops together with the solo album, and this appears to be a continuation of that melody-wise. I think he was writing these at the same time. I still by far prefer Theories of Flight, but this is great too in it’s own melancholy way.

Great list - very “true” to the prog rock/metal genre (you must be Larry’s age haha).

7 of these 11 makes it onto my list although none of them in top 10.

[Random Axe]

Ha!

I'm a few years behind Larry, but I have the same mental blocks sometimes. My musical tastes are quite myopic. I have so many other things happening with my wife's health and stuff I'm currently working on with toys, comic books and banking I tend to at least keep my music streamlined and not venture out too far. I'm the same way with food, I don't need much variety.

[LarryD]

We have 4 discs in common in our top 10 ...... but that is a great list bro. I'd like to address each one shortly ........

[Random Axe]

I already have another possible entry into this list. Flames of Heaven is pretty freakin great. It's symphonic metal from Italy with just sickly ridiculous choruses. It was released on 11/20 so I'm just now discovering this.

https://youtu.be/J_A9XrEPWmw

[LarryD]

Great list !!!!!!!

10A Paralydium/Worlds Beyond – Yes, a tie with Pyramid Theorem. This is crunchy, punchy prog metal in the style of Pagan’s Mind without the bombast. The production is super clear but to me a bit sterile, so not a lot of warmth and depth. However, this is a fantastic album that I’ll be listening to many years from now.

10. Pyramid Theorem/Beyond the Exosphere – It takes both musical chops and balls to open an album with a 19-minute epic. I finally warmed up to that and it’s pretty great. The rest of the album is some tasty slices of prog that skirts the rock/metal line.

***So cool that you did it this way .....and creepy that I also pit these two up against each other. I eliminated one of them in my list, as I opted for one being better to me than the other. However, I thought the opposite of Paralydium - I thought there was more warmth in it than there was in P-Theorem. I also liked the Paralydium singer just a bit over the P-T singer but both are great. And yes - balls galore when you open up with a 19-min song. Kudos to them for doing that......

8. Kansas/Absence of Presence – I am not much of a Kansas fan. Outside of a greatest hits comp and a few deep tracks I’ve just never really connected with the band. What I do like from them I REALLY like, the rest I never had much interest in. So, without any prior attachment to the band or its members, this is seriously refreshing. I really like the focused songwriting on this and the vocals are superb. This may be blasphemous but it’s my favorite Kansas album.

***Also cool that you put this one and Pinnacle Point on the list. I prefer the Pinnacle Point over this and we have covered that ground before. Ronnie is a good choice for a singer, but his nasally tone does start to get to me after awhile, and I do find the music to be excellent on the new Kansas, but there is something about the freshness and energy of the P-Point ( and the singing ) that puts that one over the Kansas for me.

5. Black Fate/Ithaca – I payed with the idea of dropping them down the list simply because I still don’t have the album. This happened with the previous in that there were no US vendors at the time of release so I ordered from the label. That’s in Italy, and they shipped three weeks after I placed the order. Anyway, this is ridiculously catchy stuff and instantly memorable. And that’s just from youtube. Yeah, there’s the Conception clone thing and it’s mostly true. While he sounds dead on Khan, he writes better choruses and unconventional melodic lines that Roy never attempted. This is better than the last album, and that one was great.

***This one came out and knocked my socks off ...... once you get past the Khan thing, and the Conception thing, I find that there is excellent guitar work and superb melodies all over the place. I like this one even better than the newest Conception...... it's less experimental and just brings me back to that time when this stuff was just monstrous to us when it first came out. I think back to how great it felt to hear " In Your Multitude " for the first time ..... so in short, this one brings more energy and power to the Conception sound than does the actual Conception release......ah, to be young again.

4. Awake By Design – I have to thank Stevie for the rec on this one. They have two previous albums but I’d not heard of them. This is warm, inviting and lush prog with fantastic key/guitar interplay. I always really liked Ascension Theory even though the production wasn’t great and I dig Leon Ozug’s vocals. This is more of a modern production version of them. There’s really good variety in the songs as well. Outstanding release.

***Stevie pushed this on us awhile ago, and I checked it out and liked it ...... I just couldn't find the release anywhere. I'm guessing it would have made the top 10 if not the top 20 ......

3. Hittman/Destory All Humans – Surprise of the year for me. I vaguely remember these guys from late 80s and I think I had a cassette. This is a spectacular return to form for most and a debut to me. They managed to capture a QR vibe without being dated. I’m likely way off but once this album clicked with me I was thinking they were kinda like Superior a bit as well. They have a little Criss Oliva going in the guitars too, especially on the title track. This is one of those albums you play on a road trip and never even think about the skip button.

*** I know Claus is digging this a lot, and now that you are, I'm going to have to check it out at some point ...... I never cared for the s/t disc back in the day, so I didn't get excited over this time, especially given the amount of time that has passed.....

2. Pinnacle Point/Symphony of Mind – This is going to directly contradict what I said above about Kansas. This album absolutely slays with tons of energy and intelligence. They are essentially a Kansas clone but with modern production, heavier guitar and Jerome Mazza who really channels the best years of Walsh. I could have done without having a violin in every song but that’s a minor gripe compared to the awesomeness they released. It’s strange but the debut from them didn’t register with me at all. I need to back to that one.

***Nuff said. Yes, yes, and yes !!!!!!!! And for the record, the more violin the better for me ......

1. Fates Warning/LDGN – I suppose it was never in question. Even though it took me a couple of weeks to warm up to this one, there was pretty much no way this wouldn’t end up in my top spot. My sentiment and their pedigree were too much to overcome. Initially I thought this was a low energy swan song. I also didn’t care for Jim’s guitar tones on this one. But, there’s a lot of subtle nuances here that I didn’t pick up on at first. Plus, Ray is a goddam beast on this. Obviously he kept his chops together with the solo album, and this appears to be a continuation of that melody-wise. I think he was writing these at the same time. I still by far prefer Theories of Flight, but this is great too in it’s own melancholy way.

***Agree completely - and if this doesn't make my #1 disc I will be surprised. I'm also surprised and elated that a Fates disc would even end up being my #1 disc ever again, so I'm really excited about this released in many ways ..... and of course, Ray's vocals take this one way over the top ...... I feel validated......

[Guillaume]

Great list !!!!!!!

3. Hittman/Destory All Humans – Surprise of the year for me. I vaguely remember these guys from late 80s and I think I had a cassette. This is a spectacular return to form for most and a debut to me. They managed to capture a QR vibe without being dated. I’m likely way off but once this album clicked with me I was thinking they were kinda like Superior a bit as well. They have a little Criss Oliva going in the guitars too, especially on the title track. This is one of those albums you play on a road trip and never even think about the skip button.

*** I know Claus is digging this a lot, and now that you are, I'm going to have to check it out at some point ...... I never cared for the s/t disc back in the day, so I didn't get excited over this time, especially given the amount of time that has passed.....

Hey! I mentioned this to you as well!!

[LarryD]

Hey! I mentioned this to you as well!!

***You did bro -- but even your influence wasn't going to get me to bite on it ............

[Hearing Aid Man]

Like a lot releases on your list, but we only had 2 in common albeit in the same spot. Lol.

Just heard Echosoul. They were on a compilation with a bunch of underground bands...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm6k6--qkDw

Might have to pursue more. My kind of wailing singer.