I agree about the VP. It totally failed to grab me. I'll give it more shots but...eh?
And now I'm going to risk a banhammer to the face...Evergrey - Hymns for the Broken. I was expecting more...Evergrey-ness. I dunno, maybe I have an unfairly high expectation, but this album felt well short of what they've shown to be easily accomplishable in the past.
That said, I have 50 albums from 2014 (and a few more that I need to buy), and only two real gripes (some blind buys didn't pan out, but that's just how that game goes)? Fucking great year.