1. Iron Maiden: A Matter of Life And Death
How predictable! Well. When your the best at what you do you are generally considered to be numero uno. Now, I wasn't too thrilled when Maiden played the whole record at the Montreal show. But they were on fire from Breeg to The Legacy. AMOLAD is also a album that led to cravings to hear it again and again. Some days, I played it 4-5 times at work. Now there are folk who'll moan that there aren't any fast Trooper style songs. I like the mid-paced prog stylings and hope the next opus continues along that path.
2. Robert Plant: Nine Lives (Box Set). The music is timeless. Big Log, Anniversary, Sixes and Sevens, Why, Moonlight in Samosa, Like I've Never Been Gone and so much more. These songs are on par with anything Zep put out and now have been properly mastered.
3. Jon Oliva's Pain: Maniacal Renderings. The REAL 'Tage. Enough said.
4. Falconer: Northwind. A pleasure from start to finish. Catchy straightforward songs like Perjury & Sanctity just make my day.
5. Spock's Beard: S/T. My first studio Beard that did not arrive in South Korea. This is the best of the post Neal era. On A Perfect Day is played almost daily on my iPod.
6. Dream Theater: Score. 3 discs of music that never get old to these ears.
7. Pharaoh: The Longest Night. When I first heard this cd, it felt like I was hearing Maiden for the first time. The same pleasure.
8. Heavenly: Virus. When The Rain Begins To Fall might just be the slickest, catchiest and all around satisfying power metal track in ten years.
9. Voivod: Katorz. Piggy Lives. Voivod is not for everyone. You either get it or you don't. I've "gotten it" for close on 20 years.
10. Kamelot: On A Cold Winter's Night. A Live record on par with Unleashed In The East and Live After Death. Center of the Universe has this extra oomph I thought would never be possible.
11. Dionyssus: Fairytales and Reality
12. Giuntini Project III
13. Angra: Aurora Consurgens
14. Agalloch: Ashes Against the Grain
15. Wetton*Downes: Rubicon
16. Vicious Rumors: Warball
17. Amorphis: Eclipse
18. I: Between Two Worlds
19. Fight: K5 - War of Words Demos
20. Blind Guardian: A Twist In The Myth
_________________