I'm an easy bitch to please as it seems, so I can't just make a top 10, it's impossible for me.
So, here's my top 35 for 2016 (the ranking order is good for today, but could change tomorrow, except for #1 and #2, as I enjoyed most of these 35 quite equally I'd say)
#1 INNERWISH – InnerWish
Most played album of the year. Just killer melodic heavy/power with killer vocals, loaded with melodies, by the veteran Greek band.
#2 TREAT – Ghost of Graceland
Great AOR/ hard rocking stuff, their best ever for me.
#3 PRETTY MAIDS – Kingmaker
This band always delivers. This album is no exception.
#4 SUNSTORM – Edge of Tomorrow
Joe Lynn Turner’s vocals are as strong as ever on this quite heavy (for JLT standards) hard rocking album full of catchy songs.
#5 PRIMAL FEAR – Rulebreaker
Like PM, Primal Fear continues to deliver great melodic heavy/power metal, and are no more a Priest copycat.
#6 JORN – Heavy Rock Radio
Jorn does a great job on beefing up some of these classic rock songs.
#7 LORDS OF BLACK – II
Future vocal star Ronnie Romero and his band give us an excellent 2nd album of melodic heavy/power metal.
#8 MYRATH- Legacy
Lighter than the previous ones, but damn catchy melodic prog metal.
#9 TYGERS OF PAN TANG- Tygers of Pan Tang
What a comeback from the veteran band! True to their 80s roots, but "actual" at the same time. Great hard rock and their best album since 35 years for me.
#10 GRAHAM BONNET BAND – The Book
The vocal legend is still going strong at 68 and he has a great band that surrounds him for this hard rocking album. The bonus disc with re-recorded classics is mostly excellent too.
#11 NORDIC UNION – Nordic Union (A team with Ronnie Atkins (Pretty Maids) and Erik Martensson (Eclipse) can't do wrong)
#12 THUNDERSTONE- Apocalypse Again (Great singer Pasi Rantanen is back home on this excellent album)
#13 AVANTASIA – Ghostlights (Sammet delivers again)
#14 ALTER BRIDGE – The Last Hero (the best mainstream hard rock/metal band for me along with Volbeat)
#15 GRAND MAGUS – Sword Songs (True metal at its best)
#16 MERCURY FALLING – Introspection (So underrated melodic prog/power)
#17 DYNAZTY – Titanic Mass (2 excellents albums in a row, well, let's say 3)
#18 JADED HEART – Guilty by Design (Not as good as previous 3 or 4, but still excellent stuff)
#19 EVERGREY – The Storm Within (With this album and the previous one, they're really back)
#20 CIVIL WAR – Last Full Measures (Could be their best album, better than Sabaton's disc)
#21 DGM – The Passage (Melodic prog metal with great vox and loaded with melodies)
#22 HUMAN FORTRESS – Thieves of the Night (Underrated melodic power stuff)
#23 SHAKRA – High Noon (Good ald same old, but damn effective hard rock, with the return of Mark Fox on vox)
#24 KING COMPANY – One For The Road (Pasi Rantanen's hard rocking band)
#25 DANGER ANGEL – All The King’s Horses (A revelation, excellent melodic metal)
#26 MOB RULES – Tales From Beyond (Might be my fave from them)
#27 FATES WARNING – Theories of Flight (I'd have never thought a FW would make my top 30. Best pure prog metal album of the year for me)
#28 VOLBEAT – Seal The Deal and Let’s Boogie (A bit too light overall, but quality stuff nonetheless)
#29 SPIRITUAL BEGGARS – Sunrise to Sundown (Excellent classic 70s style hard rocking stuff)
#30 Steve Grimmett’s GRIM REAPER – Walking in the Shadows (Good comeback for Grimmett who still delivers classic metal)
#31 RESURRECTION KINGS – Resurrection Kings (The best of the 2 ex-Dio bands for me)
#32 SABATON – The Last Stand (Similar to the latest few, but still very effective)
#33 DIAMOND HEAD – Diamond Head (Their best since the classic debut album for me)
#34 ANTHRAX – For All Kings (Excellent melodic thrash)
#35 STRIKER – Stand in the Fire (More excellent melodic thrashy stuff)
Very honorable mentions :
A PERFECT DAY – The Deafening Silence
DEMON – Cemetery Junction
EDEN’S CURSE – Cardinal
ENBOUND – This Blackened Heart
ETERNAL (of Sweden) – Heaven’s Gate
EXISTANCE - Breaking The Rock
HERMAN FRANK – The Devil Rides Out
INGLORIOUS – Inglorious
IRON SAVIOR - Titancraft
KISSIN’ DYNAMITE – Generation Goodbye
LAST IN LINE – Heavy Crown
MARAUDER - Bullethead
METAL CHURCH – XI
METALLICA – Hardwired…To Self-Destruct
MICHAEL SWEET - One Sided War
PHANTOM 5 – Phantom 5
SELLSWORD – And Now We Ride
SERIOUS BLACK – Mirrorworld
SOTO- Divak
SUNBURST – Fragments of Creation
THE DEAD DAISIES - Make Some Noise
THE NEW BLACK – A Monster’s Life
THE TREATMENT – Generation Me
THEOCRACY – Ghost Ship
VOLYMIAN - Maze of Madness
So, here's my top 35 for 2016 (the ranking order is good for today, but could change tomorrow, except for #1 and #2, as I enjoyed most of these 35 quite equally I'd say)
#1 INNERWISH – InnerWish
Most played album of the year. Just killer melodic heavy/power with killer vocals, loaded with melodies, by the veteran Greek band.
#2 TREAT – Ghost of Graceland
Great AOR/ hard rocking stuff, their best ever for me.
#3 PRETTY MAIDS – Kingmaker
This band always delivers. This album is no exception.
#4 SUNSTORM – Edge of Tomorrow
Joe Lynn Turner’s vocals are as strong as ever on this quite heavy (for JLT standards) hard rocking album full of catchy songs.
#5 PRIMAL FEAR – Rulebreaker
Like PM, Primal Fear continues to deliver great melodic heavy/power metal, and are no more a Priest copycat.
#6 JORN – Heavy Rock Radio
Jorn does a great job on beefing up some of these classic rock songs.
#7 LORDS OF BLACK – II
Future vocal star Ronnie Romero and his band give us an excellent 2nd album of melodic heavy/power metal.
#8 MYRATH- Legacy
Lighter than the previous ones, but damn catchy melodic prog metal.
#9 TYGERS OF PAN TANG- Tygers of Pan Tang
What a comeback from the veteran band! True to their 80s roots, but "actual" at the same time. Great hard rock and their best album since 35 years for me.
#10 GRAHAM BONNET BAND – The Book
The vocal legend is still going strong at 68 and he has a great band that surrounds him for this hard rocking album. The bonus disc with re-recorded classics is mostly excellent too.
#11 NORDIC UNION – Nordic Union (A team with Ronnie Atkins (Pretty Maids) and Erik Martensson (Eclipse) can't do wrong)
#12 THUNDERSTONE- Apocalypse Again (Great singer Pasi Rantanen is back home on this excellent album)
#13 AVANTASIA – Ghostlights (Sammet delivers again)
#14 ALTER BRIDGE – The Last Hero (the best mainstream hard rock/metal band for me along with Volbeat)
#15 GRAND MAGUS – Sword Songs (True metal at its best)
#16 MERCURY FALLING – Introspection (So underrated melodic prog/power)
#17 DYNAZTY – Titanic Mass (2 excellents albums in a row, well, let's say 3)
#18 JADED HEART – Guilty by Design (Not as good as previous 3 or 4, but still excellent stuff)
#19 EVERGREY – The Storm Within (With this album and the previous one, they're really back)
#20 CIVIL WAR – Last Full Measures (Could be their best album, better than Sabaton's disc)
#21 DGM – The Passage (Melodic prog metal with great vox and loaded with melodies)
#22 HUMAN FORTRESS – Thieves of the Night (Underrated melodic power stuff)
#23 SHAKRA – High Noon (Good ald same old, but damn effective hard rock, with the return of Mark Fox on vox)
#24 KING COMPANY – One For The Road (Pasi Rantanen's hard rocking band)
#25 DANGER ANGEL – All The King’s Horses (A revelation, excellent melodic metal)
#26 MOB RULES – Tales From Beyond (Might be my fave from them)
#27 FATES WARNING – Theories of Flight (I'd have never thought a FW would make my top 30. Best pure prog metal album of the year for me)
#28 VOLBEAT – Seal The Deal and Let’s Boogie (A bit too light overall, but quality stuff nonetheless)
#29 SPIRITUAL BEGGARS – Sunrise to Sundown (Excellent classic 70s style hard rocking stuff)
#30 Steve Grimmett’s GRIM REAPER – Walking in the Shadows (Good comeback for Grimmett who still delivers classic metal)
#31 RESURRECTION KINGS – Resurrection Kings (The best of the 2 ex-Dio bands for me)
#32 SABATON – The Last Stand (Similar to the latest few, but still very effective)
#33 DIAMOND HEAD – Diamond Head (Their best since the classic debut album for me)
#34 ANTHRAX – For All Kings (Excellent melodic thrash)
#35 STRIKER – Stand in the Fire (More excellent melodic thrashy stuff)
Very honorable mentions :
A PERFECT DAY – The Deafening Silence
DEMON – Cemetery Junction
EDEN’S CURSE – Cardinal
ENBOUND – This Blackened Heart
ETERNAL (of Sweden) – Heaven’s Gate
EXISTANCE - Breaking The Rock
HERMAN FRANK – The Devil Rides Out
INGLORIOUS – Inglorious
IRON SAVIOR - Titancraft
KISSIN’ DYNAMITE – Generation Goodbye
LAST IN LINE – Heavy Crown
MARAUDER - Bullethead
METAL CHURCH – XI
METALLICA – Hardwired…To Self-Destruct
MICHAEL SWEET - One Sided War
PHANTOM 5 – Phantom 5
SELLSWORD – And Now We Ride
SERIOUS BLACK – Mirrorworld
SOTO- Divak
SUNBURST – Fragments of Creation
THE DEAD DAISIES - Make Some Noise
THE NEW BLACK – A Monster’s Life
THE TREATMENT – Generation Me
THEOCRACY – Ghost Ship
VOLYMIAN - Maze of Madness
