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PM AWARDS 2004 RESULTS
Top 20 Albums of the Year
1. Orphaned Land / Mabool
2. Riverside / Out of Myself
3. Mercenary / 11 Dreams
4. Tad Morose / Modus Vivendi
5. Ayreon / The Human Equation
6. Into Eternity / Buried in Oblivion
7. Megadeth / The System Has Failed
8. Pain of Salvation / 12:5
9. Jag Panzer / Casting the Stones
10. Nightwish / Once
11. Iced Earth / The Glorious Burden
12. Angra / Temple of Shadows
13. Within Temptation / The Silent Force
14. Threshold / Subsurface
15. Pain of Salvation / Be
16. Evergrey / The Inner Circle
17. Fates Warning / FWX
18. After Forever / Invisible Circles
19. Dead Soul Tribe / The January Tree
20. Dreamscape / End of Silence
Honorable mentions:
Edguy / Hellfire Club
Rhapsody / Symphony of Enchanted Lands II
Wuthering Heights / Far From the Maddening Crowd
Comments: The methodology for the top 20 this year is a
bit... complex. Let me see if I can describe it in a few
paragraphs.
Each ballot is assigned a confidence level according to a predefined
function. It is intended to reflect how likely the ballot is to be
"genuine," meaning that it was submitted by someone with broad
interests in the kinds of music that others at PM:X and related
groups listen to. It does *not* include any function of particular
peoples' email addresses: it is determined solely by the content of
the ballot.
The top 20 is then roughly derived from the average of all users'
ratings weighted by this confidence level. Of course, this is also
weighted by the number of people who mentioned a particular album: a
lone voter rating Happy Humpmaster's World of Hobbitcock 5 stars
would not put that album at the top of this list.
The bottom line? The *content* of the top 20 is probably similar to
what it would have been with past years' ranking algorithms, but the
*ordering* is different. As examples, Riverside would not have
ranked as highly, nor would Fates Warning have ranked so low. Also
quite possibly, Rhapsody could have ranked in the top 10.
I haven't done the analysis required to see what the actual results
according to old criteria would have been, and I won't, because I'm
not going to deal with people bitching about their favorite album
getting the shaft from Kyle's wacky new bullshit inverse anti-binary
least squares method of ranking. Deal. Also, don't ask for the
confidence level of your ballot, because I'm not telling.
To make things less exciting, the genre rankings are simply the
above algorithm restricted to that subset of albums that are
considered by some large fraction of voters to be in a particular
genre. I thus don't really have a good measure of how close the
votes were, which is something I'll try to address before the 2005
awards.
To the immediate point: I'm very happy to see Orphaned Land,
Riverside, and Ayreon place so highly. Not at all surprised to see
PoS / 12:5 place higher than Be, the former of which got a few
negative comments (mostly from Teri) but otherwise was praised,
while response to the latter was less decisive. Personally, I
thought Be had lots of high points, but it's a hard listen, and I
don't expect to find it in my player as often as (say) OHbtCL.
The surprise? To see DST place so low. I figured The January Tree
(which I think is great) would be up there with Orphaned Land, but
evidently a lot of disappointed buyers registered their discontent.
Blah; it's still top 20, which is nothing to sneeze at considering
the volume of stuff released in 2004.
Genre: prog metal
1. Orphaned Land / Mabool
2. Ayreon / The Human Equation
3. Pain of Salvation / Be
Honorable mentions:
Evergrey / The Inner Circle
Fates Warning / FWX
Comments: No surprises in the first two: Orphaned Land has been the
target of much spooge this year, as has Ayreon. I'm a little
surprised about PoS / Be placing so high given the relatively
strong negative reviews I encountered on PM:X, but my guess is that
this is a bit like the schizophrenic response to Superior /
Younique, which provoked very strongly positive and negative
reactions.
Genre: power
1. Nightwish / Once
2. Iced Earth / The Glorious Burden
3. Angra / Temple of Shadows
Honorable mention:
Evergrey / The Inner Circle
Comments: Biggest news here is that Evergrey didn't place in the
top 3. Evidently, lots of people bought and listened to it, but
most people didn't buy *into* it like the previous four. I have
personally only listened to it a half-dozen times, which didn't
even happen with my previous least favorite, ISoT, but perhaps I'm
just finicky.
Genre: prog rock
1. Riverside / Out of Myself
2. Ayreon / The Human Equation
3. Pain of Salvation / 12:5
Honorable mentions:
IQ / Dark Matter
Pain of Salvation / Be
Comments: Really happy to see Riverside in first place here. Great
disc. Highly recommended. I don't know if I would really classify
the Ayreon as prog rock, but whatever; that's a pretty minor
complaint given the genre rape that occurred in the next category.
Genre: death
1. Mercenary / 11 Dreams
2. Orphaned Land / Mabool
3. Into Eternity / Buried in Oblivion
Honorable mentions:
In Flames / Soundtrack To Your Escape
Mnemic / The Audio Injected Soul
Comments: *Insert annoyed comments about how death vox do not make
a band "death metal"*
Sigh, I really need to just give up on this one.
Really surprised to see Mnemic (up there with FF / Archetype for
me) not place in the top 3. But the mASSES have spoken about what
they think death metal is, so I'll just content myself with the
knowledge that Mnemic is the only one of the above five that could
actually be considered death metal.
Genre: instrumental
1. Derek Sherinian / Mythology
2. Spastic Ink / Inkcompatible
Comments: Lots of votes, mostly one or two per album. The above
two are the only ones that got a significant number of votes.
Genre: solo or side
1. Abydos / Abydos
2. Kotipelto / Coldness
3. Chris Caffery / Faces
Comments: I thought Abydos was utterly banal, but I guess not
everyone shares this view.
Genre: tech
1. The Dillinger Escape Plan / Miss Machine
2. Meshuggah / I
3. Spastic Ink / Ink Compatible
Comments: Interesting that DEP's least technical album won the tech
category, and especially interesting that it beat both the
monstrous "I" and the mind-altering Ink Compatible.
Genre: thrash
1. Mercenary / 11 Dreams
2. Megadeth / The System Has Failed
3. Shadows Fall / The War Within
Honorable mention:
Lamb of God / Ashes of the Wake
Comments: I'm hoping that lots of people panned the Megadeth
without even hearing it, because otherwise I can't see why the best
that 'deth has offered in 14 years couldn't win this category. No
matter, Mercenary, Shadows Fall, and LoG all put out killer discs.
LoG is my personal favorite of the three, but Megadeth still slays
all (well, except for Slayer, who will be going on 4 years without
an album this September 11th. Come on guys, hurry it up).
Genre: dweeb
1. Within Temptation / The Silent Force
2. Nightwish / Once
3. After Forever / Invisible Circles
Genre: AOR
1. Tesla / Into the Now
2. TNT / My Religion
3. Pink Cream 69 / Thunderdome
Honorable mention:
Jorn / Out To Every Nation
Genre: black
1. Borknagar / Epic
2. Samael / Reign of Light
3. Vintersorg / The Focusing Blur
Genre: live
1. Dream Theater / Live At Budokan
2. Book of Reflections / Book of Reflections
3. Pain of Salvation / 12:5
Honorable mention:
The Gathering / Sleepy Buildings
DVD Awards
Best Studio DVD
1. Iron Maiden / The History of Iron Maiden - Part 1: the Early Days (3)
2. Epica / We Will Take You With Us (2)
Ayreon / The Human Equation (2)
Comments: As you can see, this category didn't get a lot of play.
These are all the discs that got more than one vote.
Best Live DVD
1. Dream Theater / Live At Budokan (11)
2. Blind Guardian / Imaginations Through the Looking Glass (5)
Comments: #2 included only as reference: big drop off from #1 to
#2. Lots got one vote.
Other Album Awards
Most anticipated disc of 2005
1. Judas Priest (7)
Symphony X (7)
Comments: Despite italicizing "2005," some idiots insisted on
listing 2004 releases. Dumbasses. At any rate, these two bands
clearly came out on top.
Comeback disc
Megadeth / The System Has Failed (20)
Comments: No one else even came *close*.
Biggest disappointment
1. Evergrey / The Inner Circle (8)
2. Pain of Salvation / Be (5)
Comments: Judging from the comments on PM:X, this is no surprise.
I guess the reason why Evergrey came in first and PoS in second is
that fewer people expected Be to be good. Jus' guessin', is
all.
Shit-eater
1. Pain of Salvation / Be (3)
2. Jorn / Out To Every Nation (2)
Wuthering Heights / Far From the Maddening Crowd (2)
Time Requiem / The Inner Circle of Reality (2)
Ayreon / The Human Equation (2)
In Flames / Soundtrack To Your Escape (2)
Danzig / Circle of Snakes (2)
Comments: To be fair to PoS, no one got more than three votes.
Nonetheless, this is more evidence of the schizophrenia of PM
Awards voters. Or their diversity. Whatever.
Best cover art
1. Evergrey / The Inner Circle (6)
2. Hubi Meisel / EmOcean (5)
3. Ayreon / The Human Equation (3)
Comments: There were a bunch with two votes. It seems that there
wasn't really a stand-out cover art winner this year. I know I
left it blank.
Band/Artist/Producer Awards
Note: These votes use the ballot confidence to weed out fanboys.
Best band
1. Pain of Salvation
Comments: We love PoS! We hate PoS! Long live PoS! Die, Daniel!
Yeah, the message is a bit confusing. :) No one else was close.
Best live band
1. Evergrey
2. Tad Morose
Best male vocalist
1. Daniel Gildenlow
2. Tom Englund
3. Ray Alder
Honorable mentions: Urban Breed, Devon Graves, Dio
Best female vocalist
1. Tarja Turunen
2. Floor Jansen
Honorable mention: Sharon Den Adel
Best guitarist
1. Ron Jarzombek
2. John Petrucci
3. Karl Groom
4. Kiko Loureiro
5. Mathias Ekhlund
6. Jim Matheos
Comments: No stand-out winner; these guys were all close.
Best bassist
1. Marco Hietala
Honorable mention: Geddy Lee (did he even have a studio album this
year?)
Best drummer
1. Mike Portnoy (I can't verify that he had a studio album this
year, but given all the supergroups he's in, it wouldn't surprise
me.)
2. Johanne James
3. Mark Zonder
Best keyboardist
1. Tuomas Holopainen
Honorable mentions: Jordan Rudess, Richard West
Best record label
1. Inside Out
Comments: No one else even close. CM and NB were far behind.
Band most deserving of a major label deal
1. Enertia
Hubi Meisel
3. Stride
Band least deserving of a major label deal
1. Metallica
2. Stratovarius
Linkin Park
Pain of Salvation
Edguy
Within Temptation
Comments: I think there was some confusion about this category,
but I'll let it pass. :)
Best rookie band
1. Pyramaze
Riverside
3. Anubis Gate
Cea Serin
Mechanical Poet
Comments: It's very possible some of these guys aren't truly
rookies (Cea Serin comes to mind), but they are new enough that
I'm not going to make an issue of it.
Band you most want to see tour USA (for US residents)
1. Pain of Salvation
2. Rhapsody
Mercenary
Hubi Meisel
Comments: Surprised Sonata Arctica didn't place at the top of
this. I mean, I'm *already* tired of PoS's coma-inducing PP sets,
so I really doubt I'd go to see them on tour. But Rhapsody,
Mercenary, or Hubi would rock. Seriously, good choices there.
Band you most want to see tour Europe (for European residents)
1. Hubi Meisel
2. Threshold
Comments: Lots of spread in this category. Only two bands got
more than one vote.
Best producer/team
1. Neil Kernon
Comments: No one else *close*.
Tracks from 2004 Albums
Best song
1. Pain of Salvation / Be - Iter Impius
2. Orphaned Land / Mabool - Ocean Land
Hubi Meisel / EmOcean - The Souls of Atlantis
3. Ayreon / The Human Equation - Day Eleven: Love
Ayreon / The Human Equation - Day Three: Pain
Comments: Yet more of the right hand not knowing what the left
hand is doing (or, in some cases, not wanting to know what it's
doing. :) )
Worst song
1. Edguy / Hellfire Club - Lavatory Love Machine
Comments: Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner in this new
category.
Miscellaneous
Best vendor
1. The End Records
2. The Laser's Edge
Comments: It was close, but The End wins by a hair (no pun
intended). One vote difference here.
Best music-related website
1. Perpetual Motion
Comments: Guess I should have specified, "other than PM".
Hall of Fame
Add to Hall of Fame
BZZZZT. No one even got 10% of the vote, so there will be no additions this year.
Remove from Hall of Fame
Kamelot (58.82%)
Comments: Awwwwww...... See ya!
PM Poster Awards
Bandwidth Champ: Person with most quality content in posts
Teri, NK, John Frank
Bandwidth Chump: Waste of space (most likely in real life as well as on board)
Troll (in his various incarnations)
Review Jedi: Best Reviewer
John Frank
Comments: Surprised, John? Teri and LarryD came in a close second.
Favorite Band Member Poster
Teddy Moller
Honorable mention: Nick Van Dyk
Sage: Most knowledgable of music in general
NK
Comments: No one else *close*.
The Viagara Award: Most stimulating/intellectual poster (not the one who talks about sex or schlongs the most)
Joe-X
Comedian: Funniest poster
Troll
Comments: We've got a love-hate relationship with Troll.
The PT Barnum Award: Best promoter
Glenn Harveston
Comments: No one else *close*.
Suspected Felon: Person who seems like the most trouble
Ralf Walter
Comments: Not sure why Ralf keeps winning this over Troll. Ralf,
you need a PR guy.
The FedEx Award: Person with best delivery/phrasing of posts
Joe-X
The Anti-Mikey Award: Poster who doesn't seem to like any of the bands discussed on the boards
Jim Raggi
Comments: Shit, I would have given this to John Frank. He said as
much the other day.
Perfect Breasts: Favorite female poster
Teri
Comments: Teri, 25 votes. Next highest? 2 votes. Ouch. But, as
I said last year, we love all the gals, but Teri's got such a
nice, big rack, and you know how guys think...
Longest Schlong: Favorite male poster
Joe-X
Comments: Close one, with Ralf, Neil, and Chris-F5 close behind.
Rookie: Favorite newcomer
NO WINNER. No one got more than one vote. We must need new blood.
Oscar: Grouchiest/bitchiest PMer
Ralf Walter, Jim Raggi
Comments: Yeah, I'll go along with this one.
Elmo: You just can't help but like
Troll
Comments: Troll has won more awards this year than any other
poster. God help us all. :)
Dearly Departed: Poster you wish would return
LarryD
Comments: He's not that far away, people.
And FINALLY...
Thread of the Year
Dimebag RIP
Rest in peace, buddy.
Now, I'm off to hockey. Can't wait to hear what kind of wise-ass
comments you will all have for me later.
Cheers,
Kyle
