Top CD's of 2005 thread

[PhlegethonVeins]

Where is the love for Suspended Animation Dreams people? I love that album. Probably my favorite of the year.

 

[Novembers Paul]

Where is the love for Suspended Animation Dreams people? I love that album. Probably my favorite of the year.

Again, this was something I'm on, so I feel funny voting for myself. As far as the Sub Masq CD goes, I think Tomer did a brilliant job bringing it all together. It's not for everyone, and very hard to put into a catagory. To wrap your mind around this release takes many listens that really require your full attention to fully "get it." With the short attention spans of most people these days due to everyday life, I can fully understand why this isn't on more lists. I think the next CD will be more focused, and streamlined... Well, at least that what Tomer said so far. haha

 

[metalprof]

I grouped these in identifiable chunks. There's a lot of power metal in here to give Vito something to read, I hope it doesn't clash with the ND forum

My top 4:

-- Redemption: The Fullness of Time
-- Stride: Imagine
-- Neal Morse: ?
-- Dreamtale: Difference

The rest of my top 10:

-- Circus Maximus: The First Chapter
-- Kamelot: The Black Halo
-- Opeth: Ghost Reveries
-- Pagan's Mind: Enigmatic: Calling
-- Thunderstone: Tools of Destruction
-- Thy Majestie: Jeanne D'Arc

If I had to resolve a Top 20, just to pick an arbitrary number, here are the next 10:

Arena: Pepper's Ghost
Candlemass: Candlemass
Dark Moor: Beyond the Sea
Dreamaker: Enclosed
Dream Theater: Octavarium
Grave Digger: The Last Supper
Masterplan: Aeronautics
Nevermore: This Godless Endeavor
November's Doom: The Pale Haunt Departure
Shadow Gallery: Room V

More honorable mentions:

Beyond Twilight: Section X
Cloudscape: Cloudscape
Dark Tranquility: Character
Green Carnation: The Quiet Offspring
Supreme Majesty: Elements of Creation
Winterlong: Winterlong

 

[Jasonic]

Arg!!! I forgot about the GRAVE DIGGER!!!
Great album. Best power metal album of the year.

 

[Danimal]

Again, this was something I'm on, so I feel funny voting for myself.

Maybe I've been living under a rock or something, but I am completely unfamiliar with this band. I have heard the name Subterranean Masquerade, but don't know anything about their music. I had no idea Paul was even involved...

Paul, did you do vocals for the whole album or just some "guest tracks"? Are they mostly clean? or growls? or both? Did you write the lyrics as well? I am very interested in checking this out...

 

[Novembers Paul]

I guess you can say I'm the main vocalist, and there are other guest vocalists that only appear on a song a piece (or two) but I sing on almost all of them. I do some growls, and some clean vocals as well. I really pushed myself with this project, and did things I would have never tried with ND. It worked out great, because it made me try new things on the Pale Haunt CD, so it was all a positive experience.

I did not write any of the lyrics. Tomer wrote almost all of them, so at times they get as off the wall as the music does. I'm not even sure about all of their meaning either. It was very hard for me to put the conviction into someone else's lyrics. Tomer had very specific ideas on melodies, and vocal phrasing, so most of it was me just doing what I was told to do. It came out well though. If I do the next CD with him, I will certainly have more input.

 

[GateXII]

Normally I don't like prioritizing the albums I bought in a given year, but this year I was asked by MaximumMetal.com to give my Top 5, and figured why not...hehe.

So here are my Top 5, plus a few others that I really liked a lot, but just didn't quite make the Top 5:

1. Opeth - Ghost Reveries (best since "My Arms..." & "Still Life" in my opinion)
2. The Old Dead Tree - The Perpetual Motion (everyone must check these guys out!!!)
3. Novembers Doom - The Pale Haunt Departure (kicked my ass all year!!!)
4. System Of A Down - Mezmerize (yeah, yeah, I know...hehe)
5. Morgana Lefay - Grand Materia (I'm just a sucker for classic Jon Oliva sounding vocals...hehe)


Honorable Mentions:

Nevemore - This Godless Endeavor ("Dreaming..." will never be topped in my opinion...neveeeeerrrrr!)
Mudvayne - Lost and Found (bass/drum combo from hell...best since Claypool/Alexander)
Nile - Annihilation of the Wicked (hey Paul, remember that other listening party with Neil at the ND listening party...wow, this is some good shit!)
Between The Buried And Me - Alaska (most progressive metal release of the year!!! This is what prog truly is...not that other music (censored myself...hehe) people THINK is prog, but is really nothing more than power/neo-classical metal with keyboard/guitar wanking that's also been SO overdone...lol)

 

[GateXII]

6.- The Old Dead Tree - The Perpetual Motion

YES!!!! Finally, someone else who's experienced the great music from these guys!!!

 

[GateXII]

The Sentenced album would probably make the list for me too, though I didn't get into it as much as the last one. I haven't heard that Charon cd yet, actually, from what I have heard about it, I'd probably like it.

Me too...I keep intending on getting the new Charon cuz I loved their last one, but it really sucks that they haven't released it in the states yet.

I have a hard time justifying paying a $20+ import price for something just because no company's been smart enough to release it here. I'll probably give in soon though, and just get it. Maybe Ebay has it cheaper.

 

[Nag]

ND- Pale Haunt Departure
God Dethroned - Lair of the white worm
Usurper - Cryptobeast
Bolt Thrower - Those once loyal

 

[chupe666]

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/g/goblin-cock/bagged-and-boarded.shtml


and actually, the one song i heard off this is pretty good.

 

[Billy Steele]

My buddy spun a Goblin Cock track on his radio show some weeks back. I thought it wasn't all that bad.

 

[Septembers Marc]

Goblin Cock? Now that's an original bandname...

 

[FrostGiant]

Didn't purchase much in 2005 but I thought Novembers Doom and Nevermore had a nice release. The new Porcupine Tree was awesome. I got the special edition with the 5.1 mix. That's really very cool. And Mudvayne's new cd is pretty excellent.

 

[Fredy_Brown]

NIN - With Teeth


Madonna - Confessions On A Dance Floor
Team Sleep - Team Sleep
Dimmu Borgir - Stormblast (re-released)
Ulver - Blood Inside
System of A Down - Mezmerize
Audioslave - Out Of Exile
Arcturus - Sideshow Symphonies
Hocico - Wrack And Ruin
Opeth - Ghost Reveries
Saul Williams - Saul Williams
Novembers Doom - The Pale Haunt Departure
Ephel Duath - Pain Necessary To Know
Korn - See You On The Other Side
Green Carnation - The Quiet Offspring
Porcupine Tree - Deadwing

 

[ShadowLioness]

This is always a tough one for me. Here's my 10, alphabetically, both metal and non-metal:

Children of Bodom: "Are You Dead Yet?"
Dark Tranquillity: "Character"
Hypocrisy: "Virus"
Alanis Morissette: "Jagged Little Pill Acoustic"
Novembers Doom: "Pale Haunt Departure"
Old Man's Child: "Vermin"
Opeth: "Ghost Reveries"
Porcupine Tree: "Deadwing"
Riverside: "Second Life Syndrome" (SOOOO happy I just recently stumbled upon these guys)
Trivium: "Ascendancy" (Say what you will about these guys, but they are one of the better "popular" American metal bands.)