What are your TOP-ALBUMS of 2008?

[Kazar]

Hey all,

the year is nearing its end - let us know: what is/are your best/favorite album(s) of this year.
You can make it a 'top-something-list' or just write something about whatever you liked.

Number one for me this year, and that probably isn't a surprise, is 'Mercy Falls'. I've said it before: this really could be my number one cd of all time - I know it's hard to compare a '4-months-old-cd' to one that is 16 years old ('Images and Words' by Dream Theater) but the impact MF has made to me has been absolutely mindblowing.

I also like 'The Art Of War' by SABATON. I think they made another huge step after their last effort; TAOW cotains well-written (power)metalsongs with awesome choruses.

LEVERAGE made a good record as well: it's more hardrock than metal but I really like 'Blind Fire' a lot.

MINDFLOW made another cd this year, it is called "Destructive Device". I don't like the last three songs but the rest of the songs are pretty good. I like this cd more than their previous albums.

Two other good albums: SIX MINUTE CENTURY's 'Time Capsule' and EYEFEAR's 'The Unseen' - both decent albums but not as good as the ones mentioned above.


All in all, a nice 'metal-year' - let's see what 2009 will bring. I'm sure there will be a lot of good releases but I'm especially looking forward to new albums from DREAM THEATER, CIRCUS MAXIMUS and MAGIC PIE.

 

[fire_angel]

1. Seventh Wonder - Mercy Falls
2. Hibria - The Skull Collectors (http://www.myspace.com/hibria)
3. Anthem - Black Empire (http://au.youtube.com/ watch?v=8yPItUafdpE) *fill in the space*
4. Moon Safari - Blomljud (http://www.myspace.com/wespintheworld)
5. Concerto Moon - Rise From Ashes (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction= vids.individual&videoid=39000256) *fill in the space*

Not very many good releases this year. It's a good thing the few that were released were so amazing

 

[Aran]

Here's my top 10 list this year.

1. SEVENTH WONDER – MERCY FALLS
2. ROYAL HUNT – PARADOX II : COLLISION COURSE
3. CLOUDSCAPE – GLOBAL DRAMA
4. APPEARANCE OF NOTHING – WASTED TIME
5. JORN – LONELY ARE THE BRAVE
6. FIREWIND – THE PREMONITION
7. SERENITY – FALLEN SANCTUARY
8. SCAR SYMMETRY – HOLOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE
9. COMMUNIC – PAYMENT OF EXCISTENCE
10. HARMONY – CHAPTER II : AFTERMATH

 

[sirclansman]

- SEVENTH WONDER - MERCY FALLS
- STORMWARRIOR - HEADING NORTHE
- LEVERAGE - BLIND FIRE
- JUDAS PRIEST - NOSTRADAMUS
- SERENITY - FALLEN SANCTUARY
- BROTHER FIRETRIBE - HEART FULL OF FIRE
- MOONMADNESS - ALL IN BETWEEN
- THE CHANT - GHOSTLINES
- OPETH - WATERSHED
- AVANTASIA - THE SCARECREW

 

[tommidt]

- SEVENTH WONDER - MERCY FALLS
- STORMWARRIOR - HEADING NORTHE
- LEVERAGE - BLIND FIRE
- JUDAS PRIEST - NOSTRADAMUS
- SERENITY - FALLEN SANCTUARY
- BROTHER FIRETRIBE - HEART FULL OF FIRE
- MOONMADNESS - ALL IN BETWEEN
- THE CHANT - GHOSTLINES
- OPETH - WATERSHED
- AVANTASIA - THE SCARECREW

I have almost the same... Just change The Chant to Jimi Jamison - Crossroads Moment. Plus there are maaany other cool abums that didn´t make my Top 10, but are just great! Like Circus Maximus etc...

 

[Ravenom]

1. Seventh Wonder - Mercy Falls - by far!

2. Dominici - O3 - A Trilogy part 3
3. Sabaton - The Art of War
4. Bullet for My Valentine - Scream, Aim, Fire
5. Ayreon - 01011001
6. Disturbed - Indestructible
7. Equilibrium - Sagas
8. Eluveitie - Slania
9. Testament - The Formation of Damnation
10. Royal Hunt - Paradox II

 

[Lord_an]

I just...don't know many new bands, and new albums...so...I just have kind of a top 3...XD

1. Mercy Falls - Seventh wonder (the best album since DT's scenes from a memory)

2. Chaos In Motion - Dream Theater (I was looking forward this cd/dvd, since I went to the concert)

3. Watershed - Opeth (started listening this band some short time ago, it blew my mind!)

 

[Romanowar]

I am a freaking power metal fan, so something can sound strange for a prog metal forum: anyway, here you have my personal top 10 for 2008:

SEVENTH WONDER: Mercy Falls
FIREWIND: The Premonition
EDGUY: Tinnitus Sanctus
METALLICA: Death Magnetic
SAINT DEAMON: In shadows lost from the brave
AVANTASIA: The Scarecrow
SERENITY: Fallen Sanctuary
STORMWARRIOR: Heading Northe
VOODOO CIRCLE: Voodoo Circle
ALMAH: Fragile Equity

2008 flop: Revolution Renaissance
2008 surprise: Saint Deamon
best 2008 show: Lizzy Borden @ Bang Your Head

 

[Taliwakker]

THE GOOD

Seventh Wonder-Mercy Falls....best concept album (by a band) i have heard in a long time. Tommy's voice is amazing, the songs are amazing. The playing is top notch. Love it.

Protest the Hero-Fortress.....this one is all over the place but they manage to create great songs. Sounds kind of like a cross between Incubus and Mars Volta if they were a tech metal band.

Frost*-EIMA.....A real grower for me. I loved Milliontown...was initially let down a bit by this but discovered its magic through headphones and persistence.

It Bites-The Tall Ships.....Like Kino II. John Mitchell is just awesome.

Opeth-Watershed.....just really good....as expected.

Zero Hour-Dark Deciever....A bit heavier than the last cd....still great...though i think some of the song writing style is getting a little too familiar.

Jorn-Lonely are the Brave....took a while to appreciate this one....very Dio inspired songs.

Ayreon-01011....not as good as THE but still great...Jorn kicks major ass on this.

Avantasia-The Scarecrow...wasn't a huge fan of the first two Av discs...this one has a bit more variety and better songs. Jorn kicks major ass on this.

Mercenary-Architect of Lies....not too different from the last one.....which i loved.

Scar Symmetry-Holographic Universe....a bit more commercial than PBP but some killer songs and some killer solos. Pity Christain left the band.

Greg Howe-Soundproof.....some amazing guitar playing...funky as shit.

Rose Kemp-Unholy Majesty....a dark folky grungy doomy album with her distinctive voice. She's great.

Anathema-Hindsight.....perfect mellow album. Not a huge fan before this but will check out some older stuff

Cynic-Traced in Air....i like this more than Focus...its a bit mellower and the vocals, although processed as fuck, are more to my liking.

Meshuggah-ObZen....same old stuff really...still kicks ass.

Harmony-Chapter II:Aftermath.....Not too disimilar to Darkwater...a bit less proggy. Good songs...not huge on the Christian themes though.

Ra-Black Sun.....I love Sahaj's voice.

Volbeat...Guitar Gangsters and Cadillac Blood. Not convinced by the first two albums but gave them one last try and really dig it.

All Ends-All Ends.....quite commercial sounding female fronted heavy rock. One of the two singers has an almighty voice. Probably my fave female voice atm.

Raunchy-Wasteland Discotheque......Heavy in the right places and catchy in the right places

The OK

Karmakanic-Who's the Boss.....quite good...some songs just are too long...and Goran should let his voice venture out of the midrange more often (like he used too)

Suspyre-When Time Fades....these guys have almost got it right on all three albums. Too much unnecessary instrumentation and lack of hooks hold this back.

Dark Empire-Humanity Dethroned....not as good as Persuader....it got played a bit when i first got it but bored of it too quickly.

Saint Deamon-In Shadows Lost From The Brave....not consistently good but definately has its moments.

Serenity-Fallen Sanctuary....liked the first album better. This one hasn't grabbed me.

Sevendust-VII.....they keep churning out the same stuff....i loved it on Animosity but after 7 discs its too predictable. Morgan should stop screaming and leave it to the black guy.

Kings X-XV...Its been getting good reviews and called a return to form but its still a long way from "form" in my books.

Kiske-Past in Different Ways....after the novelty wore off it gets a bit boring. Magic voice still.

Starbreaker-Love's Dying Wish....great in small doses...i just have a bit of a problem with Harnell's voice. Better than the debut and Magnus Karlson sounds less like himself on this release which is good because he's on a lot of stuff.

Souljourners-Mind Control....pretty good and nice to hear a lower egister voice in a prog setting. Just lacks something.

Eyefear-The Unseen.....Good sounding album....but they are starting to sound a bit samey.

Tomorrow's Eve-Tales from Serpentia....probably haven't played this as much as i could have...or maybe there is a reason for that????

Xystus-Equilibrio...very ambitious...some good orchestration....would sound much better without the vocalists...they (and the melodies) let this one down.

The Crap...and the let downs....not all of these are bad.

Motley Crue-Saints of LA.....shit from start to finish

Judas Priest-Nostradamus....they were a bit average live...and this will rarely if ever be played again by me i think.

Metallica-Death Magnetic...i think i've had to teach nearly all the songs on the album to students in the past 2-3 months....better than teaching them Greenday i guess...but not much.

Into Eternity-The Incurable Tragedy.....they peaked on Buried in Oblivion....and the decline continues here.

Iced Earth-Wicked II.....i don't like Iced Earth except for some of the early Barlow stuff. Boring as shit...why do people like these guys so much?

Pyramaze-Immortal....was hoping that Barlow would sound good in a different musical setting. The songs are predictable and bland unfortunately.

Bumblefoot-Abnormal...he's so fucking good on guitar. His songwriting is not what it used to be. Bummer.

Whitesnake-Good to be Bad.....has all the right ingerdients but none of the songs do it for me.

UnSun-The End of Life....she sucks.

Anberlin-New Surrender.....crap songs. Cities was 100 times better.

X-World 5-New Universal Order.....bored shitless. Nils should do Pagan's Mind and Pagan's Mind only!

 

[Buddah]

Metal:

1. Equillibrium - Sagas
2. Norther - N
3. Seventh Wonder - Mercy Falls
4. Scar Symmetry - Holographic Universe
5. Eluveitie - Slania
6. Amon Amarth -Twilight of the Thunder God
7. AC/DC - Black Ice

Non-metal:

1. Markus Krunegård - Markusevangeliet
2. Amy MacDonald - This Is the Life

Can't remember any other albums atm

 

[MAXX68]

Frankly speaking there were not so many unforgettable issues, so I've to reduce my personal top charts upto 2 great sensational 'Newcomers" of the Year' :

Best CD '08
Seventh Wonder - MF
H.E.A.T. - Heat 2008


Best Live '08 Acts:
Seventh Wonder Live in Italy (cannot choose a date, every single minute...)
Europe Live Acoustic Nalen Stockholm 26/01/2008
Kamelot Oslo Norway Sentrum Theater 03/05/2008
Firewind Live THESSALONIKI Greece (recording live DVD) 12/01/2008
Avantasia Live Sweden Rock Festival 07/06/2008
Danger Danger Nottingham UK Firefest 26/10/2008
Lizzy Borden Balingen BYH Germany 28/06/2008
(actually I travelled a lot... lol)

Best '08 Live song:
Seventh Wonder/Circus Maximus covering "The final countdown"
live Ronchi Italy 9/11/08 (there'd be some mins on youtube)

Good surprises / welcome back!:
Metallica-Death Magnetic
Whitesnake-Good to be Bad

Dreams of '09: to see LOUDNESS Live in concert !!
to see again Seventh Wonder Live in concerts !!

that's all folks
ciao

 

[fire_angel]

THE GOOD

Ra-Black Sun.....I love Sahaj's voice.

...

Into Eternity-The Incurable Tragedy.....they peaked on Buried in Oblivion....and the decline continues here.

Spot on on both counts. Wow, i thought i was the only Ra fan out there.

 

[dee2tompa]

1 is absolute number one.....Mercy falls SW
2 is Norther album N
3 is dream steel album You

 

[SonataFanatica]

Into Eternity-The Incurable Tragedy.....they peaked on Buried in Oblivion....and the decline continues here.

Amen to that, man. :Smug:

My favourite releases from 2008 (alphabetically):

Ayreon · 01011001
Harmony · Chapter II: Aftermath
Hollenthon · Opus Magnum
Opeth · Watershed
Saint Deamon · In Shadows Lost From The Brave
Scar Symmetry · Holographic Universe
Seventh Wonder · Mercy Falls