Best of Music
Every year, I list some of the music that I found that I felt represented
the best of the respective genres. It isn't my job to review music, so this
"best of" list is a personal endeavor, not an exhaustive attempt to locate
the very best music of the year.
Below you'll find the list of the years and the albums I selected; each year's
page contains brief descriptions of the albums as well as embedded YouTube
videos, so they can be quite slow to load.
Lists
- Ad Infinitum - Abyss
- Amaranthe - The Catalyst
- Anubis - The Unforgivable
- Body Count - Merciless
- Caligula's Horse - Charcoal Grace
- Dark Tranquillity - Endtime Signals
- David Gilmour - Luck and Strange
- Devin Townsend - PowerNerd
- DGM - Endless
- Evergrey - Theories of Emptiness
- Fleshgod Apocalypse - Opera
- Frost - Life in the Wires
- Hozier - Unreal Unearth
- Jack White - No Name
- Leprous - Melodies of Atonement
- Lolli Wren - To Build a Sea
- Marcin - Dragon in Harmony
- Mary Spender - Super. Sexy. Heartbreak.
- Master Boot Record - Hardwarez
- Nightwish - Yesterwynde
- Oceans of Slumber - Where Gods Fear to Speak
- Opeth - The Last Will and Testament
- Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department
- The Black Crowes - Happiness Bastards
- The Pineapple Thief - It Leads to This
- Unleash the Archers - Phantoma
- Vanden Plas - The Empyrean Equation of the Long Lost Things
- Zeal & Ardor - Greif
- Ad Infinitum - Chapter III: Downfall
- Baroness - Stone
- Chris Stapleton - Higher
- Cowboy Junkies - Such Ferocious Beauty
- Dethklok - Dethalbum IV
- DGM - Life
- Dozer - Drifting in the Endless Void
- Enslaved - Heimdal
- Foo Fighters - But Here We Are
- Ghost Hounds - First Last Time
- Haken - Fauna
- In Flames - Foregone
- Insomnium - Anno 1696
- Kamelot - The Awakening
- Katatonia - Sky Void of Stars
- Ne Obliviscaris - Exul
- Peter Gabriel - i/o
- Riverside - ID.Entity
- Scar Symmetry - The Singularity, Phase II: Xenotaph
- Sleep Token - Take Me Back to Eden
- Soen - Memorial
- Steven Wilson - The Harmony Codex
- Sylosis - A Sign of Things to Come
- TesseracT - War of Being
- The Anchoret - It All Began with Loneliness
- Viscera - Carcinogenesis
- Voyager - Fearless in Love
- Xandria - The Wonders Still Awaiting
- An Abstract Illusion - Woe
- Allegaeon - Damnum
- Alter Bridge - Pawns & Kings
- Amon Amarth - The Great Heathen Army
- Amorphis - Halo
- Arch Enemy - Deceivers
- Blind Guardian - The God Machine
- Coheed & Cambria - A Window of the Waking Mind
- Ethereal Girl - Ethereal Compilation 01
- Evergrey - A Heartless Portrait
- Ghost - Impera
- Halestorm - Back from the Dead
- In the Woods... - Diversum
- Logic - Vinyl Days
- Lorna Shore - Pain Remains
- Marillion - An Hour Before It's Dark
- The Mars Volta - The Mars Volta
- Megadeth - The Sick, the Dying...and the Dead!
- Meshuggah - Immutable
- The Pineapple Thief - Give It Back
- Polyphia - Remember That You Will Die
- Porcupine Tree - Closure / Continuation
- Queensrÿche - Digital Noise Alliance
- Satan - Earth Infernal
- Seventh Storm - Maledictus
- Seventh Wonder - The Testament
- Slipknot - The End, So Far
- Snarky Puppy - Empire Central
- Soen - Atlantis
- Soilwork - Övergivenheten
- Stratovarius - Survive
- Taylor Swift - Midnights (3am Edition)
- Voivod - Synchro Anarchy
- Tears for Fears - The Tipping Point
- Wilderun - Epigone
- Adele - 30
- Be'lakor - Coherence
- Between the Buried and Me - Colors II
- Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever
- Cynic - Ascension Codes
- Dream Theater - A View from the Top of the World
- Epica - Ωmega
- Ethereal Girl - Gaia II
- Evanescence - The Bitter Truth
- Fractal Universe - The Impassable Horizon
- Gemini Syndrome - 3rd Degree | The Raising
- Gojira - Fortitude
- Hans Zimmer - The Dune Sketchbook
- Helloween - Helloween
- Insomnium - Argent Moon
- Iotunn - Access All Worlds
- Jinjer - Wallflowers
- Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails Over the Country Club
- Leprous - Aphelion
- Mastodon - Hushed and Grim
- Omnium Gatherum - Origin
- Paul Wardingham - Cybergenesis
- The Pretty Reckless - Death by Rock and Roll
- Rivers of Nihil - The Work
- Royal Blood - Typhoons
- Silk Sonic - An Evening With Silk Sonic
- Soen - Imperial
- Steven Wilson - The Future Bites
- Stormkeep - Tales of Othertime
- Swallow the Sun - Moonflowers
- Tori Amos - Ocean to Ocean
- Transatlantic - The Absolute Universe: The Breath of Life
- Twelve Foot Ninja - Vengeance
- Volbeat - Servant of the Mind
- Wheel - Resident Human
- Amaranthe - Manifest
- Ayreon - Transitus
- Blackfield - For the Music
- Caligula's Horse - Rise Radiant
- Chris Stapleton - Starting Over
- Corey Taylor - CMFT
- Dark Tranquillity - Moment
- Deftones - Ohms
- Delain - Apocalypse & Chill
- Demons & Wizards - III
- Derek Sherinian - The Phoenix
- Eminem - Music To Be Murdered By
- Enslaved - Utgard
- Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters
- HAIM - Women in Music Pt. III
- Haken - Virus
- Hans Zimmer - Wonder Woman 1984
- Haunt - Mind Freeze
- In This Moment - Mother
- Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Reunions
- Jinjer - Alive in Melbourne
- Joe Satriani - Shapeshifting
- John Petrucci - Terminal Velocity
- Katatonia - City Burials
- Kiko Loureiro - OPEN SOURCE
- Lamb of God - S/T
- Lucifer - Lucifer III
- Nightwish - H V M A N . :||: N A T V R E .
- The Ocean - Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic
- Oceans of Slumber - S/T
- Pain of Salvation - Panther
- Paradise Lost - Obsidian
- Paul Wardingham - Day Zero: Rise of the Horde
- The Pineapple Thief - Versions of the Truth
- Reb Beach - A View from the Inside
- Run the Jewels - RTJ4
- Semblant - Obscura
- Silentium - Motiva
- Sons of Apollo - MMXX
- Taylor Swift - evermore
- Taylor Swift - folklore
- Testament - Titans of Creation
- Unleash the Archers - Abyss
- Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud
- Wobbler - Dwellers of the Deep
- Allegaeon - Proponent for Sentience
- Chris Stapleton - Traveller
- Coheed & Cambria - The Afterman
- Daft Punk - Tron: Legacy
- Enslaved - E
- Epica - The Quantum Enigma
- Ghost - Meliora
- Insomnium - Winter's Gate
- Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls
- Janelle Monáe - Dirty Computer
- Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell!
- Logic - Everybody
- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - The Heist
- Morcheeba - Blood Like Lemonade
- Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel
- Opeth - Heritage
- Paula Cole - Ballads
- Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name
- Scar Symmetry - The Singularity (Phase 1: Neohumanity)
- Skeletonwitch - Devouring Radiant Light
- Spock's Beard - Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep
- Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase.
- Tricky - Mixed Race
- Trombone Shorty - For True
- Voivod - The Wake
- Allegaeon - Apoptosis
- Alter Bridge - Walk the Sky
- Amon Amarth - Berserker
- Arch/Matheos - Winter Ethereal
- Avantastia - Moonglow
- Baroness - Gold & Grey
- Billie Eilish - When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
- Cult of Luna - A Dawn to Fear
- Darkthrone - Old Star
- Death Angel - Humanicide
- Devin Townsend - Empath
- Dream Theater - Distance Over Time
- Fleshgod Apocalypse - Veleno
- Fractal Universe - Rhizomes of Insanity
- In Mourning - Garden of Storms
- Insomnium - Heart Like a Grave
- Jenny Owen Youngs - Night Shift
- Jinjer - Micro and Macro
- Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell!
- Lindsey Stirling - Artemis
- Moron Police - A Boat on the Sea
- Myrath - Shehili
- Opeth - In Cauda Venenum
- Queensrÿche - The Verdict
- Sacred Reich - Awakening
- Santana - Africa Speaks
- Sara Bareilles - Amidst the Chaos
- Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind
- Soen - Lotus
- Soilwork - Verkligheten
- Swallow the Sun - When a Shadow Is Forced into the Light
- The Claypool Lennon Delirium - South of Reality
- The Highwomen - The Highwomen
- Tool - Fear Inoculum
- Whitechapel - The Valley
- Within Temptation - Resist
- Yosi Horikawa - Spaces
- Alice in Chains - Rainier Fog
- Amorphis - Queen of Time
- Between the Buried and Me - Automata I/II
- Coheed & Cambria - The Unheavenly Creatures
- Eminem - Kamikaze
- Ghost - Prequelle
- Haken - Vector
- Janelle Monáe - Dirty Computer
- Judas Priest - Firepower
- Kamelot - The Shadow Theory
- Metal Church - Damned If You Do
- Obscura - Diluvium
- Oceans of Slumber - The Banished Heart
- Omnium Gatherum - The Burning Cold
- Paul Wardingham - Electromancer
- Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name
- Riverside - Wasteland
- Skeletonwitch - Devouring Radiant Light
- TesseracT - Sonder
- The Ocean - Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic
- Voivod - The Wake
- Accept - The Rise of Chaos
- Arch Enemy - Will to Power
- Ayreon - The Source
- Blackfield - Blackfield V
- Byzantine - The Cicada Tree
- Caligula's Horse - In Contact
- Enslaved - E
- Foo Fighters - Concrete and Gold
- HAIM - Something to Tell You
- Iced Earth - Incorruptible
- Jay-Z - 4:44
- Leprous - Malina
- Logic - Everybody
- Macklemore - Gemini
- Mastodon - Emperor of Sand
- Mors Principium Est - Embers of a Dying World
- Ne Obliviscaris - Urn
- Paula Cole - Ballads
- Pyramaze - Contingent
- Queens of the Stone Age - Villains
- Soen - Lykaia
- Steven Wilson - To the Bone
- Stone Sour - Hydrograd
- The Contortionist - Clairvoyant
- The Great Discord - The Rabbit Hole
- The Haunted - Strength in Numbers
- Threshold - Legends of the Shires
- Trivium - The Sin and the Sentence
- Trombone Shorty - Parking Lot Symphony
- Unleash the Archers - Apex
- Veil of Maya - False Idol
- Voyager - Ghost Mile
- Allegaeon - Proponent for Sentience
- Alicia Keys - Here
- Amon Amarth - Jomsviking
- Animals as Leaders - The Madness of Many
- Dark Tranquillity - Atoma
- Devin Townsend Project - Transcendence
- Dream Theater - The Astonishing
- Fleshgod Apocalypse - King
- Frost - Falling Satellites
- Gemini Syndrome - Memento Mori
- Gojira - Magma
- Haken - Affinity
- Insomnium - Winter's Gate
- Katatonia - The Fall of Hearts
- Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker
- Megadeth - Dystopia
- Meshiaak - Alliance of Thieves
- Meshuggah - The Violent Sleep of Reason
- Metallica - Hardwired...To Self Destruct
- Obscura - Akroasis
- Opeth - Sorceress
- Santana - Santana IV
- Solution .45 - Nightmares in the Waking State, Pt. 2
- Adele - 25
- Alabama Shakes - Sound and Color
- Amorphis - Under the Red Cloud
- Coheed & Cambria - The Color Before the Sun
- Ghost - Meliora
- The Great Discord - Duende
- Logic - The Incredible True Story
- Mumford & Sons - Wilder Mind
- Of Monsters and Men - Beneath the Skin
- Periphery - Juggernaut
- Saxon - Battering Ram
- Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase.
- Sylosis - Dormant Heart
- TesseracT - Polaris
- Agalloch - The Serpent & The Sphere
- Allegaeon - Elements of the Infinite
- Animals as Leaders - The Joy of Motion
- Calvin Harris - Motion
- The Crystal Method
- deadmau5 - while(1 < 2)
- Ghost Brigade - IV - One with the Storm
- Iced Earth - Plagues of Babylon
- Mastodon - Once More 'round The Sun
- Opeth - Pale Communion
- Pentatonix - PTX, Vol. III
- Scar Symmetry - The Singularity (Phase 1: Neohumanity)
- Skrillex - Recess
- Tori Amos - Unrepentant Geraldines
- Wovenwar
- Alter Bridge - Fortress
- Amon Amarth - Deceiver of the Gods
- Armin Van Buuren - Intense
- Ashes of Ares
- Blake Noble - Underdog
- Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
- Dave Grohl - Sound City
- Dream Theater
- Fleshgod Apocalypse - Labyrinth
- Kaskade - Atmosphere
- Queensrÿche
- Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused to Sing
- TesseracT - Altered State
- Allegaeon - Formshifter
- Before the Dawn - Rise of the Phoenix
- Between the Buried & Me - The Parallax II: Future Sequence
- Brendon Small - Galaktikon
- Coheed & Cambria - The Afterman: Ascension
- David Guetta - Nothing but the Beat (the Electronic Album)
- deadmau5 - > Album Title Goes Here <
- Devin Townsend Project - Epicloud
- Garbage - Not Your Kind of People
- Katatonia - Dead End Kings
- Kiss - Monster
- Lacuna Coil - Dark Adrenaline
- Sonata Arctica - Stones Grow Her Name
- Stealing Axion - Moments
- Storm Corrosion - Storm Corrosion
- Swedish House Mafia - Until Now
- Woods of Ypress - Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light
- Amon Amarth - Surtur Rising
- Andromeda - Manifest Tyranny
- Anthrax - Worship Music
- Arch Enemy - Khaos Legions
- Arch/Matheos - Sympathetic Resonance
- Between the Buried and Me - The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues
- The Black Dahlia Murder - Ritual
- Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events
- Evergrey - Glorious Collision
- Fleshgod Apocalypse - Agony
- Ghost Brigade - Until Fear No Longer Defines Us
- Iced Earth - Dystopia
- Insomnium - One for Sorrow
- Mastodon - The Hunter
- Megadeth - Th1rt3en
- Obscura - Omnivium
- Omnium Gatherum - New World Shadows
- Opeth - Heritage
- Protest the Hero - Scurrilous
- R.E.M. - Collapse into Now
- Scar Symmetry - The Unseen Empire
- Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning
- Symphony X - Iconoclast
- TesseracT - One
- Textures - Dualism
- Within Temptation - The Unforgiven
- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo [Soundtrack]
- Tron: Legacy Reconfigured [Soundtrack]
- Agalloch - Marrow of the Spirit
- Allegaeon - Fragments of Form and Function
- Coheed & Cambria - Year of the Black Rainbow
- Fear Factory - Mechanize
- James LaBrie - Static Impulse
- Kamelot - Poetry For the Poisoned
- Morcheeba - Blood Like Lemonade
- Opeth - In Live Concert At Royal Albert Hall
- Slash
- Solution .45 - For Aeons Past
- Vanden Plas - The Seraphic Clockwork
- Tron: Legacy Soundtrack by Daft Punk [Soundtrack]
- Alice in Chains – Black Gives Way To Blue
- Baroness – Blue Record
- Between the Buried and Me –The Great Misdirect
- Clutch – Strange Cousins From The West
- Dääth – The Concealers
- Devildriver – Pray for Villains
- God Forbid – Earthsblood
- Heaven & Hell – The Devil You Know
- Insomnium – Across the Dark
- Katatonia – Night is the New Day
- Lacuna Coil – Shallow Life
- Lamb of God – Wrath
- Mastodon – Crack the Skye
- Megadeth – Endgame
- Porcupine Tree – The Incident
- Scar Symmetry – Dark Matter Dimension
- Shadows Fall – Retribution
- Steven Wilson – Insurgentes
- DevilDriver - The Last Kind Words
- Disturbed - Indestructible
- Evergrey - Torn
- The Human Abstract - Midheaven
- In Flames - A Sense of Purpose
- Meshuggah - obZen
- Opeth - Watershed
- Protest the Hero - Fortress
- Scar Symmetry - Holographic Universe
- Slipknot - All Hope Is Gone
- Testament - The Formation of Damnation
- Trivium - Vengeance Falls
- Alter Bridge - Blackbird
- Avenged Sevenfold - Hail to the King
- Coheed & Cambria - No World For Tomorrow
- Dääth - The Hinderers
- Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
- Iced Earth - Framing Armageddon: Something Wicked Part 1
- Kamelot - Ghost Opera
- Nightwish - Dark Passion Play
- Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet
- Shadows Fall - Threads of Life
- Sonata Arctica - Unia
- Symphony X - Paradise Lost