On that note, I feel the need to discuss some major points music-wise this year.
- My year started with the frantic anticipation for Alcest and Les Discrets albums, due to the split album they put out in 2009. They both exceeded my expectations.
- Then, I found out the new Burzum album had been released, which was at the top of my chart for a month. Then came Kalmah which replaced that, then came Angra which replaced that and stayed there, because they are my favorite band.
- There were a lot of big-name bands that had released amazing albums a few years ago, but released really disappointing albums this year. Kamelot, Helloween, Blind Guardian, Astral Doors, Wuthering Heights, among others.
- At this point I was still playing Alcest and Les Discrets repeatedly and needed more of this genre - so I found Lantlos, Grey Waters, the new Drudkh album (Soliness also stood out but they did not release any material this year). I also tried a lot of regular shoegaze and of the dozens I tried, Depreciation Guild and Amusement Parks on Fire stood out. I still hope to find more.
- Also in here are just a lot of my favorite bands that cannot possibly make a bad album for my ears. Rhapsody, Joe Satriani, Sofa Surfers, Heimataerde,
- Shining I found completely by accident, I was looking for the Depressive Black Metal band, and instead I found this really unique and exciting journey of an album with the same band name.
- Tetsuo Sakurai is Jazz Fusion, if you don't know what that is, check it out! Basically speedy jazz fused with progressive rock. It features my favorite drummer, Dennis Chambers, and TS is a really great bassist virtuoso.
- Cee Lo Green gets my vote for the biggest surprise of the year, and only "mainstream" album I enjoyed this year. You may know him from "Gnarls Barkley" with their one-hit wonder "Crazy" a few years ago. This album starts with a nice intro, and each song is just captivating in it's own way, while at the same time feeling like a coherent album. Like, each song fits together in this order perfectly and it makes sense.
- Just wanted to note how clear and loud the Bass line is in Lantlos. Had it blasting one day and the guy upstairs complained that the floor was shaking, that it sounded like a vaccuum!
- Angra's song is not a "power ballad" in the traditional sense, I cannot explain it, but I guess that is why I like it so much.
Anyway, here is the track list below. The bitrate is mostly 256kbps and higher, except for (ironically) track 1-1 and track 2-13, which are 192kbps. They are all MP3 except track 1-7 and 2-2 which are AAC. The downloads are the songs themselves along with a m3u file. My interpretation of the genre of each song, which is somewhat subjective, are listed next to the song. I arranged them in the order that sounded best as a playlist, not in the order of my top 20.
As it turns out, completely by chance, Disk 1 is more chill and atmospheric and rock, and Disk 2 is more "metal." They are sub-74 minutes so they could easily be burned to CDs. As usual, I made these playlists for myself but figured someone else might enjoy them!
Disk 1 (Play time - 1:12:51)
1. Mr. Big - Undertow (Melodic / Hard Rock)
2. Pretty Maids - Cielo Drive (Thrashy Heavy Metal)
3. Analog Rebellion - Brain ≠ Heart (I Need To Know) (Downtempo / Indie / Rock)
4. The Depreciation Guild - Dream About Me (Downtempo / Shoegaze / Chiptune/8bit)
5. Heimataerde - Maarat An Numan (Darkwave / Electronic Body Music)
6. Tetsuo Sakurai - Another Kingdom (Jazz Fusion)
7. Sofa Surfers - Heavy Water (Progressive Rock-ish? / Trip-Hop? / Difficult to Categorize)
8. Mar de Grises - The Bell and the Solar Gust (Epic/Atmospheric Death/Doom Metal)
9. Les Discrets - Song For Mountains (Atmospheric / Blackened Shoegaze (Clean Vocals) / Post-Black Metal)
10. Lantlôs - Pulse/Surreal (Shoegazened Black Metal >:D (Black Vocals))
11. Alcest - Percées De Lumière (Shoegazened Black Metal)
12. Amusement Parks On Fire (Shoegaze)
13. Alex Band - Never Let You Go (Alternative Rock)
14. Dexter Freebish - Shine On (Alternative Rock / Electro)
Disk 2 (Play Time - 1:13:19)
1. Joe Satriani - Premonition (Instrumental Rock / Guitar Virtuoso)
2. Rhapsody of Fire - Sea of Fate (Power Metal)
3. The Last Days - Make The Change...Are Your Last Days (Atmospheric Instrumental / Blackened Shoegaze / Post-Black Metal)
4. Senmuth - Под знаменами Тэтишери (Symphonic Ethno Industrial Metal)
5. Shining - The Madness And The Damage Done, Pt. 1 (Progressive/Avant-Garde Rock with Black Metal, Electronic and Jazz influences)
6. Drudkh - Twilight Aureole (Post-Black Metal / Shoegazened Black Metal)
7. Kalmah - Godeye (Epic/Melodic Death Metal)
8. Cee Lo Green - Bright Lights Bigger City (Produced By Ben H. Allen Co-Produced By Graham Marsh) (Symphonic Hip-Hop / Melodic Vocals, not Rap)
9. Rage - Empty Hollow (Symphonic/Epic Power Metal)
10. Grey Waters - The Truth is in Your Eyes (Depressive Rock / Emo Vocals)
11. Arid - Custom Gold (Melodic/Progressive Rock)
12. Revolution Renaissance - Crossing the Rubicon
13. Angra - Lease of Life (my #1 song of 2010 / Power Metal "Ballad")
Mediafire Download (Disk 1)
Mediafire Download (Disk 2)
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