Non Collaborators, Post Your Top 10 Of 2020

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Hello folks, I'm sure each year concludes with the collaborators listing their top 10 albums of the year generally coming together in a post in the early part of the following year. Well, we're here now, so i'd like to hear what the non-collaborator status members got on their lists! Here's mine:
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-Albums I Still Need to Listen To:

Logos, Gazpacho, Pat Methany, Zopp, Compassionizer, Pure Reason Revolution, Airbag

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-Honorable Mentions

Pendragon - Love Over Fear

This one didn't connect as strongly as it seemingly did for other people, but a lot of the music here is very pretty and i'll throw this album on if I'm in a bad mood because it's full of good vibes. Could poke it's head into the top 10, but as of writing this it sits just outside

Lunatic Soul - Through Shaded Woods

Unfortunately I wasn't able to get enough listens of this in to really get an opinion nailed down, but all I can say right now is that I'm really enjoying it, and I wouldn't be surprised if this ended up on this list sometime down the line when I'm recapping on the year.

Ovrfrwd - Starstuff

I had never heard of this group but after seeing a few reviews on the front page I gave it a listen and really enjoyed it. Super solid hard rocking instrumental progressive rock, recommend!

Kansas - The Absence of Presence

(This one initially made the list, but I totally forgot all about Caligulas Horse, so sorry Kansas, you're just falling outside of the top 10, gonna leave my original comment up)

Though I'm disappointed about the sharp mastering and kinda lousy snare sound on this record, I listened to this album a ton over the course of the year and it gave me something to look forward too during some of the uhh.... lower points. Kansas is one of my favorite bands and these last two records show the band modernizing and writing inspired and bold music. Though I like the last record more than this one, there's a lot of cool ideas and strong songs here, that unfortunately get held back by mxing/mastering issues. I hope Kansas continues to release new music.

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The List:

10: Amine - Limbo

Uh oh.... a Hip Hop album!? I know this genre surely isn't beloved in these parts, but i'm a fan of music, and that includes the vast genre of Hip Hop. I'm sort of selective with what I like, but when my friend showed me the track Burden I was instantly hooked on this guy. Amine is an artist you've oughta keep your eye on, he shows brilliant potential and his eccentric personality is on full display across this album. I also have to commend this records comfy 44 minute runtime, the sweet spot for me.

9: Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters

I had never heard of Fiona Apple before this album dropped a shockwave in the Pitchfork/Rateyourmusic crowd. However, after listening, i'd say it did so for very good reason. This tracklisting is filled with gorgeous and creative songwriting and crisp, warm production front to back. There's a very cozy and lowkey vibe to the music, yet it's very dynamic while still managing to keep that vibe within each song. If I wasn't such a prog fiend this would probably be a contender for AOTY, but alas, i'm a prog fiend! 

8: The Ocean Collective - Phanerzoic

This is another band that's new to me. I love the sounds and real sludgy prog metal presented across this record with some dark brooding post metal undertones. There's a palpable otherworldly almost soothing atmosphere across these tracks despite its raw and super heavy sound. Many of these tracks illicit uncontrolable headbanging with it's nasty riffage and deep guttural death growls. A record that I could see moving up as I build a stronger familiarity with it.

7: Motorpsycho - The All is One

I had never heard Motorpsycho before this record, but man this albums awesome. There's a lot of music here, but all of it maintains a real high standard of quality. There's some really psychedelic and spacey moments in the goliath suite of NOX and all the other tracks show just some great hard rocking progressive and dialed in songwriting. I could see this album moving up some number of places as it settles in and I'm able to sink more time into it over the months/years.

6: Pain of Salvation - Panther

Just edging out Motorpsycho is this really interesting record that has been my introduction to the music of POS. This album shows a really outside-the-box take on progressive metal with all sorts of super creative ideas and instrumentation/production. There's a lot of strong emotional moments across this record, the use of electronic sounds to me sets this record apart and I think it's a little underrated as far as getting credit for the originality this album brings forth.

5: Caligulas Horse - Rise Radiant

Yet another group I had never heard of until this year with their new release. This album immediately grabbed me and simply put, it's just a really strong prog metal album with great production, windy twisting guitar riffs, great hooks, Djent tendencies and what I love most is that it's not afraid to get softer within many of these songs creating a great contrast. I'll surely be working backwards and keeping my eye on this group in the future. 

4: Haken - Virus

Quite a surprise for me, I didn't think I'd like this one but for several months after it came out this was my number one album of the year. As far as modern production goes, this is simply as good as it gets. The songs are all extremely well developed excursions into the depths of twisting and crushing prog metal with an emphasis on Djent guitar stylings. The track Carousel is very likely my favorite song to come out this year, and a prog metal classic in my book.

3: Wobbler - Dwellers of the Deep

While following a little short of From Silence to Somewhere, Wobbler still manages to deliver a great symphonic prog album with gorgeous production value. For me side one (the first two tracks) is an easy 5 stars, By The Banks in particular is one of my favorite Wobbler tracks ever. Side 2, while still full of great moments, for me dips just a little overall, bringing things down to a comfy 4 star rating for me.

2: K.G. - King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

This is another super solid record from one of my favorite modern rock bands that can seemingly do no wrong. Following up my favorite King Gizzard record "Flying Microtonal Banana," this record once again plunges into the middle eastern depths of microtonal tuning and psychedelic and progressive sounds. Not a dud in the tracklisting, and contrary to the predecessor, there's a little more stylistic variety. Though I still prefer volume one by just a little. 

1: Islands - The Flower Kings

I've never been a Flower Kings fan, but this album just blew me away, and it continues to be a record I throw on very often and enjoy thoroughly. Islands is full of feel good, complex and melodic tracks start to finish, there's not a dud in the 90 minute runtime. The songs are all dynamic, tight, well produced, and filled with endless replay value. I cannot believe the year is 2020 and i'm ranking the new Flower Kings album above the new Wobbler album, but this album touched my soul like no other this year and because of that, I just have to give this one the crown.

Thanks for reading!

Edited by dougmcauliffe - December 24 2020 at 21:39