Collaborators Top Prog Rock Albums 2009

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   COLLABORATORS TOP PROG ROCK ALBUMS 2009

Greetings everybody. You may be still wondering what happened to us Collaborators publishing our traditional Top Prog Albums of the Year list, or you may have just went on with your lives. But as voting was intentionally prolonged until the end of February, here we are, finally ready to reveal our top choices.

83 PA Collaborators (VIP members, Prog Reviewers, Collaborators, Special Collaborators and Admins) voted, nominating a total of 149 distinct albums. 53 of them were voted #1 on individual lists.

We have clear medalists this year.

#1 
The highest distiction goes to the Zeuhl legends, who, five years after the tremendous comeback with K.A., reaffirm themselves with Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré, the last chapter of the Köhntarkösz trilogy, in which vocal jazz, dark incantations or vintage-preserved Zeuhl dynamics are simply the starting point.

"Same old, same old, pretty much, but what a wondrous same old it is.(...)While I hardly think this music will have the longevity of, say, Beethoven's glorious 9th, or music by influences on Vander such as Coltrane and Orff, compared to the vast majority of others in the rock universe, this is stellar stuff."
(Logan, Honorary Collaborator)

#2 
The ensemble's return to the musical scene was marked with an album that, for many, is a work of genius. What must have been the big favourite is here referenced as the second best prog album of 2009.

"The mix of styles between Toby Driver's two bands [motW & KD] is phenomenal, seemlessly integrating and creating multiple moments of shear beauty interspersed with moments of crashing dissonance, powerful rock and haunting melancholy."
(sleeper, Prog Reviewer)

#3 
Aside the admiration expressed for this band's comeback project, this must undoubtebly be a surprising recognition for the retro symphonic rock played in recent times.

"(...) a stunning album, at least if symphonic progressive rock is a stylistic expression you normally enjoy. Perhaps a bit too slick and contemporary sounding for die-hard fans of vintage Yes and Genesis, but it is a production that many will find truly magnificent. And without doubt a classic album, of the kind that will be regarded as such many decades from now."
(Windhawk, Special Collaborator & Neo Prog/Crossover Prog Specialist)

#4 
It would be impossible to forget these indie-folkers' breakthrough rock, that also meant their closest step towards prog and personal excellency. And indeed, it isn't left unmentioned. On the contrary: fourth best album of the year, for us.

"These guys are destined for greatness if they manage to hold it together for a few more years at least, and I've no doubt that a decade from now this album will appear on many "Greatest Rock Albums" lists alongside some of the other legendary rock operas in history. Take advantage of it now - you can say then that you knew this music 'when'"
(ClemofNazareth, Special Collaborator & Prog Folk Researcher)
#5 
It proved to be the first time in a long sequence when constantly acclaimed Porcupine Tree's newest album was not universally acclaimed. It still received enough votes to make it in the top. Imagine what would have happened otherwise.

"An initial skeptic, I have found myself increasingly convinced by this album. It's not only the many musical highlights that convince me this is a masterpiece of modern prog, but also the integrity of the song cycle itself: how it coheres both musically and lyrically. This piece is by turns beautiful, raw, thought-provoking, bleak and ultimately disturbing."
(russellk, Prog Reviewer)

#6 
The second half of the top 10 is flooded by prog metal albums, all produced by, likely, the usual suspcts. First up is Riverside, with Anno Domini High Definition. 

"Change has arrived, finally. Or maybe not actually changed, but realization, the confirmation of a promising band ultimately reaching maturity and adopting a true, unique identity. Riverside is now a progressive metal band, with plenty of space rock elements and atmosphere, but a metal band at last."
(The T, Special Collaborator & Progressive Metal Specialist)

#7 
The band's fourth album is now their most celebrated one. Here as well, the emphasis on it being their most progressive offering yet (and in uncompromising fashion, too) is a point of reference.

"Mastodon's Crack The Skye should go down in history as a milestone metal album, the way that Metallica's Master Of Puppets, Slayer's Reign In Blood or Opeth's Blackwater Park are so highly regarded, setting a new benchmark and finding new life in a genre that is often tired and repetitive these days."
(Nightfly, Prog Reviewer)

#8 
This is the first of two albums that weren't anyone's personal choice of the year. Many saw it however as the best runner-up. The Great Misdirect earns eight spot.

"A breath of fresh air in the crowded Prog Metal genre! (...) The type of music that is played here is undeniably BtBaM's unique spin on progressive metal."
(J-Man, Special Collaborator & Progressive Metal Specialist)

#9 
After years of full exposure to a crazily expansive, resoundingly consuming and either addictively- or odiously-regarded music, The Mars Volta, at the end of a decade they were fuly part of, came with something different, maybe not so much in terms of the too-well-known style, as the tone set outwardly. Octahedron appears to be considered just as noteworthy as most, if not all, from which it distanced itself.

"Decaffeinated is a great adjective I have heard to describe this album. So The Mars Volta that previously created an album of almost nonstop thrash noise and craziness - now they have created an album of "Televators", so to speak - subdued, quieter pieces - and that's just fine by me."
(Epignosis, Special Collaborator & Eclectic Prog Specialist)

#10 
Lastly, it is Miriodor's Avanti!, being declared the tenth best prog record of 2009 in quite the last second. 

"Avanti!, as a whole, is a demonstration of how vivid and strong the pattern of R.I.O. remains in the new millenium thanks to the intense creativity delivered by bands such as Miriodor."
(Cesar Inca, Honorary Collaborator)

As usual, I would ask that this thread be stickied, at least for the time being.

Comments, begin!

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