2010 - Favorite Disc

[Glen]

 

3. H.E.A.T - Freedom Rock

After Kenny leaving the band, theses guys are forced to come up with a new album very soon, so I guess "Freedom Rock" will go down in history as sort of an overlooked album from this band.

 

 

I don't think it will, I reckon the new album might well be in a different style (hopefully not in the style of Gronwalds' solo stuff), but hopefully not so different that this band only make 2 Melodic Rock albums then disappear into generic/juvenile Modern Rock cliches and sound like Paramore. Personally I think this album is totally KILLER and was massively underrated by most reviewers/commentators as there's barely a filler on-board. I also think we might look back on this and the TREAT albums in years to come, as it's hard to see how modern Melodic Rock albums can get much better...

 

Mmm, there's defo some filler on that Treat album. Too long as well. In fact both of them are too long.....should have been 11 or 12 tracks each and drop the filler.....then you would have been talking classic near 95-100% albums.

 

 

IMO, the only filler on the TREAT is the intro track, other than that it's really close to perfection. As for the H.E.A.T, my difficulty with it (albeit not much is wrong since it was one of my top 10 of the year) is the production and the over the top vocals....all of the time, is a bit too much. Sounds weird, but I find it too commercial and not rockin' enough. I do prefer it to the debut as the songs are better, but the debut did rock a bit more. The H.E.A.T (Jap version) has some fillers. I know many don't like Beg Beg Beg, but it is one of my favs on it. The filler tracks are Black Night and the bonus track Living In A Memory, those are weak. As much as Tobias Sommet has a great Michael Kiske styled voice he sounds like shit on Black Night.

 

Tracks to drop on HEAT -

 

Black Night / Living In A Memory

 

Tracks to drop on Treat -

 

Intro / All In / Im Not Runnin

 

Also I really dislike the ballad 'A Life To Die For'.....just a embarrassingly sickly pile of tosh IMO.....I know some love it, but not me sorry.

 

Another song I struggle with is Skies Of Mongolia....i do like it, but just cant help laughing at the lyrics.....I mean the 'skies of mongolia' IMO just shouldnt form the subject matter of a melodic rock song. Hey ho........

 

So there ....otherwise its a bunch of super excellent songs, but is let down by a few fillers IMO.

 

[also on a side note....and I think Jez mentioned this at the time....I love the hard hitting style of the album, but what's going on with that bass sound??]

 

Cheers

 

Even if you dropped the tracks for either release, it still wouldn't change the outcome on my top 20 list. I can't picture myself saying the H.E.A.T. was better than First Signal wich was just ahead of Freddom Rock on my list.

 

As for Skies Of Mongolia, the lyrics are kinda weird, I think they are trying too hard to look intelligent and educated by picking a misterious country like Mongolia. Could have been worse, with lyrics like the Skies Of East Riding Of Yorkshire, Skies of New South Wales or Skies Of The North West Territories.

 

Dropping the fillers would have made Treat a solid 90%...making 6th spot.

 

And HEAT circa 93%, top spot

 

:-))

[glam_junkie]

Has anyone pikced up the Billion Dollar Babies disc from 2010?

 

What i've heard of this one is great, but haven't seen it cheap enough anywhere to pick it up yet.

[Glen]

Has anyone pikced up the Billion Dollar Babies disc from 2010?

 

What i've heard of this one is great, but haven't seen it cheap enough anywhere to pick it up yet.

 

No I keep meaning to check that out....the few songs ive heard were really good.

[zacharyamelie]

Has anyone pikced up the Billion Dollar Babies disc from 2010?

 

What i've heard of this one is great, but haven't seen it cheap enough anywhere to pick it up yet.

 

No I keep meaning to check that out....the few songs ive heard were really good.

 

The one good thing about my top 20 list all but one cd cost me under 20$. Only my Jap version of Freedom Rock from H.E.A.T. cost me more. Making our music affordable is great for me.

[heaven&hell]

I'm curious to know if that many have the Distorted Wonderland disc in their favs. I just got it and damn what a fine slice of Sleazy Metal and IMO it should be mentioned up there close to the Crashdiet and Hardcore Superstar.

[glam_junkie]

I'm curious to know if that many have the Distorted Wonderland disc in their favs. I just got it and damn what a fine slice of Sleazy Metal and IMO it should be mentioned up there close to the Crashdiet and Hardcore Superstar.

 

 

have ordered it but don't have it in my hands yet.

[Jeff]

I'm curious to know if that many have the Distorted Wonderland disc in their favs. I just got it and damn what a fine slice of Sleazy Metal and IMO it should be mentioned up there close to the Crashdiet and Hardcore Superstar.

 

I was able to get a handful of spins on it before compiling my list and it ended up at #15. I'm not sure where it would have ended up if it came out earlier but certianly not any lower. I agree, I would think this one makes a lot of people's Best Of list somewhere.

 

15. Distorted Wonderland

This probably would have been ranked higher had it come out sooner but I'm really diggin' this one.

Favorite track: Losing It

[Glen]

I'm curious to know if that many have the Distorted Wonderland disc in their favs. I just got it and damn what a fine slice of Sleazy Metal and IMO it should be mentioned up there close to the Crashdiet and Hardcore Superstar.

 

I was able to get a handful of spins on it before compiling my list and it ended up at #15. I'm not sure where it would have ended up if it came out earlier but certianly not any lower. I agree, I would think this one makes a lot of people's Best Of list somewhere.

 

15. Distorted Wonderland

This probably would have been ranked higher had it come out sooner but I'm really diggin' this one.

Favorite track: Losing It

 

Excellent disc! I have ranked it at number 12, but as Jeff says should possibly be higher... But for one or two fillers towards the end could have been top 10. Certainly the first 6 or 7 songs are all great! Big over the top sleaze anthems....highly recommended.

 

Cheers

[TIM (2)]

 

3. H.E.A.T - Freedom Rock

After Kenny leaving the band, theses guys are forced to come up with a new album very soon, so I guess "Freedom Rock" will go down in history as sort of an overlooked album from this band.

 

 

I don't think it will, I reckon the new album might well be in a different style (hopefully not in the style of Gronwalds' solo stuff), but hopefully not so different that this band only make 2 Melodic Rock albums then disappear into generic/juvenile Modern Rock cliches and sound like Paramore. Personally I think this album is totally KILLER and was massively underrated by most reviewers/commentators as there's barely a filler on-board. I also think we might look back on this and the TREAT albums in years to come, as it's hard to see how modern Melodic Rock albums can get much better...

 

Mmm, there's defo some filler on that Treat album. Too long as well. In fact both of them are too long.....should have been 11 or 12 tracks each and drop the filler.....then you would have been talking classic near 95-100% albums.

 

 

IMO, the only filler on the TREAT is the intro track, other than that it's really close to perfection. As for the H.E.A.T, my difficulty with it (albeit not much is wrong since it was one of my top 10 of the year) is the production and the over the top vocals....all of the time, is a bit too much. Sounds weird, but I find it too commercial and not rockin' enough. I do prefer it to the debut as the songs are better, but the debut did rock a bit more. The H.E.A.T (Jap version) has some fillers. I know many don't like Beg Beg Beg, but it is one of my favs on it. The filler tracks are Black Night and the bonus track Living In A Memory, those are weak. As much as Tobias Sommet has a great Michael Kiske styled voice he sounds like shit on Black Night.

 

Tracks to drop on HEAT -

 

Black Night / Living In A Memory

 

Tracks to drop on Treat -

 

Intro / All In / Im Not Runnin

 

Also I really dislike the ballad 'A Life To Die For'.....just a embarrassingly sickly pile of tosh IMO.....I know some love it, but not me sorry.

 

Another song I struggle with is Skies Of Mongolia....i do like it, but just cant help laughing at the lyrics.....I mean the 'skies of mongolia' IMO just shouldnt form the subject matter of a melodic rock song. Hey ho........

 

So there ....otherwise its a bunch of super excellent songs, but is let down by a few fillers IMO.

 

[also on a side note....and I think Jez mentioned this at the time....I love the hard hitting style of the album, but what's going on with that bass sound??]

 

Cheers

 

Even if you dropped the tracks for either release, it still wouldn't change the outcome on my top 20 list. I can't picture myself saying the H.E.A.T. was better than First Signal wich was just ahead of Freddom Rock on my list.

 

As for Skies Of Mongolia, the lyrics are kinda weird, I think they are trying too hard to look intelligent and educated by picking a misterious country like Mongolia. Could have been worse, with lyrics like the Skies Of East Riding Of Yorkshire, Skies of New South Wales or Skies Of The North West Territories.

 

Dropping the fillers would have made Treat a solid 90%...making 6th spot.

 

And HEAT circa 93%, top spot

 

:-))

 

Agree with most of the comments about the fillers and the overall ratings. What I don't agree with is that there were better albums than these in 2010 as pretty much everything else had more fillers (maybe with the exception of First Signal). Treat may be a 90% album but there wasnt a 95-100% album in 2010...

[embrock]

Has anyone pikced up the Billion Dollar Babies disc from 2010?

 

What i've heard of this one is great, but haven't seen it cheap enough anywhere to pick it up yet.

 

No I keep meaning to check that out....the few songs ive heard were really good.

 

I picked it up back in September. I'm not a big fan of the vocals, but if you are, this might easily end up in your Top10 as the songwriting is strong. "Key to my Heart" is an excellent song! It'd be somewhere around rank 20 in my list.

 

 

Distorted Wonderland is not as good as Crashdiet or HCS in my books, but I'd rank them around place 15.

[hardrockhaven]

I'm curious to know if that many have the Distorted Wonderland disc in their favs. I just got it and damn what a fine slice of Sleazy Metal and IMO it should be mentioned up there close to the Crashdiet and Hardcore Superstar.

 

I was able to get a handful of spins on it before compiling my list and it ended up at #15. I'm not sure where it would have ended up if it came out earlier but certianly not any lower. I agree, I would think this one makes a lot of people's Best Of list somewhere.

 

15. Distorted Wonderland

This probably would have been ranked higher had it come out sooner but I'm really diggin' this one.

Favorite track: Losing It

I just came across Distorted Wonderland today. Very cool stuff. I just downloaded my top 5 tracks off it from Itunes. I see that Aor Heaven is calling them a harder version of Hardcore Superstar meets Crazy Lixx with a lead singer that sounds like Chris Laney. Not really too bad of a description. I actually hear a little Taking Dawn mixed in there as well.

[Clutch]

For me, High On Fire- Snakes is my album of the year and a real crusher.

 

For the melodic, probably Treat. I dig it more and more every time I hear it. Being a long time Treat fan, I find it impressive (to say the least) that they can come back after all this time and produce such a great record.

 

Happy New Year to all!

[heaven&hell]

I'm curious to know if that many have the Distorted Wonderland disc in their favs. I just got it and damn what a fine slice of Sleazy Metal and IMO it should be mentioned up there close to the Crashdiet and Hardcore Superstar.

 

I was able to get a handful of spins on it before compiling my list and it ended up at #15. I'm not sure where it would have ended up if it came out earlier but certianly not any lower. I agree, I would think this one makes a lot of people's Best Of list somewhere.

 

15. Distorted Wonderland

This probably would have been ranked higher had it come out sooner but I'm really diggin' this one.

Favorite track: Losing It

I just came across Distorted Wonderland today. Very cool stuff. I just downloaded my top 5 tracks off it from Itunes. I see that Aor Heaven is calling them a harder version of Hardcore Superstar meets Crazy Lixx with a lead singer that sounds like Chris Laney. Not really too bad of a description. I actually hear a little Taking Dawn mixed in there as well.

 

I've been playing the heck out of this disc since I got a few days back and damn if every song isn't just incredible sleaze metal. I can't wait to see, I mean hear, what these guys come up with if they ever get a better production budget for future releases.

[Geoff]

My lists should be ready by about tomorrow I reckon. Just a few comments on what I've seen so far:

 

1. Seriously Lindsay, I need to fight you next time we meet. I really don't want to, but rating Bret Michaels' 'Custom built' above Treat? Seriously man, wtf?

 

2. I love 'All in' off the Treat disc. 'Skies of Mongolia' is one of my favourite tracks of the entire year too. Silly lyrics or not it is just musically stunning and I think it's wonderful, personally. For me, 'Breathless' is by far the weakest song on the CD but not too bad and the closest I'd call as a filler, but not really a filler. That, the intro and 'Heaven can wait' I could have done without, but I don't mind them there.

 

3. Wowser at your top spot, Glen. Just wowser. I like the First Signal CD too, but for a shorter album there are more fillers on that than Treat, imo of course. That was one CD I really listened to closely on my road trip to see where it fit in and I thought it'd go up, whereas in fact it dropped several places instead, out of my top 10. Some stunning tracks no doubt, but curse those fillers.

 

4. The Distorted Wonderland is a tricky one. First 5 tracks are just brilliant, sadly the 2nd half of the CD lets it down for me. Still rated pretty high, though.

 

5. HEAT came in at 3rd for me, but that is for the version of the CD with stuff like 'Tonight' and the other gem on it... not this one with 'High on life' or whatever the garbage is called. It's a brilliant CD, I just wish 'Black night' and 'High on life' had been left off my version and replaced with the better tunes.

 

Anyway, my lists will follow tomorrow. Most glaring exclusion from lists so far, for me, has to be the brilliant new A Day To Remember CD.

[glam_junkie]

My lists should be ready by about tomorrow I reckon. Just a few comments on what I've seen so far:

 

1. Seriously Lindsay, I need to fight you next time we meet. I really don't want to, but rating Bret Michaels' 'Custom built' above Treat? Seriously man, wtf?

 

 

 

that isn't saying bret's disc is good, it's just saying i found no appeal what-so-ever in the Treat disc. it completely baffles me how this in so many top 5.

[Glen]

3. Wowser at your top spot, Glen. Just wowser. I like the First Signal CD too, but for a shorter album there are more fillers on that than Treat, imo of course. That was one CD I really listened to closely on my road trip to see where it fit in and I thought it'd go up, whereas in fact it dropped several places instead, out of my top 10. Some stunning tracks no doubt, but curse those fillers.

 

 

And exactly what fillers were they?

 

As I said earlier in the year it was almost impossible to separate these releases hence about 5% between the top 15 or so!

 

That said the reason that First Signal topped my list (and it was a surprise for me too!), is that there just are no fillers on that album......there are better songs elsewhere for sure, but it is consistently great throughout IMO.

 

Cheers.

[JamesEagle]

i found no appeal what-so-ever in the Treat disc. it completely baffles me how this in so many top 5.

 

I like about 5 tracks off that one, but I am definitely missing something. I keep listening to 'Skies of Mongolia', hoping I'll love it as much as others on here do, but it just doesn't sound special to me.

[Geoff]

3. Wowser at your top spot, Glen. Just wowser. I like the First Signal CD too, but for a shorter album there are more fillers on that than Treat, imo of course. That was one CD I really listened to closely on my road trip to see where it fit in and I thought it'd go up, whereas in fact it dropped several places instead, out of my top 10. Some stunning tracks no doubt, but curse those fillers.

 

 

And exactly what fillers were they?

 

As I said earlier in the year it was almost impossible to separate these releases hence about 5% between the top 15 or so!

 

That said the reason that First Signal topped my list (and it was a surprise for me too!), is that there just are no fillers on that album......there are better songs elsewhere for sure, but it is consistently great throughout IMO.

 

Cheers.

 

A quick rundown off the top of my head:

 

Flawless tracks: 'This city', 'First signal', 'Into the night', 'Yesterday's rain'.

 

Looking at the rest I can't remember the exact fillers but I definitely found my attention drifting during the end of 'When you believe' (just too 2nd rate Khymera for me), 'Crazy', and the distinct weak point of the CD, 'Goodbye to the good times'. Other weaker tracks are 'Feels like love this time', 'When November falls' and even 'Naked desire' doesn't hold up too well for me. There is nothing dreadful on here, but enough tracks that don't do it for me that made it easy to place CDs like Crashdiet (most consistent CD of the year, which imo is actually totally filler free), HEAT, Crazy Lixx, White Widdow (also filler-free imo) well above this one.

 

It's a great CD and it's great to hear Hess again, and it still fell in at number 11 for me (and I think about the top 40 discs this year were all great) but it just personally wasn't even a contender for the top spot for me this year. To each their own, though, mate. Just surprised me a little.

 

i found no appeal what-so-ever in the Treat disc. it completely baffles me how this in so many top 5.

 

I like about 5 tracks off that one, but I am definitely missing something. I keep listening to 'Skies of Mongolia', hoping I'll love it as much as others on here do, but it just doesn't sound special to me.

For me it was just the most complete CD of the year. I didn't dislike any song on it at all, and found there were only 2 weaker points ('Heaven can wait' and 'Breathless') but aside from them the variety and quality of song choice always left it at the top of my list. It's heavy, it's melodic, the hooks are all there. Perfect production job and all tempos within melodic hard rock covered perfectly. Yeah, as I say, for me it is just the most complete CD of the year.

[JamesEagle]

 

For me it was just the most complete CD of the year. I didn't dislike any song on it at all, and found there were only 2 weaker points ('Heaven can wait' and 'Breathless') but aside from them the variety and quality of song choice always left it at the top of my list. It's heavy, it's melodic, the hooks are all there. Perfect production job and all tempos within melodic hard rock covered perfectly. Yeah, as I say, for me it is just the most complete CD of the year.

 

Breathless is one of my favourite tracks on the album.

 

Each to his own and all that. I just find it very formulaic, the choruses all blur into one.

[Geoff]

 

For me it was just the most complete CD of the year. I didn't dislike any song on it at all, and found there were only 2 weaker points ('Heaven can wait' and 'Breathless') but aside from them the variety and quality of song choice always left it at the top of my list. It's heavy, it's melodic, the hooks are all there. Perfect production job and all tempos within melodic hard rock covered perfectly. Yeah, as I say, for me it is just the most complete CD of the year.

 

Breathless is one of my favourite tracks on the album.

 

Each to his own and all that. I just find it very formulaic, the choruses all blur into one.

Yeah, I remember in that poll that Treat's version of 'Breathless' won over Pretty Maids' killer version of a song with the same title. That amazed me then as it does now. The PM song is great, one of the highlights. Even as a Treat die-hard I could find nothing interesting about their version. I really seemed to have missed the boat with that song...

[Geoff]

And here too:

 

MHR:

 

1 . Treat - Coup de grace

As I said in a thread, I did consider having a joint number one spot with Crashdiet, but this got to the top spot in the end based on the excellent variety of tracks and consistency throughout. Every side of melodic hard rock covered here, and covered well.

 

2 . Crashdiet - Generation wild

Brilliant CD and their best yet, imo. One after another, every song is just excellent.

 

3 . HEAT - Freedom rock

Disappointed with the different versions of this going around. With the inclusion of 'Tonight' and 'Living in a memory' and taking out the dreadful 'High on life', this is a killer CD. And well deserved of the 3rd spot.

 

4 . White Widdow - s/t

Never thought I'd see an Aussie CD in a current top 10, but these guys come out with a relatively simple gameplan and just execute it perfectly. There is no hint of a weak track on this CD and everytime I hear it I get excited, songs sit lodged in my head for days.

 

5 . Crazy Lixx - New religion

Originally a contender for the top spot this one just dropped a few places at the end. Still has some of the best songs of 2010 but in the end I just preferred the 4 above it as overall efforts.

 

6 . Issa - Sign of angels

Not many got on board this train, but for me this is one of, if not the best female fronted CDs I've heard. A couple of weaker moments, but on the strength of the best tracks (and there's alot of them) I believe this totally deserves this place in the top 10.

 

7 . Vega - The kiss of life

Another brilliant disc most the way through. And 'Stay with me' is my favourite song of 2010. Love the vocals, love the songs. Only issue is the weaker production / drum sound, but that can't take away from a killer melodic rock disc.

 

8 . Reckless Love - s/t

Another one with a couple of fillers but again it's the strength of the plentiful stack of great tracks that kept this one lingering in my top 10.

 

9 . Pretty Maids - Pandemonium

Their finest album in years. No weak moments on here and even the 2nd version of 'It comes at night' is worthwhile. Love hearing these guys do what they do best.

 

10 . All I Know - Vanity kills

One of the surprises of the year. Good fresh sound, killer hooks. A really enjoyable CD.

 

11 . First Signal - s/t

12 . Terry Brock - Diamond Blue

13 . Shining Line - s/t

14 . Taking Dawn - Time to burn

15 . Mad Max - Welcome America

16 . Axident Avenue - Shaken and disturbed

17 . Bad City - Welcome to the wasteland

18 . Jettblack - Get your hands dirty

19 . Ratt - Infestation

20 . Loveblast - s/t

 

21 . Chris Laney - Only come out at night

22 . Distorted Wonderland - s/t

23 . Shylock - Rock buster

24 . The Giant Leap - s/t

25 . Degreed - Life love loss

26 . Newman - The art of balance

27 . Wig Wam - Non stop rock n'roll

28 . Nelson - Lightening strikes twice

29 . Unruly Child - Worlds collide

30 . Giant - Promise land

 

31 . Stan Bush - Dream the dream

32 . Skull Daze - s/t

33 . Negative - Neon

34 . Allen/Lande - The showdown

35 . Auras - New generation

36 . Smilek - Stranded

37 . Edge of Forever - Another paradise

38 . Human Temple - Murder of crows

39 . FM - Metropolis

40 . Bangalore Choir - Cadence

 

41 . State of Rock - A point of destiny

42 . Avantasia - Angel of Babylon & Wicked Symphony

43 . Rick Springfield & Jeff Silverman - From the vault

44 . Grand Illusion - Brand new world

45 . Wicked Sensation - Crystallized

46 . Serpentine - A touch of heaven

47 . Last Autumn's Dream - A touch of heaven

48 . Danger Angel - s/t

49 . Hungryheart - One ticket to paradise

50 . Worlds Apart - Clean slate

 

51 . Mr Big - What if…

52 . Houston - s/t

53 . Prime Suspect - s/t

54 . Liberty N' Justice - Light it up

55 . Hansel - Never say die

56 . Mark Sweeny - All in

57 . Michael Bormann - Different

58 . Scorpions - Sting in the tail

59 . Two Fires - Burning bright

60 . Pussy Sisster - s/t

 

61 . Angeline - Confessions

62 . China - Light up the dark

63 . Stage Dolls - Always

64 . Skills In Veins - s/t

65 . Furyon - Gravitas

66 . Pangea - Retrospectacular

67 . Perfect View - Hold your dreams

68 . TNT - A farewell to arms

69 . Line of Fire - Momentum

70 . Strangeways - Perfect world

 

71 . Mass - Sea of black

72 . Keel - Steets of rock n'roll

73 . Axel Rudy Pell - The crest

74 . Y & T -Facemelter

75 . Rock Sugar - Reimaginator

76 . Tunnel - s/t

77 . N.O.W. - Force of nature

78 . Bombay Black - Love you to death

79 . Krokus - Hoodoo

80 . Killer Klown - Gain

 

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Modern rock:

 

1 . Hinder - All American nightmare

Initial disappointment at a couple of weak tracks aside, this really proved to be a stayer. So many great songs still on offer and although the ADTR CD is slightly more consistent, the best tracks on this one put it in the top spot for 2010.

 

2 . A Day To Remember - What separates me from you

Unexpected, killer CD, this one. Their last CD was great, but this is even better. Every song is a treat, with big catchy chorus after chrorus.

 

3 . Kids In Glass Houses - Dirt

Probably the overall pleasant surprise of the year for me. Their last CD was plain and simply terrible. This is plain and simply awesome. HUGE amount of killer tracks on this one and a deserved 3rd placing.

 

4 . Seventh Rain - The Ghost in me

Most exciting newcomers of the year. This one doesn't have a heap of mindblowers on it, but man it has a lot of really great tracks. Nothing new, but done extremely well, I love this one.

 

5 . Quietdrive - s/t

One of my favourite modern rock bands deliver the goods again with a great disc. Nice mixed bag, totally killer overall.

 

6 . Just Surrender - Phoenix

In all honesty, probably a little disppointing overall. Three stunning songs and a lot of nice ones. Nothing bad on here, I just have huge expectations for these guys. End of the day, it's still a great CD.

 

7 . Cinder Road - Damage Control

Good stuff. A few middle-range tracks, but the ballads and more melodic tracks bring this home well. Very good CD.

 

8 . Bullet For My Valentine - Fever

Love this one. Good, solid metal with one of my picks of the year, 'Bittersweet memories'.

 

9 . Before Their Eyes - Untouchable

Another early 2010 release that just stuck around due to the great tracks on offer.

 

10 . Goo Goo Dolls - Something for the rest of us

Total sucker for this band and this CD was a good return to what made me love 'Dizzy up the girl' so much. More consistent that the last few CDs I really dug this.

 

11 . Anberlin - Dark is the way, Light is a place

12 . Dive - Picture Perfect

13 . Story of the Year - The Constant

14 . Destine - Lightspeed

15 . Stone Sour - Audio secrecy

16 . Thriving Ivory - Through yourself and back again

17 . Erik Gronwall - Somewhere between a rock and a hard place

18 . My Darkest Days - s/t

19 . Lifehouse - Smoke and mirrors

20 . Amber Pacific - Virtues

 

21 . Disciple - Horseshoes and hand grenades

22 . Blind - The fire remains

23 . Crashcarburn - Long live tonight

24 . Fireflight - For those who wait

25 . In This Moment - A star crossed wasteland

26 . It's Alive - Human Resources

27 . Attack Attack - The latest fashion

28 . You Me At Six - Hold me down

29 . Honor Bright - Action! Drama! Suspense!

30 . Sing It Loud - Everything collide

 

31 . The Fire - Abracadabra

32 . Runaway City - Armored heart

33 . My Chemical Romance - Danger days

34 . Young Guns - All our kings are dead

35 . Mercy Mercedes - Believe it

36 . Framing Hanley - A promise to burn

37 . Hawthorne Heights - Skeletons

38 . The Bigger Lights - s/t

39 . A Phoenix Forever - This is why we can't have nice things

40 . Rookie of the Year - The most beautiful

 

41 . Shotgun Revolution - Join the revolution

42 . Escape The Fate - s/t

43 . Jimmy Eat World - Invented

44 . Allister - Countdown to nowhere

45 . Heroes for Hire - Life of the party

46 . Notimefore - Dress up to get down

47 . Senses Fail - The fire

48 . Seasons After - Through tomorrow

49 . Lostprophets- The Betrayed

50 . Beneath Me - Wish I wouldn't care

 

51 . Surviving Sunrise - s/t

52 . These Four Walls - Down falls and empire

53 . I See Stars - 3D

54 . The Audition - Great danger

55 . Mutiny Within - s/t

56 . The Classic Crime - Vagabonds

57 . My Last Fall - Clocks in slowmotion

58 . Number One Gun - To the secrets and knowledge

59 . Motion City Soundtrack - My dinosaur life

60 . Secret & Whisper - Teenage fantasy

 

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Overall, I think I could comfortably call it the best year in music for a very, very long time. Picking the top MHR releases was a bit of a nightmare, and the fact that I'm still naming very good releases well up into the mid 60's in my list... well, it speaks for itself. So much great music to chose from.

 

There was a lot of talk about the poor year in modern rock and by recent standards it was quite slow, but I still got a lot of it. A lot of later releases in the year were pleasant surprises and I also get the impression that a few of the better releases passed by a few.

[Ytseman]

You're dedicated Geoff! I admire the passion and banter on this board.

 

Keep up the good work guys & gals

[Jeff]

You're dedicated Geoff! I admire the passion and banter on this board.

 

Keep up the good work guys & gals

 

Thanks, but my name is Jeff with a "J"

[Glen]

3. Wowser at your top spot, Glen. Just wowser. I like the First Signal CD too, but for a shorter album there are more fillers on that than Treat, imo of course. That was one CD I really listened to closely on my road trip to see where it fit in and I thought it'd go up, whereas in fact it dropped several places instead, out of my top 10. Some stunning tracks no doubt, but curse those fillers.

 

 

And exactly what fillers were they?

 

As I said earlier in the year it was almost impossible to separate these releases hence about 5% between the top 15 or so!

 

That said the reason that First Signal topped my list (and it was a surprise for me too!), is that there just are no fillers on that album......there are better songs elsewhere for sure, but it is consistently great throughout IMO.

 

Cheers.

 

A quick rundown off the top of my head:

 

Flawless tracks: 'This city', 'First signal', 'Into the night', 'Yesterday's rain'.

 

Looking at the rest I can't remember the exact fillers but I definitely found my attention drifting during the end of 'When you believe' (just too 2nd rate Khymera for me), 'Crazy', and the distinct weak point of the CD, 'Goodbye to the good times'. Other weaker tracks are 'Feels like love this time', 'When November falls' and even 'Naked desire' doesn't hold up too well for me. There is nothing dreadful on here, but enough tracks that don't do it for me that made it easy to place CDs like Crashdiet (most consistent CD of the year, which imo is actually totally filler free), HEAT, Crazy Lixx, White Widdow (also filler-free imo) well above this one.

 

It's a great CD and it's great to hear Hess again, and it still fell in at number 11 for me (and I think about the top 40 discs this year were all great) but it just personally wasn't even a contender for the top spot for me this year. To each their own, though, mate. Just surprised me a little.

 

i found no appeal what-so-ever in the Treat disc. it completely baffles me how this in so many top 5.

 

I like about 5 tracks off that one, but I am definitely missing something. I keep listening to 'Skies of Mongolia', hoping I'll love it as much as others on here do, but it just doesn't sound special to me.

For me it was just the most complete CD of the year. I didn't dislike any song on it at all, and found there were only 2 weaker points ('Heaven can wait' and 'Breathless') but aside from them the variety and quality of song choice always left it at the top of my list. It's heavy, it's melodic, the hooks are all there. Perfect production job and all tempos within melodic hard rock covered perfectly. Yeah, as I say, for me it is just the most complete CD of the year.

 

LOL, 'Feels Like Love This Time' and 'Naked Desire' are 2 of my fav tracks off the album. I love the energy of 'Goodbye To The Good Times' as well....great chorus.

 

Also I really like the 'Breathless' track by Treat as well. In fact the 5 best songs on the album are the last 4 on the main album and 'Turn The Dial'....God knows why that was a Jap bonus track....they get all the best songs!!

 

On the subject of Jap bonus tracks did anyone get to hear 'Lights Out' by Crazy Lixx.....again a brilliant track! As good as any song on the main album IMO.

[Swazi]

You're dedicated Geoff! I admire the passion and banter on this board.

 

Keep up the good work guys & gals

 

Geoff has waaaayyyyyyyyy too much time at his hands !

 

Geoff, my mate, did you really buy and listen to all of those releases ??