Best of 2012................so far

[Glen]

Mind u that is amazon.com

 

I haven't purchased a CD from Amazon in a very long time, so I've never seen that before. It's deterred me from returning there in the future.

 

It does state half way down the page that its cd recordable on demand so its pretty plain thats what it is.

 

Yeah but to be honest that is the first time I have ever seen that, esp on .co.uk

[heaven&hell]

Mind u that is amazon.com

 

I haven't purchased a CD from Amazon in a very long time, so I've never seen that before. It's deterred me from returning there in the future.

 

It does state half way down the page that its cd recordable on demand so its pretty plain thats what it is.

 

Yeah but to be honest that is the first time I have ever seen that, esp on .co.uk

I wonder if they just added that to the UK site. I think I started a thread about it being on the US site a couple of years back. The crap thing is on the US site is it's half way down the page.

[glam_junkie]

OK, here's my final placings......a couple of surprises in there -

 

 

14. Peepshow - Brand New Breed (86%)

 

 

 

wasnt this a 2011 release?

[Geoff]

Haha, nice list embrock. You had me hooked with my agreeing with a lot of what you said, right up until the very last line. I absolutely love that Wigelius CD personally. Of all the discs in 2012 it's probably the one I've reached for most and if someone asked me which band had the most "perfect" sound in 2012 I'd point to them. If not for the couple of weaker songs it would have topped 2012 for me for sure.

 

I can definately see and hear the appeal of that Wigelius disc, but just recently I played H.E.A.T and Wigelius back to back and very seldom has a disc sounded so lifeless and generic while H.E.A.T was fresh and full of energy. It might even be the production of the Wigelius disc which kinda spoils it for me not the songs.

 

You compiled a very nice list yourself, definately agree on that tasty Dallas EP! Knowing you're into modern rock I kinda wonder where you've left the likes of Papa Roach, Halestorm or Hinder, where'd you rank them?

 

Hey mate, I'll post a full list within this month, I dare say, but for now the three you mention ended in this placement:

 

36 . Papa Roach - The Connection - 83%

41 . Hinder - Welcome To The Freakshow - 81%

99 . Halestorm - A Strange Case Of… - 74%

 

I enjoyed Papa Roach and Hinder a lot. I listened to those bonus tracks on the Halestorm CD last night and can't comprehend why they're not on the proper version of the CD. Replace them with 3 of the weaker songs and you have a much higher score, from me anyway. It's a good disc, but it was a little disappointing for me. Anyway, I'll have a full list soon for interest's sake. FYI, at the moment I've rated 237 albums so the Halestorm position isn't as low as it seems.

 

And guys, as for the Dorydrive thing, I've actually seen that CDR comment a few times on Amazon, but still haven't got a CDR from there yet. First time for everything, though. I'll be sure to keep y'all informed.

[darin]

OK, here's my final placings......a couple of surprises in there -

 

 

14. Peepshow - Brand New Breed (86%)

 

 

 

wasnt this a 2011 release?

It does say 2011 on my copy, but their website says it was released on 1/29/12. I remember pre-ordering in January and receiving it in early Feb.

[Nightrain]

TOP ALBUMS OF 2012

 

Top 100 average rating is 79.13%

 

JIMI JAMISON Never Too Late AOR Frontiers Records 91.0%
H.E.A.T Address The Nation Melodic Rock Stormvox 90.0%
LIONVILLE II AOR Avenue of Allies 90.0%
ECLIPSE Bleed and Scream Hard Rock / Melodic Metal Frontiers Records 90.0%
WIGELIUS Reinventions AOR Frontiers Records 90.0%
HESS Living In Yesterday AOR Frontiers Records 90.0%
DYNAZTY Sultans of Sin Hard Rock Stormvox 87.0%
SUNSTORM Emotional Fire AOR Frontiers Records 85.0%
CRAZY LIXX Riot Avenue Hard Rock Frontiers Records 85.0%
JEFF SCOTT SOTO Damage Control Melodic Rock Frontiers Records 85.0%

SAPPHIRE EYES s/t AOR Avenue of Allies 85.0%
JETTBLACK Raining Rock Hard Rock Spinefarm Records 85.0%
DESTINE Illuminate Modern Melodic Rock Rude Records 85.0%
ACCEPT Stalingrad Heavy Metal Nuclear Blast 85.0%
PEEPSHOW Brand New Breed Sleaze / Glam indie 85.0%
L'ARC-EN-CIEL Butterfly Alt / Pop / J-Rock Ki/oon 85.0%
BLESSED BY A BROKEN HEART Feel The Power Modern Heavy Metal Tooth & Nail Records 85.0%
CYANIDE 4 Everyday Is A Masquerade Sleaze / Hard Rock Perris Records 80.1%
DANGER ZONE Undying Hard Rock Avenue of Allies 80.0%
WHEELS OF FIRE Up For Anything Melodic Rock Avenue of Allies 80.0%

NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA, THE Internal Affairs Hard Rock / AOR Coroner Records 80.0%
LOUDGUNS Broken Highway Melodic Rock indie 80.0%
HARDLINE Danger Zone Melodic Rock Frontiers Records 80.0%
SILENCE City (Nights) AOR Perris Records 80.0%
TANGO DOWN Identity Crisis Melodic Rock Kivel Records 80.0%
OXYGEN Final Warning AOR Escape Music 80.0%
YOUNGBLOOD No Retreat Hard Rock Eonian Records 80.0%
MILLION $ RELOAD A Sinner's Saint Hard Rock Frontiers Records 80.0%
SILENCE City (Days) AOR Perris Records 80.0%
FRIDAY NIGHTS, THE s/t Powerpop / Melodic Rock indie 80.0%

BABY JANE In The Spotlight Sleaze / Glam Live To Fight 80.0%
NUBIAN ROSE Mountain Hard Rock indie 80.0%
WILD FRONTIERS 2012 Melodic Rock indie 80.0%
SLASH Apocalyptic Love Hard Rock Roadrunner Records 80.0%
TESTAMENT Dark Roots of Earth Thrash Metal Nuclear Blast 80.0%
LESS THAN 4 By Blood By Heart Hard Rock / Glam indie 80.0%
KORITNI Welcome To The Crossroads Hard Rock Warner Music 80.0%
GUN Break The Silence Hard Rock earMUSIC 80.0%
SAFETYSUIT These Times Modern Rock Universal Republic 80.0%
STORM CORROSSION s/t Prog / Experimental Rock Roadrunner Records 80.0%

MURDER BAY Never Was An Angel Hard Rock Eonian Records 80.0%
PRIMAL FEAR Unbreakable Heavy Metal Frontiers Records 80.0%
PRETTY MAIDS It Comes Alive Heavy Metal Frontiers Records 80.0%
CHRIS ANTBLAD A New Dawn Lite AOR AOR Heaven 80.0%
CIRCUS MAXIMUS Nine Prog / Heavy Metal Frontiers Records 80.0%
LOVER UNDER COVER Set The Night on Fire Hard Rock Escape Music 80.0%
BEAUTIFUL BEAST California Suntan Hard Rock indie 80.0%
ANATHEMA Weather Systems Prog Rock The End Records 80.0%
POLUTION Beyond Control Hard Rock Escape Music 80.0%
DAVID A SAYLOR City of Angels AOR AOR BLVD 80.0%

BONRUD Save Tomorrow Melodic Rock Escape Music 80.0%
ROMEO'S DAUGHTER Rapture AOR RD Records 80.0%
LAST AUTUMN'S DREAM Nine Lives Melodic Rock Escape Music 80.0%
STEELWING Zone of Alienation Heavy Metal NoiseArt Records 80.0%
SCARLET HAZE One Bad Bitch Modern Hard Rock indie 80.0%
MICHAEL THOMPSON BAND Future Past AOR Frontiers Records 80.0%
ASIA XXX AOR Frontiers Records 80.0%
RICHARD MARX Inside My Head AOR / Pop Rock Frontiers Records 80.0%
FLOWER KINGS, THE Banks of Eden Prog Rock Inside Out 80.0%
ANDY ROCK Into The Night AOR AOR Heaven 78.0%

BEVERLY KILLZ Gasoline & Broken Hearts Sleaze / Hard Rock Perris Records 76.4%
STURM UND DRANG Graduation Day Hard Rock Warner Music 75.0%
KIX Live in Baltimore Hard Rock Frontiers Records 75.0%
ADLER Back From The Dead Sleaze / Hard Rock indie 75.0%
JACK BLADES Rock N Roll Ride Hard Rock Frontiers Records 75.0%
OSUKARU Salvation AOR Dusty Road Records 75.0%
UNISONIC s/t Melodic Metal earMUSIC 75.0%
LOVEBITE Lock N Load Sleaze / Hard Rock indie 75.0%
TEN Heresy and Creed Melodic Hard Rock Frontiers Records 75.0%
NASTY IDOLS Kalifornia Sleaze / Hard Rock Perris Records 75.0%

VAN HALEN A Different Kind of Truth Hard Rock Interscope 75.0%
RICK SPRINGFIELD Songs For The End of The World Melodic / Pop Rock Hip-O Records 75.0%
KISS Monster Hard Rock Universal Republic 75.0%
RHINESTONE The Hangover Diaries Funk / Melodic Rock indie 75.0%
HARTMANN Balance AOR Avenue of Allies 75.0%
HUMAN TEMPLE Halfway To Heartache Hard Rock Escape Music 75.0%
KREATOR Phantom Antichrist Thrash Metal Nuclear Blast 75.0%
L.A.GUNS Hollywood Forever Sleaze / Hard Rock Cleopatra Records 75.0%
JADED HEART Common Destiny Hard Rock Fastball Music 75.0%
GREAT WHITE Elation Hard Rock Frontiers Records 75.0%

KISSIN' DYNAMITE Money, Sex, and Power Heavy / Glam Metal AFM Records 75.0%
TRIXTER New Audio Machine Melodic Rock Frontiers Records 75.0%
SHINEDOWN Amaryllis Modern Hard Rock Roadrunner 75.0%
CASABLANCA Apocalyptic Youth Melodic Rock Rocket Songs 75.0%
LEE SMALL Jamaica Inn Blues Rock Escape Music 75.0%
MAD MAX Another Night of Passion Melodic Rock SPV 75.0%
HYDROGYN Private Sessions Hard Rock Rapid Fire Entertainment 75.0%
VENGEANCE Crystal Eye Hard Rock SPV 75.0%
LULEY Today's Tomorrow AOR AOR Heaven 75.0%
JOEY SUMMER One Bite From Paradise AOR Perris Records 75.0%

LEGION Nemesis Melodic Metal Z Records 75.0%
DONNIE VIE Wrapped Around My Middle Finger Hard Rock indie 75.0%
FROZEN RAIN Ahead of Time AOR Avenue of Allies 75.0%
AOR The Colors of L.A AOR AOR BLVD 75.0%
YOUNG GUNS Bones Modern Rock Play It Again Sam 75.0%
FLYING COLORS s/t Prog / Pop Rock Provogue Records 75.0%
RYDELL & QUICK R.O.A.D.T.R.I.P Hard Rock Naxos 75.0%
HIT THE LIGHTS Invicta Modern Melodic Rock Razor & Tie 75.0%
WALKING WITH KINGS s/t Hard Rock indie 75.0%
FOX 2012 Hard Rock Sony Music 75.0%

SONIC STATION s/t Westcoast AOR Frontiers Records 75.0%
SAVAGE MESSIAH Plague of Conscience Thrash Metal Earache Records 75.0%
TYKETTO Dig In Deep Melodic Rock Frontiers Records 74.0%
MUSE The 2nd Law Alt / Prog / Electro Rock Warner Music 72.0%
BOYS LIKE GIRLS Crazy World Pop Rock Columbia 70.0%
TOOTH AND NAIL Slave To The Empire Hard Rock earMUSIC 70.0%
SCANDAL CIRCUS In The Name of Rock and Roll Hard Rock / Heavy Metal indie 70.0%
PRIDE OF LIONS Immortal AOR Frontiers Records 70.0%
GOTTHARD Firebirth Hard Rock Nuclear Blast 70.0%
VALERIE s/t Melodic Rock indie 70.0%

RUSH Clockwork Angels Prog / Hard Rock Roadrunner Records 70.0%
HALESTORM The Strange Case of .. Modern Hard Rock Atlantic Records 70.0%
JEREMEY FREDERICK Every Little Thing AOR indie 70.0%
DARKNESS, THE Hot Cakes Classic Hard Rock Play It Again Sam 70.0%
DOKKEN Broken Bones Hard Rock Frontiers Records 70.0%
LITTLE CAESAR American Dream Hard Rock Unison Music 70.0%
DORO Raise Your Fist Heavy Metal Nuclear Blast 70.0%
RPWL Beyond Man and Time Prog Rock AFM Records 70.0%
DEVIL'S TRAIN s/t Hard Rock / Heavy Metal earMUSIC 70.0%
BANGALORE CHOIR Metaphor Melodic Rock AOR Heaven 70.0%

ESTRELLA Come Out To Play Hard Rock indie 70.0%
AFFECTOR Harmageddon Prog Metal Inside Out 70.0%
HART The Conqueror Hard Rock indie 70.0%
WIG WAM Wall Street Hard Rock Frontiers Records 70.0%
KNOCK OUT KAINE House of Sins Hard Rock / Glam Dust on The Tracks 70.0%
DEPARTURE Hitch A Ride AOR Escape Music 70.0%
BULLET TRAIN BLAST Nothing Remains Hard Rock Target Record 70.0%
CHARM CITY DEVILS Sins Hard Rock indie 70.0%
HOUSE OF SHAKIRA HoS Hard Rock Lion Music 70.0%
DEAR SUPERSTAR Damned Religion Modern Hard Rock Blast Records 70.0%

GEORGE GAKIS Too Much Ain't Never Enough Hard Rock Perris Records 70.0%
AXEL RUDI PELL Circle of The Oath Melodic Metal SPV 70.0%
RAGE 21 Heavy Metal Nuclear Blast 70.0%
MARK SPIRO It's A Beautiul Life Lite AOR AOR Heaven 70.0%
LINKIN' PARK Living Things Nu-Metal Warner Music 70.0%
SLIPPERY First Blow Hard Rock indie 70.0%
AT VANCE Facing Your Enemy Power Metal AFM Records 70.0%
OVERKILL The Electric Age Thrash Metal Nuclear Blast 70.0%
TOTAL ANNIHILATION Extinction Thrash Metal Firefield Records 70.0%

HOLLYWOOD BURNOUTS Excess All Areas Hard Rock / Glam indie 70.0%
SONATA ARCTICA Stones Grow Her Name Melodic Metal Nuclear Blast 70.0%
WALLNER / VAIN s/t Hard Rock indie 70.0%
MERRI HOAXX Never Jokes Hard Rock Demon Doll Records 69.0%
CRIMSONIC Silence Too Loud Hard Rock indie 65.0%
FATAL SMILE 21st Century Freaks Hard Rock / Glam Metalville Records 65.0%
EUROPE Bag of Bones Blues Hard Rock earMUSIC 65.0%
BEYOND THE BRIDGE The Old Man and The Spirit Prog Rock Frontiers Records 65.0%
LITA FORD Living Like A Runaway Hard Rock SPV 65.0%
STEVE HARRIS British Lion Modern Hard Rock EMI 65.0%

SEX SLAVES Call of The Wild Sleaze / Hard Rock indie 65.0%
CRIMES OF PASSION To Die For Modern Melodic Metal Vigilante 65.0%
U.F.O Seven Deadly Classic Hard Rock SPV 65.0%
WOLFSBANE Wolfsbane Save The World Hard Rock / Heavy Metal Howling Mad 65.0%
NITROGODS s/t Heavy Metal indie 65.0%
FROZENROOM Arise Hard Rock / Groove Metal indie 65.0%
MOLLO / MARTIN The Third Cage Hard Rock Frontiers Records 65.0%
A PERFECT DAY s/t Hard Rock Frontiers Records 62.0%
LANA LANE El Dorado Hotel Symphonic Rock Think Tank Media 60.0%
PHENOMENA Awakening AOR Escape Music 60.0%

VEER UNION, THE Divide The Blackened Sky Modern Rock Rocket Science Ventures 60.0%
COLORSTONE Into The Garden Funk / Hard Rock indie 60.0%
REASON The Darkest Star Hard Rock indie 60.0%
LILLIAN AXE XI : The Days Before Tomorrow Modern Hard Rock AFM Records 60.0%
HEART Fanatic Hard Rock Sony Music 50.0%
PRIMAL ROCK REBELLION Awoken Broken Modern Metal Spinefarm Records 50.0%

[Glen]

I think I still have 50-60 samples of unheard 2012 albums but don't think I'm gonna able to listen to em all in short moment and probably all the best albums have come out, so I think my top 10 is finalized, the rest might get shuffled

 

1. H.E.A.T - Address The Nation

2. JIMI JAMISON - Never Too Late

3. LIONVILLE - II

4. ECLIPSE - Bleed and Scream

5. WIGELIUS - Reinventions

6. DESTINE - Illuminate

7. HESS - Living In Yesterday

8. DYNAZTY - Sultans of Sin

9. SUNSTORM - Emotional Fire

10. NIGHT RANGER - 24 Strings & A Drummer : Live & Acoustic

 

11. CRAZY LIXX - Riot Avenue

12. JEFF SCOTT SOTO - Damage Control

13. SAPPHIRE EYES - s/t

14. JETTBLACK - Raining Rock

15. ACCEPT - Stalingrad

16. PEEPSHOW - Brand New Breed

17. DALLAS - Over The Edge EP

18. ADLER'S APPETITE - Alive EP

19. L'ARC-EN-CIEL - Butterfly

20. BLESSED BY A BROKEN HEART - Feel The Power

 

21. RATTLESHAKE - s/t EP

22. DANGER ZONE - Undying

23. WHEELS OF FIRE - Up For Anything

24. NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA, THE - Internal Affairs

25. LOUDGUNS - Broken Highway

26. ANDY ROCK - Into The Night

27. HARDLINE - Danger Zone

28. SILENCE - City (Nights)

29. TANGO DOWN - Identity Crisis

30. OXYGEN - Final Warning

 

8 out of the top 10 the same! Nice.

 

Also glad to see someone else appreciating NFO! Good man!

[Glen]

Ok make that 7 ;-) still pretty similar!

[JamesEagle]

Think it's going to take me a while to do mine. Still quite a few 2012 CDs I'd like to get, but will have to settle for downloading tracks instead. Curse my lack of cash!

 

I hope it's okay to dig this thread up in April or May!

[Geoff]

I think I still have 50-60 samples of unheard 2012 albums but don't think I'm gonna able to listen to em all in short moment and probably all the best albums have come out, so I think my top 10 is finalized, the rest might get shuffled

 

1. H.E.A.T - Address The Nation

2. JIMI JAMISON - Never Too Late

3. LIONVILLE - II

4. ECLIPSE - Bleed and Scream

5. WIGELIUS - Reinventions

6. DESTINE - Illuminate

7. HESS - Living In Yesterday

8. DYNAZTY - Sultans of Sin

9. SUNSTORM - Emotional Fire

10. NIGHT RANGER - 24 Strings & A Drummer : Live & Acoustic

 

11. CRAZY LIXX - Riot Avenue

12. JEFF SCOTT SOTO - Damage Control

13. SAPPHIRE EYES - s/t

14. JETTBLACK - Raining Rock

15. ACCEPT - Stalingrad

16. PEEPSHOW - Brand New Breed

17. DALLAS - Over The Edge EP

18. ADLER'S APPETITE - Alive EP

19. L'ARC-EN-CIEL - Butterfly

20. BLESSED BY A BROKEN HEART - Feel The Power

 

21. RATTLESHAKE - s/t EP

22. DANGER ZONE - Undying

23. WHEELS OF FIRE - Up For Anything

24. NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA, THE - Internal Affairs

25. LOUDGUNS - Broken Highway

26. ANDY ROCK - Into The Night

27. HARDLINE - Danger Zone

28. SILENCE - City (Nights)

29. TANGO DOWN - Identity Crisis

30. OXYGEN - Final Warning

 

8 out of the top 10 the same! Nice.

 

Also glad to see someone else appreciating NFO! Good man!

 

'Tis a very nice list. Remove all the modern rock from my list and it would also be extremely similar.

[embrock]

Haha, nice list embrock. You had me hooked with my agreeing with a lot of what you said, right up until the very last line. I absolutely love that Wigelius CD personally. Of all the discs in 2012 it's probably the one I've reached for most and if someone asked me which band had the most "perfect" sound in 2012 I'd point to them. If not for the couple of weaker songs it would have topped 2012 for me for sure.

 

I can definately see and hear the appeal of that Wigelius disc, but just recently I played H.E.A.T and Wigelius back to back and very seldom has a disc sounded so lifeless and generic while H.E.A.T was fresh and full of energy. It might even be the production of the Wigelius disc which kinda spoils it for me not the songs.

 

You compiled a very nice list yourself, definately agree on that tasty Dallas EP! Knowing you're into modern rock I kinda wonder where you've left the likes of Papa Roach, Halestorm or Hinder, where'd you rank them?

 

Hey mate, I'll post a full list within this month, I dare say, but for now the three you mention ended in this placement:

 

36 . Papa Roach - The Connection - 83%

41 . Hinder - Welcome To The Freakshow - 81%

99 . Halestorm - A Strange Case Of… - 74%

 

I enjoyed Papa Roach and Hinder a lot. I listened to those bonus tracks on the Halestorm CD last night and can't comprehend why they're not on the proper version of the CD. Replace them with 3 of the weaker songs and you have a much higher score, from me anyway. It's a good disc, but it was a little disappointing for me. Anyway, I'll have a full list soon for interest's sake. FYI, at the moment I've rated 237 albums so the Halestorm position isn't as low as it seems.

 

And guys, as for the Dorydrive thing, I've actually seen that CDR comment a few times on Amazon, but still haven't got a CDR from there yet. First time for everything, though. I'll be sure to keep y'all informed.

 

Alrighty then, looking forward to the complete list! At 237 releases it's the ultimate list and puts everything into perspective

[Glen]

Trying to rate 237 releases is just crazy imo. Most of those would have been listened to say what..... once, twice maybe?

 

I reckon ive 'heard' about 50-75 releases, bought and properly rated about 30-40 (& that was a push!), which involves spinning the album at least 5-10 times.....ideally you should live with an album for a couple of months before laying a rating on it......not always possible I know.

[hardrockhaven]

I've been off this board for a while, but my favorite album of 2012 was by a band called COUNTER CLOCK. Awesome awesome awesome!!!! It's on Itunes for those interested in checking them out. It's catchy, melodic, and has great sing along choruses.

[Fat Freddy]

I piled up a pretty decent heap o' CDs this year but the majority of 'em have been back-catalog stuff from thrift stores, yard sales and the like. Looks like I only bought seven (!) new releases in 2012:

 

Metallica - Beyond Magnetic EP

Overkill - The Electric Age

Accept - Stalingrad

Joey Ramone - Ya Know?

Scorpions - Comeblack (2011 release outside of the U.S.)

Dokken - Broken Bones

KISS - Monster

 

Though I enjoyed them all to some extent, I'd have to say that Accept, Overkill, and KISS would be my top three, in that order.

[Glen]

I've been off this board for a while, but my favorite album of 2012 was by a band called COUNTER CLOCK. Awesome awesome awesome!!!! It's on Itunes for those interested in checking them out. It's catchy, melodic, and has great sing along choruses.

 

U sure that's 2012?

[hardrockhaven]

I've been off this board for a while, but my favorite album of 2012 was by a band called COUNTER CLOCK. Awesome awesome awesome!!!! It's on Itunes for those interested in checking them out. It's catchy, melodic, and has great sing along choruses.

 

U sure that's 2012?

Lol, you're right, it's a 2011 release. I just learned about it last year. My bad. Still awesome though

[Geoff]

Trying to rate 237 releases is just crazy imo. Most of those would have been listened to say what..... once, twice maybe?

 

I reckon ive 'heard' about 50-75 releases, bought and properly rated about 30-40 (& that was a push!), which involves spinning the album at least 5-10 times.....ideally you should live with an album for a couple of months before laying a rating on it......not always possible I know.

 

Yeah mate, I admit that anything I rate around the 60% or less mark will only get the 2 spins. Any good CD that I like will get around 10 spins before a rating from me. My current job is actually as a courier, though, so you'd be amazed by how much music I actually listen to in a day.

 

Just to explain, my rating system isn't just so I can post my silly list on the internet at the end of the year. It's actually my complete reference guide for which CDs I actually fork money out for, and which ones I don't. It came to be in mid-2012 that I will not be buying many CDs at all anymore, so I have to make sure I only buy the ones which I have verified are worth the coin. Sure I waste a lot of time listening to bad albums - I admit that - but it is all for a point in the end.

[JamesEagle]

Trying to rate 237 releases is just crazy imo. Most of those would have been listened to say what..... once, twice maybe?

 

I reckon ive 'heard' about 50-75 releases, bought and properly rated about 30-40 (& that was a push!), which involves spinning the album at least 5-10 times.....ideally you should live with an album for a couple of months before laying a rating on it......not always possible I know.

 

Yeah mate, I admit that anything I rate around the 60% or less mark will only get the 2 spins. Any good CD that I like will get around 10 spins before a rating from me. My current job is actually as a courier, though, so you'd be amazed by how much music I actually listen to in a day.

 

Just to explain, my rating system isn't just so I can post my silly list on the internet at the end of the year. It's actually my complete reference guide for which CDs I actually fork money out for, and which ones I don't. It came to be in mid-2012 that I will not be buying many CDs at all anymore, so I have to make sure I only buy the ones which I have verified are worth the coin. Sure I waste a lot of time listening to bad albums - I admit that - but it is all for a point in the end.

 

I'm with Glen though, I have to listen to a CD a lot more than 2 times to decide whether I like it. I have to listen to any CD a minimum of 4 times before I decide how much I like it, which are my favourite songs, etc. There are albums I've had and not liked after 2 listens, but come to really like after 4 or 5. Having said that, I can only afford to pick up a maximum of around 20 new releases in any given year, so I try to be really picky with what I buy and don't have as much as you do to listen to.

[Geoff]

Trying to rate 237 releases is just crazy imo. Most of those would have been listened to say what..... once, twice maybe?

 

I reckon ive 'heard' about 50-75 releases, bought and properly rated about 30-40 (& that was a push!), which involves spinning the album at least 5-10 times.....ideally you should live with an album for a couple of months before laying a rating on it......not always possible I know.

 

Yeah mate, I admit that anything I rate around the 60% or less mark will only get the 2 spins. Any good CD that I like will get around 10 spins before a rating from me. My current job is actually as a courier, though, so you'd be amazed by how much music I actually listen to in a day.

 

Just to explain, my rating system isn't just so I can post my silly list on the internet at the end of the year. It's actually my complete reference guide for which CDs I actually fork money out for, and which ones I don't. It came to be in mid-2012 that I will not be buying many CDs at all anymore, so I have to make sure I only buy the ones which I have verified are worth the coin. Sure I waste a lot of time listening to bad albums - I admit that - but it is all for a point in the end.

 

I'm with Glen though, I have to listen to a CD a lot more than 2 times to decide whether I like it. I have to listen to any CD a minimum of 4 times before I decide how much I like it, which are my favourite songs, etc. There are albums I've had and not liked after 2 listens, but come to really like after 4 or 5. Having said that, I can only afford to pick up a maximum of around 20 new releases in any given year, so I try to be really picky with what I buy and don't have as much as you do to listen to.

 

Yeah, I have to admit that through the years the length of time I need to decide if I like an album or not has changed dramatically. These days I can literally tell within the opening song if I'll like an album or not (sometimes two songs are required). Honestly. I obviously can't tell how good it'll be or how much I'll like or dislike it of course, but I can definitely tell very quickly these days if it's worth a lot of my time or not.

 

But yeah, because I do try to listen to every potentially good album I see, I do need some sort of registry to tell what I've listened to and what I thought of it... for future reference.

[heaven&hell]

I bought 40+ new 2012 cd releases and i have not been able to narrow down my top 10 or 20. It's just impossible.

[Glen]

Trying to rate 237 releases is just crazy imo. Most of those would have been listened to say what..... once, twice maybe?

 

I reckon ive 'heard' about 50-75 releases, bought and properly rated about 30-40 (& that was a push!), which involves spinning the album at least 5-10 times.....ideally you should live with an album for a couple of months before laying a rating on it......not always possible I know.

 

Yeah mate, I admit that anything I rate around the 60% or less mark will only get the 2 spins. Any good CD that I like will get around 10 spins before a rating from me. My current job is actually as a courier, though, so you'd be amazed by how much music I actually listen to in a day.

 

Just to explain, my rating system isn't just so I can post my silly list on the internet at the end of the year. It's actually my complete reference guide for which CDs I actually fork money out for, and which ones I don't. It came to be in mid-2012 that I will not be buying many CDs at all anymore, so I have to make sure I only buy the ones which I have verified are worth the coin. Sure I waste a lot of time listening to bad albums - I admit that - but it is all for a point in the end.

 

I'm with Glen though, I have to listen to a CD a lot more than 2 times to decide whether I like it. I have to listen to any CD a minimum of 4 times before I decide how much I like it, which are my favourite songs, etc. There are albums I've had and not liked after 2 listens, but come to really like after 4 or 5. Having said that, I can only afford to pick up a maximum of around 20 new releases in any given year, so I try to be really picky with what I buy and don't have as much as you do to listen to.

 

Yeah, I have to admit that through the years the length of time I need to decide if I like an album or not has changed dramatically. These days I can literally tell within the opening song if I'll like an album or not (sometimes two songs are required). Honestly. I obviously can't tell how good it'll be or how much I'll like or dislike it of course, but I can definitely tell very quickly these days if it's worth a lot of my time or not.

 

But yeah, because I do try to listen to every potentially good album I see, I do need some sort of registry to tell what I've listened to and what I thought of it... for future reference.

 

yeah i do get that....really. But personally if I hear even samples that dont sound up to scratch I just bin that release from my mind and it will usually take someone on here ratning and raving about how good it is before I will revisit and give it another chance.

 

Quite often I will skip through on Spotify but there's no way I will lay a rating on it just for the sake of it.....just seems a lot of wasted listening time on garbage for no reason when more time could be spent listening to the really great releases in 2012.

 

I mean, I wonder for example how many times youve listened to JSS - Damage Control? Such a great album which gets better with every spin - but if you only spun a few times maybe even just once or twice, that's such a shame.

 

Sometimes the 'desire' to hear every release leaves you missing out on enjoying the ones which deserve the time.

 

Hence me only really focusing on and rating proper about 30-40 albums.

 

If that makes sense.

[Geoff]

Definitely mate. I know I waste way too much time listening to sub-par releases, and I'm actually trying to cut it back. Just call me a nosey bastard, I guess. There are still plenty of releases I discard almost immediately, based on the first few songs. But there are a lot around that 60% mark that I play through, just in case there's a great song or two on it.

 

Yeah, I'm a creep. I hope it changes one day...

 

And for the record, I did hear the JSS disc quite a lot. Probably not as much as I should have, but I do spin the good ones, especially the ones I buy on CD, plenty of times.

[Nightrain]

Just to spark some discussion - I know you can't rate properly an album for only just 1-2 spins but based on my experience on listening to probably 5000+ albums, don't know for sure, mostly I can give an accurate personal rating with only two spins, give or take maybe only 5-10% swing from the first spin, so sometimes if you give an album a horrible 50% rating in the first place, it's an extremely rare case to eventually boost it up to 80% after you spin it like 20 times, and how many people will force himself to hear a 50% albums 20 times ?

 

What usually works is the other way around, the first time you listen to an album and you give it like 95%, after 10 spins maybe you can drop it to 80% because maybe the first love doesn't last

[Glen]

Yeah mate I wouldn't expect anyone to spin a 50% album 20 times - that's torture lol. As I said most 50-60% albums I discard even at sample stage cos as you say you just 'know'

 

What I'm talking about is accurately rating a 75-80% album which might have some real growers in there or some songs which didn't click on spin one do after spin 10. Not rocket science but I like to get my top 20 dead right.

 

For example with JSS - on first few spins that was sitting around 75-80% for me which wouldn't even have made my top 20, but it is soooo much better than that - spun that baby so many times now & hence the 86% which is where I truly believe it should sit.

 

Seems to trying to rate 200+ albums deters from that.

[JamesEagle]

I wish I could think of examples as I know there are a lot of albums I wasn't impressed with on first or second spin, but came to really like after 4 or 5 plays.

 

What happens more often and I have alluded to previously is that I listen to a few songs online and they sound really good, I buy the CD and find it really average. In the last year or two, Reason - The Darkest Star, Will Wallner & Vivien Vain and Suicide Bombers - Criminal Record are all perfect examples of this. Bought the CDs after listening to 4 or 5 songs online; if was going to rate the albums based on those songs we'd be looking at 80%+. However, after a few spins of the CDs, they are nothing special at all. Not bad, but only, say, 60% and no killer songs, even the ones I'd listened to before.

 

This is why I have to get seriously cautious about what I buy from now on. I just can't trust my first instincts.