2016 ratings (so far)

[PeterS]

One of my favorite threads last year was the ratings thread. Seems nobody else is going to start one this year so I'll dive in.

 

I'd say there have been some mighty fine releases already and a few disappointments. Maybe a few more good than poor for the this point in the year than last year.

 

Soul Asylum - Change Of Fortune

Wolfmother - Victorious

Chris Antblad- Age of Concord : On the Radio

Rick Springfield - Rocket Science

Nordic Union - Nordic Union

The Cult - Hidden City

 

I ended up quite enjoying The Cult. Wasn't impressed at first but it grew on me.

 

A few I really need to listen to again as probably not given them a fair go

 

The Temperance Movement - White Bear

Hell in the club - Shadow of the monster.

Last in line - Heavy Crown

Wigelius - Tabula Rasa

The New Roses - Dead Man's Voice

Reckless Love - Invader

 

Just can't listen to Inglorious. I know some love it though. In my bin list. Actually the only thing I've heard this year I'd say is dreadful.

 

Hell in the club may end up in that list as well. I remember being disappointed but should give it another go.

 

 

 

 

 

[Glen]

I'll probably post some thoughts around June - way too many big releases coming up in April and May.

[AlphaMale]

Haven't really rated anything from 2016 yet.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

I think Avantasia is the only 2016 release I own, so far. So that's my favourite album of the year.

[Glen]

God its awful. Sorry, did zero for me.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

God its awful. Sorry, did zero for me.

It did everything for me.

[Geoff]

In summary so far;

 

To good 'uns;

 

Wigelius - Tabula Rasa ; loving this one entirely.

Catalano - Dark Skies ; not massive on the first and last songs, but the rest is really great.

Nordic Union - Nordic Union ; not amazing, but solid. A good strong album.

Grand Slam - A New Dawn ; a few gems and a few fillers. The good songs are nice. It will fade compared to strong releases through the year, but for now it's one of the better I've heard.

Simple Plan - Taking One For The Team ; there is some unlistenable shit on this, and they just don't do the really nice melodic songs anymore, but there's actually some good modern rock on this one. I like the good songs plenty.

Rage Of Angels - The Devil's New Tricks ; just too bloody long, but quite nice despite that.

Reckless Love - InVader ; their weakest album to date but there's still some good stuff on it.

Handful Of Rain - Three Days To Come Back ; don't think I've seen this mentioned here, but it's a good one. Kind of that typical kind of melodic hard rock... but good, solid stuff.

The soon to be forgotten;

Striker - Stand In The Fire ; there are some good strong hooks on this one, but overall I think the bland kind of metal feel will lose me.

Hell In The Club - Shadow Of The Monster ; super disappointing album. Just full of really, really weak songs.

Cavo - Bridges ; shitty new sound - don't know why so many bands do this. I think some of the songs were okay, but it's not a good direction for them.

Faded Red - Pains & Changes ; some surprisingly good hooks on this one. Not great, and it's patchy... but okay in places.

Art Of Dying - Rise Up ; another really disappointing album - more or less nu-metal for the most part.

Adelitas Way - Getaway ; I was very impressed with the first half of this one. Definitely worth checking out if you ever liked these guys... sadly, the end of the album is very weak.

Shakra - High Noon ; bland as batshit.

Axel Rudi Pell - Game Of Sins ; same as all his/their other albums... except maybe even weaker.

Hardreams - Countdown Time ; weak effort from these guys.

Shineth - The Naked Truth ; I was hoping for a lot more from these guys, but this is actually quite weak, and nothing like Miss Behaviour, really.

And the shit not even worthy of any commentary;

Avantasia - Ghost Lights

Arkos - Elapse

Reloaded - Ready To Rock

Midnight Riot - Hungry For Rock (EP)

Guts For Glory - Fairy Tales

Achim Schreiner - Morning Light

Inglorious - Inglorious

[Glen]

I have actually only digested 5 albums so far this year which are worthy of rating - in no order

 

Nordic Union

Reckless Love

Wigelius

Rick Springfield

Catalano

 

The rest I have listened to (mainly on Spotify) and disregarded.

 

Tons of great stuff to come though in the next 2-3 months.

[PeterS]

Just listening to the Catalano. It reminds me a lot of Icon. Which isn't a bad thing.

[kourosofsteel3]

I've placed initial ratings to all of these:

 

1 Wolfshade Hell On The Western Line

2 Cloudscape Voice Of Reason

3 Susan Acquila Miss Conduct

4 Shotgun Justice State Of Desolation

5 Nordic Union S/t

6 Primal Fear Rule Breaker

7 Killing Grace S/t

8 American Gel United We Stand

9 Cauldron In Ruin

10 Whiskey Sin Barrbarians

11 Burning Angel Down In Flames

12 Avantasia Ghostlights

13 Pokolgep Metalbomb

14 Axel Rudi Pell Game Of Sins

15 Dream Of Illusion Evolution

16 Merlins Legacy Stronger Than Ever

17 Nevada Beach Read It On The Wall

18 Brainstorm Scary Creatures

19 Rhapsody Of Fire Into The Legend

20 Ronin Rise Of An Empire

21 Reaper's Riddle The End Is Nigh

22 Hammerschmitt Born To Rock Vol.2

23 Ecliptica Ecliptified

24 Eleventh Hour Memory of a Lifetime Journey

25 Amoth Revenge

26 C.O.P. UK No Place For Heaven

27 Skeletoon The Curse Of The Avenger

28 Wigelius Tabula Rasa

29 Billion Dollar Babies Chemical God

30 Grand Slam A New Dawn

31 Resurrection Kings S/t

32 Dream Theater Astonishing

33 Eternal Of Sweden Heaven's Gate

34 Guts For Glory Fairytales

35 Striker Stand In The Fire

36 Arrayan Path Chronicles Of Light

37 Grave Cross Nothing But The Night

38 Rage Of Angels The Devil's New Tricks

39 Holy Grail Times Of Pride And Peril

40 To Wither Ending Days

41 Ravensire The Cycle Never Ends

42 Rick Springfield Rocket Science

43 Magnum Sacred Blood Divine Lies

44 Structural Disorder Distance

45 Reckless Love Invader

46 Redemption The Art Of Loss

47 Circus Maximus Havoc

48 Evilyn Strange Evilution

49 Epitaph Fire From The Soul

50 Innerwish S/t

I really love Wigelius + Redemption and I'll get them as soon as Wigelius gets the Japanese treatment in late April.

I also enjoy Nordic Union, especially "Go", 3 Reckless Love tracks and 3 Billion Dollar Babies tracks.

And 2 mighty Primal Fear tracks with the trademark Tommy Nauman solos and built in choruses leads. The German bald bodybuilder is in great shape, but all this high altitude training puts in jeopardy his spring classics' campaign and easter egg hunt.

The ep from the Swedes Burning Angel makes a pleasant listening also, but something is missing from it to tickle my hypothalamus.

Still waiting for a Vin-Dit in the forthcoming releases from Treat, The Defiants, Ted Poley, Vega...

[AlphaMale]

Okay..... everybody is submitting lists but not a single rating for any of them. Isn't that the point of this thread???

 

[Glen]

Its too early mate.

[PeterS]

Okay..... everybody is submitting lists but not a single rating for any of them. Isn't that the point of this thread???

 

 

For me I use these threads to try and make sure I've heard as much of the good stuff as possible. You guys somehow manage to know waaaay more than me what's out there. I know some like rate to the 10th decimal place but good, bad and ugly are enough for me.. Already picked up half a dozen albums to listen to.

[Dark]

I've only heard the few albums below but only Dream Theater's The Astonishing has stood out so far.

1. 4minute - Act. 7 EP
2. Abbath - Abbath
3. Aborted - Termination Redux EP
4. Accept - Best Of...Accept (Deluxe Edition)
5. Adelitas Way - Getaway
6. Adept - Sleepless
7. Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Arc
8. Among The Prey - Only for the Blinded Eyes
9. Amoral - In Sequenc
10. Amplifighters - Amplifighters
11. Ancestors Blood - Hyperborea
12. Angel Sword - Rebels Beyond the Pale
13. Angelcide - Hunting Astral Prey
14. Angerseed - The Proclamation
15. Animal Collective - Painting With
16. Anthrax - For All Kings
17. Anubis Spire - Between the Two Eternities
18. Anvil - Anvil Is Anvil
19. Apathy - Across Dark Waters
20. Ape Cave - Pillars Of Evolution
21. Arch Enemy - War Eternal Tour Tokyo Sacrifice
22. Arrayan Path - Chronicles of Light
23. Atoll (US) - The Gathering Swarm
24. Avantasia - Ghostlights
25. Avengeus - New Beginning
26. Axel Rudi Pell - Game of Sins
27. Banners - Banners EP
28. Begotten Silence - Faces of Suffering
29. Black Sabbath - The End
30. Black Tusk - Pillars of Ash
31. Bloc Party - Hymns
32. Borknagar - Winter Thrice
33. Brainstorm - Scary Creatures
34. Brutality - Sea of Ignorance
35. Brutus - Murwgebeukt
36. Buckethead - Pike 222 Out of the Attic
37. Buckethead - Pike 231 Drift
38. Burzum - Come In Satanic Forest EP
39. The Casualties - Chaos Sound
40. Cauldron - In Ruin
41. The Cult - Hidden City
42. Daughtry - It's Not Over.... The Hits So Far
43. Dream Theater - The Astonishing
44. Drowning Pool - Hellelujah
45. Elvenking - The Night of Nights Live
46. Faderhead - Fh-X
47. Hans Zimmer - Kung Fu Panda 3
48. Hell In The Club - Shadow of the Monster

[AlphaMale]

 

I've only heard the few albums below but only Dream Theater's The Astonishing has stood out so far.

1. 4minute - Act. 7 EP
2. Abbath - Abbath
3. Aborted - Termination Redux EP
4. Accept - Best Of...Accept (Deluxe Edition)
5. Adelitas Way - Getaway
6. Adept - Sleepless
7. Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Arc
8. Among The Prey - Only for the Blinded Eyes
9. Amoral - In Sequenc
10. Amplifighters - Amplifighters
11. Ancestors Blood - Hyperborea
12. Angel Sword - Rebels Beyond the Pale
13. Angelcide - Hunting Astral Prey
14. Angerseed - The Proclamation
15. Animal Collective - Painting With
16. Anthrax - For All Kings
17. Anubis Spire - Between the Two Eternities
18. Anvil - Anvil Is Anvil
19. Apathy - Across Dark Waters
20. Ape Cave - Pillars Of Evolution
21. Arch Enemy - War Eternal Tour Tokyo Sacrifice
22. Arrayan Path - Chronicles of Light
23. Atoll (US) - The Gathering Swarm
24. Avantasia - Ghostlights
25. Avengeus - New Beginning
26. Axel Rudi Pell - Game of Sins
27. Banners - Banners EP
28. Begotten Silence - Faces of Suffering
29. Black Sabbath - The End
30. Black Tusk - Pillars of Ash
31. Bloc Party - Hymns
32. Borknagar - Winter Thrice
33. Brainstorm - Scary Creatures
34. Brutality - Sea of Ignorance
35. Brutus - Murwgebeukt
36. Buckethead - Pike 222 Out of the Attic
37. Buckethead - Pike 231 Drift
38. Burzum - Come In Satanic Forest EP
39. The Casualties - Chaos Sound
40. Cauldron - In Ruin
41. The Cult - Hidden City
42. Daughtry - It's Not Over.... The Hits So Far
43. Dream Theater - The Astonishing
44. Drowning Pool - Hellelujah
45. Elvenking - The Night of Nights Live
46. Faderhead - Fh-X
47. Hans Zimmer - Kung Fu Panda 3
48. Hell In The Club - Shadow of the Monster

 

 

Hey.... you forgot I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z!!!

[KarpetRydOFunk]

 

 

I've only heard the few albums below but only Dream Theater's The Astonishing has stood out so far.

1. 4minute - Act. 7 EP
2. Abbath - Abbath
3. Aborted - Termination Redux EP
4. Accept - Best Of...Accept (Deluxe Edition)
5. Adelitas Way - Getaway
6. Adept - Sleepless
7. Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Arc
8. Among The Prey - Only for the Blinded Eyes
9. Amoral - In Sequenc
10. Amplifighters - Amplifighters
11. Ancestors Blood - Hyperborea
12. Angel Sword - Rebels Beyond the Pale
13. Angelcide - Hunting Astral Prey
14. Angerseed - The Proclamation
15. Animal Collective - Painting With
16. Anthrax - For All Kings
17. Anubis Spire - Between the Two Eternities
18. Anvil - Anvil Is Anvil
19. Apathy - Across Dark Waters
20. Ape Cave - Pillars Of Evolution
21. Arch Enemy - War Eternal Tour Tokyo Sacrifice
22. Arrayan Path - Chronicles of Light
23. Atoll (US) - The Gathering Swarm
24. Avantasia - Ghostlights
25. Avengeus - New Beginning
26. Axel Rudi Pell - Game of Sins
27. Banners - Banners EP
28. Begotten Silence - Faces of Suffering
29. Black Sabbath - The End
30. Black Tusk - Pillars of Ash
31. Bloc Party - Hymns
32. Borknagar - Winter Thrice
33. Brainstorm - Scary Creatures
34. Brutality - Sea of Ignorance
35. Brutus - Murwgebeukt
36. Buckethead - Pike 222 Out of the Attic
37. Buckethead - Pike 231 Drift
38. Burzum - Come In Satanic Forest EP
39. The Casualties - Chaos Sound
40. Cauldron - In Ruin
41. The Cult - Hidden City
42. Daughtry - It's Not Over.... The Hits So Far
43. Dream Theater - The Astonishing
44. Drowning Pool - Hellelujah
45. Elvenking - The Night of Nights Live
46. Faderhead - Fh-X
47. Hans Zimmer - Kung Fu Panda 3
48. Hell In The Club - Shadow of the Monster

 

 

Hey.... you forgot I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z!!!

 

 

And since when was 48 a few?

[Dark]

I've got sidetracked so will check out some more 2016 releases in a few months

[Geoff]

 

 

 

I've only heard the few albums below but only Dream Theater's The Astonishing has stood out so far.

1. 4minute - Act. 7 EP
2. Abbath - Abbath
3. Aborted - Termination Redux EP
4. Accept - Best Of...Accept (Deluxe Edition)
5. Adelitas Way - Getaway
6. Adept - Sleepless
7. Agoraphobic Nosebleed - Arc
8. Among The Prey - Only for the Blinded Eyes
9. Amoral - In Sequenc
10. Amplifighters - Amplifighters
11. Ancestors Blood - Hyperborea
12. Angel Sword - Rebels Beyond the Pale
13. Angelcide - Hunting Astral Prey
14. Angerseed - The Proclamation
15. Animal Collective - Painting With
16. Anthrax - For All Kings
17. Anubis Spire - Between the Two Eternities
18. Anvil - Anvil Is Anvil
19. Apathy - Across Dark Waters
20. Ape Cave - Pillars Of Evolution
21. Arch Enemy - War Eternal Tour Tokyo Sacrifice
22. Arrayan Path - Chronicles of Light
23. Atoll (US) - The Gathering Swarm
24. Avantasia - Ghostlights
25. Avengeus - New Beginning
26. Axel Rudi Pell - Game of Sins
27. Banners - Banners EP
28. Begotten Silence - Faces of Suffering
29. Black Sabbath - The End
30. Black Tusk - Pillars of Ash
31. Bloc Party - Hymns
32. Borknagar - Winter Thrice
33. Brainstorm - Scary Creatures
34. Brutality - Sea of Ignorance
35. Brutus - Murwgebeukt
36. Buckethead - Pike 222 Out of the Attic
37. Buckethead - Pike 231 Drift
38. Burzum - Come In Satanic Forest EP
39. The Casualties - Chaos Sound
40. Cauldron - In Ruin
41. The Cult - Hidden City
42. Daughtry - It's Not Over.... The Hits So Far
43. Dream Theater - The Astonishing
44. Drowning Pool - Hellelujah
45. Elvenking - The Night of Nights Live
46. Faderhead - Fh-X
47. Hans Zimmer - Kung Fu Panda 3
48. Hell In The Club - Shadow of the Monster

 

 

Hey.... you forgot I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z!!!

 

 

And since when was 48 a few?

 

 

Lol, yeah, that's out there. The list is bigger than the rest of us combined! And yeah, jokes aside, what's up with only up to the letter H so far?

[Dark]

Historically i've just loaded up tunes alphabetically to save me the chore of deciding what to listen to. Nowadays there is just too much to get through so starting a few weeks ago i ditched that method and listened to The Cult. However there are some older albums to catch up on too which i'm doing now. Just listening to Helloween at the moment.

[kourosofsteel3]

Wigelius –Tabula Rasa 87,58%

[Nightrain]

top 20 so far, i think the top 5 have a great chance to sit inside the top 20 by the end of year and the rest probably will be shuffled out in Sept or Oct

 

NORDIC UNION s/t Hard Rock / Heavy Metal Frontiers Records 89.5%
RICK SPRINGFIELD Rocket Science Pop Rock Frontiers Records 86.3%
WIGELIUS Tabula Rasa AOR AOR Heaven 85.3%
THEANDER EXPRESSION, THE Wonderful Anticipation AOR AOR Heaven 83.3%
PRIMAL FEAR Rulebreaker Heavy Metal Frontiers Records 80.4%
CATALANO Dark Skies Hard Rock indie 80.3%
HELL IN THE CLUB Shadow of The Monster Hard Rock Scarlet Records 79.8%
DREAM THEATER The Astonishing (2CD) Symphonic / Prog Metal Roadrunner 78.6%
MEGADETH Dystopia Thrash Metal Tradecraft 78.6%
RECKLESS LOVE InVader Melodic Rock AOR Heaven 77.6%

AVANTASIA Ghostlights Symphonic / Power Metal Nuclear Blast 76.0%
SHAKRA High Noon Hard Rock AFM Records 75.8%
CHRIS ANTBLAD Age of Concord : On The Radio AOR indie 75.5%
A.B.O Bucket List Instrumental / Hard Rock Mighty Music 74.7%
RAGE OF ANGELS The Devil's New Tricks Melodic Rock Escape 74.5%
GRAND SLAM (SWE) A New Dawn Melodic Rock AOR Heaven 73.5%
CAPTAIN BLACK BEARD Mouthful Sleaze / Hard Rock Perris Records 73.3%
AXEL RUDI PELL Game of Sins Heavy Metal SPV 73.3%
MYRATH Legacy Prog Metal Verycords 72.9%
CIRCUS MAXIMUS Havoc [JAP] Prog / Melodic Rock Frontiers Records 72.9%

[Glen]

Not keen on much of that Theander Expression i have to say.

[kourosofsteel3]

Good lord, buddy, you love N.Union more than Armagedonize. How many tracks of it did you arbitrarily left out from rating?

 

 

Wigelius - Tabula Rasa 87,58%

Nordic Union S/t 82,80%

To Wither - Ending Days 80,66%

Holy Grail - Times Of Pride And Peril 79,72%

Billion Dollar Babies 77,72%

Striker - Stand In The Fire 77,27%

Arrayan Path - Chronicles Of Light 77,11%

Primal Fear Rule Breaker 76,72%

Reaper's Riddle - The End Is Nigh 75,90%

Avantasia - Ghostlights 72,30%

Killing Grace - S/t 65,80%

Axel Rudi Pell - Game Of Sins 65,33%

American Gel - United We Stand 29,50%

[Nightrain]

haha well yeah but I spun Armageddonize probably more than 5-6 times and Nordic is around 3 times so maybe the score will swing later after few months but I guess both is pretty equal.

 

Have no clue at all about To Wither and Holy Grail, are they prog/power metal band ?

[KarpetRydOFunk]

haha well yeah but I spun Armageddonize probably more than 5-6 times and Nordic is around 3 times so maybe the score will swing later after few months but I guess both is pretty equal.

 

Have no clue at all about To Wither and Holy Grail, are they prog/power metal band ?

You've only listened to Nordic Union three times? And Armageddonize only twice as much? What??