2016 ratings (so far)

[Nightrain]

 

Not a huge amount of time to do the specific ratings this year, but based purely on number of plays -

 

1. Defiants - s/t

2. Vega - Who We Are

3. Nordic Union - s/t

4. Ted Poley - Beyond The Fade

5. White Widdow - Silhouette

6. Treat - Ghosts of Graceland

7. Wigelius - Tabula Rasa

8. First Signal - One Step Over The Line

9. Tremonti - Dust

10. Seven - Shattered

 

 

After some more listening have re-jigged my top 10. In particular the Seven album....what a great disc that is. Also heard the bonus song on Spotify which is excellent. Has anyone heard the Jap bonus on Vega??

 

1. Defiants - s/t

2. Vega - Who We Are

3. Nordic Union - s/t

4. Seven - Shattered

5. Ted Poley - Beyond The Fade

6. Treat - Ghosts of Greaceland

7. Tremonti - Dust

8. White Widdow - Silhouette

9. Wigelius - Tabula Rasa

10. First Signal - One Step

 

 

Those albums are among my faves too except that Tremonti thing, looks like you're really a great fan, every album of his is your fave Glen ?

anyway, i'm still not convinced by SEVEN, it's a good album but hm is it really that great ? I think the first one is a bit better but let me spin it again

[Nightrain]

Where's everyone's top lists for the year. I wanna see what I missed etc....

 

Usually the complete list will be released somewhere in mid to late January maybe ?

[heavyharmonies]

The formal "Best of" lists over on the main site will be the same timetable as previous years. I give the contributors until January 20 to get me their lists and I usually have them up by early February. Here on the forum, dowhatachalike whenever.

[PeterS]

I've come across quite a few I've probably not given a fair listen or had completely missed. Bit more listening in 2016 for me yet.

[Glen]

 

 

Not a huge amount of time to do the specific ratings this year, but based purely on number of plays -

 

1. Defiants - s/t

2. Vega - Who We Are

3. Nordic Union - s/t

4. Ted Poley - Beyond The Fade

5. White Widdow - Silhouette

6. Treat - Ghosts of Graceland

7. Wigelius - Tabula Rasa

8. First Signal - One Step Over The Line

9. Tremonti - Dust

10. Seven - Shattered

 

 

After some more listening have re-jigged my top 10. In particular the Seven album....what a great disc that is. Also heard the bonus song on Spotify which is excellent. Has anyone heard the Jap bonus on Vega??

 

1. Defiants - s/t

2. Vega - Who We Are

3. Nordic Union - s/t

4. Seven - Shattered

5. Ted Poley - Beyond The Fade

6. Treat - Ghosts of Greaceland

7. Tremonti - Dust

8. White Widdow - Silhouette

9. Wigelius - Tabula Rasa

10. First Signal - One Step

Those albums are among my faves too except that Tremonti thing, looks like you're really a great fan, every album of his is your fave Glen ?

anyway, i'm still not convinced by SEVEN, it's a good album but hm is it really that great ? I think the first one is a bit better but let me spin it again

Yes it is that good. I love it.

[PeterS]

More opinions from other places.

http://www.wimpsandposers.com/the-wimps-and-posers-best-of-2016-list/

[kourosofsteel3]

More opinions from other places.

 

http://www.wimpsandposers.com/the-wimps-and-posers-best-of-2016-list/

 

 

I stopped reading the best from 2016 from the first choice.

 

On the other hand, great lp that Eden. But expensive reissue.

[grissolm]

My final top 10 of 2016 in no particular order:

Testament - brotherhood of the snake

Metallica - hardwired.. to self-destrict

Death Angel- the evil divide

Catalano - Dark Skies

Skarlet s/t

Scorpion child - acid roulette

The Dead Daisies - make some noise

Hellyeah - Undeniable

Hell in the club - shadow of the monster

Megadeth - Dystopia

[DaHun72]

 

Where's everyone's top lists for the year. I wanna see what I missed etc....

The year's not finished yet, is it?

 

I'm just re-rating my top 60 or so and expect to have a final list pretty early in 2017. I need to give Magic Dance proper time to sink in too, as it is a top 10 finisher.

It is now!

[KarpetRydOFunk]

My final top 10 of 2016 in no particular order:

Testament - brotherhood of the snake

Metallica - hardwired.. to self-destrict

Death Angel- the evil divide

Catalano - Dark Skies

Skarlet s/t

Scorpion child - acid roulette

The Dead Daisies - make some noise

Hellyeah - Undeniable

Hell in the club - shadow of the monster

Megadeth - Dystopia

Damn, I completely forgot about Catalano. I still haven't got that one.

[PeterS]

That one is probably my album of the year.

Going back to the Hell in club and Dead Daisies today. Already I can see I underrated the Hell in the Club.

[grissolm]

That one is probably my album of the year.

 

Going back to the Hell in club and Dead Daisies today. Already I can see I underrated the Hell in the Club.

 

Yeah the The Catalano CD and the Hell in the club CD covered the first half of the year for me .

[Dead Planet]

 

My final top 10 of 2016 in no particular order:

Testament - brotherhood of the snake

Metallica - hardwired.. to self-destrict

Death Angel- the evil divide

Catalano - Dark Skies

Skarlet s/t

Scorpion child - acid roulette

The Dead Daisies - make some noise

Hellyeah - Undeniable

Hell in the club - shadow of the monster

Megadeth - Dystopia

Damn, I completely forgot about Catalano. I still haven't got that one.

 

Good luck finding a copy, I believe it was a very limited release...I have not been able to get a copy either....

[Geoff]

Okay guys, here it is. My summary of the year in music, that was 2016:

30. Tango Down - Bulletproof - 77% ; good, 80’s styled hard rock release. I prefer this one to their last. It’s nice.

29. Maverick - Big Red - 77% ; one of the most authentic 80’s / early 90's sounding hard rock releases of the year. Love their sound and there is some really good stuff on this one. Reminiscent of the better hard rock indie bands of the mid 90’s.

28. Jace Pawlak - Promise - 77% ; very nice, consistent AOR release which I knew nothing of… but it surprised me nicely.

27. Andy Rock - This Time - 78% ; on the verge of being terrible, I still find myself enjoying these Wild Rose associated albums. The lyrics are awful, but consistently, the music tracks are great and it’s an enjoyable CD. As always, I would love to see a better production job or someone else brought in to handle the lyrics… but it's still good, but safe AOR.

26. FM - Indiscreet 30 - 78% ; hard one to rate as most of us know this original album. It’s a good re-working of it, and the bonus tracks, for the most part, are good inclusions and fit the re-recorded album well. It’s kind of cheating, but it’s the best thing FM have done since ‘Tough it out’ or ‘Aphrodesiac.’

25. SafetySuit - Safetysuit - 78% ; I was expecting a bit more from this, but it’s a nice album. A bit underwhelming, I’ll admit it…but some nice stuff on here. ‘Pause’ is a particularly great song. And there is good stuff on here… I just hoped it’d be even better.

24. Wild Rose - 4 - 78% ; I could basically copy and paste my comments for for the Andy Rock album here. This one is a bit better – just better songs, imo, and I prefer this vocalist to Saylor too. It does have nice stuff on it, but suffers again from poor lyrics and production again.

23. Seven - Shattered - 78% ; very fine, classy melodic rock / AOR album which would have rated a bit better if not for the very weak album opener. After that the album is great. It’s a bit harsh to penalize a good album on one song alone, but I guess this formula I use should be the same as it is for one and all. So whilst this is ranked a bit low, it has a lot of good songs on it.

22. Newdrive - Closed Doors And Broken Mirrors - 78% ; this one sounds huge, with a killer production job. Unfortunately there’s a couple of throwaway punk-type tunes, but some absolutely killer stuff like ‘One Last Time.’ The gigantic production is a big benefit to this one too. Sounds great.

21. Cruzh - Cruzh - 78% ; I still hate the band name, but this maintained it’s enjoyability for me. It didn’t blow me away when I first heard it and doesn’t now, but it’s a good, strong melodic rock album. No frills, but good.

20. Catalano - Dark Skies - 79% ; really enjoyable album. The “production” is a dog’s ass, but the songs are very good. Remove the couple of fillers and it’d be a real gem. But as it is, a really impressive debut and more than adequate substitute for De La Cruz. Especially if they can score a good producer for album two.

19. Loka - Evo: Era - 79% ; another hard one to rate, and bordering on an EP, coming in at only seven tracks. But the reason it’s hard to rate is that I have made my dislike for foreign vocals known, and although this is 90% English vocals, it just seems that every time you’re getting your teeth stuck into the album’s best hooks, along comes Japanese vocals and you lose it. ‘Calling’ is by far the biggest culprit. Anyway, there is enough greatness about this to still rate nicely for me. I love the vibe and melodies… just wish they’d lose the Jap lyrics altogether.

18. Pretty Maids - Kingmaker - 79% ; some seem pretty disappointed with this, but definitely not me. Many also seemed to prefer Nordic Union over this one. Again, definitely not me. The album is not perfect, but then let’s be honest and what PM album is from start to end? The thing is, it’s pretty consistent and songs like ‘Face the world,’ ‘Last beauty on earth’ and ‘Bulls Eye’ are amongst the best from Pretty Maids in a very long time. I am happy with this album.

17. Angels Or Kings - Go Ask the Moon - 79% ; another good album from these guys. After a few spins, it’s apparent it’s not quite as good as their great debut but it’s a very good follow-up, with a much better production job. Looking forward to album number three, please.

16. Reckless Love - InVader - 80% ; this one didn’t appear very good at first, but I’ll give it credit where it’s due. It definitely has reply value and I found myself enjoying this whenever it’s turn came on my tapedeck through the year. The lyrics are banal and it’s missing the 10/10 ball slapper a RL album usually has, but it’s still very good and very listenable.

15. The Summer Set - Stories For Monday - 80% ; I guess this would be the surprise of the year for me. As a long time fan of the band, I didn’t actually think they ever had a top 15 of the year kind of album in them. But they do, and this is it. Excellent hooks throughout and I have loved playing this all year. And as mentioned repeatedly, ‘Change your mind’ is one of my favourite songs of the year.

14. Bulletrain - What You Fear the Most - 80% ; this one seems to have been pretty under-rated and over-looked, but I think it’s a great hard rock album. A couple of fillers, but mostly really good hard rock tunes. Definitely an album that should not have been over-looked by any hard rock fan. ‘We saulute you’ is a nice anthem for 2016.

13. One Less Reason - The Memories Uninvited - 81% ; I didn’t see this album get a mention here, probably because I didn’t start a thread (I might still yet). This is another modern rock band that has been around for an age, releasing strong but under-produced albums for a while. This time they seem to have picked up a good production job and a bit more finance behind them? Whatever the story, the album is their best yet and really good modern rock in the style of a Hinder or the like. If you want to know if you’ll love it too, try ‘The Lie’ or ‘Time’ on youtube. A really impressive album.

12. Palace - Master of the Universe - 82% ; to be honest, I didn’t see this retaining it’s position high on my list early on, but it’s very good. Some blisteringly melodic rock on it. ‘Part of me’ is still one of my favourite songs of the year – monster song. And this is far better than the Paris release from about the same time.

11. Vega - Who We Are - 83% ; well I never thought I’d see the day a Vega album sat outside the top spot for a year, let alone the top 10. But they’ve released their weakest effort this time around, imo. I’ve made heavy mention of how crap I think the production job is, but aside from that the songs aren’t quite as strong as usual either. The last four tracks, and generally every second track on the album is strong… but not as good as they have been in the past… imo. But end of the day, it's Vega and it's still a quality album.

10. Treat - Ghosts Of Graceland - 84% ; very strong album from an old time favourite of mine. One of the more consistent albums of the year, with no real duds. I’ve enjoyed playing this album a lot through the year.

9. Cry Of Dawn - Cry Of Dawn - 84% ; another huge surprise, and one I didn’t think Edman had in him. It’s nothing overly original or different, but my word if you like Scandi melodic rock done well (which I do) it’s hard to knock this one. ‘Tell it to my heart,’ ‘Hands around my heart’ and ‘Life after love’ are a small handful of my faves from this one. Great stuff.

8. Thief Club - Just Give Up - 85% ; this one’s starting to annoy me. In one shape or form this album / EP / mini-album and/or set of songs has been in my op 10 for three years now. This will be the last time with these set of songs, I promise. As noted, most the songs have been around for a long while but they finally bundled it up into a full-length album with some extra tunes and what I can say… the songs are just outstanding, and years old or not, I can’t ignore them. I love Hit The Lights, but it’s better than any HTL release.

7. The Midnight - Endless Summer - 85% ; another one which is bordering on an EP, with seven songs and five instrumentals. But in terms of this synthwave stuff, this is one of a small handful of the artists that really, really get it right. Songs like ‘Sunset’ and ‘Synthetic’ (amongst others) have been constantly rotated and adored by me be in 2016. Absolutely sensational stuff.

6. White Widdow - Silhouette - 86% ; as reliable a band as there is. You always know it’ll be quality, and it is. As I’ve said elsewhere, to me this is their most vintage sounding album. And I appreciate that for authenticity I believe the production job was a conscious artistic decision, but my only complaint about the album would just be that it’s a little thinner than normal. Like I said, I appreciate they are probably trying to capture a moment in time, but I personally prefer the beefier production. But anyway, that’d be my only ”issue.” Otherwise, it is great melodic rock / AOR again. Absolutely love ‘Last Chance For Love.’

5. Ted Poley - Let's Start Something - 87% ; I hoped this would be good, but honestly didn’t expect it to be this good. What this album shows more than anything is the type of discography Ted Poley could have had if someone had taken the time to produce his albums well. There is a huge abundance of albums from Bone Machine right up until ‘Smile’ which are generally all rather good albums, but all suffer from the same issue – a poor production job. Give him something beefy like this, not to mention the killer songs on offer, and the result is marvellous. I love spinning this one.

4. The Defiants - The Defiants - 87% ; a Danger Danger double header with Poley and Ravel both in my top five. Where they belong. This one sounds absolutely massive thanks to the gigantic production job. A lot of really good songs on here too and it’s been hard not to enjoy this through the year. I hope it’s not a one-off.

3. Wigelius - Tabula Rasa - 87% ; I think this was close to, if not the first album I heard in 2016, and the fact that it’s still up here in my top three speaks volumes for the quality of the album. If not for a couple of slightly weaker tracks, there’s no doubt this would have been a 90%+ album and have taken top honours comfortably. Love their sound and style and extremely melodic nature. And whilst there are no bad songs, there’s just a decent handful that fall below the benchmark they set elsewhere on the album. But when they’re good, they’re basically flawless.

2. Magic Dance - Vanishings - 88% ; and from one of the first albums I heard in 2016 to one of the last. I was waiting hungrily for this one and initially I was a little let down, expecting the world from it. When it settled, it turns out to be a fantastic album. Yes, it’s a little one dimensional, and yes, some of the choruses miss the mark, despite every verse on the album being flawless. But from start to end it is an incredibly enjoyable album to listen to and I know this will be one I will reach for repeatedly into the future.

1. First Signal - One Step Over The Line - 88% ; like last year, where I couldn’t really separate Care Of Night and Issa for top honours, I’ve actually rated my top two albums the same score, so it’s just a matter of preference. And what gets First Signal over the line is a larger selection of stronger songs, all with big hooks and choruses. As with Issa last year, I do have a slight hesitation about giving high accolades to these project type albums, where a vocalist is merely handed a bunch of songs to sing. It’s all a bit cold… BUT. If the songs are excellent, and production, musicianship and vocals are all top notch, at the end of the day, what is there really to complain about other than trivial matters? Fact is, this album contains a bunch of great melodic rock songs with killer hooks, and for that reason it takes out top honours for 2017. I’m hoping in 2018 and beyond for a nice, clear-cut winner, though.

So that's it. And here's a summary of 2016:

1 . First Signal - One Step Over The Line - 88

2 . Magic Dance - Vanishings - 88

3 . Wigelius - Tabula Rasa - 87

4 . The Defiants - The Defiants - 87

5 . Ted Poley - Beyond The Fade - 87

6 . White Widdow - Silhouette - 86

7 . The Midnight - Endless Summer - 85

8 . Thief Club - Just Give Up - 85

9 . Cry Of Dawn - Cry Of Dawn - 84

10 . Treat - Ghosts Of Graceland - 84

11 . Vega - Who We Are - 83

12 . Palace - Master of the Universe - 82

13 . One Less Reason - The Memories Uninvited - 81

14 . Bulletrain - What You Fear the Most - 80

15 . The Summer Set - Stories For Monday - 80

16 . Reckless Love - InVader - 80

17 . Angels Or Kings - Go Ask the Moon - 79

18 . Pretty Maids - Kingmaker - 79

19 . Loka - Evo: Era - 79

20 . Catalano - Dark Skies - 79

21 . Cruzh - Cruzh - 78

22 . Newdrive - Closed Doors And Broken Mirrors - 78

23 . Seven - Shattered - 78

24 . Wild Rose - 4 - 78

25 . SafetySuit - Safetysuit - 78

26 . FM - Indiscreet 30 - 78

27 . Andy Rock - This Time - 78

28 . Jace Pawlak - Promise - 77

29 . Maverick - Big Red - 77

30 . Tango Down - Bulletproof - 77

31 . Busted - Night Driver - 77

32 . C.O.P. UK - No Place For Heaven - 77

33 . Paris - The World Outside - 77

34 . Good Charlotte - Youth Authority - 77

35 . Nordic Union - Nordic Union - 76

36 . Normandie - Inguz - 76

37 . Tempt - Runaway - 76

38 . A Day To Remember - Bad Vibrations - 76

39 . Sonic Syndicate - Confessions - 76

40 . Waterparks - Double Dare - 76

41 . Like Torches - Shelter - 76

42 . Too Close To Touch - Haven't Been Myself - 76

43 . Throw The Fight - Transmissions - 75

44 . Against The Current - In Our Bones - 75

45 . Tygers of Pan Tang - Tygers of Pan Tang - 75

46 . The Radio Sun - Outside Looking In - 75

47 . Rob Moratti - Transcendent - 75

48 . Phantom 5 - Phantom 5 - 75

49 . Rage Of Angels - The Devil's New Tricks - 75

50 . NiteRain - Vendetta - 75

51 . Acacia Avenue - Early Warning - 75

52 . Roth Brock Project - Roth Brock Project - 75

53 . Chris Antblad - Age Of Concord: On The Radio - 75

54 . Through Fire - Breathe - 74

55 . Simple Plan - Taking One For The Team - 74

56 . Sixx: AM - Prayers For The Damned - 74

57 . Bonfire - Pearls - 74

58 . Sixx: A.M. - Prayers For The Blessed - 74

59 . Absolute Hero - Sing for Sanity - 74

60 . Tonight Alive - Limitless - 74

61 . Bridgeville - Aftershock - 74

62 . Handful Of Rain - Three Days To Come Back - 74

63 . Asking Alexandria - The Black - 74

64 . Grayscale - What We're Missing - 74

65 . Striker - Stand In The Fire - 74

66 . I Prevail - Lifelines - 74

67 . Human Zoo - My Own God - 74

68 . Crown The Empire - Retrograde - 74

69 . Blossom - Blossom - 74

70 . Decyfer Down - The Other Side Of Darkness - 74

71 . Grand Slam - A New Dawn - 74

72 . Goodfella - Don't Blink - 73

73 . Cedar Green - The One You Feed - 73

74 . Theander Expression - Wonderful Anticipation - 73

75 . Living In Fiction - Living In Fiction - 73

76 . Paper Planes - Take the Leap - 73

77 . Amaranthe - Maximalism - 73

78 . Young Guns - Echoes - 73

79 . Sick Puppies - Fury - 73

80 . From Ashes to New - Day One - 73

81 . Miss Behaviour - Ghost Play - 73

82 . Boys Of Fall - Thank You & Goodbye - 73

83 . Sunstrike - Ready to Strike - 73

84 . Discrepancies - The Awakening - 73

85 . Hell In The Club - Shadow Of The Monster - 73

86 . David A Saylor - Ship To Nowhere - 73

87 . Mayday Parade - Tales Told by Dead Friends EP (Anniversary Edition) - 73

88 . Bad Omens - Bad Omens - 72

89 . AOR - L.A. Darkness - 72

90 . Moose Blood - Blush - 72

91 . A War Within - Believe - 72

92 . Kee Marcello - Scaling Up - 72

93 . Saliva - Love, Lies & Therapy - 72

94 . Change Of Heart - Last Tiger - 72

95 . Hands Like Houses - Dissonants - 72

96 . Yellowcard - Yellowcard - 72

97 . Outlasted - Into The Night - 72

98 . Dee Snider - We Are the Ones - 72

99 . The Amity Affliction - This Could Be Heartbreak - 72

100 . Cavo - Bridges - 72

101 . In Her Own Words - Unfamiliar - 72

102 . Jaded Heart - Guilty By Design - 71

103 . Chris Ousey - Dream Machine - 71

104 . Faded Red - Pains & Changes - 71

105 . Drive, She Said - Pedal To The Metal - 71

106 . Thousand Foot Krutch - Exhale - 71

107 . Run Liberty Run - We Are - 71

108 . Famous Last Words - The Incubus - 71

109 . Dare - Sacred Ground - 71

110 . The Darker My Horizon - No Superhero - 71

111 . Saosin - Along The Shadow - 71

112 . Legs Up - Like A Bomb - 71

113 . Demon In Me - Here's Your Way Out - 71

114 . Skillet - Unleashed - 71

115 . KilliT - Shut It Down - 71

116 . The Veer Union - Decade - 71

117 . The Color Morale - Desolate Divine - 71

118 . Jimmy Eat World - Integrity Blues - 71

119 . Avion Roe - In Separation - 71

120 . Killswitch Engage - Incarnate - 71

121 . Evarose - Invisible Monsters - 71

122 . Adelitas Way - Getaway - 70

123 . Forever Ends Here - Imagine This - 70

124 . Kissin' Dynamite - Generation Goodbye - 70

125 . Fake Idols - Witness - 70

126 . Trapt - DNA - 70

127 . Abandoned By Bears - The Years Ahead - 70

128 . Flash Forward - Who We Are - 70

129 . Danger Zone - Closer To Heaven - 70

130 . I See Stars - Treehouse - 70

131 . Arkham's Razor - Carnival Of Lost Souls - 70

132 . A Story Told - Keep Watch - 70

133 . Shakra - High Noon - 70

134 . Pvris - White Noise - 70

135 . Those Damn Crows - Murder and the Motive - 70

136 . Farewell, My Love - Above It All - 70

137 . 3 Doors Down - Us And The Night - 69

138 . Tainted Nation - On The Outside - 69

139 . Masterplan - Fear The Silence - 69

140 . Goo Goo Dolls - Boxes - 69

141 . Heavy Hearts - Bliss - 69

142 . Danger Club - The Good Times Are Over - 69

143 . American Bombshell - No Regrets - 69

144 . Parachute - Wide Awake - 69

145 . Adept - Sleepless - 69

146 . Rev Theory - The Revelation - 69

147 . Dante Fox - Breathless - 69

148 . Dayshell - Nexus - 69

149 . Axel Rudi Pell - Game Of Sins - 69

150 . Andy Black - The Shadow Side - 68

151 . Mad Margritt - Love, Hate And Deception - 68

152 . Captain Black Beard - It's A Mouthful - 68

153 . Tommy Heart - Spirit Of Time - 68

154 . Rick Springfield - Rocket Science - 68

155 . Marys Creek - Infinity - 68

156 . Hardreams - Countdown Time - 68

157 . Major Crush - Trophy Kids - 68

158 . Michael Sweet - One Sided War - 68

159 . Like Torches - Keep Your Head High (Deluxe) - 68

160 . King Company - One for the Road - 67

161 . Thieves - No Motive - 67

162 . Mecca - Mecca III - 67

163 . Columbus - Spring Forever - 67

164 . Skarlet - Skarlet - 67

165 . Exxocet - Rock & Roll Under Attack - 67

166 . Soto - Divak - 67

167 . PJ Farley - Boutique Sound Frames - 67

168 . Bowling For Soup - Drunk Dynasty - 67

169 . Like Pacific - Distant Like You Asked - 66

170 . Arctic Island - Faces - 66

171 . Poets of the Fall - Clearview - 66

172 . Knockout Kid - Manic - 66

173 . Lee Aaron - Fire And Gasoline - 65

174 . Lita Ford - Time Capsule - 65

175 . Nine Lashes - Ascend - 65

176 . A Perfect Day - The Deafening Silence - 65

177 . Bon Jovi - This House Is Not For Sale - 65

178 . The Last Vegas - Eat Me - 65

179 . Alter Bridge - The Last Hero - 64

180 . Overland - Contagious - 64

181 . 7Hy (Seven Hard Years) - Stories We Tell - 64

182 . Last Memorial Day - Too Cool to Be Yours - 64

183 . Avantasia - Ghost Lights - 63

184 . Lacey Sturm - Life Screams - 63

185 . The Innocence - Ignorance Is Bliss - 63

186 . The Ready Set - I Will Be Nothing Without Your Love - 63

187 . James Durbin - Riot On Sunset - 62

188 . Eden's Curse - Cardinal - 62

189 . Hardline - Human Nature - 62

190 . Wvnder - Precipice - 62

191 . Set It Off - Upside Down - 61

192 . Shineth - The Naked Truth - 61

193 . Anarbor - Anarbor - 61

194 . Hey Thanks! - One Step Forward, Two Steps Back - 61

195 . Beartooth - Aggressive - 61

196 . Dan Reed Network - Fight Another Day - 60

197 . Arkos - Elapse - 60

198 . Dynazty - Titanic Mess - 60

199 . Reloaded - Ready To Rock - 60

200 . The Dead Dasies - Make Some Noise - 60

201 . If I Were You - Life After Death - 60

202 . Four By Fate - Relentless - 59

203 . The Afters - Live On Forever - 58

204 . Lions Among Us - Dream Chaser - 58

205 . Black Stone Cherry - Kentucky - 58

206 . The Thoughtlife - Monsters & Revelations - 58

207 . Sweet Creature - The Devil Knows My Name - 56

208 . Butch Walker - Stay Gold - 55

209 . Anchor & Braille - Songs For The Late Night Drive Home - 55

210 . Sum 41 - A Murder of Crows - 55

211 . Jackyl - Rowyco - 54

212 . Guts For Glory - Fairy Tales - 51

213 . Achim Schreiner - Morning Light - 50

214 . Joe Lynn Turner - The Sessions - 50

215 . John Kaye & The Overlords - Terminal Heat - 49

216 . Third Eye Blind - We Are Drugs - 49

217 . Sin City Sinners - Let It Burn - 49

218 . Panic! At the Disco - Death Of A Bachelor - 48

219 . Evans Blue - Letters From The Dead - 48

220 . Tyketto - Reach - 48

221 . Toseland - Cradle The Rage - 46

222 . Of Mice & Men - Cold World - 46

223 . Better Things - Getting Worse - 45

224 . Mitch Malloy - Making Noise - 44

225 . Soul Asylum - Change Of Fortune - 42

226 . Magnum - Sacred Blood Divine Lies - 27

227 . Ask Alice - Big Busted - 26

228 . Taking Back Sunday - Tidal Wave - 20

229 . Remedy Drive - Hope's Not Giving Up - 20

 

 

And the EPS;

 

1 . LeBrock - Action & romance [EP] - 94

2 . FM-84 - Atlas - 86

3 . Namesake - Borders & Fences (Redux) - 84

4 . Wild Child - Wild Child EP - 84

5 . Foret De Vin - EP - 83

6 . Actual Villains - Actual Villains EP - 82

7 . Lifelines - Lifelines - EP - 82

8 . In Lights - Running With Scissors - EP - 81

9 . Love Razer - Rock N' Roll Addiction EP - 79

10 . Super Monaco - The Super Monaco EP - 79

11 . Afterparty - I Hope You Don't Make It Home EP - 78

12 . Rival Tides - New Rituals - 78

13 . Framing Hanley - One Mas More EP - 77

14 . New Device - Devils On The Run EP - 77

15 . As Lions - Aftermath - EP - 77

16 . Delain - Lunar Prelude EP - 77

17 . Bonfires - A Reason To Get Home EP - 76

18 . Hold Close - I Was Never Meant to Stay - EP - 76

19 . Hope for the Hollow - Back to Life - EP - 75

20 . Forget Tomorrow - Wasted Time EP - 75

21 . Lightscape - For Present, for Past EP - 75

22 . Hey Reckless - Phoenix - EP - 75

23 . Baseline - Not In The World, But Inside My Head - 75

24 . Milestones - Equal Measures - EP - 74

25 . Beta State - Timeless EP - 74

26 . Kill the Lights - Safe and Sound - EP - 73

27 . Hit the Lights - Just to Get Through to You - EP - 73

28 . Your New Secret - Omega - 73

29 . City Lights - City Lights - EP - 72

30 . Oh, Weatherly - Long Nights and Heavy Hearts - EP - 72

31 . Angels & Airwaves - Chasing Shadows EP - 71

32 . Hollow City - Hollow City - EP - 71

33 . Speak The Truth… Even If Your Voice Shakes - Speak The Truth… Even If Your Voice Shakes - 71

34 . Everything Or Nothing - Pen And Paper EP - 70

35 . Better Than Never - Head Under Water - 70

36 . Heart for Hire - Safe Inside My Own Head - 70

37 . Bad Case of Big Mouth - Break It to Build It - EP - 70

38 . Reckless Serenade - Strange Soul EP - 69

39 . Kill the Lights - Safe and Sound - EP - 69

40 . A Great Danger - Past Is Prologue EP - 69

41 . A Hero's Fate - Lost Boys - EP - 69

42 . Heroes Like Villains - Amends - EP - 68

43 . In Reverie - Embers - EP - 65

44 . Carousel48 - Townsend EP - 63

45 . Idle Lives - Thoughts in Your Head - EP - 61

46 . Forever In Combat - Not Alone EP - 60

47 . Glass Hands - Exit Letters - EP - 59

48 . Dangerous Curves - Dangerous Curves EP - 53

49 . Fenix TX - Creep - EP - 45

50 . Midnight Riot - Hungry For Rock EP - 43

[Glen]

Nice list

 

I must admit I was a little bit let down by the overall production on First Signal and suspected it might have been Hess at the helm (sounds a bit muddy in places), so was surprised it was Daniel Flores. There's a few which don't grab me as well, hence it slipped to 10th in my list....there are a few killers on there tho, granted.

 

Really scratching my head what are the weaker songs on Vega - whole album is pretty flawless and if it wasn't for (minor) production issues it would have ranked No 1 for me. The new songs are the best live as well. Strangely the album sounds great on Spotify and far better than my CD - go figure eh??

[Geoff]

Nice list

 

I must admit I was a little bit let down by the overall production on First Signal and suspected it might have been Hess at the helm (sounds a bit muddy in places), so was surprised it was Daniel Flores. There's a few which don't grab me as well, hence it slipped to 10th in my list....there are a few killers on there tho, granted.

 

Really scratching my head what are the weaker songs on Vega - whole album is pretty flawless and if it wasn't for (minor) production issues it would have ranked No 1 for me. The new songs are the best live as well. Strangely the album sounds great on Spotify and far better than my CD - go figure eh??

 

I don't mind the First Signal production. It's not on par with The Defiants or a modern band, but I find it to be well up to scratch for enjoyment levels.

 

As for Vega, I find 'We got it all' okay at best, 'Nothing is forever' is just a straight up meek ballad, and the worst song on the album... despite the cool "I tried to drown my sorrows but they learned to swim" line, which I love... but the song is drab crap. And they're the only two notably weak songs, but my main point was that the rest is just not up to the level of their previous albums. Where I have handed out 9.5 and 10/10's at will in the past, I was only dishing up 8-8.5's for the majority of this. It is a fine album, and 11th position is not a bad thing. But I do expect better from an excellent band like this.

[Glen]

 

Nice list

 

I must admit I was a little bit let down by the overall production on First Signal and suspected it might have been Hess at the helm (sounds a bit muddy in places), so was surprised it was Daniel Flores. There's a few which don't grab me as well, hence it slipped to 10th in my list....there are a few killers on there tho, granted.

 

Really scratching my head what are the weaker songs on Vega - whole album is pretty flawless and if it wasn't for (minor) production issues it would have ranked No 1 for me. The new songs are the best live as well. Strangely the album sounds great on Spotify and far better than my CD - go figure eh??

I don't mind the First Signal production. It's not on par with The Defiants or a modern band, but I find it to be well up to scratch for enjoyment levels.

 

As for Vega, I find 'We got it all' okay at best, 'Nothing is forever' is just a straight up meek ballad, and the worst song on the album... despite the cool "I tried to drown my sorrows but they learned to swim" line, which I love... but the song is drab crap. And they're the only two notably weak songs, but my main point was that the rest is just not up to the level of their previous albums. Where I have handed out 9.5 and 10/10's at will in the past, I was only dishing up 8-8.5's for the majority of this. It is a fine album, and 11th position is not a bad thing. But I do expect better from an excellent band like this.

 

Nothing is Forever is probably the weakest track, but I love 'We Got It All'....are you serious?? That track is positively great.

 

But I digress......my point is this. After Nothing is Forever, that run of songs, with maybe the exception of Ignite (which is slightly weaker) is basically flawless !!

 

White Flag

For Your Sins

Generation Now

Savin Grace

If Not You

Hurts so Bad

 

Each one an absolute gem. Each one 9/10 easily.

[zacharyamelie]

I'd take the First Signal ahead of Vega anyday of the week. Like Find Me last year the new First Signal is most likely my favourite AOR release of 2016. Love Run Free and Pedestal are my favs on it, but as a whole there isn't a song I'd skip.

 

I also agree the Wigelius is amazing. Like I said before it feels like a best of from the past few years because I knew so many of the tracks beforehand that it didn't initially blow me away.

 

The production on the Defiants is spectacular as is Paul's singing, my favourite voice in music today. A few fillers on it but still awesome.

 

White Widdow simply rules and Silhouette is great, but I still prefer the punch, grit and choruses of Crossfire.

 

The Treat is simply amazing, I remember being worried when the band mentioned the sound was going to be darker and the song titles looked a bit sketchy at first...but they pulled it off and released a great follow up to the fantastic Coup De Grace.

 

Cruzh and Palace were both solid debuts. I think Palace was stronger and like Geoff, Part Of Me was one of my fav tracks of 2016

 

All in all 2016 was probably my favourite musical year since 2010.

[kourosofsteel3]

Cry of Dawn is better Find me than the latest First Signal, imo.

 

I'd take the First Signal ahead of Vega anyday of the week. Like Find Me last year the new First Signal is most likely my favourite AOR release of 2016. Love Run Free and Pedestal are my favs on it, but as a whole there isn't a song I'd skip.

 

I also agree the Wigelius is amazing. Like I said before it feels like a best of from the past few years because I knew so many of the tracks beforehand that it didn't initially blow me away.

 

The production on the Defiants is spectacular as is Paul's singing, my favourite voice in music today. A few fillers on it but still awesome.

 

White Widdow simply rules and Silhouette is great, but I still prefer the punch, grit and choruses of Crossfire.

 

The Treat is simply amazing, I remember being worried when the band mentioned the sound was going to be darker and the song titles looked a bit sketchy at first...but they pulled it off and released a great follow up to the fantastic Coup De Grace.

 

Cruzh and Palace were both solid debuts. I think Palace was stronger and like Geoff, Part Of Me was one of my fav tracks of 2016

 

All in all 2016 was probably my favourite musical year since 2010.

 

 

No way is better than 2011

[Nightrain]

I'm always amazed at Geoff's capability of listening to so much music in a single year, that's a real wow, good job dude

280 albums is an extremely difficult thing to beat, as of now, I'm only able to reach 115 albums.

 

Have no idea about THIEF CLUB, ONE LESS REASON, and THE SUMMER SET, are they all modern rock stuffs ?

Still revamping my list with several albums to be listened again before finalizing the list, it's a great year indeed

[PeterS]

I'm confused. We seem to agree on the First Signal. I think that's probably the album I've listened to most this year. The only one close is the Catalano.

[Geoff]

I'm always amazed at Geoff's capability of listening to so much music in a single year, that's a real wow, good job dude

280 albums is an extremely difficult thing to beat, as of now, I'm only able to reach 115 albums.

 

Have no idea about THIEF CLUB, ONE LESS REASON, and THE SUMMER SET, are they all modern rock stuffs ?

Still revamping my list with several albums to be listened again before finalizing the list, it's a great year indeed

 

If you want to listen to masses of music, cut your current salary in half, or maybe quarter it... and become a courier!

 

Those three are all modern releases. Which is insignificant... they're all just great. I am surprised all you kids suddenly showing some interest in Thief Club, after I have been saying pretty much the same thing about them in my lists for three years now? Creeps.

 

I'm confused. We seem to agree on the First Signal. I think that's probably the album I've listened to most this year. The only one close is the Catalano.

 

Don't be confused, mate. It just means you might actually be on the way to liking decent music. Embrace it.

[Glen]

16. Reckless Love - InVader - 80% ; this one didn’t appear very good at first, but I’ll give it credit where it’s due. It definitely has reply value and I found myself enjoying this whenever it’s turn came on my tapedeck through the year. The lyrics are banal and it’s missing the 10/10 ball slapper a RL album usually has, but it’s still very good and very listenable.

So that 10/10 ball slapper you are looking for would be the Jap bonus 'Zoo'. I hate the Japanese

 

Seriously the song is marvellous [complete with banal lyrics ]

[grissolm]

 

All in all 2016 was probably my favourite musical year since 2010.

I don't about 2010 but I do think 2016 was an excellent year for Rock Music. Lot's of good releases and lot's of variety. Everything from Pop rock to Thrash. Excellent year. It was such a good year I'm don't have much hope for 2017. I recently checked out the releases and nothing interests me. I guess I will check keep listening to my releases from 2016.

[kourosofsteel3]

 

Okay guys, here it is. My summary of the year in music, that was 2016:

 

 

 

My index is itching me for deleting this quote.

 

2016 Track compilation or it didn't happen!