Top albums of 2019

[tts42572]

So what do you guys have for your top albums of 2019?  Top 5, 10 or whatever

For me the year got off to a real slow start for my tastes.  It picked up in the last few months of the year though.  

1)  Pretty Maids - Undress Your Madness:  I was late to the party on these guys so maybe there stuff still sounds fresher to me for that reason.  But for me this one sounds fantastic and is very melodic.  I'd say Will You Still Kiss Me (If I See You In Heaven) might be my favorite song this year.

2)  Crazy Lixx - Forever Wild:  This was my #1 for most of the year.  Awesome album, catchy and melodic as heck.  Really dig what these guys have done on their past couple albums.

3)  Defiants - Zokusho:  Excellent follow up to their debut album that was my #1 album in 2015.  Love the first 5 tracks but loses just a little steam for me in the second half in a couple spots, especially with the last song Drink Up which for me is the worst song they've recorded.  Still excellent overall though.

4) Crashdiet - Rust:  Never been huge into these guys but I dig this album.  Maybe I just clicked with the new singer.  Fav tunes probably Idiots, Into the Maze and Parasite.  

5)  Eclipse - Paradigm:  For me this album is clearly behind the past few albums this band has put out but I still like it for what it is.  I do wish they'd expand their horizons a bit more.

6)  Degreed - Lost Generation:  Solid album top to bottom except for the Blue Virgin Isles cover tune.  Think I like this one a little better than their last album (which was still good).

7)  Station - Stained Glass:  Have been a big fan of these guys and they do some good stuff.  But they need to tone down the ballads as it's killing the tempo of this and their last album.    

8)  Tesla - Shock:  Another I know many disliked and agree there are a few head scratchers here.  There's a handful of tunes I like though and like how melodic it is.  And for me Tesla had gotten pretty stale on their last couple albums so I welcomed something a little different. 

9)  Roxy Blue - S/T:  Yeah, I know this is probably the one that isn't like the others and know many didn't like it.  For some reason I did though.  Probably mostly because when it came out I was hungry for something new to listen to and I loved their debut and really wanted to like this.  It's pretty modern sounding but still rocks in a different way.  Favorite tune on it is probably Collide.

10)  Nitrate - Open Wide:  Pretty good album and probably like it better than the debut.  For some reason though it just didn't stick with me very much or get much replay this year.

Will be interested to see others lists to maybe dig a little deeper at stuff I missed or didn't give enough of a chance.

Edited May 19, 2022 by tts42572

[Glen]

ok so for me 2019 was a bit of a disappointment. There were a few great albums but outside the top 10 or so the quality dropped off a cliff, so I'm doing it a bit different this year : 

Basically 'best of genre's'

Best AOR :

Work of Art - these guys have nailed 4 albums in a row. Simpley put this is majestic imo - perfect choruses and melodies.

Best Melodic Rock :

Defiants - just as good as the debut. I think of it as just a 10 song album as the last track is a bit of a throwaway. Those 10 tho - wow. top stuff imo

Best 80s sounding :

Crazy Lixx - back to their absolute best on this and the last album. Not a massive fan of Eagle tbh but the rest is top drawer

Best retro :

Cats in Space - pure genius from start to finish. I pretty much love it all. And my boys junior school sang on the Christmas song and Steve Bacon visited my boys class and played drums. How cool is that. Top band and people. 

Top modern/chill out : 

Krezip - I just love their album Sweet High...pure simple melodies, great female vocals and my go to chill out album. I've played this as much as Work of Art and Defiants so it deserved mention

 

honourable mentions :

Nitrate, Degreed, Eclipse, 91 Suite, First Signal, 

 

I do have to say though that a lot of my favourite songs were singles :

HEAT - both songs are superb

Lebrock - love all 3

NFO - Satellite is superb!

Rev Saints - excellent first single

Sons of Apollo - both singles are epic

Platforms - all 3 singles are excellent and could a huge synthwave surprise in 2020

East Temple Avenue - both singles are superb - look for this in 2020. 

[Crazysam]

Nice lists guys, as has been said, overall a rather disappointing year.  I had high hopes for some new albums from older artists but many were let downs or average.   I agree Glen, some really nice singles for upcoming 2020 albums and I am hoping that's a sign of better things to come for next year.

2019 Top 10:

1.       The Defiants - Zokusho

2.       Cats In Space – Daytrip to Narnia

3.       Pretty Maids – Undress Your Madness

4.       Rain or Shine – The Darkest Part of Me

5.       The New Roses – Nothing But Wild

6.       Lovekillers – S/T

7.       Crazy Lixx – Forever Wild

8.       Work of Art – Exhibits

9.       Roulette – Now!

10.   Forever – S/T

 

Honorable Mentions:

·         91 Suite – Starting All Over Again (EP)

·         Darkwater – Human (Progressive Metal)

·         Flotsam & Jetsam – The End of Chaos (Heavy Metal/Thrash)

·         H.E.R.O – Humanic (Modern Pop/Rock Band)

 

Other releases I enjoyed and think are worth checking out:

Gathering of Kings – First Mission, Nitrate – Open Wide, First Signal – Line of Fire, Find Me – Angels In Blue, Whitesnake – Flesh & Blood, DeVicious – Reflections, Deaf Rat – Ban the Light, Temple Balls – Untamed

[lettard]

Ok here goes...top 10

1. Crazy Lixx - Forever Wild

2. The Defiants- Zokusho

3. Degreed - Lost Generation

4. Pretty Maids - Undress Your Madness

5. Cats In Space - Daytrip To Narnia

6. Eclipse - Paradigm

7. Whitesnake - Flesh & Blood

8. First Signal - Line Of Fire

9. Niterate - Open Wide

10. Tygers Of Pan Tang - Ritual

Enjoyed a few others such as  Rain Or Shine,Work Of Art,Gathering Of Kings,Find Me,Station(for me their best release so far)& Forever but there can be only 10 in a top 10 and those chose are the one's I listen to more often 

Edited December 26, 2019 by lettard

[Glen]

nice to see Cats in Space making the lists....it really is quite excellent.

With Degreed, I really like the album, but I do struggle slightly with the first 2 songs and Blue Virgin Isles was an odd decision. I feel it's their weakest album overall but there are still 4 or 5 killer songs on there. 

[CureTheSane]

Cats In Space the album of the year for me.
Next is the NEw Roses withDown By The River being the song of the year.

[Glen]

3 hours ago, CureTheSane said:

Cats In Space the album of the year for me.
Next is the NEw Roses withDown By The River being the song of the year.

unicorn!

[CureTheSane]

10 minutes ago, Glen said:

unicorn!

Yeah, that would be #2. Love it.

I've ben listening to their Xmas song a but lately and it's also really good.
The new singer fills the spot perfectly. Close enought o a carbon copy.

[kourosofsteel3]

Rekion - Galneryus - Nigen Isu in transit! Still waiting for Tool/ Mgla vinyls!

 

 

[The Rocker]

 

My 2019 top 10

1. Crazy Lixx - Forever Wild.
2. The Defiants - Zokusha.
3. Eclipse - Paradigm.
4. Gathering Of Kings - First Mission.
5. First Signal - Line Of Fire.
6. Whitesnake - Flesh & Blood.
7. Fighter V - Fighter.
8. Station - Stained Glass.
9. Find Me - Angel In Blue.
10. Michael Bormann(Jaded Hard) - Feels Like Yesterday.

[crazynights]

1-John Diva & the rockets of love

2-Spread Eagle

3-Crazy Lixx

4-The defiants

5-Platinum overdose

6-Whitesnake

7-Pretty maids

8-Tony Mills

9-Fortune

10-Tesla

[Geoff]

Bit weird, but also kind of fitting to be doing this on NYE 2019. But as NYE got cancelled in much of Australia, what better to do than sit down with a few pints and this list;

1. Nitrate     -    Open Wide ; didn't really expect this to finish first up, but at the end of the day it was the most consistent, most enjoyable album of the year. 'Night time city' and 'Only a heartache away' back to back are about the two coolest hooks of 2019 on display. And I guess most of all, there's no fillers on this thing - just quality. The new vocalist is a massive bonus too.  

2. The Defiants     -    Zokusho ; kind of speaks for itself. Monster album just bogged down a little by two fillers. Speaking of back to back monsters, 'Hollywood in headlights' and 'Fallin' for you' is probably the best combo of the year. Amazing tunes. And it's a killer disc, which sounds amazing too. When it comes down to rating full albums, though, I have to acknowledge those fillers too.   

3. Lovekillers feat Tony Harnell     -    Lovekillers ; my balls is it good to hear Harnell back doing what he does best. Seems like it's been a lifetime. 'Hurrican'e and 'Higher again' bring me back to prime TNT and as a fan of TH, it's hard to find a reason not to love this. Great songs which suit his voice so well. If I was being really picky I'd swap out a couple of the ballads for more rockers, but if the songs are good, who's complaining?  

4. The LRW Project     -    To Love, Repeat & Wonder? ; a discreet surprise of the year. Beautiful melodies on this mellow, but really nice collection of tunes. 'Hell and back' is my favourite, but again, no sniff of a filler on this one.  

5. Crazy Lixx     -    Forever Wild ; always a treat to hear the chaps doing what they do best. No surprises here, but a great example of why this band is so popular with fans of 80's hard rock.  

6. To the Rats and Wolves     -    Cheap Love ; this one won't be for everyone, but it's sure as balls for me. I don't like the growls any more than anyone else, but there's no way I'm passing on the rest of it because of them. Some of the juiciest, best hooks of 2019 on here, and I love this thing. The dude's singing voice is a treat to the ears too. A bit like the Dan Reed of modern rock. 'All the things,' 'True' and 'Down' are some of my favourite tunes of the year.   

7. Muna     -    Saves The World ; jeez I love this group. I confess there was a faint hint of "disappointment" initially, that this didn't (and doesn't) quite stack up to their previous effort, but holy shit this stuff is contagious. The songs I loved immediately are some of my favourites of the year, and some of the others I was a little lukewarm about are now slabs of ear candy. They just know how to write a wonderful hook and their honest, almost poignant lyrics are a gigantic drawcard for me. Just love it.   

8. Degreed     -    Lost Generation ; another band doing what they do best and making me happy in the process. Another really strong album which fades a little in the middle and end, but if probable song of the year, 'Summer of love' doesn't make up for that, I don't know what does.   

9. First Signal     -    Line Of Fire ; sat at the top of my list for most the year, but offered pretty poor playback value, hence it dropped  down the list a few spots. Still a very fine album full of good songs, but there's just something a little "stale" about it. But still good stuff.  

10. Pretty Maids     -    Undress Your Madness ; probably my favourite album from these guys in a while. The production, sadly, is possibly the most average I've heard from them thus far, but it's a consistently very good album, with all their best sides displayed. 'Will You Still Kiss Me (If I See You in Heaven)' is an ear gem.  

 

11. Roulette     -    Now! ; this doesn't ooze replay value, but every time I play it I just sit there thinking, yep, this is really, really good shit. Wonderfully produced and just really good songs. 'Another night' stood the test of time and ends the year as one of my favourite tunes.  

12. Find Me     -    Angels In Blue ; this one, First Signal and Hitchcock all suffered the same fate. Very good songs which for whatever reason, just didn't stand up as well to repeated listens as other albums did. I can't fault this, other than maybe being a bit too generic. But the songs are generally really good and it's solid throughout. Just doesn't tickle my balls when it comes up in the playlist.   

13. Rockett Love     -    Greetings from Rocketland ; really cool album. Big improvement from the last one. Some great riffs and good songs make this a very pleasant listen.  

14. Santa Cruz     -    Katharsis ; even at 14, it's probably one of my disappointments of the year, more so for what could have been. Song-wise, this would have been up there as their best album, or damn near to it. But jeez he misses the rest of the band on this one. Everything I said after my first spins remains true now. The production is average, the musicianship is a whole heap of notches below what it was then they were still a band and the vocal delivery is just bored and lacklustre. The shame is that the songs are good. Just wish they'd get the band (and passion) back together.  

15. Toby Hitchcock     -    Reckoning ; as noted above with a couple of other releases, this is really good. Even far better than I expected. Just missing that appeal when I put it back in the tape deck to play again. But a really impressive album.  

16. Written by Wolves     -    Secrets ; a nice late inclusion in 2019. Nothing ground breaking, but a very good, consistent piece of modern rock. 

17. A Broken Silence     -    Soul ; not one I expected to see here, fitting into the "rap-rock" mould, but some really good, consistent stuff on this one. Very pleasing throughout. 'The good die young' strikes a bit of a chord too.  

18. Michael Oakley     -    Introspect ; not his best outing so far, but he oozes class and this is another nice addition to the discography. As it is, 'Crystal Ships' is magnificent, but without those flutes it'd compete for song of the year.  

19. Hardware '86     -    Hardware '86 ; this should really be in my EP list, but it's here. More or less just here for 'Share this love' but a nice vintage sounding album anyway.  

20. 7th Heaven     -    Covered ; I don't know if this is an insight into 2019, or just an acknowledgement that they know how to choose good songs, but somehow a covers album is in my top 20 in 2019. Don't ask for specifics - I just really enjoyed this one, for the most part. Good diverse selection of songs.   

 

21. Panic Division     -    Touch ; very nice stuff. It all sounds good, but if I had one issue with it would be that it's all very similar. Very similar. But very nice. 

22. Morano     -    Morano ; some pretty killer stuff going on with this one. Has a bit of a leftover, demo type of feel... but some great stuff like the opener 'After The Love Is Gone' make this pretty hard to ignore. A nice surprise.  

23. Work Of Art     -    Exhibits ; I could probably stick this one in with the First Signal, Find Me & TH scenario. It all sounds nice n' stuff, but it was suffering on repeated listens and just came off sounding more like Lionville than WOA, which means it's still a nice, solid album... but it just moved itself out of the mix in 2019 for me.   

24. Eclipse     -    Paradigm  ; solid and familiar stuff from these guys. This was actually outside my top 30 and moved back in with a re-assessment. A lot of good, very enjoyable stuff on here... but like a few others on this list, perhaps a little too familiar now and it's hard to get excited about it at the minute. 

25. Siamese     -    Super Human ; another good, consistent slab of modern rock. This was good to listen to this year. 

26. Five AM     -    Shallow  ; a late inclusion, but another fine, very consistent modern rock album. 

27. Madhouse     -    Money Talks Bullshit Walks ; I must trust my ratings, but I wanted this to be much further up my list this year. But again, I must cater for the weaker songs too. Still, though, the best on this album are some of my favourites of the year. Awesome authentic early 90's hard rock sound/style, with some killer tunes too. Reminds me a ballsier Jesse Strange. 

28. Coldrain     -    The Side Effects ; solid as usual. Again, very familiar, but also very consistent and reliable.  

29. Carl Dixon     -    Unbroken ; one of the surprises of the year for me. Didn't expect anything from this, but snuck into my top 30 and made for a surprisingly enjoyable listen. Good stuff. 

30. Emarosa     -    Peach Club ; some of my absolute favourite songs of 2019 on this one, but a few weaker songs kept it down here. I even managed to sneak 'Cautious' onto my kid's playlist in the car, which I'm pretty happy with myself about. The highs on this are absolutely brilliant, but there's a few weaker songs bringing the total score down. Great improvement from their early days though.

[Glen]

nice list. But WoA sounding like Lionville??? I think it's pretty great and ranks equally along with the other 3 magnificent albums 

[kourosofsteel3]

Somebody please ban Geoffrey

[kourosofsteel3]

7 minutes ago, Glen said:

nice list. But WoA sounding like Lionville??? I think it's pretty great and ranks equally along with the other 3 magnificent albums 

 Please send me your paypal addy to forward you my two cents! Preach, brotha!

[Geoff]

8 hours ago, Glen said:

nice list. But WoA sounding like Lionville??? I think it's pretty great and ranks equally along with the other 3 magnificent albums 

To be honest, if I altered a few decimal points it's definitely better than the Hardware 86 album/EP thing, but either way, I too was surprised by how much it dropped when I re-rated everything this week. It's a nice album, but something about that style (as evidenced elsewhere in my list) just wasn't stacking up to repeated listens in 2019. 

And yes, I think wholeheartedly that it sounds like a good quality Lionville release. Which is a good band, but a bit more middle of the road than WoA. 

[Glen]

13 hours ago, Geoff said:

To be honest, if I altered a few decimal points it's definitely better than the Hardware 86 album/EP thing, but either way, I too was surprised by how much it dropped when I re-rated everything this week. It's a nice album, but something about that style (as evidenced elsewhere in my list) just wasn't stacking up to repeated listens in 2019. 

And yes, I think wholeheartedly that it sounds like a good quality Lionville release. Which is a good band, but a bit more middle of the road than WoA. 

it sounds exactly the same as their other 3 lol 

that and Defiants were head and shoulders above the rest this year 

[Kristian]

Still plenty of stuff I haven't listened to yet, but so far my top 5 is this:

 

1. The New Roses - Nothing but Wild

2. The Ferrymen - A New Evil

3. Eclipse - Paradigm

4. Pretty Maids - Undress Your Madness

5. Mike Tramp - Stray from the Flock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Geoff]

On 12/31/2019 at 11:38 PM, Geoff said:

Bit weird, but also kind of fitting to be doing this on NYE 2019. But as NYE got cancelled in much of Australia, what better to do than sit down with a few pints and this list;

1. Nitrate     -    Open Wide ; didn't really expect this to finish first up, but at the end of the day it was the most consistent, most enjoyable album of the year. 'Night time city' and 'Only a heartache away' back to back are about the two coolest hooks of 2019 on display. And I guess most of all, there's no fillers on this thing - just quality. The new vocalist is a massive bonus too.  

2. The Defiants     -    Zokusho ; kind of speaks for itself. Monster album just bogged down a little by two fillers. Speaking of back to back monsters, 'Hollywood in headlights' and 'Fallin' for you' is probably the best combo of the year. Amazing tunes. And it's a killer disc, which sounds amazing too. When it comes down to rating full albums, though, I have to acknowledge those fillers too.   

3. Lovekillers feat Tony Harnell     -    Lovekillers ; my balls is it good to hear Harnell back doing what he does best. Seems like it's been a lifetime. 'Hurrican'e and 'Higher again' bring me back to prime TNT and as a fan of TH, it's hard to find a reason not to love this. Great songs which suit his voice so well. If I was being really picky I'd swap out a couple of the ballads for more rockers, but if the songs are good, who's complaining?  

4. The LRW Project     -    To Love, Repeat & Wonder? ; a discreet surprise of the year. Beautiful melodies on this mellow, but really nice collection of tunes. 'Hell and back' is my favourite, but again, no sniff of a filler on this one.  

5. Crazy Lixx     -    Forever Wild ; always a treat to hear the chaps doing what they do best. No surprises here, but a great example of why this band is so popular with fans of 80's hard rock.  

6. To the Rats and Wolves     -    Cheap Love ; this one won't be for everyone, but it's sure as balls for me. I don't like the growls any more than anyone else, but there's no way I'm passing on the rest of it because of them. Some of the juiciest, best hooks of 2019 on here, and I love this thing. The dude's singing voice is a treat to the ears too. A bit like the Dan Reed of modern rock. 'All the things,' 'True' and 'Down' are some of my favourite tunes of the year.   

7. Muna     -    Saves The World ; jeez I love this group. I confess there was a faint hint of "disappointment" initially, that this didn't (and doesn't) quite stack up to their previous effort, but holy shit this stuff is contagious. The songs I loved immediately are some of my favourites of the year, and some of the others I was a little lukewarm about are now slabs of ear candy. They just know how to write a wonderful hook and their honest, almost poignant lyrics are a gigantic drawcard for me. Just love it.   

8. Degreed     -    Lost Generation ; another band doing what they do best and making me happy in the process. Another really strong album which fades a little in the middle and end, but if probable song of the year, 'Summer of love' doesn't make up for that, I don't know what does.   

9. First Signal     -    Line Of Fire ; sat at the top of my list for most the year, but offered pretty poor playback value, hence it dropped  down the list a few spots. Still a very fine album full of good songs, but there's just something a little "stale" about it. But still good stuff.  

10. Pretty Maids     -    Undress Your Madness ; probably my favourite album from these guys in a while. The production, sadly, is possibly the most average I've heard from them thus far, but it's a consistently very good album, with all their best sides displayed. 'Will You Still Kiss Me (If I See You in Heaven)' is an ear gem.  

 

11. Roulette     -    Now! ; this doesn't ooze replay value, but every time I play it I just sit there thinking, yep, this is really, really good shit. Wonderfully produced and just really good songs. 'Another night' stood the test of time and ends the year as one of my favourite tunes.  

12. Find Me     -    Angels In Blue ; this one, First Signal and Hitchcock all suffered the same fate. Very good songs which for whatever reason, just didn't stand up as well to repeated listens as other albums did. I can't fault this, other than maybe being a bit too generic. But the songs are generally really good and it's solid throughout. Just doesn't tickle my balls when it comes up in the playlist.   

13. Rockett Love     -    Greetings from Rocketland ; really cool album. Big improvement from the last one. Some great riffs and good songs make this a very pleasant listen.  

14. Santa Cruz     -    Katharsis ; even at 14, it's probably one of my disappointments of the year, more so for what could have been. Song-wise, this would have been up there as their best album, or damn near to it. But jeez he misses the rest of the band on this one. Everything I said after my first spins remains true now. The production is average, the musicianship is a whole heap of notches below what it was then they were still a band and the vocal delivery is just bored and lacklustre. The shame is that the songs are good. Just wish they'd get the band (and passion) back together.  

15. Toby Hitchcock     -    Reckoning ; as noted above with a couple of other releases, this is really good. Even far better than I expected. Just missing that appeal when I put it back in the tape deck to play again. But a really impressive album.  

16. Written by Wolves     -    Secrets ; a nice late inclusion in 2019. Nothing ground breaking, but a very good, consistent piece of modern rock. 

17. A Broken Silence     -    Soul ; not one I expected to see here, fitting into the "rap-rock" mould, but some really good, consistent stuff on this one. Very pleasing throughout. 'The good die young' strikes a bit of a chord too.  

18. Michael Oakley     -    Introspect ; not his best outing so far, but he oozes class and this is another nice addition to the discography. As it is, 'Crystal Ships' is magnificent, but without those flutes it'd compete for song of the year.  

19. Hardware '86     -    Hardware '86 ; this should really be in my EP list, but it's here. More or less just here for 'Share this love' but a nice vintage sounding album anyway.  

20. 7th Heaven     -    Covered ; I don't know if this is an insight into 2019, or just an acknowledgement that they know how to choose good songs, but somehow a covers album is in my top 20 in 2019. Don't ask for specifics - I just really enjoyed this one, for the most part. Good diverse selection of songs.   

 

21. Panic Division     -    Touch ; very nice stuff. It all sounds good, but if I had one issue with it would be that it's all very similar. Very similar. But very nice. 

22. Morano     -    Morano ; some pretty killer stuff going on with this one. Has a bit of a leftover, demo type of feel... but some great stuff like the opener 'After The Love Is Gone' make this pretty hard to ignore. A nice surprise.  

23. Work Of Art     -    Exhibits ; I could probably stick this one in with the First Signal, Find Me & TH scenario. It all sounds nice n' stuff, but it was suffering on repeated listens and just came off sounding more like Lionville than WOA, which means it's still a nice, solid album... but it just moved itself out of the mix in 2019 for me.   

24. Eclipse     -    Paradigm  ; solid and familiar stuff from these guys. This was actually outside my top 30 and moved back in with a re-assessment. A lot of good, very enjoyable stuff on here... but like a few others on this list, perhaps a little too familiar now and it's hard to get excited about it at the minute. 

25. Siamese     -    Super Human ; another good, consistent slab of modern rock. This was good to listen to this year. 

26. Five AM     -    Shallow  ; a late inclusion, but another fine, very consistent modern rock album. 

27. Madhouse     -    Money Talks Bullshit Walks ; I must trust my ratings, but I wanted this to be much further up my list this year. But again, I must cater for the weaker songs too. Still, though, the best on this album are some of my favourites of the year. Awesome authentic early 90's hard rock sound/style, with some killer tunes too. Reminds me a ballsier Jesse Strange. 

28. Coldrain     -    The Side Effects ; solid as usual. Again, very familiar, but also very consistent and reliable.  

29. Carl Dixon     -    Unbroken ; one of the surprises of the year for me. Didn't expect anything from this, but snuck into my top 30 and made for a surprisingly enjoyable listen. Good stuff. 

30. Emarosa     -    Peach Club ; some of my absolute favourite songs of 2019 on this one, but a few weaker songs kept it down here. I even managed to sneak 'Cautious' onto my kid's playlist in the car, which I'm pretty happy with myself about. The highs on this are absolutely brilliant, but there's a few weaker songs bringing the total score down. Great improvement from their early days though.

Sorry all, I know it's unimportant but I should have thought about it for a few more seconds before I posted my list. I'll blame a few pints on NYE and free thinking. I'm not going to get into the placements of everything as things could change from position to position, but that WoA was out of place and didn't deserve to be behind those it was behind. 

For the record, and why this happened... I still do all my silly album ratings, and to clarify, the range of my top 30 this year was 84% for Nitrate @ #1 down to 75% for Emarosa @ #30. So that's 9% spread over 30 albums and that's obviously very little difference in quality. As many have pointed out in 2019, there were really not absolute stand outs, and a heap of albums that were more or less the same in terms of quality. Anyway, so the exact positions are not flawless, but I like the order... except for that WoA one which needed to move.  

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

17. Work Of Art     -    Exhibits ; I could probably stick this one in with the First Signal, Find Me & TH scenario. It all sounds nice n' stuff, but it was suffering on repeated listens and just came off sounding more like Lionville than WOA, which means it's still a nice, solid album... but it just moved itself out of the mix in 2019 for me.  

18. A Broken Silence     -    Soul ; not one I expected to see here, fitting into the "rap-rock" mould, but some really good, consistent stuff on this one. Very pleasing throughout. 'The good die young' strikes a bit of a chord too.  

19. Michael Oakley     -    Introspect ; not his best outing so far, but he oozes class and this is another nice addition to the discography. As it is, 'Crystal Ships' is magnificent, but without those flutes it'd compete for song of the year.  

20. Hardware '86     -    Hardware '86 ; this should really be in my EP list, but it's here. More or less just here for 'Share this love' but a nice vintage sounding album anyway.  

 

21. 7th Heaven     -    Covered ; I don't know if this is an insight into 2019, or just an acknowledgement that they know how to choose good songs, but somehow a covers album is in my top 20 in 2019. Don't ask for specifics - I just really enjoyed this one, for the most part. Good diverse selection of songs.   

22. Panic Division     -    Touch ; very nice stuff. It all sounds good, but if I had one issue with it would be that it's all very similar. Very similar. But very nice. 

23. Morano     -    Morano ; some pretty killer stuff going on with this one. Has a bit of a leftover, demo type of feel... but some great stuff like the opener 'After The Love Is Gone' make this pretty hard to ignore. A nice surprise. 

24. Eclipse     -    Paradigm  ; solid and familiar stuff from these guys. This was actually outside my top 30 and moved back in with a re-assessment. A lot of good, very enjoyable stuff on here... but like a few others on this list, perhaps a little too familiar now and it's hard to get excited about it at the minute. 

25. Siamese     -    Super Human ; another good, consistent slab of modern rock. This was good to listen to this year. 

26. Five AM     -    Shallow  ; a late inclusion, but another fine, very consistent modern rock album. 

27. Madhouse     -    Money Talks Bullshit Walks ; I must trust my ratings, but I wanted this to be much further up my list this year. But again, I must cater for the weaker songs too. Still, though, the best on this album are some of my favourites of the year. Awesome authentic early 90's hard rock sound/style, with some killer tunes too. Reminds me a ballsier Jesse Strange. 

28. Coldrain     -    The Side Effects ; solid as usual. Again, very familiar, but also very consistent and reliable.  

29. Carl Dixon     -    Unbroken ; one of the surprises of the year for me. Didn't expect anything from this, but snuck into my top 30 and made for a surprisingly enjoyable listen. Good stuff. 

30. Emarosa     -    Peach Club ; some of my absolute favourite songs of 2019 on this one, but a few weaker songs kept it down here. I even managed to sneak 'Cautious' onto my kid's playlist in the car, which I'm pretty happy with myself about. The highs on this are absolutely brilliant, but there's a few weaker songs bringing the total score down. Great improvement from their early days though.

Edited January 3, 2020 by Geoff

[Glen]

I'll just add that if the likes of Toby Hitchcock and Rockett Love are better than Work of Art then I'm a monkey's uncle.

The world has gone mad. 

[CureTheSane]

15 hours ago, Kristian said:

Still plenty of stuff I haven't listened to yet, but so far my top 5 is this:

 

1. The New Roses - Nothing but Wild

2. The Ferrymen - A New Evil

3. Eclipse - Paradigm

4. Pretty Maids - Undress Your Madness

5. Mike Tramp - Stray from the Flock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What type of music is The Ferrymen?
Never heard of them before

any bands they kind of sound like?

[Kristian]

Not good at making comparisons, I guess they remind me a bit of 8-Point Rose.

 

Judge for yourself:

 

 

[Geoff]

16 hours ago, Glen said:

I'll just add that if the likes of Toby Hitchcock and Rockett Love are better than Work of Art then I'm a monkey's uncle.

The world has gone mad. 

The Hitchcock album is quite similar in style but imo just a bit more consistent and a few higher quality songs than the WOA, in my opinion. Rockett Love is a different kettle of fish, but it's an impressive album. Did you try it out? Better than the debut with a bunch of cool riffs and good tunes. It's not amazing, but I thought it was a better hard rock album than WOA was in AOR album.

As for the Ferrymen, all you need to know is that Magnus Karlsson is the lead guitarist, so it sounds like a Magnus Karlsson project. Solid album. 

[Eric3]

1. The Defiants

2. Work of Art

3. Pretty Maids

4. ?

[Glen]

2 hours ago, Eric3 said:

1. The Defiants

2. Work of Art

3. Pretty Maids

4. ?

correct top 2 well done