The best CDs of the year.

Now ProgPariah77 has his list of best CDs ready I thought to start this thread.
Yes, it's early and a lot of us don't have their list ready.
Take your time, I think it's a good idea to give you the time till the second week of January 2011.

(Decided that it makes sense to move my "best of 2010" list to this thread ...)

I have several albums (including the new Darkwater) that I've purchased but have not yet listened to carefully, so this list could easily change over the next few weeks, but here's where it stands as of right now ...

My Top Ten for 2010 (in no particular order):

Moon Safari - Lover's End
Mr. Mister - Pull
James LaBrie - Static Impulse
Anima Mundi - The Way
Glass Hammer - If
District 97 - Hybrid Child
Hasse Froberg & Musical Companion - Future Past
The Choir - Burning Like the Midnight Sun
Visual Cliff - Collective Spirit
Anberlin - Dark is the Way, Light is a Place

Saint with their album Hell Blade (Great album)
Stairway with their album Interregnum (Best Stairway album, even better than their first)
Audiovision with their album Focus (ON ORDER SOON!)
Disciple with their album Horseshoes & Handgrenades (Best Disciple album since ST)
Jerusalem with their album She (Samples sound great) ON ORDER SOON!
ReinXeed with their album Majestic (Best of Tommy's 3 solo albums)
Golden Ressurection with their album Glory To My King (Is great, of what I've heard)
HB with their album The Jesus Metal Explosion (Should be great.......ON ORDER SOON!)
Newsboys with their album Born Again (I know it's not metal, but it's great.)

I'm getting the new Third Day album/download this week. I'm not posting my list until I've had a chance to listen to it a few times.

I play de game:
I make a top 10 or so.
Or I don't make a top 10 for 2010

Ok, here is my top ten/eleven for 2010

1 Saint - Hellblade
2 Audiovision - Focus
3 Liberty N Justice - Light it Up
4 The Rex Carroll Band - That Was Then....
5 Giant - Promise Land
6 Third Day - Move
7 HarvestBloom - Devil's Poison
8 Day of Fire - Losing All
9 Place of Skulls - As a Dog Returns
10 Line of Fire Momentum
11 F.O.G. - Judgment & Redemption
12 The Letter Black - Hanging On By a Thread
13 Testify - Pushing Back the Darkness

Of course I am still missing a few albums I wanted to get this year (HB, Fireflight, Stairway, and a few others). But that is from what I have.
Honorable mention also to Crosswire's "A World in Flame" I expect great things frome these young rockers in the future and could easily see one of thier future albums in my top ten.

Aslo technically two of those bands are not "Christian" so feel free to chew me out if you want to.

Staybrite wrote:

Aslo technically two of those bands are not "Christian" so feel free to chew me out if you want to.

You'll have to chew me out, too - four of mine have absolutely no Christian ties whatsoever! :-\

ProgPariah77 wrote:

Staybrite wrote:

Aslo technically two of those bands are not "Christian" so feel free to chew me out if you want to.

You'll have to chew me out, too - four of mine have absolutely no Christian ties whatsoever! :-\

I think you are safe until you hit 100 posts. Then the real punishment begins.......

Quote :

I think you are safe until you hit 100 posts. Then the real punishment begins...

Staybrite wrote:

1 Saint - Hellblade
8 Place of Skulls - As a Dog Returns

I wasn't even aware PoS has released another. Did the lyrics get bolder again?

I have never caught on to Saint for some reason. In the Battle was the closest. Sacrifice is a great song though still the production/mastering job holds it back. Anyway, since two of you listed Hellblade, where does it stand in relation to their catalog?

topshot rhit wrote:

Staybrite wrote:

1 Saint - Hellblade
8 Place of Skulls - As a Dog Returns

I wasn't even aware PoS has released another. Did the lyrics get bolder again?

I have never caught on to Saint for some reason. In the Battle was the closest. Sacrifice is a great song though still the production/mastering job holds it back. Anyway, since two of you listed Hellblade, where does it stand in relation to their catalog?

I have to confess that I don't remember much about the lyrical boldness of the last Place of Skulls album, but listening to most of the songs on the new one I think it is quite obvious that Victor finds salvation in our Lord God (a few of songs are practically hymns or p&w set to doom). But if your looking for something as bold as every song the "Love Through Blood" EP you might be disappointed with at least some of the songs on the new album. It is also considerably mellower than the previous POS albums. I'm pretty certain it has only been out for about a month.

As for the new Saint album I think I would easily rate it among their top albums (for me that would be Time's End & In the Battle).....but I'm a serious Saint fanboy so don't take my word for it. The album was very capably mastered (Retroactive released it), which makes for an improved sound over much of their independent releases.

I just revised my list to include that new HarvestBloom album (even though I've only listened to it twice). I probably would have rated it a little higher had it been longer with a few more really hard rockin tunes.

Time to make my list now that the year is over:

1. SAINT - HELLBLADE
2. THIRD DAY - MOVE
3. Audiovision - Focus
4. Testify - Pusing Back Darkness
5. Liberty N Justice - Light It Up
6. Fireflight - For Those Who Wait
7. The Letter Black - Hanging On By A Thread
8. HB - The Jesus Metal Explosion
9. Golden Resurrection - Glory To My King
10. Since October - Lies, Scars, Apologies
11. Disciple - Horseshoes & Handgrenades
12. Lordchain - What Is What Was
13. The Rex Carroll Band - That Was Then, This Is Now
14. Brim - Declaration of Dependence
15. Dead Moon's Grey - DMG



I bought quite a bit of other stuff, but it just didn't make the list. I liked the new projects by F.O.G., Pastor Brad, Petra, The Sacrificed, etc., but they just were not "favorites". I will still listen to these, but this is my list pretty much in order of how much play it gets.

alldatndensum wrote:

..... I liked the new projects by F.O.G., Pastor Brad, Petra, The Sacrificed, etc., but they just were not "favorites".......

Oh man I completely forgot about that F.O.G. album, I think it was their best yet, I need to go back and fix my list to include them.

Well now that I changed my list I see why I didn't include them, I have the last F.O.G. album release date as 2009......oh well.

It's okay......I listed Saint as last year forgetting that only the advacnce copies shipped last year. It is meant to be a 2010 release. So, I have adjusted my list to reflect that and added a #15 slot as well. My list is now complete.

Checking out Giant's "Promise Land" right now - it's good (purchase-worthy, even), although I'm a HUGE fan of their first two albums and I do miss ol' Dann Huff on guitars and vocals ... and where's that MONSTER drum sound from their first album?!

Also liking what I've heard from the HarvestBloom EP.

ProgPariah77 wrote:

Checking out Giant's "Promise Land" right now - it's good (purchase-worthy, even), although I'm a HUGE fan of their first two albums and I do miss ol' Dann Huff on guitars and vocals ... and where's that MONSTER drum sound from their first album?!

Dann not signing on the album was kind of a let down for most fans (me included), but he did lend some guitar work to the album (at least that's what I've heard). I tried to look at it as a completely different band than the orig Giant. A great album in it's own right, but the debut will probably always be my favorite.

Making the Cut
1. Disciple - Horseshoes and Hand Gernades
2 Liberty N Justice- Light it Up
3. Day of Fire - Losing All
4. Runaway City- Armored Heart
5. Since October- Life Scars & Apologies
6. This Fires Embrace - In Transit
7. The Letter Black - Hanging on by a Thread
8. Anberlin - Dark is the Way Light is a Place
9. Ivoryline - Vessels
10. Sent By Ravens - Our Graceful Words

Looking at my list it appears that I didn't get that much this year in the way of Christian Rock overally. The top 2 were defiitley my favorites. Still never got my copy of Fades Away's new one Perception, but I'm sure it would make the top 10.

ChosenOne wrote:

Looking at my list it appears that I didn't get that much this year in the way of Christian Rock overally. The top 2 were defiitley my favorites. Still never got my copy of Fades Away's new one Perception, but I'm sure it would make the top 10.

Oh man, that's quite sad! That album is probably in my top five right now. I could probably send you the MP3s in a PM if you'd like. I plan on compiling my list sometime tomorrow. I think I've put it off long enough

I'm waiting for when HB, Audivision and Jerusalems 2010 albums arrive before I make my list. I suspect that 2010 will stand out as being a great year for quality albums.

Fundy

I have already heard the HB project though I don't own it yet. Someone sent me the songs, although they are not great quality and probably illegal copies, and I just love the project. I think it will even better when the songs actually sound right. I have the HB CD on the way now.

For me the best CD of 2010 was
Focus - Audiovision.

Ooooooooooooo, this is tricky.

Golden Resurrection 9/10
Audiovision - Focus 9/10
Stairway - Intereg...num 9/10
Disciple - H & H 9/10
HB - The Jesus Metal Explosion - 8.5/10
ReinXeed - 8.5/10
Newsboys - Born Again 8.5/10
Jerusalem - She 8/10

Great albums!

More time to think. I think!

Fundy

This year I don't have the mood to make a list for 2010.