FAVORITES FOR 2017

Yes, it is that time again!  What were your favorite releases for 2018?

Since I usually have to answer these questions, here are our criteria for our selections.

1)  New releases in 2017--cannot count new albums from previous years bought in 2017

2)  Live albums count as long as they came out in 2017

3)  Reissues count as long as they were released in 2017

4)  Christian albums only please--since we primarily focus on that area, please keep it to those releases.

5)  There is no set number of favorites you have to list.  It can be 3, 5, 150, or whatever depending on what you bought this year.

In alphabetical order (because it'd be too difficult to rank these):

Adorned Graves – Out from the Depth of the Grave (thrash/doom metal)
Fleshkiller – Awaken (progressive death metal)
Forsaken – Pentateuch (epic doom metal)
Melech – Melech Ha Olam (progressive/melodic death metal)
Renascent – Praise of the Lord God Almighty (symphonic death metal)
Signum Regis – Decennium Primum (power metal)
The Slave Eye – Unto Hades (black metal)
Within Silence – Return from the Shadows (power metal)

Most of these ranked pretty close to the same for me this year, so I won't let any of them be #1.  Not a big list for me this year as I only purchased 11 new releases from Christian artists.

XT - Saved by the Blood
Rose - Witchburner EP
Rose - Songs For the Ritually Abused
Four Star Revival - The Underdog
Evans and Stokes - Beyond the Gate

I think I've only bought 3 or 4!

XT is cool, but I think my favourite is Signum Regis' new one.

For me the same Fundy.
I've bought four CDs or downloads of CDs this year.

I bought more than I had remembered!  I bought 32 Christian albums this year.  Of course, I no longer possess the release by Michael Cutting or the new one by Hero.  I just didn't like them at all.  I bought several reissues this year.  I am predicting that my list will be much less metal this year as some of my favorite albums were blues based releases.  There will be some metal on my list, but far less than normal.

Maybe it's allowed to make a top 4 instead of a top 10?

rockerVu2 wrote:

Maybe it's allowed to make a top 4 instead of a top 10?

That would work.  I only had 5 albums on my list.

Staybrite wrote:

rockerVu2 wrote:

Maybe it's allowed to make a top 4 instead of a top 10?

That would work.  I only had 5 albums on my list.

I will take a top whatever you want to list.  If you only bought one, then let's hear it.  Four isn't bad.  Even though I bought a ton, there are not many worthy of even making a top 10.

Yippeee. I can make a top 4.

Hopefully 2018 will be a better year for our favorite music.

Let me nominate my band's new release in 2017! The World Will Burn - RuiNation!
THE WORLD WILL BURN

This isn't about nominating a band or promoting yourself.  This should simply be about what your favorite releases were for 2018.  While the CMR will allow you to list both Christian and secular releases, here we simply ask to just focus on the Christian marketplace.

1.  ROSE- Songs For the Ritually Abused
2.  The Crimson Bridge Ministry - Choices
3.  JD3 (formerly known as The Jondo Trio) - Scraps From The Borderlands
4.  Apologetix - From Hair To Eternity
5.  Third Day - Revival
6.  Seventh Day Slumber - Found
7.  Zach Williams - Chainbreaker
8.  Sean Michel Roots Gospel
9.  Ashes Remain - Let The Light In
10. Northern Light Orchestra - Star Of The East


Had I had Northern Lights Orchestra's new one when it came out in November to have more time to listen to it, it would have scored much higher as it is a classic 80's metal powerhouse that just happens to have a Christmas theme.

Mine are in no particular order as there are so few. 

Church of Agony - Protest! Worship! Lament!
The Fast Feeling - Pulses
John Mark McMillan - Mercury & Lightning
Jake Hamilton & the Sound - Saved
Brad Paisley - Love & War

And that’s it.

These are in alphabetical order, but following are some of my favorites from 2017:

Biogenesis - "A Decadence Divine"
Evans & Stokes - "Beyond The Gates"
Jacobs Dream - "Sea of Destiny"
Lipstick - "Lipstick II"
Signum Regis - Decennium Primum"
Sunroad - "Wing Seven"
Sweet & Lynch - "Unified"
Within Silence - "Return From The Shadows"
The World Will Burn" - "RuiNation"
XT - "Saved By The Blood"

This does not include re-issues, which would form a completely separate list.

I bought the XT album but must say that I wasn't overly impressed by it.  The songs are mostly mid tempo which gives the album as a whole this feeling of lagging.  None of the songs really grabbed me.

For 2017 I don't make a favorite top 10.
I've only bought 4 CDs.
I'll post them in the range I ordered them.

Witchburner - Randy Rose
Black White Stars - ST
Fear Not - ST
XT - Saved By The Blood.

Forsaken - Pentateuch
Hand of Fire - Nuclear blaze
Rose - Songs for the Ritually Abused
Galactic Cowboys - Long Way Back to the Moon
FreaKings - Toxic End

Honestly, I didn't really get any 2017 albums. So my list has a total of 0.

Difficult question, I am like a lot of you guys it turns out I didn't buy much Christian music in 2017 when I look back on it.  I don't think too much was released, other than a lot of re-releases, which I don't get too excited about.
I will say that the CD I got that I can't stop listening to is "To Be Everywhere is to be Nowhere" by Thrice.  It may have actually come out in 2016 but I didn't find it until the summer.  I haven't seen many postings about it so maybe I am a year late or no one else is listening to it.  
I really liked Fozzy's new album but although I hear Jericho is a Christian, I don't think they qualify.

Hard question. I listened to a lot of awesome bands this year. While not all were Christian, most sing on moral themes that appeal to me. Of the Christian bands I love, I most enjoyed these lovelies...

Signum Regis: Decennium Primum
Biogenesis: A Decadence Divine
Red: Gone
Within Silence: Return From The Shadows

When I'm feeling like something more chill, I enjoy Nozanopera's Peace in our Hearts and Randy Rose's Songs for the Ritually Abused.

If I'm wanting something to knock down the cobwebs from the ceiling, Melech's Melech Ha Olam is a good one. While there are parts of this album that are surprisingly pretty, most of it is kickin' y-eah!

Oo oo, oo, I almost forgot Demon Hunter's Outlive. A heavy, but balanced, awesome, kickin' album.

Classic Christian Rock Zine in Brazil released a list of the top 10 albums of 2017.
http://www.classicchristianrockzine.com/2018/01/top-10-albums-of-2017.html

This was my top five Christian albums

1. Demon Hunter: Outlive
2. Hand of Fire: Nuclear Sunrise
3. Rose: Songs for the Ritually Abused
4. Symphony of Heaven: The Season of Death
5. Evans & Stokes: Beyond the Gates

The World Will Burn would have been 6th.  If I had purchased it earlier in the year and listened to it more, it probably would have been up there.  The Sweet & Lynch just didn't really do it for me.  There were some other albums I thought were pretty good as well, but I didn't listen to them enough to really give them a space.

One of my absolute favorite albums of the year wasn't a Christian one--The Great Discord: The Rabbit Hole.