Elite's top 50 albums v. - 3 Years Older: #1: love is the dance of eternity

[Onno]

Maybe I should give Mercy Falls another listen. As for Symphony X, they were never really my cup of tea.

[wolfking]

2 great albums right there.

[Prog Snob]

Excellent choices. SyX is always expected in the list of a prog metal fan, but the Seventh Wonder is a pleasant surprise.

[Big Hath]

2 great albums right there.

[Prog Snob]

Nice sig, Hath.

[Big Hath]

 

I love that whole quote

[jingle.boy]

2 great albums right there.

Echo'd.  Both made my Top 50 v2.  And the spoken parts of Mercy Falls aren't just bad, their downright awful and make me cringe.  Thankfully, the music over-compensates.

[Sacul]

Double cheese, nice 

[Prog Snob]

I love that whole quote

That is the quote that caused me to start reading Nietzsche. Back when I was in high school, though, there was no Internet, and I didn't know anyone who knew who said that quote. I had to go to a local library and ask the librarian. Back when Google was an older woman in glasses and a skirt. 

[Evermind]

Double cheese, nice 

Your face is double cheese. Mercy Falls is amazing.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

For all the groaning people do about cheesiness in prog metal like in Mercy Falls, that album has a lot of legitimately infectious choruses, memorable riffs and solos, and incredibly tight song-writing.

The spoken word segments are pretty bad, but they make up such a small amount of the actual album, it's easy to gloss over.

[Elite]

Yeah, Mercy Falls is hugely accessible for its choruses and song-writing, while the SymX album is a little more 'classic' progressive metal (for as far as that really is a thing). Regarding the song choices, for the runners-up (#51-#60) I just chose songs that relresent the album well, so those aren't necessarily my favourite tracks. The actual top 50 will have longer write-ups, recommendations for other stuff to listen to by the same band, as well as my favourite songs from the record.

[Elite]

Alright then, here's the first entry in my top 50. I've set a goal to do two albums a day and depending on the day that could mean I either post both at once at the same time, or I will post one in the morning and another one in the evening. The latter has my preference, so I'll try to stick to that as often as I can. Here's the first, tonight there will be one more.

---

50. Beardfish – Mammoth (2011)



On the last spot in this top 50, I have this Swedish band's sixth album. As of today, the band has released eight different albums, spanning 15 years; quite an impressive output. Stylistically, this band steers away from the traditional progressive rock and metal conventions seen in other contemporary bands, but blends certain aspects of both to create a sound that can be considered 'retro' (as in, similar to the progressive rock of the seventies), but when you listen to them, you can hear something is 'off'. Althouth they have this retro-sound to them, there's an apparent influence of progressive metal as well, as seen in for instance the track that's my favourite of the album, the brilliant mini-epic And The Stone Said: "If I Could Speak".

This band is primarily driven by Rikard Sjøblom, who handles the guitar, keyboards and vocals all at the same time and to say he does that rather well would be an understatement. Looking back through their discography, this band has surely seen some development over the years. I'm not saying that their previous work is bad by any means, but to me they reached their peak on this album. It's the most distinct and best represents their overall style. Some might contest this and say their latest record is even better, but frankly, this is also a case of 'Mammoth' being the album I first heard of theirs.

What I like about this band and about this album in particular is that they have a really pronounced style, but they're also not shy to try out new things, as the saxophone in a couple of songs on this album shows. Another recurring trope in progressive rock music is of course the frequent use of virtuosity (often for the sake of it, but that could be merely my interpretation) and this band will have nothing of that. To me, all they do serves the purpose of the song's development. This album is a fine example of that, where all the songs are great in their own right. Give it a listen of you're intrigued.

Favourite song: And The Stone Said: "If I Could Speak"
Other songs worth checking out: The Platform, Without Saying Anything, Tightrope
Other stuff by this band: The band have released a number of albums. While this is my favourite, the album 'Sleeping in Traffic Part Two' is also excellent and quite reminiscent of this one. Their album 'The Void' is a lot heavier and their 2015 album '+4626-COMFORTZONE' generally received positive reviews as well.

[Evermind]

I've bought this one a few weeks ago but didn't delve into it yet because roulette.

[Tomislav95]

I know Comfort zone, one of my favorites from last year. There is only one song from Mammoth I checked on YouTube and it was weirder than I expected so I saved it for other day. I'll definitely check it when I'll be in right mood.

[Train of Naught]

Aw man.. reading the title I thought it was going to be Royal Blood's self-titled..

Never heard Beardfish but I should

[Sacul]

Listen to The Void, Train 

[Elite]

Yes, you would probably like that one better than Mammoth, it's more

[Prog Snob]

I love Beardfish. Excellent choice out of all their amazing releases.

[Elite]

Yes sir!

[jingle.boy]

Could never get in to Beardfish.

[senecadawg2]

I think Mammoth is great but for some reason whenever I share it with anyone, it gets a lukewarm response.

[Nihil-Morari]

Could never get in to Beardfish.

I saw them perform live, which was my first encounter with them, and was very unimpressed. It's always difficult to be an opening band, but the music was pretty obvious, the melodies being their weak point.

Other than that, of course I'll be following, but you and I both know that it will be way to much metal for my tastes, Elite 

[Elite]

I said I would do two albums a day, and so I will.

---

49. Schizoid Lloyd – The Last Note in God's Magnum Opus (2014)



Ah, my favourite album from 2014. It's not anymore, but I discovered the album from 2014 that's higher on this list in 2015. This was my jam in 2014 and I've listened to it countless times. Released on the obscure label 'Blood Music', known for their "preservation of extreme metal", this album truly is the oddball in the label's releases. The label was founded originally to repress maudlin of the Well's masterpieces 'Bath' and 'Leaving Your Body Map', which is how I discovered the label, but the majority of what they release doesn't really interest me to be honest (in fact, this is the only album I bought from the label, apart from the maudlin albums). This album however, did.

Enough about the label, the band is where it's at. Schizoid Lloyd are a Dutch band I first saw at the 2011 edition of the ProgPower Europe festival. They were regarded as one of the most surprising acts of the festival, with their weird blend of Mr. Bungle-ish avant-garde metal. Although they had only released a short EP at that point, they managed to play a 50-minute set and basically left everybody in the audience who stayed to atch them rather speechless. Their eclictic performance, combined with the weird music they play made me keep track of these guys. I caught the, live again a year later and they were even better then. In 2014 word came out these guys signed a record deal at the label I knew from maudlin's album re-issues and it seemed like a perfect match. The label slowly revealed a couple of tracks and I, curiously watching this band from a distant, instantly knew after hearing album opener Suicide Penguin that this was gonna be a great record. Finally I could hear the band I had enjoyed live twice in all its glory on a CD. I pre-ordered the album and haven't looked back.

On 'The Last Note in God's Magnum Opus', the band manages to blend a bunch of different music style, ranging from prog, folk and metal to classical piano, white-boy rap and psychedelica. In that respect, they are very much a modern Mr. Bungle, complete with alternating vocals between the band's three or four singers. Because of the huge variety in songs, it's also hard to choose a favourite among the album's ten tracks, as every track has its highlights. From this album's release I've pimped this band in numerous roulettes, sending either the aforementioned opener or the most badass riff-song on the album, Misanthrope Puppet, usually to great results.

That said, I do not think this band is for everyone. They're labeled mistly as 'psychedelic/progressive', which seems an appropriate term to describe this band's music. I saw them again at last year's edition of the ProgPower Europe festival. They played this album, almost in full and it was fantastic. Reactions ranged from people saying it was the best band of the weekend to people moaning about the music being a 'disjointed mess'. Granted, the live environment is probably not the best place to hear this band for the first time, but on the CD it's glorious.

Favourite song: Misanthrope Puppet
Other songs worth checking out: Suicide Penguin, Avalanche Riders, Amphibian Seer
Other stuff by this band: Unfortunately, this is the only album the guys have released so far.

[425]

I've heard one song from that Beardfish album, Green Waves, courtesy of Seneca. I thought it was pretty good. I may check out the full album.

I don't know #49, but it seems like probably not my thing.

[Crow]

would agree that puppet and penguin are the two best songs here (though in opposite order) but a fair bit of this album didn't do as much for me as I'd have liked. Citizen Herd would be fantastic without its awful instrumental wankfest.

[Nihil-Morari]

Modern Mr. Bungle? I'm in! Listening to that one soon, I promise!

[Onno]

Never heard of that album, but it sounds very good. Will check it out.

[Elite]

Modern Mr. Bungle? I'm in! Listening to that one soon, I promise!

It might be 'too metal' for you though
But it's a good album and reminiscent of Mr. Bungle at least (think 'California', more so than 'Disco Volante'). It's basically fun avant-garde with weird lyrics.

[Elite]

Next one!

---

48. The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)



In Porcupine Tree's Time Flies, Steven Wilson's first vocal line is as follows: "I was born in '67, the year of Sgt. Pepper and Are You Experienced." It's funny how a vocal line from a song released more than four decades later can help you remember how old an album is. This is one of the two albums in the entire top 50 that's from the sixties and it's the younger one. I can't say anything about how this album was received back then, but the fact that it's one of the best known albums even today, with its iconic album cover, has to mean something.

For me, it was a toss-up between this one and 'Abbey Road', but ultimately I went with 'Sgt. Pepper', because of how cohesive this album is, but also because the songs on this particular record are simply too good to ignore. The Lennon/McCartney combination is known for writing great songs and on this album they reached their creative peak. This is coming from someone who's heavily bkased towards this album and 'Abbey Road' though, so don't take my word for it. It's funny then, that my favourite tune on this album is the only one that's composed by a different band member, the Harrison composition heavily inspired by Indian raga-music.

Thought to be the world's first concept album (an assumption that is incorrect, by the way), this album marks the first time the Beatles started actively experimenting with the recording studio and the physical possibilities of effect-usage as a compositional tool. The result is an album that likely blew the fragile teenage minds of the Beatles' fanbase, especially through the haunting album closer A Day in the Life (which almost feels as if it was sticked on at the end after the rest was already recorded). The album does not have any low point, so the tracks listed below could be swapped around entirely. It's a fairly short listen, clocking in at under 40 minutes, especially by today's standards, so I would recommended listen to the album in full, rather than just looking up individual songs. It's an undisputed classic, one of the most influential albums ever and a must-listen for any music fan. And that's saying a lot.

Favourite song: Within You Without You
Other songs worth checking out: A Day in the Life, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite
Other stuff by this band: The idea that these guys were the most influential group in recent popular music history says enough. 'Abbey Road' is a fantastic album, but I can heartily recommend 'Revolver' as well, for starters. After that, check out 'The White Album' if you like what you hear. Or just get a box set with all their music.

[home]

That's an amazing album indeed 

In Porcupine Tree's Time Flies, Steven Wilson's first vocal line is as follows: "I was born in '67, the year of Sgt. Pepper and Are You Experienced." It's funny how a vocal line from a song released more than four decades later can help you remember how old an album is.

That line was stuck in my head and I didn't even now what Sgt. Pepper was at that time 

[jakepriest]

I don't like Beatles that much, but this album is really good indeed. 

[Zantera]

Abbey Road is better, but Sgt Pepper is a classic!

[jingle.boy]

Fantastic album without a doubt.  There isn't a single 'bad' Beatles song, and a lot of the greatest ones are on this album.

[Elite]

Abbey Road is better, but Sgt Pepper is a classic!

I had a hard time choosing between the two really, I love Abbey Road as well.