Tiesto Live at Innercity RAI

I was at that concert so always great to listen to again.





Underworld Live: Everything everything







Lucky People Center - Interspecies communication

For me, nothing will ever compare to Electric Light Orchestra's Time.

44 minutes of absolute masterpiece. The first four tracks (not counting Prologue) are all contenders for greatest song ever written in my opinion. Covers so many vibes and styles while remaining so firmly 80s futuristic. The songs flow into one another very well and it's a concept album with an interesting story full of deep and impactful themes. I first heard this in 2017 and was in absolute bliss. I may have heard it over 100 times since then and it's still absolute bliss everytime.

Though for another I feel like listing here... Recently, I've been getting to know Foals and they're quickly becoming one of my favourite bands. I was first introduced to them when I heard Exits a couple years ago, went ahead and listened to its album and was blown away. I'm only now going through the rest of their discography and it's been great, but I think this will always remain my favourite from theirs - Part 1 especially is incredible from start to finish, whereas Part 2 is a bit more hit-and-miss (but when it hits, wow).

Didn't expect anyone to list that here. I only discovered Type O a couple of years ago and ever since Love You to Death has been my most played song each year, usually followed closely by Anesthesia and Green Man.

World Coming Down is my Type O album of choice, although October Rust has what I think is probably their best song (Wolf Moon). They're probably the most consistent metal band I know - all six of their albums are absolute gems that I'd rate at or above 85%

I'll limit myself to one album per artist.

The Fragile by NIN (probably my desert island album)

The Campfire Headphase by Boards of Canada

Mer de noms by A Perfect Circle

Mechanical Animals by Marilyn Manson (I flip between this and Holy Wood as my favourite MM album a lot)

October Rust by Type O Negative

Adore by The Smashing Pumpkins (for a long time Machina was my favourite Pumpkins album, hence the user name, but nowadays I think I prefer Adore)

Worlds Apart by ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead

Post by Björk (so hard to choose between Post and Homgenic, but picking the Greatest Hits album felt like cheating)

Supernature by Goldfrapp (it doesn't contain my favourite Goldfrapp song - Ocean - but it's my favourite album of theirs)

Outside by David Bowie (Bowie tended to be at his best when he was deemed least successful - Outside and Never Let Me Down are awesome)

It's a Man's World by Cher

25. King Diamond – Abigail (1987)
24. Amy Winehouse – Back to Black (2006)
23. Kraftwerk – The Man-Machine (1978)
22. The Who – Who’s Next (1971)
21. Deep Purple – Machine Head (1972)
20. Gojira – Magma (2016)
19. Dream Theater – Metropolis Pt. II: Scenes from a Memory (1999)
18. Refused – The Shape of Punk to Come (1998)
17. Yes – Close to the Edge (1972)
16. David Bowie – Blackstar (2016)
15. Savatage – Streets: A Rock Opera (1991)
14. Miles Davis – Kind of Blue (1959)
13. Pantera – Vulgar Display of Power (1992)
12. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
11. Kraftwerk – Tour de France Soundtracks (2003)
10. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours (1977)
9. Buena Vista Social Club – Buena Vista Social Club (1997)
8. The Clash – London Calling (1979)
7. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly (2015)
6. Propaganda – A Secret Wish (1985)
5. Mastodon – Crack the Skye (2009)
4. Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes (1992)
3. Yello – Touch (2009)
2. The Gathering – Souvenirs (2003)
1. Judas Priest – Painkiller (1990)

This isn't necessarily the albums with my favourite songs, because sometimes the best songs are on albums that aren't necessarily that great as a whole. Here's some solid ones I find good enough to mention here though. I tried to limit my list to one per artist, with the exception of Amorphis, which I had to list three albums for, because I can't decide which one of the three is my favourite overall, and it's my favourite band by far. Anywhere, here be the albums, listed alphabetically because I suck at ranking, with a pick by me from each album for listening if you care.

Before diving into the Amorphis albums though, first a word about Amorphis in general: the genres listed for Amorphis in Wikipedia are progressive metal, melodic death metal, and folk metal, and in my opinion Amorphis has a sound I haven't quite found anywhere else yet. Also, in case anyone gets intrigued, I should probably recommend Queen of Time and particularly The Bee from it, since apparently people like them a lot, but they're among not my favourites, so you won't find them below.

Amorphis - Halo (2022)

Halo definitely doesn't have my favourite songs from Amorphis, but the album overall has probably the fewest misses on any Amorphis album - and even the other albums have good songs at worst. Halo has a bit of a heavier sound that other albums by Amorphis, with a bit of a more progressive side as well. Windmane here is probably the most progressive song by Amorphis in a really long time, so not necessarily the most representative song but I like it, so you shall have it:

Full album: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kLv3xtfb3EqRE-MkbujhzeSBkizeEo-uk

Amorphis - Skyforger (2009)

Skyforger on the other hand has some of my favourite songs, but there's also a couple of misses on the album. I also feel like the album feels a bit similar overall (i.e. maybe a tad too little diversity), but still, there's some great songs on it, some of the best of Amorphis. Not much to say about the album otherwise, it's just a great Amorphis album. This one's definitely a solid pick:

Full album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0u9Q8P-FpM

Amorphis - Under the Red Cloud (2015)

Under the Red Cloud has a heavier sound than some of the previous albums by Amorphis, with a fair bit of keyboard presence as well. I don't like all the songs, but it feels like a very consistent album to me. Death of a King is well regarded but not my favourite, so you'll get Dark Path instead, with both growls and clean vocals, and what I feel is a certain kind of catchiness even:

Full album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tJdyRYa6cg

Haloo Helsinki! - III (2011)

Finnish rock, mostly female vocals, one of the few artists whose lyrics resonate with me in any way. Nothing special, I guess, but just great rock music. Not the best songs from Haloo Helsinki! on this album, but probably the fewest misses and overall very nice songs too. Could use with a bit more diversity, but can forgive the lack of diversity if the songs are good enough. There's many songs I could pick from the album, but you'll get this one:

Full album: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOnwNH8Icf3Th2B0djJ6akRBkkvXY0NSL

Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory (2000)

I don't have to tell you about Linkin Park, do I? Anyway, here's a random pick:

Full album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2ts2GWOSv8

Machinae Supremacy - Overworld (2008)

To quote Wikipedia: "Machinae Supremacy is a Swedish/Finnish band that combines modern heavy metal, power metal and alternative rock with chiptunes". Not much else to say, with the exception that the vocalist is perhaps a bit of... an acquired taste. Anyway, here's a pick from Overworld:

Poets of the Fall - Twilight Theater (2010)

Poets of the Fall is behind Old Gods of Asgard from Remedy's games, e.g. Alan Wake and Control, so some of you might already be familiar with their sound. Anyway, to give you a better idea, Wikipedia lists these genres for PotF: alternative rock, post-grunge, and symphonic rock. Not much to say about this particular album, except that it has maybe the fewest misses from PotF. A pick from the album:

Full album (but randomly sorted, I guess): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3265F3DE3DF4B149

Undead Corporation - 紅染の鬼が哭く (2012)

You might already have guessed it, but I'm not great with genres. Touhou metal? Wikipedia lists the following genres: extreme metal, melodic death, metal, metalcore, deathcore, and Doujin music. Also, I have no idea how to spell/pronounce the name, I don't know what the songs are about, and the little I do know, it probably makes very little sense except in the Touhou context, so it's probably best I don't understand it either. Regardless, I think this album sounds awesome. This one's probably my favourite from the album:

Full album: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLt5uicykft5CnWSDIP0Quq_oE8bTCmoWi

Omissions

Like I said, I didn't necessarily list the albums with the best songs but the best wholes instead, where they also happen to be among my favourites on arbitrary criteria (e.g. I would probably have listed Silent Waters for Amorphis if I went for the best, because it's a really diverse album compared to my absolute favourites). Also, you might think I really like metal and rock music, which I do, but I do like other kinds of music as well. In particular, and perhaps somewhat surprisingly, I do also like music with an electronic component to them. I just don't have whole albums to list here. And no, I'm actually not a fan of some of the biggest metal bands out there. Usually when I find an artist I like, I don't like others other people consider similar, which makes finding new music to listen to quite frustrating.

Jars of Clay - The Long Fall Back to Earth
Taylor Sorensen - The Overflow
These are both tied for my favourite of all time. Comforting to listen to.

Up there as well are:
Petra - Beyond Belief
Newsboys - Go
Thousand Foot Krutch - Welcome to the Masquerade
Darren Hayes - Secret Codes and Battleships
Tobymac - Portable Sounds
Skillet - Comatose
Def Leppard - Hysteria

@Zkuq

I quite like Amorphis, although for some reason I've never fully got into them. I saw them live when they were touring for Skyforger, and have listened to every album they've done since then. None of them have ever really fully clicked with me - I always get a bit of a 'been there, done that' sort of vibe with their material nowadays. I know they've got a new album out soon though, and had planned to revisit their catalogue, so perhaps your post will be what finally spurs me on. I will say, there's a distinctly Finnish vibe to their melodies - can't put my finger on it, but there's something about the melodies Finnish bands / artists play that are so distinctive (don't know if it's to do with their musical education or what). Would be curious to hear what you think of the stuff before Tomi Joutsen joined on vocals, as I know they experimented a little bit on some albums.

Back to the subject of distinctive melodies in Finnish bands, it's something I also hear in Poets of the Fall. I first came across these guys when I stumbled upon their cover of Chris Cornell's Bond theme (You Know My Name), which then led me to their song Dreaming Wide Awake. I haven't followed too closely for a few years now, but I really enjoyed their album Jealous Gods (and saw them touring that album as part of what I think was their first batch of UK shows).

Machinae Supremacy is a name I haven't heard in a fair while - I saw them once as the opening act on a four band bill headlined by Children of Bodom about 15 years ago. Not much to say except that I have the title track from A View to the End of the World on a playlist - really good song. And I never knew they were still active - could've swore they broke up. I must be thinking of someone else (probably Machine Men).

My favorite albums are from my favorite bands/artists. Though, there's not a single album I'd call perfect. Even the best albums have at least one track which is a bit weaker than the rest.

1. Nightwish – Oceanborn (1998) [Heavy Metal] Finland
2. Kensington – Rivals (2014) [Indie-Rock] The Netherlands
3. The Album Leaf – Into the Blue Again (2006) [Instrumental Post-Rock] United Kingdom
4. Sigur Rós – Takk... (2005) [Post-Rock] Iceland
5. Avantasia – The Metal Opera Pt. II (2002) [Power Metal] Germany
6. Coldplay – X & Y (2005) [Pop-Rock] United Kingdom
7. REO Speedwagon – Hi Infidelity (1980) [Classic Rock] U.S.A.
8. Daniel Lippert – City in the Clouds (2013) [Instrumental New Age] Switzerland
9. Porcupine Tree – Deadwing (2005) [Progressive Rock] United Kingdom
10. Jon & Vangelis – Private Collection (1983) [Synthie-Pop] United Kingdom / Greece

one of the best songs ever written:

what an awful video to a great song: