Posts from Top Music Albums

I decided not to look back and only consider recent times. All these Nightwish and Therion albums, while still being among my favorites, have become a bit tiresome no matter how much I cherish them. It’s very difficult to rate an album that you’ve listened to a hundred times, which has become completely ordinary, familiar, and unremarkable for you, even though you understand that nothing can be better than it. Therefore, I will simply exclude such things from the rating and write down the top five best albums listened to in the last six months.

★★ - An unremarkable song that is pleasant to listen to depending on your mood.
★★★ - A good song; I want to listen to it.
★★★★ - I really like it; it resonates with me.
★★★★★ - Masterpiece.
One star - Nothing special, or a song that I never liked, or some kind of nonsense where there is almost no music (usually some pre-/inter-/postludes).


1. Linkin Park - ''Minutes to Midnight'' (2007)

01. Wake ★★
02. Given Up ★★★★
03. Leave Out All the Rest ★★★★
04. Bleed it Out ★★★★
05. Shadow of the Day ★★★
06. What I've Done ★★★
07. Hands Held High ★★★★
08. No More Sorrow ★★★★
09. Valentine's Day ★★★★
10. In Between ★★
11. In Pieces ★★
12. The Little Things Give You Away ★★
13. No Roads Left ★★

I would have never thought that Linkin Park would take first place in my album ranking.
Actually, I heard LP for the first time not within the last six months. It’s one of those bands that introduced me to the world of music. I started listening to them in 2008, but after about a year or so, I almost completely stopped and became interested in various metal genres. Very rarely did I go into the "miscellaneous" folder to find Linkin Park, and not really to listen, but rather to reminisce. And at some point, I even began to slightly despise this music, saying that it was for stupid pop school kids or something like that (while being an ignorant ninth-grader myself). Furthermore, racial hatred towards rap in any form held me back from listening. And how lucky am I that I got rid of these shackles of my own stubbornness and faced the truth. And the truth is that I like this music, and that’s all there is to it.
I listened to Linkin Park for two months almost non-stop, and that's only three albums (didn't get to the fourth, and the fifth hadn't been released yet), which isn't something I do often. However, I wouldn't say that I really like the songs (for example, I didn't give any song on the album five stars); they just happen to be suitable for my mood quite often. That's why I still listen to the band fairly frequently. LP has another feature: it doesn't get boring. Or it gets boring so slowly that I don't even notice.

Perfect “album unity” in "Minutes to Midnight." It's not just a list of tracks; it's a whole composition of songs. That's why it's such a great album.
I listened to it mostly during terrible insomnia when my mood perfectly matched the album's atmosphere.


2. System of a Down - ''Mezmerize'' (2005)

01. Soldier Side - Intro ★★★
02. B.Y.O.B. ★★★
03. Revenga ★★★★
04. Cigaro ★★★★★
05. Radio/Video ★★★★★
06. This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I’m On This Song ★★★★
07. Violent Pornography ★★★★
08. Question! ★★
09. Sad Statue ★★★★
10. Old School Hollywood ★★
11. Lost in Hollywood ★★

3. System of a Down - ''Hypnotize'' (2005)

01. Attack ★★★★
02. Dreaming ★★★★
03. Kill Rock 'n Roll ★★★
04. Hypnotize ★★★★
05. Stealing Society ★★★
06. Tentative ★★
07. U-Fig ★★★
08. Holy Mountains ★★★★
09. Vicinity of Obscenity ★★★
10. She's Like Heroin ★★
11. Lonely Day ★★★
12. Soldier Side ★★★★

Two awesome packs of metal. I won't elaborate much; I will just note that System’s “quirkiness” mixed with a cheerful mood and killer nonsensical lyrics works wonders for me.
Both albums were released in 2005, six months apart. The first, Mezmerize, opens with the short intro "Soldier Side," while the second, Hypnotize, ends with the full version of the song. I imagine a fan who bought the first album in 2005, listened to it until they knew every detail, fell in love with every song, including this intro, and then the second album comes out, the fan quickly listens, and at the end of the album... It seems to me that this is a very good idea – to tease with such an intro on the album and after a couple of months release a full version of a great song. It's a shame that I did everything the other way around and didn't get as much pleasure from this trick.

By the way, I also listened to System quite a long time ago and then stopped. Why - a mystery. The story is almost the same as with Linkin Park, except there was no hatred or contempt.


4. Nightwish - ''Imaginaerum'' (2011)

01. Taikatalvi ★★
02. Storytime ★★★★★
03. Ghost River ★★★★★
04. Slow, Love, Slow ★★
05. I Want My Tears Back ★★★★★
06. Scaretale ★★★★★
07. Arabesque ★★
08. Turn Loose The Mermaids ★★★★
09. Rest Calm ★★★★
10. The Crow, The Owl And The Dove ★★
11. Last Ride Of The Day ★★★
12. Song Of Myself ★★★
13. Imaginaerum ★★★

One album by my favorite band made it into this top five because this album is new and I listened to it in the last six months.
I already wrote a brief review of it based on my first impression; you can find it here. There's not much more to add, but I will try.
This is Nightwish. My beloved Nightwish. The previous album was worse than any other in the group’s history, and that wasn't due to Anette's vocals. One could say that the music changed so much with the new vocalist, but it was written before Olzon won the competition and became a member of the band. Anyway, never mind; the main thing is that "Imaginaerum" turned out significantly better and deserves to be one of Tuomas Holopainen's best creations.
A good acoustic intro, two powerful “Nightwish” anthems, a breather with a very unusual song for Nightwish, although somewhat boring. A joyful song with an Irish bagpipe and Irish motifs played on it. Scaretale – a song that I would give the crown to, taking it off from Song of Myself. A successful symphonic interlude. A pleasant song reminiscent of Blackmore's Night. A semi-acoustic ballad, which I have never seen anything special in, becoming the second single from the album. Two weaker anthems. And finally, the album ends with a song that brings together almost all the themes of other compositions from Imaginaerum - an excellent move.


5. Linkin Park - "Meteora" (2003)

01. Foreword ★
02. Don't Stay ★★★★
03. Somewhere I Belong ★★★
04. Lying from You ★★★★
05. Hit the Floor ★★
06. Easier to Run ★★★
07. Faint ★★★
08. Figure.09 ★★
09. Breaking the Habit ★★★
10. From the Inside ★★★
11. Nobody's Listening ★★★★
12. Session ★★
13. Numb ★★

My top five is closed again by a Linkin Park album. In fact, I explained everything above; there’s nothing more for me to say.

A hellish mix, as always :) I just love the variety of genres...

It's sometimes funny to read my old posts. To me now, this "variety of genres" seems like a modest monotony. Although, compared to those times, I now mix diametrically opposed songs in my playlist much less, and instead listen to one particular genre/artist for several hours/days/weeks at a time. Well, I probably won't be able to make a top albums list now, because it wouldn't fit in 20 entries.
P.S. I'm not a necro-poster) This is what happens when I can't sleep).