My 15 Top Music Albums

Since this is a rather personal blog I suppose it would be best to profile myself in a few more ways, although the more obvious reason for me to do this is to be able to look at this post 15 years from now and laugh at it because MEtAL fr0m TEh FuTuR3!!1!11oneone

Anyway, as a gamer and musician myself, I'll just make this list of my 15 favorite albums, in an effort of not repeating artists and varying music genres, because meh. 

Also easter egg somewhere hidden in this post!

15 albums. Then why are there 17 here, you ask? I just had to leave these two special mentions.

Rammstein have carved a soft spot in my heart because they are THE band that got me into metal when I was about 13 years old, so they deserve a special mention. And at the time, their most recent album was Mutter (2001), and even though I might not have listened to it as much as I did 2004's Reise, Reise, this is their best work in my opinion. For the course of their 5 first albums, they evolved their sound to be less crispy-riffy to be more melodic. This is the middle album, and it shows that perfectly. It showcases the blend of both old and new Rammstein.

Dream Theater was the band that got me into progressive rock/metal a couple years later. And Images and Words (1992) is possibly their best album, next to masterpieces like Scenes From a Memory and, what I usually say was their last great album before they went downhill, 2002's successor Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence.

Moving on!

15. Stupid Dream (1999)

Porcupine Tree

Had real trouble picking between Spawn of Possession's Incurso (immediatly scraped because there's more tasty death metal on this list), Camel's 1975 prog rock masterpiece The Snow Goose, and The Flashbulb's Love As A Dark Hallway. Went with this one, because, well, because Porcupine Tree. This album is love.

- - Piano Lessons

14. Heartwork (1993)

Carcass

Beautifully crafted classic album, blasted it alot during my late high school days, so it always reminds me of good times. Surprisingly, their latest album that just came out this year after a long hiatus, Surgical Steel, isn't very far behind, it's packed with amazing catchy riffs and I feel it could totally pass as Heartwork's direct follow up. Bill Steer and Jeff Walker haven't negatively aged a bit in musicality.

- - Heartwork

13. Periphery (2010)
Periphery

The whole 'djent' thing was alright while it lasted, but by the time of Periphery's successor to this album in 2012, it had already gotten old, with every band trying to do exactly the same. Putting that aside, I can't deny this is a great album with some great riffs and moods, and I loved listening to it during the time I did it extensively.
- - Buttersnips

12. Play (1999)

Moby

This is a classic album. Nearly every song on it is great. It got 12 music videos and 8 singles in the span of about 3 years, and there's a funny story behind the conception of the album. Definitely had to put this one on the list.

- - Rushing 

 - - Porcelain 

11. Epitaph (2004)
Necrophagist

Necrophagist was the very first tech death band I had the pleasure to listen to back when I started high school. While I wasn't very keen on the genre at first, Onset of Putrefaction eventually grew on me. Epitaph takes its place here instead though, but both albums are equally amazing and incredibly fucking tasty. Unfortunately we'll only get a new album in 2047 if we're lucky. - - Only Ash Remains

10. Focus (1993)

Cynic

Born from ex members of Death, Cynic incorporates technical death metal, jazz fusion and prog rock in a unique blend of styles that makes this album some of the finest and most unique ear candy around, and this one album won't be easy to top.
- - I'm But a Wave To...

9. Colors (2007)

Between The Buried And Me

It's hard to pick an album by BTBAM, but this is possibly my favorite, as a whole. I had a blast seeing these guys live, it was probably the tiniest international venue I've ever been to so far. No further comments need to be made on this album when there's this link:

- - Prequel to the Sequel

 8. Death of a Dead Day (2006)

SikTh

This album came out on 06/06/06. And while that's not a reason to make this an absolutely excellent album, it really is that awesome. This was a truly pioneering band, and it's a real shame they ended up splitting up after only a couple albums. This was the second one, and it features some amazing songwriting.

- - Bland Street Bloom

7. Akeldama (2006)

The Faceless

Planetary Duality is an amazing album as a whole, but it's some of Akeldama's singular tracks that strike me more memorably, and the addition of keyboards add even more uniqueness to the already very distinct riffing and composition style by this band. Also that title track <3

- - Akeldama

6. Cosmogenesis (2009)

Obscura

I first listened to this album when it came out, and by the time Omnivium came out I somehow kind of just forgotten about it and spent more time listening to its successor. But this album is indeed superior, with a wider load of catchier riffs, and a fine example of modern technical death metal.
- - Universe Momentum

5. Moving Pictures (1981)

Rush

Rush should be labeled "happy rock" or something. It gets you in the mood for anything. It's hard to pick an album by this very progressive yet very accessible classic band, but this one's the most nostalgic one for me, and also generally their most well known album. Their whole discography is very worthy of listening to though. Many times over.

- - Limelight

4. Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver Music (2009)

Jun'ichi Masuda, Go Ichinose

Gold/Silver has one of my favorite game soundtracks of all time, and the DS remake of the games brought some very instrumentally rich arrangements of the original songs, a true breath of fresh air after Diamond/Pearl's rather unoriginal and dull music (in my opinion).

- - Johto Trainer Battle

3. Synchestra (2006)

Devin Townsend

If Rush is happy rock, Devin Townsend is happy metal. This guy is hands down my favorite music artist of all time (if I don't count Nobuo Uematsu, but that's another story). I had some trouble picking between this album and his first release, Ocean Machine (1997). I actually listen to the latter more often, but the mood in this one is so great, always makes me feel like I'm lost deep in a forest without a single care in the world or some shit. And the production is so good. (To note that it's Devin himself who produces his own music).

If you're not into metal, well first off, shame on you! And secondly, this is a good album to start off. And perhaps the Devin Townsend Project's first 4 albums, they're also an interesting experience, and feature one of the best female singers around, Anneke van Giersbergern. Then you can move on to Ocean Machine, Infinity, or Ziltoid: The Omniscient, if you like aliens, coffee beans, hyperdrive, and overall zanyness.

- - Sunset - - Pixillate (Live w/Anneke) - -

2. Come on Feel the Illinoise (2005)

Sufjan Stevens

Also known simply as Illinois, this is the second album of what fantastic artist Sufjan Stevens later admitted to be a "promotional gimmick" - the Fifty States Project, which as one may guess, would be a series of 50 albums, one for each American state. It's a shame, because the first album, concerning Michigan (2003), is such an incredible album, and it's outstanding how Illinois is even so much better.

And this guy is unreal. He records his material using lo-fi equipment and cheap ass microphones, and literally plays almost every instrument featured on the record.

I couldn't count if I tried the number of times I've happily fell asleep with this album playing, be it in bed at home or in a tent somewhere in the middle of the night staring at the stars. Yes this just sounded cheesy as fuck, but I can't really put into words just how much I love this album. It's impossible not to.

- - Prairie Fire That Wanders About - - Chicago - -

1. Final Fantasy VI Original Sound Version (1994)
Nobuo Uematsu

To be expected, but hey, my favorite game of all time actually has my favorite soundtrack of all time. And we're talking about over 60 tracks of pure goodness.

This IS the album that got me into wanting to learn to play the organ in the first place when I was about 12 years old, when I first listened to Dancing Mad. So I really owe a lot to this magnificient piece of music. The extensive use of leitmotiffs that really put both the tracks and the game itself together in a way that hadn't really been seen in other games at the time is amazing and a true landmark. And don't get me started on that opera. It's not even among my favorite music of the game, but it's undeniably unique.

Seeing as this game ranks in my all time favorites list, I won't talk much more about it until some other time. In the meanwhile I'll leave a few tracks here (it really is impossible to pick anything), and my own attempt at covering the game's opening theme. Hope you enjoyed anything on this list!

- - The Phantom Forest - - Dancing Mad - - Blackjack - - The Decisive Battle - -