#s A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

The Best of 2001!

I had a tough time choosing the best discs of 2001, both in the "AOR/Hard Rock", and "Heavy Metal" categories, but for completely different reasons. In my opinion, 2001 was a lacklustre year for AOR and hard rock, and nothing really jumped out as being phenomenal; even the discs I ended up picking were ones worthy of 85-90/100 ratings rather than 91+. In metal, however, the reverse was true: too many excellent albums. In each case it was tough determining which albums to elevate above the others.

In each category, I'll list all the albums that were eligible for consideration, i.e., the ones I picked up this year. There may have been some "clear winners" as far as some people were concerned, but I may never have heard them.

AOR/Hard Rock

The Rest of the Field:

4 Him - Walk On. Word Entertainment
Asia - Aura. Blue Storm Music
Axxis - Eyes of Darkness. Massacre Records (Germany)
Ayreon - Into the Electric Castle. InsideOut America
Balance of Power - Perfect Balance. Nightmare Records
Blackmore's Night - Fires at Midnight (Boxed Version). Steamhammer/SPV (Germany)
Brock, Robin - Hidden Power. A2 Records (United Kingdom)
Bronz - Unfinished Business. Red Steel Music (United Kingdom)
Burning Rain - Pleasure to Burn. Z Records
Cut Throat - Slave. ST Productions
Demon - Spaced Out Monkey. Record Heaven (Sweden)
Dream Theater - Live Scenes from New York. Elektra Records
ELO - Zoom. Sony Music
Enevoldsen, Torben - Guitarisma. Lion Music (Sweden)
Every Mother's Nightmare - Smokin' Delta Voodoo. Perris Records
Five Fifteen - Death of a Clown. Record Heaven (Sweden)
Gardian - Voyager and Fusion. Millenium Eight Records
Hotwire - Middle of Nowhere. Point (Germany)
Knight Crawler - Second Nature. Warmer Brothers Music Group
Lion's Share - Entrance. Massacre (Germany)
Mattsson, Lars Eric - Electric Voodoo. Lion Music (Sweden)
Melodica - Lovemetal. Frontiers (Somewhere overseas)
Mississippi Sludge - Biscuits and Slavery. Record Heaven (Sweden)
Penny Black - Penny Black. Cordoozle Music (Canada)
Roulette - Lifeline. Escape Music (United Kingdom)
Salt - Satisfied. Mercy Street Records
Treat - Muscle in Motion. Metal Rendezvous
Tuff - The History of Tuff. RLS Records
V/A - Warmth in the Wilderness (A Tribute to Jason Becker). Lion Music (Finland)
V/A - Welcome to the Aerosmithsonian. Perris
White Diamond - The Lost Demos (1988-1990). Lemmon Records

The Winners:

5. Taraxacum - Spirit of Freedom. MTM Metal Records. Lead vocalist from Steel Prophet with members of Edguy, both fairly heavy bands, put out a surprisingly engaging melodic rock album.

4. Royal Hunt - The Mission. Century Media. Considerably better than the predecessor, this album takes on a more melodic rock feel. Some good choruses on this one.

3. Pink Cream 69 - Endangered. Massacre Records (Germany). For me at least, one of the more captivating melodic rock releases of 2001, albeit with a heavier edge. The choruses are quite melodic and powerful.

2. From Zero - One Nation Under. Arista Records. Surprisingly excellent blend of modern melodic rock, heavy metal, and industrial themes. Not for the faint of heart or tradition-tied, the vocals could be straight out of any melodic rock release.

1. AOR/HARD ROCK ALBUM OF 2001: Journey - Arrival. Columbia Records. A considerably delayed and much anticipated album comes through. After listening to this all I could think of was "Perry who?" Augeri was the perfect choice to take the helm of this AOR legend.

Heavy Metal

The Rest of the Field:

Adagio - Sanctus Ignis. Limb Music (Germany)
Amorphis - Am Universum. Relapse
Andromeda - Extension of the Wish. Century Media
Angel Dust - Border of Reality. Century Media
Annihilator - Carnival Diablos (Boxed Version). Steamhammer/SPV (Germany)
At Vance - Dragonchaser. Shark Records (Germany)
Avantasia - The Metal Opera. Century Media
Bal Sagoth - Atlantis Ascendant. Nuclear Blast
Borknagar - Empiricism. Century Media
Cage - Astrology. Molten Metal
Conquest - Damnation. Self-released
Deliverance - Greetings of Death, Etc.. Magdalene Records
Edenbridge - Sunrise in Eden. Sensory Records
Fear Factory - Digimortal. Roadrunner
Flower Kings, The - The Rainmaker. InsideOut America
Freedom Call - Crystal Empire. Steamhammer (Germany)
Gallow's Pole - Exorcism. Shark Records (Germany)
Grave Digger - The Grave Digger. Nuclear Blast
Heavenly - Sign of the Winner. Noise Records
Iced Earth - Dark Genesis (Boxed Set). Century Media
Iron Fire - On the Edge. Noise Records
Jag Panzer - Mechanized Warfare. Century Media
Kalmah - Swamplord. Century Media
Kamelot - Karma. Noise Records
Kreator - Violent Revolution. Steamhammer Records
Lost Horizon - Awakening the World. Koch/Music For Nations
Moonspell - Darkness and Hope. Century Media
Mortification - The Silver Chord Is Severed. Rowe Productions
Narnia - Desert Land. Nuclear Blast
OTEP - Jihad (EP). Capitol
Primal Fear - Nuclear Fire. Nuclear Blast
Queensryche - Live Evolution. Sanctuary Records
Rage - Welcome to the Other Side. Gun Records (Germany)
Rhapsody - Rain of a Thousand Flames. Limb Music (Germany)
Savatage - Poets and Madmen (Boxed Edition). Steamhammer (Germany)
Silent Force - Infatuator. InsideOut America
Sonata Artica - Silence. Century Media
Static-X - Machine. Warner Brothers
Steel Prophet - Book of the Dead. Nuclear Blast
Stratovarius - Intermission. Nuclear Blast
Symphony X - Live on the Edge of Forever. Inside Out Records
Thor, Jon - Dogz II. Igroove Recordings (Canada)
Threshold - Hypothetical. InsideOut America
Time Machine - Aliger Daemon. Lucretia Records (Italy)
Townsend, Devin - Terria. HevyDevy Records (Canada)
Tristania - World of Glass. Napalm Records
Vainglory - 2050. Lucretia (Italy)
Various Artists - Metallic Assault: A Tribute to Metallica. Big Eye Music
Various Artists - Power of Metal/Symphonies of Steel. Noise Records
Vicious Rumors - Sadistic Symphony. Perris Records
Wayne - Metal Church. Nuclear Blast
Winterlong - Valley of the Lost. Lion Music (Finland)
Wizard - Head of the Deceiver. LMP Records (Germany)
Zanister - Fear No Man. Leviathan
Zonata - Reality. Century Media

The Winners:

5. Gamma Ray - No World Order. Noise Records. Powerplant was ok but not great. This one is a considerable step up. More aggressive and more epic then the previous album.

4. Edguy - Mandrake. AFM Records (Germany). To my ear less progressive then their previous efforts and more towards a traditional "classic Helloween" style of power metal. Extremely solid and lushly produced. 3 words: Alien. Drum. Bunny.

3. Children of Bodom - Follow the Reaper. Nuclear Blast. In my opinion their best yet. Some of the cleanest, crispest death vocals you'll ever hear, set to a backdrop of Malmsteenesque instrumentation.

2. Everygrey - In Search of Truth. InsideOut America. Some might consider it prog rock rather than prog metal, as it never gets overly heavy, but the album has a very dark atmosphere. I liken it to a blend of Dream Theater and Nevermore. Very powerful and gripping stuff.

1. HEAVY METAL ALBUM OF 2001: Falconer - Falconer. Metal Blade Records. Who woulda thought that an effort on good ole' Metal Blade would take album of the year? Simply put: Quite possibly the most refreshing thing to come down the power metal pike in quite a long time. Epic and powerful, yet comes off as boldly different, due to lead vocalist Mathias Blad singing as a true baritone rather than a screamer. His vocal stylings create a medieval atmosphere much more convincingly than any traditional power metal vocalist could.