2009 was a mixed bag for me musically speaking. Here’s a rundown…

Album of the year: Porcupine Tree – ‘The Incident’
I initally despised this album. My hatred for it was so strong that I even got angry when thinking about it….yet a few weeks later I had completely reversed my opinion. Saw the band live in Bristol in October and they played this album in it’s entirety. As usual I had to pick my jaw up off the floor several times. Superb!

Other notably good albums this year have been (in no particular order!):

  • dredg – The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion
  • Muse – The Resistance
  • The Wishing Tree – Ostara
  • Devin Townsend – Ki
  • Alice In Chains – Black Gives Way To Blue
  • Abigail’s Ghost – D_Letion
  • Creed – Full Circle
  • Gazpacho – Tick Tock
  • Transatlantic – The Whirlwind
  • Riverside – Anno Domino High Definition
  • Tilt – Million Dollar Wound

Biggest letdown of the year: Marillion – Less Is More
Ok, this wasn’t really a letdown as I thought it would be crap before i’d even heard it. An acoustic reworking of a select few songs from the Marillion back catalogue with added (yet silent) sound effects of an empty barrel being scraped. It’s not that any of the tracks are bad per se, it’s just that they all sound better in their original full electric form. The album was described as ‘reworkings’ of the originals too, yet to my ears too much of the content sounds very much like it’s original countepart. There is one big tell tale sign that I don’t care for this album very much, I have had it since October, and it’s still in it’s shrinkwrap! (The band made it available digitally on release date aswell as sending the CD’s out). For me not to open a Marillion album is like an alcoholic not having a drink!

Discoveries of 2009: Due to the magic that is last.fm and the insight of some like minded friends, I have discovered the following artists this year:

Re-discoveries of 2009: On occasion, I found myself listening to the odd album I hadn’t touched in years. Highlights include:

And finally, my Top 10 most listened to albums of 2009 (as logged by last.fm):

  1. Alter Bridge – Blackbird
  2. Porcupine Tree – The Incident
  3. Marillion – Essence (Happiness Is The Road Vol.1)
  4. The Wishing Tree – Ostara
  5. Radiohead – In Rainbows
  6. Alter Bridge - One Day Remains
  7. Sine Star Project – Building Humans
  8. Marillion - The Hard Shoulder (Happiness Is The Road Vol.2)
  9. Manic Street Preachers – Forever Delayed
  10. Oceansize – Everyone Into Position