| 5.0 classic |
| Blind Guardian Nightfall in Middle-Earth |
| With Nightfall in Middle-Earth, an album based on Tolkien's high fantasy tale The Silmarillion, Blind Guardian strikes gold. Hansi Kursch does an outstanding job of changing his voice to portray the emotions of Feanor, Melkor, Maedhros, Fingolfin and others in the collection of tales preceding The Lord of the Rings books, and the music is right with anything else they've done, making it accessible to those who aren't familiar with the tales (even though they might prefer to skip the dialogue sessions in between). Nightfall in Middle-Earth is a classic album and highly recommended if you're into this type of music. |
| Claude Debussy Rêverie, L. 8 |
| Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon |
| Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here |
| The Antlers Hospice |
| The Mars Volta De-Loused in the Comatorium |
| The National Alligator |
| Alligator is where The National went from being a good band to being a perfect band, and it is the perfect set-up album for Boxer. While Boxer is all about coming to grips with newly discovered adulthood, becoming distant from once-close friends and colorless work routines, Alligator reminds us of the more hopeful time of late youth before that when the whole world was on the horizon waiting to be experienced. Even so, despite the unbridled confidence of "All the Wine," the child-like ambition in "The Geese of Beverly Road" and the spontaneous adventure seeking in "City Middle," Matt Berninger's lyrics occasionally hint at a sense of doubt starting to sink in and climaxing in the remarkable closer "Mr. November." Alligator is the perfect prequel to Boxer and High Violet and an outstanding album on its own. I highly recommend it. |
| The National Boxer |
| The National High Violet |
| 3.5 great |
| 3 (USA) The End is Begun |
| Adele 21 |
| Animal Collective Feels |
| Animal Collective Strawberry Jam |
| Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion |
| Apocalyptica Apocalyptica |
| Arcade Fire Neon Bible |
| Bedrich Smetana Má Vlast |
| Beirut The Rip Tide |
| Between the Buried and Me Colors |
| Blind Guardian A Night at the Opera |
| Blue Man Group The Complex |
| Bob Dylan The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan |
| Bob Dylan The Times They Are A-Changin' |
| Bon Iver Blood Bank |
| Brand New Daisy |
| Chevelle Sci-Fi Crimes |
| Claude Debussy La mer (The Sea), L. 109 |
| Coheed and Cambria In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 |
| Coheed and Cambria The Second Stage Turbine Blade |
| Coheed and Cambria No World for Tomorrow |
| Coheed and Cambria Year of the Black Rainbow |
| Coldplay Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends |
| Damien Rice O |
| Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca |
| dredg The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion |
| Edvard Grieg Peer Gynt, Op. 23 |
| Edvard Grieg Piano Concerto in A Minor |
| El Ten Eleven El Ten Eleven |
| Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes |
| Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues |
| Florence and the Machine Ceremonials |
| Flying Lotus Cosmogramma |
| Foo Fighters The Colour and the Shape |
| Foo Fighters Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace |
| Foo Fighters Wasting Light |
| Franz Ferdinand Tonight: Franz Ferdinand |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven |
| Grizzly Bear Veckatimest |
| Grizzly Bear Shields |
| Hugh Laurie Let Them Talk |
| In Flames The Jester Race |
| In Flames Soundtrack to Your Escape |
| While most of the album isn't up to par with other IF material, this album contains three absolutely outstanding songs in "The Quiet Place," "My Sweet Shadow" and "Evil in a Closet." |
| In Flames Clayman |
| In Flames Whoracle |
| In Flames Come Clarity |
| Iron And Wine The Shepherd's Dog |
| Iron Maiden Powerslave |
| Iron Maiden Brave New World |
| Justice † |
| Kings of Leon Because Of The Times |
| Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin III |
| Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti |
| Ludo Broken Bride EP |
| Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21 |
| Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 3 in E♭ “Eroica” Op. 55 |
| Ludwig van Beethoven Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor "Für Elise", WoO 59 |
| Maps and Atlases Perch Patchwork |
| Massive Attack Heligoland |
| Mastodon Leviathan |
| Maylene and the Sons of Disaster Maylene and the Sons of Disaster |
| Maylene and the Sons of Disaster II |
| Menomena Mines |
| Mew No More Stories |
| Midlake The Courage Of Others |
| The Courage of Others is a step down from Midlake's sophomore album but still a welcome change of pace. Here, we hear a darker side of the band. Gone are the uptempo songs from The Trials of Van Occupanther and in their place are slower, meloncholy selections. My main problem with the album is the lack of variety as it goes on. |
| Miles Davis Kind of Blue |
| Mumford and Sons Sigh No More |
| Muse Absolution |
| Muse Origin of Symmetry |
| Nick Drake Bryter Layter |
| Paramore Brand New Eyes |
| Philip Glass Glassworks |
| Pink Floyd Meddle |
| Pink Floyd The Wall |
| Porter Robinson Spitfire |
| Pyotr Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker, Op. 71 |
| Queens of the Stone Age Rated R |
| Queens of the Stone Age Era Vulgaris |
| Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine |
| Red Hot Chili Peppers Mother's Milk |
| Red Hot Chili Peppers Blood Sugar Sex Magik |
| Red Hot Chili Peppers Stadium Arcadium |
| Regina Spektor Begin To Hope |
| Reward Tree Needy |
| Rise Against The Sufferer and the Witness |
| Rise Against Appeal to Reason |
| S. Carey All We Grow |
| Sigur Ros Agætis byrjun |
| Sigur Ros Sæglópur |
| Silversun Pickups Carnavas |
| Silversun Pickups Swoon |
| Simon and Garfunkel Bridge Over Troubled Water |
| Soulwax Nite Versions |
| Sufjan Stevens Michigan |
| System of a Down Mezmerize |
| Tame Impala Innerspeaker |
| The Antlers Burst Apart |
| The Avett Brothers Emotionalism |
| The Avett Brothers The Second Gleam |
| The Black Keys Brothers |
| The Doors The Soft Parade |
| The Doors Morrison Hotel |
| The Doors Waiting for the Sun |
| The Flaming Lips Embryonic |
| The Mars Volta Frances the Mute |
| Frances the Mute vs. De-Loused in the Comatorium: the debate swings back and forth. I've always preferred the latter, and after a recent listen to the former, I still do. Proponents of Frances... point to how each of the five songs sound different from one another and each have their own feel. While this is true, I don't necessarily see this as a strength for the album. "L'Via L'Viaquez" in particular, despite being a great effort, seems out of place. Even within the songs, transitions seems unnatural and even a little forced. Finally, De-Loused... boasts a better and more interesting story. That being said, the excellent moments on Frances... are still excellent, and this is still outstanding. |
| The Mars Volta Amputechture |
| The Mars Volta Octahedron |
| The National Trouble Will Find Me |
| The Octopus Project Hexadecagon |
| The Tallest Man on Earth The Wild Hunt |
| The Tallest Man on Earth There's No Leaving Now |
| The White Stripes Icky Thump |
| Tool Ænima |
| Vampire Weekend Contra |
| Volcano Choir Unmap |
| Zao The Funeral of God |
| Zao Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest |
| Zao Liberate Te Ex Inferis |
