Album of the Year 2016 – number 20
It’s getting a little more serious now as I enter the Top 20 of my ‘Albums of the Year 2016’ top 30 countdown. Can you feel the tension start to increase? Your nerves jangling? Biting your nails?…
What do you mean ‘no’? You heathens!
Anyway, here we are over a third of the way through this annual undertaking of mine. I’ve started to get a few heckles from the masses over my placement and inclusion of certain albums in this list, but hey, that’s fine. This is just my opinion, nothing more. Who is to say that any of us are right or wrong? And anyway, I hardly hold as much sway as the big boys do I?
This list just pulls together my favourite 30 albums of the year, those 30 that have stood out above all others during what has been a very strong year. This is the first full year that I have gone solo with this blog, so the support from you all has been amazing – it also means that I can provide links to the full album review of each and every one of these picks in my top 30. So if you’ve not read them, now’s your chance.
So, keep the comments coming people, I’m loving hearing what you all think of my lone voice in the wind.
On that note, onwards into the top 30…
Number 20
Frost*
Falling Satellites
InsideOut Music
“It is such a varied and unusual album in many ways that I wasn’t really sure what to make of it…It is no surprise that the music on this album is imbued with a genuine pop sheen and, on occasions dare I say it, a commercial edge…one thing I wasn’t expecting from ‘Falling Satellites’ was the sheer amount of poignant and sensitive material that it delivers.
For my money, I’d have to say that ‘Falling Satellites’ could just be Frost*’s best album to date. It has a little of just about everything that I want in my progressive rock; it’s well-written, excellently performed and is just a little bit odd and quirky too. In a year that has delivered plenty of quality already and threatens to continue the trend to the year end, ‘Falling Satellites’ has really caught my attention and thoroughly deserves to be in contention for a spot in my end of year ‘best of’ list.”
Credit: unknown
I have to be honest and remark at how surprised I have been with this album. Pleasantly surprised too. Never having been the biggest fan of Frost*, I was interested in hearing their first full length album in around 8 years. But nothing more than merely interested. I never expected in a million years that I’d be including it in my ‘album of the year’ list.
For one, there’s a lot of more commercial, pop and electronic content on the album than I am normally comfortable with, thanks to the input of Jem Godfrey. But it just gets under my skin and, when blended so effortlessly and smoothly with the prog rock core of the band as well as John Mitchell’s sublime lead guitar work, it creates a scintillating final package. Not to mention that tangible layer of emotion and rawness that comes through the compositions, another impressive string to the Frost* bow.
Even after so many months, it still pushes my buttons in the right way and, when I press play, I may as well forget doing anything else for the next hour or so, because I’ll be hooked. And the 90 second opener ‘First Day’ remains one of my favourite compositions to date, it’s stunning.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exnCIi-MLkc&w=560&h=315]
In case you’ve missed any of the other posts in the 2016 series, here they are for you to explore and enjoy:
Album of the Year 2016 – number 21
Album of the Year 2016 – number 22
Album of the Year 2016 – number 23
Album of the Year 2016 – number 24
Album of the Year 2016 – number 25
Album of the Year 2016 – number 26
Album of the Year 2016 – number 27
Album of the Year 2016 – number 28
Album of the Year 2016 – Number 29
Album of the Year 2016 – Number 30
And from previous years:
Album of the Year 2015
Album of the Year 2014
Album of the Year 2013
Album of the Year 2012
