My Favourite Albums

Hauntingly beautiful rock album. On paper Marbles is way too long for its own good, should be boring and stuff... but it isn't anything like that. The music here is nothing short of hypnotic and captivating, perfectly suited for its overblown running time. Most of the songs here are among their best ones, and epic Ocean Cloud especially is one of my favourite rock songs of all time.

I used to be a huge fan of Fish-era Marillion and in my fanboyish rage dismissed their later albums, but Marbles finally opened my eyes. Hogarth-era Maillion is less raw and unpolished than the original one, but it feels even more subtle, modestly elegant and well-aged, like a good wine. Marillion is one of the best active prog bands out there, and it most probably will stay that way no matter who's the singer.

I had already forgotten how much I loved Edgar Froese until I recently had accidental pleasure of listening to his early solo albums again. These are actually much better than the albums he made with Tangerine Dream. I guess this type of improvised ambient music works better when done solo.

Generator at their bleakest. I've read this was the type of music they were originally going for, but the record company wanted something more happier and warm-sounding. In hindsight the band was right, since this is universally hailed as their masterpiece and one of the finest comeback albums of all time.

Klaus Schulze is another German giant I've loved for years now. He's the only one of the old guard that has managed to keep his quality consistently high even after all these years. This is his best album ever, and the latest re-release with bonus material is even more awesome.

Love Over Gold is the most non-commercial album Straits did, mixing their brand of pub rock with jazz and prog influences. Sadly, they never got this good or adventurous again after this.

Another one from Klaus. Would you believe this is actually soundtrack to a porno film? Judging by the music alone, the film itself must be the most awesome trippiest film ever made!

French answer to Klaus Schulze and Edgar Froese. Pretty damn good space music, but damn rare and expensive.

Prog from Australia with a huge amounts of nice guitar melodies and memorable songs. I reckon they changed their style radically after this and have never made anything nearly as great again.

This is basically a record full of soloing, not just with a guitar but violin, saxophone, drums, bass... And not just that, but it's also ridiculously enjoyable and groovy jazz rock album that has truly stood the test of time.

The most relaxing album of all time. Too bad the artist decided to delete all their catalog when they broke up, so this one is quite difficult to find physically.

I remember listening to this melancholic rock album as soon as it got out. It struck me immediately like a lightning, there's not a single bad song. I know they have done lot great stuff before and since, but nothing comes close to this masterpiece.

This is my favourite metal album of all time. This is where the art of Maiden was masterfully refined to the max without any sign of weakness. In fact, even the weaker songs here are some of my favourites of all time.

Surprise!

Synth pop with a mix of cheesy 80's hard rock edginess doesn't get much more fun and catchy than this. It's Japanese anime stuff, yes, but the music was always the best thing in this show to begin with.

Good stuff. I love it to death.

You can't go wrong with Edgar Froese. This is damn great record.

Nuff said.

This record pretty much revived the whole doom metal genre back in the early 2000's. It really isn't that hard to see why, since the album is as flawless as it gets. I love it.

The finest album WASP has managed to put out so far, and most probably will stay that way, since Crimson Idol is a masterpiece. Not just as a metal album, but concept too. The story itself is full of drama and powerful symbolism and allegories most similar records usually lack. Blackie knew damn well his concept albums.

The crowning achievement of technical thrash metal. There's very few better metal albums than this in existence even today. It gets even better when you actually try out, play it with an instrument and really understand the quality of the songwriting here. That's how I became a fan of Coroner.

The cover of this album says it all: long-haired metal dude fighting a motorcycle ninja in a dystopian Brazilian favela. This has all the best bits of both European and American power metal, but none of their weaknesses. The result is as flawless and fun as it sounds.

One of the greatest albums ever, regardless of musical genre.

Words cannot describe how much I adore this album. It's just so good, like anything on this list of mine. Every time I listen to The Headless Children I just find something new to love.

Masterpiece of jazz-prog with surprisingly dark edge to it. Not until lately did I actually read the lyrics, and the album got even better in my mind because of them. One of the greatest rock albums ever made.

If it wasn't for that one annoying song, this would be my favourite metal album of all time. Of course I'm talking about that stupid "Can I Play With Madness". What were they thinking!?

In my opinion this is the best thing Rush has ever released. It's a live album, with the best songs of my favourite era of theirs. Even the live performances are top notch.

The best of Tangerine Dream.

Nobody has ever done another similar album, not even Devin Townsend himself. This must one of the angriest, most insane metal records ever made, and I don't mean just the songwriting and the performances, but the production too. It's all crazy, but also crazy good!

Want to know my gut reaction when I first heard it back in the late 90's?

"How many hands and feet does that drummer really have!?"

Rush can do no wrong. Here they perfected their 80's synth-oriented approach, and I just love it to death, even if it is a little outdated production-wise.

This album used to be my favourite from Froese, but I guess I've grown a little out of it over the years. David Bowie was a huge fan of this record, and for a very good reason.

For many people this is pretty much one of the best metal records ever made, but I find one or two of the songs rather mediocre, so It's not the best for me. Regardless, Dave and the boys were on the top of their game here, the soloing of Marty Friedman is still insanely as creative and timeless as guitar melodies ever come. The dude is still known for his work here, even after everything great he's been doing all these years.

The first masterpiece of Iron Maiden.

The single best thing Saxon has ever done. The title track alone makes this thing a must.