My picks were mostly based on my playcounts and consistency

COB , ASD , and THA came out very early in the year and had almost been forgotten... my computer had since been wiped out and playcounts erased.. but I do remember those having really high play counts and I did a quick skim through them one more time on iTunes to refresh my memory and they definatley do deserve to make the list. Even if now at the end of the year they are mostly forgotten.

Except Evanescence which I haven't played nearly as much as the other top 10 , but it is a newer one on the list... Amy Lees singing is so good it gives me chills... felt like I just had to put it on the list

There For Tomorrow amazes me , they make Pop-Rock without sounding stupid... they really work well together and actually play their instruments as good as you could ever find in a non progressive/non metal band. Really I wanted to put them on the list but my playcounts seem to suggest that despite how much they amaze me that I'm not as into it as I'd apparently like to think

Yes the legendary Megadeth only got an honorable mention by me , while 13 has some of their best material ever (Black Swan , Sudden Death , Public Enemy #1 , Never Dead) the rest of it is pretty "meh"

Mastodons "The Hunter" I actually just bought. I actually just got into them , they are really good but I think its too early for me to actually be ranking their album above stuff I listened to in its entirety like 50X over

Yelawolf makes #5 as most dissapointing because even though I'm EXTREMELY dissapointed... he is a rapper after all... can't expect alot from them... his previous Mixtape Trunk Muzik 0-60 was much better and way more consistent... Radioactive is 90% garbage unfortunately

Protest The Hero , HUGE fan of Kezia & Fortress.... but Scurrilous I did not even buy..... most of it was just lacking something... something I can't quite put my finger on.... but its definatley not even half as good as their previous albums... hopefully their next album will be a return to being awesome...

Machine Heads new album also severely paled in comparisson to their previous masterpiece "The Blackening" , they had big shoes to fill... and they couldn't do it... they raised the bar too high for their own selves with The Blackening

Nightwishs new album was a HUGE dissapointment , the previous one was incredible all the way through but the new one has like.... 3 good songs... like 1 or 2 more that are decent ... and the rest I can't even listen to without feeling like I'm forcing myself to

The Metallica thing with Lou Reed was possibly the worst crap I've ever heard

And yes , I'm ecclectic enough to have stuff like TBDM on the same list as Lady Gaga. Thats just how I roll :disguise:

Endgame - It's what is to be expected of Rise Against. Pure awesomeness. Great music, and what makes it great for me is the message behind each and every song. It has a deep meaning that's relevant in today's world on a scale larger than just "she doesn't love me back, oh nooo". Tracks like "Make It Stop" and "Help Is On The Way" truly spark a will to change things; for me at least.

A Place Where The Sun Is Silent - Alesana definitely matured as a band on this album. Their previous tracks, while catchy, where incredibly messy. Songs like "This Conversation Is Over" and "Apology" almost sounded like you were playing two different songs at once. They realized that the lead vocalist can't really scream to save his life, so they shut him up and let the backup vocalist take care of that. In addition to the maturity, the album has a really cool medieval/gothic feel to it. Tracks like "The Temptress" even feature excerpts of poetry to help carve out the imagery for you. They also use some more non-conventional, and orchestral instruments, that are somewhat reminiscent of Nightwish.

Watch The Throne - Both these artists are great individually, and together, I thought they did really well. I can't actually go into too much detail, or even name tracks for that matter, because I think it would be against forum rules, but all I'll say is, I think it was a great team effort, and a good mesh between relatively modern, and relatively classic hip hop. Each of them brought what made them famous individually to the table.