3rd Quarter Of 2016 In Music - Wrap-Up

Perhaps a bit overdue, but better late than never. Here's a summary of what we listened to in the third quarter of 2016 (July - September) and links to albums we've reviewed.

5-Star Albums (85 - 100)

• Sin Fang - Spaceland: 92
• Emily Jane White - They Moved In Shadow All Together: 89
• Harakiri For The Sky: III: Trauma: 88
• Passenger - Young As The Morning Old As The Sea: 88
• Biffy Clyro - Ellipsis: 87
• Glass Animals - How To Be A Human Being: 87
• July Talk - Touch: 86
• Russian Circles - Guidance: 86
• Angel Olsen - My Woman: 85

4-Star Albums (65 - 84)

• Bon Iver - 22, A Million: 84
• Message To Bears - Carved From Tides: 84
• Opeth - Sorceress: 84
• Warpaint - Heads Up: 84
• BANKS - The Altar: 81
• Jóhann Jóhannsson - Orphée: 80
• A Day To Remember - Bad Vibrations: 79
• Bastille - Wild World: 79
• Blink-182 - California: 79
• Myrkur - Mausoleum: 79
• Twin Atlantic - GLA: 79
• Frank Ocean - Blonde: 78
• Periphery - Periphery III: Select Difficulty: 78
• Various Artists - Suicide Squad: The Album: 78
• Drapht - Seven Mirrors: 77
• Nicolas Jaar - Sirens: 77
• Touché Amoré - Stage Four: 77
• Francis and The Lights - Farewell, Starlite!: 76
• Epica - The Holographic Principle: 75
• Pascal Pinon - Sundur: 75
• Racing Glaciers - Caught In The Strange: 75
• Skylar Grey - Natural Causes: 75
• Young Guns - Echoes: 75
• Grouplove - Big Mess: 74
• Various Artists - Rock Sound Presents: The Black Parade: 74
• Bat For Lashes - The Bride: 73
• Carly Rae Jepsen - E•MO•TION Side B: 73
• The Avalanches - Wildflower: 73
• Young Thug - JEFFERY: 72
• Cymbals Eat Guitars - Pretty Years: 71
• Dreamers - This Album Does Not Exist: 71
• Crystal Castles - AMNESTY (I): 70
• Eluvium - False Readings On: 70
• Moose Blood - Blush: 70
• My Chemical Romance - Living With Ghosts: 70
• Young The Giant - Home Of The Strange: 70
• Bad Omens - Bad Omens: 68
• Savoir Adore - The Love That Remains: 68
• Yellowcard - Yellowcard: 68
• Ka - Honour Killed The Samurai: 67
• Bright Light Bright Light - Choreography: 67
• Gone Is Gone - Gone Is Gone: 66
• Britney Spears - Glory: 65

3-Star Albums (45 - 64)

• The Warlocks - Songs From The Pale Eclipse: 64
• Fire From The Gods - Narrative: 62
• La Femme - Mystère: 61
• Frank Ocean - Endless: 60
• Die Antwoord - Mount Ninja and The Nice Time Kid: 59
• DJ Khaled - Major Key: 59
• Noisia - Outer Edges: 59
• Skillet - Unleashed: 59
• Chevelle - The North Corridor: 56
• Clams Casino - 32 Levels: 56
• Taking Back Sunday - Tidal Wave: 56
• Kidneythieves - The Mend: 53
• Psychic Twin - Strange Diary: 53
• Idina Menzel - Idina Menzel: 52
• Of Mice & Men - Cold World: 52
• Ryu - Tanks For The Memories: 52
• Prophets Of Rage - The Party's Over: 50
• Martha - Blisters In The Pit Of My Heart: 48

2-Star Albums (25 - 44)

• Shawn Mendes - Illuminate: 42
• Usher - Hard II Love: 42
• araabMUZIK - Dream World: 30
• clipping. - Splendor & Misery: 30

1-Star Albums (0 - 24)

• None!

Throwback Reviews

• Radiohead - OK Computer: 96
• Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory: 95
• Weezer - Pinkerton: 87

Top Albums Of 2016 (so far)

1. Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
2. AURORA - All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend
3. Panic! At The Disco - Death Of A Bachelor
4. Deftones - Gore
5. Dream Theater - The Astonishing
6. Foxes - All I Need
7. Sin Fang - Spaceland
8. Daughter - Not To Disappear
9. Gojira - Magma
10. Thrice - To Be Everywhere Is To Be Nowhere

Top Songs Of 2016 (so far)

1. AURORA - 'Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) (Acoustic)'
2. Radiohead - 'True Love Waits'
3. Deftones - 'Hearts/Wires'
4. Radiohead - 'Daydreaming' *
5. Panic! At The Disco - 'Emperor's New Clothes'
6. Foxes - 'Better Love'
7. Lacey Sturm - 'Rot'
8. AURORA - 'Through The Eyes Of A Child'
9. Deftones - 'Phantom Bride'
10. Thrice - 'Black Honey'

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1st Quarter Of 2016 in Music - Wrap Up

2016 is off to an extremely strong start. Here’s just a list of all of the new albums I’ve listened to from January to March and links to reviews, if applicable.

Doing it a bit different this time, doing it by rating, from greatest to worst. Alphabetical just seemed trivial.

5-Star Albums (8.5 - 10)

• AURORA - All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend: 10
• Panic! At The Disco - Death Of A Bachelor: 9.5
• Deftones - Gore: 9.5
• Dream Theater - The Astonishing: 9
• Foxes - All I Need: 9
• Daughter - Not To Disappear: 9
• Lacey Sturm - Life Screams: 8.5
• HÆLOS - Full Circle: 8.5
• Weezer - Weezer (White Album): 8.5
• LIGHTS - Midnight Machines: 8.5
• The Last Shadow Puppets - Everything You've Come To Expect: 8.5

4-Star Albums (6.5 - 8)

• David Bowie - ★: 8
• BANNERS - BANNERS: 8
• Savages - Adore Life: 8
• Kanye West - The Life Of Pablo: 8
• Jack Garratt - Phase: 8
• Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - This Unruly Mess I've Made: 8
• Sia - This Is Acting: 7.5
• Grizfolk - Waking Up The Giants: 7.5
• The Drones - Feelin Kinda Free: 7.5
• Yeasayer - Amen & Goodbye: 7.5
• Kendrick Lamar - untitled unmastered.: 7.5
• Textures - Phenotype: 7.5
• Rihanna - ANTI: 7
• Megadeth - Dystopia: 7
• Hands Like Houses - Dissonants: 7
• Miike Snow - iii: 7
• BABYMETAL - Metal Resistance: 7
• The Jezabels - Synthia: 7
• Amy Lee - Recover, Vol. 1: 7
• Steven Wilson - 4 ½: 6.5
• Chairlift - Moth: 6.5
• Porches - Pool: 6.5
• Polyphia - Renaissance: 6.5

3-Star Albums (4.5 - 6)

• ZAYN - Mind Of Mine: 6
• Mogwai - Atomic: 6
• Låpsley - Long Way Home: 6
• Baauer - Aa: 5.5
• Asking Alexandria - The Black: 5.5
• The 1975 - I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It: 5
• Explosions In The Sky - The Wilderness: 5
• School Of Seven Bells - SVIIB: 5
• Krallice - Hyperion: 4.5
• Future - EVOL: 4.5
• Anderson .Paak - Malibu: 4.5
• Wiz Khalifa - Khalifa: 4.5

2-Star Albums (2.5 - 4)

• Killswitch Engage - Incarnate: 4
• Cozz - Nothin Personal: 3.5

1-Star Albums (0 - 2)

• None! :D

Top Albums Of 2016 (so far)

1. AURORA - All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend
2. Panic! At The Disco - Death Of A Bachelor
3. Deftones - Gore
4. Dream Theater - The Astonishing
5. Foxes - All I Need
6. Daughter - Not To Disappear
7. Lacey Sturm - Life Screams
8. HÆLOS - Full Circle
9. Weezer - Weezer (White Album)
10. LIGHTS - Midnight Machines

Top Songs Of 2016 (so far)

1. AURORA - 'Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) (Acoustic)'
2. Panic! At The Disco - 'Emperor's New Clothes'
3. Deftones - 'Hearts/Wires'
4. Foxes - 'Better Love'
5. Lacey Sturm - 'Rot'
6. AURORA - 'Through The Eyes Of A Child'
7. Deftones - 'Phantom Bride'
8. Dream Theater - 'Moment Of Betrayal'
9. Daughter - 'New Ways'
10. Jack Garratt - 'My House Is Your Home'

Thanks for reading my reviews and following! :) A lot more to come, I’m nowhere near stopping. Follow me on Twitter or add me on Facebook too, while you’re at it.

3rd Quarter Of 2015 in Music - Wrap Up

Just as I did for the first and second quarters of 2015, here’s my personal wrap-up for the new music I’ve listened to from July through September, as well as my Top 10 of 2015 as it currently stands. Also, what I’m looking forward to in the fourth and final quarter! Getting ready for the Best Of 2015 lists soon! Thinking of a URL change, too...

This quarter was admittedly slow compared to the previous two. Not many releases stuck out to me, but there were definitely some great albums! Click on the links for some of the albums below for my in-depth reviews of them!

Releases I’ve Listened To In The 3rd Quarter:

• Alessandro Cortini - Risvelgio: 6/10
• Bea Miller - Not An Apology: 7/10
• Bring Me The Horizon - That’s The Spirit: 8/10
• Carly Rae Jepsen - E•MO•TION: 7/10
• Cattle Decapitation - The Anthropocene Extinction: 7/10
• Chelsea Wolfe - Abyss: 8.5/10
• The Chemical Brothers - Born In The Echoes: 6/10
• CHVRCHES - Every Open Eye: 8.5/10
• Corpo-Mente - Corpo-Mente: 8/10
• Dead Letter Circus - Aesthesis: 6/10
• Disclosure - Caracal: 6.5/10
• Drake & Future - What A Time To Be Alive: 4/10
• Foals - What Went Down: 7.5/10
• Flux Pavilion - Tesla: 3/10
• The Front Bottoms - Back On Top: 5.5/10
• Future - DS2: 6/10
• Halsey - BADLANDS: 9/10
• Kwabs - Love + War: 5/10
• Lianne La Havas - Blood: 6.5/10
• Metric - Pagans In Vegas: 5.5/10
• milo - if the flies don’t come: 7/10
• Myrkur - M: 7/10
• Phedora - The House Of Ink: 7/10
• Prides - The Way Back Up: 6.5/10
• Run The Jewels - Meow The Jewels: 6.5/10
• Saint Asonia - Saint Asonia: 6.5/10
• TesseracT - Polaris: 7/10
• The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die - Harmlessness: 6/10
• Years & Years - Communion: 8.5/10

Top 10 Albums of 2015:

1. Muse - Drones
2. Halsey - BADLANDS
3. 10 Years - From Birth To Burial
4. Fall Out Boy - American Beauty / American Psycho
5. Halestorm - Into The Wild Life
6. Purity Ring - Another Eternity
7. CHVRCHES - Every Open Eye
8. Zedd - True Colors
9. Years & Years - Communion
10. Bring Me The Horizon - That’s The Spirit

Upcoming Releases I’m Looking Forward To in the 4th Quarter (in order of hype):

• Deftones
• Arcane Roots - Heaven & Earth
• Stone Temple Pilots?
• City and Colour - If I Should Go Before You
• Puscifer - Money Shots
• Trivium - Silence In The Snow
• Loma Prieta - Self Portrait
• Coheed & Cambria - The Color Before The Sun

2nd Quarter Of 2015 in Music - Wrap Up

Just as I did for the first quarter of 2015, here’s my personal wrap-up for the new music I’ve listened to from April through June, as well as my Top 10 of 2015 as it stands. Also, what I’m looking forward to in the third quarter!

Still working on finishing up a few more albums, so bear with me.

Releases I’ve Listened To In The 2nd Quarter:

• 10 Years - From Birth To Burial: 9/10
• Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color: 7.5/10
• Ash Koosha - GUUD: 5/10
• Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh: 8/10
• Breaking Benjamin - Dark Before Dawn: 5/10
• Dr. Yen Lo - Days With Dr. Yen Lo: 7/10
• East India Youth - Culture Of Volume: 8/10
• Electric Mantis - Braincase EP: 7.5/10
• Faith No More - Sol Invictus: 7.5/10
• Fireflight - Innova: 7/10
• Foo Fighters - Songs From The Laundry Room: 7/10
• God Is An Astronaut - Helios | Erebus: 7.5/10
• Halestorm - Into The Wild Life: 8.5/10
• The Helio Sequence - The Helio Sequence: 7/10
• Hiatus Kaiyote - Choose Your Weapon: 8/10
• Hyukoh - 22: 7.5/10
• Imagine Dragons - Shots EP: 5/10
• Incubus - Trust Fall (Side A): 7.5/10
• Kamasi Washington - The Epic: 8/10
• King Los - God Money War: 6.5/10
• Muse - Drones: 9.5/10
• Prurient - Frozen Niagara Falls: 7/10
• Ryn Weaver - The Fool: 7/10
• Steve Aoki - Neon Future II: 7/10
• Stone Sour - Meanwhile In Burbank: 7/10
• Torres - Sprinter: 7/10
• Zedd - True Colors: 8/10
• Zella Day - Kicker: 7/10

Top 10 Albums of 2015:

1. Muse - Drones
2. 10 Years - From Birth To Burial
3. Fall Out Boy - American Beauty / American Psycho
4. Halestorm - Into The Wild Life
5. Purity Ring - Another Eternity
6. Zedd - True Colors
7. Joey Bada$$ - B4.DA.$$
8. Kamasi Washington - The Epic
9. Zs - Xe
10. Liturgy - The Ark Work

Upcoming Releases I’m Looking Forward To in the 3rd Quarter (in order of hype):

• Deftones
• Years & Years - Communion
• Halsey - BADLANDS
• Kwabs - Love + War
• Team Sleep
• Metric - Pagans In Vegas
• EMP!RE - Our Simple Truths
• Flux Pavilion - Tesla

1st Quarter Of 2015 in Music - Wrap Up

2015 is the first year I’m actually actively following new releases in music (in past years I’ve just checked things when I so happened to find them, not keeping track of when they get released, really). This is a list of albums I’ve listened to that’ve been released in the first three months of 2015, my current Top 10 of 2015, and albums I’m looking forward to in the second quarter.

Releases I’ve Listened To In The 1st Quarter

• An Autumn For Crippled Children - The Long Goodbye: 7/10
• Against The Current - Gravity: coming soon
• A Place To Bury Strangers - Transfixiation: 7/10
• Björk - Vulnicura: 7/10
• Darlia - Petals: 8.5/10
• The Decemberists - What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World: 6/10
• EarlyRise - Colors: 5/10
• Enter Shikari - The Mindsweep: 5/10
• Fall Out Boy - American Beauty/American Psycho: 8.5/10
• Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear: 7.5/10
• Imagine Dragons - Smoke & Mirrors: 7/10
• Joey Bada$$ - B4.DA.$$: 9/10
• Julien-K - California Noir, Chapter I: Analog Beaches & Digital Cities: 3/10
• Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly: 7/10
• Lightning Bolt - Fantasy Empire: 8/10
• Liturgy - The Ark Work: 7.5/10
• Papa Roach - F.E.A.R.: 6/10
• Periphery - Juggernaut: Alpha: 8/10
• Periphery - Juggernaut: Omega: 6/10
• Purity Ring - Another Eternity: 8/10
• Rae Morris - Unguarded: 7/10
• Three Days Grace - Human: 3/10
• Years & Years - Y & Y EP: 9/10
• Zs - Xe: 9/10

Top 10 Albums of 2015:

1. Fall Out Boy - American Beauty/American Psycho
2. Zs - Xe
3. Joey Bada$$ - B4.DA.$$
4. Imagine Dragons - Smoke & Mirrors
5. Periphery - Juggernaut: Alpha
6. Lightning Bolt - Fantasy Empire
7. Purity Ring - Another Eternity
8. nothing else really
9. deserves a place
10. on my list yet :(

Upcoming Releases I’m Looking Forward To in the 2nd Quarter (in order of hype):

• Muse - Drones
• 10 Years - From Birth To Burial
• Incubus - Trust Fall (Side A)
• Halestorm - Into The Wild Life
• Portico - Living Fields
• Years & Years - Communion
• Breaking Benjamin - Dawn Before Dawn
• Stone Sour - Meanwhile In Burbank
• Zac Brown Band - Jekyll + Hyde