Top disks of '99

This is my personal choice and is subject to change.
 
 

1.  CD Cover

Lemur Voice - 'Divided': Excellent 2nd album from Holland's finest prog-Metal band.

2. CD cover

Anathema - 'Judgement': Further melodic mastery from Englands unacclaimed kings of melodic doom.

3.  CD Cover

Freedom Call - 'Stairway to Fairyland': Excellent debut album, full of great melodic metal.

4. CD cover

Edguy - 'Theater of Salvation': Great follow-up to the acclaimed 'Vain Glory Opera' - but even better.

5. CD cover

Labyrinth - 'Timeless Crime EP': Short and sweet, Excellent melodic Euro-Metal

6.  cover of Fan-club CD

Threshold - 'Decadent': Fan-club CD full of great remixes, new and old.

7.  CD Cover

Threshold - 'Clone': Powerful and rawe-sounded than the last CD - Britians best on the Prog-metal front.

8. CD cover

Vanden Plas - 'Far Off Grace': Heavier, rawer-sounding than 'The God Thing'. Good, but not Great.

9.  CD cover

Dream Theater - 'Scenes from a memory': A return to form after the debacle of FII. A slow grower.

10.  cover of Host CD

Paradise Lost - 'Host': Another big stride in the direction of electro-metal and away from their Death-Metal beginnings.

 

Other purchases:

Those not released in '99


Nighttime Birds

The Gathering - 'Nighttime Birds': Once you've heard the lovely Anneke sing this, its a must buy.

Styx - Equinox

Styx - 'Equinox': A sentimental old favourite. Suite Madame Blue is one of my fave tracks of all time.

 

Bootlegs


The Open All Night Records site

 Symphony X - 'The divine Twilight of Damnation'

Another great release from the guys at OAN. Sounds like it was a great show -I'm sad I   wasn't able to afford to get to see a show on their first european tour.

The Open All Night Records site

 Savatage - 'Holding Back the Storm'

Keeping up the high standard of OAN releases. Another great gig I was at.

Plus Damn fine stuff like the Liquid Tension Experiment live in Philly, Dream Theater fan club gig in Rotterdam, etc. (Thanks Graham!)



Those released in '99 but which aren't that good

Despite the hype or their earlier excellent albums, the following left me unimpressed and wishing I'd invested my money elsewhere - Ah well, there's always a few duff releases each year.

Olivier's Ten site (French)

Ten - 'Spellbound', Classy Hard-Rock - but too mellow for my tastes

Thoughts - The Spocks beard mailinglist website

Spocks Beard - 'Day for Night' Short songs - not very proggie - just BLAND!



ggie - just BLAND!