(Re-Rank’d)Albums Of The Year 2016

Don’t call it a comeback.

Wait, it’s 2023 what are we doing here? Well, let me tell you dear reader, I’m going back to my old Facebook posts and re-doing all of my Albums Of The Year from when I started all the way up to this year’s(whenever I decide to do that). So starting with 2016, The first OFFICIAL year I started all this(I mean I KINDA did one in 2014, but it sucked). I’m going back and putting in albums that i’ve listened to since then that also released that year, or add in albums I regretfully omitted due to pure stupidity on my part, hell I STILL might forget some things. With all that outta the way, let’s get to the list!

But, before we do. I left off 2 albums: Slice The Cake - Odyssey To The West(originally #9). Their last, but I haven’t listened to it much since. It’s just not as good as their debut EP or Other Slices record. And Outline In Color - Struggles(originally #3), don’t really listen to it or them anymore, kinda faded away for me.

EDIT* Playlist ADDED!

EP of the Year: Plini - Handmade Cities (Category Nonexistent Originally)

Picked up on Mr. Plini after 2016, when I needed some damn good clean instrumental stuff in my rotation when really it only consisted of Animals As Leaders. And boy howdy does he fit the bill, this EP is just a pure sonic dreamscape. Lose yourself for about 30 minutes to the incredible guitar work that still infuriates me just how good it is, like man, I wanna play like that. Also, Steve Vai approved.

12. A Day To Remember - Bad Vibrations (Originally #.10, Still Last.)

Perhaps I treated you unfairly. Maybe. Considering the mess that is You’re Welcome, this is a treat to go back to. But despite that, I still can’t get over the production. No matter the configuration, Studio Monitors or Headphones or my decaying car speakers can save the production, god For Those Who Have Heart has better guitar tones…Anyway the songs themselves aren’t as bad as I remembered, of course they made the cardinal sin of blowing their load too early and putting out the best track WELL in advance, thus killing my enthusiasm for the rest of the record on repeat listens, BUT Naivety, Bullfight, and Turn Up The Radio are great too…

Favorite Track: Paranoia

11. Alter Bridge - The Last Hero (Originally #.6)

I will take no Creed slander here, they were always good. But only because of Mark Tremonti, and that’s(partly) the reason Alter Bridge is great. The Last Hero got bumped due to, again, just not listening to it, but my god, I completely forgot how incredible the intro to the record is. Not to mention the rise of The Other Side, now being on WWE. This album still hits, not as good as the rest of their discog, all really due to Mark’s guitar work just being that much better on those albums. Okay, Miles Kennedy is alright too.

Favorite Track: Show Me A Leader

10. Metallica - Hardwired…To Self Destruct. (Originally #.8)

Crazy to think this is the last Metallica record before 72 Seasons(more on that LATER). I reserve my statement i made when i originally made the list, that 1/3 of this record is GREAT, 1/3 of it is ok and the rest is SHIT. Really due to Kirk’s soloing(and tone) and the feeling of B-sided-ness that those tracks bring to an otherwise really good album from them. I enjoy this record more than Death Magnetic, some real heavy hitters on here: Dream No More, Now That We’re Dead, Am I Savage?, Spit Out The Bone. ALL bangers. But my favorite track is still…

Favorite Track: Halo On Fire

9. Gojira - Magma (Originally Not Listed)

Ahh yes, finally something new to the list. Yes, i omitted this, only because i never listened to them before. Yes, really. Dove head first into the discog and came out a big fan of the brothers Duplantier’s work. Especially The Way Of All Flesh record, insane stuff on there. But as for Magma, I thought it was Great…but not as good as their last 3 albums. So it remains here, that’s not to say its a bad album, oh no, you start out your album with The Shooting Star, you’re off to the races. But this was their more experimental phase instead of just raw death metal, not a bad thing, just not as refined as it would be later on Fortitude. Besides this kinda made them huge with Stranded. Like, every metal head knows that track by now. There aren’t too many songs that DON’T hit, maybe the closer is a bit off for me, otherwise, man this still slaps hard. Some riffs in here are SO good, Shooting Star’s opening, Silvera’s opening, Stranded(like all of em), and Magma’s interlude get my little guitar playing heart to flutter ever so.

Favorite Track - Stranded

8. Periphery III - Select Difficulty (Originally #.5)

A small drop, but only because of the additions(you’ll see why). Otherwise, i love this album MORE than i did then. Hell, to me, this is better than the next 2 records they’ve put out since. More time to marinate can make a good album GREAT. This is no exception, from the jump you get unparalleled guitar riffage, the best drumming in the game and the RANGE of Spencer Sotelo’s vocals. Not to mention the best production in modern metal. I ENVY Misha, Mark and Matt’s tones in here, my GOD, so good. Put on a good pair of cans and just crank it up, your ear holes will thank you.

Favorite Track: Marigold

7. KoRn - The Serenity Of Suffering (Originally #.4)

The album that brought me into KoRn HARD back in 2016. After this i went back and binged the discog, dug up some gems i’d never heard before and made them permanent favorites. This. Album. RIPS. Head’s full return here(Paradigm Shift was a warm up) was a godsend(literally). Not that the Skrillex joint was bad(it was), or the other Head-less records were bad(Twisted Transistor still hits), KoRn isn’t KoRn without Head. His riffage is legendary for a reason, you bop to Blind, BECAUSE OF HIM. Oh, Jon Davis kills it on here too, doing the ol’ scat scream he’s known for on Rotting In Vain and hitting big choruses with ease like on Take Me. I still love this record so much, best KoRn album since Issues and better than the 2 that came after this. Crank the bass, piss off the neighbors, it’s worth it.

Favorite Track - Insane

6. Megadeth - Dystopia (Originally Not Included)

The album that intro’d me to Kiko Loureiro and the Megadeth full discog as a whole, with some help from the Watch Dogs 2 soundtrack too. After this i went back and dove deep and became a lifer into the Megadave movement, not to say i didn’t like them before, just not nearly as much as I do now. To the point where now…i kinda like them more than Metallica. At least when it comes to more current releases, they’ve managed to evolve yet still sound like Megadeth, Super Collider notwithstanding. Dystopia isn’t their best modern release, that came later, but has one of my all time tracks in Fatal Illusion and some heavy hitters like the title track and Death From Within. Dave was getting rougher vocal-wise on this album but his guitar playing remains unrelenting, some truly great riffage in here plus with Kiko’s solos added in, it kinda made me not miss Chris Broderick, i mean if it weren’t for Endgame he’d have been on nothing but meh records. Dystopia, really, is up here because it gave me another all time favorite band.

Favorite Track: Fatal Illusion

5. Mick Gordon - The Doom 2016 Soundtrack (Somehow, originally unlisted)

If there was a guitarist, nay, a musician i’d want to emulate, it’s Mick Gordon. The man has an insane sonic palette, really brought into the forefront with the Doom 2016 Soundtrack. The single most iconic soundtrack of the last decade or two, for great reason, it fucking rips. I don’t know what my 24 year old self was doing not listening to this on release, but my god i’d slap the shit outta him. This record inspires me so much as a struggling-to-learn guitarist, it taught me that you can have simple yet insanely powerful riffs mixed with the most dynamic electronic synths you’ll hear and create magic. I just need his multi hundred thousand dollar recording suite and i’d be good to go. What else can be said about this? Rip And Tear is iconic, BFG Division spreads fear among demons hellwide, and At Dooms Gate is such a beautiful rendition of E1M1, it might as well replace it like Hurt by Johnny Cash did for Nine Inch Nails. But nothing, no riff brings all the goosebumps, and has more power than almighty Zeus, than that fucking Flesh & Metal riff at 2:40. You can forget every other heavy riff ever made, nothing tops it.

Favorite Song: 2:40 Flesh & Blood riff on repeat.

4. Testament - Brotherhood Of The Snake (Originally Unlisted)

ANOTHER album that brought me into the fold with a band, sort of. I absolutely adored Formation of Damnation back then(and still do), the one two punch of that intro is an all timer, thanks Brutal Legend. But The Brotherhood of the Snake told me, you NEED more Alex Skolnick, Eric Peterson, Chuck Billy(and Steve Souza) and Gene Hoglan in your life, and I obliged happily and went in full tilt with the discog. Where to start here, Chuck Billy is ageless vocally, the man is still killing it in his older age, those lows are earthshattering at times. The guitars…man, nobody does it like Testament, they should totally be in the Big 4 conversation, even back then. Here i’ll gush over two songs in particular Black Jack, and my favorite, Stronghold. Black Jack’s wah filled solo, so perfectly clicks in with Gene’s time change on drums i’m convinced its magic. And Stronghold…oooh boy. Fast and furious with Chucks growls and Gene’s drumming then the drop towards the end hits with the wah and Eric’s triplets, it’s AHH so good. Such a great record that still has yet to be beaten in their later releases.

Favorite Track: Stronghold

3. Famous Last Words - The Incubus (Originally #.2)

Still the most unique CD case I own, it being an actual hardcover book, really cool. The album follows a woman of the 50’s dealing with all of the negativity and trauma that the era contained for women. Famous Last Words are exceptional songwriters in terms of storytelling and theatrical arrangements with such heavy music. They mastered it in the early 2010s but here is just a showcase of why they were(and still are) the most underrated metalcore band, full stop. JT Tollas is a vocal wizard with some of the best range in the game, he matches the works of Spencer Charnas of Ice Nine Kills, though only one of them made it big time. It’s heavy , incredibly emotive and begs a full listen. This album is their last so far, and I really REALLY hope to see more, the EP’s that have released since then have been great, but none have the gravitas of this record or their priors.

Favorite Track: The Judged

2. Avenged Sevenfold - The Stage (Originally #.1)

Sometimes an album is amazing when you first hear it, and is still amazing when you hear it later, but isn’t AS amazing. Such is The Stage by my still all time favorite band, Avenged Sevenfold. I praised this album front to back in 2016, still do, still my 3rd favorite album of theirs. Brooks Wackerman’s debut record, a master drummer filling the shoes of another master drummer(RIP Rev) with gusto. Syn Gates came back and told the haters “I can do more than Metallica riffs” and shreds like his life depends on it. M. Shadows shows his age, but can still go. Exist is an all time song by any band, an absolute tour de force in songwriting that they still have yet to beat. Why isn’t it number 1 you ask, well, read on.

Favorite Track: Exist

1. Issues - Headspace (Originally #.7)

Talking about marinating on albums, this album is flawless to me now. Front to back bangers. Can sing along to 99% of it, poorly. Has it’s hooks into me so deep, it hurts. So much so now especially with Issues’ lead vocalist Tyler Carter being under heavy controversy, thus, leading to no more Issues. It sucks, a lot. This record showed me the genre melding goodness that i’ve come to adore nowadays with bands like Electric Callboy, Loathe, Twelve Foot Ninja, and Sleep Token. Tyler Carter for his personal flaws, can fucking sing/rap. The guitar, bass, and drum work on here is unmatched, so groovy, djenty, and so damn good I just can’t imagine these guys just up and quitting music altogether, I need more of this, there’s nothing like it out there. Headspace is Issues best album. Just listen to the opening to Hero and you just ‘get it’ right there. Or with Blue Wall you get the heavy djent guitars with the hip hop vocals Tyler throws down and Michael’s growls behind him. It’s just so damn good. I honestly feel this is the latest evolution of the style of Nu-Metal that Linkin Park started 23 years ago, one that sadly died with Tyler Carter being a fucking dumbass.

Favorite Track(s): The Whole Damn Album.

So if you made it this far, thanks. I love music, and i love going back a bit and seeing how far my tastes have evolved as well as my writing…well that still sucks, but the music doesn’t. I firmly believe there is still good stuff being made today, you just gotta look around, dig deep, or get out of your boxed in Headspace.