Ripple Top Albums of 2011

As the year draws to an end, as we're naturally prone to do, it's time to come up with our views on the albums that left the greatest impressions on our psyches. And just like last year, we're thrilled to be joining an ever-growing, impressive collection of like-minded music writers, who've all banded together to share their thoughts.

At the end of this post, please check out the links to these other great sites and see their thoughts. Argue with us, agree with us, it's all intended to stimulate conversation.

As for our list . . . well, it's a bit different this year. First of all, we cover more than metal at the Ripple Effect, so only creating a Top 10 List of our favorite Heavy Albums seemed a bit too limiting. Also, with our ever-expanding roster of writers, all with different tastes, well, let's just say we're a bit eclectic.  It should also be noted that not every writer hears every album, so while I (Racer) may have loved Rival Sons or Dixie Witch, I simply haven't heard them.  Finally, while several Ripple writers were thrilled with Ripple Music releases, both Pope and Racer felt that it wouldn't be right to place our own label's releases on our lists (even though they should be there!)

With all that said, below we hope you'll find an eclectic collection of what passed through the Ripple this year and what we just couldn't forget.


Racer:

SuperGiant - Pistol Star
Gideon Smith and the Dixie Damned - 30 Weight
Roadsaw - S/T
Ape Machine - War to Head
Kamchatka - Bury Your Roots
The Bloody Hollies - Yours until the Bitter End
Rick Barton and the Shadow Blasters - An American Rock Song
Gangstagrass (featuring Tone-Z) - Lightning on the Strings, Thunder on the Mic
The 1-10's - Fighting for a Golden Age



Pope:

Year of the Goat – Lucem Ferre
SuperGiant – Pistol Star
Opeth – Harvest
Dornenreich – Flammentriebe
Elemental Zazen – Nothing to Lose But Change
Voivod – Warriors of Ice
Forgotten Tomb – Under Saturn Retrograde
Onslaught – Sounds of Violence
Horned Almighty – Necro Spirituals
Forest of Stars – Restless In Flight 



Ollie: 

Grifter – s/t
Roadsaw – s/t
Alice Cooper – Welcome 2 My Nightmare
Rival Sons – Pressure And Time
The Jim Jones Revue – Burning Your House Down
Sigiriya – Return To Earth
Heavy Glow – Midnight Moan
Samsara Blues Experiment – Revelation and Mystery
Gideon Smith and the Dixie damned – 30 Weight
Dixie Witch – Let It Roll


Woody:

Gentleman's Pistols - At Her Majesty's Pleasure
Motorhead - The World Is Yours
Yob - Atma
Ghost - Opus Eponymous
Grifter - Grifter
Backwoods Payback – Momantha
Dixie Witch - Let It Roll
Pentagram – Last Rites
Loafass - Smoke & Mirrors
Groan – The Sleeping Wizard

Favorite reissues -

Miles Davis - Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1
Twisted Sister - Live At The Marquee 1983
Bossa Nova & The Rise of Brazilian Music in the 1960s
Alice Cooper - Old School box set
Deep Purple - Come Taste the Band
Iggy & the Stooges "Raw Power Live: In the Hands of the Fans"


Heddbuzz:

1.  YOB - Atma
 2.  Karma To Burn - V
 3.  Elder - Dead Roots Stirring
 4.  Borracho - Splitting Sky
 5.  Catapult the Smoke - Born In Fire
 6.  Witch Mountain - South Of Salem
 7.  Ogressa - Warts And All
 8.  The Heavy Eyes - The Heavy Eyes
 9.  Lo Pan - Salvador
10. Freedom Hawk - Holding On


Penfold:
Top Ten For 2011 In Alphabetical Order

2 Ton Bug - Wedding Of The Century
Beehoover - Concrete Catalyst
Conny Ochs - Raw Love Songs
Einvera - In Your Image
Jim Wilson - Jim Wilson
MC Frontalot - Solved
Mr J Medeiros - Saudade
Pharoahe Monch - W.A.R.
Rhode Island - Light The Windows In These Places Let Through
The Meads Of Asphodel - The Murder Of Jesus The Jew

Honorable Mentions
Random - Check out anything he put out in 2011, it's all good!
K-Murdock - Several high quality projects including 'The Ronin'

Reissue Crushing Most Of My New Albums
Mos Generator - Mos Generator Deluxe Edition


 Horn: 

 1. Brutal Truth - End Time
2.  Revocation - Chaos of Forms
3.  Fuck the Facts, Die Miserable
4.  Lock Up - Necropolis Transparent
5.  Northless - Clandestine Abuse
6.  Yob - Atma
7.  Acephalix - Interminable Night
8.  Anaal Nathrakh - Passion
9.  Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1
10. Atlas Moth - An Ache for the Distance


Odin: 

The Gates of Slumber – The Wretch
Atriarch – Forever The End
Bell Witch – 2011 Demo
The Big Wheel Stunt Show – Cheetah Milque
Curse Of The North – Revelations
Rich Robinson – Through A Crooked Sun
Hammers Of Misfortune – 17th Street
Electric Wizard – Black Masses
Ronnie Wood – I Feel Like Playing
Wolves In The Throne Room – Celestial Lineage



Cicatriz: (in reverse alphabetical order as to not play favorites.)

Wolves Like Us - Late Love
Weekend Nachos - Worthless
Toxic Holocaust - Conjure and Command
Thrice - Major/Minor
Nick 13 - Nick 13
City and Colour - Little Hell
Childish Gambino - Camp
Cerebral Ballzy - Cerebral Ballzy
Bret Detar - Bird In The Triangle
The Black Dahlia Murder - Ritual



Brownstone:

1) Lykke Li -Wounded Rhymes
2) Adele - 21
3 )Foster the People - Torches
4) Cults- Cults
5) The Black Keys - El Camino
6) Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde
7) Zola Jesus - Conatus
8) Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
9) Young the Giant- Young the Giant
10) Bon Iver- Bon Iver


Old School’s Response To A Top 10 List For 2011

“You want me to do what?!”, I thought when Racer said, “time to get your year end Top 10 list together.  We usually publish it the last week of December.   Should be new albums for this year  . . .”   

Come on Racer, give me a break.  Don’t you remember what I wrote when you asked for this last year (see Top Ten Lists Of Top Ten List Lists - by Old School?)  What makes you think I’d do this now?

Sure, I received and reviewed some awesome music this year.  There were Tom Principato’s “A Part Of Me,” Joe Purdy’s “This American,”  Modern Day Moonshine’s “Refuge,” Ari Hest’s “Sunset Over Hope Street,” Honeychild’s “Nearer The Earth,” Red Wanting Blue’s “These Magnificent Miles,” The Mattson 2’s “Feeling Hands,” Julius Pittman & The Revival’s “Live Tonite,” Aaron Williams & The Hoodoo’s “10:49” and Only Living Boy’s “Hide Nothing,” just to name a few.  Can I say one is better than another? No. 

Look, I’m not going to judge whether Metal is better than Alternative Rock or Classic Rock is better than Punk Rock or Americana is better than Electronica or Blues are better than Jazz, or vice versa.  I have no desire or need to try to discern which release was better than another in Maslow’s Music Pyramid.  It’s basically a “Beatles or Stones” argument and I don’t buy it. It’s all good and, each year, there is so much I haven’t heard it could never be complete.  How could one ever produce an empirically valid Top Ten List of artistic musical efforts?  You can’t. You’ve just got to make your own.


All Metal Resource — http://allmetalresource.com/
Bring Back Glam — http://bringbackglam.squarespace.com/
Hair Metal Mansion — http://hairbangersradio.ning.com/
Hard Rock Hideout — http://hardrockhideout.com/
Hard Rock Nights — http://hardrocknights.com
Heavy Metal Addiction — http://heavymetaladdiction.com/
Heavy Metal Time Machine — http://metalmark.blogspot.com/
Imagine Echoes — http://www.imagineechoes.com/
Layla’s Classic Rock — http://laylasclassicrock.blogspot.com/
Metal Excess — http://metalexcess.com/
The Metal Minute — http://rayvanhornjr.blogspot.com/
Metal Odyssey — http://metalodyssey.wordpress.com/