they've been due, im still making it. I've gathered all the lists that have been posted in this thread

1. Septic Flesh - The Great Mass
2. Primordial - Redemption At the Puritan's Hand
3. Moonsorrow - Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa
4. 40 Watt Sun - The Inside Room
5. Helrunar - Sol
6. Falkenbach - Tiurida
7. Wolves in the Throne Room - Celestial Lineage
8. Ulcerate - The Destroyers of All
9. Fleshgod Apocalypse - Agony
10. An Autumn for Crippled Children - Everything
11. Fen - Epoch
12. Opeth - Heritage
13. Jeff Vaona - Equinox
14. Obscura - Omnivium
15. Omnium Gatherum - New World Shadows

I really liked the first couple tracks on this album, but on the whole there just didn't seem to be enough ideas to sustain a whole LP's worth of material. Not a bad album by any means, but rather uninspired outside of a few places.

Fuck you.

Nah, just kidding. I really liked it, but to each his own.

Honestly, though, I got really lazy with 2011. I'm not too happy with that list.

im actually glad people are voting for the great mass. It had so much momentum early on but i never see its recognition on various lists elsewhere. It was the most listenable metal album for me as I grew tired of the whole drawn out atmospheric shit that saturated critical opinions. I love the fine line it walks between cheese and brvtality, never tipping over to one side throughout its duration. A great and massive feat.

Have you posted your lists, Jake?

not yet my nig, i struggle with mine all the time

Oops. Didn't post mine here. Count me in if it's not too late.

01. Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
02. Bon Iver - Bon Iver
03. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
04. The Antlers - Burst Apart
05. Destroyer - Kaputt
06. Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow
07. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
08. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
09. Araab Muzik - Electronic Dream
10. Wild Beasts - Smother
11. M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
12. The War on Drugs - Slave Ambient
13. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
14. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo
15. Cut Copy - Zonoscope
16. Washed Out - Within and Without
17. Battles - Gloss Drop
18. Active Child - You Are All I See
19. My Morning Jacket - Circuital
20. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
21. Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch the Throne
22. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
23. TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light
24. Real Estate - Days
25. Cass McCombs - Wit's End

Admittedly I don't know much about music, i've posted this historically but i've listened to a lot of top 40 music and I really just don't understand it. And I don't mean that I can't comprehend the music, I mean I don't understand the appeal and as to why people listen to it. While every once in a while something good will come on that I can get into (Adele, Kanye, Florence etc...) the vast majority of whats played is so horrible that it's baffling (here i'm referring to music like LMFAO, Bruno Mars, One Republic, Black Eyed Peas, Pitbull etc...) this music isn't hip hop, nor is it dance nor is it pop or rock music- it's some sort of incomprehensibly indistinguishable genre of music that is just flat out banal. It's so derived and uninspired that I really cannot appreciate it on any level. I can't help but to think that they're writing music specifically for degenerates who only appreciate music to the extent that it's the noise they listen to while they get drunk and dance (there's no problem with this in terms of partying and having fun but I cannot appreciate this music from an artistic stand point). Other stuff in the top 40 I can actually listen to their material on an artistic level, but this shit being released by hacks like LMFAO is ridiculous to me.

I know I probably sound like Bruce here but understand that the only reason I hold this sentiment is because I genuinely believe that if people actually liked music, even in the most simplistic sense, they should have an insatiable attitude towards music instead of listening to what's being handed to them by the clubs and record companies. This is why I can't applaud people who listen to top 40 music and consider themselves true music fans.

Bruce hates art and sees value exclusively in vulgar entertainment without the slightest regard for quality, so no, you sound nothing like him.

I enjoy a pretty decent amount of top 40 radio, even while sober, and I have been a pretty avid musician (flute, guitar, etc) since I was six years old. I don't mind you not applauding me, but I swear I actually like music

That having been said, I think this was a pretty bad year for the top 40. I only liked Beyonce's "Party," Chris Brown's "Look at me Now," Rihanna's "Only Girl in the World" (this actually may have been 2010), "Super Bass," and a few Lloyd songs. Oh yeah, and "Party Rock Anthem," more as a guilty pleasure though.

to clarify I meant listens to top 40 music exclusively or actively, not in general. I also don't want to sound pompous but it just seems to me like a lazy way of seeking music. I listen to top 40 also on occasion and yes this year the only songs I really enjoyed were look at me now, moves like jagger and pumped up kicks. I don't think anything from Watch the Throne or Take Care charted but if so that also. Also How Deep is Your Love but I never once heard that song played on the radio even though I thought it charted.

I guess my question is, why is this important? Is something necessarily better because it was harder to find?

The other thing I don't understand is how this bruno fellow's list is any more mainstream than yours, which is almost exclusively pitchfork-approved indie mainstream stuff. And I wouldn't use that as a knock against you, because all the albums I've heard in their entirety off your list are pretty dang good. It's just, there's nothing to be pompous about, because everyone checked out the Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver records.

I'm not a big top-40 guy at this point--in fact most of the time I'm not even aware of what's on the charts anymore. But I don't see why you're so against some of this stuff. Bruno Mars, for example--everything I've heard by him has been good, and "Just The Way You Are" to me is a legitimately great record.