Best Albums of 2008

[D-Rider]

I readily admit that I think this was a horrible year for new music, but there were a few gems amidst the garbage.  Then again, most people aren't as picky as I am. :P  Assuming you've finished up with Saint Nick left in your stockings yesterday, what were your favorite albums of the year?

Me, I'm pretty fond of:

Amon Amarth - Twilight of the Thunder God
Ayreon - 01011001
Testament - The Formation of Damnation
Motorhead - Motorizer

Honorable mentions are Metallica's "Death Magnetic" and AC/DC's "Black Ice", two solid releases that annoyed me by releasing their worst songs as the lead singles. :P

[Losfer]

There were a couple good releases this year.

(Totally in order.)

01) Alestorm - Captain Morgan's Revenge
02) Bloodbath - The Fathomless Mastery
03) Cynic - Traced in Air
04) Testament - The Formation of Damnation
05) Ayreon - 01011001
06) Amon Amarth - Twilight of the Thunder God
07) Iced Earth - The Crucible of Man
08) Opeth - Water Closet
09) Belphegor - Bondage Goat Zombie
10) Motorhead - Motorizer

[Degolas]

1. Opeth - Watershed
2. Earth - The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull
3. Steven Wilson - Insurgentes
4. Ayreon - 01010001010010101110101000100101011101110101011

Um, I'll need to think on it a bit more to decide beyond that. An honourable mention definitely goes to Death Magnetic for not sucking.

[SonicDeathMonkey]

Lil' Wayne - Tha Carter III
Black Milk - Tronic
Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
Benga - Diary of an Afro Warrior
DJ /rupture - Uproot
Venetian Snares - Detrimentalist
Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules and Love Affair
Hot Chip - Made in the Dark
Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs
Amadou & Mariam - Welcome to Mali
Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull
Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
LSD Pond - LSD Pond
Boris - Smile
Boris with Michio Kurihara - Cloud Chamber
Keiji Haino and Tetsuya Yoshida - Uhrfasudhasdd

These are probably the albums I listened to the most this year. Dunno exactly how I'd rank 'em.

[MeshGearFox]

Um... To rank everything new this year that I actually heard...

1. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
2. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colors
3. Will Oldham - Lie Down in the Light
4. Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
5. Portishead - Third
6. Tilly and the Wall - O

If I remember anything else I'll stick it in here.

[CDFN]

My favorites (at least the ones that come to mind) were Ayreon, Metallica, Opeth and Ephrat - No one´s word.

[Azrael]

I greatly enjoyed the music that came out this year.  The albums that top my list would be,

Samon Kawamura - Unfold
Thirsty Fish - Testing The Waters
Sweatshop Union - Water Street
Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold
Common Market - Tobacco Road
Q-Tip - The Renaissance Man
Pe2ny - Alive Soul Cuts
Magnetic North - Magnetic North Re-release
Loptimist - Mind Expander
K'naan - The Dusty Foot Philosopher
Incise - Nobody's Story
Michita x Haiiro De Rossi - Soul SESSION
Freddie Joachim - In With Time
Gagle - Hidden Music Value
Cymarshall Law - Hip Hop in the Soul

No particular order, though I doubt anyone here listens to any of this stuff.

[Dade]

I'm gonna toss something out there that isnt metal......

Fucking Weezer - The Red Album.

Fuck you, it's GOOD.

[Krelian]

Sigur Ros: Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
Olafur Arnalds: Variations Of Static
Both of them are great

[SonicDeathMonkey]

Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold
Q-Tip - The Renaissance Man

Totally forgot about those two. I didn't expect either of those to be very good but was pleasantly surprised by both.

[xXMelancholiaXx]

There were a couple good releases this year.

(Totally in order.)
05) Ayreon - 01011001
09) Belphegor - Bondage Goat Zombie

I think a friend of mine let me listen to Ayreon. I liked that album. Bondage Goat Zombie was alright but I like their older stuff better. I also like Moonspell's new album Night Eternal. :)

[Losfer]

Well, I see what you're saying as Goatreich Fleshcult is definitely a great album.  :P

[kyuusei]

Carter III? Really? :P

Another vote from me for Q-Tip's album though. I love it. And Erykah Badu's.

[Azrael]

I totally forgot about The Roots' Rising Down.  Granted it wasn't as good as I hoped I still enjoyed it and would chalk it up as being among the best of the year.

[SonicDeathMonkey]

Carter III was kinda disappointing at first 'cuz I was unfairly expecting more mixtape fast-paced ridiculousness but it has grown on me. I still think II is better, by a little bit, but I'm probably the only person in the world who still isn't sick of "Lollipop," lol..

Rising Down was pretty good but not end-of-year list material IMO. Killer Mike put out a great album this year, too (I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind II) that I just barely didn't mention.