I just received Amazon.UK's Top 100 list today (imo it's LAME), & since Linda also asked me to start this thread the other day......... here it is!

Rules are: This is Ice. There are no rules! Make your list work for you.

It will likely be a couple weeks before I have time to review what was released in 2011 & post my list, but for those not in retail who do have the time...... have at it!

For what it's worth, from a QUICK look through Amazon.UK's Top 100 I only found 2 that MIGHT make my list: Adele 21 (I'm more likely to pick the live album if I go there though), & Lucinda Williams Blessed. I suspect the Stones Brussells will likely be on my Vault list, but beyond that, I've really got to review what was released this year.

SMiLE

Near the top of my list is Nothing Is Wrong by Dawes

Great songwriting, superb musicianship, and catchy as heck to boot

Since I bought the disc, it has only left my car's CD-changer long enough to go in my wife's car

Can never remember what came out in which year, especially since I get so many remasters of older stuff.

SMiLE has to be my top Vault release of 2011. The Kinks remasters were also terrific. The Ocean Colour Scene and Cast deluxe editions were pretty good. I like having all the B-sides in one package but there wasn't much in the way of previously unreleased material, which would have been better.

For new stuff: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, The Rifles, Arctic Monkeys ... I LOVED The Harmonics' demos (but I think they split up ) ... oh, and all the other stuff I can't remember. That's real helpful, right?

As someone who does still listen to new music by new and veteran acts and doesn't moan that "today's music just ain't the same kids"

my top new releases:
Adele-21
The Strokes-Angles
Whitesnake-Forevermore
The Cars-Move Like This
Arctic Monkeys-Suck It And See
Tom Waits-Bad As Me
Yes-Fly From Here
Primus-Green Naugahyde
Opeth-Heritage
Jane's Addiction-The Great Esacpe Artist
Amos Lee-Mission Bell
Ryan Adams-Ashes And Fire
Duran Duran-All You Need Is Now
Foo Fighters-Wasting Light
Uriah Heep-Into The Wild
Wilco-The Whole Love
Coldplay-Mylo Xyloto
Elbow-Build A Rocket Boys!

remasters:
Thin Lizzy
Rainbow
King Crimson
Santana
Black Sabbath
Queen
Paul McCartney
Ozzy Osbourne
Rolling Stones
Pink Floyd
Jethro Tull
The Kinks
Paradise Lost
Icehouse
Billy Joel
Yes

New Release or (Mostly) New Vault Material
1. Smile - Beach Boys
2. Steady Love - Maria Muldaur
3. Carnegie Hall 1971 - Frank Zappa
4. 2120 South Michigan Ave - George Thorogood
5. Keep This Love Goin' - NRBQ
6. To Memphis with Love - Cyndi Lauper

Reissues (with some unreleased material)
1. Something Else - Kinks
2. Arthur - Kinks
3. Face t Face - Kinks
4. Elvis Is Back/Pot Luck - Elvis Presley
5. Monument Singles Collection - Roy Orbison
6. Some Girls - Rolling Stones
7. Aqualung - Jethro Tull
8. In The West - Jimi Hendrix
9. Layla - Derek & the Dominos
10. Elvis/Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley

the Kinks 1st 3 albums and the Dave Davies s/b memtioned.

DVD's
From Memphis with Love - Cyndi Lauper
Some Girls Live - Rolling Stones

My favorite new stuff from 2011:

Arctic Monkeys, Suck It And See
The Black Keys, El Camino
Kate Bush, 50 Words For Snow
The Cars, Move Like This
Duran Duran, All You Need Is Now
Everlast, Songs Of The Ungrateful Living
J.D. Souther, Natural History
Journey, Eclipse
My Morning Jacket, Circuital
Robbie Robertson, How To Become Clairvoyant
The Strokes, Angles
tUnE-yArDs, W H O K I L L
Tom Waits, Bad As Me
Wilco, The Whole Love
The Young Knives, Ornaments From The Silver Arcade

wilco
jayhawks
john hiatt
keb mo
shelby lynne
j.d. souther
lucinda williams
jackson browne/david lindley
hollies box
yes
neil young w/ the international harvesters

Don't forget Steven Wilson's great solo 2CD solo album came out this year Grace For Drowning.....the recording of the year! A must own!




I also liked:

Duran Duran/ All You Need Is Now.......fantastic!
Adele/ 21
Whitesnake/ Forevermore
Yes/ Fly From Here
Opeth/ Heritage
Wilco/ The Whole Love

Wilco's The Whole Love is by far my favorite record of the year. It is brilliant, and an instant classic.

I'm still digesting the Black Keys record, but I really like it so far. John Hiatt's record was also terrific.

2012 will be the year of Chuck Prophet!

Of all of the various bonus discs created for deluxe reissues recently, the one with the "Layla" album was truly outstanding; another one that stands out is the live version of "Dark Side Of The Moon". I also have this new little "Siamese Dream" boxed set here that looks promising, but I have not yet been able to play it. Another pleasant surprise was "Hendrix In The West." I loved the Cadillac edition of "Quadrophenia", but the most monumental box of the year was probably the Stones singles box. Best vinyl (why not): the little Janis Joplin "Move Over" collection of 45's.

Also--although I did not pay $250+ for my own copy, I recently had the opportunity to experience the audio/visual contents of Alice Cooper's "Old School" boxed set, and they were pretty amazing. Not $250+ worth of amazing, but pretty damn good.

Not much time for new music this year--other than "Femme Fatale", of course.

Big fan of the premier box sets that came out from Pink Floyd (DSOTM/ WYWH)/ The Who (Quad) and Jethro Tull (Aqualung).

Being the collecting fool i am, I ended up doing my usual: going through all of 2011 in New Releases, Vault & Different strokes & compiling a list (+a Wolfgang's Vault official download). What surprises me the most is how few i found to include considering how much $'s I spent on music this year. Either I missed a ton of titles while skimming, bought lots of obscure imports that never made it up here, or else bought a ton of pre 2011 music! Part of it is that a number of my fav artists released weak albums this year. I consider several of the releases on my list to have pretty significant weaknesses, but they just didn't have much competition! A few of the artists I normally like that I intentionally left off include the 2 Rory Gallagher releases, Wendy & Lisa, Patti Rothberg, Stevie Nicks, Suzanne Vega, the Cars, Scorpions, Counting Crows (not a bad album, but awful mastering), Yes, Tori Amos, Joe Jackson, & numerous more I've already forgotten. All were ok, but none were special to me. The Gary Moore was so poorly mastered i haven't been able to sit through it yet!

While going through all the headers on the New releases board, I kept thinking "that album really wasn't all that good"! To be honest, in a stronger year only the 1st 2 cd's from my "New Releases" section would have made the list at all.

The only rule I gave myself is that vault material needed to have a significant number of unreleased tracks. I retain the right to add to this & /or edit when I'm more awake, &/or less stressed!

New Releases
1. Juliana Hatfield There’s Always Another Girl (for me this was #1 by a mile, for me NOTHING else in new releases came close this year)
2. Adele Live At Royal Albert Hall
3. Gary Moore Montreux 2010
4. Jeff Beck Rock 'N' Roll Party: Honoring Les Paul
5. Lucinda Williams Blessed
6. Bruce Cockburn Small Source Of Comfort
7. Keren Ann 101
8. Adele 21


Vault
1. Grateful Dead Europe '72 Complete
2. Pink Floyd Wish You Were here 2 Disc
3. Jethro Tull Aqualung 2 Disc
4. Chicago Tanglewood 1970 (official Woldgang's Vault download)
5. Thin Lizzy BBC 2 Disc (I haven't heard the 6 disc)
6. Hendrix Winterland Box
7. Billy Joel - Live 1972 From the Piano Man Deluxe
8. Duke Ellington Crystal Gardens 1952
9. Rolling Stones Brussells (official download)
10.Yes Union Live

(King Crimson Starless would probably be on this list, but I haven't heard the reissue yet. Also haven't heard the live Alice Cooper from School's Out).

It was also nice to FINALLY hear Hendrix remasters this year that weren't overly bright sounding (In The West & Winterland).

1/8/12: Just did an edit: Found a copy of the Gary Moore Montreux 2010 that wasn't as bright as the version i previously had, so it's now #3 on my new release list. Also raised Adele Live to #2.

New releases:
The Smithereens - 2011 (might be my favorite Smithereens almum, even over their first two)
Wild Flag (self titled)
Jeff Beck - Rock & Roll Party
John Doe - Keeper

Vault:
Grateful Dead - Europe 72 box
Zappa Carnegie Hall
Everything Kinks - deluxe editions, Dave Davies album, mono box set (though I don't have it yet)

I'm behind on my CD purchases, but here's some favorites from 2011:

Dave Alvin - Eleven Eleven
Dex Romweber Duo - Is That Your In The Bottle?
Drive By Truckers - Go-Go Boots
Lydia Loveless - Indestructible Machine
Moreland & Arbuckle - Just A Dream
Primus - Green Naugahyde
Urban Voodoo Machine - In Black 'n' Red

2011 is easily my best-ever year for sports (Cardinals WS champs + Gamecocks CWS champs + football Gamecocks with 10 wins), but it's been a middling year for music. But looking back, 13 CDs stand out, so a baker’s dozen it is…

Adele — 21
The Cars — Move Like This
Nikki Jean — Pennies In a Jar
Coldplay — Mylo Xyloto
Kelly Clarkson — Stronger
Stevie Nicks — In Your Dreams
James Morrison — The Awakening
Human League — Credo
Yes — Fly From Here
The Pierces — You & I
Paul Simon — So Beautiful or So What
Duran Duran — All You Need Is Now
Darren Hayes — Secret Codes & Battleships

My favorite songs of the year are Adele’s “Rolling In the Deep,” The Cars’ “Sad Song” and Stevie Nicks’ “Annabel Lee.”

Favorite reissues are probably the 40th anniversary Queen 2-disc sets, The Hollies’ “The Clarke, Hicks & Nash Years, 1963-68” and U2’s “Achtung Baby” 20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Box Set.

Two covers albums I liked a lot are America’s “Back Pages” and Kim Wilde’s “Snapshots”; two I’m really disappointed with are Jann Arden’s “Uncover Me 2” and Seal’s “Soul 2.”

Biggest discovery of 2011 would be Nikki Jean (thank you to Patrick H. for pointing me in her direction). Biggest surprise would be the new Yes CD, which I enjoyed so much that it induced me to upgrade (and complete the remaining third of) an entire Yes collection. Biggest disappointment, and worst album of the year IMO, has to be “Chicago XXXIII — O Christmas Three.”

Top 5 New Albums:

Wilco-- The Whole Love
Megan Slankard-- A Token Of The Wreckage (Do yourselves a favor!! Check it out. Best unsigned artist around.)
The Black Keys-- El Camino
Blitzen Trapper-- American Goldwing
Fleet Foxes-- Helplessness Blues


Top 5 Vault Albums:
The Rolling Stones-- The Brussels Affair
Jimi Hendrix-- Winterland
The Grateful Dead-- Europe '72: The Complete Recordings
Sigur Ros-- Inni
The Beach Boys-- The Smile Sessions

No particular order, but the first two are tied for me as best of the year:

New York Dolls - Dancing Backward In High Heels
James Blake - James Blake
Fucked Up - David Comes To Life
Antlers - Burst Apart
Wild Flag - Wild Flag
The Bats - Free All The Monsters
Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
Tommy Keene - Behind The Parade
The Strokes - Angles
Garland Jeffreys - King Of In Between
Gomez - Whatever's On Your Mind
Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo
Emmylou Harris - Hard Bargain
Atlas Sound - Parallax

Reissues:
Kate and Anna McGarrigle - Tell My Sister (for the demos alone)
Human Switchboard- Who's Landing In My Hangar?
The Hollies - The Clarke/Hicks/Nash Years

Honorable Mention and three cheers for the AARP set:
Rocket From The Tombs - Barfly
Excellent return after 37years. Cleveland rocks, indeed.

New albums:
21-Adele
Let England Shake-PJ Harvey
Ceremonials-Florence...
A Creature I Don't Know-Laura Marling
Steady Love-Maria Muldaur
Songs Lost and Stolen-Bella Hardy
Ghost on the Canvas-Glen Campbell
Saturnine-Jackie Oates
Rock n Roll Party-Jeff Beck
The Harrow and the Harvest-Gillian Welch
Mylo Xyloto-Coldplay
My Heart-Doris Day
Rome-Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi

Reissues, etc.:
The Kinks, especially Arthur...
Dave Davies
Layla...
Spirit-Mary Hopkin
Randy Newman's Live in London
Strawbs-Hero and Heroine in Ascencia-a redo of their great album

This is the first year in a long time that there were more favorite new releases than reissues and vault releases. I hope the trend continues. Wilco and Dawes were by far my favorite discs of the year. I'm still playing them constantly.

New Releases
Wilco - The Whole Love
Dawes - Nothing is Wrong
The Decemberists - The King is Dead/Long Live the King
Middle Brother - Middle Brother
Gillian Welch - The Harrow and the Harvest
Ryan Adams - Ashes and Fire
Deer Tick - Divine Providence
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Mirror Traffic
Dum Dum Girls - Only in Dreams
Lucinda Williams - Blessed
Amos Lee - Mission Bell
Konitz/Mehldau/Haden/Motian - Live at Birdland
My Morning Jacket - Circuital

Vault
Grateful Dead - Europe 72 Box
Rolling Stones - Some Girls/Some Girls Live in Texas
Human Switchboard - Who's Landing in My Hangar?
Miles Davis - Live in Europe 1967
Henry Threadgill - Complete Novus/Columbia Sessions
Charles Mingus - The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady/Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (2fer)
Pink Floyd - WYWH/DSOTM

Most of these were released in 2011, or at the end of 2010 but I bought them in 2011. In a few cases I listed some old releases/artists that I finally got around to listening to & enjoying in 2011. Looking back, it was another great year of music for me, and that's not even counting the artists I've re-discovered for my blog project (sorry, I try keep my plugs for that to a minimum).

New Releases:
The Jayhawks - Mockingbird Time
The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
Rumer - Seasons Of My Soul
Teddy Thompson - Bella
Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago
Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys
Paul Simon - So Beautiful Or So What
REM - Collapse Into Now (better than I expected, and a lot better than Accelerate)
Tedeschi Trucks Band - Revelator
Young Knives - Ornaments From The Silver Arcade
The Duke And The King
Beardfish - Mammoth
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
Big Country - Dreams Stay With You - Live In Edinburgh (I was at this show)
Chris Difford - Cashmere If You Can
Lindsey Buckingham - Seeds We Sow
Opeth - Heritage
Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning
Alice Cooper - Welcome 2 My Nightmare
Shelby Lynne - Revelation Road
Tom Waits - Bad As Me
Steve Hackett - Beyond The Shrouded Horizon
Mike Viola - Electro De Perfecto
And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Tao Of The Dead
Blackfield - Welcome To My DNA
Lucinda Williams - Blessed
Journey - Eclipse
Jakszyk Fripp & Collins - A Scarcity Of Miracles
Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn Of Events
My Morning Jacket - Circuital
Jeff Beck - Rock & Roll Party
Yes - Fly From Here

Reissues etc:
The Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall/Tomorrow The Green Grass (expanded)
Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire De Melody Nelson
Yes - Union Live (Deluxe Edition)
Orange Juice - ...Coals To Newcastle (box set)
Dukes Of Stratosphear - expanded reissues of the two albums
Kevin Ayers - Songs For Insane Time (4-CD anthology)
Sky (Doug Fieger's old band) - reissues of both albums
The Motels - Apocalypso
Blue Murder - Blue Murder (thanks to That Metal Show)
Billy Joel - The Complete Albums Collection
Leonard Cohen - The Complete Studio Albums Collection
Burning Spear - Chant Down Babylon (anthology)
Ben Folds - Best Imitation Of Myself (3-CD edition)
Chic - Magnifique - The Very Best Of
The Durutti Column The Best Of
Donny Hathaway - Free Soul - The Classic Soul Of...
Pink Floyd - Dark Side and Wish You Were Here - Immersion Editions (thankfully copied by a friend, which helped out my wallet a great deal)

Thanks for the reminder. i added that one to my list.