The year so far

So now here we are now into the second half of 2010. Speaking of music in the year thus far I would say it has been a good year. Not great, but good although with over five months left it could still turn out to be great. If I had to make up my list of the top 25 albums of the year so far it might take a while to sort it all out. Ufomammut's Eve is definitely my favorite album so far. Stone Axe 2 would be my second favorite. After that it gets more complicated and I'll likely pass on judgement for now. Around Halloween I'll start pulling out all the possible albums and giving them all a play or two to figure out who ranks where. Last year was definitely a strong year for stoner rock. This year I have not seen as much of a trend for a certain genre being stronger than another. The only trend I have seen so far is that a number of veteran bands have put out surprisingly good albums including Ratt, Treat, Heathen, Krokus and Danzig. Another good sign for 2010 is the lack of bad albums. Slash's album bored me to death. For actual bad albums the only ones that come to mind are Ozzy's new one which is awful as expected and the album from Suicidal Angels. The latter are a horribly generic thrash band with a lousy singer and some of the worst, least imaginative lyrics that I have heard in some time. I have not yet heard the new ones from Vince Neil or Bret Michaels although I would expect both to be quite bad. I have also heard a number of solid albums from little known or new bands and a good year for re-issues. There are also some already released albums that I have not got around to hearing. Due to lack of funds and time I may not get around to hearing all of them. Still I hope to get around to hearing the latest from from High on fire, Exodus, Overkill, Raven, Brainstorm Crashdiet and Sister Sin. With releases from Maiden, the Sword and others yet to go I am hopeful that the rest of the year will be solid too.

***What albums from 2010 have you enjoyed most so far and what upcoming 2010 releases are you most looking forward to?