ILM’s Top 77 Albums of 2018

Solid album.

I liked this when it came out, but didn't listen much after that

My experience as well.

http://i.imgur.com/wG8Jk8M.jpg

#64: Yamantaka // Sonic Titan – Dirt - 227 points – 8 votes

YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN - YT//ST

Ernesto Aguilar: “Dirt is indicative of significant growth for Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, which seems stronger for letting its art rather than its oddity speak loudest.”

Em Casalena: “When it comes to experiencing this artrock metal band from Toronto, the performance is as inseparable from their music as their personal celebration of Asian-Canadian and First Nations heritage and culture.”

I thought they were from Montreal?

tbh I never gave this a fair shake cause I saw them give a pretty dull show a couple years ago, glad they continue to have a dece following on here tho

Awesome!!

voted for "yandere" in the tracks but a great album front to back

Cool album, didn't vote for it, but voted for a track from it. Surprised to see it show up on here, didn't seem to get much love.

I liked the album well enough for a spin. Nothing really stuck but I'm the forgetful sort.

I thought they were from Montreal?

― pomenitul, Monday, February 4, 2019 1:20 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Both I think now, originally Montreal though.

Yes! What a powerhouse album of weird, maxed out power prog! Out of Time is the entrance song of my fictitious wrestling career. The whole album has this giddy glam rock worship that wouldn’t be out of place soundtracking Glow.

My #11. An absolutely kickass rock record with all sorts of sly prog and hair metal influences. It's also queer as hell and draws from numerous indigenous traditions without sounding remotely gimmicky. Most importantly, aside from the volcanic performances (see them live!) the songwriting is electric. Underrated as anything

lol OOT is amazing entrance music yes

My first to make it; this album is great! I think this was my #11 too haha

Aha! A second from my ballot. Took me a while to get into this YT//ST record, the amount of love I had for the second one made it have a tall hill to climb, but I really like it now. I also think they moved from being an art-rock band with metal touches to being a metal band with art-rock touches, which means way more huuuge guitar solos, which is not particularly a thing I am into.

Going to have to look into a few that have placed that I don't know at all, so far I feel like this is a really cool and varied list.

yeah almost no way this doesn't end up being the coolest day of the rollout

This Wednesday Campanella album is way more atmospheric than the last one.

I feel like I only need to listen to each of their albums once, like going on a rollercoaster or something, but that one time is a real blast.

I feel like I should I enjoy this band more. Go Canada!! anyway.

Voted for OOT in tracks, some reservations about how well the whole album hangs together. Maybe I should follow emil.y and persevere.

I try to keep on top of techno* but I don't think I caught the Skee Mask?

Hailu Mergia definitely too low but glad it placed. an absolute joy from start to finish. the title track was my tune of the year

YT//ST was the last thing on my ballot. Like emil.y, my love for their second album kept me from falling as hard for this one. It's good, but my least favorite of their records.

Hooray Hailu Mergia! My first to place

http://i.imgur.com/xUaeSBE.jpg

#63: Mariah Carey – Caution - 228 points – 11 votes

Mariah Carey's many Moments

Leah Greenblatt: “Carey is no longer at the white-hot center of the zeitgeist, but on her 15th studio album, she finds a freshness that’s been missing from her recent material.”

Andrew Unterberger: “The album likely won't spin off a breakout hit, or reintroduce Mariah to the Spotify generation, or change the course of her career in any dramatic way. But it's a new Mariah Carey album, and it feels like exactly what she and her fans wanted it to be.”

amazingly, no one started a thread for this last year. I voted for it i think.

key tracks: GTFO, Caution, A No No, Giving Me Life, Stay Long Love You

Caution is probably my favourite Mariah album.

Yes! This is easily my favourite YT/ST album. Some almost Judas Priest moments in there.

Hi everyone! Thank you so much ulysses for covering me today I’m away from home and will be arriving late.

I’ll probably do 60-41 tomorrow, 40-? on wednesday and the rest on thursday. Wednesday is gonna be a tricky one as I have a tight schedule and wont be around my computer but I might post the initial run in the morning and the rest in the evening... I’ll have to improvise as I don’t want to leave you hanging for hours to get the next results... maybe tomorrow I’ll go all the way to 60-35 to avoid the gaps on tuesday.

I think the full results are very good and they have the variety that some of you thought was missing on the singles poll. Today has been amazing, and there’s a couple of albums I had no idea existed and which have been great companions this morning for me. thank you again ulysses for all the help with the rollout and seandalai of course for making this happen.

I'm glad Yamantaka exist but please don't make me listen to it again.

Images great agin, btw!

http://i.imgur.com/n5nM6dt.jpg

#62: Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy - 230 points – 10 votes

Bodak Yellow is:

Carrie Battan: “Not since Lana Del Rey has an artist triumphed over such low expectations and landed as a bona-fide pop star.”

Rob Harvilla: “What makes Invasion of Privacy even more impressive is that at 13 tracks and 48 minutes, it has the Spotify-stats-conscious heft expected of a top-tier rap album nowadays, but never drags, never settles, never dilutes Cardi’s delirious absurdity. It feels like a throwback to an idealized album-oriented past—a tribute to the way that hip-hop of a certain vintage would like to remember itself, anyway.”

wow that's low!

Great stuff. Hailu Mergia was on my list also. This last run of albums has reminded me why I love ILM. Hee.

This was my guess for 78'ing tbqh

this alb was good but i only listened to it once

Liking the more compositional side of the Kamasi album. Prefer that to jam mode.

I'm weirdly excited that nothing I've voted for has placed yet. I guess it's equally a good sign (for the ones which will) as bad (for the ones that won't).

Same. I'm holding out hope for three, five at the most. The rest will walk in saer's footsteps.

“Not since Lana Del Rey has an artist triumphed over such low expectations and landed as a bona-fide pop star.”

reality tv stars can be Kardashian-esque near-billionaires or the President of the United States ... but a pop star ... no way!

last one for the day

http://i.imgur.com/DU5661a.jpg

#61: Andrew WK – You’re Not Alone - 233 points – 8 votes – 1 first place vote

Andrew WK: C/D?

Josh Modell: “As always, Andrew W.K. builds anthems brick by brick, reinforcing huge choruses with multi-tracked vocals and earworm piano lines, all the better to make you feel like a participant as much as a listener. ”

Mark Beaumont: “Andrew WK’s enormous, and enormously stirring, maximal synth-metal soundtrack to the struggle, and were it any bigger it’d develop its own moon.”

oh HELL yeah

voted for the title track instead but this album is incredible

lol boom. my #17. very large and positive album of party wisdom

voted for this beast

it takes a LOT for me to connect with a good-natured, positive album but AWK pulled it off through sheer force of will

Worth living for