What are your favorite albums of the year / of the last months?

[cliveb]

For me, just one 2014 album stands out as exceptional: Cleopatra by Kayak.

Unfortunately their two lead singers have now left the band, so this is the last Kayak album featuring Cindy Oudshoorn - a spectacularly good singer (and an amazing stage presence, too).

[get.amped]

For me, just one 2014 album stands out as exceptional: Cleopatra by Kayak.

Unfortunately their two lead singers have now left the band, so this is the last Kayak album featuring Cindy Oudshoorn - a spectacularly good singer (and an amazing stage presence, too).

I only just discovered Kayak last year. A truly exceptional catalog of prog rock, but their line-up has gone through quite a few changes from the original band in the '70s to the reformed one in the '00s.

[cliveb]

I only just discovered Kayak last year. A truly exceptional catalog of prog rock, but their line-up has gone through quite a few changes from the original band in the '70s to the reformed one in the '00s.

Kayak went up a gear when Cindy Oudshoorn joined around 2005. She's an amazing singer - to me her voice sounds like a rock'n'roll version of Streisand. Unfortunately she left at the end of 2014.

For anyone interested in sampling Kayak and who likes prog rock, I'd avoid the middle-period stuff from 1976-1980, as they went through a fairly pop-based phase then (although there are a few good songs to be found in there).

Their first two albums "See See the Sun" and "Kayak" are great.

All the modern era stuff since 2000 is good, including three outstanding rock operas which IMHO are the pinnacle of their work ("Merlin - Bard of the Unseen", "Nostradamus - The Fate of Man", and "Cleopatra - The Crown of Isis"). Note that these are sort of prog-musical theatre in style.

Of the remaining "normal" albums, I reckon "Coming up for Air" is probably their best.

[Wombat]

Here is my list for 2014, with Ben Howard's "I Forget Where We Were" as my nominee for the Album Of The Year title.

Finaly got me this one and it is indeed damn good stuff but the Damien Rice i still prefer.

[reinholdk]

Finaly got me this one and it is indeed damn good stuff but the Damien Rice i still prefer.

For me it's the other way round: I now bought Damien Rice and I really like it, but still prefer Ben Howard.

Actually, I've already bought several other CDs based on recommendations here. Guess the best discovery for me up to now was Beck's Morning Phase. But I still have to checkout a lot of the stuff mentioned here.

[JamesGrin]

Cleopatra by Kayak really awesome

[bomboloni]

I bought nearly 60 2014 releases, here are my top three for the year.

Ought - More Than Any Other Day I'm enjoying this as much as I did Talking Heads '77 and Television's Marquee Moon...and they are obvious influences here. Stand out track: More Than Any Other Day

D'Angelo and The Vanguard - Black Messiah I may only understand 10% of the words he is singing, but I believe this record will end up an R&B classic. Stand out track: Betray My Heart

Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots Blur front man has worked on many side projects but this is his first solo effort. Like Beck's release this year it's a quiet one, but it grows on you. Stand out track: Everyday Robots

[reinholdk]

2015 is nearly over, so it's time for an update on this topic.

I've looked over my list of albums for 2015 - I've got 100 with this year's release date - and here are my top ten with Steven Wilson's album on top:

Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase.
Calexico - Edge of the Sun
Passport - En Route
Eric Clapton - Slowhand At 70 - Live At The Royal Albert Hall
Eric Clapton - Forever Man
Ida Sand - Young At Heart
Wolfgang Haffner - Kind Of Cool
Nils Frahm - Solo
Florence + the Machine - How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
David Gilmour - Rattle That Lock

[w3wilkes]

Mark Knopfler - Tracker

[gstalnaker]

2015 is nearly over, so it's time for an update on this topic.

Nils Frahm - Solo

Second this! I like all of his work and this was no exception!