The purpose of this feature is to give you an unbiased and diverse look at what the StonerRock.com Community thought were the best albums released in the year 2009. Well, as diverse as possible considering that we`re mostly die-hard heavy rock fans! We`ve provided a total of 3 lists to ensure as much diversity as possible. The first list was compiled from a poll (via our Top 29 Albums of 2009 contest) conducted among the general members of the StonerRock.com Community, the next list is from an individual StonerRock.com Community Member (the winner of the Top 29 Albums of 2009 contest), and the final list was compiled by the Editor-in-Chief here at StonerRock.com, John Pegoraro (aka Arzgarth). We hope these lists provide new fans with ideas for which albums they should pick up first and the die-hard fans with a list of great albums that they`re missing out on.
A great many of the albums listed below are available for purchase in our All That is Heavy store. Those that are available will be linked directly to that album in the store or you can just click here to go to the main page of the store. Sorry for the shameless self promotion but it`s the sales from the store that keep StonerRock.com online - if it weren`t for those sales we wouldn`t be able to bring you this feature. Please support StonerRock.com by doing some of your record shopping with us.
And now onto the feature, starting with the StonerRock.com Community Top 29 Albums of 2009.
StonerRock.com Community Top 29 Albums of 2009
Between January 1st and 31st, 2009 we ran a contest on StonerRock.com that our community members could enter by submitting their "Top 10 Albums of 2009" lists. This was run like a poll. There were hundreds of lists submitted this year and we painstakingly went through every list and compiled a master list and then alloted points based on a fair criteria.
- Mastodon - Crack The Skye (2185 Pts)
- Baroness - Blue Record (1804 Pts)
- Shrinebuilder - Shrinebuilder (1789 Pts)
- Kylesa - Static Tensions (1215 Pts)
- Clutch - Strange Cousins From The West (1155 Pts)
- Om - God Is Good (1124 Pts)
- Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures (1047 Pts)
- Yob - The Great Cessation (923 Pts)
- Black Pyramid - Black Pyramid (701 Pts)
- Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions (680 Pts)
- Isis - Wavering Radiant (654 Pts)
- Church Of Misery - Houses Of The Unholy (636 Pts)
- Fu Manchu - Signs Of Infinite Power (585 Pts)
- Wino - Punctauted Equilibrium (490 Pts)
- Big Business - Mind The Drift (457 Pts)
- Converge - Axe To Fall (445 Pts)
- Alice In Chains - Black Gives Way To Blue (434 Pts)
- Pelican - What We All Come To Need (421 Pts)
- Astra - The Weirding (416 Pts)
- Ancestors - Of Sound Mind (388 Pts)
- Black Cobra - Chronomega (381 Pts)
- Truckfighters - Mania (361 Pts)
- Slayer - World Painted Blood (333 Pts)
- Nebula - Heavy Psych (329 Pts)
- The Company Band - The Company Band (320 Pts)
- Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg (276 Pts)
- Radio Moscow - Brain Cycles (268 Pts)
- Snail - Blood (261 Pts)
- Naam - Naam (259 Pts)
Click here to view the Community Top Albums Master List - Contains all albums that were voted for by StonerRock.com Community Members in the "Top 29 Albums of 2009" contest....
Click here to view the Community Top 29 Albums of 2009 - Contains all of the individual entries submitted to our Top 29 Albums of 2009 contest!
Contest Winner`s Top Albums of 2009 List
In a random drawing SGDan of the United States was selected as the lucky winner of our "Top 29 Albums of 2009" contest. As part of his prize (which also included his choice of $290 worth of stuff from our All That is Heavy store) his "Top 10 Albums of 2009" list that he submitted is being included as part of this feature, so here it is:
SGDan`s Top 10 Albums of 2009
(Top 29 Albums of 2009 Contest Winner)
So, this may have been better than Christmas. Being able to stock up on some awesome music all at once was beyond great. As for the list, it`s not really changed since I wrote it a few months ago. All of the albums were all albums that I thought had some great music on them, regardless if it was innovative. As long music sounds good, it is good to me. This list just a snapshot of what I thought kicked the most ass in 2009.
- Heaven and Hell - The Devil You Know
- Mastodon - Crack the Skye
- Shrinebuilder - Self Titled
- Om - God is Good
- Wino - Punctuated Equilibrium
- Black Pyramid - Self Titled
- Church of Misery - Houses of the Unholy
- Naam - Self titled
- Firebird - Grand Union
- Nebula - Heavy Psych
Arzgarth`s Top 10 Albums of 2009
(Arzgarth is the Editor-in-Chief of StonerRock.com)
So after almost six years, I`m hanging up the Editor-in-Chief hat, making this the last time I`ll cobble together a Top 10 list whittled down from a couple hundred albums. I`m both saddened and relieved by this.
Sure, I`ll miss the accessibility to all these bands. With a few rare exceptions, I stand by what I wrote, and really, there are far worse things than being guilty of a charitable review or two. And without this job, I never would have had the opportunity to delve as deeply into the various genres and subgenres that fall under the ever-expanding StonerRock.com umbrella. I didn`t like everything I heard, but I don`t regret the time spent listening to it all.
But as this year`s list shows, there comes a time when you have to draw a line and refuse to step past it. With the exception of Astra`s The Weirding, my Top 10 of 2009 reflects my musical comfort food. It`s most obvious with the classic rock revivalism of Stone Axe, who clock in at number one and two (it was a toss-up between their two albums; ultimately I went with the record that featured all new material, even though Extended Play`s "Ain`t Gonna Miss It" is by far the best song of theirs); AC/DC`s extravagant box set of rarities, live performances, and suitably tacky music videos; and Alice in Chains` well-done comeback, but also with the top shelf stoner jams of Causa Sui and the heavier-than-thou doom of Yob. In between there`s the psychedelic soup of Black Math Horseman, the phenomenally talented Elder - who wins Thee Best Riff of 2009 with "Riddle of Steel Part 1" - and Black Pyramid, a band that definitely deserves all the praise its gotten and then some. As for Astra, the wild, wonderful The Weirding goes to show that even the most die-hard loud, dumb rock guy can make room for challenging prog.
As always, there are a host of albums that didn`t make the cut. Small Stone Records usually gets at least one in my Top 10, but that wasn`t the case this past year. It probably didn`t help that I spent the latter half of the 2009 listening to The Brought Low`s and Sasquatch`s 2010 releases, and all of it wondering what the fuck was up with Solace`s A.D.. I never bothered with Them Crooked Vultures and Clutch`s Strange Cousins from the West was too workmanlike to register. On the heavier side of things, Baroness` Blue Record and Shrinebuilder`s debut are still awaiting final verdicts, and I couldn`t get into Kylesa or Mastodon at all. Besides, as far as metal albums go, I`d rather listen to Fiftywatthead`s Fogcutter, an album that should`ve cracked my 2008 top three had I heard it the year it was released, than any of the ones released in 2009. Yeah, it`s that good.
Bands like that and those on my Top 10 list are what made it all worthwhile. If I have to thank anyone for the past five-plus years, it`s them for their creativity and talent.
- Stone Axe - Stone Axe
- Stone Axe - Extended Play
- Black Math Horseman - Wyllt
- Causa Sui - Summer Sessions Vol. 1-3
- Elder - Elder
- Astra - The Weirding
- Black Pyramid - Black Pyramid
- Yob - The Great Cessation
- AC/DC - Backtracks
- Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way to Blue
Dan & Melanie`s Top 29 Albums of 2009
(aka El Danno & Hellmistress. Dan and Melanie are the owners of StonerRock.com)
Due to the fact that we now own our own record label we will no longer be compiling our own Top Albums of the Year lists.
