2020 Album Releases

In this I have the top eight albums from the PA Top Album Chart for 2020, eight of the top 11 in the Collab Album of 2020 Chart (I skipped entries already listed from the PA chart and eight of my top 10 (I had two entries already listed in my top eight).

There also is an other "option" option. Please vote for "other" if none of the listed options have much appeal. Please mention as many as you like of what you like both on and off this list if applicable. Thanks. Please try to list your favourite album on the list and not on the list especially if your favourite over-all is not in the options.

Again, no multiple-choice, but mention all your faves in a post if you want to share. The more the merrier. :)

I have given the category at PA for those in PA -- only a couple are not in PA, and those, as must be as I did this, are from my list.

Prog Archives Top Albums of 2022 Chart (CLICK)

1. Wobbler - Dwellers of the Deep (Symph Prog)
2. Scardust - Strangers (Prog Metal)
3. Logos - Sadako e le mille gru di carta (RPI)
4. Motorpsycho -The All Is One (Eclectic Prog)
5. Fish On Friday - Black Rain (Crossover Prog)
6. The Reticent - The Oubliette (Exp./Post Metal)
7. Lazuli - Le fantastique envol de Dieter Böhm (Eclectic Prog)
8. Pendragon - Love Over Fear (Neo-Prog)

2020 Progarchives.com Collaborators' Album of the Year (CLICK)

1. Zopp - Zopp (Canterbury Scene) (ranks in ninth place in PA Top Albums chart)
Wobbler - Dwellers Of The Deep (omitted here in second place due to being #1 in PA Albums chart)
Logos - Sadako e le Mille Gru di Carta (omitted here as it is also third in PA Top Albums chart)
2. JG Thirlwell & Simon Steensland - Oscillospira (RIO/Avant Prog)
Pendragon - Love Over Fear (omitted here due to being in PA Top Albums top eight)
3. Fren - Where Do You Want Ghosts to Reside (Eclectic Prog)
4. Magick Brother and Mystic Sister - Magick Brother and Mystic Sister (Psych/Space Rock)
5. La Maschera di Cera - S.E.I. (RPI)
6. The Flower Kings - Islands (Symph)
7. Fish - Weltschmerz (Neo-Prog)
8. Thy Catafalque - Naiv (Exp./Post Metal)

My eight choices for the poll from my top 10 at Awesomeprog for 2020:

1. Ciśnienie - The Brass Album (with Lod 9) (Post Rock, a "live")
Magick Brother & Mystic Sister - Magick Brother & Mystic Sister (skipped from this poll section due to being in Collab AOTY list)
2. Uboa - The Flesh of the World (in Exp.Post Metal at PA, an EP)
JG Thirlwell & Simon Steensland - Oscillospira (listed before, so not listing again)
3. Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters (Art Pop/ Progressive Pop, not in PA)
4. Anna von Hausswolff - All Thoughts Fly (Crossover)
5. Aksak Maboul - Figures (RIO/ Avant Prog)
6. Klaus Morlock - The Memory Chamber (Progressive Electronic)
7. Omnipotent Youth Society - Inside the Cable Temple (Eclectic Prog)
8. Klô Pelgag - Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs (Art Pop. Singer-Songwriter, not in PA)

Edited by Logan - February 04 2025 at 13:45

Out of those I have to vote for Wobbler, I simply don't know the other releases well enough. 2020 was a year where I just did not listen to music that much, with the pandemic, my daughter being born in the middle of it, getting married and moving from Germany to Sweden all took precedence over music.

I thought that in 2020 I'd have listened to much fewer new prog albums because I didn't do research just to put a list together for album of the year. But in fact I have a good number of 2020 albums, a quite strong year, with the Cisnienie album being the best of the prog crop. Slow Glass by ex-Comsat Angels Stephen Fellows is probably my album  of the year. The Zopp album is very good but maybe a bit too modest and unspectacular to win album of the year. the Motorpsycho album is a quite different beast. I also love what Anna von Hausswolff and Aksak Maboul came up with. Schnellertollermeier - 5 and Arch Garrison - The Bitter Lay are PA albums that I love and that are not listed.

Edited by Lewian - February 04 2025 at 14:48

La Maschera di Cera – S.E.I.

Five of my top seven are here, missing The Tangent and Sonar from that year.
So from my top five hmmm... I think I agree with Ian here in that Thirlwell/Steensland release, and my vote.
I'm surprised how much I like that Pendragon album, then there's Wobbler, Motorpsycho and Zopp.

octopus-4 wrote: Sadako

Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - February 04 2025 at 21:26

Edited by Mirakaze - February 16 2025 at 14:58

I guess I'm a week behind on these polls. Looking at this list, 2020 wasn't a great year for me musically (looking at my lastfm stats, it is considerably lower in listens than prior years). I think I've only heard a few of these albums, a few times. Fiona Apple wins from the list.

Zopp - Zopp