I often look back on each year not in terms of what were the best albums released that year, but rather what did I BUY that year that really knocked me out.   

Usually too, each year there's one single band/artist that I discover for the first time that becomes my "best discovery of the year".

Here's some of my "Best of 2012", please share your own, and make up appropriate "awards" or categories as you see fit.

 

Francis Lickerish ~ Far and Forgot - From The Lost Lands

Some 30 years ago Lickerish left The Enid and dropped off the face of the music world. He returned with Secret Green, an fully-fledged Prog band cast from the same stuff that made The Enid such a cult band back in the dying throws of the so-called classic era of Prog. This year he's released Far and Forgot - a solo album in a similar vein that oozes music with a capital "Mmmmm"

 

The Enid ~ Invicta

Back in1975 The Enid emerged as an instrumental Prog band forging symphonic rock that was truely infused with classical music that was more integral and germaine to the music than any of the big names in symphonic Prog could ever hope to achieve. However, they never intended to be an instrumental band even though for the next 38 years they released predominately instrumental albums with the occasional "novelty" vocal song, sadly their original singer commited suicide just before they recorded their debut album. Now they have found a suitable replacement in Joe Payne and have released a vocal-driven album. As someone who has been a fan of The Enid ever since I purchased the Buk Records release of In The Region Of The Summer Stars, I found this hard to take at first, but the effort to overcome my initial reticence was worth it - it's a great album - one that looks forward not back, an album that isnt dragging it's heals in the past that never happened.

 

Threshold ~ March of Progress

I love progressive metal. Damnint, I love metal, and for me Threshold are one of the leading lights of the Prog Metal scene - never flash, never overstated, always thoughtful and well crafted, a testament to Karl Groom's skill as a musician, composer and studio wizard. I also love Damian Wilson's vocal abilities, he's also a bloody nice bloke, full of charm and wit, so his return to Threshold was a welcome one for me and this album does not dissapoint.

 

Storm Corrosion ~ Storm Corrosion

A collaboration by two of the leading lights of the modern Prog scene was always going to receive mixed reactions from the fans, the intelligentsia and the Prog community in general. From the die hards who love everything Wilson and Akerfeldt touch to the naysayers who would find fault at any cost few would have predicted exactly what this collaboration would produce, a sum of the parts, something more or a train-wreck, all things were possible and anything was possible. It's eclectic and esoteric, it's sometimes dull, it's sometimes enthralling, it's different, and for this listener, it's captivating and immensely pleasurable in a gloomy Wednesday kind of way.

 

Gabby Young and Other Animals ~ The Band Called Out For More

I love Ms Young and her cabaret jazz-pop (dubbed circus-swing for the want of a more apt tag), her first album was a revelation and this sophomore release just gets better and better with every play. I saw her live a while back and the moment I heard A Male Version Of Me my heart melted.

 

iamamiwhoami ~ Kin

iamamiwhoami is an ambient-eclectro-dream-pop-trip-hop-synth-pop mutli-media project by Sweden's Jonna Lee and is basically a box-ticker for everything I love about this kind of music.

 

Swans ~ The Seer

Like - wow! with extra wow on top. Swans was one of my favourite post-punk bands of the 80s and 90s and now 15 years on Michael Gira reforms Swans and releases what is shaping up to be one of their strongest albums.

 

Rick Wakeman ~ Journey To The Centre Of The Earth

The original Journey was flawed simply because it was recored live. Back in 1974 even with the success of Six Wives and his contribution to the success of Yes, his record company wouldn't foot the bill for a studio recording of this ambitious project. How the times have changed, now with the backing of Classic Rock magazine Wakeman has produced the definitive studio recording so we can hear his vision as it was intended. Some do not like the addition of a female singer, and from the strictly male-oriented make-up of Jules Verne's story it would be incongruous on paper, but given the vocal range of the original live singer she has replaced, I think it works perfectly. Unfortunately on the strength of this I purchased Hayley Sanderson's solo album, which also features Wakeman's keyboards, I say unfortunate because it's a dire MOR disappointment of cover songs poorly interpreted.

 

my best new discovery and the only album released this year that really blew me away.

 

For slighly older releases then worth a mention is Pallas - The Dreams Of Men as recommended by someone on here to me. Will likely become a favourite album of mine. Never liked Pallas before but this is a beauty.

 

Alquin - Nobody Can Wait Forever

Alquin - Best.Kept.Secret

Big Big Train - English Electric (Part One)

 

and maybe one or two more last year (in that case, I can't remember which ones now).

Next purchase will be (as I guess):

echolyn's self-titled 2012 masterpiece

 

Yes, it's good, isn't it?

I never tried out Best Kept Secret, though.

My biggest discovery: Maxophone's self-titled album, the Italian version.

I tried out many albums, but have trouble finding real discoveries.

No problem, I keep on searching. 

Extremely heavy for its time, and I really haven't heard much like it before (though early Swans comes close). This album has also inspired me to pursue the rest of the discography as well as all 68390 of JK Broadrick's projects.

 

Also, I bought 3 Richard Marx albums, 'Repeat Offender', 'Rush Street' and 'Paid Vacation', that I really love.