GenPion

I'm going to try and present (in no particular order) my favorite albums of the year:

Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto
Sondre Lerche - Sondre Lerche
M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
Radiohead - The King of Limbs
Justice - Audio, Video, Disco
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake

I still need A She & Him Christmas and Ryan Adams new album. There are probably a few other artists I'm overlooking or forgetting. My most disappointing album of the year is the new DJ Shadow release. It's maybe a slight improvement over The Outsider, but nowhere near the greatness of his first three albums.

printerati

Yes:
The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow
Dark Mean - S/T
Florence + The Machine - Ceremonials
The Head and The Heart - S/T
Okkervil River - I Am Very Far
We Were Promised Jetpacks - In The Pit Of The Stomach
Rachael Yamagata - Chesapeake

No:
Eisley - The Valley
Lights - Siberia
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
The Raveonettes - Raven in the Grave
She & Him - A Very She & Him Christmas
Washed Out - Within and Without

TBD:
The Decemberists, The Jayhawks, St. Vincent, The Submarines

The new Lights album is especially bad, unfortunately.

Traxan

Nightwish - "Imaginaerum". It's out in Europe, close enough

Rocketdog2000

Unlikely, as their lead singer/guitarist and main creative force - Jim Ellison - has been dead for over 15 years now. Also, an odd reference to make, as Urge Overkill didn't even start to gain serious notoriety (even though they'd been around awhile), until after Material Issue had already peaked.

Regardless, that Urge Overkill album is pretty decent - even if it won't make my yearly Top 20.

Sorry you guys didn't dig it. Me, on the other hand, found this to be the first Chili's album since Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magic to truly peak my interest in the band again. Granted, it was very much a grower, and it took many weeks of repeated listening to form that opinion - but now It's definitely one of my faves of the year.

Still too soon for me to give a firm list of what the rest of my Top picks are.

There's also nothing that really springs to mind that I was disappointed with. Off hand, if I had to pick something, I'd say it was Ryan Adams - Ashes and Fire album. Not that there was anything particularly bad about it - but it was just so damn boring, and too mellow. I need a really good "rocking" album from Ryan again.

Artman

Not enough for a top ten, but my favs:

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Beirut - Rip Tide
Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
Dum Dum Girls - Only in Dreams

I would include the Head & the Heart but it was released independently last year.

atlantamoi

Yeah, found the Urge Overkill laugh a little odd. I didn't hear their latest album, but they were (are) a damn fine band. I disagree with your take on RHCP. That to me is something to giggle about. I really wish they'd just hang it up. R.E.M. released what is probably the most disappointing album of 2011 to me. I think it's borderline awful. My favorite song is the shortest and it's just a toss off track. It really sounds like a band parodying itself. It's so weird to hear a band that easily fits in my top ten of all time being something that annoys me now. Guess I won't have to worry about that anymore!

Rocketdog2000

I'm as much surprised as anyone how much I ended up enjoying the RHCP album. I'd written them off some time ago, and didn't think I'd ever buy an album by them again. On first listen, I wasn't impressed at all, and truthfully, thought nothing really stood out on it. Yep, just another Chili's album. It really did take quite some many listens, and then something about it just changed for me, and I found myself really enjoying it. It went from "yeah, whatever" to "this isn't so bad" to "damn, I think I'm actually really liking this". Little bits and pieces I didn't notice before started to stand out and and grab me, and I started appreciating songs like "Happiness Loves Company" (which sounds like nothing they've really done before), "Police Station" and "Goodbye Hooray". Anytime a record can do that to me, it's gonna get a thumbs up in my book. So there you have it.

Aegean2007

1. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
2. Bon Iver - Bon Iver
3. Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
4. Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica
5. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
6. Washed Out - Within and Without
7. Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo
8. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
9. Balam Acab - Wander/Wonder
10. Tune-Yards - Whokill

11. The Field - Looping State of Mind
12. M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
13. Sandro Perri - Impossible Spaces
14. Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow
15. Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact
16. The Antlers - Burst Apart
17. Big K.R.I.T. - Return of 4Eva
18. Destroyer - Kaputt
19. Wild Beasts - Smother
20. Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972

Ephemeral_Life

No Love for Steel Panther - Balls Out?

CRM114

I didn't analyze my statement too much. I just used to listen to both bands back in the day. Seems International Pop Overthrow and Saturation were two years apart. Not sure where I am that far off since I was probably listening to both albums at the same time.

By the way, I included Ryan Adams on my Top 11 precisely because it is mellow with some beautiful songs on it.

Thanks. I think I like this even though her name invokes a pornstar, new wave singer vibe.

rbrown498

I also haven't kept up with new music as I should have this year, so I'll just toss out my top three that I've heard this year, in no particular order:

Torches--Foster the People
Ximena Sarinana--Ximena Sarinana
Decorate (EP)--Yuna

Giles

I'm a little tad annoyed that as a birthday present I got only the song 'Pumped Up Kicks' from the Foster the People album - I would liked the whole album since I also like 'Helena Beat'

Liver&Onions

This is my #1 album of the year.

Typhoon - A new kind of house
http://open.spotify.com/album/4rw4THkFteabe3ArA5TWYc

Throwing Copper

Bon Iver Bon Iver
The Civil Wars Barton Hollow
The Decemberists The King is Dead
The Roots Undun

Adam Tyner

I'll be the first person to mention Johnny Foreigner's "Johnny Foreigner vs. Everything". Chaotic, punk-spiked, gloriously noisy, yet impossibly, infectiously melodic at the same time.

Sloan's "Double Cross" is probably holding down the #2 spot...easily their best since "Between the Bridges" more than a decade ago.

Rocketdog2000

And while I haven't listed any other picks (yet), I can say without a doubt that Sloan's The Double Cross is my #1 album of the year!

Mikael79

Radiohead - The King of Limbs
The Decemberists - The King is Dead

I know Radiohead is on a lot of Worst lists, but I really have grown to enjoy it.

nmr1723

In no particular order...

Blind Pilot - We are the Tide
The Dears - Degeneration Street
Bon Iver - Bon Iver
Zee Avi - Ghostbird
The Givers - In Light
Telekinesis - 12 Straight Desperate Lines (grew on me...)
Florence and the Machine - Ceremonials
Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah - Hysterical

Sitting in my queue: Wilco, The Black Keys, Okervill River

asianxcore

The Civil Wars' 'Barton Hollow' has been my absolute favorite album of 2011.

Highfire

I'm sad that, as far as I can tell, no one has listed TV on the Radio's Nine Types of Light. This is by far my favorite album I have heard this year from one of the most consistent bands working today.

Other favorites in no particular order:

Bon Iver- Bon Iver
Adele- 21
Foster The People- Torches
The Antlers- Burst Apart
Childish Gambino- Camp
Coldplay- Mylo Xyloto
Beyonce- 4
Dawes- Nothing Is Wrong
The Decemberists- The King Is Dead
Manchester Orchestra- Simple Math
My Morning Jacket- Circuital
Middle Brother- Middle Brother
Smith Westerns- Dye It Blonde

Albums I loved the first time around, but haven't revisited to see if they hold up:

Akron/Family- S/T II: The Cosmic Birth And Journey Of Shinju TNT
The Dodos- No Color
Ha Ha Tonka- Death of a Decade
The Head and the Heart- The Head and The Heart
The Belle Brigade- The Belle Brigade
Beirut- The Rip Tide
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah- Hysterical
Rubblebucket- Omega La La
The Twilight Singers- Dynamite Steps
Yawn- Open Season
The Civil Wars- Barton Hollow
Givers- In Light

There are probably a few that slipped my mind and there are several releases I still need to give a listen.

Hiro11

Just listened to the new Wye Oak album. This will probably be on my final list.

CRM114

Amazon's Top 100 is posted.

- Wilco album is #80 (!)
- Dawes album not on the list

Their Top 10:
1. Adele
2. Bon Iver
3. Decemberists
4. James Blake
5. Civil Wars
6. Cut Copy
7. Cults
8. Little Dragon
9. tUnE-yArDs
10. Foo Fighers

bunkaroo

I'm 0 for 100 on the Amazon list. And that's the way I likes it!

CRM114

Father, Son, Holy Ghost by Girls should probably be in my Top 11.

I but the Bon Iver CD on my Amazon wish list. Maybe someone will get it for me so I can check it out. I wasn't impressed enough with their first album to buy another one.

Tarantino

My faves...

Rap - Jay & Ye: Watch The Throne
Rock - blink182: Neighborhoods