Favorite Album From Each Year

and I don't like Dream Theater tbh
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Finishing up my list...

2000: Iron Maiden - Brave New World
2001: Tool - Lateralus
2002: Dream Theater - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
2003 Dream Theater - Train of Thought
2004: Mastodon - Leviathan
2005: Gojira - From Mars to Sirius
2006: Iron Maiden - A Matter of Life and Death
2007: Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos
2008: Metallica - Death Magnetic
2009: Mastodon - Crack the Skye

2010: Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier
2011: Machine Head - Unto the Locust
2012: Gojira - L'Enfant Sauvage
2013: Alice in Chains - The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here
2014 :Machine Head - Bloodstone and Diamonds
2015: Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls
2016: Megadeth - Dystopia
2017: Mastodon - Emperor of Sand
2018: Alice in Chains- Rainier Fog

Sidenotes:
- 2012 was so weak! Don't even like that Gojira album very much.
- 2007 was bad too. Toss up between the DT album and a Machine Head album
- In 2009 Crack the Skye barely beats Alice in Chains out
- Blackwater Park (one of my favorite albums ever) unfortunately had very tough competition against Lateralus
- No Ghost or Sabaton. All of them had unfortunate matchups
- Iron Maiden. Four times!
- 2015 to 2018 has been very good!
 
Rust In Peace? Even Seasons In The Abyss is a bit more cohesive than Painkiller.

I'll take Painkiller over any of those, anyday.

But it's very true that some years could be considered "stronger" than others. For example, of the albums Iced Earth has released with Stu Block my personal pick is actually Plagues of Babylon, and yet it's the only one of those three not present on my list - due to the presence of Sanctuary last release with Warrel Dane, The Year the Sun Died, which is simply flawless, and deserves the top spot in 2014.
Likewise, my favourite Candlemass album, King of the Grey Islands, isn't featured either, but it's tough when it's up against Paradise Lost from Symphony X. I'd say 2007 was one of the toughest years in general - I also considered Reverend Bizarre's III: So Long Suckers, Nightwish's Dark Passion Play and Dream Theater's Systematic Chaos.

I almost picked Leif Edling's Songs of Torment, Songs of Joy for 2008, but Death Magnetic is still as enjoyable today as when it came out (loudness war aside), and I will firmly defend it as the only good thing Metallica has released since The Black Album.

On the other hand, I had a different kind of trouble with 2013 - Newsted's Heavy Metal Music isn't that brilliant compared to some of the other top entries, but there wasn't much competition that year either.
 
Only voting for stuff I own:

1975: Vangelis - Albedo 0.39
1976: Boston - Boston
1977: Rush - A Farewell To Kings
1978: Rush - Hemispheres
1979: AC/DC - Highway To Hell

1980: AC/DC - Back In Black
1981: Def Leppard - HighN’ Dry
1982: Judas Priest - Screaming For Vengeance
1983: Iron Maiden - Piece Of Mind
1984: Iron Maiden - Powerslave
1985: Rush - Power Windows
1986: Metallica - Master Of Puppets
1987: Def Leppard - Hysteria
1988: Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime
1989: Phil Collins - ...But Seriously

1990: Depeche Mode - Violator
1991: N.W.A. - Niggaz4life
1992: Alice In Chains - Dirt
1993: Jesus Jones - Perverse
1994: Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
1995: Gamma Ray - Land Of The Free
1996: Bruce Dickinson - Skunkworks
1997: Skyclad - The Answer Machine?
1998: Bruce Dickinson - The Chemical Wedding
1999: Gamma Ray - Powerplant

2000: Skyclad - Folkémon
2001: Vangelis - Mythodea
2002: Luca Turilli - Prophet Of The Last Eclipse
2003: Live - Birds Of Pray
2004: Megadeth - The System Has Failed
2005: Bruce Dickinson - Tyranny Of Souls
2006: Iron Maiden - A Matter Of Life And Death
2007: Powerwolf - Lupus Dei
2008: Judas Priest - Nostradamus
2009: Megadeth - Endgame

2010: Mekong Delta - Wanderer On The Edge Of Time
2011: Powerwolf - Blood Of The Saints
2012: Primal Rock Rebellion - Awoken Broken
2013: Powerwolf - Preachers Of The Night
2014: Mekong Delta - In A Mirror Darkly
2015: Iron Maiden - The Book Of Souls
2016: Metallica - Hardwired...To Self-Destruct
2017: Ball Noir - Lost Serenades
2018: Powerwolf - The Sacrament Of Sin

2011 and 2018 were particularly weak years, so the Powerwolf albums in those cases aren’t all that great, but they’re the best of what I own.
 
Kept my list at a max of 2/year in the event I couldn't choose between them. Avoided most live albums but there are a few I couldn't keep off.

1969 - Led Zeppelin I
1970 - Deep Purple In Rock/Black Sabbath Paranoid
1971 - Led Zeppelin IV
1972 - Deep Purple Machine Head
1973 - Led Zeppelin Houses of the Holy
1974 - Deep Purple Burn/Scorpions Fly to The Rainbow
1975 - Rainbow Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow/Scorpions In Trance
1976 - Boston Boston/Rainbow Rising
1977 - AC/DC Let There Be Rock
1978 - AC/DC Powerage/Scorpions Tokyo Tapes
1979 - Scorpions Lovedrive/UFO Strangers In The Night
1980 - Black Sabbath Heaven and Hell/AC/DC Back in Black
1981 - Black Sabbath The Mob Rules
1982 - Iron Maiden The Number of the Beast/Scorpions Blackout
1983 - Def Leppard Pyromania/Dio Holy Diver
1984 - Scorpions Love At First Sting/Iron Maiden Powerslave
1985 - Iron Maiden Live After Death/Scorpions World Wide Live
1986 - Bon Jovi Slippery When Wet/Iron Maiden Somewhere In Time
1987 - Whitesnake 1987/Guns N Roses Appetite for Destruction
1988 - Iron Maiden Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son/Queensryche Operation:Mindcrime
1989 - Whitesnake Slip Of The Tongue/Skid Row Skid Row
 
1974 Rush – Rush
1975 Rush – Fly by Night
1976 Rush – 2112
1977 Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
1978 AC/DC – Powerage
1979 AC/DC – Highway to Hell

1980 Iron Maiden – Iron Maiden
1981 Rush – Moving Pictures
1982 Iron Maiden – The Number of the Beast
1983 Iron Maiden – Piece of Mind
1984 Metallica – Ride the Lightning
1985 Anthrax – Spreading the Disease
1986 Megadeth – Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?
1987 Helloween – Keeper of the Seven Keys part I
1988 Helloween – Keeper of the Seven Keys part II
1989 Blind Guardian – Follow the Blind

1990 Megadeth – Rust in Peace
1991 Metallica – Metallica
1992 Blind Guardian – Somewhere Far Beyond
1993 Savatage – Edge of Thorns
1994 Dream Theater – Awake
1995 Blind Guardian – Imaginations From The Other Side
1996 In Flames – Jester Race
1997 In Flames – Whoracle
1998 Blind Guardian – Nightfall in Middle-Earth
1999 Dream Theater – Scenes From A Memory

2000 In Flames – Clayman
2001 Iced Earth – Horror Show
2002 Dream Theater – Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
2003 Avenged Sevenfold – Waking the Fallen
2004 Killswitch Engage – The End of Heartache
2005 Kreator – Enemy of God
2006 Iron Maiden – A Matter of Life and Death
2007 As I Lay Dying – An Ocean Between Us
2008 Gojira – The Way of All Flesh
2009 Delain – April Rain

2010 Avantasia – The Wicked Symphony
2011 Dream Theater – A Dramatic Turn of Events
2012 Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage
2013 Alter Bridge – Fortress
2014 Delain – The Human Contradiction
2015 The Gentle Storm – The Diary
2016 Anthrax – For All Kings
2017 Vuur – In This Moment We Are Free
2018 Purest of Pain - Sollipsis

For the first few years I have barely any albums so a few of the 70s albums are there by default. Some years were pretty damn hard to pick, such as 1992 which had strong albums from Blind Guardian, Dream Theater and Iced Earth. Other years were quite weak, such has 2009 which I have several albums from (e.g. Megadeth, Dream Theater, Sepultura etc.) but none of them stick out at me - I don't even like 'April Rain' a huge amount either.
 
Had a bit of a rethink

1980: Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
1981: Rush - Moving Pictures (yes, like everyone else)
1982: Maiden - The Number of the Beast
1983: Maiden - Piece of Mind
1984: Judas Priest - Defenders of the Faith
1985: Virgin Steele - Noble Savage
1986: Maiden - Somewhere in Time
1987: Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part One
1988: Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
1989: Black Sabbath - Headless Cross
 
Should probably get around to doing the 2000's

2000: Maiden - Brave New World
2001: Rhapsody of Fire - Rain of a Thousand Flames (pretty weak year tbh)
2002: Nightwish - Century Child
2003: Epica - The Phantom Agony
2004: Mastodon - Leviathan
2005: Arch Enemy - Doomsday Machine
2006: Maiden - A Matter of Life and Death
2007: Epica - The Divine Conspiracy
2008: Amon Amarth - Twilight of the Thunder God
2009: Mastodon - Crack the Skye
 
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