Maidenfans Best Albums of the Millennium: 2017

[Mosh]

Final Power Ranking

1. Ayreon - The Source +7
2. Unleash the Archers - Apex -1
3. Pain of Salvation - In the Light of the Passing Day +4
4. Blaze Bayley - Endure and Survive +2
5. Iced Earth - Incorruptible -2
6. Soen - Laikaia -2
7. Mastodon - Emperor of Sand -5
8. Kreator - Gods of Violence -3
9. Wintersun - The Forest Seasons -2
10. Ne Obliviscaris - Urn +4
11. Elder - Reflections From the Floating World -1
12. Enslaved - E -1
13. Ball Noir - Lost Serenades -1
14. Ulver - The Assassination of Julius Caesar -1

A bit of a late surge for Ayreon gives Arjen's project its first win! This is somewhat surprising given Ayreon's relative lack of popularity here, but I think a sizable chunk of Ayreon fans plus low turnout ended up being the winning combination. This was Unleash the Archer's game to lose and it was close but ultimately Ayreon had bigger support. Pain of Salvation also had an impressive showing in the top 3 and narrowly staving off a close run from Blaze. Mastodon is once again rejected and Iced Earth is met with a resounding meh yet again. Mastodon is no doubt the biggest loser here, although Kreator also had a pretty unimpressive showing. Ne Obliviscaris had a low ceiling but managed to sneak out of the lower tier with one of the larger jumps this year.

@Mosh Any chance of recording the Apex vote I would've cast had I been awake at 5am?

If I did it wouldn't make a difference.

 

[Detective Beauregard]

I love UtA, but they just can’t compare to the greatness that is The Source. Oddly, I’m not a huge fan of Ayreon’s other material. There’s some good tracks here and there, but nothing I’ve heard is as consistent as this album.