And of course their new side project Liquid Tension Experiment came out on the heals of Falling Into Infinity, a polarizing record for many. LTE though most loved, and I will admit I did enjoy then, but probably more now as I wasn't as into instrumental rock music up until that point.
But looking at the rankings and calendar, 1998 was quite a deep year, compared to some other years. But at the same time, there doesn't seem to be any all-time favorites.
dredg's Leitmotif is a great debut album, quite original and does not overstay its welcome. And I came to learn about its cool concept/story after enjoying it for awhile. I suppose by default, and my love of dredg, it is my favorite album from 1998. But it's interesting scanning the list, many of the other albums I could easily rank higher than it, as many are albums that are my favorites from said artists (Superior, Jeff Buckley, Chroma Key, VAST, Mansun, Platypus, Pushmonkey).
But it's splitting hairs I guess. I look at this year and calendar as having many (20-25 or more) very good, 3.5-4 star albums. With a few at least bordering on 4.5.
In other words, not Top Heavy, but DEEP and in a matter of speaking.
1. dredg - Leitmotif
2. Liquid Tension Experiment - Liquid Tension Experiment
3. Superior - Younique
4. Pain of Salvation - One Hour by the Concrete Lake
5. Jeff Buckley - Sketches (For My Sweetheart the Drunk)
6. Marillion - Radiation
7. Shadow Gallery - Tyranny
8. Enchant - Break
9. Angra - Fireworks
10. Chroma Key - Dead Air for Radios
11. Mansun - Six
12. Fates Warning - Still Life
13. Galactic Cowboys - At the End of the Day
14. VAST - Visual Audio Sensory Theater
15. Spock's Beard - The Kindness of Strangers
16. Poncho Sanchez - Afro Cuban Fantasy
17. Platypus - When Pus Comes to Shove
18. King's X - Tape Head
19. Valinor's Tree - Kingdom of Sadness
20. Pushmonkey - Pushmonkey
21. Sculptured - The Spear of the Lily Is Aureoled
22. The Gathering - How to Measure a Planet?
23. Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come
24. Ty Tabor - Moonflower Lane
25. Marillion and the Positive Light - Tales from the Engine Room
26. Steve Hackett - The Tokyo Tapes
27. Soundscape - Man and Machine [EP]
28. Rush - Different Stages
29, Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse
30. White Willow - Ex Tenebris
31. Without Warning - Step Beyond
32. Power of Omens - Eyes of the Oracle
33. OHO - Ecce OHO
34. Vincent Gallo - Buffalo '66 Soundtrack
35. Imogen Heap - I Megaphone
36. Al Di Meola - The Infinite Desire
37, Gorguts - Obscura
38. Wondermints - Bali
39. System of a Down - System of a Down
40. sElf - Brunch [EP]
41. The Rubinoos - Paleophonic
42. Poundhound - Massive Grooves from the Electric Church of Psychofunkadelic Grungelism Rock Music43. Dream Theater - Once in a Livetime
44. At the Drive-In - In/Casino/Out
45. New Radicals - Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too
46. Metropolis - Shadows of the Past
47. Lenny Kravitz - 5
48. Lorde of All Desires - The Scent of Malevolence
49. Van Halen - Van Halen III
Poncho Sanchez - Afro Cuban Fantasy
rel January 1, 1998
Thinking Plague - In Extremis
rel January 1, 1998
Shpongle - Are You Shpongled?
\rel January 25, 1998
Freak Kitchen - Freak Kitchen
rel January 26, 1998
Dixie Chicks - Wide Open Spaces
rel January 27, 1998
Marillion and the Positive Light - Tales from the Engine Room
rel January 1998
Madonna - Ray of Light
rel February 22, 1998
Ty Tabor - Moonflower Lane
rel February 24, 1998
Liquid Tension Experiment - Liquid Tension Experiment
rel March 10, 1998
Van Halen - Van Halen III
rel March 17, 1998
Malice Mizer - Merveilles
rel March 18, 1998
Sculptured - The Spear of the Lily Is Aureoled
rel March 1998
Arena - The Visitor
rel April 20, 1998
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant - Walking Into Clarksdale
rel April 21, 1998
Steve Hackett - The Tokyo Tapes
rel April 27, 1998
Blind Guardian - Nightfall in Middle-Earth
rel April 28, 1998
Josh Rouse - Dressed Up Like Nebraska
rel April 28, 1998
VAST - Visual Audio Sensory Theater
rel April 28, 1998
Julian Lennon - Photograph Smile
rel May 4, 1998
Lenny Kravitz - 5
rel May 12, 1998
Spock's Beard - Kindness of Strangers
rel May 19, 1998
Jeff Buckley - Sketches (For My Sweetheart the Drunk)
rel May 26, 1998
Sloan - Navy Blues
rel May 26, 1998
dredg - Leitmotif
rel May 30, 1998
Superior - Younique
rel May 1998
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - Left of Cool
rel June 9, 1998
Vital Tech Tones - Vital Tech Tones
rel June 9, 1998
Imogen Heap - I Megaphone
rel June 16, 1998
Anathema - Alternative 4
rel June 22, 1998
Gorguts - Obscura
rel June 23, 1998
The Rubinoos - Paleophonic
rel June 26, 1998
System of a Down - System of a Down
rel June 30, 1998
Power of Omens - Eyes of the Oracle
rel June 1998
Vincent Gallo - Buffalo '66 Soundtrack
rel July 7, 1998
Angra - Fireworks
rel July 14, 1998
Pain of Salvation - One Hour by the Concrete Lake
rel July 21, 1998
Explorer's Club - Age of Impact
rel July 28, 1998
The Appleseed Cast - The End of the Ring Wars
rel August 11, 1998
Poundhound - Massive Grooves from the Electric Church of Psychofunkadelic Grungelism Rock Music
rel August 11, 1998
At the Drive-In - In/Casino/Out
rel August 18, 1998
Al Di Meola - The Infinite Desire
rel August 18, 1998
Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse
rel August 18, 1998
Enchant - Break
rel August 25, 1998
Platypus - When Pus Comes to Shove
rel August 25, 1998
Mansun - Six
rel September 7, 1998
The Church - Hologram of Baal
rel September 8, 1998
Death - The Sound of Perseverance
rel September 15, 1998
Pushmonkey - Pushmonkey
rel September 15, 1998
Trans Siberian Orchestra - The Christmas Attic
rel September 15, 1998
Marillion - Radiation
rel September 21, 1998
Mastermind - Excelsior!
rel September 21, 1998
Galactic Cowboys - At the End of the Day
rel September 22, 1998
Shadow Gallery - Tyranny
rel September 22, 1998
Fates Warning - Still Life
rel October 6, 1998
New Radicals - Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too
rel October 16, 1998
Five Fifteen - Six Dimensions of the Electric Camembert
rel October 18, 1998
King's X - Tape Head
rel October 20, 1998
Devin Townsend - Infinity
rel October 21, 1998
Cobweb Strange - Sound from the Gathering
rel October 23, 1998
Dream Theater - Once in a LIVEtime
rel October 27, 1998
Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come
rel October 27, 1998
Ayreon - Into the Electric Castle - A Space Opera
rel October 31, 1998
The Gathering - How to Measure a Planet?
rel November 9, 1998
Rush - Different Stages
rel November 10, 1998
Metallica - Garage Inc.
rel November 23, 1998
D.C. Cooper - D.C. Cooper
rel December 9, 1998
Ulver - Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
rel December 17, 1998
Chroma Key - Dead Air for Radios
rel December 16, 1998
Blue Canoe - II
rel 1998
Bruford Levin Upper Extremities - Bruford Levin Upper Extremities
rel 1998
Deus Ex Machina - Equilibrismo da insofferenza
rel 1998
Lorde of All Desires - The Scent of Malevolence
rel 1998
Metropolis - Shadows of the Past
rel 1998
Mostly Autumn - For All We Shared...
rel 1998
OHO - Ecce OHO
rel 1998
Steve Smith, Tom Coster and Larry Coryell - Cause and Effect
rel 1998
Soundscape - Man and Machine [EP]
rel 1998
Valinor's Tree - Kingdom of Sadness
rel 1998
White Willow - Ex Tenebris
rel 1998
Without Warning - Step Beyond
rel 1998
Wondermints - Bali
rel 1998
So that does it for the 1980's and 1990's Albums Calendars. I'll add something in a bit about the plans coming up. But in here, it does give me a sense of accomplishment to finish off 2 more decades worth of these and seeing the light finally at the end of the tunnel.
