1. Tame Impala – "Currents"

Overall placement: #4

Tame Impala's discography is a really consistent one. I think every album is great. But there's two works that have higher highs, make more adventurous musical statements and are more relevant for pop culture than the other two. Of course, I'm speaking of Lonerism and Currents. And while on Lonerism, Kevin Parker still held onto his rock roots, on Currents, he took a left-turn for a psychedelic synth pop experience. The album is as coherent thematically and unique production-wise as its predecessor and even more self-contained from a stylistic standpoint. Currents is a tragic break-up album. Yes, there are glimpses of hope and ecstasy all over this, but the final outlook is that the protagonist will make the same old mistakes. But don't get distracted by the grandiose first half and great ending to this album, because Currents is by no means as consistent as Lonerism or even InnerSpeaker were. After its big hit The Less I Know the Better, the album drops in quality. Past Life is the low-point with a completely failed experiment of an intro and a relatively weak pay-off. Disciples is a lovely song, but seems unfinished and sees Parker's song-structures becoming predictable. Cause I'm a Man has a beautiful instrumentation full of warmth, but the lyrics are as relatable as they are stereo-typical. And finally Reality in Motion and Love/Paranoia fail to provide anything new to this record. And while I certainly love Currents and have grown to love more than half the songs I just criticized, these weaknesses are still apparent to me on many occasions.

8.5 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Yes, I'm Changing"; "The Less I Know the Better"
More highlights: "Let It Happen"; "The Moment"; "Eventually"; "New Person, Same Old Mistakes"; "Nangs"

2. Bilderbuch – "Schick Schock"

Overall placement: #9

In 2015, average Austrian indie rockers Bilderbuch shocked the German speaking music landscape with an unexpected art pop left-turn that created a whole new wave of Austrian artists. The sound of Bilderbuch's Schick Schock is comprised of many elements: the dadaistic and "digital age romantic" lyricism of Maurice Ernst, Michael Krammer's unique, playful and creative guitar style, Phillip Scheibel's hip-hop influenced drumming, bombastic production and glimpses of funk, hyper pop and R&B. The result is an extravagant, extroverted and laid-back indie sound which is further enforced by the consistency of Schick Schock. There are no weak tracks to be found on the album and nearly every song has a distinctive touch to it. This is hands down the best German-language album of the 2010s and it certainly isn't average anymore.

9 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Maschin"; "OM"
More highlights: "Plansch"; "Spliff"; "Gibraltar"; "Softdrink"

3. Steven Wilson – "Hand Cannot Erase"

Overall placement: #12

From the classic prog albums Grace for Drowning and The Raven, Steven Wilson moved on to Hand Cannot Erase where he modernised the production and sound and added a whole lot of pop into the mix. Hand Cannot Erase is also a loose concept album based on the real story of a young and popular woman passing away in her apartment with no one noticing it for almost 3 years. As you might've guessed, Hand Cannot Erase largely is another depressive and dark work by Wilson, except for the bookending songs First Regret / 3 Years Older and Happy Returns / Ascendant Here On... which not only carry that little optimistic spark, but also share one of the album's most memorable musical motifs played on piano. The title track Hand Cannot Erase is one of the shorter, more accessible pieces, but one of my favorites nevertheless. The build-up here is very satisfying. The album's highlights are the heartbreaking Routine and the groovy, most jammy track off Hand Cannot Erase, Home Invasion / Regret #9, which is hailed by fans for its climactic guitar solo contributed by exceptional talent Guthrie Govan. 
If you look for the best rated projects of the 2010s on albumoftheyear.com, you'll find Hand Cannot Erase on the 50th spot, making it the only album out of my picks, next to Frank Ocean's Channel ORANGE (which is on number 9), to be amongst the 50 most critically acclaimed albums of the decade. Weirdly enough, I don't find the album to be this good, if I look at all my other picks that haven't made the cut on AOTY. Hand Cannot Erase overall is kind of controversial as there are certainly critics, such as Anthony Fantano, who think of it as a typical, riskfree and harmless Steven Wilson project. Others view it as the best prog rock record since the genre's high point in the '70s. 

8.5 / 10

Check-out-tips: "First Regret / 3 Years Older"; "Routine"
More highlights: "Home Invasion / Regret #9"; "Hand Cannot Erase"; "Happy Returns / Ascendant Here On..."

4. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – "Quarters!"

Overall placement: #36

Quarters! might be the most underrated King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard album, often degraded to a jazz rock album for background "listening". And while it is okay to embrace this aspect of the music as well, it is an understatement better fitted for King Gizzard's 2017 album Sketches for Brunswick East. Quarters! brings more to table than just jazz rock. Of course, it's got a psychedelic edge, but it also incorporates some Middle Eastern tones.As a result, the album comes off as quite progressive. What really elevates it though is its four-pieced structure. Every song is exactly 10:10 minutes long and apart from maybe Infinite Rise, all of them work out perfectly nonethless, seemlessly introducing many interesting ideas and low-key rocking passages. Overall, this album is still growing on me everytime I listen to it – and it was the first King Gizzard album I really appreciated in the first place.

8 / 10

Standout: "The River"

5. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – "Paper Mache Dream Balloon"

Overall placement: #41

2015 was a cool-down year for King Gizzard stylistically. They still released two fantastic albums. I already talked about Quarters! briefly and the second album the band released was an all-out acoustic folk record called Paper Mache Dream Balloon. What could potentially be very boring is infectious and catchy due to the typical playfullness of King Gizzard and a bunch of great melodies – nearly every song has one that might be stuck in your head after your last listen, no matter how silly the song itself seems to be. Paper Mache Dream Balloon is a beautiful album for every time of the day, maybe King Gizzard's most versatile when it comes to mood. And, despite some more melancholical and even dark songs, it always somehow makes me happy.

8 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Sense"; "Bone"

6. All Them Witches – "Dying Surfer Meets His Maker"

Overall placement: #42

Dying Surfer Meets His Maker is easily All Them Witches' least song-oriented album. Instead, the band went for a more jammy and acoustic approach that results in their most album-oriented work. Dying Surfer has a better flow than any other ATW record making its highlights even more rewarding, despite them not being standouts in the band's overall discography.
Dying Surfer also is ATW's most stripped back and calm record. Even the production is seemingly turned inwards as all the instruments become one, dense unit on a small soundstage. This might be off-putting at first, but it fits the mellow mood of the album perfectly making it a unique experience in the All Them Witches catalogue and a beautiful stoner rock journey.

8 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Call Me Star"; "Open Passageways"
More highlights: "Talisman"; "Dirt Preachers"

Honorable Mentions: 

• Mac DeMarco – "Another One"
• Blur – "The Magic Whip"
• Pond ­– Man It Feels Like Space Again“
• Faith No More – "Sol Invictus“

1. Radiohead – "A Moon Shaped Pool"

Overall placement: #8

Late into their career, after the disappointing The King of Limbs, Radiohead released A Moon Shaped Pool which is their last album to date. It wouldn't be a shame if they'd go out on this as AMSP is regarded as one of the legendary band's best records. Of course, it doesn't beat their three essential works Ok Computer, Kid A and In Rainbows, but it comfortably sits fourth for most critics and fans. A Moon Shaped Pool is really pretty, arguably Radiohead's most heartfelt and romantic collection of tracks, bookended by the string-lead masterpiece Burn the Witch and 1995s True Love Waits which finally found its place on A Moon Shaped Pool. It comes as no surprise that the album was hugely influenced by Thom Yorke and his wife divorcing. 

9 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Burn the Witch"; "Daydreaming"; "Decks Dark"
More highlights: "Present Tense"; "Identikit"

2. Psychedelic Porn Crumpets – "High Visceral {Part One}"

Overall placement: #23

In 2016, another promising new psychedelia act emerged from Australia. After King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, we now got the Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. By the time I'm writing this, they somewhat have gained the attention from the music scene they deserve. However, it is only upon their recently released fifth studio album Night Gnomes, when the absolute highlight of their discography was their debut High Visceral, Pt. 1. While the Porn Crumpets certainly didn't reinvent the wheel on this one, they created a thought-provoking but hard-rocking, classic but fresh sound which is presented throughout a flawless tracklist finished off by the two gigantic songs Found God In a Tomato and Denmark / Van Gogh & Gone. Generally, the Porn Crumpets combine psychedelia with prog rock inspired instrumentational layers, a garage rock heaviness, a surf rock aesthetic and complex guitar interplay like it can be found in math rock. To this day, fans are hoping for the Aussies to return to these roots in some way.  

8 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Cornflake"; "Found God In a Tomato"
More highlights: "Cubensis Lenses"; "..And the Addled Abstraction of Being"; "Denmark / Van Gogh & Gone"

3. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – "Nonagon Infinity"

Overall placement: #40

The breakthrough album of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Nonagon Infinity, is hailed as their essential and oftentimes also their best work. It is an album of nine songs, all seemlessly blending into each other with the last track going back into the first; an endless cycle of nine songs, a nonagon infinity. By repeating the catchy motifs over and over again, King Gizzard make sure the album is being burned into your mind as reminiscence and revisiting repition are naturally satisfying to our brains. This is also an essential characteristic of Nonagon Infinity because the listener would otherwise be overwhelmed by the combination of lo-fi production and relentless, fast paced and mulit-layered musical madness. Not that it isn't the case anyway. So, it is no wonder this album was celebrated by fans and critics and consequentially introduced a large portion of King Gizz' current fanbase to the band. 

8.5 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Robot Stop"; "Gamma Knife"; "Mr. Beat"
More highlights: "People-Vultures"; "Road Train"; "Evil Death Roll"

1. Fleet Foxes – "Crack-Up"

Overall placement: #1

In my opinion, this is the Fleet Foxes' masterpiece. Crack-Up isn't as catchy and accessible as their other records, but it is all the more detailed, conceptual, experimental and grandiose. Although I still like their self-titled debut a bit more – I mean, who doesn't love that album to death? – Crack-Up stands as the band's greatest accomplishment. It might take a while to find yourself into the dense and unusual soundscapes, but once you had your transcendent experience with Crack-Up, it will forever stick with you. The highest point of the record is Third of May / Odaigahara; an eight-minute epic that hits especially hard during its dynamic middle-section shortly before the psychedelic outro starts. To set the stage for this monumental track, Crack-Up is bookended by two amazing runs of songs (I Am All That I Need -> Kept Woman, On Another Ocean -> Crack-Up) which are at least equally good in their own right. I especially want to point out the great transition in the middle of On Another Ocean and the seriously underplayed penultimate song I Should See Memphis which is the most distinctive moment on the album with a great mix, Robin Pecknold singing in the lowest register he ever has on a Fleet Foxes project, a breathtaking string arrangement and that eery outro leading into the album's titular climax.
Crack-Up truly is a musical journey like no other in the catalogue of one of the 21st century's most beloved indie projects. And if you are kind of down after listening to this album, just go to its successor Shore which perfectly ties into it but is a lot more accessible and often also light-hearted. 

9 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Third of May / Odaigahara"; "If You Need to, Keep Time On Me"; "Fool's Errand"
More highlights: "I Am All That I Need / Arroyo Seco / Thumbprint Scar"; "Cassius, -"; "On Another Ocean (January / June)"; "I Should See Memphis"

2. Bilderbuch – "Magic Life"

Overall placement: #15

Following their critically acclaimed masterpiece Schick Schock, Bilderbuch released a weirdly experimental, conceptual album that moves away from the more rock-centered sound of its predecessor and embraces the art pop side of it even more. Magic Life isn't nearly as beloved as the admittedly better Schick Schock but in my opinion, it deserves to be loved just as much because of its charm and energy as Bilderbuch deliver a cryptically socially critical parody of industrialized chart music. The bassy I <3 Stress puts the listener into a comfortable state of mind until completely out-of-place sound effects destroy the song, Sweetlove is a sugar-sweet guitar ballad where Krammer puts out one solo section and lick after the other until the listener can't take it anymore and Sprit n' Soda tries to scare the listener away by repeating it's arrangement of rhythmically unison synth, bass and hi-hat for almost five minutes. Yet, all the purposefully exaggerated elements work out in favor of the album somehow. Magic Life doesn't quite live up to Schick Schock, but it's a great album in its own regard.

8 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Bungalow"; "Baba"
More highlights: "Investment 7"; "Erzähl Deinen Mädels Ich Bin Wieder In Der Stadt"; "I <3 Stress"; "Sweetlove"

3. All Them Witches – "Sleeping Through the War"

Overall placement: #16

Sleeping Through the War was my first introduction to All Them Witches. My father discovered them, I think he picked it out from his Spotify suggestions because of the great album cover. From there on, we dove deep into ATW and their very consistent discography. Apart from the debut, every album of their's from the 2010s is featured on this list. Sleeping Through the War might be the pinnacle of this output – their most consistent album with some very memorable songs, ecclectic production, on-point engineering and an overall unique sound. The laid-back Am I Going Up? is the embodiement of being trance-inducing and the following highlight song Alabaster is even more hypnotic though in a heavy, mind melting way. The build-up and lyrics of long-track opener Bulls are chilling and on the second song, Don't Bring Me Coffee, All Them Witches play with dynamic contrast perfectly while introducing this all too catchy, charismatic, Western-esque verse section (Ain't nobody gonna tell me how to run my town). The weakest pieces are the single Bruce Lee and the bluesy, album-closing jam Internet and guess what, both are still very good. So, if you like psychedelic stoner rock, get into All Them Witches and start with this very album!

8.5 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Am I Going Up?"; "Alabaster"
More highlights: "Bulls"; "Don't Bring Me Coffee"; "3-5-7"; "Cowboy Kirk"

4. Queens of the Stone Age – "Villains"

Overall placement: #21

Villains is a very nostalgic album for me. I grew up with Queens of the Stone Age and other Josh Homme projects and one of my favorite albums of all time is the 2001 classic Songs For The Deaf. Consequentially, it was an event for me to consciously witness an album release process from QOTSA for the first time. Villains didn't disappoint me, but it certainly also isn't among the band's best work as they take a very different approach on it. Part of the reason for the change in style is Mark Ronson, a pop producer who worked in this role with Amy Winehouse on Back to Black, Kaiser Chiefs on their best album Off with Their Heads, Lady Gaga, Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Duran Duran, Paul McCartney, Miley Cyrus, Robbie Williams, Solange and Bruno Mars. For many Queens of the Stone Age fans this was a reason to be very worried and, sadly, to not give the album a fair chance. Some criticisms towards Villains are valid though. The production of the album at many points has a negative influence making songs less punchy, less aggressive, less emotional. But overall, I like that the Queens went this route as it makes Villains a unique album in their discography with a more conventional and accessible songwriting approach and style which often calls back to the iconic sounds and genres present in past music decades like the 70s and the 80s. The songs themselves are solid, although nothing – except for the brilliant, dancey and enthralling opening track Feet Don't Fail Me ­– comes close to the material on ...Like Clockwork. The best thing about Villains is that it served as an entrance for many people or rather new fans to Queens of the Stone Age, a gateway to rock music outside of the mainstream. 

7.5 / 10

Check-out-tips & highlights: "Feet Don't Fail Me"; "Un-Reborn Again"; "The Evil Has Landed"

5. Pond  – "The Weather"

Overall placement: #30

8 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Sweep Me off My Feet"; "Paint Me Silver"; "The Weather"
More highlights: "Zen Automaton"; "Edge of the World, Pt. 2"; "30,000 Megatons"

6. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – "Polygondwanaland"

Overall placement: #35

This was the FOURTH out of FIVE album released by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard in 2017, each one with a different concept and style, except for Gumboot Soup which contained the leftovers from its four predecessors. Polygondwanaland sees King Gizzard diving into progressive rock from a stylistical and structural point of view. It is one of their most unified records where everything is connected and flows perfectly. Sadly, the band can't really overcome the phenomenal 10-minute opening track Crumbling Castle as the mystical energy they collect throughout the following movements doesn't unload – or at least it doesn't in such a satisfying climax as Crumbling Castle does. Once you have accepted that though, the experimentation, excellent performances and atmosphere of the album are enough to suck you in. Nevertheless, Polygondwanaland had more potential in my opinion. Maybe King Gizzard couldn't utilise it because of their total of five albums they wrote and recorded in 2017.

8.5 / 10

Standout: "Crumbling Castle"

7. Steven Wilson – "To the Bone"

Overall placement: #37

If THE FUTURE BITES, Steven Wilson's 2021 release and my favorite record of that year, isn't considered his worst work by fans, it certainly is To the Bone – undeservedly so. To the Bone isn't a perfect album or Steven Wilson's most ambitious one, but it contains some great songs. The only thing off with To the Bone, besides the typical Steven Wilson problems (superficial lyrics, recycling prog tropes), is the really poppy songs as Permanating and Blank Tapes are probably the worst tracks in Wilson's whole catalogue. They're also the shortest pieces on To the Bone though. Every other song is at least good with the title track, Refuge and Detonation being straight up great. The only thing that keeps People Who Eat Darkness from this status are the at points cheeky lyrics.  
Honestly, I think To the Bone is a very refreshing album in Wilson's discography. After three dark, depressing and long prog affairs, To the Bone makes for a nice change-up with shorter songs, a pop approach and less emphasis on the aspect of an interconnected album. Instead, Wilson is seen directly facing the camera on the front cover. He doesn't tell tragic stories of invented figures as on previous works anymore, but rather makes quite powerful political statements or exemplifies general thoughts about love and life. The closing track Song of Unborn features some the best Steven Wilson lyrics ever. It is a song to the yet unborn generations of the futures, where Wilson speculates about what good existing now could be lost then. In the end, he encourages the unborn to do better than previous generations did. It's the perfect way to close out the album and another reason, why To the Bone album is overhated.

7.5 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Refuge"; "To the Bone"
More highlights: "Detonation"; "People Who Eat Darkness"; "Song of I (feat. Sophie Hunger)"; "Song of Unborn"

8. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – "Flying Microtonal Banana"

Overall placement: #39

It took me along time to finally get this album; the first of the five albums King Gizzard put out in 2017. I knew Flying Microtonal Banana was a very special journey the first time I heard about it; King Gizzard's most adventurous album yet, an exploration into microtonal tuning. But the music is very weird, not only because our ears aren't used to microtones – the notes between the notes – but also because of the quirky singing, the repetitive song structures and the grimy production. All these factors made it difficult for me to really grasp what the Aussies are doing, what emotions they want to transport. It turns out, Flying Microtonal Banana is all about the fun, the trippiness and the darkness. It's an album you really need to listen carefully to while you immerse yourself in its unusual soundscapes at the very same time. This is truly one of King Gizzard's best works with career highlights all over the place, from the groovy embodiement of repition Rattlesnake to the mysterious, dystopian Melting, from the heavier, Western-style Billabong Valley to rocking fan-favorites Open Water and Nuclear Fusion, not to mention the popular Sleep Drifter. Flying Microtonal Banana doesn't have any weak tracks.

8 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Sleep Drifter"; "Rattlesnake"
More highlights: "Open Water"; "Melting"; "Billabong Valley"; "Doom City"; "Nuclear Fusion"

09. Motorpsycho – "The Tower"

Overall placement: #47

In 2017, prolific but weirdly unknown Norwegian rock band Motorpsycho started their Gullvag trilogy featuring the epic artworks by the Norwegian painter of the same name. His covers suit the style of the three albums perfectly as Motorpsycho take what they did so far and add a good bit of fairytale prog rock into the mix which is accompanied by some very political themes. The Tower was the first work of the three and directly inspired by the election of Donald Trump as the United States new president. It is the longest album of this list, a double album of grandiose scale. And while it can drag in certain situations, as every double album, it manages to keep you entertained for almost every second of its runtime which is especially surprising since most of the tracks live from repition. From this point of view, The Tower is an exceptional double album packed with so much material that it never gets old. I specifically love the titular opener and the beautiful A Pacific Sonata.

8.5 / 10

Check-out-tips: "The Tower"; "Intrepid Explorer"
More highlights: "A Pacific Sonata"; "The Cuckoo"; "Ship of Fools"

10. sir Was – "Digging a Tunnel"

Overall placement: #48

7 / 10

Check-out-tips: "A Minor Life"; "In the Midst"
More highlights: "Digging a Tunnel"; "Revoke"

11. Psychedelic Porn Crumpets – "High Visceral {Part Two}"

Overall placement: #50

7 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Gurzle" / "First Light In the Garden at Shipping"
More highlights: "Move"; "Buzz" 

Honorable Mentions:

• Frank Ocean – "Blonde"
• Royal Blood – "How Did We Get So Dark?"

1. Bilderbuch – "mea culpa"

Overall placement: #6

I'll admit, mea culpa isn't nearly as good as its position on this list suggests. Nevertheless, I personally adore and love it so much that it doesn't matter. mea culpa is one of these "comfort albums" to which one can always return. Every song has its place as the album builds to the emotional indie rock climax that is Checkpoint (Nie Game Over). Along the way, mea culpa washes over you with psychedelia, R&B haziness and Bilderbuch's Viennese charm. The album is a logical continuation of Magic Life stylistically. Bilderbuch take out the parodic, self-destructive elements and focus on the most relaxing sides of their sound crafting their most coherent work yet with some geniunely eccentric moments. Taxi Taxi, the perfect late night song (at best the listener is high or drunk as well), surprises with the genius incorporation of synthetic string and Lounge 2.0 further develops the atmosphere with some of Maurice Ernst's coolest lyrics and a wonderful instrumentation. Mein Herz Bricht is another highlight featuring a repeating George Harrison-esque guitar solo. Generally, the song is very repetitive, but somehow it totally works out in an engaging, resonating way. 
mea culpa was a great stylistic shift for Bilderbuch and stands out in their discography because of it. The album still very much showcases Bilderbuch's lovely art pop side, just in a whole nother way that was at best teased on Magic Life. I still remember hearing it for the first. mea culpa just dropped. There wasn't any build-up or advertisement for it. It was hella exciting. 

8 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Sandwishes"; "Checkpoint (Nie Game Over)"
More highlights: "Taxi Taxi"; "Lounge 2.0"; "Mein Herz Bricht"

2. All Them Witches – "ATW"

Overall placement: #28

7.5 / 10

Check-out-tips & highlights: "Diamond"; "Half-Tongue"

3. Gorillaz – "The Now Now"

Overall placement: #31

7 / 10

Check-out-tips & highlights: "Humility"; "Magic City"; "Hollywood"

Honorable Mentions:

• A Perfect Circle – "Eat the Elephant"
• Parcels – "Parcels"

1. Pond – "Tasmania"

Overall placement: #19

7.5 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Daisy"; "Tasmania"
More highlights: "Burnt Out Star"; "Hand Mouth Dancer"

2. Billie Eilish – "WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?"

Overall placement: #20

8 / 10

Check-out-tips: "when the party's over"; "bad guy"
More highlights: "xanny"; "ilomilo"; "i love you"; "my strange addiction"; "bury a friend"

3. TOOL – "Fear Inoculum"

Overall placement: #22

This was my most hyped album of 2019; the return of legendary progressive metal outfit TOOL after a 13 year hiatus in which fans got teased and teased numerous times in numerous years for a new album. But this time, everyone knew it was really coming as the band played two of the album tracks on tour. A tour I luckily was able to see myself. Fear Inoculum did live up to the hype in my opinion. It certainly isn't the best TOOL album and I also think most of the criticism the album received is valid, e.g. the songs being too long and not having enough pay-off. The most praised track, the 16-minute epic 7empest, weirdly enough is my least favorite song on the record. It just goes on too long, meanders from riff to riff and in the end doesn't deliver a satisfying climax. That the people who criticised the other songs for exactly the same reasons love this one so much isn't really understandable for me. In return, I thought the pre-released title track had a very convincing climax. With Pneuma, TOOL also delivered a new classic which brought some fresh sounds to the table, most notably a keyboard solo by guitarist Adam Jones. Invincible is another good song with a heavy instrumentation and fascinating polyrhythms. Furthermore, I do like the apocalyptical atmosphere and sound of Descending, though the studio version is miles behind its live equivalent. 
​​​​​​Fear Inoculum is another solid album in the TOOL discography. While it doesn't outmatch the band's last three studio albums, I'm still very glad it is now out there and I have a blast returning to it once in a while spinning my bootleg vinyl.

7.5 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Fear Inoculum"
More highlights: "Pneuma"; "Invincible"

4. Coldplay – "Everyday Life"

Overall placement: #26

Everyday Life might be the most underappreciated album on this list. When it was released, it barely caught attention, if you count in Coldplay's status as the supposedly biggest band in the world. Everyday Life kind of flopped even though it was Coldplay's best release since 2008's Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. Instead of further pursuing their path of commercial neo pop – yes, Ghost Stories doesn't fit into that pocket, but it still has A Sky Full of Stars, Coldplay's worst song ever, and a lot of awful lyrics – the band returned to an experimental and more eccentric sound that is best described as having influences of world music which reflects in the lyrics. Chris Martin talks about migration and war, gun politics, police violence, racism and the freedom of worship, albeit in his typical way: mostly optimistic, sometimes shallow. Everyday Life also is sort of a double album divided into a sunrise and a sunset part although it's almost too short for this format. Ultimately, it is not a flawless or particularly memorable pop project, though I would argue it stands out more than A Head Full of Dreams. I still really like it, because its highlight songs, nice themes, which include some of Martin's better lyrics, and conceptual approach. 

7 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Orphans"; "Arabesque"
More highlights: "Church"; "Trouble In Town"; "Everyday Life"; "Daddy"

5. Bilderbuch – "Vernissage My Heart"

Overall placement: #29

While Vernissage My Heart certainly didn't disappoint me upon release, it's clear that this is Bilderbuch's weakest effort since their redefinition in 2015. The album clearly lacks the depth and artistic vision of its predecessors. Instead, to make the songs standout, the band relies heavily on production resulting in the fuzz fest Kids Im Park, the lo-fi Memory Card 2 and the aggressively auto-tuned vocal performance in Ich Hab Gefühle. Vernissage My Heart is at its best when it is simplistic though: Frisbeee is a charming and quirky song about friendship, the single LED Go is instantly catchy and Europa 22 is a touching ode to the idea of the European Union with an organic, album-closing jam session at the end. And despite my initial criticisms, I like every song on the album in some way. Ultimately, it's just that Vernissage My Heart doesn't feel as complete as Bilderbuch's other post-Schick Schock works.

7 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Frisbeee"; "LED Go"
More highlights: "Europa 22"

6. Thom Yorke – "ANIMA"

Overall placement: #34

8.5 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Dawn Chorus"; "I Am a Very Rude Person"
More highlights: "Twist"; "The Axe"

7. Motorpsycho – "The Crucible"

Overall placement: #38

8 / 10

Standout: "Lux Aeterna"

8. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – "Fishing for Fishies"

Overall placement: #43

2019 was the year of environmentalism for King Gizzard as they released two albums build around this theme. While Infest the Rats' Nest was a thrash metal album detailing a dark apocalyptic state of the world that could be caused by climate change, Fishing for Fishies is a mostly up-beat blues and boogie excursion on which King Gizzard approach environmental themes from the opposite perspective. On the folky title track, Stu Mackenzie talks about overfishing. The fun and groovy Plastic Boogie ...

7.5 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Fishing for Fishies"; "The Bird Song"
More highlights: "Boogieman Sam"; "Plastic Boogie"; "Cyboogie"

9. Psychedelic Porn Crumpets – "And Now for the Whatchamacallit"

Overall placement: #46

7.5 / 10

Check-out-tips: "Bill's Mandolin"; "Hymn for a Droid"
More highlights: "My Friend's a Liquid"; "Dezi's Adventure"