Thread where I don't shut up about albums I like. I will try to post one a day but making no promises. #favealbums

Fragments — Aya Hirano

What really cemented my taste in J-Pop was hearing Aya Hirano's absolutely godly voice singing in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Quickly found more music of hers. Her voices, the production, all of it holds up 8 years later. This is top tier J-Pop.

Magic Time — Shoko Nakagawa

I sought this one out for its inclusion of the "Tengen Toppa" edition of Sorairo Days. Love the strings throughout.

Believers Never Die — Fall Out Boy

This greatest hits album was gifted to me when the only music I liked was from video games, hoping that I would come to appreciate "real music." These tracks are quite nostalgic to me now. The songs you grow to like never stick at first.

yume — Maison book girl

This album is CRAZY. One of the most avant-garde things I've ever heard. Fantasy, dreamlike environmental ambience but still VERY JPOP. Utilization of sounds I'd never imagine could be musical. Very highly recommend to anyone interested in sound design.

American Idiot — Green Day

This album introduced me to rock music and concept albums. I've played it hundreds of times, perhaps even got a little too obsessed over it. Every lyric and every note is ingrained in my very being. The Broadway version is also worth the listen.

hair salon — SHE IS SUMMER

This EP is somewhat all over the place. It's very relaxing at times and exciting at others but I'm not sure what genre to call it. Maybe borderline city pop? Excellent use of some very simple synths and her vocals are very comforting.

Katamari Damacy Tribute Original Soundtrack: Katamari Takeshi — Yuu Miyake et al.

The music that introduced me to Shibuya-Kei. It holds a special place in my heart and has shown me some wonderful artists doing covers of classic Katamari tracks. Always humming this.

21st Century Breakdown — Green Day

The successor album to American Idiot and the first CD I ever bought. It's a pretty good rock opera.

Do Vocaloids Dream of Doomsday Bird? — http://sasakure.UK 

One of the albums I listened to the most when I was in High School. A collection of Vocaloid tracks about the world ending. The leitmotifs used are legendary and the overall sound heavily inspired my own music.

Plus to Minus no Shikumi — nano.RIPE

Another album I listened to a lot in High School. This was my favourite band for a while. Hard to pick my favourite album by them. It's all very nostalgic. Love the guitars and drums especially.

supercell — supercell

If you're even remotely into Vocaloid, you have to own this album. It's the law. It's as classic as Vocaloid gets, with a ton of sleeper hits including some of the all-time most popular Hatsune Miku songs. Really like Ryo's style and this is it with Miku.

Keep The Beats! — Girls Dead Monster

Quite a nostalgic one. Jun Maeda is a great composer and writer and LiSA is a great singer but I mostly put this one on as background noise when I'm doing something else and usually end up sad once it reaches Brave Song.

md2000 ～relife ending songs～ — Various Artists

This collection of ReLIFE EDs is formatted in a way to mimic giving someone a mixtape of your favourite songs while also giving each episode of the show a different song from the 2000s. I really like the selection.

World is Yours — MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS

Is this what they call "shoegaze?" I love the noise of it all and the album artwork is my favourite ever.

Welcome to the Dark Side — chafos

Today is my birthday so I'm including my own music. This is the best work I've done so far, in my opinion but I'll let you come to your own conclusions.

The Black Parade — My Chemical Romance

One of my all-time faves. No other band has the style of MCR. The guitar solos are so memorable and Way's voices are all such a strong aesthetic. I've listened to this album literally hundreds of times.

Reborn Again and Always Starting New — MONDO GROSSO

Good music to just chill to featuring a ton of collaboration.

Honenuki — POLKADOT STINGRAY

First heard this band while I was still in London, studying Audio Recording. It was a fifteen-minute walk to go get groceries so listening to this while I walked to Shoppers became a weekly thing. They've grown so much since then.

Your Name. — RADWIMPS

Around the same time, Your Name came out so this was also on my iPod's playlist. One of my all-time favourite soundtracks. It's so good! It's no surprise that Zenzenzense was at the top of the Oricon charts for so long.

SPARK - moumoon

moumoon's music is just nice soothing acoustic pop music. Discovered them from their ED in Assassination Classroom, so if you like that, then check them out.

Starbomb — Starbomb

Warning: Explicit. These guys are pretty funny. Probably not for everyone though. I think their later albums are definitely better than this one but it's still got some very memorable moments.

predicts the future — plumtree

Easygoing acoustic rock/pop. Go check it out.

Intro Bonito — Kero Kero Bonito

I am a big fan of this band. Discovered them because they "sound like Shibuya-Kei." Nice sound that incorporates lots of video game SFX and Sarah's catchy raps are a delight to hear. They also sound absolutely nothing like this anymore.

BLACKLINE — AREA 11

Discovered this band from watching the Yogscast back in 2012ish. They are really good and I especially like their early stuff that's rock music inspired and often about anime.

Utamonogatari — Various Artists

A collection of all the OPs from the first two "seasons" of Monogatari. These are all top tier BANGERS & I'm sure most people are already familiar with at least three of them even if they haven't seen the show. So much great talent on this.

Utamonogatari 2 — Various Artists

That's right. Utamonogatari was so good they made a sequel. Even more talented people worked on this one.

(I couldn't find a good image with the rest of the cover art so click here if you want to see the rest: https://bakemonogatari.fandom.com/wiki/Utamonogatari_2.)

ALL THE LIGHTS IN THE SKY — AREA 11

One of my all-time faves. Anime inspired rock music that uses all kinds of synths and styles. Their sound is super impactful, especially the way they transition the first half of the songs on the album and the diff. parts of the final track.

daiya-monde — Hitomi Yaida

This album rocks. You can really dance to it and her vocals just go crazy. I also love the title. It's such a pun.

Re:RED — KASHIWA Daisuke

Heard this for the first time today and was pretty blown away. I can't find much information on the artist other than "they did the Garden of Words soundtrack" so please send me more of their stuff if you like it and I'll give it a listen too.

HALCALI BACON — HALCALI

Of course my interest in Shibuya-Kei led me to Halcali. The production is unorthodox, weird, always interesting. This was the first Halcali album I heard and it left the biggest impression on me. This duo raps like I breathe air.

Natsukusa ga Jyama wo Suru — Yorushika

Vocaloid producer n-buna and vocalist suis team up to form the duo Yorushika. It's pretty great. My favourite song is "Say It" (言って。)

Star Wars — John Williams

The original score that defined a legacy. Extremely iconic now of course. I had to watch all of the OT constantly as a kid so I've heard it a ton. Most of Star Wars' music is built off this one, inspired by classical such as Wagner and Tchaikovsky.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back — John Williams

One of the greatest movie sequel soundtracks ever. All kinds of themes are built upon from the last one and the new tracks like the Imperial March really solidified the identity of Star Wars.

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi — John Williams

…A great conclusion. I don't know how to feel about them changing a few songs on the later versions (Lapti Nek was way better than Jedi Rock's but Yub Nub kind of sucked) of this but the important ones are still pretty much intact.

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace — John Williams

This really brought a different atmosphere to Star Wars. Duel of Fates is one of the most iconic songs and this soundtrack set up the entire musical identity of the prequels.

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones — John Williams

Surprisingly, one of the best Star Wars soundtracks. It's at this point I feel John Williams has mastered the music of Star Wars and is just flexing on us by still making new themes when he no longer has to.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith — John Williams

Peak Kino Star Wars music.

Star War: The Force Awakens — John Williams

Rey's theme and Kylo Ren's theme are wonderful but not new music to Star Wars as they are both built off The Throne Room theme from ROTJ. When Rey finds Luke at the end of the movie, it's my favourite rendition of The "Force" theme.

Solo: A Star Wars Story — John Powell

Super cool throwbacks in the soundtrack to this one and because it wasn't a main Star Wars movie they really went crazy at some parts.

The Mandalorian — Ludwig Göransson

No extra information for this one because each chapter was for some reason released as its own album which makes it impossible to fit in four images. This soundtrack is absolutely amazing so I wish it was easier to get as a single purchase.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) — Various Artists

There are very few movies with as strong and clear an aesthetic as Edgar Wright's adaptation of Scott Pilgrim and a large part of that is thanks to its soundtrack (which has many Canadian artists)

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: Original Score — Nigel Godrich

Another large part is thanks to its own score. Obviously, being a show about music it needs good music and it has it.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game Original Videogame Soundtrack — Anamanaguchi

If you like Chiprock beat-em-up video game music, this is a must-have.

Weathering With You — RADWIMPS

RADWIMPS did it again. They've built off the groundwork laid in Your Name's Soundtrack, advancing the themes, even improving in areas. Their music fits Makoto Shinkai's directing style so well that it only made sense to go in this direction.

Portal 2: Songs to Test By — Aperture Science Psychoacoustic Laboratories (Mike Morasky & Others)

Although a lot of Portal's best musical moments are procedurally generated, this ver. is still very enjoyable. The extra disc on the collector's ed. has songs from the 1st game too.

True Blue: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog — Various Artists

I could post dozens of Sonic OSTs but I'm just going to leave it with this for now; my favourite compilation album of Sonic songs. It's got all the most important Sonic songs circa 2008 and some good remixes as well.

The Last of Us (Original Score) — Gustavo Santaolalla

I like the ambience of stuff like this. It's memorable and nostalgic, especially the main theme.

FLCL Original Soundtrack NO.3 — the pillows

FLCL was my intro to the pillows. I don't think it'd be an exaggeration to say they're one of the greatest Japanese rock bands ever & a big factor of why FLCL's still relevant. NO.3 is all (most) of the pillows tracks used in the show.

KILL la KILL ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK — Hiroyuki Sawano

Big fan of Sawano's works and this is one of the best. Crazy electronic vocal works with a bunch of artists Sawano typically works with, as well as some really adrenaline pumping scores. The drums are so good throughout.

Subarashiki Kono Sekai + The World Ends with You — Takeharu Ishimoto et al.

A collection (remixes) of TWEWY songs. I recommend listening to this over the actual OST if you're listening to it as an album because it flows much better by itself in a pure audio format. It's good.

DEATH NOTE original soundtrack — Yoshihisa Hirano and Hideki Taniuchi

One of the earliest anime I watched, DEATH NOTE. The music is just as smart as the story of Death Note itself. Progressive minimalism to gregorian chanting to rock. Very extreme atmospheres. Pretty memorable.

REDLINE Original Soundtrack — James Shimoji et al.

ADRENALINE PUMPING MAD DASH STRAIGHT INTO THE SUN ENERGY!!!!!!
(Sorry I missed a day.)

GBA Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen Music Super Complete — Junichi Masuda

The first Pokémon game I played was LeafGreen. The soundtrack is very nostalgic of course but it's also great how they expanded the original tracks from the first games.

Pokémon X: 10 Years of Pokémon — Various Artists

All the original English Pokémon opening songs, ED songs (like the Pokérap), etc. Watching the openings of Pokémon as a kid is definitely the reason I acquired such a taste of watching anime openings now. Never skip a good song.

GURREN LAGANN ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK/GURREN LAGANN BEST SOUND — Taku Iwasaki et al.

Iwasaki blended so many different genres together to make the sound of Gurren Lagann work and it's beautiful. The other songs are amazing as well.

FooL on CooL generation — the pillows

Hearing the reveal trailer of FLCL Progressive + Alternative was one of the hypest things. The new music from the pillows for FLCL is, as their music always is, so impactful.

MADE IN ABYSS ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK — Kevin Penkin

Fantasy dreamlike surrealist wonder perfection. Kevin Penkin's work on Made in Abyss is definitely going to be well remembered as one of the best anime soundtracks of the decade and he's not even Japanese. Go check it out.

SOUL EATER ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK — Taku Iwasaki et al.

Again, Taku Iwasaki seamlessly blends completely different genres. If Gurren Lagann's is "epic," Soul Eater's is "cool." His experimentation is so interesting. Tons of hip-hop and rock but also classical horror to even glitch.

The Best of Soul Eater — Various Artists

I just found out that this exists. I already owned all these songs as singles so I didn't know about it but it's a good collection of the original OPs and EDs as well as vocal tracks used in the previous album I mentioned.

Gatchaman Crowds Original Soundtrack — Taku Iwasaki et al.

He just has so many crazy innovative compositions. Love the modern Gatchaman sound he came up with. "Tutu" is an amazingly non-intrusive bgm song and "in the name of love" is just epic and groovy amongst others.

Mirror's Edge OST — Solar Fields

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of the genre that is interactive electronic ambience.

Mirror's Edge Catalyst OST — Solar Fields

Family Dancing — YMCK

YMCK's music is incredibly simplistic chiptune jazz-rock with vocals.

Sweet Days and Her Last Kiss — My Dead Girlfriend/Shojoskip

Have you ever felt the beautiful collapse of the world around you? Guitars that shout "KRR" with vocals underneath that distorted noise just trying to make sense of it all. A silent dream being screamed underwater.

hades (the nine stages of change at the deceased remains) — My Dead Girlfriend

I think this speaks for itself.

Sonic Adventure 2 Greatest Hits Revisited — Sonic4Ever

At first glance this may seem like really bad covers of Sonic Adventure 2 songs but it's more than that. It is a highly sophisticated form of advanced humour that requires intricate knowledge of Sonic to fully appreciate. /s

Zenchi Zenno — Polkadot Stingray

One of my all-time favourites. I was so happy when I got this album. I must've listened to it a good hundred times before even playing anything else again. Get the CD version for the extra song (it's one of their best tracks.) They rock.

Kirby's 20th Anniversary Compilation Soundtrack CD — Jun Ishikawa et el.

Technically a bonus CD that came with Kirby's Dream Collection and not a real album but it's still the best comprehensive collection of Kirby music, which is amazing because Kirby has some amazing music.

Cave Story+ Soundtrack — Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya

Originally released in 2004, but re-released as "+" in 2011. One of the original "indie" games. It's legacy might not be as remembered as things like Minecraft but it's music holds up as one of the best chiptune collections.

Megalithic Symphony — AWOLNATION

One of my all-time favourites. First heard them on the 3DS' "Nintendo Video" which their Not Your Fault MV was featured in. Knew I had to find more of their stuff and every track on this album is perfect so I got pretty hooked.

Back From Earth — AWOLNATION

I saw them live once and it was amazing. They really know how to put on a show. Excited for their new album.

Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge — My Chemical Romance

Always found it interesting how well MCR is capable of telling a story and dragging inspiration from all over. Love the sound too, especially all the crazy vocals and guitar riffs. Big inspiration.

A Loser Doesn't Need An Encore (負け犬にアンコールはいらない) — Yorushika

They really solidified their style with their second EP. It's rocking. The art always freaks me out though (should I know what animal that is, because I have no idea?)

Player Select — Starbomb

It's more of what made their first album so good and they've improved somewhat musically. Be warned that the explicit jokes are still very much intact as well as all the video game references.

Stop, Drop and Roll!!! — Foxboro Hot Tubs

I like when artists try and go outside the conventional. This is someone who's already successful and wants to prove they can do it again because they have actual talent so they made a complete alias. Idk if it worked but I like it.

Modal Soul — Nujabes

My favourite Nujabes album. He basically pioneered the "LoFi Hip-Hop" genre if that's what you want to call it.

Bonito Generation — Kero Kero Bonito

A clear improvement over Intro Bonito. Although it did lose some of the experimental-ness, it made up for it in sheer production quality. It's quirky, lovable weird video game influenced Hip-Hop/Pop.

The Tryforce — Starbomb

The final Starbomb album, which I feel is also the strongest. They got TWRP to be their backing band and it improved their sound quite a lot. Also it's hilarious.

Run — AWOLNATION

One of my all time favourites. I had it pre-ordered and was traveling in China when it was released but the download worked so I first heard it while on my trip. 5 years later it still holds up. Brings back memories. (lol)

MATOUSIC — Anna Takeuchi

So this album just came out today and I love it. Such a carefree style. Will be listening to this a bunch in the coming days of social isolation.

Sonic Forces Original Soundtrack: A Hero Will Rise — Naofumi Hataya, Tomoya Ohtani et al.

Just finished playing through this and I have to confess how good the soundtrack is. Fitting Sonic music.

D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L — PANCHIKO

Here's the supposed story about this:
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/ep/panchiko/deathmetal.p/

Disclaimer: It's way more "shoegaze rock" than "Death Metal" so don't expect metal. Lol

Haru to Syura — Haru Nemuri

This is an absolute noise rage and I love it. Her rapping/shouting is just such a mood.

Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys — My Chemical Romance

What once was pushed with crazy vocals was replaced by hard synths and electronic drums. The guitars lines are still crazy fast and memorable and I'd argue this is an even stronger concept than WTTBP.

kick in the world — Haru Nemuri

A bunch of covers and remixes on top of her absolutely amazing single makes up this EP.

Freeform Jazz — Uyama Hiroto

LOVETHEISM — Haru Nemuri

Sorry I missed a day again. My schedule's all messed up. On the bright-side, Haru Nemuri released this new album a few days ago and it's an absolute banger. Go check it out if you're a fan of anything with attitude.

TOTEP — Kero Kero Bonito

This was actually the first I'd heard of KKB. This EP is extremely good and it got me listening to their earlier stuff which is stylistically extremely different. I completely welcome the change in tone this set for the band. It rocks.

BEST OF VOCAL WORKS [nZk] — Hiroyuki Sawano et al.

One of the most impressive composers that have emerged in the past decade is easily Hiroyuki Sawano. His music has pretty much become synonymous with the current trend of anime. This is a must-have for all anime fans.

Ichidaiji — Polkadot Stingray

One of THE BEST rock EPs of all time. It's fast, it's memorable, it's catchy. Shizuku's vocals: amazing. Drums, bass, guitars are all amazing and they don't often need more instrumentation than that as they've mastered their instruments to a fault.

Underline — Area 11

Their style started changing pretty drastically here. I didn't like this as much as ATLITS but it's still quite good.

Adventure — Madeon

I like this. It's a fun time.

AKIRA Original Motion Picture Soundtrack — Geinoh Yamashirogumi

Iconic cyberpunk. The sound of 1988's "2020." This is what you should listen to when driving on a futuristic motorcycle through a neon lit city.

Channel 47 — chafos

Quite possibly the best album on this whole list.

Cowboy Bebop — Seatbelts

Cowboy Bebop Vitaminless — Seatbelts

BECK: animation BECK soundtrack — Various Artists

The OST to one of the first shows that really inspired me to just pick up a guitar and start making some music. There's all kinds of music in this world even if some of it doesn't speak to you. It's important to be open-minded.

Update: Not posting once a day to this thread anymore since there's no need. Just going to post music when I feel like it.

UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF GIANTS — UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF GIANTS

Finally got around to listening to this. It's interesting to hear as a precursor to AWOLNATION and stands on its own alright. Catchy indie pop tunes I wouldn't be embarrassed to play in front of antiweebs.

ACT II: THE FATHER OF DEATH — PROTOMEN

I was recommended this by my coworker although I had heard a bit of in the Soundtrack to VGHS before. It's a really good Rock Opera about Mega Man or something. I think it's supposed to be a prequel to the games? It's rockin'.

I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love — My Chemical Romance

Seventeen days without a new post is too much and I apologize. Here's something that's aged better than my lack of posting.

Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots — The Flaming Lips

Specifically the first half of this album is a wonderful conceptual story while the second half is just good music. Although I wish it was more connected, it's a great listen.

Time — Electric Light Orchestra

First heard this used in DAICON IV but the rest of the album's a good listen too. It's got some really interesting use of vocoders and other effects for the 80's.

All The Colours — George Walter

This released a few days ago. It's the most "bedroom pop" album I've ever heard (in a good way) and probably the most indie thing currently on this thread. Please give it a listen!

No Sleep — Small Towns

There was this other rock band he was in, that I guess never blew up? They really should've though cause this EP's amazing.