Originally Posted by Kiiii

So, here's the deal. I've made an AOTY list time and time again, and still I'm not happy with it. There are literally so many albums that I want to put on the list, and for the sake of not making them too long, I've decided to do it by genre. So I know i've made several lists, but don't blame me, blame the fact that we've had so many solid releases this year.

Anyway, here is yet another attempt at an official AOTY list, by genre:

Synthwave:
FM-84 - Atlas
Arcade High - Kingdom
Perturbator - The Uncanny Valley
Wojciech Golczewski - Reality Check
Trevor Something - Soulless Computer Boy and the Eternal Render
Vestron Vulture - Quarter-Life Crisis

Hip-Hop:
Tied for #1 spot:
Travis Scott - Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight
The Weeknd - Starboy
Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 3

Kanye West - The Life of Pablo
Injury Reserve - Floss
Denzel Curry - Imperial
Kid Cudi - Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin'
Gucci Mane - WOPTOBER
Elzhi - Lead Poison
Mac Miller - The Divine Feminine
Kendrick Lamar - untitled unmastered.

Everything Else Deserving Of Mention For 2016 (And Potential AOTY):
Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
pg.lost - Versus
The Pineapple Thief - Your Wilderness
Katatonia - The Fall of Hearts
Killswitch Engage - Incarnate
Opeth - Sorceress
Salad Trouble - Rigged Election
Son Of Abbot - Stuck Between The Parallels of Man & Monster
Daydream Society - The Blinding

(This will be the list that I will constantly edit if need be. But this is where I'm at right now)

Originally Posted by Key

VS

So, as the end of the year is coming closer and closer, quickly I may add, I need to finalize my number one spot for album of the year. I'm actually surprised given the albums that have been released this year that two albums I never would have touched are facing each other for the number one spot. As I've said in the post talking about The Weeknd, I've been really diggin' hip-hop lately, and there have been some great personal experiences with it, and Travis Scott and The Weeknd are two I'm going to remember for quite some time.

The big question is, how am I going to decide? Well, I'm going to judge this solely on my enjoyment on each album. So here we go:

With Travis Scott's Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight, I first heard the album when my younger brother introduced me to him, and I was instantly hooked. Granted, I was also high as balls which made it even more enjoyable. Though coincidentally, I was also high as **** when I listened to The Weeknd's Starboy last night, so I can't base it on that alone. A lot of things I love about Travis Scott is his subtle use of auto-tune while still allowing his rich and beautiful vocals to come through each track. And the album as a whole is phenomenal. I rarely if ever skip any tracks on it, give or take maybe the final track. I have a lot of favorites on the album as well with Goosebumps, Through The Late Night, and Coordinate. He really shows that he's got what it takes to play in the park with the big dogs, and brings something so unique and special that it's hard not to get his music stuck in your head. From experience, I've gotten many of his songs stuck in my head for days on end. Truly a wonderful thing.

Now, with The Weeknd, much like Travis Scott, this is the first album I've heard from him, so I'm coming from a completely blind place with his music, but damn this is such an incredible place to start. Every track is ****ing phenomenal and the entire album doesn't feel as long as it looks. As I mentioned in the short review earlier, the album may be 18 tracks long, but each song is filled with some much pop/hip-hop goodness that it's nearly impossible to get into the groove from the first track all the way to the last. Plus, the Starboy single with Daft Punk is just incredible and it's a fantastic track to start the album off. I've listened to this album at least 3 times since it was released, and I don't see myself stopping any time soon. There are some websites praising this album and some others saying this is his weakest album to date, but for someone like me who is going into his music blind, it's a wonderful album and one I'm going to listen to for quite some time. I would say as far as tracks go, Secrets, A Lonely Night, and Sidewalks are my favorites.

Now, each album holds their own form of fantastic, but I think Travis Scott remains at the top for my number 1 choice with The Weeknd taking the 2nd place. This is no way in any form saying that either album is better or either album is worse, they are both the same in regards to amazing as far as I'm concerned. However, I feel Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight has a bit more diversity and the album length is perfect. With The Weeknd, sometimes the songs feel the same, but that makes it flow really well. So, the number one spot won't be changing any time soon. Travis Scott still takes the spot for album of the year.