As you know I like to hold off a while before posting the top albums in order to account for the late releases. The list comes from our radio station data weighted evenly between the number of listener song requests and the album rating based on song votes.

This year I did the calculation slightly different. For the song vote portion I used Bayesian Averaging which makes it more difficult for albums with fewer votes to come out at the top.

Formula used: (Bayesian Rating/5) * (# Plays/312) * 100, where 312 is the highest # of plays.
The best…

All time best prog rock and metal albums based on our listener requests and ratings:

The data after each entry is the # spins followed by the average rating (out of 5)
(#1 on top)

Circus Maximus The 1st Chapter 1048 4.72
Opeth Ghost Reveries 1035 4.54
Porcupine Tree In Absentia 929 4.66
Koyaanisqatsy From The Yearning To Burst - The Perpetual Circle 917 4.68
Vanden Plas Christ.0 897 4.69
Frost* Milliontown 880 4.63
Redemption The Fullness Of Time 847 4.78
Porcupine Tree Deadwing 880 4.55
Darkwater Calling The Earth To Witness 820 4.47
Symphony X The Odyssey 737 4.8…

1.) Animals As Leaders-Animals As Leaders
2.) Leprous-Tall Poppy Syndrome
3.) Redemption-Snowfall On Judgment Day
4.) OSI-Blood,
5.) Riverside-Anno Domini High Definition
6.) IQ-Frequency
7.) Abigail's Ghost-D_letion
8.) Saga-The Human Condition
9.) Anubis Gate-The Detached
10.) Metamorphosis-Dark
11.) Silent Memorial-Retrospective
12.) Devin Townsend-Project Ki

Albums rated 4.5 - 5 out of 5 by our listeners:

7for4-Diffusion
Amaseffer-Exodus: Slaves for Life
Ayreon-01011001
Circle II Circle-Delusions of Grandeur
Evergrey-Torn
Everon-North
Karmakanic-Who's The Boss In The Factory
Opeth-Watershed
Pendragon-Pure
Riverside-Reality Dream
Seventh Wonder-Mercy Falls
Shadrane-Temporal

Albums rated 4.5 - 5 out of 5 by our listeners:

Age of Nemesis-Terra Incognita
Allen/Lande-The Revenge
Animations-Animations
Anubis Gate-Andromeda Unchained
Circus Maximus-Isolate
Cosmosquad-Acid Test
Dead Soul Tribe-A Lullaby For The Devil
Dominici-O3 A Trilogy - Part 2
Dream Theater-Systematic Chaos
Kamelot-Ghost Opera
Myrath-Hope
Nightingale-White Darkness
Phideaux-Doomsday Afternoon
Porcupine Tree-Fear Of A Blank Planet
Poverty's No Crime-Save My Soul
Pure Reason Revolution-Live At Nearfest 2007
Redemption-The Origins Of Ruin
Riverside-Rapid Eye Movement
Rush-Snakes & Arrows
Sieges Even-Paramount
Spheric Universe Experience-Anima
Symphony X-Paradise Lost
Thought Chamber-Angular Perceptions
Threshold-Dead Reckoning

Albums rated 4.5 - 5 out of 5 by our listeners:

Beyond Twilight-For The Love Of Art And The Making
Dream Theater-Score - 20th Anniversary World Tour
Freakeys-Freakeys
Frost*-Milliontown
Odd Logic-Legends Of Monta Part 1
Pyramaze-Legend Of The Bone Carver
Seventh Wonder-Waiting In The Wings
Silent Voices-Building Up The Apathy
Tomorrow's Eve-Mirror of Creation II - Genesis II
Tool-10,000 Days
Vanden Plas-Christ.0
Venturia-The New Kingdom
Wolverine-Still

Albums rated 4.5 - 5 out of 5 by our listeners:

Beyond Twilight-Section X
Circus Maximus-The 1st Chapter
Ghiribizzi-Pan'ta Rhei
Indukti-S.U.S.A.R
John Petrucci-Suspended Animation
Kamelot-The Black Halo
Lalu-Oniric Metal
Magic Pie-Motions Of Desire
novAct-Tales From The Soul
Opeth-Ghost Reveries
Overhead-Metaepitome
Pagan's Mind-enigmatic : calling
Pallas-The Dreams of Men
Porcupine Tree-Deadwing
Presto Ballet-Peace Among The Ruins
Redemption-The Fullness Of Time
Riverside-Second Life Syndrome
Shadow Gallery-Room V
Sieges Even-The Art Of Navigating By The Stars
Stride-Imagine

Albums rated 4.5 - 5 out of 5 by our listeners:

Best albums released in 2004:

Ayreon-Actual Fantasy Revisited
Ayreon-The Human Equation
Blackfield-Blackfield
Dead Soul Tribe-The January Tree
Dream Theater-Live At Budokan
Dreamscape-End Of Silence
Evergrey-The Inner Circle
John Petrucci & Jordan Rudess-An Evening with…
Jordan Rudess-Rhythm of Time
Karmakanic-Wheel Of Life
Nightwish-Once
Pain Of Salvation-BE
Pain Of Salvation-12:5
Pyramaze-Melancholy Beast
Riverside-Out Of Myself
Sylvan-X-Rayed
Threshold-Critical Energy
Threshold-Subsurface
Trans-Siberian Orchestra-The Lost Christmas Eve

Best albums released in 2003:

Adagio-Underworld
Andromeda-II = I
Arena-Contagion
Atmosfear-Inside The Atmosphere
Dead Soul Tribe-A Murder Of Crows
Derek Sherinian-Black Utopia
Dream Theater-Train of Thought
Evergrey-Recreation…

Albums rated 4.5 - 5 out of 5 by our listeners:

1998

Ayreon-Into The Electric Castle
Liquid Tension Experiment-Liquid Tension Experiment 1
Pain Of Salvation-One Hour By The Concrete Lake
Symphony X-Twilight In Olympus

1997

Dream Theater-Falling Into Infinity
Fates Warning-A Pleasant Shade Of Gray
IQ-Subterranea
Pain Of Salvation-Entropia
Spock's Beard-Beware Of Darkness
Spock's Beard-The Kindness Of Strangers
Symphony X-The Divine Wings Of Tragedy

1996

Lemur Voice-Insights

1995

Ayreon-The Final Experiment
Dream Theater-A Change of Seasons
Savatage-Dead Winter Dead
Symphony X-The Damnation Game

1994

Dream Theater-Awake

1993

None

1992

Dream Theater-Images And Words

1991

None