2019 - The great review of the year

10. February 2020

Jahresrückblick

2019 - Der große Jahresrückblick

The Beatles are a constant in a turbulent year, the rock scene shows itself to be stable, the prog fans are spoiled, and an album polarizes as rarely.

2019 was an eventful year in which global political events clearly divided society: One need only look at the increasingly erratic, autocratic presidency of Donald Trump, who continued to hold the world in check, or the eternal tug-of-war over brexite, which culminated in a new triumph of right-wing populism at the end of the year. But it was precisely this that led to an increased politicisation of society. Both exemplary and symbolic of this were the climate protests, which brought many young people onto the streets, especially in Germany

In this so complex world, there was at least one thing you could rely on: the musical greatness of the Beatles. With the grandiose remix for the 50th anniversary of "Abbey Road", supplemented by previously unreleased studio recordings, the Fab Four once again became one of the most important bands of the year almost five decades after their breakup. You could even hear the masterpiece live - in the congenial concerts of Beatles tribute band The Analogues. In general, the year was strongly marked by a reassessment of the old and proven. Numerous other, partly radical remixes of old classics - such as Pink Floyd's "A Momentary Lapse Of Reason" or Marillion's "Afraid Of Sunlight" - stood next to often richly endowed anniversary editions of, for example, King Crimson's "In The Court Of The Crimson King" or Van der Graaf generators "The Aerosol Grey Machine". It is also worth mentioning that a new record number of vinyl reissues was recorded.

It is also clear that 2019 was a good year for the prog - not only because of the numerous re-releases in this area, but also with regard to new releases: The prog scene seems to be more active than ever. If you look at the eclipsed list of the year's best, there are really only flawless progressive acts on the podium: Opeth, the Neal Morse Band and the Norwegian band Leprous have all released wonderful albums. But other genre institutions such as IQ, Marillion or Dream Theater have also made a name for themselves - either with new, fascinating albums with which they broke new ground without forgetting the tried and tested, or with new interpretations of old songs, as in the case of Marillion. Finally, new, promising acts appeared on the horizon. The German band Soulsplitter, in particular, should be mentioned here, who landed in a spectacular sixth place in our year's charts.

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