10 Bands & Albums That Defined The Late 2000's Metal Scene For Me

Lately I've been on a nostalgia binge, listening to some specific bands from my late teens back in the years 2007-2009. The thing with my music listening is that I'm a "genre dweller" - I get in mood for a specific genre which I will listen to for a few months straight. I don't know why that is, but it's how my musical mind and cravings work since forever.

So why the late 2000's? It was a very special time with many unique experiences, dark as colorful ones. Without diving too deep into details, let's just say I was in my best teen years (17-19), playing in a band, havings fun with friends, seeing girls, playing video games and, of course, listening to a lot of metal. Naturally some bands just left a deeper mark than others, seeing as my music often works as a soundtrack for life.

This time period was also where I had finally left my comfort zone. Back in 2006 I was what I call an "ass-tight conservative metalhead", meaning I only listened to specific metal and/or bands. My thing was strictly sticking to 80's metal only. Mostly because it was, and still is, the number one metal sound I love and consume.

Another thing, however, was my distaste for modern metal during the 2000's. I just thought there were too many whiny emo bands and inseparable metalcore bands at that time. I ended up judging the entire metal scene for being that way. Around 2007 things started to change for me as some modern bands started to go more "old school" or "real metal". It opened my mind up to new bands and music that I had previously ditched.

With that said, here are 10 bands that defined the late 2000's for me, specifically the years 2007-2009, and what albums that I first discovered and/or loved the most by these bands respectively. Let's go!

• Machine Head

Album: The Blackening

As far as I can recall, Machine Head was probably the first modern metal band to help me break out of my conservative view on metal music. The funny thing about it, however, was that it wasn't their then-new album The Blackening that did it - it was their debut album Burn My Eyes. My love for Pantera at the time made me dig into the early Machine Head stuff, which later led me to their newer material.

My buddy Big D played The Blackening back at his place when I visited at some point and I noticed the thrashy riffing and great soloing. After that, I was hooked. The band as a whole has been kind of hit-or-miss for me, as I really can't stand their nu metal phase, but their early as well as latter day stuff is definitely something I'm a fan of.

• Cavalera Conspiracy

Album: Inflikted

I have fond memories of this project and release getting unleashed upon all of us. The much anticipated reunion between the Cavalera brothers was probably one of the biggest hypes of 2008. My buddy Big D and I, who were huge Cavalera-era Sepultura fans, were ecstatic about it. When the album's debut single "Sanctuary" dropped, I remember hitting play for the first time and we just lost our shit.

These days I can feel like this particular album, or even the project as a whole, maybe wasn't as good as I initially thought it was. The years haven't been as kind to it as it's been to lots of other releases from that era. Inflikted and Soulfly's Conquer were the last "Max Cavalera albums" I truly enjoyed. Ironically, however, the modern Sepultura has surpassed Max's projects during this decade, which is something I never thought would happen back in 2008.

• DragonForce

Album: Ultra Beatdown

I was probably one of very few people who never got into the whole Guitar Hero craze that strongly defined the mid-to-late 2000's. Nonetheless did I know DragonForce from that particular franchise. I don't recall much regarding of what I initially thought about them, but when I discovered the Ultra Beatdown in early 2009 I really fell for the video game-esque album art. I was hooked!

Sure, there were some cheese, wankery and other weird stuff going on in DragonForce's music at the time, but I kind of took a liking to their crazy-sounding Nintendo metal. I'm normally not a fan of power metal (except for Helloween), but something just works very well with DF for me. It's like a beam of pure energy that hits you up and gives you a kick. These days I am a pretty big fan of DF and I even like their current singer even more. The Ultra Beatdown, however, kind of remains a favorite album for me. Whether it's nostalgia speaking or not, I'm not quite sure of.

• Chimaira

Album: The Infection

I remember hearing Chimaira a few times throughout the mid-2000's as they were somewhat "more metal" than other bands in their genre. I agreed. It wasn't before 2009, however, when the band released their somewhat conflicting album The Infection that I truly took a liking to them. I remember playing the zombie game Left 4 Dead a lot at the time and I thought the album cover reminded me of the game (the music fitted well with the game as well).

I know some fans don't like this album all that much while others love it. It was too slow, too doomy and whatever for some people, but that's what I personally love about it. For me it's just the ultimate Chimaira album, even though I love most of their stuff except for the debut and, to some extent, also the last album Mark Hunter did with all-new members. A very heavy but also sadly overlooked/underrated band within the genre and scene at the time.

• Strapping Young Lad

Album: Alien

I loved few, if any, modern bands of the mid-2000's as much as I loved SYL. The extreme metal machine by mastermind Devin Townsend had it all - a mix of brutality, melody, atmosphere and humour. I sadly can't recall how I got into the band, but I suppose it was either through my buddy Big D or through Sweden Rock Magazine. When I first listened to Alien, which I'm fairly certain was the first album I heard, I just loved how crushing it sounded.

Throughout the years since I have continued to listen to this band a lot, as well as Devin Townsend's other endeavours. These days I tend to fancy their 1997 album City above all others, but SYL's 2000's material is still some of my favorite brutal metal of all time. It's just a shame that Devin's got bad feelings and memories about that time period in his life, as I think none of his other projects have been quite as kick-ass.

• Trivium

Album: Shogun

When Trivium burst out on the scene with their 2005 album Ascendancy, I was naturally one of those people who hated it (because I heard "Dying In Your Arms" and thought they were emo af). When I went to see Iron Maiden live in 2006 they had Trivium as their support act. Needless to say I wasn't exactly thrilled about it. Unbeknownst to me, however, they had grown their hair out and just released The Crusade, from which album they mostly picked the songs off.

My concert experience with Trivium changed my mind and I found The Crusade to be quite a decent album, even though the Metallica plagiarism was painfully obvious. But when Shogun later dropped in 2008, things really hit the fan. The album was Trivum going for their equivalent to Machine Head's The Blackening, except with a possibly even better end result. I still love that album to this day and I just find it sad that none of their subsequent albums haven't been nearly as good in my opinion.

• Megadeth

Album: United Abominations

I was a huge Megadeth since my earliest days of becoming a metalhead but I always tended to stick to their earliest albums (Peace Sells ... But Who's Buying? always being the great favorite). Some of Megadeth's albums, however, always sounded rather mediocre to me, with their late 90's and early 2000's albums coming to mind in particular. The System Has Failed showed great promise but I always felt that Dave wasn't quite "there" yet. Something was still missing.

When United Abominations was coming out I remember being extremely hyped because the cover art looked kick-ass. I also remember hearing "Sleepwalker" some time before the album dropped, solidifying my hype as the much needed return-to-form for the band. The album was everything I wished for. The only downside was the unnecessary re-recording of "A Tout Le Monde". When the band followed up with Endgame in 2009 it was even cooler, but after that they would descend into mediocrity once more.

• Lamb of God

Album: Wrath

My buddy Alex got me into LoG back in 2008 because he was a big fan of Chris Adler's drumming style (which kind of makes the band in some ways). Since I was listening to a lot of Pantera at the time, the style of LoG's music was a natural fit for me. I remember being kind of lukewarm towards the 2006 effort Sacrament, which I still am to this day, but I really liked 2004's Ashes Of The Wake. Shortly after I started listening to the band, however, they announced Wrath which got me hyped.

I remember the album being marketed as being more "raw" and very aggressive (duh), which I didn't object against. I had a rough time the last few weeks before it dropped, being so hyped it drove me nuts. When the album finally landed on the shelf I went and bought it, played it and got my ass kicked. It became my favorite LoG album and it's managed to uphold that title ever since (VII: Sturm Und Drang came close, though).

• Devin Townsend Project

Album: Addicted

After listening to SYL for a few years I naturally followed Devin Townsend into his next project, which happened to be his as-of-now defunct Devin Townsend Project. I remember the project initially being intended for four different releases, with Ki being the first and later followed by Addicted, both in 2009. The former never did much for me. I know a lot of people love it, including by buddy Big D, but it's always been too mellow and too instrumental for my taste.

Addicted was a whole nother story. I remember my first few times listening to it, thinking about how it sounded as if SYL had become a pop band. I love 80's pop music and to my ears, Devin's music has always had some strange 80's "undertones" to it. I fell in love with the album except for one or two songs, but the good ones were really great. It remained my favorite DTP release until 2016's Transcendence, which is one of Devin's top-3 most fantastic outputs in my opinion.

• Dethklok

Album: Dethalbum II

It took me a long time before checking out Metalocalypse. By the time Dethalbum II arrived, I had only watched whatever scenes my buddy Big D had showed me. For two years, however, he had tried to get me into 2007's The Dethalbum but to little avail. I just didn't get the fuzz or like its production style/sound. The successor sounded a whole lot better production-wise and the songs appealed to me a whole lot more.

In a way I find my relationship to Dethklok's music a bit ironic. I didn't like the first album which so many people hyped and praised. The second album seemed to be not as well-embraced, but it was the one I got completely hooked to. Then a few years later the third album arrived, by which time I had watched the show dedicatedly, and I didn't really like that one either (the drums and guitars sounded thin and farty af). The third album also seemed to be more loved than the second one to me. For me, however, nothing comes close to Dethalbum II and it was a damn fine album in my opinion.

Another 7 Great Metal Records Of 2016

Some of you might have read my top-10 list of the best metal records of 2016, which I posted shortly before last year's end. In that article I mentioned how I haven't really dug too deep into the music released in 2016. Well, I certainly have done a lot of diggin' through last year's releases this year (so far) instead, and guess what - I did find some more great records!

So what I did with my top-10 list was that I chose an actual top-10, but I also mentioned quite a bunch of other records and why they didn't end up within the ten best. Because they were already mentioned (somewhere in the article) I won't include them again. Instead I will simply bunch together another seven great metal records, albeit in no particular order this time, all released in 2016.

I also feel like I could alter my top-10 of 2016 a bit, but I don't really want to or have the energy for it. Just enjoy an additional seven recommendations down below.

• Tarot - Reflections

Actually kind of more like 70's hard rock, but I'll let it pass as metal (it's got its heavier moments). I definitely feel this like some bastard child between Uriah Heep and Manilla Road, but also with sweet soundscapes/atmospheres reminiscent to that of Deep Purple and Rainbow. A great one!

• Inquisition - Bloodshed Across The Empyrean Altar Beyond The Celestial Zenith

Black metal wasn't actually my biggest craving in 2016. I'm the kind of music listener who delves into more of one particular style at the time and stay in there until I get bored for the time being. I simply didn't get any larger cravings for black metal last year. This one, however, did eventually show up on my radar and I gave it a try. It's my first listen to this particular band I enjoyed it a lot.

• Deströyer 666 - Wildfire

I've been aware of this band for a long time and had heard some stuff a bunch of years ago, but I never was an active listener or fan of theirs. This one sounds great, however, as it reminds me of some darker thrash bands as well as bands such as modern-day Watain. Some really great tunes and overall a solid album.

• Spell - For None And All

Probably my favorite one on this list, and definitely one that would've ended up in my top-10 of 2016 if I had heard this one earlier. Late is better than never though. This stuff is really good. Think of a hard rock-ish heavy metal sound around 1980 (actually anytime between like 1978-'82), like Rush meets Ozzy solo or something along those lines. These guys also recorded the album with analogue equipment, which I think resulted in a great outcome. Fuck Pro-Tools and "Drumkit from hell".

• Trap Them - Crown Feral

A so-called "Entombed-core" album with relatively short and straight-to-the-point tracks filled with rage and heavy-ass guitars. This shit will totally rip you a new one!

• Gatecreeper - Sonoran Deprevation

More "Entombed-core" but compared to Trap Them this is somewhat more true to the death metal aesthetics, in my opinion. Lots of heavy double bass assault on this one. If you like metal sounding like a sledgehammer swingin' at your head, this will satisfy your needs.

• Grey Wolf - Glorious Death

Some old school-style (true) heavy metal. Nothing extra ordinary but does a great job at what it's supposed to be. Definitely better than most modern run-of-the-mill wannabe:s playing old school heavy metal.

10 Hard Rock & Metal Bands: With great energy

Starting off this year will be a list of ten (10) bands which I believe to have great energy in their playing style. So, what do I mean by "energy"? I mean it as in feeling, delivery and dynamic style. To see what bands I chose, simply scroll down below.

Note: This isn't a top-list as in rate 1-10. It's just a list of ten bands fitting the description.

• Van Halen

Everybody knows Van Halen, right? They're something of a "love 'em or hate 'em" kinda band. You're also either a David Lee Roth-era fan or a Sammy Hagar-era fan. Personally I'm the DLR-era fan. Now, what I like in Van Halen's sound is their playful style. Eddie VH is a fantastic guitarist and his style is very unique and innovative, especially for its time. They're like one huge party thrown into a musical package. Just listen to the power of the drums accompanied by the playful guitar and driving bass, while Mr. Roth delivers his characteristic vocals.

• Motörhead

There is no other band that will rock 'n' roll harder than Motörhead ever did. They were pure, raw, intense and hard. Call it hard rock, heavy metal, punk rock or whatever. Lemmy always said that they play rock 'n' roll. My father also once told me that I was conceived to Motörhead's music. How could I him for that? It's great shagging music.

• Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy has had a great many musicians coming and going throughout the years. Some have been great while others have been somewhat more forgettable. The man has had a serious talent for finding great guitarists in particular, however, as he played with the late legendary Randy Rhoads as well as Jake E. Lee, Zakk Wylde among others. While not all of his line-ups and albums were particularly energized, a few of them was. Both albums with Randy Rhoads have great energy from all musical departments.

The nowadays greatly (and sadly) overlooked "The Ultimate Sin" also had some really great playing by guitarist Jake E. Lee and the late drummer Randy Castillo. After that, Ozzy's had a few more high-octane albums featuring Zakk Wylde as well. Unfortunately though, quite a few of his more recent albums have been lacking that good ol' pure rock 'n' roll energy from his 80's heyday.

• Dio

Ronnie James Dio played with some of the best musicians of the genres throughout his career. Many legendary names as well as just-as-good lesser known names. For me personally, however, I always prefered the man in his solo band the most. Every Dio album up until and including the massively underrated "Strange Highways" (1993) all have great energy to them. Well, "Lock Up The Wolves" (1990) kinda lacked that a bit here and there I'll admit, particularly in the drum department.

With musicians like Vinny Appice behind the drum kit on all releases up till 1996, it's hard to not get a great energy going. Add guitar players such as Vivian Campbell, Rowan Robertson and Tracey G. along with bassists Jimmy Bain and Jeff Pilson and you've got a great fockin' band. The only thing that saddens me about Dio's solo career is how his last few efforts got very stale. It's like the fire turned into a struggling spark. Anything from the band's first ten years is great, though.

• Manilla Road

Another classic example of a three-piece managing to make something sounding epic as fuck, despite the lack of more players in the band. Manilla Road's got some massively underrated guitar, bass and drum work. Every department is just on fire! Well, the vocals maybe not so much, but they're what keeps them down to earth in what is otherwise God-like. Seriously, some of the best heavy metal guitars you'll ever hear are available from this band.

• AC/DC

For being a relatively mid-paced and straight-forward king of hard rock band, they've got an awful lot of energy to their sound. Is there any other band in the genre (hard rock) which you can headbang to like you can with AC/DC? I think not. A solid proof less can be more.

• Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy was such an amazing and unique band which could really do music any way they liked, and still it would sound great. Hard rock, soul, blues, funk or heavy metal - all the same: awesome! Just listen to this clip above here. It's like all hell's breakin' loose, and that's exactly what I want in a band.

• Entombed

Entombed was the first death metal band I ever got into and perhaps still the most intense one. Their first two albums are fockin' legendary and the pure energy of riffs, crushing drums and deathly grunts are just as metal as it gets. The Stockholm death metal scene in general really knew their shit back in the day.

• Cro-Mags

My favorite band within the hardcore scene. They were heavy, raw, intense and overall very genuine. Their first three records never get old in my world. They kicked some major ass back in the day and they still kick the asses of all new-comers out there.

• W.A.S.P.

I've always loved this band for Blackie Lawless' great sound and style, vocally as musically. They always were somewhat in between being glam metal and heavy metal, but it's like they fused the two together and became a dynamite. In my book, when a band manages to make you imagine one thousand roaring motorcycles come ridin' on Route 66, it's something done real right.


And that was ten bands, folks! I hope you enjoyed my list and maybe you even found a new band or two in the process? Later!

My Top-10 Xbox 360 Games!

Last month I did a top-5 list of the worst and / or most disliked games in my collection of Xbox 360 games (that's what I play on), so now I thought I'd do a top-10 best games instead. I have about 70 games or more now and most of the games I do like, of course, so finding 10 extraordinary awesome games shouldn't be hard for me. So let's go ...


10. Left 4 Dead

Today this game was a game I pretty much even didn't wanna put on the list, but I did it anyways for the good old times I've had with it. One of my first games for the Xbox 360, I pretty much played this on a daily basis with my stepfather back in 2009 and first half of 2010 (when I was living at my mom's, that is). We had lots of fun together with this game, but since then I have, pretty understandable I hope, grown kinda tired of playing it. I have recently played it on Xbox Live with a friend of mine, but I am just too tired of the same old four campaigns over and over again. I know every inch of them inside and out, and it's the same old zombies and you get the whole picture. I have Left 4 Dead 2 as well, but I never liked that one as much, thought it was "too much / over the top" compared to the first one. But yeah, while I play this today and rather irritate myself over the many bugs, especially in the second one, rather than enjoying it and having fun, it was a great game back in the day, and still would be if I would've started playing it today, and it also still is the best zombie game I've played. I had 1,5 years of total fun with this game and that is something I'll never forget.


9. Saints Row 2

The best installment in its series, I bought this game in early 2009, being one of my first games. I bought it for a probably very common reason - it being a GTA-clone, and me being a GTA-addict. Clone or not, it's still a very good and fun game, or at least it was for its time. Unfortunately it's grown to be one of my most "broken" games which I rarely feel to play anymore, and when I do it it's like fifteen minutes tops. But this doesn't make me deny its former glory in my collection. It is one of the games I overall have played the most, as well as loved. It was also the first game I played of this series and I liked it a hundred times better than the first one, and when The Third came out a little over a year ago I ultimately thought this was still the best one. This is a real street-gang drama like it should be, with a lot more options (like the character creation, great variety of clothes, etc.). The Third did bare puff on this one. I can only hope that Saints Row 4, which I guess will come to life, will be as good as the second, or of course even better.


8. The Darkness 1 / 2

I could not decide which one is my favorite out of the great Darkness games. The first one was one of my first games for the Xbox 360 and while the gameplay isn't the most awesome I've played, the story is the thing about it that gets the big prize. The second one is better in gameplay and much of the physics, like the cell-shading graphics and that it actually looks and feels more like the original comics. Though I think I found the first game to actually be darker story-wise, but it's really just a matter of opinion and I'm sure that it differs from people to people who've played the games around the world. Personally, I'm leaving it at this, calling it even between two great games, and maybe time well give me more of a single choice which is the better one.


7. Gears of War 3

This amazing series is simply nothing but amazing. I have played all three of them and looking forward to the prequel Judgment now. One thing about the GoW games I really love is the story. It's a very great, well-written and interesting sci-fi story which really is what these games are all about. The gameplay controls always were a bit clunky but got better with each game, but that's not all. I really think they outdid themselves with each game overall. The first one was great, the second even better, and the third one the best. Now that's how it should be with games when they do series of them. Of course not all game series are like this, but GoW certainly is. If you're the type of gamer that really enjoys a good story, then GoW is easily one the finest choices you could go with.


6. Vanquish

This is a game that really came out pretty much unnoticed if I'm right. Not many people seem to know this game or wanna play it if they do. The reason because of this is most likely that it's an obvious Gears of War-clone set in a different sci-fi environment (much more white instead of the grey decay which GoW is set in), as well as the real boring cover art. I mean, if I wouldn't have seen gameplay for this and then tried out the demo, but simply seen it for the first time in some store, I would've thought it looked like some boring child's game. Clone or not, I have all the GoW games, Quantum Theory (another clone, though rather bad) and Vanquish. Now there is also Inversion which I have yet to play, but to be honest, I really think that Vanquish was slightly better than all of the GoW games. I simply enjoyed the gameplay more, especially with the abillities you have with your suite (glide). It's also a very high-paced game with 100 % action all the time. The only thing really about Vanquish that doesn't beat what GoW have is the story, which is kinda mediocre. But as I said, the gameplay is awesome and that made this one of the funniest games I ever played.


5. Bulletstorm

Gears of War gone FPS style. This is what this game is in one sentence. Created by Epic Games just like the GoW-series, this was a sure go for me. After playing the demo before its release in 2010 I was really excited about this one. It was great and fun gameplay, really cool sci-fi environments and cheesy Duke Nukem-style humour. I think the missions are very fun and the boss battles are fun and memorable, to me at least they were. I recently finished this for the third time and I'm certain that I will do it again and again. Non-stop action, funny and interesting characters (a sexy chick, of course!) and lots of skill points (my favorite being "rear entry"). The games soundtrack theme is also very great and occassionally there are moments where the music goes great with the gameplay.


4. Max Payne 3

Another masterpiece in Rockstar Games' catalogue. I loved the first two Max Payne games so this was a must for me, even if the sunny Brazilian setting sure differs from the trademark snowing or raining New York City like in the previous two games. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I was about to play it, thinking too much about the previous games. But I gotta say, this game did not disappoint! Rather the opposite, it really did left as a very worthy installment in the series, though I don't know if it's better than the previous ones. I leave that up to everyone to decide for themselves. It also has got a very good and interesting original soundtrack done by the L.A. noise band HEALTH. I liked every single second of the soundtrack during the gameplay and is easily music I could recommend as a stand-alone as well. A great combo of a great game with a great soundtrack, is the final verdict for Max Payne 3.


3. Deus Ex: Human Revolution

I never played any of the earlier Deus Ex games, but I always heard good things about them. As I am a big sci-fi fan, or rather the dystopian style which is on earth, tall buildings, flying cars and so on. I'm not a very big fan of aliens and overnatural stuff, really. Anyway, this game is a futuristic sci-fi story and that's why I decided that I must have this game. When I got it and did not expect it to be such a big surprise as it turned out to be - it was awesome! I played the story through immediately almost twice before changing to another game. It was just such a refreshing experience in gaming for me from my otherwise sandbox-style filled game collection. I've played some Splinter Cell games back in the day but never was much for the sneak-style games, but this was just what I needed at the time. The story is also cool and always kept me wanting to get further into it, and the freedom while doing everything is just great. The soundtrack is also one of the best O.S.T's ever made and alone worth getting this game.


2. Red Dead Redemption

GTA goes the wild west, not a bad idea I tell ya. The result is amazing, too! In 2008 or even early '09 before I ever heard of this game (I didn't know about Red Dead Revolver at the time either) I would've never figured that Rockstar Games would do this kind of game, but I'm really happy they did, because it's an awesome game just like everyone else of their games. The graphics are also pretty nice for the game's size, details and loads of content. I've played this one quite a lot online lately as well (I haven't had Xbox Live before, shame on me ...) and it's so fun! I'm really looking forward to another game in this series.

The only disappointment with this game was the (big) DLC - RDR: Undead Nightmare - a zombie-themed version of the game with a small, new side-story in which there is a zombie apocalypse. While I had fun playing it, I also felt disappointed in some ways. I'm not really sure in what ways, but I just feel like I'm missing some things that other Rockstar-games have, but then again, not all games can be perfect. Nonetheless, the Game Of The Year-edition of the game which I have now is a must-buy and includes every DLC.


1. Grand Theft Auto IV

The big winner in my collection and probably my favorite installment in the GTA series as well. The first GTA game I ever played (from what I recall) was GTA II, which was another thing, kinda. In 2001 I played GTA III which instantly made a huge impact on me - I loved it so much! The complete freedom to do whatever you can, and as I was just 10-11 years old at the time, it was extra cool. The year after I went on with GTA Vice City which literally changed my life at 12. The game was not only awesome, it's radio stations had great (80's) music that made my interest break into that as well. I officially became a metalhead while realizing that V-Rock had some awesome metal music, but also the synthpop and new wave channels became well played. A few years later GTA San Andreas came and expanded all boundaries and really showed that GTA was about to stay as my favorite games. After playing both VC and SA for pretty much every day straight between 2002-2007 (I wasted my youth on this, really), the latest GTA IV came out in 2008 and really did not change my habbit. I was in deep love, again.

Liberty City, which is the city in which GTA IV takes place, is based on New York City, which is a city I love in the movies and dream about going to, so it's just a perfect atmosphere for me to drive around the city as well as doing the missions. It's a great story, the best yet in fact. I liked the other GTA stories as well, but especially San Andreas' street gang-theme wasn't really my dream come true. I also really liked the DLC episodes they introduced in IV, especially the biker gang-themed the Lost and Damned  (now this is the type of gang I like!).

I've just had so much fun with the GTA games for over 10 years now, and with the fifth installment, called GTA V of course, I will have at least two more years of solid GTA-fun (though I will continue to play no matter how tired I get of it).

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Some of my other cirka 70 games that didn't make the list, good as bad ones, with * for close ones:

Batman: Arkham City*
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow*
Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning*
Devil May Cry 4*
Mirror's Edge*
Rage*
Bioshock*
Bioshock 2
Gears of War
Gears of War 2*
Dead Rising
Dead Rising 2
Skyrim
Fable II
Fable III
Prey
Turok
Timeshift
Sleeping Dogs
L.A. Noire
Saints Row
Saints Row The Third
Assassins Creed II
Racedriver: Grid
Battlefield 3
Crackdown
Alpha Protocol
Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood
Duke Nukem Forever
The Godfather II
Borderlands
Left 4 Dead 2
Dead Island
Perfect Dark Zero
The Simpsons Game
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days
Gun
The Club
F.E.A.R.

and more!