A few albums I've listened to this year:
Shinedown - Amaryllis: I didn't think this one was as good as their previous endeavour, Sound of Madness, but it still has some nice riffs that any listener may have become familiar with from listening to earlier works. Songs that spring to mind are "Adrenaline", "Enemies", "Nowhere Kids", and the eponymous "Amaryllis."
Lostprophets - Weapons: Again, not as good as The Betrayed or Liberation Transmission but it has, like all Lostprophets, some heavy hitting numbers such as "Bring 'Em Down" and "Better Off Dead", but those tracks are less in number than previous albums imo.
Celldweller - Wish Upon a Blackstar: Anyone who knows me at all will know that Celldweller is my favourite artist, I mean what he's done really impresses me, and making the music he does all by himself (he did get John Whitney to help with several tracks on this album though when it came to drumming, and Grant Mohrman helps produce the album and make the final mixes of songs), which must be ridiculously hard to do blows my mind. Plus he's a nice and humble guy so respect+ from me. Anyway actually on to the album, all the songs are likeable in one way or another. Over an hour of ear candy, that continously flows, going from one song straight into the next, exploring a multitude of genres, and that has a stunning climax in "Against the Tide". My only qualm with the Deluxe Version of the album is that he took off the intro in one of the songs of the Standard Version: "It Makes No Difference Who We Are" and used that to make a small, minute long piece called "The Departure" (makes sense since the first track is called "The Arrival"), which I'm not really fond of. So in summation, Deluxe Edition tracklist but with an unmodified "It Makes No Difference Who We Are" would've been perfect. Highlight songs: "Blackstar", "I Can't Wait", "So Long Sentiment", "The Seven Sisters", "Birthright" and "Against the Tide."
Muse - The 2nd Law: My expectations were very low from hearing "Unsustainable" and "Madness", but thankfully they were easily surpassed by the rest of the songs in the album. I like the way they've experimented with new things, as they always do, and created tracks such as "Panic Station" and "Liquid State", which Chris sings instead of Matt. Heist, if you read this, definitely listen to it cause I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. But the fact that Muse were inspired by Skrillex is a fact that I don't think I will be able to stomach for quite some time.
Two Door Cinema Club - Beacon: Found about this group a few months ago and needless to say I was hooked. Beacon was a very pleasant listen to me, and I'm definitely looking forward to see what direction they go in next.
The Mars Volta - Noctourniquet: The Mars Volta continue to impress me with their stuff, and this album isn't any different. I think the concept of it is pretty nice as well, being about "embracing life for what it should be", as Cedric Bixler-Zavala said (his voice is pretty insane too). Makes me wish they still had Thomas Pridgen on drums because he is just awesome.
Three Days Grace - Transit of Venus: An album I originally wasn't fond of. I knew they were trying new things, but I didn't think it was great. But over time it grew on me and I can say that it's one of my favourite albums this year. Catchy riffs, good lyrics most of the time. Fave songs: "Sign of the Times", "Anonymous", "Unbreakable Heart."
Another couple are Linkin Park's Living Things and The Offspring's Days Go By but I have nothing good to actually say about them because I really thought they were disappointing but oh well.