Likey likey. We should try and cover one of these sometime.

This is a hard list to come up with, because what I consider my favorite albums often change depending on which style I want to listen to the most at the moment. It's also a constant evolution. Two years ago it'd have been all progressive metal, but more and more I find myself going towards progressive rock. I guess I'll try to make that list as varied as possible.
Also, no particular order, because different styles bring different things to me. I won't prefer this one over that one.

Late note: I found impossible to stay within the 5 album limit. So my list will have 6 albums. Don't kill me in my sleep, please.

Spock's Beard - Snow

This is probably what defines me the most at the moment. Progressive rock with a great double-album telling a single story. The way I like to listen to music is much like watching a movie. There's a story, with a beginning, a development, and a conclusion. Music, with or without lyrics, tells the story, and makes you experience different feelings. Progressive music is much about that, which makes it go through a wide panel of styles.

Here's the album's overture song:

At that time, Spock's Beard was still led by Neal Morse, a guy I've learned to love as an artist. He's been having a prolific solo career, with albums that could be defined as progressive christian rock. He became a born-again Christian a few years ago and since then, his albums have been mostly on religious topics. I found it didn't disturb me in any way as a non-believer, because he tells them with amazing talent. Albums like Sola Scriptura or Testimony (a double-album about Morse's life and conversion to Christanity) are masterpieces of progressive rock to me.

Dream Theater - Scenes From a Memory

I don't listen that much to Dream Theater anymore, but this band is how I came to know about progressive music.  Every since I started playing guitar, John Petrucci has been my biggest inspiration and made me go towards a very technical approach to electric guitar playing.

Scenes From a Memory is also a concept-album (their only one, actually) and has no filler whatsoever. From the overture to the conclusion, everything is just perfect to me. SFaM will always remain my reference.

Pain of Salvation - The Perfect Element Part I

Yes, it's again progressive stuff, and it's again a concept-album.

This one's a hard album to listen to. Its music is very exhausting. It has its quiet moments, its heavy moments cannot even compare to death metal stuff, but their music is made in a way that makes you empty of energy - kinda. The album tells the story of a boy and a girl who both suffered abuse in their childhood and meet - for better of worse. It's a difficult topic (the song Used I'm about to link talks about the boy being raped and beaten by his father as a child, and if you listen to the lyrics, their implicit meaning is just horrific) and the music goes the same way. In the end, it's a very powerful album bringing very powerful emotions to the listener. Daniel Gildenlöw, the lead singer and lead guitarist (yes) of the band, is my favorite singer of all time. This guy's voice is amazing. He managed to bring tears to my eyes countless times.

Roine Stolt - The Flower King

The Flower Kings is a progressive rock band which sprang from their leader Roine Stolt's first solo album, The Flower King. Here, we go at the other end of the spectrum, with a band that is more or less about love. They're literally the kings of flowers.

Roine Stolt is another singer I love. He has a very particular voice, y'all should give it a listen. He's also an amazing guitarist who managed to create his own very particular style.

The song I'm linking is a 20 minute epic song called Hummanizzimo. It perfectly shows the quiet tones the band likes to play, with some extraordinary melodies that fill me with emotion.

These guys are all linked, really. A superband I love is Transatlantic, formed with Neal Morse, Roine Stolt, Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater's ex-drummer), Pete Trewavas (from the prog rock band Marillion), and Gildenlöw when they go live.

Peter Gabriel - Us

What can I say? Peter Gabriel, damn. My love for this man is beyond comprehension. I chose Us for the sake of choosing, but any album will fill me with joy. Every time I feel a little down, Solsbury Hill makes me happy again.

(this official video is also an amazing stop-motion work)

Metallica - Kill'em All

Again, had to choose. I don't listen to everything Metallica has ever made, but every album from Kill'em All to Black Album has songs I love. I've listened to Metallica since I was 13 and never stopped. It's filled with energy, and James Hetfield is still to this day one of my favorite singers of all time.

Sounds like a dish to me. I must be hungry.

Just throwing it out here, but Farewell sounds like a more interesting to do for a collab-y video with several instruments and styles. It leaves room for clean, quiet tracks, and riffs too. Solos, stuff.

(the vocals sound hard to pull off though)

(EDIT : ok, we'd need paulou on that one)

(EDIT2 : Okay that's a big song. We should probably keep it for next time.)

It's probably for the best. I'm not even a real drummer.

See, it has already started to fall apart.

Ah, I guess the joke's getting a bit old. Thank you for doing this, Tom.

I don't know if you guys know about Benjamin Carré, aka ornicar. This dude makes amazing digital paintings.

More here

Wow, okay. I want to see that. Cheers for you!

As I started playing it again, it just occurred to me that the game Amnesia : The Dark Descent has never been mentioned here.

Amnesia : The Dark Descent is a first-person survival horror game released for PC in 2011. I'll let Wikipedia explain what it talks about :

It has the particularity of never involving shooting. The game shares similar mechanics with point-and-click games, using your mouse as a hand to open doors, light candles, pick up objects (if you have played Penumbra, it works exactly the same way), etc. Obstacles to progression are mostly puzzles, sometimes involving physics. You have an object inventory, and can collect notes as you find them along the way, revealing the story.

This is where it gets very interesting: not only does Daniel have a health bar, he also has a sanity bar. When you spend too much time in the darkness, or witness weird events (such as, say, monsters following you), your sanity decreases. Your vision gets all messed up, you can't walk straight, you can even hear your head pounding.

The game focuses on this particular point: darkness is everywhere, light sources are scarce. Early in the game, you pick up a lantern, but oil is hard to find and you must use it sparingly. Darkness is your best ally at times, too: monsters won't fin you in the dark. But your sanity doesn't like it. Etc.

Developed by independent small team, Amnesia : The Dark Descent is to this day the most amazing experience I've ever had with a video game. The atmosphere is amazing, with great visuals playing with the constant back-and-forth between light and dark. The sound design is incredible, and this is a game one should play with headphones on. Daniel himself is very much alive, his breathing getting louder as he gets more scared. The music is great and immediately gets you in the right mood (being scared to death, that is).

Here's a trailer that's actually gameplay only :

This is a rare experience. Most of my friends never got passed the first 15 minutes because they were too scared. I finished it back then in three sessions, always torn between stopping for a while because I was too damn scared, and going on because the story was too interesting. I am particulary fond of games that are able to tell you a great story and get you immersed in an universe, an atmosphere. The Half-Life series always did that to me, and Amnesia does it too, with the addition of a constant oppression. I find it to be way more memorable than games that simply give you jump scares from time to time. The castle and its depths are the perfect setting for such a game, and as you progress through the story, you can only grow more uneasy.

I highly recommend it. It is something like $15 on Steam right now, and there's a demo too, if you want to try it out. As I said before, this is a game that should be played with headphones on, and in the dark for a maximum effect. I started writing this post right after playing it for an hour. Heart is pounding, legs and hands are shaking.

Most of the times, I like it, unless it's really dumb. It has to be discreet and preferably modified a bit. I got angry at the Starcraft 2 : Heart of the Swarm trailer, because it had a very loud and stupid Wilhelm scream shouted by a Space Marine. It just felt off.

I just learned through this thread that there is a new Sin City coming. I am very happy right now.

I'm looking very much forward to The World's End. I love Edgar Wright's directing style, I love Pegg, Frost, Freeman and all the others. We're only missing Nighy, Moran and Bailey, damn. Also, Rosamund Pike? Oh yeah.

As I loved The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, I eagerly await The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug too.

Kick-Ass was absolutely awesome, so I'll add Kick-Ass 2 to this list.

I want to see Star Trek Into Darkness. I really liked the first film, even though I don't remember it that well, and I want to get to know J. J. Abrams more.

I'm also curious about A Good Day to Die Hard, but only because I hope it won't be the over-the-top fest Live Free or Die Hard was (can't really say I believe it right now).

Iron Man 3 too. I'm not that excited about it, but I'm still interested.

Less "eagerly looking forward to", but still in a "why not" state of mind: Oz The Great and Powerful ; I don't know the first thing about The Wizard of Oz, but the trailed made me excited - also, James Franco is a great actor I'll always remember from Freaks and Geeks, and there's even the voice of Zach Braff. Warm Bodies looks interesting, and I can never resist zombies.

I don't know much about the others from the previously mentioned list, so I guess I'll see as they get close to releasing.

Aw come on.