2016 was a strong year for new classic rock music, which means you have some tough choices to make when voting in this year's Ultimate Classic Rock Awards Album of the Year category.

Some of classic rock's biggest names delivered legacy-enhancing albums in 2016. David Bowie kicked off 2016 by delivering what turned out to be his last masterpiece, the haunting, jazz-influenced Blackstar. The Rolling Stones ended a 12-year-long recording absence with the bracing Blue & Lonesome, a blues covers album recorded in just three days.

Metallica ended an eight-year new-album drought with Hardwired ... to Self-Destruct, which paired the return-to-thrash form of 2008's Death Magnetic with a fuller, looser sound. And Paul Simon continued as one of rock's most creatively restless talents with the innovative and surprisingly joyous Stranger to Stranger.

Already it's hard to choose, right? And those are just four of the 20 diverse, deserving records up for the 2016 UCR Album of the Year award. You can learn more about each in the gallery below.

If you're torn between two or more candidates -- or just want to be sure you do everything you can to make sure your favorite album wins -- you can keep coming back every hour to cast your ballot again and again. Voting for each of the 2016 Ultimate Classic Rock Awards categories ends on Jan. 9, 2017, at 11:59PM ET. As always, the winner will be decided solely by reader’s votes, so don’t be shy about hitting those polls — and may the best album win!

Here's Our Ballot: 2016's Best Rock Albums

More From Ultimate Classic Rock