Saturday, January 02, 2010
One Last Top Album
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Huggybear - Huggybear and Friends : Let's not forget what has to be one of the top album of the decade and THE best album of 2009. I tried to avoid being biased so I kept it off of the list but for some strange reason there's a special place in my heart for this album. Huggybear and Friends is a hip-hop masterpiece almost 5 years in the making. If you haven't done so already, go get yourself a copy over at the Huggybear and Friends Last.FM page.
Highlights - Ya Heard, State Of The Union, A Day In The Life
Labels: Music, Top Albums of the Decade
12:00 PM |0 comments
Friday, January 01, 2010
Top Albums of the 00's: Number 1
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Radiohead - In Rainbows : Forget Kid A... This is where it's at. This is where Radiohead, as a band, wanted to be when they made Kid A. Otherwise I don't think Thom Yorke releases The Eraser in 2006. Once he got that off his chest, he was able to return to the band and write what could be their best album. The fact that I have to question whether or not this album is better than OK Computer means it has my top spot for album of the decade. To put things into perspective, Radiohead gave me this album for free because they knew I would go out and buy it the second it was out on CD. And I did. I spent money on something that I already received for free, months before.
All of the songs are incredible but at this moment, the highlights for me are - 15 Step, Bodysnatchers, Nude, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, House Of Cards, Jigsaw Falling Into Place
Labels: Music, Top Albums of the Decade
12:10 PM |0 comments Thursday, December 31, 2009
Top Albums of the 00's: Number 2
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Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory (2000) : Almost half of the songs on this album were singles and I still don't think it spawned enough. Every song on this album could and should have been a hit on the radio. It's short and sweet and no matter how over exposed we all were to these songs, I'll never tire of them.
Highlights - Points Of Authority, Place For My Head, Pushing Me Away
Labels: Music, Top Albums of the Decade
10:00 AM |0 comments Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Top Albums of the 00's: Number 3
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A Perfect Circle - Mer De Noms (2000) : Very rarely do I hear a song from an unknown band on the radio and immediately like it, then go and listen to the album, turn it off after 6 tracks because it's unbearable to listen to, pick it up 4 months later and listen to it 7 times in a row and then 9 years later declare it once of the decade's best. I had this one ranked #1 for good chunk of the time I was writing this list but after a lot of thought, it found it's spot at #3. In a time completely overrun with Nu Metal, A Perfect Circle opened my ears to what rock music could be. I remember it like it was yesterday.... Walking around campus on a beautiful Fall day at Penn State. It was one of my 8AM-5PM Freshman days. I had other CDs with me but I couldn't stop listening to this disc and it just kept getting better. Good times.
Highlights - The Hollow, Judith, 3 Libras
Labels: Music, Top Albums of the Decade
10:00 AM |0 comments Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Top Albums of the 00's: Number 4
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John Mayer - Continuum (2006) : So John gets tired of pop music, really loves the blues, jams with some buddies, tours as a blues trio, puts out a live disc and then immediately heads back to the studio to record an album that's going to be hard to top. All the pop elements are still there in the beautiful yet catchy, radio friendly tunes however John fattens the whole thing up with traces of the Trio. Everybody wins.
Highlights - Belief, Stop This Train, Dreaming With A Broken Heart
Labels: Music, Top Albums of the Decade
10:00 AM |0 comments Monday, December 28, 2009
Top Albums of the 00's: Number 5
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Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP (2000) : Even moreso than non rap albums, it seems like most rap albums only ever have 1 or 2 good songs that can make it to radio and that's it. Those songs are normally surrounded by complete unlistenable garbage never to be heard from again. This album on the other hand had it's 2 radio friendly singles but then it had everything else... blood, guts, guns, cuts, knives, lives, wives, nuns, sluts. Just no Drips. From start to finish, this was Eminem after he had to try really hard but before he had to start trying too hard again. He had mastered his craft and that is why he was the top selling artist of the decade. I now have 3 rap albums under my belt which I never would have made if it wasn't for this album. I'd venture to say that I never even listen to rap music if this album isn't made.
Highlights - Kill You, The Way I Am, Marshall Mathers
Labels: Music, Top Albums of the Decade
10:00 AM |0 comments Sunday, December 27, 2009
Top Albums of the 00's: Number 6
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Paulson - All At Once (2005) : This could be the catchiest record of all time from a band that nobody has or probably ever will hear of. The moment I heard Miami Current, there was no turning back. This album just has everything that popular music could ask for. Yet... it is not popular. It's a really big world out there. That's the only explanation how these guys are virtual unknowns.
Highlights - Voids, Window Frames, Miami Current
Labels: Music, Top Albums of the Decade
10:06 AM |0 comments Saturday, December 26, 2009
Top Albums of the 00's: Number 7
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John Mayer - Room For Squares (2001) : My favorite riff of all time might not be found on a Cream or Jimi Hendrix album. It may not have been played by Randy Rhoads or Jimmy Page. No, my favorite riff of all time may have been recorded by a 22 year old white dude from Connecticut. Sure, Neon may have been written and released first in 1999 but I didn't hear it until I heard it on this album burried in between pop track after pop track. Oh yeah, all those pop rock tunes grew on me. Don't worry about all the screaming girls; John Mayer knows how to write a song. I've been hooked ever since. Highlights - My Stupid Mouth, Neon, St. Patrick's Day
Labels: Music, Top Albums of the Decade
10:26 AM |0 comments Friday, December 25, 2009
Top Albums of the 00's: Number 8
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Coheed and Cambria - Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness (2005) : I'm not sure what I can write about this record that would do it justice. It's a concept rock opera with a bizarre, yet humorous, concept that definitely works. The music is captivating... Hard prog rock with dynamic hooks and melodies and ups and downs. There are the single worthy songs but it's just too hard to not listen to this album in it's entirety. Take the entire journey. It's 1 hour and 11 minutes well spent.
Hightlights - Welcome Home, Ten Speed (Of God's Blood and Burial), Apollo 1: The Writing Writer
Labels: Music, Top Albums of the Decade
11:37 PM |0 comments Thursday, December 24, 2009
Top Albums of the 00's: Number 9
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Radiohead - Hail to the Thief (2003) : There will be no Kid A on this list. Sorry. Perhaps I'm not cool or music savvy enough to fully appreciate that album in all of its majesty. There will also be no Amnesiac on this list. It was a step in the right direction but Radiohead wasn't quite there yet with the direction they wanted to take their music. This album on the other hand. Amazing. It's spacy but finally not too overbearing and they were finally able to find a good balance between the electronics and a good old fashioned guitar. When it comes to Radiohead, I'll take the middle road to the land of musical pretentiousness.
Highlights - Backdrifts, A Punchup At A Wedding, A Wolf At The Door
Labels: Music, Top Albums of the Decade
10:00 AM |0 comments Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Top Albums of the 00's: Number 10
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Weezer - Green Album (2001) : There was a time this decade when all I listened to was Weezer. This record is why. It's what got me into the group. After I heard this album, I finally gave the non single tracks on the Blue Album another chance and then discovered a little gem called Pinkerton which I never even knew existed. Thank heaven for that. For me though, this is defintely where it all started. There's not a bad song on this record and every song has me singing within 10 seconds. The songs are tight and poppy. It's just a real fun disc. Just what everyone could use once in a while. Weezer released a good deal of music in the last 10 years but this was easily their best material during the span.
Highlights - Don't Let Go, Photograph, Island In The Sun
Labels: Music, Top Albums of the Decade
9:02 AM |0 comments Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Top Albums of the 00's: 15-11
Today we'll continue the countdown with 5 more.
- The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003) : I don't do drugs but if I did, the first thing I would listen to while on them is Dark Side of the Moon. And then I would probably listen to this. It is as much art as it is music. It kind of reminds me of a splatter painting. Mars Volta just threw random notes on paper and somehow it just worked. I have no idea how they come up with this stuff. The music seems so scattered but it's one hell of a ride as everything races around to catch up with itself.
Highlights - Inertiatic ESP, Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of), Televators - Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006) : One of the most fun albums of the decade. It's almost impossible to sit still while listening to the energy they managed to fit on 1 CD. It's practically a relief when you reach "Riot Van" midway through the disc as you almost definitely need a break from the 100 mph of the rest of the album. I only wish this album would have came out a few years earlier as it would have sure been fun to listen to during those long nights of pong.
Highlights - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, When The Sun Goes Down, From The Ritz To The Rubble - Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way (2002) : I don't know what to write about this album. It's nothing ground breaking but it was a slight departure away from your typical Chili Pepper sound. A lot less funk and a whole lot more melodies and harmonies. It had a lot of big singles but it didn't seem to have much staying power and it seems like everyone, including me to some extent, has forgotten about this beautiful record. I listened to it straight through for the first time in a long time while writing this up and it definitely reminded me why it had to make this list.
Highlights - Dosed, Tear, Venice Queen - Eminem - Eminem Show (2002) : Arguably Eminem's best album. Even after the enormous success of the Marshall Mathers LP, Eminem still came back heavier and just as angry at the world. Unfortunately this was the last album where he wouldn't realize how rich he really was.
Highlights - Business, Hailie's Song, 'Till I Collapse - Sinch - Clearing The Channel (2005) : Sinch found some minor success after the debut of their first major label release, the self titled Sinch, earlier in the decade. Somehow their success was shortlived and it was only downhill from there. It's literally mind blowing how they didn't explode onto the music scene after they made this record. There's a reason the music industry is dying and I think it may just be because guys like these are stuck working regular 9-5s.
Hightlights - Identity Theft, Sails, The Power of Suggestion
I'm currently watching: NFL Football: NY Giants at Washington Redskins
Labels: Music, Top Albums of the Decade
10:00 AM |0 comments Monday, December 21, 2009
Top Albums of the 00's: 20-16
Let's begin.
- Here we have my honorable mentions, so to speak, all grouped up into 1. My musical tastes changed a lot this decade and this is probably where they started as they carried over from the last decade, so we can't just forget them. These guys were all considered, and might just deserve a spot higher on here, but they just didn't make the cut. So... here they are in no particular order:
- New Found Glory - New Found Glory (2000) : Completely solid from top to bottom. Not a bad track.
Highlights - Better Off Dead, Hit or Miss, All About Her - Blink-182 - Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001)
Highlights - Anthem Part 2, Online Songs, Reckless Abandon - Millencolin - Pennybridge Pioneers (2000) : Sure it won't win any awards but if there's one album on this list that makes me feel young again, it's this one. Where's the award for that?
Highlights - No Cigar, Duck Pond, A-Ten
- New Found Glory - New Found Glory (2000) : Completely solid from top to bottom. Not a bad track.
- The Killers - Hot Fuss (2004) : This album made me change my tune on really popular music as I was pretty late to the game with these guys. I finally said who cares if it's really trendy, I like it. I recently heard the melody to Smile Like You Mean it as background music in a commercial and I said to myself, "Ooh, that's nice. That songs gonna make it." before I realized what it was. I'm only upset that living in Vegas, I didn't find them sooner.
Highlights - Mr. Brightside, Somebody Told Me, All These Things That I've Done - Dashboard Confessional - The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most (2001) : I may not want to paint my fingernails black, stretch my ear lobes out and then kill myself however there's definitely a little spot in my music library for this album.
Highlights - The Best Deceptions, Saints and Sailors, The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most - Element of Surprise - U:pside Down (2002?) : Notched down a few pegs for the brevity of the record but it made the list because E:OS knocked it out of the park with this pop/rock/metal nugget.
Highlights - There're only 6 tracks, I have them all ranked the same. Listen to the whole album, it's only 24 minutes. - Sinch - Sinch (2002) : This is some solid hard rock. Loud and energizing yet subltle and melodic. 10 years earlier and this album may have been huge.
Highlights - Seven, The Silent Aquiescence Of Millions, Bitmap
I'm currently watching: NFL Football: Minnesota Vikings at Carolina Panthers
Labels: Music, Top Albums of the Decade
10:23 AM |0 comments Sunday, December 20, 2009
Top Albums of the 00's: A List
Lists are fun but they're never easy. I almost wasn't going to do this segment and as I was writing it all up I must have talked myself out of it a numerous amount of times. I'm glad I persisted though as it forced me to listen to a lot of great music over the last week. Coming up over the next 11 days, I will be posting my thoughts on MY top albums of the decade and somehow giving them a number to signify their greatness. Well +/- 1 or so. Hey, it's almost a ridiculous task to compare apples to oranges or in some cases, apples to apples. Regardless of what their number is, these are the albums that I was consumed by when they came out or when I finally got around to discovering them... they're the ones that I just couldn't stop listening to until the people around me probably started getting annoyed at the amount of times they were listening to the same thing over and over again. I say they should have just been happy that this decade stopped me from listening to the Beatles incessantly but some people won't see it that way. Probably because I still managed to listen to the Beatles incessantly. So tune in tomorrow when I'll get this thing started and reveal albums 20-16. I know you're all super excited and can't wait.
I'm currently watching: NFL Live
Labels: Music, Top Albums of the Decade
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