My Top Ten Albums of 2006
Feb 27 '07
The Bottom Line read the review.
While I do a top ten films every year, this will mark the firs time I have tried to compile a list of my top ten albums, something I feel is much harder to do. While there are dozens of albums I haven't gotten the chance to listen to (due to the massive number of releases each year), some of which seem to be making everyone else's lists (such as The Decemberists, TV On The Radio, and Neko Case), I felt the need to represent my admittedly narrow scope of musical preference. The list is compiled based both on the overall rating of an album as well as the repeat listenability. If you feel an album is missing, then there's a good chance it's because I haven't heard it yet. That said, here is the list!
Honorable Mentions:
Audioslave – Revelations
My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade
City & Colour – Sometimes
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Stadium Arcadium
Amy Milan – Honey From The Tombs
Norma Jean – Redeemer
Rise Against – The Sufferer And The Witness
Pilate – Sell Control for Life’s Speed
The Black Maria – A Shared History of Tragedy
The Weepies – Say I Am You
10. Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
Timberlake’s latest release is a far cry from his roots in N’Sync. It’s actually the best pop album of the year. A mix of dance, r&b, and hip-hop, FutureSex is above all unabashedly sexy. Justin is self-indulgent in the best sense of the word (on Sexy Ladies he croons "Is it really cocky if you know that it's true?"), and here he crafts a pleasant mix of soulful love songs (End of Time, Another Song) and club rockers (Damn Girl, and the immensely popular Sexyback) showcasing Timbaland’s fantastic production and cameos akin to namedropping. What really shines, though, is Justin’s versatility, not only in his voice, but in his self-assured unpredictability.
9. AFI – decemberunderground
Whatever genre you want to call AFI, few bands have exhibited the kind of evolution they have since their formation over 15 years ago. While this has turned off many original fans, their latest release boasts that special something that made them stand out in the first place. Creating a product that’s somewhere between goth-rock, thrash-punk, and 80’s synth-pop, AFI have created something all their own. While decemberunderground is not their best work it ranks up there. It is their most MTV-sounding release to-date (see them covering Blur’s Song 2 this new years), but with a touch of Morrissey and a knowledge of their history that’s lacking from many of their peers. Davy Havok’s lyrics are suitably macabre, but accompanied with his androgynous vocals and the band’s goth-pop sound, these songs play like the musical version of a Tim Burton film. Punctuated by catchy choruses and fist-popping singalongs, decemberunderground is proof that popular music doesn’t have to suck.
8. Thursday - A City By The Light Divided
As if aware of the fact that they might have outgrown their emo roots, Thursday appropriately begins their fourth album with The Other Side of the Crash (a sort of endnote to their 2001 single Understanding In A Car Crash), a rollicking post-hardcore rocker with Geoff Rickley rightly singing “car crash came and car crash went, so we went along with it.” This is Thursday’s most polished and accomplished record to date, boasting increasingly complex songwriting, diversity, and stunning production values. Strangely, the first single, Counting 5-4-3-2-1 is probably the album’s weakest track, but aggressive tunes like At This Velocity, moribundly somber tracks like Sugar In The Sacrament, and the Cure-influenced Telgraph Avenue Kiss make this album feel like a work wound so tight it could snap at any second.
7. Bob Dylan - Modern Times
Dylan’s 32nd release is impressive for the fact that at 65 years old, he is making music as good as he was in his prime. Modern Times sounds like tradition, chock-full of allusions and borrowing from the music of a generation long past. Strange, then, that Dylan manages to come across as decidedly modern (hence the album’s title), acknowledging his audience with a sly grin, even making reference to Alicia Keys. This is poetry as good as anything Dylan has written, and songs like Thunder On The Mountain is sure to have you toe-tapping. It’s a folk tale at its finest, a true American masterpiece.
6. Tool 10 000 Days
Remaining one of the most unique and gifted bands out there, Tool creates an album here that makes you feel the need to get high and discover your inner deity to simply comprehend it. Maynard Keenan’s typically cryptic lyrics, 10-minute song length, and complex time signatures make for a classic Tool record, and a totally immersive experience. Drummer Danny Carrey is incredible, at the same time ruthless and refined, and Adam Jones’ guitar brings the eeriness while Chancellor’s bass brings the punch. And get this: queue Viginti Tres and Wings for Marie (which together are 11:13 in length), and at the same time play the title track 10𣩐 Days (11:13). The band actually made this to sync up. Talk about immersive!
5. John Mayer – Continuum
Mayer is proving to be one of the most gifted singer/songwriters of this generation, and this album doesn’t disappoint. Not only are these songs catchy, but they’re also unabashedly romantic, touting sexy bluesy riffs and Mayer’s not-too-pretty-boy voice. It’s a prime example of how a rock album can be sexy. Mayer gets his hand into the political music scene (waiting on the world to change), pens some great ballads (slow dancing in a burning room), and even manages a competently slick cover of Hendrix’s Bold As Love.
4. Killswitch Engage - As Daylight Dies
Proving the ability to match their brilliant 2004 release The End of Heartache, Killswitch Engage remains one of, if not the best band of their genre. Vocalist Howard Jones has an incredibly robust voice, and that his massive frame can put forth such pristine melodies as well as his guttural screams is that much more impressive. Producer/guitarist Adam D has his hands all over this album, from the wicked-fast riffs to the complementary backup vocals to the second-best produced album of the year (the first being an album he also produced). And of course as metal should be, there’s plenty of bass and double-kick to go around. When most bands use a formula it’s boring, but when KsE uses a formula, it kicks your ###. This is pop-metal at its finest.
3. Moneen - The Red Tree
In the punk/rock/emo crossover scene, few bands attract as much attention to their live shows as Moneen, and this album shows why. Few bands can channel the energy of a live show into an album, but Moneen seems to thrive on it. The songs are catchy and spirited, and Kenny Bridges soaring vocals punctuate the chaos with brilliant melody, belting delicious lines like “I’m not a failure now!” (if tragedy’s appealing…) and “I hope your corporation dies!” (this is all bigger than me). The Red Tree might be what you’d get if you took four emo kids with ADD who were raised on Dostoyevsky and gave them instruments.
2. Underoath - Define The Great Line
If Underoath’s 2004 record They’re Only Chasing Safety shocked old fans with it’s lighter sound, then 2006’s Define The Great Line surely shocked new fans with it’s heavier sound. Little Spencer Chamberlain is all grown up, and his vocals on this record reflect that. While his screaming range was quite limited on his first record with the band, he now shrieks and growls with the best of them, and drummer Aaron Gillespie’s singing is still the perfect complement. This record reflects a much more technically diverse sound as far as songwriting goes, probably due to the presence of Killswitch Engage’s Adam Dutkiwicz as producer. In fact, the single Writing On The Wall is the most accessible song on the album, while the rest require repeated listens to reveal their true greatness. This works as an album more so than a collection of songs. One might call Underoath the band to give a little credibility back to the oft-maligned “screamo” genre.
1. Brand New - The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me
After dropping completely off the planet for more than two years, Brand New came back with the darkest and best work of their career, making their fans wonder, what could have possibly happened to them in that time to inspire such depressing music? The album is diverse and so far removed from their previous two albums as to be almost indistinguishable; songs range from barely a whisper (handcuffs) to viciously aggressive, (you won’t know) sometimes even hitting both those notes in the same song (luca). Where the last two albums were sarcastic and witty, this seems more heavily influenced by Radiohead, & Pink Floyd. Lyrically it’s darkly poetic. Musically, it’s haunting. Even the would-be hooks are turned into dirges at the hands of guitarist Vin Accardi (though that’s not to say the album lacks catchy moments; archers and not the sun are far from it). Jesse Lacey’s vocals ring as if sung by a man in his last days, fraught with emotion, desperately trying to speak his soul to anyone who’ll listen. Songs like the urgently conscious and conflicted Jesus Christ (about a man trying to rectify his own self-loathing with his impending salvation) and Millstone, which sounds like Lacey’s visit to confessional, are so deeply personal and ultimately sad that they will give you chills. Listen to Deja Entendu and immediately afterwards listen to this, and judge for yourself how much they’ve grown up.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
clarkparker
|
|
Member: Joshua Bertram
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Reviews written: 32
Trusted by: 6 members
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.