So the year is half over and I seem to be missing all of the albums that are supposed to blow me away. I will admit there are certain albums by bands I love that I should listen to but haven’t yet i.e. The Flaming Lips, TV on the Radio, Futureheads.
For me, it’s been the year of disappointments. Tool, The Streets, Pearl Jam, The Stills, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Strokes all came in well below my expectations.
There’s only been three albums I’ve enjoyed all the way through.
Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
The Walkman - A Hundred Miles Off
Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
Even Thom Yorke’s solo record I haven’t liked so far. Though I feel with more listens, I’ll begin to get it a bit more.
I enjoyed the Arctic Monkeys major label debut, which has gotten a decent amount of play in the states. But other than that, I probably have to agree that it has been a sub-par year.
Lordi’s The Arockalypse is a lot of fun, but I don’t know that I’d call it great. I did like the new Tool a lot, though. To be honest, I haven’t really been paying a lot of attention to new material.
Try the The Raconteurs new album “Broken Boy Soldiers”. I was really impressed (my fiance who hates the White Stripes also likes the album).
I’ll have to disagree with the OP when it comes to Tool’s new record “10,000 Days” its been my favorite so far this year. I’ll admit that it is not easy to just pick up and start enjoying. Its something that needs to be listened to all the way through a few times.
So far I’ve bought and enjoyed:
“Paradox Hotel” by The Flower Kings
“On An Island” by David Gilmour
“Second Life Syndrome” by Riverside
“A Place In The Queue” by The Tangent
“Songlines” by The Derek Trucks Band (Hi Marley and Twickster (and Opal))
“Living With War” by Neil Young
and “Earth To America” by Widespread Panic.
I’ll add “High And Mighty” by Gov’t Mule after it’s released on August 22 (I hope).
I think the Doll’s Yes Virginia is an '06 release. I must say, I don’t much care for Sing. Although the subject disturbs the Hell out of me, probably the album’s strongest track is Mandy Goes to Med School. None of the newer songs seem to have the spark of earlier tracks like Coin Operated Boy, though. A good album? Yes. Great? Tough call, but I’d say no. A bit of a disappointment for me, sad to say. Better production values, better musicianship, but less taut, less of a feeling of freshness and risk.
Still, they’re a thousand times more original and creative than 99.99999% of the orchestrated fecal matter that oozes out of pop radio, which I pretty much can’t listen to anymore. We’re in bad shape when merely good albums completely wipe the deck with commercial radio’s offerings. I get nothing but :rolleyes: when I insist there’s something different about modern radio, that this time around it really is a bunch of canned shit sqeezed at us by a consortion of committees and producers. But when today’s remaining popular link to non-plastic music is fucking U2 (whose last ten years have been for total shite AFAIC), I say there’s a problem.
I’ll echo the recommendations for Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not by Arctic Monkeys (which is almost as good as the British music press makes it out to be) and The Life Pursuit by Belle and Sebastian, which is the best album they’ve made at least since Fold Your Hands, Child, and possibly since before that. My favorite of the year so far has gone unmentioned, however - it’s Graham Coxon’s Love Travels At Illegal Speeds. It’s far and away the best solo album he’s ever released, and I’d venture to say it’s up there with the best of Blur. Just a shame that it doesn’t appear to have received a proper release in the US.
I received the Raconteurs album in the mail today. I’ve only listened to it one-and-a-half times, but nothing’s grabbed my attention as much as “Steady, As She Goes.” I’m not sure how I feel about Brendan Benson’s contributions yet - I’ve never heard anything by him before.
Kid_A - Also forgot to mention that I bought the new Futureheads album a couple of weeks ago, although I bought in a spree of about a dozen CDs so I’ve only listened to it a few times, though I will rectify that soon. Most of the reviews I’ve read have called it “meh” or worse, but I really like what I’ve heard so far. It’s a little more serious than their first album, but it seems to be stronger track-for-track. Then again, I was one of those people who thought The Futureheads had some fantastic songs (“Carnival Kids,” “Hounds of Love,” “Decent Days and Nights,” “Man Ray,” etc) but was supremely overrated and a little dull in places.
Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
The Dresden Dolls - Yes, Virginia
Clare Bowditch and The Feeding Set - What Was Left
However, unlike the OP, I did love “Show Your Bones” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. And The Flaming Lips’ album has really grown on me. Also loving “And The Glass Handed Kites” by Mew (technically a 2005 release in their native Denmark, but new here).
The Futureheads - News and Tributes
Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll
Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
Robert Pollard - From a Compound Eye
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
And a Thom Yorke solo album later this week. I reckon it’s been a pretty good year!
Monotheist, the new album by the reunited Celtic Frost (and their first album in 14 years), is just killing me. It’s less thrash/speed metal than their old stuff. It’s more goth-tinged metal…think Sisters of Mercy meets My Dying Bride, but much heavier than either.
Nobody else on these forums will like this album as much as I do.
