My Album Review of 2006.
Soupy
Posts: 171
Here my review of the albums i've brought this year. Hope it makes interesting reading and feel free to discuss, critacize etc. I wont take offence! Recommendation also welcome.
Coming from the UK I think maybe a couple of albums were actually 2005, but didn't get released over here till 2006.
Worst to Best 2007.
Live - Songs From Black Mountain. 1/20.
A band who have been in decline for a while finally screw up completely, this teped collection of middle of the road blandness seems miles away from the band that released 'Throwing Copper' in the early 90's. I gave this album away after 2 spins.
Arctic Monkeys : Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not. 3/10
From the hype machine that proclaims Oasis are the greatest British band and Pete Docerty is a talented and worthwhile individual comes the supposed next great thing. Reality shows a sloppy half baked album, the Dancefloor song is good the rest sound like the streets trying to rock. Arctic Monkeys? Nah Chilled Monkey Brains more like
The Killers - Sams Town. 5/20
If The Killers chirpy debut was a homage to Duran Duran, this tedious collection of workman like guitar athems is a tribute to Bruce Springsteen and we all know The Duranies > The Boss.
Audioslave - Revelations. 6/20.
Chris Cornell continues to waste his talent with this rather dull band. Yeah Tom Morello we know your an amazing Guitarist but you don't need to prove it in every single song with another fret masterbation solo.
Panic! At The Disco - A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. 7/10
I was blissfully unaware of the whole kiddy emo (Fallout Boy/Panic!) when I brought this. I believe it's generally regarded a good move to diss them if you want any credibility, but to be honest it's not that bad, some good moments and the second half of the album where all the songs are piano's and string sections show potential.
Hope Of States - Left. 8/20
Planet Sound (Ch4 teletext music page) fav band. The debut album was damn good, this followup seems like the band were starting to giveup - no surprise they split shortly after it was released.
Built To Spill - You In Reverse. 8/20
The 2 minutes intro to the first track 'Goin Against Your Mind' is stunning, the following 5 minutes of that song are a letdown. The rest of the album is also somewhat disapointing.
The Who : Endless Wire. 10/20
Ok it's the best Who albums since 'By Numbers' but thats the minimum requirement. To be fair how do you go about replacing the greatest rhyme section ever? But ever so the songs often feel unfinished, with the second half of the album (the mini opera) really suffering. Time to hang up your boots i think.
The Sleepy Jackson - Personality. 11/20
The biggest letdown of 06, the debut albums 'Lovers' is one of my fav albums ever. This however suffers from a rather one dimentional sound, dumping the whole country alt-rock sound in favour of a 80's sythe sound and songs that nearly all end to quickly.
Depeche Mode - Playing The Angel. 12/20
The Mode return to some sort of from after the awful 'Exciter'. It's still not a patch on their best 90's albums but letting Dave Gahan write songs now seems to have injected life back into the old dogs.
The Strokes - First Impressions of Earth. 13/20
An improvement of the rehash of the debut that was 'Room on Fire' and finally they've allowed someone to actually produce the album. But to many fillers let this one down.
Incubus - Light Grenades. 13/20
Another good Incubus album, that's about 4 on the trot. Maybe they'll release a truely great album one day!
The Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium. 13/20
A double album by the Chili's was always going to be hard work. Chili's songs do tend to sound quite simular at the best of times nearly 2 hours of this is a challenge. However if you give it a chance you can make a very good chili's album from about half the material here - the rest is mostly dross!
Guster - Ganging Up On The Sun. 14/20
Not as good as the last 2 albums, but another slice of cheery pop joy. The track Ruby Falls maybe hints at a darkerside of Guster, hopefully they'll explore this more next album.
The Feeling - 12 Stops and Home. 14/20
Maybe a guilty pleasure? I know these guys have had some chart success and rightly so. Nothing wrong with catchy hooks and lots and lots of big choruses.
James Dean Bradfield : The Great Western. 14/20
A surprisingly good album and better than at least 3 Manics albums. Hopefully James will contribute more to the Manics now.
Band of Horses - Everything All The Time. 14/20
A low budget debut 'The Funeral' is one of the best tracks of the year. Lots of potential here, looking forward to what they do next.
The Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics. 14/20
It's a good album but I expect more from the Lips thesedays, at times it feels more like a collection of B-sides than an proper studio album. Still a disapointing Lips album is better than most bands best material!
dEUS - Pocket Revelution. 15/20
The Belgium art rockers return after about 8 years, a more straight forward album is the result and it's damn fine, if prehaps not to the level of the amazing 'Ideal Clash'.
The Tragically Hip - World Container. 16/20
Way before Canada became the hive for great music there was The Hip, World Container is the bands 11th album and one of the best for a while. If you haven't heard of the Hip (they are pretty unheard off outside Canada) then they really are a great band in a simular vain to REM and you should pick up 'Yer Favourates' there 2 disk best off - I did last year and fell in love.
The Twilight Singers. 16/20
Greg Dulli is a God. The Afghan Whigs were a great band, no an amazing band. The Twilight Singers continue the Dulli Legend, prehaps not quite up there with the best Whigs work or the last Twilight album but still a great album.
Wolf Parade - Apologies To The Queen Mary. 17/20
The best debut of the year. Brought it played it once and decided it wasn't much cop and it wasn't played again for a few months. On this second play it started to grow, since then it's morphed into an amazing album.
The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema. 17/20
The best pure pop album for years, fantasic stuff. Whether its the sugar rush guitar driven pop gems or the amazing folkier songs sung by Neko Case (who has the best female voice i've heard for ages) it's pure smile inducing.
Muse - Blackholes and Revelations. 17/20
Ok the first single may be well complete awful, but nearly everything else works. Starlight is perfect while Knights is so utter over the top you can't help but smile. Are Muse the new Pink Floyd, nah leave that title for the arsey angsty Radiohead. Muse are entertaining and Rock.
Pearl Jam - Avacardo (SelfTitled). 18/20
Although I enjoyed 'Binaural' and 'Riot Act' lots another slower down toned album would have probably been alittle hard to stomach, which is good because Avacardo see's PJ rocking out again. Infact the albums explodes out the tracks with the first 5 tracks rocking as hard as PJ have ever done. Later on Parachutes with it's odd chord progression sounds like The Beatles and Comeback rivals (although just comes up short) 'Black' (the greatest song ever).
The Decemberists - The Crane Wife. 19/20
The outstanding album of the year. Simply stunning. Melodic, Folky, Old Worldy. This albums sounds so completely out of place in 2006, this is the album i'd recommend to anyone who thinks all modern music is rubbish.
Coming from the UK I think maybe a couple of albums were actually 2005, but didn't get released over here till 2006.
Worst to Best 2007.
Live - Songs From Black Mountain. 1/20.
A band who have been in decline for a while finally screw up completely, this teped collection of middle of the road blandness seems miles away from the band that released 'Throwing Copper' in the early 90's. I gave this album away after 2 spins.
Arctic Monkeys : Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not. 3/10
From the hype machine that proclaims Oasis are the greatest British band and Pete Docerty is a talented and worthwhile individual comes the supposed next great thing. Reality shows a sloppy half baked album, the Dancefloor song is good the rest sound like the streets trying to rock. Arctic Monkeys? Nah Chilled Monkey Brains more like
The Killers - Sams Town. 5/20
If The Killers chirpy debut was a homage to Duran Duran, this tedious collection of workman like guitar athems is a tribute to Bruce Springsteen and we all know The Duranies > The Boss.
Audioslave - Revelations. 6/20.
Chris Cornell continues to waste his talent with this rather dull band. Yeah Tom Morello we know your an amazing Guitarist but you don't need to prove it in every single song with another fret masterbation solo.
Panic! At The Disco - A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. 7/10
I was blissfully unaware of the whole kiddy emo (Fallout Boy/Panic!) when I brought this. I believe it's generally regarded a good move to diss them if you want any credibility, but to be honest it's not that bad, some good moments and the second half of the album where all the songs are piano's and string sections show potential.
Hope Of States - Left. 8/20
Planet Sound (Ch4 teletext music page) fav band. The debut album was damn good, this followup seems like the band were starting to giveup - no surprise they split shortly after it was released.
Built To Spill - You In Reverse. 8/20
The 2 minutes intro to the first track 'Goin Against Your Mind' is stunning, the following 5 minutes of that song are a letdown. The rest of the album is also somewhat disapointing.
The Who : Endless Wire. 10/20
Ok it's the best Who albums since 'By Numbers' but thats the minimum requirement. To be fair how do you go about replacing the greatest rhyme section ever? But ever so the songs often feel unfinished, with the second half of the album (the mini opera) really suffering. Time to hang up your boots i think.
The Sleepy Jackson - Personality. 11/20
The biggest letdown of 06, the debut albums 'Lovers' is one of my fav albums ever. This however suffers from a rather one dimentional sound, dumping the whole country alt-rock sound in favour of a 80's sythe sound and songs that nearly all end to quickly.
Depeche Mode - Playing The Angel. 12/20
The Mode return to some sort of from after the awful 'Exciter'. It's still not a patch on their best 90's albums but letting Dave Gahan write songs now seems to have injected life back into the old dogs.
The Strokes - First Impressions of Earth. 13/20
An improvement of the rehash of the debut that was 'Room on Fire' and finally they've allowed someone to actually produce the album. But to many fillers let this one down.
Incubus - Light Grenades. 13/20
Another good Incubus album, that's about 4 on the trot. Maybe they'll release a truely great album one day!
The Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium. 13/20
A double album by the Chili's was always going to be hard work. Chili's songs do tend to sound quite simular at the best of times nearly 2 hours of this is a challenge. However if you give it a chance you can make a very good chili's album from about half the material here - the rest is mostly dross!
Guster - Ganging Up On The Sun. 14/20
Not as good as the last 2 albums, but another slice of cheery pop joy. The track Ruby Falls maybe hints at a darkerside of Guster, hopefully they'll explore this more next album.
The Feeling - 12 Stops and Home. 14/20
Maybe a guilty pleasure? I know these guys have had some chart success and rightly so. Nothing wrong with catchy hooks and lots and lots of big choruses.
James Dean Bradfield : The Great Western. 14/20
A surprisingly good album and better than at least 3 Manics albums. Hopefully James will contribute more to the Manics now.
Band of Horses - Everything All The Time. 14/20
A low budget debut 'The Funeral' is one of the best tracks of the year. Lots of potential here, looking forward to what they do next.
The Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics. 14/20
It's a good album but I expect more from the Lips thesedays, at times it feels more like a collection of B-sides than an proper studio album. Still a disapointing Lips album is better than most bands best material!
dEUS - Pocket Revelution. 15/20
The Belgium art rockers return after about 8 years, a more straight forward album is the result and it's damn fine, if prehaps not to the level of the amazing 'Ideal Clash'.
The Tragically Hip - World Container. 16/20
Way before Canada became the hive for great music there was The Hip, World Container is the bands 11th album and one of the best for a while. If you haven't heard of the Hip (they are pretty unheard off outside Canada) then they really are a great band in a simular vain to REM and you should pick up 'Yer Favourates' there 2 disk best off - I did last year and fell in love.
The Twilight Singers. 16/20
Greg Dulli is a God. The Afghan Whigs were a great band, no an amazing band. The Twilight Singers continue the Dulli Legend, prehaps not quite up there with the best Whigs work or the last Twilight album but still a great album.
Wolf Parade - Apologies To The Queen Mary. 17/20
The best debut of the year. Brought it played it once and decided it wasn't much cop and it wasn't played again for a few months. On this second play it started to grow, since then it's morphed into an amazing album.
The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema. 17/20
The best pure pop album for years, fantasic stuff. Whether its the sugar rush guitar driven pop gems or the amazing folkier songs sung by Neko Case (who has the best female voice i've heard for ages) it's pure smile inducing.
Muse - Blackholes and Revelations. 17/20
Ok the first single may be well complete awful, but nearly everything else works. Starlight is perfect while Knights is so utter over the top you can't help but smile. Are Muse the new Pink Floyd, nah leave that title for the arsey angsty Radiohead. Muse are entertaining and Rock.
Pearl Jam - Avacardo (SelfTitled). 18/20
Although I enjoyed 'Binaural' and 'Riot Act' lots another slower down toned album would have probably been alittle hard to stomach, which is good because Avacardo see's PJ rocking out again. Infact the albums explodes out the tracks with the first 5 tracks rocking as hard as PJ have ever done. Later on Parachutes with it's odd chord progression sounds like The Beatles and Comeback rivals (although just comes up short) 'Black' (the greatest song ever).
The Decemberists - The Crane Wife. 19/20
The outstanding album of the year. Simply stunning. Melodic, Folky, Old Worldy. This albums sounds so completely out of place in 2006, this is the album i'd recommend to anyone who thinks all modern music is rubbish.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
One of my favorite albums of the year. So many good songs in my opinion. Conventional Wisdom is a stand out to me.
thanks for sharing if i have time perhaps i'll do this too.
Charlotte 03
Asheville 04
Atlanta 12
Greenville 16, Columbia 16
Seattle 18
Nashville 22
I agree that the Arctic Monkeys album is a good one.
I think Incubus should be a little higher too, probably 15-16/20.
Oh, and the biggest question... where's The Hold Steady? That's probably my album of the year. Haven't really sat down and thought about everything that came out this year though.
EDIT TO SAY: Also, where's The Raconteurs?
"Hey, if God didn’t want me to wear it so much, he wouldn’t have made them rock so hard."
Simply too much for me to listen to and actually "hear"...double albums are a double-edged thing. I've listend to in once, perhaps.
Nice.
A charming album...apparently people have been overlooking them for quite a while. Including me.
A good read and thanks for the writing!
...signed...the token black Pearl Jam fan.
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---
London, Brixton, 14 July 1993
London, Wembley, 1996
London, Wembley, 18 June 2007
London, O2, 18 August 2009
London, Hammersmith Apollo (Ed solo), 31 July 2012
Milton Keynes Bowl, 11 July 2014
oh and also is the Panic at the disco being graded 7 outta 20 or 7 outta 10?
Both albums I graded outta 10 were mistakes and should be outta 20.
As I said at the top I'm aware some of these albums came out in 2005, but in the UK where I live they weren't released till 2006.
About Tool, never been into them at all, sorry.
Duran > The Boss. You know it :P