This year, I was lucky enough to have all of my favorite bands release albums. That doesn’t happen too often, so I thought I’d post about it. Lets see how they stack up.
Most Exciting
These bands keep pushing the bar higher for what musical albums should be, complete works of art.
Dredg – The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion (June 9)
Dredg has always been my 2nd favorite band. This album has cemented them as my new #1. From the opening groove of “Pariah”, to the air of “Horizon”, this album has everything I’ve ever wanted in an album and more. I saw dredg last spring in Cambridge and they finished their set with the one-two punch of “Down To The Cellar” and “Horizon”. I’ve never seen a room full of people at a show THAT much in awe. It was incredimazing. I’ve only felt that complete a few times in my life. I wish they had been able to complete their set in Boston during the summer(they got cut off due to time constraints…on a Saturday!). The thing that stands out the most about this album is that track 2 is instrumental. So cool. Bands never do this in fear of losing their audience. They usually stick to to the “first track is explosive, second track kicks it up a notch further” formula. Props to dredg for doing this so well.
Want it? Buy The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion @ Amazon
Muse – The Resistance (September 15)
Muse is one of those bands that will never disappoint. They put TONS of effort into their albums and it shows in their studio videos. This album is complete and is a perfect next step from Black Holes and Revelations.
Want it? Buy The Resistance @ Amazon
Our Lady Peace – Burn Burn (July 21)
“It’s a fools job to tell you that this world is not meant for you. I see signs all around, you’ll get through” - from “Refuge”. It amazes me how much one group of people can keep putting out incredibly inspiring music. There is so much FEELING in this album. The chorus of “Never Get Over You” literally sounds like someone crying. It’s amazing.
Want it? Buy Burn Burn @ Amazon
The Middle Road
Thrice – Beggars (September 15)
Thrice was my favorite band (now 2nd behind dredg). Most of the songs on this album are amazing, but it just doesn’t feel like a complete album to me. It doesn’t flow like an album. It doesn’t seem like much thought went into the track order of this album when these songs were being written. Maybe that’s the problem with ATAL(see below) as well. I’m not sure. The songs flow, but the album doesn’t flow as a whole. Thrice hasn’t put together a “complete” album since Vheissu, which is still my favorite album of all time. I still absolutely love this band, I’m just not that into this album AS A WHOLE. I’m sure I’ll keep coming back for more though.
Want it? Buy Beggars @ Amazon
Most Disappointing
In no was is any of this “bad” music. It mostly falls short of what I expected from these bands.
Nightmare of You – Infomaniac (August 4)
My love for this band started with their self titled album back in 2005. The following EP “Bang” provided some of my absolute favorite upbeat moments of 2007. This band to me has always been about upbeat songs with funny lyrics. The funny lyrics are there with Infomanic, but without the upbeat songs, they fall by the wayside into boringville.
EDIT 3/10 – After checking out this album again today, it has some very beautiful moments. Especially Amsterdam. What an incredible song.
Want it? Buy Infomaniac @ Amazon
As Tall As Lions – You Can’t Take It With You (August 18)
I love ATAL, they have SO much energy live and they can create incredible vibes. Not to mention they are awesome dudes! I got to meet them a few years ago when I saw them in Nashua, such a small show for an awesome band! As for this album, like Thrice’s “Beggars”, it has standout tracks that are really, really good, but it fails to offer the complete album experience that I’ve come to love from Dredg and Muse. A lot of the songs are slooowwwww and this band shines when they play up tempo. I think another thing that turned me off from this album was how long it took to make. It took 3 years to come up with something that just doesn’t seem to stick. I’ve tried and tried, I just can’t seem to get the play button to stick. I’m sure I’ll still love their future releases, like Thrice.
Want it? Buy You Can’t Take It With You @ Amazon
Tags: amazing, great music, happy, Inspiration
