21. Thrice - Vheissu: For a long time Vheissu was the odd man out in Thrice's discography for me. While I knew it had really great songs, I found myself not really spinning it all that often. Then one day it just clicked, and blew past virtually everything else I had heard from them at that point. In the context of the rest of their work, it represents a really interesting point in their development. Moving away from the post-hardcore style that had been growing in their last three albums, they distilled out the punk stylings of their previous hardcore sound; Dustin's voice matured considerably, his screams carrying significantly more power than before and gaining a much more unique quality. They incorporated more electronic elements, from electric pianos to digital drum beats, offering a more mellow side to their music that hadn't been heard before. All of this was tied together by a more mature and experimental songwriting style, and the result is a near perfect album, despite being a liitle more inaccessible than their other work. The only thing that really holds the album back is that it doesn't seem to flow quite right. I can't say how I'd rearrange it to make it better, but I've always been a bit uncomfortable with the current arrangement.
20. Ulver - Blood Inside: Easily one of the densest albums I've ever heard, Blood Inside is an album that sucks you in and won't let go until you've heard everything it has to offer; in short, you'll never stop listening to it and you'll never stop discovering new things about it. Even after an uncountable number of listens I still feel like I've only begun to scratch the surface of it, and that's something I don't think I've ever been able to say about another album. It's dark, diverse, and pure brilliance. And that's about all I have to say about that.
Topic: Sigz's Top 50 Albums (Read 124955 times)
