UPDATE-O-RAMARAMABANANANANAWOOOOOOOOCOCACOBANA
38. Blackfield-Blackfield IIThe best word to describe this album is "sad." Other good words would be "despair," "hopelessness," "melancholy," "nostalgic," and "beautiful." Pop songwriting has been a great strength of Steven Wilson's, and his is the name most associate with Blackfield, but Aviv Geffen is not to be outdone here. Both styles of songwriting complement each other surprisingly well on this album, unlike
Welcome to My DNA, where "Waiting" was obviously a Steven Wilson song. On BFII, you can't really identify them without consulting the liner notes, which kind of gives it more of a "band" feel, if that makes sense, while
DNA in comparison is like an Aviv solo album with Steven Wilson as a guest musician. Rambling aside, the two make a great team, and the songs on this release stand up to the best Porcupine Tree songs (can't comment on Aviv's other work. I've never been the biggest fan of his voice). Every song is great, and the album flows nicely. Its just perfect, which can be said for almost every album on this list.
Favorite songs: "My Gift of Silence," "1000 People," "Once," "End of the World," "Miss U," aw heck listen to 'em all!
37. Queensryche-Operation: MindcrimeIn b4 all the "indie kids" saying "lolqueensryche." I know its cool to hate on them, and with the release of their most recent material I can understand why (especially with the horrid sequel to this album). First of all, I've always had a soft spot for concept albums and rock operas. The artform seemed kind of dead in the 80s, with Pink Floyd and Iron Maiden delivering subpar examples. But for some reason, Queensryche was able to refine the mediocre songwriting on their earlier albums, making them sound more like songs, while still keeping a lot of the prog-rock tendencies from those same albums. The result is a fun, rocking, and sympathetic journey. This album is one of the few where the artist really lets the listener connect with the protagonist of the story. In this case, Nicky. He's suffering from addiction, he's disillusioned with the way the world is, he's in love, and he's become captivated with bold new ideas. All are themes that can connect with young people. But its in the way that these traits are subverted and manipulated by the villainous Dr. X that make the heroes' fall that comes with rock operas really resonate with the listener. It feels more like a filmable story than almost any other rock opera to date, excluding the two by the Who that
were made into movies. This is the band's highest moment, and a high point for progressive rock and metal in general.
Favorite songs: "Suite Sister Mary," "Speak," "Spreading the Disease," "Eyes of a Stranger," "Revolution Calling"
36. Anamanaguchi-Power Supplyw00t, m04r ch1p7un35!!!!1 50 r0ck1n6 n 3xc171n6! u c4n7 b 54d 4b0u7 n37h1n6 4f73r h34r1n6 7h15 4lbum!!!!!!1
*ahem* Anyways, this is my favorite chiptune album. I use the word "album" loosely since its only 20 minutes, but its billed as an album, not an EP, so that's what it is, dangit! This album is guaranteed to put you in a good mood no matter what. Its the best reason why I like this album. In a sea of depressing, or thought-provoking, or challenging, or heavy music, sometimes you just want to listen to something cheerful, and Anamanaguchi is one of the bands that I look to first.
Favorite songs: "Helix Nebula," "Fast Turtle," "Power Supply," "Airbase"
35. Bright Eyes-Digital Ash in a Digital UrnAnother submission you can thank Sonatafanica for. This was my first Bright Eyes album and, honestly, probably the weirdest starting album for a band, considering they're known for folky, indie stuff with liberal usage of the word "goddamn." Still, it took a while to really grow on me, but I've listened to this album enough to the point where I really feel its a masterpiece. The sound is a combination of Oberst's great folky songwriting capabilities, but supercharged with electronic sounds and instruments, grooves, and more death and melancholy than the typical Bright Eyes album. I think my favorite part is the attention placed on Oberst's vocals. He's not the best vocalist in the world, but if someone were to hold a "greatest popular music lyricist," he would certainly be up there. His vocals are the clearest in the mix, never suffering from the problem of "what's he saying there?" that you get with a lot of rock artists. Conor makes it pretty clear that the lyrics are important enough that he makes them as clear to the listener as he can. And what lyrics they are! It would be a shame to ignore all the care he puts into them and making sure they stand out. Any Bright Eyes album is really essential if you like good lyrics, but obviously, I'm recommending this one because the music is the best and most unique out of all of them.
Favorite Songs: "Take it Easy (Love Nothing)," "Hit the Switch," "Easy/Lucky/Free," "Ship in a Bottle," "Down In a Rabbit Hole," "Gold Mine Gutted"
34. Led Zeppelin-Houses of the HolyOh classic rock, how I've grown mostly sick of thee since middle school. Thank God Zeppelin paid so much attention to their albums and never pushed singles, and
Houses is the best. Yeah yeah, I know everyone will say
Physical Graffiti or
IV, but those people, like those who say
Funeral is the best Arcade Fire album, are dead wrong. Its bluesy, its folksy, its fun, its got a fair bit of experimental stuff, and it simply rocks. Yes, I know the two that are usually considered fan favorites have those qualities as well, but those always felt like there was filler in there.
Houses, on the other hand, doesn't. All fantastic songs from start to finish. Plus, it has their best song: "The Ocean." So I consider it the definitive Zeppelin album, as well as one of the definitive "listening to in the car on a hot summer day" albums.
Favorite Songs: "The Ocean," "Over the Hills and Far Away," "The Song Remains the Same," "No Quarter"
33. The Devin Townsend Project-KiI can understand why lots of people didn't like this album when it was released. There are very few standout hooks, it was mostly clean and acoustic, and there were no roaring, out-of-control metal moments. Devin had never released anything like it, and for this to be the album following his post-
Ziltoid hiatus was probably a bit of a shock to his fans. But I love, particularly because of that last point I mentioned: no roaring, out-of-control metal moments. Oh sure, he turns the distortion on for "Disruptr," "Gato," and "Heaven Send," but even those moments still feel like he's exerting control over it, and what we hear is just the tiniest drop of a whole ocean of anger beneath the music. The whole album gives off this vibe of uncomfortable restraint. It makes you feel uneasy, and for an album to really capture such a distinct mood like
Ki does is a great artistic achievement. Only with the euphoric, cathartic release of "Ki" is where some kind of contentment comes through, only to be crushed and subdued again with the last two haunting songs. Its just chilling, but the whole sound of the album is strangely warm and bare. There's just nothing else like it.
Favorite songs: "Terminal," "Heaven Send," "Disruptr," "Trainfire," "Demon League," "Coast"
Topic: Skydivingninja's Top 50 Albums v. Not this crap again! (Read 27267 times)
