Zantera's Top 50 Albums v.2.0 (Finished)

[adace]

Love that album

[Zantera]

7. Jane's Addiction - Ritual De Lo Habitual (1990)

Genre: Alternative Rock/Progressive Rock (second half of the album)

Jane's Addiction has been one of my biggest addictions lately, and the band has skyrocketed from a band I really liked, to one of my very favorite bands. I tend to change my mind very often about their best album, because Ritual De Lo Habitual and Nothing's Shocking are both pretty flawless albums in my book, and I love them both. I'm gravitating a bit more towards the former though, because it takes the best aspects of Nothing's Shocking and keeps building on it. Jane's Addiction was one of the biggest alternative bands of the late 80's/early 90's, but sadly they have gotten a lot of their career ruined by break-ups, drugs and douchebaggery as a result of the drugs. As a result, the band has only put out 4 albums after being a band for roughly 25 years, so it's a shame they had a lot time go to waste, when they could have made more awesome music. Anyhow, the album starts off pretty rocking, with the first half being more straight forward alternative rock-songs, and the second half of the album being longer, more epic and progressive. One of the main reasons why I love the band so much is Dave Navarro's guitar playing. I would rank him as one of my favorite guitarists, and he puts that in the brightest lights on this album.

The opener, "Stop!" is a classic Jane-song that features some of the grooviest guitars on the album. Just a really good guitarline that drives the song, and some funk thrown into the mix. "Ain't No Right" is another stand out early on, and it has a really awesome bassline, followed by some great guitars and a catchy chorus. "Obvious" is another very underrated song in my opinion, and it has a bit of a middle eastern vibe going on, and is just a really fun song. But the most famous song without a doubt has to be "Been Caught Stealing". If you haven't heard this song before, you probably spent the 90's hiding in your basement, because this song is not only their biggest hit, but also such a classic that used to get a lot of radio-time. It's also in many video games, GTA: San Andreas comes to mind, as well as Rock Band 3. Again, it's a song that has really awesome guitars, and a chorus that is just incredibly catchy. But the best song on the album, and the best song that Jane ever did is "Three Days". Clocking in at almost 11 minutes, I would say this is one of my all time favorite songs without a doubt in my mind. It's a very emotional song that Perry Farrell wrote about a close friend who came out to hang with him, and they spent three days together, and she died from an overdose. The lyrics are haunting and beautiful, and the chorus is one of the most beautiful things I know. "We saw shadows of the morning light, the shadows of the evening sun, till the shadows and the light were one."
The first few minutes of the songs are packed with emotions and really gets your attention, but the ride has just begun. The Dave Navarro-show is about to begin, and he delivers one of my all time favorite guitar-solos. The song goes into progressive/instrumental-land in the middle, and has both incredible guitars, and a really great drum-part that gets you moving. The song ends with a huge guitar-climax once again, and Dave Navarro just brings it. This is not the only brilliant song, as the following song, "Then She Did" is another progressive song that kicks all kind of ass. It's more mellow and melodic, but has some beautiful guitars and just really strong hooks overall. I can't say enough positive things about this album or Jane's Addiction, in my opinion they are a truly unique rock band that are above most other bands. I would want to place this album even higher on my list, and I think if I come back in 6 months, this will most likely be top5. Incredible song-writing, incredible musicians, highly recommend them.

Favorite songs: Three Days, Then She Did, Stop!, Been Caught Stealing, Ain't No Right, Obvious, Of Course.

Wow, that was pretty long. But I love this one. Anyhow, only 6 more to go now. 

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Great album. Really fun.

[Lolzeez]

I've never listened to this band,but you just got me interested,will check out later. Which album is the best for me to start out with?

[ColdFireYYZ]

I've also never listened to this band but I always see their albums at Goodwill/thrift shops. Got to check them out.

[Zantera]

@Lolzeez - I would say Ritual De Lo Habitual might be your best album to start with. And the second half of the album is more progressive, so you might really like that. 

Moving on...

6. Between the Buried and Me - Colors (2007)

Genre: Progressive Death Metal

Next up we have a modern day classic within progressive metal, and an album that can be a bit polarizing. I know there are a lot of people who just love BTBAM to death (myself included), but also several people who have tried and tried, without getting into them. I remember the first time I heard the band, and I actually started with this album. It was a lot to take in, and at the same I didn't listen to much music with harsh vocals (with the exception of Opeth), so having a band with mostly harsh parts and few melodic parts made it difficult for me to get into BTBAM. I kept spinning Colors though, because there was something fascinating about the album that I liked, even though the music didn't click. I must have listened to it 4-5 times (once every day) for a few days, but I remember that I had to go away for a week with my family. I'm not sure if the songs "grew" in my subconscious when I was gone, but when I got back home and listened to it again, it just clicked. A big "wow"-moment, because I was finally able to appreciate the album as much as a lot of other people did.

I believe this album stands above all other progressive metal albums, because it's just such a well crafted work of art. The amount of details and how well the album flows together is incredible. The album is basically like a 65 minute song, but divided into 8 songs for convenience. The album starts off very calm and peaceful with "The Backtrack" (one of my favorite intro-songs), but soon explodes into heavy territory with "Decade of Statues". While the album is incredibly strong as a whole, the middle-section is the biggest highlight for me personally. "Sun of Nothing" and "Ants of the Sky" are two incredible 10+ minute songs that both have heaviness, creative and fun instrumental changes and lots of weird things. "White Walls" is another majestic song that ends the album with a big bang, and manages to be as epic as a closing song should be. When the album finally is over, it's like you've been crushed by a tidal wave. I highly recommend this album if you like progressive metal, and I also highly recommend you to give it more than a few listens, if it doesn't click. There is so much to appreciate on this album.

Favorite songs: Ants of the Sky, Sun of Nothing, White Walls, The Backtrack.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

 

[?]

Loveless wouldn't be nearly that high on my list (spoiler!), but it's an interesting album and worth hearing.

[pain of occupation]

had been awaiting the BTBAM entry. 
at this point,i think i can only guess one of the top 5 (something from 1995, me thinks). maybe if i tried harder, i could come up with a 2nd prediction.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Loveless wouldn't be nearly that high on my list (spoiler!), but it's an interesting album and worth hearing.

It was 7 spots higher on mine.

[Lolzeez]

@Zantera Will be listening right after I'm done posting this. 

Nice choice by the way! I just finished writing my own write up for this yesterday. (SPOILERS!!!!)

Anyways I was gonna make some pretictions and check out your last.fm page and saw that you took your top 50 out your description. 

Well I still am predicting F***** from *******z*  (Censored cause nobody likes spoilers. And yes Zantera,I looked at your Last.Fm at times to decide which bands to get into.  )

[ColdFireYYZ]

Colors is fantastic. I really should listen to it more often.

[Ultimetalhead]

Colors is fantastic. I believe it was #6 on my list as well, but I could be misremembering.

Edit: Nevermind, more like 14. It would definitely be way higher now. That albums sounds fresh every time I hear it.

[Zantera]

Glad to see the love!  And lolzeez, obviously I had to take the list off! haha
Entering the top 5 now!

5. Sigur Rós - ( ) (2002)

Genre: Post-Rock/Ambient

( ), also known as "Untitled" or "Parentheses", is the third album by Icelandic post-rock gods, Sigur Rós. While some people prefer Agaetis Byrjun or even Takk (those are both amazing albums), I've always levitated more towards ( ). It was the album that truly blew me away, and it has become one of my all time favorite albums, hence the fifth spot. The concept or idea of having 8 untitled songs on an untitled album, with the lyrics being in hopelandic (a made up language that is jibberish), might be really pretentious or off putting to some people, but I've always loved that approach. Basically the music has to speak for itself, and you have no words or lyrics to go by, even though hopelandic doesn't feel very different to icelandic for someone who doesn't speak the latter. This album works perfectly for both speakers and headphones, but I tend to listen to it in headphones during winter days when it's really snowy and dreary outside. There is something about the atmosphere in the music that captures your attention, and their creative ways of making music combined with the unique voice of Jonsi, makes Sigur Rós one of the most unique bands around in this day and age. I think either you will "get" the band, and love the beautiful music they do, or you have no soul. 

The album has 8 songs, and I guess you could say the first half and second half are different. The first half is a bit lighter and the second half is darker and feels more like a deserted wasteland or something. It's hard to explain this by pointing at the songs, but it's very obvious in the sound and atmosphere of the songs, and you will probably heard it right away. When I first heard the album, I noted on the fifth track that the sound was different from the four previous songs. The pacing of the album is pretty slow, and Sigur Rós really loves to take their time to set up the songs, so that they will ultimately pay off big time in the end. A song like "Untitled III" is instrumental, and has this pretty basic piano-line as the foundation. The whole song almost revolves around this piano-line, but not only is it one of the most beautiful piano-lines you will hear, but how they alter it and the things they do around it is just magical. One of my all time favorite instrumentals without a doubt. "Untitled VII" is possibly my favorite Sigur Rós song, and it's very dark, bleak and gives you images of deserted wastelands. It really takes it's time to build up, but the ending is really intense, and the last big climax of the song is just a work of art. "Untitled VIII" is another fan-favorite and another amazing song, that closes the album in the most epic way possible. The song builds up to the biggest climax on the album, and again, another really intense moment.

( ) is a truly unique and wonderful album, and Sigur Rós has managed to create something classic with this album. It's one of those albums I hope everyone gets to hear in their life, because they have something very "down to earth" in their sound, and that is what I love the most about them. I feel like they are these friendly and nice people from Iceland who have almost been isolated from the rest of the world, so they have been doing things their own way, and even when they became a huge success internationally, it wasn't like they started to see what other bands did to rip that off. Instead they continued doing their thing, and that charm is still there. Going to see them live for the first time in November, and I am so excited about it. I feel blessed in a way. 

Favorite songs: Untitled VII, Untitled III, Untitled VIII, Untitled II, Untitled VI.

4 more to go!

[Lolzeez]

Amazing album. But I slightly prefer Agaetis Byrjun. Svenf-g-englar is the biggest reason why. 

[adace]

Amazing album. But I slightly prefer Agaetis Byrjun. Svenf-g-englar is the biggest reason why. 

This.

Edit: Oh and Colors is awesome too

[Obfuscation]

Hell yeah Colors! 

Also hell yeah for ( )! 

[Lolzeez]

Oh and Untitled III is Top 5 Sigur Ros for me. Love that song.

[ColdFireYYZ]

Amazing album. But I slightly prefer Agaetis Byrjun. Svenf-g-englar is the biggest reason why. 

I agree with this. I think I may also prefer Takk over it too.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

I probably prefer Agaetis, but Agaetis and ( ) are by far their two best for me.

[Zantera]

Spread the love.  Love leads to fear, fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate.

4. Converge - Jane Doe (2001)

Genre: Hardcore Punk/Metalcore

"These floods of you are unforgiving
Pushing passed me spilling through the banks
And I fall"

"Jane Doe" is the fourth album by the American hardcore punk/metalcore band Converge. The album is a journey into anger, hate, fury and rage, the album explores a ton of different emotions with an impact as strong as getting hit in the face with a brick. I would argue that Converge is the heaviest and most extreme band I listen to. I would say that there are probably bands who are heavier (from an objective view), but the pacing, the heaviness and the vocals of Jacob Bannon results in a very unique sound, where Converge sounds constantly pissed off. It's like if you just had your worst day off your life, and the rage-level is maxed out, and you just take all your anger out on the world. The album is like a bulldozer of anger and other emotions that destroys walls and completely knocks you back. It's such a sonic experience, and one of the most powerful albums I've had the joy of hearing. It's intense, heavy, fast and at times almost disturbing, but it has so much passion and emotions, and it truly deserves it's spot so high on this list. In fact, it could just as easily have been nr1 or 2, or 3.

The album starts off with one of the band's shorter songs, "Concubine" clocking in at 1:19. The song has become a Converge-classic despite the short length, and it features a great intro, some crazy screaming from Jacob Bannon and another guitar-riff that has the sickest groove ever. The song almost ends before it started, but sets up the following song "Fault and Fracture" in a perfect way. Fault and Fracture is actually my current alarm-song on my phone, so I wake up to that intro every morning. Nothing like waking up to the disturbing chaos of Converge. The first three songs are very fast, angry and heavy, but the fourth song, "Hell to Pay" slows the tempo down a bit, and is more experimental and has a different vibe. But if this shit is too calm for you, don't worry. We soon get back on track with more heavy songs that will make you want to kill puppies and hurl objects around the room. (Luckily you wont) The biggest stand-out for me is the title-track, "Jane Doe" which is the last song on the album, and clocks in at over 11 ˝ minutes. It's packed with emotions, very heartfelt but also really heavy at the same time. The main riff/part that kicks off right from the intro is just one of my favorite music sections in any song ever, and the chorus is clean, melodic and beautiful. Over these 11 ˝ minutes, the song keeps building and gets more and more intense, and the final climax leaves you emotionally drained and exhausted. My dad compared this whole album with someone having a tantrum and taking out all their anger and hate on the world, and the last minutes of the title-track being that moment when they "come to peace" with themselves again, and everything goes back to normal.

It's funny to have this album after Sigur Rós posted before, since they are pretty much polar-opposites. Where Sigur Rós is beautiful, slow, calm and melodic, Converge is dark, angry, filthy and chaotic. Two great albums to listen to back-to-back for some diversity, haha. Anyhow, this album started out as an album that was perfect to listen to when I was angry, but now I can listen to it at any time. I wouldn't just say it's my favorite metal-album of all time, but I hold it very close to my heart as you can see. It's incredibly heavy and might even be off putting in how abrasive it is, and if you (like me) go into the album without much experience in really extreme metal (not talking Opeth or that kind of stuff), then you might almost be chocked at first. But give it time, it might really grow on you. Some of my all time favorite riffs are on this album, and it's just a really intense listen.

Favorite songs: Jane Doe, Concubine, Fault and Fracture, Thaw, Homewrecker, Distance and Meaning.

[Mladen]

I love Angel dust, but I'm not familiar with the last couple of choices.

[Scorpion]

Jane Doe is amazingly brutal. I love it.

[adace]

Great pick! Converge are one of my favorite hardcore bands.

[Lolzeez]

I can see what people like in Converge. I just find it too extreme for myself. (I liked the new Dillinger though...)

[ReaperKK]

So I took a listen to Amplifier and it was awesome, loved the record.

Then I listened to Vheissu and I didn't like it, it's the only album of Thrice's that I haven't heard and to me it's the weakest, nothing seemed to pull me in. Red Sky is a godly song though.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

yessssss

[Zantera]

Cool to see some love. Too bad you didn't like Vheissu, Reaper.
Entering the top3!


3. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (2000)

Genre: Post-Rock

GYBE is a music collective from Canada, and are generally considered the best or biggest band within the post-rock scene. Their music is instrumental, has very long song lengths (on this album all songs are over 18 minutes, though there are only 4 of them) and often use samples to creative atmosphere. The band is very unique because they have a lot of members, 9 or 10 on this album I believe. They like to take their time with their music, and they are masters at knowing exactly how long a certain melody or riff should go on, to squeeze out 100% of it. While some people have F#A# Infinity as their favorite GYBE-album, me and others have Lift Your Skinny Fists. While both albums are 5 out of 5 albums for me, I just prefer this one by small margins. Hard to put my fingers on them, but it has a few songs I just love slightly more, and my favorite GYBE-song, "Storm".

Storm is the first song on the album and clocks in at just over 22 minutes. The first 6 or 7 minutes are some of my favorite minutes in music ever, and the melody line and how it builds up just blows my mind every time I hear it. One of the best ways of opening an album, and it just gets me into the album straight away. The song calms down after that, but slowly builds up towards the second climax, which is also brilliant. The song ends with a long ambient/noise/drone-ish part that is pretty calm and flows into the next song, "Static" perfectly. The third song, "Sleep" is another big standout on the album. "They don't sleep anymore on the beach" a man says, as the song slowly starts. The main riff of Sleep is the big highlight for me, and how the band manages to utilize it 100% before they move on is perfect. GYBE structures their songs in very interesting ways, and there are usually two or three climaxes within each song. There are often quiet parts between these climaxes, so the songs have a really nice flow to them. The music gets really intense and climatic, and then goes down again to a calmer state.

Lift Your Skinny Fists and GYBE in general is a top3 band for me, and this is one of my most played albums ever. I just can't get enough of the band, and I was lucky enough to get to see them live just two weeks ago. One of the best shows I have attended, and the band was incredible live. Not much more to say, I highly recommend this album.

Favorite songs: Storm, Sleep, Static, Antennas to Heaven (that's all of them!)

[Scorpion]

Good album, but I prefer Yanqui and F#A#Infinity by a fair margin. While I really like Storm and Sleep, the other two tracks feel a little weaker to me, whereas those two are perfect start to finish.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Perfect album. My favourite Godspeed changes between that and F#A# a lot but it's been that one for a while. Sleep is definitely one of their top 3.

[adace]

My favorite GBYE album and one of my all time favorite post rock albums.

[Lolzeez]

My favorite GBYE album and one of my all time favorite post rock albums.

[orcus116]

Everyone seems to rave about Sleep. Storm is where it's at.

[The King in Crimson]

"Storm" is awesome, but "Static" fights it for the top spot.

I could never really get into "Antennas to Heaven" like the other tracks though. Still, fantastic album and probably my favorite from Godspeed.

[senecadawg2]

I appreciate the pacing of this thread