Top 50 Albums of the decade 40-31

I'm back, maybe almost a little too soon, but what they hey. It's the top 50 albums of my last decade! Without further ado, let's get on with the next ten albums.

40. The Send - "Cosmos" (released June 31st 2007)

On first listen to Cosmos I believed that I had come across a real gem. Here was an artist that was fairly unknown, yet with such a brilliant debut album, it left me a little shocked to find out how unknown The Send actually was. But, i digress. For a solo project for one man, Cosmos really lets his talent shine. A musical talent that includes acoustic, piano, drums and vocals. Each comes through in every song, never sounding weak. Lyrically, it is quite beautiful too. It almost begs the question, Is there anything The Send can't do? If the one thing Cosmos does do more than anything, is to prepare you for what could well be an exhilarating second album.

39. Dustin Kensrue - "Please Come Home" (released January 23rd 2007)

The solo project from Thrice leadman, Dustin Kensrue (formally known as Ursas Veritas) was something that I was anxiously looking forward to. With Thrice being one of my favourite bands, and never seeming to disappoint with their releases, i was worried what kind of sounds Dustin could produce on his own. Much to my relief, Please Come Home is just as exciting as Thrice. Coming from a folk/country style, Dustin is able to showcase a wider breadth of his talent. With a little help from Teppei, Kensrue presents a wonderful short LP, that could be passed off as any accomplished country singer. Dustin steps up to the mark to enter the world of successful country singers, and with this, his first solo album, one hopes that Dustin (whilst he continues with Thrice) will release more albums of the same style as he propels himself up into the annals of music history.

38. We Are Scientists - "With Love and Squalor" (released February 27th 2006)

It's almost as if I invested in We Are Scientists on a whim. After all, they were performing at my university, and so I thought I would give them a go. After hearing With Love And Squalor, I was amazed to hear what I had missed the first time I had a chance to see them. In what could be interpreted as a completely new style of music, We Are Scientists successfully make pop music their own by creating a catchy, tuneful album. It's A Hit is exactly that, and arguably the best song on there, although it's a tough call as any of the songs on With Love could have been released as singles. It's frantic, it's energetic, it's playful, it's confrontational. It's a Hit.

37. Sigur Rós - "Takk..." (released September 12th 2005)

They may not be singing in English, but the music is so emphatic, that you just cannot

ignore it. The songs on Takk... just make you feel happy to be alive, as it feels like almost a gift that music this good has been given to us. Thoughful, meaningful music. So much so, you don't necessarily need to know what they are singing about as it comes across like that in the instrumental accompaniment. Not taking anything away from the beautiful Icelandic vocals, which in itself, acts like a musical instrument in this orchestral amazement of musical prowess. Hoppípolla, the most well known song on the album, isn't even the tip of the iceberg, as there any many more equally brilliant songs such as Sæglópur, which may seem like less at first, but once it gets going it captures the whole atmosphere of the album into one big anthem.

36. Foo Fighters - "One By One." (released October 22nd 2002)

This is pure modern rock music at it's best. Full of guitar hooks and riffs that you can air guitar your brains out to. Choruses you can sing along to. Drum beats that you can jump around too. It's got the anthem, it's got the live favourite, it's got the hits. This is a band that knows what they are doing. Dave Grohl, who is probably one of the world's best rockstars, and definitely one of the best frontmen, uses his vocals right from All My Life to ease you into a heavy chorus, before sliding into the dark and brilliant Low. Then the Foos, tune it down a bit and give some more before turning it right back up for the fantastic climax of Come Back. Foo Fighters have it all, and so does One By One. A great modern rock record.

35. Muse - "Absolution" (released September 21st 2003)

And if the American's can do it, us Brits can do it just as well. Muse, who can rightly take the title of Britain's best rock artist, have had an amazing array of albums, but none so thrilling as Absolution. You can just feel the rock running through the record. Just like the Foos, it's full of brilliant guitar, courtesy of Matt Bellamy, another one of the best musicians out there. This album proves that he can sing, he can strum and he can write. Not forgetting, of course the gobsmacking pianist in him in Butterflies and Hurricanes. Add in the amazing basslines and drumbeats and you have a perfectly complimentary trio. This record is what made me take notice of Muse as a serious rock act

.34. Taking Back Sunday - "New Again" (released June 1st 2009)

With the departure of Fred from Taking Back Sunday, I knew that they would embark

onto a different adventure. New Again, retains the Taking Back Sunday the fans have grown to love and with the new added influence of Matt Fazzi on guitar. It also gives Adam Lazarra a chance to shine on his own. There is still the additional vocals of Fazzi, but Lazarra really has it all to himself now. Taking Back Sunday have taken notice of all these changes and obviously are ready to start again, as the first song and title track New Again suggests. It doesn't stop there as in quick succession we get some of the best songs Taking Back Sunday have ever written and performed.The songs are infectious as ever and Lazarra does what he is best at and just wills you to sing along with the brilliantly crafted lyrics.

33. Silverstein - "Discovering The Waterfront" (released August 16th 2005)

Silverstein were once my favourite band, and this record is the reason for that. Not one bad song on the album, and each one majestically blends into the next. The guitar is amazingly inventive, original and most important of all, effective. Shane Told's voice is so great, that it is beautiful both when he sings and screams. They have just the right amount of brutality and just the right amount of tranquility, which balances out to give a more than respectful record of which any guitar thrashing band would be proud of. The fast songs are fast, the anthem songs are epic and the low key songs are relaxing. A magnificent array of a mixed bag of songs.

32. 30 Seconds To Mars - "A Beautiful Lie" (released August 16th 2005)

He may not be able to conquer the world of acting, but his attempts at conquering the world of music are slowly having an effect on the world. A Beautiful Lie is exactly what you would expect it to be and more. Here are songs that have been crafted carefully with a result that blows your mind away. Jared's voice is so very powerful, it's almost scary. It's crowning achievement is From Yesterday which is quite simply superb. This is everything you could want in an anthemic song, a graceful intro, which leads into a more than pleasing verse and the heart-warming god-like chorus. Even the non-released songs on the album stand up strong next to songs like The Kill and Attack. Beautiful is quite possibly the most adequate word to use in this situation.

31. The Receiving End of Sirens - "Between the Heart and the Synapse"

(released April 26th 2005)

This is a concept album. The concept of the album is really the glue that holds it all together. The repetition would usually create a bad flow, but for Between the Heart it works in the opposite way. The guitars are effective, and the songs are just as effective without the guitars, replacing them with the brilliant drum beats. The best thing about this album is the quality of the lyrics. They have been clearly thought about before being written down. They give a whole new deeper meaning to the songs than what is to be heard on the surface. "Give me gravity, give me clarity, give me something to rely on." is amongst some of the best lines of the record. It all builds up, right up to the Epilogue, where the collection of the album is congregated and merged to give a satisfying end to strong album.

Top 50 Albums of the decade 50-41/Welcome!

First of all, as this will be my first blog, i would like to introduce you formally.

My name is Bob, and this is my Froblogs, which will probably be mainly featuring movie reviews, album reviews and generally rubbish! Without further ado, let's get started on the first part of my Albums of the decade.

Over the course of the next few days I will be posting my top 50 albums of 2000-2009. This part will contain albums 50-21. Choosing the top 50 was no easy task as I had from over 350

albums to choose from, but it has been managed and here are the results!

50. Coheed and Cambria - "Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star, Vol IV: From Fear

Through The Eyes of Madness" (released Sept. 20th 2005)

2005 was an important year musically for me, as that is the year that i started to accept new music into my life by giving it a try. When Good Apollo was released, Coheed and Cambria were

probably one of my favourite bands, as i been none stop listening to their previous effort ever since my friend recomme

nded it to me. When i stopped listening to Good Apollo for the first time, it dawned on me that i had just listened to something spectacular. There wasn't anything wrong with it. It was perfect. Claudio's voice is definitely the best on this album than it is on any other of Cambria's albums, and the guitar is without a doubt some of the best of it's genre. Whilst the majority of the album is quite dark, it is surprisingly happy sounding. The Suffering, is by far the best song on the album, and likely the best song Coheed and Cambria have ever written. I haven't read Claudio's graphic novels that accompany the albums, but if i w

ere to, then this is the first I would attempt to read.

49. Grizzly Bear - "Veckatimest" (released May 26th 2009)

I haven't been listening to Grizzly Bear long, but i felt like i had to include this album in the top 50. It was only released this past year, but it's had such an impact since I've been listening to it. Recently I've become a massive fan of this kind of indie-labled music and I must admit I put off Grizzly Bear for a while. Then, after

Veckatimest was released, i knew I couldn't ignore them anymore. The vocals are some of the best I've heard for a while and it adds in uniquely with the experimental instrumental side of the album. It's easy to chill out to. It's easy to dance to, but without it being too easy listening. Simplicity can be a beautiful thing and Grizzly Bear; for me, have not disappointed with this more or less simple experiment of an album. Just brilliant. Not to be ousted as just another experimental indie-pop band.

48. Damien Rice - "O" (released 2002)

I was actually introduced to Damien Rice through my mother. She would listen to this over and over again, and

eventually i couldn't ignore it for much longer after i began to start singing the songs without realising. This album is important to me for that reason. It is also important to me because it introduced me into the world of the acoustic guitar, which is played wonderfully on this album. Each song is as beautiful as t

he next, Damien's voice being the strong front with the backing of the acoustic guitar. O taught me, that you didn't necessarily need the band full of musicians to make a great album. This album is well produced, and yet has that raw feeling of a live performance to it. The Blower's Daughter and Amie, to this day, remain two of my all favourite songs to listen to. The simple elegance that both these songs possess through the simple chord patterns, and in Amie's case the help of some orchestral strings make them the stand out tracks, to this already standing out album.

47. Biffy Clyro - "Puzzle" (released June 4th 2005)

I think that this album was a massive accomplishment for the Scottish trio, as this is where they seemed to find their master sound. Not that what they did prior to Puzzle was bad, it's

just what they needed to become one of the biggest bands in the UK. Without leaving the whole of their previous styles behind, Biffy created one of 2005's most successful and surprising albums. The album seems much grander than the others, more epic. Every song sounds like it could be a hit, whereas before it seemed like they could only manage a couple hits per record. And they did it without taking away with their edginess. Whilst critics may argue their latest effort Only Revolutions has lost that edginess, this album stands alone. Not only that, but Biffy, who are renowned as excellent live performers gave themselves a whole record of crowd pleasers, sing-a-longs. Every song on this album is good. Full-stop.

46. Showbread - "Age of Reptiles" (released August 1st 2006)

Whilst this album is vastly different to the one prior, No Sir, Nihilism is Not Practical and critically was blasted to alienating fans, I personally think it's the best thing Showbread have done. It's a cute mix of post-hardcore/screamo rock with the electronics. They class themselves as RawRock, and from this album you can see why. It's raw, and it's rocky. It's got some of the catchiest songs I've ever heard from a screamo outfit. The keyboards and synths are a welcome and the screaming, thankfully doesn't go over the top. Every song has an infectious beat, but specifically, Oh! Emetophobia!, The Jesus Lizard and Dinosaur Bones, hit the spot. The guitar is clever, the drums are flawless and the vocals are raw. What interests me most is the lyrics, with this band being a christian band, a lot of the lyrics derive from Horror, with a song even being named after the infamous George Romero. Showbread's albums since Reptiles have been quite miss and haven't really been able to capture the same rawrock that Reptiles does.

45. Snow Patrol - "Eyes Open" (released May 1st 2006)

The first thing that comes to mind when i think about Eyes Open is anthemic. Without a doubt, Snow Patrol have become one of Britain's top artists, and Eyes Open, was; in my opinion, the album that has projected them to success. Almost every song has an epic complete feel to it. It's an album of accomplishment, which makes you feel like you can accomplish anything. It sounds like it has come straight from the heart. Again, the way that Snow Patrol have succeeded here is by not making things too complicated, but keeping the simplicity subtle. Overall, is an enjoyable, thrilling album, that keeps on going right until the last song stops.

44. Coldplay - "Parachutes" (released July 10th 2000)

I didn't get into Coldplay until just after Rush of Blood was released. I remembered that my father would listen to Parachutes in the car around when it was released back when I was 11, and i remember especially the song Trouble because I used to hate spiders and Chris Martin sings about being stuck in a spider's web. When i eventually listened to the album again, when I was older, i realised actually how good it actually was. The raw production of it made it sound so much better compared with X&Y or Viva La Vida for example. What is brilliant about this album is that it was Coldplay's debut album, and so almost instantly people could sense that this band was going to be big. Parachutes was too good for them not to be one hit wonders. It was a mix of Colplay's talents and it was something new to rock music, it had a piano.

43. Jimmy Eat World - "Bleed American/Jimmy Eat World" (released July 18th 2001)

There is nothing bad i can say about this album. I had trouble finding words to express what this album means to me and how good it really is. I may not have noticed Jimmy Eat World until they released Futures (which features in the top 50 later), but once I had, i had to go back and listen to the older albums. I was glad I did because i was introduced to one of the best albums of the early millennium. One of the best 'emo' albums of all time. I had already heard The Middle before procuring the album and i wasn't surprised when i learnt that the rest of the album was just as good. Bleed American will always hold a place with me.

42. My Chemical Romance - "Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge" (released June 8th 2004)

Love 'em or hate 'em, you can't deny that MCR are a force to be reckoned with. Three Cheers

was the first album that on that initial listen made me hooked. It was the first album I could play over and over again without getting bored. It was the first album that i fell in love with. And i still love it. The songs are simply excellent. Ray Toro, is definitely one of the best guitarists in the business as his original and infectious guitar hooks and solos are addicting. Add in that Gerard Way just has star quality, not only in performance, but you can just tell in his voice that he is someone who can inspire. Someone to look up to. I'm Not Okay (I Promise) is easily the best song on the album due to it's catchy chorus and easy to remember lyrics along with the pop-tastic riff. This is an album that has a great deal of effect on me and I'm all the better for it.

41. The Fray - "How To Save a Life" (released April 23rd 2007)

This is almost somewhat of a shock. Upon first hearing The Fray, I was fairly indecisive about them. But, i persisted, and discovered that How To Save a Life was actually a very good album. Apart from the obvious, title track, which is a stand-alone hit, almost every song on the album is a hit. Using the piano effectively gives it a unique edge that pushes it further than a guitar could have ever done. Not only that, but there is a good mix of songs, from the anthemic title track, to the more energetic songs such as She Is, Little House and All At Once. This is not something you'd want to forget about. It's almost like Maroon 5 and David Grey mixed and the result was something equally as good with the best parts of both.

That's it for now, I will be back soon with 40-31 soon!

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