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.
No comments:
Post a Comment