Hyper's Top 10 Albums of the Decade

[Jay]

As a response to the contentious (when aren't these lists contentious?) NME list of the 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade, I thought we could put together a top 10 or 20 of our own. I'm happy to collate the votes, say in three or four weeks, if people want to nominate 10 albums each (with a bit of a reason to make it fun for people to read) and we can come up with another list to argue about. I'll post my own in a bit once I've thought about it more.

[AranchineD]

Well without even thinking I'll put Crack The Skye at #1. Now all I have to do is see what other albums I have that are actually from this decade...

[Jay]

Yeah, that's my problem. I'm showing my age. I keep going 'Oh yeah, that album!' and it turns out to be from 1998 or something. Hmm.

[Daniel]

Polyphonic Spree - Together We're Heavy
Joanna Newsom - Milk Eyed Mender
Bjork - Vespertine
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads/Nocturma
The Music - The Music
Them Crooked Vultures - Self Titled


Will probably be able to think of more when I have less delicious and cooling Three Sheets ale in me.

[Jay]

Some great stuff in there, Daniel. Vespertine took me ages to get into but now it's nearly my favourite of her albums. Nearly. Love The Polyphonic Spree as well.

I'll start mine then:

Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips

They may have recently tried to alienate all of their post-Yoshimi fans with Embryonic (and good on 'em for it), but Yoshimi is a sublime concept album about death and the afterlife and giant killer robots fighting Japanese schoolgirls trained in kung-fu. Huh Huh! Key tracks: Do You Realize??, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt 1, Fight Test.

Give Up - The Postal Service

Whilst Death Cab For Cutie are in turn brilliant and awful (I just saw the clip for the New Moon song - omg), The Postal Service, Gibbard's electronica infused side project with Jimmy Tamborello have only released one album. Thankfully it's utterly brilliant, a coldly clinical digital soundscape contrasting wonderfully with some surprisingly heartfelt lyrics to create a weird 50s post-apocolyptica vibe. If they had pop music in Gattaca it would probably be The Postal Service. Key Tracks: Such Great Heights, We Will Become Silhouettes, The District Sleeps Alone Tonight.

Demon Days - Gorillaz

For all his moody petulance, Damon Albarn is still the most interesting thing to come out of the rich 90s Brit-Pop era. Not content with sitting still, he genre hops like an 8 year-old ADHD sufferer let loose in a candy shop. Gorillaz second album refined the considerable promise shown on the first, and provided some of the best videos of the decade to boot. Key Tracks: Feel Good, Inc, Dare, Dirty Harry.

More to come...

[BB2K]

Black Label Society - Hangover Music, Vol VI
Black Label Society - The Blessed Hellride
DragonForce - Sonic Firestorm
DragonForce - Valley of the Damned
Iron Maiden - A Matter of Life and Death

My point is Top 10 lists of music are stupid, as music is pretty much all down to personal taste.

[Jay]

Of course it is, but by that rationale debating the merits of anything is a waste of time. It's merely an exercise, something a bit fun to do - I wouldn't take it so seriously if I were you. Or I won't count your ****ing votes. :p

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco

The spectre of 9/11 looms large over this album, from the cover art to the sparse, sonic crackle of opener 'I Am Trying To Break Your Heart', to the more blatantly politicised lyrics on later tracks. And yet it's so much more than a bewildered response from a band who probably figured they had it coming. Wilco's Ok Computer. I can't say much fairer than that. Key Tracks: I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, Heavy Metal Drummer, Ashes of American Flags.

White Blood Cells - The White Stripes

So simple, so loud, so rockin'. I reckon this is the pinnacle of their output, though Elephant and Get Behind Me Satan are good records. This just rocks, and references Citizen Kane to boot. Key Tracks: Hotel Yorba, Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground, We're Going To Be Friends.

The Life Pursuit - Belle & Sebastian

The new, pop-savvy and pop-referencing Belle & Sebastian may not be for everybody, but The Life Pursuit continued Dear Catastrophe Waitress' slick production values and provided a set of (mostly) kick arse catchy tunes. I still think their mid to late 90s output is where it's at, but The Life Pursuit proved that there was still life in pursuing B&S after all. Key Tracks: The Blues Are Still Blue, Funny Little Frog, Another Sunny Day.

[Daniel]

You can add Yoshimi to my list

[Watchers]

Blind Guardian - A Night at the Opera. End thread.

[AranchineD]

My point is Top 10 lists of music are stupid, as music is pretty much all down to personal taste.

Yeah, but unlike that other list this isn't about telling other people what their top X list should be. >_>

[Watchers]

Yeah, but unlike that other list this isn't about telling other people what their top X list should be. >_>

You call that a list? You're banned.

[AranchineD]

You call that modding? That's a paddlin'.

[Watchers]

You call that modding? That's a paddlin'.

You call that a paddlin'? That's a modding.

[adam_91vn]

My point is Top 10 lists of music are stupid, as music is pretty much all down to personal taste.

This

Most of the albums I would choose would not even appear on most lists.

[9warbane]

Starting getting in to music about 5 years ago but my favorites so far....

Opeth - Ghost Reveries
Slipknot - Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses
Scott Walker - The Drift
Keep of Kalessin - Kolossus
Ihsahn - Angl
Goatwhore - Carving out the eyes of God
The Devin Townsend Project - Addicted
Coal Chamber - Dark Days
Alestorm - Captain Morgan's Revenge/Black Sails at Midnight
Dimmu Borgir - In Sorte Diaboli

[Jay]

Okay. Yes. Lists are stupid. They are completely subjective, impossible to prove, and mostly retarded.

They are also quite good for promoting a bit of friendly discussion, maybe learning about a few things you hadn't heard of before and just generally a bit of fun. Subjective, stupid, retarded fun.

@ Adam

List them and I guarantee they'll get counted in this list. :p

[JimmyKane]

The Mars Volta-The Bedlam In Goliath
The Mars Volta-Frances The Mute
Radiohead-Kid A
Opeth-Watershed
Mastodon-Crack The Skye
TV On The Radio-Dear Science
Battles-Mirrorred
Queens of the Stone Age-Rated R
Gorillaz-Demon Days
Radiohead-In Rainbows

[Spudzilla]

Maudlin of the Well - Part The Second
QYSKc0NOMXI
The album is 100% free to download from anywhere you can find because it was fan-funded. Of the music released to far this year, this is widely regarded as one of, if not, the best progressive album this year. The song above is the opening track.



Phideaux - Doomsday Afternoon.
IWg15DUG0m4
Xavier Phideaux's best album, released in 2007, takes a bit more of a symphonic direction to his previous work and it comes off very nicely. The entire album flows along seamlessly as almost one single song, this one being the penultimate on the album. Since I found out about it earlier this year, it's been on regular rotation in my music library and I still havn't gotten sick of it. There's a lot going on in each song, as you'll find out when you listen to this all of the way through.



King Crimson - The Power to Believe
ZNOf-zFTH1Q
cbf typing anymore, just play this.



Rush - Snakes and Arrows
rTtLsjVdD7Y



Battles - Mirrored
OUSY77UI-J4
Look out for DJ DICKS' Music 2000 cover.

[AranchineD]

You call that a paddlin'? That's a modding.

You moddling that a padding? That's an Aran.



As it turns out I barely have over 15 albums from this decade :psyduck: but I shall try my best to make a list out of them.


Mastodon - Crack The Skye

To put it simply, if the only song this album had was The Last Baron, I'd still love it to bits. It certainly has a different sound from their previous albums, less mind blasting metal and a more proggy sound, which may either impress or disappoint you depending on your tastes in music, but you can put me firmly in the former category.

As mentioned, The Last Baron is an excellent track, 13 minutes of absolute bliss that starts off with a slow moving intro that would probably work as a song on its own, and then switches into a fast paced, powerful piece of music that you just can't help but get caught up in, sex for your ears basically. The song goes back to the original tempo by the end, but most amazing of all is that none of these parts of the song clash with each other, they effortlessly blend into one another, and really sound like they belong together, which is a risk you can run when you create a song like this.

Mastodon - Blood Mountain

And here we have an album that's more inclined toward the harder, louder sounding music, but is just as awesome as Crack The Skye, if in different ways. This album pretty much proved to me how awesome a drummer Brann is, going from intricate beats to just flat out intense drumming, sometimes in the one song, sometimes back and forth in just a single minute, he's absolutely brilliant (Siberian Divide, The Wolf Is Loose are prime examples).

Also interesting is how what I think is my favourite track on the album seems to change every few weeks or so, I posted about this recently but lately I really love Sleeping Giant, despite the fact beforehand I didn't even pay much attention to it.

Deftones - White Pony

Truth be told it's the only Deftones album I have, but I enjoy every single minute of it. I don't even want to attempt to nail a genre down for it (I guess 'Rock' is a broad enough term but doesn't really seem to do it justice).

Anyways, what I do like about this album is that there isn't a single hint of 'sameyness' in sight; every track is distinctly unique, from the more upbeat Knife Party to the almost surreal sounding Digital Bath, not to mention the more subdued, almost muted, sound of Teenager giving another 'side', an 'edge' to the album overall. The album is both a great listen the whole way through, or if you just feel like a particular track, which is quite nice.

More when I could be bothered.

[JimmyKane]

Downloading the maudlin of the Well album now :D

[Spudzilla]

It's awesome AND free. Win/Win

[Super Sleuth]

I'll post a list of albums I can think of that I would consider for my list. When I'm awake I'll actually write something about them.

The National - Boxer
The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Arcade Fire - Funeral
Wolf Parade - Apologies to Queen Mary / At Mt Zoomer
of Montreal - Hissing Fauna are you the Destroyer?
of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Sigur Ros - með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

I have not listened to the Rene Jacobs Mozart recordings, or the new John Adams opera, Doctor Atomic, so I cannot say whether or not they are favourites of mine for the past decade.

[JimmyKane]

I can understand the excitement about Fleet Foxes' sound, but never really got into the album :(

[Super Sleuth]

I saw them live at the Prince earlier this year and it was one the best gigs I've ever seen. The album seemed to sound so much better after that night.

[JimmyKane]

Yeah I've heard they're fantastic live. I'd probably go check them out, tbh.

[Super Sleuth]

One of the best things about the show was they seemed to be modest, almost embarrassed by their popularity. They were making jokes and having semi conversations with the crowd. It was just a wonderfully warm, embracing show.

[AranchineD]

Lacuna Coil - Comalies

Apart from being stupidly hot )h(, Scabbia is a pretty awesome, versatile singer, and she compliments the sound of every track on the album perfectly (more intense on tracks like Tight Rope, more emotionally charged on Unspoken). Not only that, but she and Ferro work well with each other in the songs on the tracks in which they both sing on (even if by himself Ferro's voice can be a little annoying).

Though the vocals are the carrying point of the band, really, at least for this album the rest of the sound is of a high quality as well. Somewhat simple riffs and beats (well, apart from the drum solo in Tight Rope >_>) that are entirely enjoyable to listen to and do their task well of creating that particular melodic sound the band was going for here. It's just a shame that everything they've done since Comalies has been utter trash. :(

Dark Tranquility - Damage Done

This will be a bit similiar to Deftones, in that I only have a limited amount of their music to go by. However, I'm a complete fan of Damage Done, although whether that's because the album is really good or because I 'gasm over anything remotely melodic death related is up for debate!

Regardless of what the reason is, almost every track here gets me going and pumping. Final Resistance has a brilliant slow build up not just for the song itself but the whole album before getting right into the swing of things, Damage Done and I, Deception have these snappy, hard-hitting choruses that get one's head moving up and down repeatedly, while Ex Nihilo closes it all with an...almost 'unnerving', slower melody that seems an appropriate way to end on.

[igotnewsuper8systemWRONG!]

In no order

The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
The Shins - Oh, Inverted World
The National - Boxer

Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover: this is the only album I'm following up with a reason, I bought this CD, ripped it, put it on my ipod, then listened to it for a few hours while I went fishing. I've always wondered if I would have loved it as much in a different situation, but everytime I listen to it I'm taken back to that bridge, the sun is setting, the smell of the ocean is thick in the cool breeze, my hands are covered in ****ing bait juice (which is stinging the cuts from the hooks), and even though I haven't caught a thing all day and can't get a particularly beautiful girl out of my head, I'm completely at peace with the world.

Minus the Bear - Highly Refined Pirates
Battles - Mirrored
Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica
TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Alkaline Trio - Good Mourning
Bear vs Shark - Right now you're in the best of hands

[D.C.]

Radiohead – Kid A (2000)
Where to begin? The mesmerising vocals. The wicked electronic beats. The millennial paranoia. Heads on sticks and ventriloquists. The album of the decade. Ice age coming.


Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights (2002)
Lots of people might point to Is This It? as the big epoch-defining moment in twenty-first century rock, but I felt another NYC-based band did it unequivocally better less than a year later. The Joy Division comparisons are overrated; 'Bright Lights is about mixing up the crunching guitar riffs with brooding rhythms, all while Banks wails about surprising people, how the subway is a porno, and general post-9/11 despair.


Burial - Untrue (2008)
If Kid A was beautiful 'end of the world' music then the haunting, emotive soundscapes by the B-Man come from a space, alien-orientated future. A perfect companion for those lonely, rain-soaked late nights.


The Wrens – The Meadowlands (2003)


…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead – Source Tags And Codes (2002)


PJ Harvey – Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea (2000)


Sufjan Stevens – Illinois (2005)


The Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004)


Joanna Newsom – Ys (2006)


Broken Social Scene – You Forgot It In People (2003)

[Super Sleuth]

Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover: this is the only album I'm following up with a reason, I bought this CD, ripped it, put it on my ipod, then listened to it for a few hours while I went fishing. I've always wondered if I would have loved it as much in a different situation, but everytime I listen to it I'm taken back to that bridge, the sun is setting, the smell of the ocean is thick in the cool breeze, my hands are covered in ****ing bait juice (which is stinging the cuts from the hooks), and even though I haven't caught a thing all day and can't get a particularly beautiful girl out of my head, I'm completely at peace with the world.

Yes yes and yes. It's a brilliant album. I convulse into all sorts of shapes to the beat of The Taming of the Hands that Came Back to Life.


Broken Social Scene – You Forgot It In People (2003)[/LIST]

I just started listening to this last week. It's really starting to grow on me. Especially the 4 punch Looks Just Like the Sun > Pacific Theme > Anthems of a 17 Year old Girl > Cause=Time.

[D.C.]

I just started listening to this last week. It's really starting to grow on me. Especially the 4 punch Looks Just Like the Sun > Pacific Theme > Anthems of a 17 Year old Girl > Cause=Time.
'Anthems' and 'Cause=Time' were the immediate hits when I first listen to it, but it only took a couple of runs through to realise that 'Almost Crimes' is just about the greatest mash-up ever. ;)

[Joel]

I posted my top 20 in the other thread but I'll repost it here:

Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
Arcade Fire - Funeral
Broken Social Scene – You Forgot It in People
Ghotsface Killah – Supreme Clientele
Kanye West – College Dropout
Madvillain – Madvillainy
Radiohead – Kid A
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Yo La Tengo – And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
The Strokes – Room on Fire
Deerhunter – Microcastle
Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Interpol – Turn on the Bright Lights
Dinosaur Jr - Beyond
Sonic Youth – Murray Street
LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
Modest Mouse – Moon and Antarctica
TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
J Dilla - Donuts

That took me far too long to decide upon, but later on I'll turn it into a top 10 and write a little bit about each choice.

[Joel]

You Forgot It In People

Musically, Broken Social Scene don’t sound much like them at all, but they really remind me of a Canadian Yo La Tengo. There’s just so much variety and differences in the songs that it just makes each listening even more interesting; listen to Pacific Theme and then Cause=Time, and they don’t even sound like the same band, but the shit is equally as good. An album everyone can love.

Madvillainy

This album scared the **** out of me the first time I heard it. The most exposure I’d had to Hip Hop was stuff like 50 Cent, The Game, etc, so to come from that to the opening Illest Villains was pretty bizarre, in a word. The production is out of this ****ing world and the lyrics are just ****ing amazing, really. From Accordion: “Givin' y'all nothing but the lick like two broads/Got more lyrics than the church got 'Ooh Lords'/And he hold the mic and your attention like two swords/Or even one with two blades on it/Hey you, don't touch the mic like it's AIDS on it.” Tremendous. Accordion, Meat Grinder and America’s Most Blunted are not only some of my favourite Hip Hop songs, but some of my favourite songs of any genre of all time.

Supreme Clientele

The reason the Wu is still relevant today. Ghost’s rhymes and flow in this album make me happy just thinking about them, seriously. Take any song at random on this album and it’s bound to be good, great or amazing. Recommend this album to anyone who thinks rap or hip hop sucks, and get them to read the lyrics at the same time. Flawless.

Kid A

I used to think OK Computer was Radiohead’s best, but over time this has won me over. This album is basically the definition of a grower; most people hate it at first, but as they keep on listening, they realise it’s the best thing ever. I… don’t have much more to say about this. Shit speaks for itself.

Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Spoon are the best rock band going today, easily. I was never really sold on them before, but Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga made me realise just how good they are. Any of their other albums of this decade, Kill the Moonlight, Gimme Fiction, whatever, are pretty much equally as good and could have gone in here but Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga was the key to me unlocking how good they are (and really, it’s so ****ing obvious they’re amazing, so I don’t know what I was thinking before) so it goes here.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

See: Jay’s bit. Dude’s much smarter and eloquent than me, and summed it up better than I could.

Strawberry Jam

I only wanted to include one album by any band in my list (not excluding side projects, eg Panda Bear’s Person Pitch, Atlas Sound’s Logos, etc. etc.), and Strawberry Jam only just beat the rest of Animal Collective’s albums. I think it may have been purely because of For Reverend Green. I hated this album so, so, so much when I first listened to it, mainly because I only listened to the first 20 seconds of Peacebone, and thought it was pretentious noise only a denim jacket wearing hipster could enjoy. I was wrong. This is a truly amazing album that anyone, really, can enjoy. My 7 year old cousin likes it (!!). The songs are catchy as ****, but also incredibly inventive and smart. Animal Collective are the best band of the 0000s, I think.

to be continued

[Gee_Yai_Bro]

TMV - Frances the Mute
Definitly their best album. Epic, from beginning to end(beginning?) one of the only albums I will listen to the whole way through every time.

Common - Like Water for Chocolate
I've often wondered why I choose this album as my number 1 above all other hip hop albums, this decade or otherwise and I still don't know how to justify it considering I really regretted buying this after I first listened to it but that was 9 years ago. Definitly has something to do with the beautiful soul and jazz inspired productions that ring solid throughout the entire album. Regardless, it's there and nothing has ever come close to warrant me changing my opinion

Those are my definitive two best albums of this decade, other, less honourable mentions would be:

Slipknot - Vol 3
TMV - Amputecture
Tool - Lateralus
Deftones - The White Pony
Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City
Danger Doom - The Mouse and the Mask
Kanye West - The College Dropout

and space for 1/11 more...

[big_b]

One of the best things about the show was they seemed to be modest, almost embarrassed by their popularity. They were making jokes and having semi conversations with the crowd. It was just a wonderfully warm, embracing show.

I saw them at glastonbury and it was hyped to be one of the must see performances there but it was really really bad. I think they were just well nervous but it really didnt go down well.

[Super Sleuth]

At the Glastonbury Festival?

Bands are much much better at their own gig. Generally speaking, I find the music is ruined at festivals. Half the crowd isn't paying attention and the band is trying to compete with noise from other stages for most of the time.

[buckstwits]

Bruce Springsteen – The Rising (2002)
My favourite Springsteen album. Yes, I like it more than Born in the USA and Born to Run.
Key Songs: Paradise, My City of Ruins

Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere (2006)
No much to say except Crazy is probably the worst song on the album.
Key Songs: Smiling Faces, Just A Thought

Neil Young - Prairie Wind (2005)
Reminds me a lot of the Unplugged album, which is a good thing
Key Songs: Prairie Wind, No Wonder

Down – II (2002)
Ok, this is the only metal album I've bought in a long time. Phil's voice is as awesome as ever and their sound is is more bluesy which gives the album a point of difference from the first, which could of been a Pantera album.
Key Songs: Stained Glass Cross, New Orleans is a Dying Whore

Rodrigo y Gabriela - Rodrigo y Gabriela (2006)
Acoustic latin folk rock with heavy metal influences.
Key Songs: PPA, Ixtapa, Tamacun

Tom Waits – Blood Money (2002)
It had to be this or Alice. Both are extremely good and come out around the same time. Blood money wins out because every song is great whereas Alice has a few duds. You know what you're getting with Tom Waits
Keys Songs: Another Man's Vine, A Good Man is Hard to Find

The Darkness – Permission to Land (2003)
I first thought they were a novelty but is some stuff great here if you like 70s rock, which I do.
Keys Songs: Get Your Hands Off My Woman, Love is Only a Feeling.

Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man (2002)
I'd call this a softer Portishead. I could of chosen Third but this is more otherworldly.
Key Songs: Tom the Model, Funny Time of Year.

[Super Sleuth]

I only wanted to include one album by any band in my list...

I really did try to do this....but I couldn't exclude either of the of Montreal albums.

I used to be carried in the arms of cheerleaders...

[Watchers]

Dark Tranquility - Damage Done


Hey, that's the only DT album I actually own. ^5

However, their best song is still probably My Negation imo.

[AranchineD]

After learning predicate logic I just can't help but laugh at the title "My Negation".

This...this is probably why I have no friends.

[Readman]

39 posts and nobody has mentioned the the Rene Jacobs Mozart recordings, or the new John Adams opera, Doctor Atomic.

It is certainly much better than that non-classical stuff which all sounds the same anyway.

[Super Sleuth]

39 posts and nobody has mentioned the the Rene Jacobs Mozart recordings, or the new John Adams opera, Doctor Atomic..

Oh yeah? (http://www.hyper.com.au/forums/showpost.php?p=1142063&postcount=22)

[Readman]

That is an epic ownage.

[AranchineD]

Wait a minute WAIT A MINUTE

Last edited by Super Sleuth; Today at 03:44 PM..


I SMELL SOMETHING SUSPICIOUS HERE

[Readman]

I can't believe he snuck that past me, HE TRULY IS A SUPER SLEUTH!

[Super Sleuth]

Wait a minute WAIT A MINUTE

Last edited by Super Sleuth; Today at 03:44 PM..


I SMELL SOMETHING SUSPICIOUS HERE


http://www.hillenfamily.com/images/2008%20Simon%20visits%20Highgate/Sleuth.JPG

[JimmyKane]

Sleuth is dead. Like Paul is dead, but less believable because he's a SUPER Sleuth.

[Mykle]

Kid A - Radiohead

A perfect snapshot of this catastrophic decade, released all the way back in 2000. 9/11, climate change, sub-prime mortgages, Katrina, Al Qaeda, extraordinary rendition, the surge, Facebook, default credit swaps, waterboarding. Over 25,000 children died today from extreme poverty and malnutrition. It's too late to stop the global temperature from increasing by 2 degrees. Abuse of illegal or prescription drugs is the second-highest cause of death in the United States. And faintly, behind it all, Thom Yorke is wailing, everything all of the time.

[Super Sleuth]

The National - Boxer

As has been mentioned previously on these very forums, it took me a great while before I came around to this. I bought it on release but after numerous attempts, just could not get into it. Fast forward a good year and I inexplicably got 'Fake Empire' stuck my head, even though I hadn't listened to the album for ages. From there I was gracefully swallowed by the album's delicate atmosphere. The beauty lies within the subtlety of the music. Once I'd really listened to the lyrics of 'Green Gloves', I knew it was special.

The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute

I know there is a lot of hate for The Mars Volta. I know their excessively self indulgent ways turn people away in disgust. I'm not one of them. I see it. I hear it. I love it. I love the commitment to the excess, to promote convulsive movements. This album has a LOT of weight. 3 minute plus sonic doodling's frequent this album..and I love it. I love the sound of traffic in a digital, corrupted landscape that concludes 'Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus'. I love the sensationally perverse lyrics. The DRUMMING. And Cassandra Gemini. A song that goes for over half an hour. Ridiculous...but it works. It took me a good couple of weeks before I could listen to the whole track without losing interest...but once I knew it well enough to enjoy it..amazing.

The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

Whenever I listen to The Flaming Lips, I can't help but sing and make ridiculous facial expressions to detail the lyric currently being shrieked. I seem to emulate the strain that Wayne Coyne seems to endure every time he opens his mouth in front of a mic. I love his voice. It's horribly great. It sounds genuine. With Yoshimi, they seemed more vulnerable than they've ever been. There were no loud, distorted guitars to hide behind. No garage band fuzz. This was crisp, clean and organised. Some told a robot's tale of unrequited love and emotion. Others contrasted the robot's perdition with stories of human affection. Wonderful.


I'll do more soon,

[JubeiSaotome]

The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute

I know there is a lot of hate for The Mars Volta. I know their excessively self indulgent ways turn people away in disgust. I'm not one of them. I see it. I hear it. I love it. I love the commitment to the excess, to promote convulsive movements. This album has a LOT of weight. 3 minute plus sonic doodling's frequent this album..and I love it. I love the sound of traffic in a digital, corrupted landscape that concludes 'Cygnus...Vismund Cygnus'. I love the sensationally perverse lyrics. The DRUMMING. And Cassandra Gemini. A song that goes for over half an hour. Ridiculous...but it works. It took me a good couple of weeks before I could listen to the whole track without losing interest...but once I knew it well enough to enjoy it..amazing.

Quoted for truth, they're like King Crimson of the new millennium. I used to like this album the most, but now I'm torn between Amputechture and The Bedlam in Goliath.

[Super Sleuth]

I love all their albums but I felt Frances is the most solid. Amputechture has too many holes in it to be brilliant and Octahedron isn't as demanding of my attention (actually, Octahedron feels very obvious. The progression of the tracks isn't anywhere near as daring as previous work).

Are you seeing them when they come out next year Jubei?

[Jay]

Kid A - Radiohead

At the time people wondered what the hell they were doing. Where were the guitars, the hooks, the melodies? Basically ten years on, and it is crystal clear what they were doing. Defining a decade of fear and paranoia. In the same way OK Computer is the soundtrack to the apocalypse, Kid A is the music made by the people who survive the apocalypse. Electronic, nervous, schizophrenic and eerily beautiful, it is Heart of Darkness for the noughties, all heads on sticks and fear. A magnificent, brave, determined album. Key Tracks: All of it

[JubeiSaotome]

I love all their albums but I felt Frances is the most solid. Amputechture has too many holes in it to be brilliant and Octahedron isn't as demanding of my attention (actually, Octahedron feels very obvious. The progression of the tracks isn't anywhere near as daring as previous work).

Are you seeing them when they come out next year Jubei?

Nah, I saw them on their BDO tour between Deloused and Frances. :)

[Super Sleuth]

I saw them then as well....but I can't pass up another opportunity to see the again. This will be the 4th time.

I hope to hear them play Metatron. At last year's gig they played Aberinkula and then...stopped. They didn't continue into Metatron. I was actually pissed off. Metatron NEEDS to be played after Aberinkula.

[sausage]

Sins of a Solar Empire soundtrack - Quite simply the best music to do physical work to.

Bioshock soundtrack - Didn't it win a BAFTA or something? Anyway, atmosphere up the arse and simply superb piano and violin playing.

Mastodon: Leviathan - Screw your Blood Mountain and Crack the Skye this is the one that kicks ass for Hearts Alive alone. But in saying that....

Mastodon: Blood Mountain - Crazy.

Special mention: Any Dragonforce album - For simply reviving power/hair/cock metal.



*count the simply's.

[ChalkFacedGoon]

Well without even thinking I'll put Crack The Skye at #1. Now all I have to do is see what other albums I have that are actually from this decade...
Cool. Are you going to their headlining show in Sydney next year?

[AranchineD]

Cool. Are you going to their headlining show in Sydney next year?

Abso-effin-lutely.

[JimmyKane]

I really hope TMV doesn't play too much Octahedron stuff at BDO. Halo of Nembutals, Teflon and Desperate Graves are quite easily their worst songs.

And Sleuth, the first time I listened to Bedlam In Goliath I didn't realise Aberinkula was over when it changed :p

[fishonthecarpet]

I really hope TMV doesn't play too much Octahedron stuff at BDO. Halo of Nembutals, Teflon and Desperate Graves are quite easily their worst songs.

And Sleuth, the first time I listened to Bedlam In Goliath I didn't realise Aberinkula was over when it changed :p

Pisss offffffff, Octahedron shits all over half the songs of Bedlam!!!

It was so nice to have an actual well constructed album after the chaoticness and sonic cluster**** of Bedlam. Don't get me wrong, I love the adrenaline rush of the first half of the album but Octahedron is just so much more listenable as a whole.

[JimmyKane]

It was a controlled chaos with some great songs. imo

[fishonthecarpet]

It was a controlled chaos with some great songs. imo

Yeah I'd agree with that - there were some great songs. There were just some very dull songs that attempted to compensate with odd production screwarounds and effects (Cavalettas, Tourniquet Man, Ouroboros...).

It's almost literally divided into half - I find the first half brilliant, and then end up hitting the skip button a couple of times after about track 5.

[autologic]

Madvillain - Madvillainy
Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury
Daft Punk - Alive 2007
Jay-Z - The Blueprint
J Dilla - Donuts
MF DOOM - Mm... Food
Burial - Untrue
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - No More Shall We Part
The National - Boxer

[JubeiSaotome]

In no particular order:

The Fall of Troy - Phantom on the Horizon
The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
Kiss Kiss - Reality vs The Optimist
The Snake The Cross The Crown - Mander Salis
Hopesfall - Magnetic North
Between the Buried and Me - Alaska
Anamanaguchi - Dawn Metropolis
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of the Dead - So Divided
Gatsby's American Dream - Ribbons and Sugar
Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor

[RunningMild]

Most of the albums I would choose would not even appear on most lists.

That won't stop me! :p

Running Wild- Victory
Running Wild- The Brotherhood
Running Wild- Rogues En Vogue
Mastodon- Blood Mountain
Mastodon- Crack The Skye
Tool- Lateralus
Rammstein- Mutter
Bodyjar- Plastic Skies
Lordi- Get Heavy
Pathogen- Bloodline