January 6, 200719 yr Author 11. Damien Rice - 9 3620 points 11 votes highest rank from maxie1p (1), staring elf (1), Flying Sparks (2), bonita (3) and RadioMad (3) Reviews: Metacritic overall: 64/100 MusicOMH: 10/10 Rolling Stone: 3/5 NME: 4/10 Pitchfork: 1.9/10 Stylus Magazine: D PopMatters: 4/10 Entertainment Weekly: B Quotes: Rice stands apart from the pack because of the genuine beauty and eccentricity of his tunes. Whenever Rice risks truly touching us emotionally-- say' date=' when he's asking a former lover, "Do you brush your teeth before you kiss?" on "Accidental Babies"-- he undercuts himself with go-nowhere melodies and formulaic arrangements.[/quote'] The biggest problem might be Rice’s vocal technique. On O' date=' he had a tendency to endearingly strain for notes he couldn’t reach. Now, it sounds like he’s purposefully written songs to allow him to overextend his thin voice.[/quote'] He's terribly earnest. 9 is by no means a failure' date=' or even bad, but it dulls in comparison to what Rice can really produce, which makes it disappointing overall.[/quote']
January 6, 200719 yr Author Aaagh I forgot to vote for Belle & Sebastian :rolleyes: they could have been higher only if you put them on the 1st spot, no otherwise :rolleyes:
January 6, 200719 yr Author okay, despite eveything i've said, we continue NOW!! top 10 here we come!
January 6, 200719 yr Author 10. Razorlight - Razorlight 4900 points 17 votes highest rank from mariapeinazo (1), sniggirb (1), Azor (4) and winnie (4) Reviews: Metacritic overall: 59/100 Pitchfork: 2.8/10 Stylus Magazine: F (the lowest rate an album can get) NME: 8/10 Rolling Stone: 2/5 Q: 10/10 PopMatters: 3/10 Quotes: They make honest indie rock for those looking for a solid' date=' good song. There's no frills, no fancy production, just the purity of these songs. [/quote'] They've jettisoned nearly all their Strokes' date=' Television, and other grab bag post-punk propensities, turning instead to adult alternative as a foundation for this late-20s midlife crisis. I guess if ya can't beat 'em, just quit and make soft rock![/quote'] It's a soulful' date=' romantic album about what happens when the lights come up at the end of the night and life smacks you in the face.[/quote'] Razorlight is a bloodless' date=' careerist record that has nothing to say that you haven’t heard a million times before. [/quote'] In its progress from raw ambition to actual intent' date=' this mirrors U2's great leap forward from Boy and October to War.[/quote'] The tight arrangements are impressive in their guitar-bass-drums spareness' date=' but the overall feel still falls somewhere between sterile and silly.[/quote'] YouTube: Razorlight - America [media=320,240]http://youtube.com/watch?v=tO8Vw_DiEJ0[/media]
January 6, 200719 yr Author 9. The Strokes - First Impressions Of Earth 5980 points 21 votes highest rank from anniep_93 (1), Liquid Sky (1), coldplay_steph (2), i heart chris martin (2), julimp92 (4), Loretin (4) and Rev (4) Reviews: Metacritic overall: 69/100 Playlouder: 4.5/5 NME: 9/10 Pitchfork: 5.9/10 Stylus Magazine: B- PopMatters: 5/10 Under The Radar: 6/10 cokemachineglow: 64% Quotes: First Impressions of Earth is the first pretty good album of the year. Really' date=' this could be the excessive, erratic second album Room On Fire wasn't; if you switched the order of the two albums, Room On Fire would undoubtedly get hailed as their return to form.[/quote'] But if the group has grown deadlier and more dynamic in their five years together' date=' singer Julian Casablancas still struggles as a lyricist.[/quote'] Turns out what the world was waiting for really was those that saved guitars finally making a record that truly reaped the rewards of their efforts. Is this it? OH GOD YES! While it might be easy to point to the industry guy behind the boards' date=' the album speaks for itself, and the Strokes managed to write a flop all by themselves.[/quote'] First Impressions may not be the best Strokes album' date=' but damn if it doesn't feel like the last. [/quote'] Youtube: The Strokes - Juicebox [media=320,240]http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZHF2TmCI2lA[/media]
January 6, 200719 yr Author 8. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium 6225 points 22 votes highest rank from maiu (1), .sally. (3), winigwl (3), twistedlogic149 (3), Larry (3), i heart chris martin (3) and Azor (3) Reviews: Metacritic overall: 74/100 Uncut: 10/10 Rolling Stone: 4/5 (2nd best album of the year) cokemachineglow: 73% PopMatters: 5/10 Pitchfork: 4.7/10 Stylus Magazine: C NME: 7/10 Quotes: The bare-bone production combined with the relentless march of songs gives Stadium Arcadium the undeniable feel of wading through the demos for a promising project instead of a sprawling statement of purpose; there's not enough purpose here for it to be a statement. It overflows with the kind of music the Chili Peppers do best: a physical' date=' often psychedelic mix of spastic bass-slapped funk and glistening alt-rock spiritualism. Only they've never sounded this good as musicians.[/quote'] Whereas poor production values and drug-fueled exuberance once excused their George Clinton worship' date=' 20 years on, in Rick Rubin's sterile environment, the band sounds like they're in jamband training camp, filling in all the empty spaces with blippityblap reminders of Flea's virtuosity and John Frusciante's desire to use every effects pedal ever invented.[/quote'] Represents a career high for the Chili Peppers. Even the "there's a great album hiding in here!" cliché doesn't really apply' date=' since if you conducted ten trials of picking fourteen songs at random, you'd end up with ten albums of near equal mediocrity.[/quote'] Neither disjointed embarrassment of riches à la The Beatles nor conceptual magnum opus like The Wall' date=' Stadium Arcadium is two hours of sometimes middling, sometimes masterful, mostly pleasurable mainstream rock.[/quote'] YouTube: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Snow (Hey Oh) [media=320,240]http://youtube.com/watch?v=b4JDNYZEjZo[/media]
January 6, 200719 yr Author 7. The Kooks - Inside In/Inside Out 6260 points 21 votes highest rank from fudge (1), CoLdPlAyRoX (2), Silverspira (2), talisman (2), Zeoir (2), julimp92 (3) and RadCold (3) Reviews: Metacritic overall: 73/100 NME: 8/10 Rolling Stone: 2/5 Pitchfork: 5.9/10 Uncut: 6/10 Prefix Magazine: 8/10 MusicOMH: 7/10 Quotes: Adventurous of chord-voicing but never showy' date=' the band nail most of their zesty songs in well under three minutes. [/quote'] On most of Inside In/Inside Out' date=' the band sounds like a more energetic Thrills or a looser Sam Roberts Band, maybe even a less severe Arctic Monkeys at times.[/quote'] The scholarship is too obvious at times... But at their streamlined best... it's like Britpop's glory years never waned. The Kooks take elements from their up-and-coming peers and a name from Hunky Dory' date=' achieving an adolescent universality that's at once their strongest pitch and greatest failing.[/quote'] An almost-perfect blend of '60s-style Britpop' date=' '90s-style Britpop, and the post-punk of the new millennium, Inside In/Inside Out is the rare debut that features not only the kind of exuberance/naivete that only bunch of nineteen-year-olds could produce, but also the thoughtful consistency characteristic of seasoned professionals.[/quote'] There are a couple of decent Brit-pop numbers... but the rest is utterly forgettable' date=' shoddily produced retro rock that at its worst sounds like a Brighton-accented version of the Spin Doctors, minus the hit songs and amusing facial hair.[/quote'] YouTube: The Kooks - Naive [media=320,240]http://youtube.com/watch?v=lQckcE9gQx8[/media]
January 6, 200719 yr Author 6. The Killers - Sam's Town 8300 points 26 votes highest rank from anna111 (1), dreamergirl (1), RTButt18 (1), stermot1978 (1), Rev (1), coldplay_97 (2), jspodx (2), julimp92 (2), mariapeinazo (2), CoLdPlAyRoX (3) and Azor (3) Reviews: Metacritic overall: 64/100 NME: 8/10 The Guardian: 8/10 Playlouder: 3/5 Pitchfork: 5.9/10 Stylus Magazine: C+ PopMatters: 3/10 Rolling Stone: 2/5 Quotes: Sam’s Town is so riddled with hackneyed clichés' date=' pandering melodrama, and lazy songwriting, that we keep wondering just what gimmick Flowers will thrust upon us next in a desperate effort to hold our attention.[/quote'] Those who don't enter Sam's Town with inflated expectations will find it's a pretty fun place to spend some time. With Sam's Town' date=' they've removed the glopped-on Goth eyeliner, sprouted scruffy outlaw beards, and traded in urbane decadence for windswept super-romanticism. Bye-bye, Duran Duran; hello, Simple Minds.[/quote'] But even if the music doesn't really work' date=' it's hard not to listen to it in slack-jawed wonderment, since there's never been a record quite like it -- it's nothing but wrong-headed dreams, it's all pomp but no glamour, it's clichés sung as if they were myths.[/quote'] The Killers are still as flashy' date=' unintentionally funny, and flagrantly affected as ever. [/quote'] Not fully realizing where their strengths and weaknesses lie makes Sam's Town' date=' despite the drastic makeover, roughly equivalent to Hot Fuss, a mediocre album surrounding a few towering singles.[/quote'] YouTube: The Killers - When You Were Young [media=320,240]http://youtube.com/watch?v=ucqkH1IgLKc[/media]
January 6, 200719 yr I always put The Avalanche down as a Compilation album, but your the expert Nik.
January 6, 200719 yr Author I always put The Avalanche down as a Compilation album' date=' but your the expert Nik.[/quote'] which songs from The Avalanche were previously released?
January 6, 200719 yr which songs from The Avalanche were previously released? The Avalanche on some copies of Illinois. But the reason why I said it's a compilation album is due to the wikipedia definition of a compilation album (is an album (music or spoken-word) featuring tracks from one or multiple recording artists, often culled from a variety of sources (such as studio albums, live albums, singles, demos and outtakes.)).
January 6, 200719 yr Author The Avalanche on some copies of Illinois. But the reason why I said it's a compilation album is due to the wikipedia definition of a compilation album (is an album (music or spoken-word) featuring tracks from one or multiple recording artists, often culled from a variety of sources (such as studio albums, live albums, singles, demos and outtakes.)). all those "outtakes" were not released before, as far as i know. i wouldn't count it as a typical compilation (e.g. Oasis, Beatles, U2 - most or all of songs were released previously). that album is fine by me ;)
January 6, 200719 yr all those "outtakes" were not released before' date=' as far as i know. i wouldn't count it as a typical compilation (e.g. Oasis, Beatles, U2 - most or all of songs were released previously). that album is fine by me ;)[/quote'] it's fine by me too ;) hahah
January 6, 200719 yr Author okay, i've finished writing/copying/pasting texts for the top 5. so we can start! :cool:
January 6, 200719 yr Author 5. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not 8475 points 31 votes highest rank from Silverspira (1), Erin (2), coldplay_steph (3), stermot1978 (3), winnie (3), Zeoir (3) and __therese (3) Reviews: Metacritic overall: 83/100 NME: 10/10 (best album of 2006) cokemachineglow: 81% Rolling Stone: 4/5 PopMatters: 8/10 Pitchfork: 7.4/10 Playlouder: 2/5 Stylus Magazine: C musicOMH.com: 9/10 Quotes: Even if you've been fortunate enough to live with these tracks over the last year or so' date=' they still sound more vital, more likely to make you form your own band than anything else out there.[/quote'] Song after song returns to the same nightclubs for the same set of cocky put-downs and faintly misogynist come-ons. Meanwhile' date=' the band fumbles through a sound that seems to have been assembled from pieces of retro-minded rock acts like The Strokes and Franz Ferdinand, but without the sense of purpose or history.[/quote'] Put it this way: do you think "Panic (Hang the DJ)" with its unique branch of bitterness' date=' provincialism, and notions of white pride was the Smiths' best song? You'll be like a hog in shit here, then. If not... avoid. Like the plague.[/quote'] At times charming' date=' oddly affecting, and certainly promising but understandably something less than life changing. [/quote'] It's not a totally perfect record' date=' for which we should be thankful - remember what happened to The Stone Roses after they'd released their flawless debut? - but it is an excellent first album, and gives notice that Alex Turner is already one of this country's best lyricists.[/quote'] So no' date=' it's not perfect. But Whatever People Say... has that edge, that thrill that comes only when a band have hit the zeitgeist hard and timed the punch to perfection.[/quote'] There are some impossibly fun tunes in the mix.... But will this album really change your life? No. YouTube: Arctic Monkeys - Fake Tales Of San Francisco [media=320,240]http://youtube.com/watch?v=gQjEjuzdUB0[/media]
January 6, 200719 yr all those "outtakes" were not released before' date=' as far as i know. i wouldn't count it as a typical compilation (e.g. Oasis, Beatles, U2 - most or all of songs were released previously). that album is fine by me ;)[/quote'] Cheers for saying that Nik. If I knew you were allowing it, it would have featured in my top 25. Can't wait for the top 5.
January 6, 200719 yr Author Cheers for saying that Nik. If I knew you were allowing it, it would have featured in my top 25. Can't wait for the top 5. that album wasn't on the "banned list" ;)
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