Posts tagged albums
Top 10 Albums of 2009
Feb 10th
My 10 favorite albums released in the year 2009. Song: Home by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Where can I find the extremely hard to find Bob Seger System albums on CD?
Jan 28th
I have all the Silver Bullet Band stuff on CD including Beautiful Loser. I have a few System albums on worn out cassettes and I want them on CD. But, they’ve been out of print since 1988. Where can I find them new and sealed but, for a cheap price? Used is also okay though. Thanks from a Bob Seger Fan!!!
Early 2010 Albums to Drown Out the Sound of Train Horns Pt. 1
Jan 24th
The early part of 2010 has a number of new releases that any fan of music should be interested in. No matter what genre of music you like, from hip-hop to country rock to indie rock to dance pop to electronica, there are some great new releases coming out that may have flown under your radar. Well, thankfully I am here to let you know what great albums are coming out in early 2010. Without further ado, here is a list of some of the most noteworthy new releases in early 2010 to look forward to if you are looking for some new music to drown out the sound of train horns.
Scout Niblett – The Calcination of Scout Niblett
You can always count on something interesting from Scout Niblett, the singer/songwriter who has been releasing some of the most idiosyncratic and often heart breaking music since her debut in 2001. She has worked extensively with legendary recording engineer and fellow Chicagoan Steve Albini to hone in on her minimal guitar style and atmospheric sound that best highlights her fragile voice. She is returning three years after “This Fool Can Die Now” with a collection of new material awkwardly titled “The Calcination of Scout Niblett.” After working with other stellar musicians like Jason Molina and Magnolia Electric Co. and the prolific Bonnie “Prince” Billy, look for a slightly more country-tinged sound on her new record.
Beach House – Teen Dream
Their third record in four years, Beach House and slowly becoming one of the most interesting and beautiful American indie rock bands to watch. With their self titled debut in 2006 making waves thanks to its lo fidelity recording and its reliance on little more than a drum machine, keyboard and powerful melodies, the band has slowly begun inching towards a more studio produced sound with their second release “Devotion” taking their dream pop to new heights. Their third record, “Teen Dream” is their first for legendary indie rock record label Sub Pop and features even more beautiful, sad, mysterious music from the duo known as Beach House.
does anyone know where i can find an acdc button up shirt with albums as the print or an acdc satin jacket?
Jan 16th
the acdc button up shirt has their album covers as the print on the shirt. saw it at a concert and was wondering if anyone knew where to get one.
Dream Theater: 10 Albums in 10 Minutes
Jan 14th
Here it is! Dream Theater’s entire catalog of officially released studio albums in the span of 10 minutes (in chronological order of course).
Early 2010 Albums to Drown Out the Sound of Train Horns Pt. 2
Jan 14th
The early part of 2010 has a number of new releases that any fan of music should be interested in. No matter what genre of music you like, from hip-hop to country rock to indie rock to dance pop to electronica, there are some great new releases coming out that may have flown under your radar. Well, thankfully I am here to let you know what great albums are coming out in early 2010. Without further ado, here is a list of some of the most noteworthy new releases in early 2010 to look forward to if you are looking for some new music to drown out the sound of train horns.
The Game – The R.E.D. Album
Man, where does one start with The Game? Originally a protégé of Dr. Dre, The Game has gone on to alienate and infuriate just about everyone in the rap business with his strange, erratic behavior. There is no doubt that despite being a difficult guy to get along with, The Game is immensely talented, being able to appropriate the best parts of classic era West Coast hip-hop with modern day beatmakers to create something original and fresh. He has reportedly squashed any beef he had with Dr. Dre and Aftermath Records to record several tracks with the legendary West Coast producer that are reported to be included on the new record (and the reason why the record was pushed back.) Here’s hoping for another powerful, strange trip through the mind of The Game, lets just hope he gets some good beats behind him.
Shearwater – The Golden Archipelago
This Austin, Texas indie-rock band is one of the most overlooked bands of the decade. They have been making music since 2001 but it wasn’t until 2004’s “The Winged Life” when they really broke through and reveled themselves as some of the most creative, literate and beautiful songwriters working today. Made up of Jonathan Meiburg and Will Sheff who worked together in the critically acclaimed band Okkervil River, both artists bring their own unique songwriter and singing talents to the group. Their last release, “Rook” was rightfully praised for its baroque instrumentation, otherworldly vocals and powerful lyrical themes. “The Golden Archipelago” is said to be another continuation in a loosely connected theme of albums with “Rook” being the sky and “Archipelago” being the sea.
Pantha du Prince – Black Noise
It is about time that Pantha du Prince breaks through from his niche as a low-key ambient/techno producer and becomes a household name to indie kids, pop kids and techno kids alike. With the look of his newest release, “Black Noise” to be released on the powerful Rough Trade record label, as well as thanks to guest appearances from Noah Lennox of Animal collective and members of LCD Soundsystem and !!!, Pantha du Prince will likely get his best reviews and exposure ever, and he deserves it. His last record from 2007, “This Bliss” is still considered one of the darkest and most beautiful minimal techno albums of the decade so many have high hopes for “Black Noise” to up the ante and reach new heights.
Underrated Urban Albums That Needed More Love Like a Neglected Fish Tank
Jan 13th
I believe these two albums aren’t given their due appreciation as great albums, possibly the best albums for the respective artists. Both of these albums did not chart as well as others by the artists but they should have because they are much better. Here is a list of two recent urban albums that should have gotten more praise and love like a neglected large fish tank.
Akon – Freedom
That album cover of Akon standing in front of the sweeping blue ocean in a swanky suit and the name and album title in minimal font along the side should have been a slight indicator of the album’s sound. Akon went beyond tradition R&B sounds and created what I think is his best album, the catchy, Eurodance and electronica fueled “Freedom.” The synths and drum machines wash over the listener and push you to the dance floor unlike any of Akon’s previous records. The album flows much better than his previous releases, sounding like a carefully put together statement about love and loss and less a collection of singles. It didn’t chart as well in the U.S. but fared better in Australia and the United Kingdom (where it went platinum) probably because it is more indebted to the club scene in that country.
The Game – The Doctor’s Advocate
The sophomore album is a tough one, especially after coming after an album that many consider a classic in the new West Coast sound, and that is exactly where The Game found himself in 2006 with “The Doctor’s Advocate.” The stakes where high and The Game produced an album that is better than his debut in many ways. Lyrically, The Game shed his Dr. Dre and 2Pac aping from his debut and showed his uniqueness as a lyricist on “The Doctor’s Advocate.” The Game really delved into his psyche on tracks like “Ol’ English”, “Doctor’s Advocate” (about his relationship with Dr. Dre) and “Why You Hate the Game.”
1968′S 7 Must Hear Albums
Jan 12th
As great as the other years of the 1960s were for fantastic music, I think it’s very possible that 1968 is the greatest year of them all. First of all it features the greatest album ever recorded by anyone: The Beatles White Album. But that’s not all. This article features the seven “must hear” albums from this amazing year in music, listed alphabetically by album name. Astral Weeks by Van Morrison – The songs on this album are not as well known in popular music as “Brown Eyed Girl” or the songs on Moondance but in many ways this is Morrison’s greatest album. And when I say album, I mean album. This is a piece of musical art that is meant to be listened all the way through. There’s no point in picking out individual songs, just listen to the whole thing. Beggars Banquet by The Rolling Stones – With Beggars Banquet The Rolling Stones came into their own. They were no longer chasing The Beatles shadow but instead making their own unique brand of rock n roll that has truly stood the test of time. You cannot go wrong with songs like “Street Fighting Man,” “No Expectations,” and “Sympathy for the Devil.” Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel – Features “America” & “Mrs. Robinson” but the album is a whole lot more than that. Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience – This double album by Hendrix is consider by many Jimi fans to be his greatest work and I too think it is. It’s his trippiest album and his most complete “artistic statement” and of course it includes some “can’t miss” classics like “All Along the Watchtower” too. The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society by The Kinks – Most Kinks fans think this is their best album. If you are interested in expanding beyond The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, and The Who as far as 1960s music goes then you need to check this out. Music From Big Pink by The Band – The debut album by one of the most underrated bands of the era. While I don’t like this album quite as much as their self-titled follow up, it is filled with great tunes such as the legendary “The Weight.” The White Album by The Beatles – Yes, I know the official title is The Beatles and not The White Album but everyone knows it by The White Album and I’m not a big fan of the whole self titled album thing anyway, so let’s just move on. Alright? It’s not just my favorite album of the year, it’s my favorite album of all time so it’s an obvious choice as a “must hear” album. It’s hard for me to take the musical opinion of anyone seriously if they tell me they’ve never listened to The White Album. This album is that great and it’s that essential. To the those who say that it has too many “weak tracks” or “fillers” – I say that you are missing the point. There are no such fillers or weak tracks. This is a journey through almost every musical style that existed up to that point and it’s a thrilling journey indeed. All of the 30 songs on this album are a part of what makes it great including “Revolution #9″ which I think is mesmerizing, that also includes the songs that are not so great (”Good Night” and “Don’t Pass Me By” come to mind … sorry Ringo.)
1966’s Most Essential Albums
Dec 30th
1966 has to be one of the greatest years for music ever. Not only is the music from ‘66 timeless in that it still sounds amazing today. It also laid the groundwork for almost everything we hear today. All of the sounds of the late ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and today were being laid down for the first time during this period. That’s what was so exciting about popular music at that time, it was actually evolving right there for everyone to hear. These seven albums best represent the evolving sounds of 1966.
Aftermath by The Rolling Stones – This is the very first Rolling Stones album to feature only original songs. It includes the classic songs “Under My Thumb” & “Mothers Little Helper.” Clearly the Stones were moving forward with their music at a very quick rate at this time.
Blonde on Blonde by Bob Dylan – I think this is my very favorite Dylan album. Sure everyone knows “Rainy Day Woman #12 & #35″ but really I think that’s one of the least interesting songs on the album. I’m all about “Visions of Johnanna” & “Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again.”
Face to Face by The Kinks – Including the classic “Sunny Afternoon,” Face to Face is considered to be the Rubber Soul of The Kinks career. It marked an expansion of their songwriting talents and also hinted at things yet to come.
Fifth Dimension by The Byrds. It includes “Eight Miles High” which is one of The Byrds most well known songs. Overall this is an album that really started to push the limits a bit. It was not just pretty like their earlier music was, it was psychedelic too.
Freak Out! by Frank Zappa – Zappa’s debut album was proof positive that things were starting to get really weird. I’m not sure there was a more strange album that came out in 1966. This double album showcased Zappa’s combination of insanity and genius for the first time. “Who Are The Brain Police?” indeed. In some ways this is still my favorite Zappa album (although if pushed I’d probably go with Uncle Meat as my all time favorite.)
Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys – Easily The Beach Boys greatest album and certainly one of the best albums of the entire decade (and century for that matter.) If you doubt Brian Wilson’s genius please listen to this album with an open mind. It’s absolutely beautiful. It’s stunning. I can’t find enough words to accurately describe this music.
Revolver by The Beatles – Arguably the greatest album The Beatles ever released. While I’d probably go with The White Album if pushed, I can definitely see (or more accurately, hear) the argument for Revolver. And it’s clearly another huge step forward for The Beatles. They could have easily rested on their laurels and come out with another Rubber Soul but instead they came out with Revolver with it’s myriad of different styles from the classical sound of “Eleanor Rigby” to the avant-garde sound of “Tomorrow Never Knows” to the Indian inspired “Love You To.” This album has it all covered and more. Definitely an essential album.
1997’s Eight Best Albums
Dec 28th
1997 is possibly my favorite single year for music ever. For some reason or another many of the albums that I consider to be among the best albums ever recorded were released in 1997. In this article you will read about my favorite eight albums.
Some of these seven are almost universally acclaimed like Radiohead’s OK Computer. Others have been panned by most like Oasis’ Be Here Now. Still others are largely unknown to the public at large such as Primal Scream’s brilliant Vanishing Point.
The eight albums will not be in a particular order as I’ve found it hard enough to cut it down to just eight, much less putting them into some sort of arbitrary order.
Without further ado are my eight favorite albums of 1997.
1. Radiohead – OK Computer.
Any list of best albums from 1997 that doesn’t include Radiohead’s OK Computer is pretty easily dismissed as garbage. It’s as simple as that really. OK Computer is one of the greatest albums ever. It’s basically flawless.
It revolutionized the way many people listen to music in the first place. It’s filled with so many brilliant songs that songs that would normally be the highlight of a great album such as “Subterranean Homesick Alien” are mostly ignored by people who talk about the album.
Songs like “Paranoid Android,” “Let Down,” “Karma Police,” “No Surprises,” & “Exit Music (For a Film)” still sound just as incredible today as they did 11 years ago.
2. Ween – The Mollusk
No, Ween is not a “joke band.” If you listen to The Mollusk and still think they are a “joke band” then you need your ears examined. This is a fantastic album.
Ween can play almost any style of music known to man convincingly. But Ween doesn’t just mimic different styles (see: 12 Country Greats and many of their songs), they make any style they try their own.
They also create songs that are of no genre known to this world such as “Mutilated Lips” which is one of my all time favorite Ween songs.
Weird? Sure. A joke? No. No, not really. At least not in the Weird Al sort of way.
If you’ve never given Ween a real honest listen, I implore you to listen to them with an open mind. They are one of the best bands in the world. Incredible songwriting, amazing singing, brilliant ideas, insane production, and awesome musicianship are all part of what makes Ween great. And this may be their greatest album (of many great ones.)
3. Spiritualized – Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space.
This album is so good and so epic, it’s just absolutely mind blowing. It’s sad to me to know that more people haven’t heard this album. It’s an absolute stunner. Possibly not only one of my favorite 7 albums of 1997 but of all time. It’s that good.
It’s one of the most psychedelic albums I’ve ever heard, and I make an effort to listen to a lot of psychedelic music. If you like music that trips you out but not in a flimsy sort of superficial way, then this is for you. This is deep soulful music. The type of music that will pull your heart out of your chest. No, not in some schmaltzy Hollywood way. It’s so much more than that.
4. Bob Dylan – Time Out of Mind
Of Dylan’s last three albums, this is my favorite. While others said that Love & Theft was his “comeback,” I was like “What? Don’t you remember Time Out of Mind?”
This isn’t only good for recent Dylan material, it’s good for any Dylan album. It’s one of my favorite albums by him, and that’s certainly saying a lot.
It’s a very sad, intense album. Actually to the point where I can’t listen to it all that often as it effects me in a strange sad way. But it is a very powerful album that I highly recommend to anyone that likes powerful music.
5. Oasis – Be Here Now
While I can understand all of the complaints about Be Here Now and how it’s way too long and it’s overblown and all of the other complaints, I still love this album. In fact I actually thing all of the things that are admittedly wrong with the album, are also all of the things that are right with it.
It’s over the top bombast is welcome from time to time. Yes the 7 minute long songs can wear thin and the 42 layers of guitars for no particular reason. But even with all of it’s faults, I think it’s very enjoyable album. Not their best, certainly. But a cool album and one I still enjoy listening to from time to time.
6. Cornershop – When I Was Born For The 7th Time
There’s something about this album that makes it endlessly listenable to me. Out of it’s 15 tracks, it’s really only got about 5 proper “songs” the rest are instrumentals of some kind or another. And there’s the one spoken word track featuring Allen Ginsberg.
Cornershop is a lot more than their hit single “Brimful of Asha,” in fact that’s my least favorite song on the album. They’re a great band that deserves a lot more respect than they get, particularly for this album which is a true masterpiece.
7. Primal Scream – Vanishing Point
Primal Scream is one of the ultimate psychedelic bands and they’ve released three ultimate psychedelic albums that are each very different from the other. This is one of those three. The other two are 1991’s Screamadelica & 2000’s XTRMNTR.
In my opinion all three are must own albums for anyone who loves “tripped out” music.
8. The Flaming Lips – Zaireeka
In some ways this is the most intense musical experience of any of the albums listed here. Zaireeka can only be heard properly with 4 CD players as the album has only been released on 4 separate CDs which are to be played on 4 different CD players all at once.
Sound insane? It is. But it’s not just noise like you might imagine it’d be. You see it was all designed to be played back like this. It’s truly a great experience for those willing to go to the lengths necessary to hear it properly.
There are now mixed down DVD-Audio versions available online (although not officially just yet) which can play on a properly set up home theater system. While it’s not quite as amazing as hearing it from four different CD players, it does come close. It’s a great experience and I do recommend seeking it out if you are interested in experiencing music in different ways.