Your Top Albums Of 2004?

[Ash J. Williams]

1. Green Day's "American Idiot"

2. Rammstein's "Resie, Reise"

3. Fear Factory's "Archetype"

4. Beastie Boys' "To The 5 Borroughs"

5. Metallica's "St. Anger"

6. Local H's "Whatever Happened to P.J. Soles?"

7. ICP's "Hell's Pit"

8. Velvet Revolver's "Contraband"

all I can think of right now.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

I rarely ever buy albums unless nearly every song is brilliant, so I cant really name more than one for this year.

That one being 'Under my skin' by Avril Lavigne. Her first album was great and I loved pretty much all the songs, so I didn't expect her to top that album, yet she did. Under my skin is just awesome and I don't find any of the songs to be boring or not so good. It's actually one of those albums that I can listen to the whole way through, which is rare for me. The only albums I've found myself listening to the whole way through are Madonna's Greatest Hits II, Thriller, Hybrid Theory and Under my skin.

So yeah, thumbs up to my gorgeous Avril

[Ananas]

1. Bjork - Medulla

2. The Streets - A Grand Don't Come for Free

3. Tom Waits - Real Gone

4. Brian Wilson - Smile

5. K-Os - Joyful Rebellion

6. Talib Kweli - The Beautiful Struggle

7. The Winks - Slippers and Parasol

8. The Killers - Hot Fuss

9. Nas - Streets Disciple

10. Morrissey - You Are the Quarry

[zero]

Here's my top 10 for 04

1. Auf Der Maur - Auf Der Maur

This was easily my most desired release of the year and when I saw Melissa and Co. perform at the Curiosa Festival, I knew I had to have the album. I rushed over to the FYE table and picked it up for $10 and waited in line for Melissa to sign a copy for me. During the Cure's performance, which was okay--nothing spectacular, all I could think of was how bad I wanted to get in my car and listen to the Auf Der Maur CD. So finally the show ends, I get in my car and... I found myself skipping through tracks quickly, not really digging it. I figured maybe I was just burnt out from all the music of the day and I'd go back to it the next. Next day, put it in, still not clicking with me. Then on my third go around, I listened to the entire CD, actually found myself taking the long way around town just so I didn't have to stop listening. It's weird, but this album truly is something you have to listen to multiple times to get an appreciation for it. Now, there's not a week that goes by where I don't listen to it from start to finish, absolutely brilliant.

Best Track - Real A Lie

2. Green Day - American Idiot

Alright, let's get one thing out of the way, ever since Nimrod came out, I've HATED Green Day. I found them to be so contrived, conformed, the antithesis of what they once were. They bored me, and their lyrics became so trite, that I couldn't even stand to hear a second of anything from the Warning CD. "I wanna be the minority, down with the moral majority," how fucking obvious can you get? And of course, American Idiot, the first single from this album comes out and I figure business as usual from Green Day. Then Boulevard of Broken Dreams is released as the next single and my jaw just drops, follow that up with the new single Holiday and I'm suddenly interested in Green Day again. And on top of all that, I listen to American Idiot with new ears and find it to be an enjoyable single. This album is golden, and I have no shame admitting it.

Best Track - Blvd. Of Broken Dreams

3. Velvet Revolver - Contraband

Finally, they release the fucking CD! Well, it certainly couldn't live up to the hype, but luckily I don't pay attention to hype. Not reinventing the wheel here, but this wheel hasn't been used in a long time. Just plain old fashioned rock music, hey I'm not complaining.

Best Track - Slither

4. The Used - In Love & Death

Beautifully ugly

Best Track - Take It Away

5. Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News

It's not made for radio, which is what makes it so good.

Best Track - The World At Large

6. Sum 41 - Chuck

Another band I absolutely loathed. More mature, better music

Best Track - We're All To Blame

7. Linkin Park & Jay-Z - Collision Course

Jay-Z can even make Linkin Park listenable... the man has serious talent.

Best Track - Points of Authority/99 Steps Closer

8. Jimmy Eat World - Futures

Two years without these guys was far too long.

Best Track - Pain

9. Kevin Spacey - Beyond the Sea (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

While I debated putting this one on here since it's technically not original material, it is all performed by Kevin Spacey. And to add to that, his take on Bobby Darrin's songs is fucking amazing and deserves to be commended.

Best Track - Mack the Knife

10. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand

Different... retro, but not. In a class all their own in a year full of different sounds.

Best Track - Darts of Pleasure

Edited December 24, 2004 by Zero

[Kane's Mullet Slacker]

Just to let you know Ash...St. Anger by Metallica came out last year...

My Chemical Romance Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge

- At first I was skeptical about this band, but after listening to the CD a couple of times it's grown onto me and I've begun to like it.

Unearth The Oncoming Storm

- This CD just kicks ass a great metalcore band

Jimmy Eat World Futures

- Not as poppy as their last album but still great, a bit darker but I like it some good tunes on this one. Although at some points it drags a bit.

Killswitch Engage The End of Heartache

- Well it didn't improve upon the formula of the awesome Alive Or Just Breathing, it's still a great album and I guess they say if it aint broke don't fix it...

Lamb of God Ashes of the Wake

-Some people may say they sold out because they signed to Epic records I say fuck you, they did it to inject the mainstream rock/nu-metal bands with a 'leathal dose' of pure American Metal.

Atreyu The Curse

- Well it's not as good as Suicide Notes with Butterfly Kisses, it's still a good album as they rely more on Brandon Saller's clean vocals on some songs more than the guttral growls of Alex Varkatzas but it's great when they blend the two together especially on songs like 'The Remembrance Ballad' and how can you not love their cover of Bon Jovi's 'You Give Love A Bad Name'?

Shadows Fall The War Within

- Another great album from Shadows Fall who continue to blend Sandanvian Metal with Speed, Thrash, and Death Metal.

Rammstein Reise, Reise

- This is a great follow up to 'Mutter' another great album in itself but sounds nothing like it as they experiment with different sounds in this album and it comes off pretty well.

Eighteen Visions Obsession

- At first I didn't like this album but after giving it another few listens it grew on me, it expands upon 'Vanity', but takes out all of the filler crap that was in 'Vanity' and at times the vocalist sounds like a cross between ex-Stone Temple Pilots/Velvet Revolver singer Scott Weiland and the singer of VOD and that's not a bad thing on songs like 'Waiting for the Heavens' while they do maintain some of their metalcore ferousity on tracks like 'Tower of Snakes'

Edited December 23, 2004 by Sullen Slacker

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

"Polysics Or Die" by Polysics

"Medula" by Bjork

"Hot Fuss" by The Killers

"Franz Ferdinand" by Franz Ferdinand

"Up All Night" by Razorlight

"Final Straw" by Snow Patrol

Best of Talking Heads BAYBEEEE!

All the other CDs I bought were from yesteryear.

Next year I intend to get the album that The Bravery will be bringing out. Electro-rock has started to come in this year and I think it will be THE thing for the start of next year...

[livid]

001. Killswitch Engage - The End of Heartache

Thoughts: When I first got the new KsE cd, I absoloutely loved it and haven't since. They've been one of my favorite bands, if not my favorite, since I came to know about them. Howard Jones is perfect as their lead singer and he makes them just that much better.

002. Slipknot - Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses)

Thoughts: With their new album, a lot of people they pussied it down, but I still like it. The album, yes, has stuff no it that you wouldn't have gotten on an ablum a couple of years ago. I liked it, and I don't care if people think that they "pussied it down".

003. Lamb of God - Ashes of the Wake

Thoughts: Being a huge Lamb of God fan, I wasn't surprised by how much I liked their new cd. Some people say they're not as good as they used to be, which may be true, but people change as they get older. I still listen to the CD all the time, as well as with the other 2 cd's. They're just getting American Metal more mainstream, because the only mainstay in the Metal world in the mainstream spotlight, is Slipknot. Interesting little snippet: I'm probably going to be seeing both Slipknot and Lamb of God (With Shadows Fall and TBA openers) this coming Spring.

004. In Flames - Soundtrack to Your Escape

Thoughts: When I first picked up this cd, I couldn't listen to anything else. But with the other 3 cd's that came out, that kind of helped me ease of my In Flames kick. I love all 4 bands that made the top 4 and will continue to. This cd rounds out the top 4 of my favorite cd's, all of whom I enjoyed A LOT.

005. Drowning Pool - Desensitized

Thoughts: Their first cd since the death of Dave Williams, I thought it would be ok, but it turned out better than just ok. I thought, that with the death of Williams, they wouldn't rise or be as popular as they once were, but I was wrong. IMO, I honestly think that they took a step foward with this new cd.

006. Chevelle - This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In)

Thoughts: In any other year, I think that this CD, for me, would probably number one. Since I'm a huge Chevelle fan, I love to anything by them. But with the 5 CD's that I listed beforehand, it's hard to top the list. They're a great band and it was a great follow-up to Wonder What's Next.

007. Breaking Benjamin - We Are Not Alone

Thoughts: I thought that this CD was going to be one of the best of 2004 when I first picked it up, along with Earshot's "Two" cd. BB totally delivered and really put themselves on the map with this CD. I hope to see more from them in the future and with Billy Corgan writing with them, they'll get a lot more listeners as time goes on.

008. Dry Kill Logic - The Dead and Dreaming

Thoughts: DKL really, really impressed me with their new cd. Moreso than they did with The Darker Side of Nonsense. They just beat out Seether for the 8th spot on my list, though it could have gone to either of them.

009. Seether - Disclaimer II

Thoughts: I really like Seether and they're one of my favorite bands, and with Disclaimer II, they did really well. With the original tracks from Disclaimer, they added more, plus the "Broken" performed by both Seether and Amy Lee, they did a good job with the audio enhancement. I can never, not listen to Seether.

010. Rammstein - Reise, Reise

Thoughts: Although it's a kickass cd, I just feel that 9 others were better. Just something about the cd made me not be able to listen to it over and over again like I did with the other 9. Great cd though.

[Lord Nibbler]

I forgot:

Auf Der Maur - Auf Der Maur and Young Heart Attack - Mouthful of Love, both of which I liked.

[Enter Blue Guy]

In no particular order of course

"Siren Song Of The Counter Culture" - Rise Against

"Recoil" - Nonpoint

"The Beautiful Struggle" - Talib Kweli

"A Snow Capped Romance" - 36 Crazyfists

"Contraband" - Velvet Revolver

"Exile in Oblivion" - Strung Out

"In Love And Death" - The Used

[Jester of Death]

*Note: List in no particular order

[Colly]

All the other CDs I bought were from yesteryear.

Next year I intend to get the album that The Bravery will be bringing out. Electro-rock has started to come in this year and I think it will be THE thing for the start of next year...

←

[TheReaper316]

Lil Jon & The Eastside Boys - Crunk Juice

Fav. Track: Skeezer

Eminem - Encore

Fav. Track: Crazy In Love

Ludacris - Red Light District

Fav Track: Number One Spot

U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

Fav Track: Vertigo

Young Buck - Welcome to Cashville

Fav Track - Shorty Wanna Ride

I dont listen to whole CD's often, just....sample..certain tracks, but I went ahead with these. Lil Jon isnt really even an artist, more a producer by far, but Im a huge fan. Eminem's CD IMO is on par with his others, I hated the first one. U2 doesnt hit me like their last release, but its still good to me. Ludacris' CD seems a bit pointless with no message but the beats are cool and his style is unique and one of my favs. Only other full CD's Ive heard were from the G-Unit camp, and Lloyd Banks doesnt do it for me, Young Buck kinda does.

[Numbahs]

No order....sorry if any of these are 2003 releases. I don't really go out of my way to break from my normal collection.

Mos Def - The New Danger

Jimmy Eat World - Futures

Kanye West - The College Dropout

The Killers - Hot Fuss

Incubus - A Crow Left Of The Murder

Modest Mouse - Good News For People That Love Bad News

Edited December 25, 2004 by Numbahs