The Best Of 2006

[IAceI]

Regardless, Ryans Hope at 85 is fucking inexcusable.

Shut up motherfucker. You've still got The Draft () and The Falcon to come.

[YI]

Regardless, Ryans Hope at 85 is fucking inexcusable.

Shut up motherfucker. You've still got The Draft () and The Falcon to come.

[Shorty]

Uhm what happened to this? *was waiting to see if Stadium Arcadium would appear on your list *

[YI]

Uhm what happened to this? *was waiting to see if Stadium Arcadium would appear on your list *

[YI]

THE LIST RETURNETH!!!: 50-46

50. "Armalite" by Armalite

MEMBERS : Atom (Atom & His Package), Dan Yemin (Lifetime, Kid Dynamite, Paint It Black), Mike Mckee, Jeff Ziga (Affirmative Action Jackson)

GENRE : Punk-Rock

REVIEW : Armalite are a punk-rock band who have been around for 2/3 years, and have only played as of time of typing, 8 shows. Basically it's the total definition of a side project band, with everyone else having something else to do, taking up most of their time. This was basically started as a bit of fun on the side. The band is fronted by DIY-Electro-Punk Rocker...wannabe comedy icon, Atom (minus his package). He's got one of thsoe strange voices, that whilst whiney as fuck, and on paper should be incredibly annoying, it seems to work with Atom & His Package, and here it somehow works out fine again. There's nothing overtly technical in this release. There's some great chord progressions, and some songs that seem like a throwback to the olden days of hardcore, which is cool, and something you don't hear enough of these days. However, it's still real fresh, keeps its modern edge, of course helped by the interesting voice of the lead singer. There's no 'huge' choruses here, which can often be found in many an Atom song, instead favouring 'to the bones' shout-along, straight to the point, short choruses. Nothing epic, but a real good punk-rock album, despite clocking in at under 25-minutes.

BEST SONGS : "Metastic!", "Entitled", "Dan's Hands Melt" and "Husker Dave".

49. "Story Like A Scar" by The New Amsterdams

MEMBERS : Matthew Pryor (The Get Up Kids), Dustin Kinsey, Eric McCann, Bill Belzer

GENRE : Folk-'Acoustic'

REVIEW : My opinion still goes back and forth on this album. It's nowhere near the bands best work, but there's still a couple of amazing songs on here. My first major gripe is the fact that there are only 10 songs. One of which is a minute reprise of an earlier song. And the entire thing seems to be built around one song, which is vastly superior to the rest of the record. To me this album feels as though the band have sat down, written one amazing song ("Turn Out The Light") and then decided to just toss out a bunch of shit with it and call it an album, some of this really hits the spot, but the rest, whilst not 'bad', seems to miss a lot of the hooks I've come to expect from this band. Further supporting this is seemingly the lack of continuity in the songs, it's as if the band themselves didn't know what they were trying to achieve with this album. The album continuously jumps from 'regular sounding' New Amsterdams, like "Turn Out The Light", "Past The Pines" and "The Death Of Us" etc, to watered down rejected latter Get Up Kids tracks like "Bad Liar" and "Intelligent Design", to the weird and atmospheric "Ghosts" and "A Small Crusade". The styles just continuously seem to chop and change. However, the more I listen to the album, the more I seem the 'get it'. The band has definitely tweaked their sound, with the album being full of the more darker, slower, atmospheric songs. And now I just can't get enough of it. I still don't rate it all that highly, because it's nothing groundbreaking, and the melodies are far from the best the band have produced, but it's found itself into my regular playlist rotation. At the end of the day, the band have done what all good bands should, and tweaked their sound, which just took me a while to get used to. "Turn Out The Light" is still obscenely better than the rest of the album though. I'd still rather have "Worse For the Wear" circa New Amsterdams.

BEST SONGS : "Turn Out The Light", "The Death Of Us", "A Small Crusade" and "Past The Pines".

48. "Of Whales & Woe" by Les Claypool

MEMBERS : Les Claypool + randoms

GENRE : Funk-Metal

REVIEW : Much like Buckethead, Les Claypool really needs to reinvent himself a bit. He's been doing near enough the same thing for an age now, and whilst you can still listen to his work and appreciate it, you can never seem to shrug the fact that you've heard it all before. There's also the fact that when Les Claypool wants to write something weird, he writes something WEIRD!!! I like my fair share of abstract stuff, but I find that Les Claypool's weird stuff grates on me. Because nothing really seems to happen. "Back Off Turkey" and "Vernon Was A Company Man" are two examples of this. They're boring...and nothing really seems to be achieved, besides annoying me greatly. What's really great about this album is that everything sounds so well put together. on the first few listens everything sounds so thinly scored, but upon more and more listens you keep hearing stuff you didn't notice at first, really giving this album immense replay value. It's laden with the funky basslines everyone's come to expect from Claypool, but you really cannot shrug off the fact you've heard it all before. Rumour has it a new Primus album is on it's way. Which will be more of the same...but when push comes to shove, more of the same is pretty much awesome.

BEST SONGS : "One Better", "Phantom Patriot", "Fillipino Ray" and "Nothin' Ventured".

47. "Civillian" by Boy Kill Boy

MEMBERS : Chris Peck, Kev Chase, Shaz Mahmood, Pete Carr

GENRE : Indie-Rock

REVIEW : Late 2005 there was one band that came out of nowhere and caught my eye. The song "Back Again" found itself as a common staple on my playlists, and I pretty much wore the song thin. When the album was released, accompanied with the re-release of the single, "Suzie", I didn't really hear much of said song (Not having the time to watch copious amounts of music TV ) and ultimately I never checked out the album for a while. Until one day I suddenly remembered them, and thought, "Might as well get the album". Whilst they're nothing groundbreaking, they are real fun, and meet my random idea that there should be more synth/electro influences in 'mainstream music'. And if I were to be honest, I think that these guys were never given the chance they deserved. At the end of the day, it's near enough the same stuff; The Killers, The Bravery and The Kaiser Chiefs all did a couple of years previously. And not only do they not have "The" in their name (Making them less cool to the indie crowd ), all those bands had albums out in late 2006 or early 2007. So I don't think that Boy Kill Boy were really given the chance they deserve. Whilst not up to the standard of "Hot Fuss", as a whole I find it better than The Bravery and The Kaiser Chief's debuts (Though individual songs on the Chief's album are far better), and it totally shits on the new Killers and Kaiser Chiefs (OH MY GOD!!! JESUS CHRIST!!! IT'S FUCKING AWFUL!!!), both of whom seem to have the pitomy of a 'difficult second album'. A solid indie rock album, nothing groundbreaking, but a lot of fun.

BEST SONGS : "Back Again", "Suzie", "Ivy Parker" and "Showdown".

46. "When Your Heart Stops Beating" by Plus 44

MEMBERS : Mark Hoppus (Blink 182), Shane Gallagher, Craig Fairbaugh (Transplants, Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards), Travis Barker (Blink 182, Transplants, Box Car Racer)

GENRE : Rock

REVIEW : Whilst Tom DeLonge was off running his mouth, hyping the ever loving shit out of the forthcoming A&A release, providing fans with an ultra-glossy website and stuff about spaceships that I never really fully understood...speaking of things I never understood, "Boxcar Racer" was supposadely a concept album...WHAT THE FUCK!? It was just a collection of 'angsty' songs. Now back to Plus 44. Whilst Tom Delonge was busy growing that pitiful moustache and videos about space stations, Mark and Travis aquired themselves a friend with tits and posted a sweet little song on their website, accompanied by one of the most hideous banners/logos in history...thank God they changed the style of writing of "(+44)" it looked hideous. Unfortunately they lost the bird, and ultimately my attention (), until by some fluke I ended up on their purevolume site, listening to the title track of the album. And it has one of the most intoxicating choruses I've ever heard. When the album finally leaked it remained on my playlist for quite a while...technically I don't have a playlist, just a big-ass media library, but I kept listening to it a lot. I'm going to say this know. I'm slightly biased in this Blink thing. Purely because Mark Hoppus has a totally badass taste in music. Strung Out (I love any SO fan...it's the rules), American Analog Set, The Postal Service...this guy knows good shit when he hears it. And despite having little if anything in the way of electronics, there is a very Postal Service vibe to this album. There's a great number of really upbeat songs, "Make You Smile" uses the call and response style of male/female vocals, which can be seen in the likes of "Nothing Better" by the Postal Service. Whilst it hasn't really remained in constant rotation on my playlist, it's good to come back to every now and then, for some good old rock fun. And I really fucking hate the new version of "No It Isn't"...that's the only thing I actively dislike about this album. I hate the new drumming, I hate the new ending...in short...BOO!

BEST SONGS : "Lycanthrope", "Make You Smile", "Cliff Diving" and "Weatherman".

YI's 2007 RECOMMENDATION : "(Stars Of The Lid) And Their Refinement Of The Decline" by Stars Of The Lid

TWO HOURS of awesome drone styled, ambience, with a varied assortment of instrumentation. Absolutely beautiful, and nowhere near as boring as you may predict it to be. Sleeping whilst listening to this, is physically impossible. My first 10/10 album in a while (No album from 2006 was a 10/10...well 9.5+...as no album is 'perfect').

[IAceI]

yay, its back. Read it all as I know thats what you want.

You've thrown what seem like a few curveballs to me, Dead FM, Apocalypse in Increments and now When Your Heart Stops Beating are all low. Can't wait for the top 10

[mikevandam]

(+44) has made me a happy panda so good to see them up there

[IAceI]

Up there as in 46th best album of 2006?

[YI]

SCHINDLER'S OTHER LIST: 45-41

45. "Ta-Dah" by Scissor Sisters

MEMBERS : Jake Shears, Babydaddy, Ana Matronic, Del Marquis, Paddy Boom

GENRE : Pop

REVIEW : 2004 there was nothing I wanted more than to see the Scissor Sisters dead. Was it because he cannot say "Mary" properly (Probably due to his mouth being full of cock), the fact that Laura was horrendously overplayed and shite, or the fact that Filthy/Gorgeous sounded like it had Mr Blobby on backing vocals? No...I wanted them dead because I plain don't like gay people. Nobody even reads what I put here. I can say what I want. It was the inclusion of the biggest poofter of them all to regenerate the Scissor Sisters into a band I liked. "I Don't Feel Like Dancing" was incredibly catchy, and a song 'ironically' that made you just want to dance. Not like a gay bloke. Arms aren't meant to swing that much. You'll spill your pint...or alcopop. It's the piano tracks that generally stand out for me, followed by the obviously disco-funk inspired songs. But the vocal work doesn't really hit home a lot of the time. A great dancey, feel good record though.

BEST SONGS : "Don't Feel Like Dancing", "Might Tell You Tonight", "Ooh" and "I Can't Decide".

44. "Begin To Hope" by Regina Spektor

MEMBERS :

GENRE : Pop

REVIEW : I must say I was incredibly shocked when I saw "Fidelity" on music TV, but it'd be really cool for someone like Spektor to get some mainstream success. I must admit, I'm not avidly into Spektor, there is two reasons for that. Firstly, most of her older stuff was generally really thinly scored...basically solely a piano. And lots of songs were just random one note 'plunks' every now and then. That doesn't really bother me, but when coupled with her voice it does. She's often hailed for having a great voice, but I'm not totally won over. She doesn't have a strong voice IMO. As in a physically strong voice, something if you're singing 'acappella' and generally unshielded by accompanyment, I think you need. But here, that problems solved, as she's brought in a wider rage of intrumentation, and whilst the 'slightly girlish voice' still makes appearences, her vocals seem somewhat bolstered as well. The album kicks off perfectly with four brilliant songs. Four songs really making the most of the new 'feel' and instrumentation. There's the reworking of "Samson", off of "Songs". It's something I generally dislike, but here it really benefits from the strings in the background, the faster pace, and Spektor's voice being in top form. And is quite probably my favourite track on the album. It's also probably my favourite track on "Songs", making it weirder still. "On The Radio" is brilliance as well. Just so catchy. Much like Feist's new album, from here on out the album really has problems flowing. But by themselves the songs are generally really good. With Spektor not afraid to try new things, as always. The first 5 songs are definately the cream of the crop though.

BEST SONGS : "Samson", "On The Radio", "Fidelity" and "Field Below".

43. "Louder Now" by Taking Back Sunday

MEMBERS : Adam Lazzara, Fred Mascherino, Eddie Reyes, Matt Rubano, Mark O'Connell

GENRE : Emo

REVIEW : If I were to be particuarly honest, I thought I'd feel nothing but apathy towards this release when I downloaded it. I would never say I 'hated' Taking Back Sunday, in fact there's a fair few songs I really like ("Timberwolves At New Jersey", "Cute Without The E" etc, both of which were badass live, especially the way they started the latter, I can't really remember it, but it was badass ), but it seemed that a lot of diehard TBS fans were shitting on the album. So first listen, I wasn't expecting much, but it was really good. There's two tracks that still to this day I really can't get my head around ("Divine Intervention" and "I'll Let You Live"...the latter really drags the ending of the album down IMO). After a while I put the record to the side, basically treating it as 'fluff'. The songs were incredibly catchy, but that's not enough to keep it going forever. However, I still now find myself somewhat reguarly being dragged back to the album as a whole (Besides the two tracks I don't like, which I just skip these days). You may argue that skipping those two tracks means that this should not be so 'high' on the list, but the standard of the tracks that accompany them really makes up for it. TBS are one of the few bands that really embrace the glossier sound, the more rounded sound, that this new album has. Whilst I hate it on bands such as Rise Against, it really seems to suit TBS, the singers voice is also pretty strong. Live, they're not the greatest band, but the guitarist and singer do have immense charisma, and of course there's always the fat bloke, who's a bit of a legend, purely for being an Italian looking fat bloke.

BEST SONGS : "Spin", "Miami", "Error: Operator" and "Make Damn Sure".

42. "Razorlight" by Razorlight

MEMBERS : Johnny Borrell, Björn Ågren, Carl Dalemo, Andy Burrows

GENRE : Indie-Rock

REVIEW : Razorlight's debut album was top-notch, no doubt about it in my mind. I know they get quite a lot of flack, and at the end of the day they may not be providing anything groundbreaking, but their songs are generally really catchy, really solid, and just good sing-along, good time songs. The second album features many of the same traits as the first album, in fact that's one thing that I didn't particuarly like, in that any of the tracks here I could definately see on the first album, I want atleast see something new in a bands repertoire, but nothing overtly new or interesting has found its way into Razorlight's material. Borrell's vocal work is spot on again. He's incorporated some falsetto into "Back To The Start", which does sound really quite cool. "America" is ultimately the standout track on the album. Whilst it's not up there with a couple of Razorlight's previous singles, and the fact it's been overplayed to death has brought it down a notch, it's still a really nice little song, and much like Snow Patrol, Razorlight have managed to have themselves embraced by near enough everybody. The melodies are solid, the songs are all good, with not a bad track on here, however I do feel like I want more from this album. It may be the fact it's only got 10 tracks, but after it's finished, I can't help but feel "Is this it?"...it really needs a couple more tracks thrown on there. A really solid album. A dissapointment when compared to the debut, but in comparison to 'the difficult second album' that many other indie bands breaking through at the same time as Razorlight had, it's a real good effort. And finally, Johnny Borrell really has to get rid of those white pants, they're fucking hideous.

BEST SONGS : "America", "Back To The Start", "Who Needs Love?" and "I Can't Stop This Feeling I've Got".

41. "Patent Pending" by Heavens

MEMBERS : Matt Skiba (Alkaline Trio), Josiah Steinbrick

GENRE : Alternative

REVIEW : 2006 saw the two 'frontmen' for Alkaline Trio embrace side projects. Alkaline Trio are a band who over time have 'drastically' changed their sounds, and one could say, 'sold out' (I guess...though they appear to be a band embraced more by 'mainstream' rockers in the UK, than the US), but they've done it with such style, and for the most part their lyrical content is just a good as it ever was. When the title track surfaced a couple of months before release (little did I know the entire album would surface about a week later Matt Skiba doesn't have much look with leaks, with me getting "Crimson" like 3 months before it was set to be released), it reminded me very much of a low-fi Strokes. I wasn't really sure what to make of it. It was horrifically catchy, fairly melencholy and contained, and if I were to be honest, whilst I originally hoping for an acoustic effort (Skiba's acoustic work I really enjoy), once I heard it wasn't, I was hoping for something a little more brash, and in your face, like the older Alkaline Trio, but unfortunately that's not what I got. And the rest of the album didn't really follow the same way as this song. The album takes melencholy to the max. You've got sweet melodies, dark, heartfelt lyrics, but it's all done so sweetly, so softly. It just doesn't fit. Which is PERFECT. This is the perfect progression for Matt Skiba. Skiba's been known to mix his dark and witty sense of humour into Alkaline Trio songs, and this is the logical next step. So much anger and heartbreak tied up with humour and softly sung songs, which don't seem to fit together, but because of that, they do. At times it can seem to get a little boring, but it basically sounds like Matt Skiba singing over Interpol tracks, which is cool. Not what I'd hoped for, but it certainly did deliver in the end. one slight problem is that throw in a more focal guitars and full band instrumentation and most songs sound like they could be on an Alk3 release.

BEST SONGS : "Annabelle", "Another Night", "Watching You" and "Gardens".

[mikevandam]

Up there as in 46th best album of 2006?

[IAceI]

You hate gays.

You gay hater.

[ROC]

Gay hater. >_>

I'll be honest, I cannot get into Spektor's music much at all. I did buy the Begin to Hope album, but I only really like "Fidelity" right now. I'm hoping that it'll be a slow burn type effort, though, and eventually get into my playlist.

Oh and shame on you for not putting "Liar (It Takes One to Know One)" on your favorite tracks from Louder Now. That song is awesome in an emo sort of way.

[tristy]

'hotel song' is my coke song, yo.

[YI]

Time to fucking update...

THE LIST : 40-36

40. "The Life Pursuit" by Belle And Sebastian

MEMBERS : Stuart Murdoch, Stevie Jackson, Chris Geddes, Sarah Martin, Mick Cooke, Bobby Kildea, Richard Colburn

GENRE : Indie-Rock

REVIEW : Belle & Sebastian. The band that brought us the theme tune to Teachers, therefore must be awesome. I actually admit, this was the first B&S album I actually heard. And I was very impressed. I was always told that B&S were 'pussies' music, but that is most certainly not what I got from this. Yes you've got your sweet songs, yet you've also got your atmospheric/darker songs and then you've got your downright awesome, "I am going to strut to this like a motherfucker" songs. The latter being, where I think Belle and Sebastian really come into their own. When you've got your MP3 blasting and the moment the likes "For The Price Of A Cup Of Tea", "White Collar Boy" and "Sukie In The Graveyard" begin, you've got a spring in your step and you're moving in time to the music. It's music that will simply put you in a good mood. I will go out on a limb and say there's no 'poor' song on this release. As an album, it flows really well as well. However whilst the quality never drops below good, it rarely really rises above there, outside of a few songs. In short(er), most definately not pussies music. Great variation in vocal work, mixing the quiet songs with the catchy indie 'classics'.

BEST SONGS : "Sukie In The Graveyard", "Dress Up In You", "We Are The Sleepyheads" and "White Collar Boy".

39. "The Sufferer & The Witness" by Rise Against

MEMBERS : Tim McIlrath (The Killing Tree), Chris Chasse, Joe Principe (88 Fingers Louie), Brandon Barnes + (now replacing Chasse) Zach Blair (Only Crime)

GENRE : Punk-Rock

REVIEW : "THIS...IS...NOISE". They should have kept that on thw album version. For the past 4 or so years I've been a huge Rise Against fan. And they have a soft spot in my heart as they're one of the few punk-rock bands that I actually got to see 'from the start', if you get what I mean. I admit that line-up changes haven't always went their way. And over time the line-up seems to have gotten worse. Though Tod Mohney (RPM) did experiment a bit more than Dan Precision (The Unravelling), and was ultimately one of the reasons that record is amazing, I'd probably put those two as even, they were both great in their own way. Now they've got Zach Blair from Only Crime as lead guitarist, which is good, as he's solid. Better than the guy they had anyway. And if this leads to some of the disjointed/unconvential chord progressions from Only Crime making their way to RA, I'm all for it, as this album shows, that despite being a talented band, and being possibly their most solid as a unit, I can't help but feel this album is a little formulaic. They've decided to try and mix things up with changing tempos (eg. "The Good Left Undone"), different styles (eg. "Roadside") and just flat out shitty emo-talking, which sounds like that god awful Good Charlotte song with that phonebox (eg. "The Approaching Curve"). However, there's moments in all of these songs that I enjoy. As much as I curse the song, the chorus of "The Appraching Curve" is actually pretty epic, and the stuff before the final chorus is great too. "Roadside" I can stomach more than "Swing Life Away". And really helps show off the versatility in Mcllrath's voice. But still, the placement is awful. As a final track I could have really liked it. Or maybe the penultimate track. But where it is, it really affects the flow of the end of the album. When push comes to shove, this suffers from the one thing I flat out hate in punk-rock music, it's far too polished. The screams of Mcllrath are kept to the absolute bare minimum, which means a lot of the songs, such as "Bricks" seem to be lacking intensity. The song itself wouldn't be out of place on "The Unravelling", but the excecution of it on the album really prevents it from being as good as it potentially could be. This is a definate improvement over SSOTCC. By this point you probably know the distaste I have for "Swing Life Away", yet that was sadly one of the better tracks on SSOTCC, despite being a horrifically mediocre, sell out, love song, that should have stayed on the Punk Goes Acoustic compilation. A great bunch of melodies. But it seems to be lacking something. And you can't help but shove the fact you've heard it all before. And in closing, thank fuck that they at least sorted out the fucking awful guitar tones from SSOTCC. Oh, and a final note, Brandon's drumming is sometimes knocked a bit, but it's top notch on this release.

BEST SONGS : "Survive", "Worth Dying For", "Chamber The Cartridge" and "Bricks".

38. "Born In The UK" by Badly Drawn Boy

MEMBERS : Damon Gough

GENRE : Pop-Piano-Rock

REVIEW : Badly Drawn Boy first came to my attention through the soundtrack to the film, "About A Boy". Well, I had heard of him before that. But I just thought he was some bearded homeless bloke singing shitty acoustic songs whilst busting out a mouth organ interlude every now and then. And boy, was I wrong. With this album, you've got your blend of 'intelligent' pop-rock, that Robbie Williams wishes that he could make. From the get-go, if the title wasn't enough to tell you, this album is a celebration of British-ness, and from the moment the introduction fades out and the recognisable tune of "Land Of Hope And Glory" starts up, before being replaced with crunching indie-rock style guitars, you know this is going to be the case. The good thing about Badly Drawn Boy, is that whilst he likes to keep things melodic and easy on the ear, he's not adverse to trying new and different things, and changing styles on the album a fair bit. A range of often changing chord progressions, something that you don't normally come across a lot in your bog-standard pop act. And then you've got "Welcome To The Overground" that sounds suspiciously like a Contempory Christian Worship Song. And if you've never heard a contempory worship song, you're missing out. Personally I feel like the middle section of the album lulls a little bit, as some of the songs sound a little generic, but it picks back up towards the end with great tracks like "The Time Of Times" and "One Last Dance". All in all, it's a great sentimental release, that still manages to keep the kind of coolness that is to be expected with a Badly Drawn Boy release. The kind of, "scruffy student type finally living out his dream of being a musician" coolness.

BEST SONGS : "The Time Of Times", "A Journey From A To B", "Born In The UK" and "Welcome To The Overground".

37. "Stadium Arcadium" by The Red Hot Chilli Peppers

MEMBERS : Anthony Kiedis, John Frusciante, Flea, Chad Smith

GENRE : Alt-Rock

REVIEW : I hate "Danni California" so much. It's bland and totally uninteresting. And unfortunately. About 1/3 of these two albums is exactly the same. If they cut out a lot of the 'filler', then they'd have themselves a really good, 'long' album. Actually, from the get-go I was one of the few people who originally said they preferred "Mars", to "Jupiter", and in my 'expert' oppinion () if they'd only released "Mars", with a few additional tracks like "Charlie", "Snow", "Hump De Bump" and "Stadium Arcadium" you've got yourself a near perfect album. Actually, I cannot think of a bad track on "Mars" ("Desecration Smile" is probably my least favourite). You've got the slick; "Tell Me Baby" (Which should have been the lead in single, damnit), "21st Century", "Turn It Again" etc. The rocking songs like; "So Much I", "Made You Feel Better", "Readymade", "Storm In A Teacup" etc. And then you've got the sweeter, stylistic songs like; "Animal Bar", "Hard To Concentrate", "If" and "We Believe". There's just so much variation and versatility on here, that if I were to seperate the albums out, then "Mars" would probably place in the top 10, and "Jupiter" would probably be lucky to hit the top 100. However, I've got to rate this as an all-round package, and due to the shoddiness that is "Jupiter", which just seems really boring for me, outside of the songs I mention ("Charlie" being THE redeeming feature of Disk 1, however I'd still rank a good number of songs from "Mars" above it), it's unfortunately going to have to be this 'low'.

BEST SONGS : "Tell Me Baby", "Animal Bar", "Storm In A Teacup" and "Hard To Concentrate".

36. "This Town's Disaster" by Blackpool Lights

MEMBERS : Jim Suptic (Get Up Kids), Brian Everard, Billy Brimblecom, Chris Clark

GENRE : Indie-Emo

REVIEW : Somwhere in The Get Up Kids back catalogue it's as if an album is missing between "Something To Write Home About" and "On A Wire" (And "Eudora" does not count!) and it's as if that Blackpool Lights have just provided us with this album. This is the second album on the list (Of 3) to feature ex-Get Up Kids members, and this is the closest to the band that I love. If this album had Matt Pryor on vocals, then it'd be a GUK release, or at least to me, it sounds that convincing. However the vocalist that Blackpool Lights have does do a good job on this release, though he is no Pryor. As for the tracks themselves. It gets off to an amazing start with 3 top notch tracks. The title track starts things off with a crunching riff and powerful vocal work. From there you're into "Blue Skies", which is one of the major sing-a-long tracks on the album, which is followed by THE sing-a-long track, "Empty Tank" with the chorus of "We are the ones that never get noticed/We are the ones who are always shot down/We are the ones and nobody will want us around/And baby it's a long way down", which is just begging to be screamed aloud the moment it first hits your ears. The album continues on at this solid pace, outside of a few tracks, that JUST seem to miss the mark (But much like the Rise Against album, there's good moments in all the songs) like "The Truth About Love" and "Lost Without You". However the real gem of this album is hidden away right at the end, in "Unlucky". It starts with a simple drum beat that pulsates throughout, before a killer guitar riff starts up and the songs gets into full flight. With a sweet verse and an epic chorus, it's an amazing way to finish off what is an incredibly solid album. In closing, it's nothing original, it's all been done before, but it's still a great album, with a number of top notch songs.

BEST SONGS : "Unlucky", "This Town's Disaster", "Cursed By Yourself" and "Empty Tank".

[YI]

(BARRY) SCHINDLER'S LIST: 35-31

35. "He Poos Clouds" by Final Fantasy

MEMBERS : Owen Pallet (Arcade Fire)

GENRE : Indie

REVIEW : This is THE gayest album ever, hands down. Its content is somewhere between a string recital, musical numbers, pop and the biggest pile of gay you have ever heard. Yes, I bring up the gay thing a lot. But it's the truth. I've seen a lot of people absolutely cream over this album, hailing it as one of the greatest albums ever released, it is a good album, I admit that, however a lot of people seem to be confusing greatness with difference. Just because an album is different, doesn't necessarily mean that it's great. This album is flat out different, in fact I've never heard anything quite like it, but that doesn't make it great. I could record myself taking a shit and make it a 'song', it'd be different, but that wouldn't make it great. But yeah, this album is certainly good. And a number of songs are great. The album gets off to an amazing song with the 'biggest' sounding songs on the album. Whilst they're still very contained, these songs sound epic and are a perfect way to ween you into the album. They're also a lot easier on the ear than some of the latter songs, and have clearer song structures. At the best of times the album is as grandiose as a release ever could get. But at other times it just sounds like someone throwing themselves at a string quartet whilst someone else records the sound produced. It really does fluctuate that much. After the incredibly catchy, "This Lamb Sells Condos", which features probably my favourite riff of the year, in the beautiful piano part, you're into the darker, weirder part of the album. When Owen Pallet gets it right, this stuff is amazing. Such examples are the songs like "I'm Afraid Of Japan" and "Song Song Song". But with songs like "Do You Love", which is horifically disjointed, it's just difficult to get into. There's also a problem that a lot of these latter songs tend to blend together. And you can't help but shrug the fact that with a lot of them, you're listening to a string recital. Yes, he's fairly talented. But if I wanted to listen to a string recital there's a far more talented musicians out there I'd listen to. I must add that I absolutely adore the ending to "The Pooka Sings", it's so adorable. However after the first three songs the rest of the album fluctuates between weird in a good way, and just random shit that reaks of pretentiousness.

BEST SONGS : "This Lamb Sells Condos", "Arctic Circle", "Song Song Song" and "He Poos Clouds".

34. "Blood Mountain" by Mastodon

MEMBERS : Troy Sanders, Brent Hinds, Bill Kelliher, Brann Dailor

GENRE : Metal

REVIEW : Mastodon are very much the golden boys of the 'alternative' community at the minute, purely for the fact they're on a major label and have in no way compromised their sound. However, I feel like this has somewhat deluded peoples view of the band and this album. First of all, they're an immensely talented band, and I did not come into this expecting ridiculously catchy melodies and big choruses, although that is 'my thing' (I guess), I am a Mastodon fan, and I know what to expect from them. As I said, they're immensely talented, but at times, it might due to the lack of certain hooks, that the material seems to be bordering on boring at times. However the riffage here is absolutely immense. And it's one of those things where you tend to remember the solos or riffs more than the actual songs themselves, they are the hooks that draw you in. because of this, much like the other Mastodon releases makes it a very good album, although by themselves the songs are generally not 'amazing', by any stretch of the imagination. Musically it's brilliant, but I just don't really think it's as good as people seem to make out it is. And at the end of the day, I much prefer "Leviathan" to this.

BEST SONGS : "Capillarian Crest", "The Wolf Is Loose", "Circle Cysquatch" and "Hand Of Stone".

33. "Dog Problems" by The Format

MEMBERS :Sam Means, Nate Ruess, Mike Schey, Don Raymond, Marko Buzard, Sean McCall

GENRE : Indie-Pop

REVIEW : Part indie-rock, part 60's style pop, part emo-y, part fucking circus music...fuck knows...it can be part just about everything, but it's all good. Granted, I will admit there's a few near misses on certain tracks, and after an extended listen the vocals start to great on you, but for the most part this album features top notch song writing, mixing upbeat catchy pop numbers, with softer, sweeter parts. The album gets off to an interesting start with "Matches" that seems like some sort of strange cross between carnival and elevator music. Then you've "I'm Actual", which goes through so many style changes and instrument changes it's just so hard to keep up with it. And once again, the carnival/circus atmosphere is still there. It' at this point that I admit this certainly was not what I was expecting when I first got hold of this album. I was expecting straight up fun indie-pop, 'nonsense'. Yes, it's straight up fun, it's most certainly not 'nonsense'. After the introduction you've got your more 'stereotypical' catchy indie-pop songs. The amazing, "Time Bomb", with the catchy piano based chorus and snappy, somewhat frantic chorus, it's a standout song, and one that will certainly get you shuffling your feet. Again the wide array of interesting sounding instrumentation is still present. You've also got your more 'straight forward' tracks in "She Doesn't Get It" and "The Compromise", in which I get a a strong vibe of latter day Get Up Kids. Though, more 'electronic' sounding. And I must add I love the lyric of, "All the girls pose the same for pictures/All the boys got the same girls hair"., and I don't particuarly know why. There's just so much variation on this album. The run of the beautiful, acoustic based, "Snails". The incredibly catchy single, "The Compromise" and "Inches and Falling" with the anthematic chorus of, "I love love/I love being in love/I don't care what it does to me". A number of tracks in the middle of the album feel like they're missing something. And as previously stated, the vocalist begins to get on my tits in a number of songs.

BEST SONGS : "Time Bomb", "Snails", "The Compromise" and "Dog Problems".

32. "Reclamation" by BigWig

MEMBERS : Tom Petta, Jeff Powers, Zak...plus a drummer whose name I can't find

GENRE : Hardcore-Punk-Rock

REVIEW : It's been 5-years since Bigwig last crawled out of the woodwork, and they're back, faster and heavier than ever. Crossing the line between punk and metal, the record is right in your face from the get-go, as the chorus to the horrifically catchy "A War Inside" kicks you off, followed by a nice piece of guitar wankery, and from there, you never look back. This is literally the best way to kick off an album. It's the catchiest track on here, and really sets the tone for the album. There's just so much variation on here. There's certain songs where you could be mistaken that you're listening to a classic metal album, with songs such as "Follow The Leader", with some amazing riffs and shredding. But at the other side of the spectrum, you have the very old school, ska sounding, "Last Song, Last Call". And all the songs pack a certain punch, and go from crazy, to insane. All the while, the release manages to maintain a strong melodic aspect as well. It really does seem like an all round package. So why not higher? Well, whilst everything is there to make this a classic, something just doesn't sit right with me. I just don't find myself clambering to listen to it over and over again. Maybe it's the fact there's very little in the way of 'hooks', but I'll openly admit that this is an immensly talented band, who seem to be following in the steps of Propagandhi with the heavier 'thrash' element being added to their music. But for whatever reason, this album is not going to place higher. Purely because I don't feel as though it has the replay value of a lot of the releases above it. However stylistically, out of the punk/metal hybrid bands, they're probably the most natural sounding.

BEST SONGS : "Follow The Leader", "Owned And Operated", "A War Inside" and "Hold On Fucker".

31. "Peeping Tom" by Peeping Tom

MEMBERS : Mike Patton (Mr Bungle, Faith No More) +

GENRE : Alt-Pop

REVIEW : This album holds the distinctive achievement of being the only album on the list to give me a semi lob-on. In celebration of this I am going to spend the entire review talking about how amazing Norah Jones is. Hearing Norah Jones singing rude words is just the most arousing thing, in vocal format ever. It's quite like this Abi Titmuss dancing/striptease video me and a friend put on at like 6 in the morning once after a heavy nights drinking. It was neither of ours. We were at someone elses flat. If anybody wants a proper review, I'll do one. He got it free in Loaded, or whatever. It was hell, seeing as we were pissing about earlier and lost the DVD remote, thus meaning we couldn't fast forward to the 'horny' stuff. Which there was infact none. But we didn't find that out until we'd watched 45 minutes of shite. She's done a sex tape. You'd think she'd at least get her wabs out. But nothing. Well anyway, having sat through 2 awful 'stripteases' and through 30 minutes of her explaining how to do this shite, we concluded that it would be impossible to have a gratifying wank over the material. HOWEVER, we were proved wrong by Aaron. Who when I said, "Even Aaron couldn't rub one out over this", he blushed. Aaron is a pervert of the highest order. On more than one occasion he has been known to lie about his sexual conquests. He's a virgin. He did date a Chinese girl for a while, and I ripped the piss out of him so hard. "Did you eat her out with chopsticks?" never got old. He's a butt-ugly bastard as well, and once got a girl to lie with him and claim they'd shagged to 'piss off' one of my other 'friends'. He likes Breaking Benjamin. He also fell in love with a girl he'd never met, and was only talking to via text. She actually fucked my buddy Chris in a toilet at there work. He's got so many faults. But worst of all. He had the last can of Fosters, poured it into a glass, went to sleep...so when in the morning me and Chris tried to thieve it, the remains of the head had infact started to 'crust'. Was disgusting. I'd drink most thing. I've drank fag ash, spit, Guinness/those gay lemon Smirnoff things mixed. But I draw the line at a 'crusty' lager. I had a reason for bringing up Titmuss, and I can't remember. Oh yeah. Whilst it was impossible to have a gratifying wank over it (Unless you're an absolute pervert...ie. Aaron), there was still the occasional "phwoar" moment, before you realised she was 'dancing' like a twat. She's not AMAZING. But if anyone says they wouldn't they're fucking lying. This is very much like that. Nobody reads these anyway, right?

BEST SONGS : "Sucker" (ft. Norah Jones), "Don't Even Trip" (ft. Amon Tobin), "Your Neighborhood Spaceman" (ft. Jel & Odd Nosman) and "Mojo" (ft. Dan The Automator & Rahzel).

[IAceI]

I refuse to read anymore after reading the final review and the first line of the first review.

You just don't take your job seriously! Still love you though

[ROC]

I love that Mike Patton in that pic looks like Clifton Collins, Jr.

[Katsuya]

I'll take 45 for Ta-Dah. But Kiss You Off is by far the best song on the album. For shame on you.

[YI]

NOTE: From this point on, everything is 'FUCKING GOOD'. If you don't have it, GET IT!

BARRY SCHINDLER'S LIST : 30-26

30. "The Same Side" by Lucie Silvas

MEMBERS :

GENRE : Pop

REVIEW : Armed with a Jewish nose and a voice that would make ice melt. The "It depends on the picture" Lucie Silvas returns with her sophomore album. At this point it's important to note that there's albums that wont most certainly change the face of the music scene, but will provide 40+ minutes of great pop songs, that will be perfect to combat the summer blues. And with the sun coming back out to play, my love for this album has somehow made a resurgence. Silvas is very much in the same vein of Michelle Branch, in writing sweet yet somewhat edgy pop music. The instrumentation is impressive, especially for what you'd generally expect from the singer-song writer types. The main basis of the tracks are still piano and acoustic guitar, with Lucie's voice riding over the top, soothing your soul. She mixes things up a bit, with songs with 'big' choruses, which have a vibe of Kelly Clarkson about them; like the title track, "Sinking In" and "Alone" etc. However it's the songs that are quieter, and less in your face, like the absolutely wonderful "Right Here", the acoustic based "Trying Not To Lose", "Counting" and "Place To Hide" that really strike a chord with me, and are the kind of tunes that you can pop on, lie about in the garden and laze about to. Not that I actually would, normally, but tis is due to the fact I live next to scallies who have a trampoline in their garden. Meaning at any given time when there's sunlight about 9 million of the bastards de-camp across the fence. Though one time they were playing Queen through their CD player. Secretely I was rather impressed. As I said, not an album that will change the fact of the music industry. But Lucie Silvas is back doing what she does best, hopefully once again putting some 'respectable' female based pop music into the charts. Not sure it's as good as her debut album, but there's still some really, really good songs on here. However, the big question is, "Is she attractive?" I'm not entirely sure. I mean, circa 2004 I thought she was hot in her videos and stuff...but looking at photos...just ewwww.

BEST SONGS : "Right Here", "Trying Not To Lose", "Alone", "Counting" and "Something About You".

29. "Kill Them With Kindness" by The Headlights

MEMBERS : Erin Fein (Absinthe Blind), Tristan Wraight (Absinthe Blind/Maserati), Brett Sanderson (Absinthe Blind)

GENRE : Indie-Pop

REVIEW : I remember early last year I stumbled across "The Enemies EP" and was totally blown away by the song, "Everybody Needs A Fence To Lean On". Incorporating sweet, quiet female vocals, clean/crisp male vocals and a mixture of slight electronics, thick guitars and an incredibly effective xylophone riff. Unfortunately not one song on this album lives up to this one song, but as a whole package, it's top notch. The first song is a 6-minute, really beautiful number entitled "Your Old Street". Starting with string and bass work, it is a slow building song, which basically incorporates all the best bits of The Headlights into one song. It also serves as a kind of cross over from "The Enemies EP" and the album, with it featuring the xylophone that was very much a focal point on the EP, but also featuring a lot more key work and a hinting at the more 'synth/electronic' based stuff of the album. Anyways, the song itself builds slowly, with many peaks and troughs along the way. This is something that The Headlights do really well, which can also be seen on the highlight track, "Put Us Back Together Right". One of the many gifts that the 'main vocalist' has, is that she can make even the simplest vocal melody seem so amazing. The male vocal work is not quite up to the same standard. However it does work, especially in "Lions". That's one thing I really like about this album. On the outside it's really sweet, and nice. However you've also got some pulsating disco-rock numbers thrown in there, like the before mentioned "Lions", "TV" and "Hi-Ya!" which mixes schitsophrenic style keyboard work and a bassline that resembles those used by Death From Above 1979. However, it still fits perfectly within the album. The album name sums it up perfectly. It's just so nice, it's just a whole lot of fun, which is something that music is missing a lot at the minute. Especially in the indie scene, where there's a resurgance of bands who are totally up themselves. There are 2 things that prevent this album from placing higher. Firstly, outside of "Hi-Ya!" it really tails off towards the end of the album. It's still alright, but nowhere near as good as the opening and middle tracks. There's also a couple of utterly pointless tracks that I'd cut. The 10 second mouth organ ditty, get it out of there, "Owl Eyes" and "Lions" actually flow well into each other, this totally spoils it. Then you've got "Struggle With Numbers", which again is one of those interlude tracks, which serves no purpose. The only time off the top of my head I've enjoyed an interlude is on "Absolution", as it synched two tracks perfectly. "Struggle With Numbers" just seems to be them proving 'we can do an atmospheric track'. I know, you do it a lot better with the album closer "I Love, You Laugh". Which gives an interesting wrap up to an album, as lots of bands go out on a 'high', the Headlights prefer to simply 'dissapear', with whispered vocals, white noise/static and a simple, yet very effective keyboard riff. Definately a band someone who enjoys 'nice' music should check out.

BEST SONGS : "Put Us Back Together Right", "Lions", "Owl Eyes", "Lullabies" and "Songy Darko".

28. "The Adversary" by Ihsahn

MEMBERS : Ihsahn (Emporer/Peccatum)

GENRE : Black Metal

REVIEW : Recommended to me by one of my metalhead friends, who was a huge Emporer fan. I wasn't really expecting an album that I'd enjoy when I first gave this a listen, but was I surprised. First of all, there's an amazing mix between brutalness, grandeour and bittersweet melodies, all of which is summed up perfectly in the first track on the album, "Invocation". Starting with a wall of guitar, screamed vocals and topped off with epic string work. Then halfway through it transitions into one of the most beautiful, softest melodies I've heard all year, topped off with clean vocals. That's possibly what surprised me the most about this album. The sheer quality of the singing, he also has a rather impressive falsetto, which is showed off most notably in the second track, "Called By Fire". Most of the songs on the album are far from short, however, they're not what I'd technically call 'long', all besides one timing in arund 5 minutes. This, coupled with the fact that all the songs go through numerous transitions in style throughout, leads to lots of the songs blending together. This is partly good though. As the transitions mean that each individual song is exciting, but it also really gives the album a strong feel, that these songs belong together. However, as I said, if you give it an extended listen, you do seem to struggle to remember the best bits of songs unless you listen to them individually. naturally of course, there are exceptions. First off there's "Homecoming", which features exclusively clean vocals. And features an introduction that has absolutely nothing to do with the song itself, though it does sound incredibly cool. Another notable song is "Panem Et Circenses", which fades down into a beautiful piano driven part at around 3-minutes, which is riden by some impressive, layered, choral styled vocals. Then you've got the incredible 10-minute ending track. It's a little 'softer' than a lot of the album, for the most part, and I get a very much Dream Theater styled, progressive-metal style vibe to it. Again, this has a lot to do with the clean vocals. And it ends with some kick arse falsetto singing. A perfect wrap-up to an incredibly solid album. Production wise it's really good. Everything is filled out nicely. There are times when I find the strings slightly overpowering (Especially when wearing headphones), but they really help give the songs texture and depth, so I can't really complain. Probably not an album for everyone. But it's one that hit me from the get-go as good.

BEST SONGS : "Panem Et Circenses", "The Pain Is Still Mine", "Invocation", "And He Shall Walk In Empty Places" and "Called By the Fire".

27. "Billy Talent II" by Billy Talent

MEMBERS : Benjamin Kowalewicz, Ian D'Sa, Jonathan Gallant, Aaron Solowoniuk

GENRE : Emo-Rock

REVIEW : The first thing that strikes me about Billy Talent is the vocal work. It's going to be something you either love or absolutely despise, the nasally sounding voice of the vocalist. Fortunately, I am in the first camp. I know there's a massive amount of Billy Talent fans on here, but I'm going to say something that could potentially get a lot of people dissagreeing with me, but personally, I found the first album rather painful to listen to. Yes, there was a number of good songs, but for every good song, you seemed to have a couple of poor songs, which achieved a moderate standard at best. Ultimately making it an incredibly frustrating album to listen to. Lets just say, the first time I gave this a listen, I thought that this album could be very much the same. Because after the astounding, "Devil In A Midnght Mass", you've got two moderate, at best, tracks. "Red Flag" has an alright chorus, but that's about it. "This Suffering" is slightly better, but seems to lack a certain spark. Soon the album picks up a bit, with a couple of other glitches along the way. However, it's towards the end of the album where it really comes into its own. The last 4 tracks on this thing are literally a work of art, absolutely immense, sing along choruses, all of them full of energy. And ultimately, that's where Billy Talent are at there best. Don't get me wrong. I fairly enjoy "Surrender" (Specifically towards the end) and I really like "Pins & Needles", but the slower songs are generally not Billy Talent's forte. They're a band that are full of energy. The singers voice is a voice that suits the high tempo, scream along numbers. And in the slower songs, it just doesn't always seem to fit. At this point, I should really note that Billy Talent are far from your average emo band. And since their first album they've really improved technically as well. There's plenty of bands that go through the years, regurgitating the same kind of material, but Billy Talent have many new tricks and techniques on here. However, they never let things get too overcomplicated, mixing in amazing melodies suchs as in "Where Is The Line?", which has one of the catchiest choruses I've heard all year. All in all, it's a great album. There's a few songs that I just can't get away with, like "Covered In Cowardice" and the two previously mentioned. And another few aren't really up to scratch with the rest of the album. However, the best songs are absolutely phenomenal.

BEST SONGS : "Where Is The Line?", "Burn The Evidence", "Devil In A Midnight Mass", "Sympathy" and "Perfect World".

26. "Black Holes And Revelations" by Muse

MEMBERS : Matthew Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme, Dominic Howard

GENRE : Rock

REVIEW : Jesus Christ, how much bitching have I heard about this album? Bitch all you want, whether you want to admit it or not (those who hate Muse......those who have such a lob-on over the previous albums they get annoyed when they don't top themselves) Muse still make better music than pretty much anyone else in the 'mainstream'. I must admit, at first I was a little dissapointed, but soon I got over it. Purely because "Absolution" is most probably my favourite album ever, so I realised there was pretty much, 'no way' that they'd be able to top it. It was only after I admitted that to myself that I truly began to appreciate this album. Granted, there's a few songs that still do little for me, such as "Assassin" and "Invincible" (SOMEONE TELL ME WHERE I'VE HEARD THIS BEFORE?), but for the most part, the songs are solid to good. In fact, there's a number of songs that I'd name 'classic' Muse songs. "City Of Delusion" is a much underappreciated song from my experience. The Spanish style chord progression, trumpets, big chorus. It's just, Muse at their warped best. Then you've got the atmospheric "Map Of The Problematique" and of course the astounding single "Starlight". Speaking of "Starlight", it transitions me very much onto my next point. "Absolution" had an amazing, dying days-end of the world vibe to it. For me, this album continues on after that, with a very 'post apocalypic' feel to it. Plenty of songs are stripped down to very minimal layers, "Starlight", "Take A Bow", "Hoodoo" and "Soldier's Poem" are such example. This feeling is really helped by Muse's amazing use of atmospherics and emptiness. Such as "Hoodoo", which really sends shivers down my spine at the end. And if I were to be perfectly honest, I am incredibly dissapointed that it's not the ending track on the album, as it would be an absolutely incredible ending. And "Knights Of The Cydonia" isn't really 'that' great. I mean, it's got all the makings of a classic. However, it's the first, and only time I've ever felt Muse's 'epic-ness' has felt forced, which I don't really like. There's also the fact the guitar sounds like a goat dying, which doesn't help in the bigger picture. However when it kicks into the classic rock bit around 4 minutes, it's shit hot. Ultimately, it'd be a great song to hear live, however, I don't rate it as highly as other people seem to. I much prefer "Supermassive Black Hole", which a lot of people shit on as a single. All in all, the sheer style of Muse makes this a top notch album. Maybe not as good as their other releases. But still, a good album, and you cannot deny that.

BEST SONGS : "City Of Delusion", "Map Of The Problematique", "Hoodoo", "Starlight" and "Exo-Politics".

Also, "Kiss You Off" is alright. However I can't help but shrug the fact it never 'gets going'. So the chorus just falls on its arse.

And 3/4 of the way through!!!!! And like halfway through the next year.

Yeah, there's probably a fuck load of spelling mistakes in that lot...but whatever.

Edited June 13, 2007 by YI

[ROC]

It appears that Lucie Silvas chick has some serious rackage. >_>