The 50 Albums Project.

[ROC]

Yes, this is why people tend to hate country, even though quite a few albums sell more than any other genre out there...... ....elitests tend to hate country.....

[RPS]

Let's be honest here, Rodney Atkins isn't making music to wow the critics. He's making records for his fans and for his family. Just because ROC gave it such a low rating doesn't mean its bad. Critical acclaim doesn't mean a record is great, it just means that some dude who reviews music doesn't like it.

[Draevyn]

Edit: You know what, I don't care enough to argue about it...

Edited July 20, 2007 by The Enforker

[ROC]

I never once said that just because people buy it that it has to be great. But you made a generalized statement that things like this are why people don't like country. Most people like a genre for certain reasons, and when it comes to country, it's usually not about intense lyrics on world issues, and a whole lot of other shit. Much like fans of pop music aren't looking for much other than catch beats, or riffs, or even lyrics. Something that gets stuck in their head.

[Hobo]

I have to say that I'm on ROC's side about a lot of modern country music. So many of the songs seem like they're out of the same cookie cutter mold. It seems to me the only country artists who do anything good now are the ones who were doing it 30 years ago. The likes of Messers Kristofferson ("This Old Road") and Nelson ("Songbird", "The Great Divide") or of course Johnny Cash or people like Steve Earle and Guy Clark who are out in the wild, edges of the country music industry either due to poltitical views or just because they never fitted in in the first place. Of course theres the late great Townes Van Zandt, possibly the greatest songwriter never to get the recognition he deserved.

[Draevyn]

I'm not saying there's nothing wrong with country, because hell, a lot of the newer stuff, I can't stand. Carrie Underwood is a prime example of it in the fact that all her songs sound the same, but with a lot of genres, songs from different artists are sometimes going to sound the same. Country music nowadays is a lot about the whole Southern lifestyle, drinking, partying with friends. Everyone has gone down that road. Hell, Kenny Chesney, a man I used to think was a pretty good artist has basically taking the easy route out with his newest stuff like "Beer In Mexico". Granted the big deal everyone's making is it only took him 15 minutes to write the song, but listen to it and you'll know why.

As for Watching You being similar to Little Moments, I understand that sometimes the meanings are a bit jumbled. But Watching You isn't so much about the incident as it is about the fact that he realizes that his son looks up to him, and wants to be just like him, yet Rodney himself isn't sure that it's a good idea. Like the first verse when his son says "That four letter word" and when Rodney asks where he heard it, it's basically "From you Dad, I want to be just like you"...the next verse is Rodney going "Shit, he really is watching me, maybe I'm not the rolemodel I could be"....but yeah, it's not a huge deal...

I'm not trying to be a complete country groupie, because I'm this way with most music I like. But as said, it's a matter of opinion, and not everyone is going to like the same stuff. I like stuff that a lot of people on here think is shit, just like I hate a lot of stuff that some people on here tout as being sung from the mouth of god himself. It's just different tastes.

Oh, and Hobo, Townes wasn't really country. Not by definition anyway. He was more folk than anything.

[JStarr]

Glad to see a good score for Lily, ROC. I don't get out to purchase a whole lot of new stuff, but after buying Alright, Still, I laughed my ass off at several of the tracks on it. "Alfie" is the happiest, jauntiest tune I've ever heard someone sing about a wastrel drug addict, and "LDN" made urban blight sound almost glorious.

[ROC]

42. Rich Boy - Rich Boy

Release Date: March 13, 2007

Don't let the name of the album fool you. This is not Rich Boy's debut. Well, it is, but the focus here is hardly Rich Boy. No, the man who is truly being debuted is one Polow da Don. Polow may be most famous for creating the beats to mostly hideously catchy pop (Pussycat Dolls's "Buttons" and Fergie's "London Bridge" are among his works), but here, he hones his production work to the point to where it doesn't really even matter whose record you are hearing.

Now, that has its good and bad advantages. For one, lead single "Throw Some D's" defies the convention of the silly materialistic and ringtone-based rap and manages to be endearingly catchy as opposed to annoyingly catchy. Second single "Boy Looka Here" is also a fantastic marching band-based number and an interesting tribute to the South's love of marching bands and football. (Musically, of course...I don't think the lyrics have anything to do with anything other than...drugs and pimp cups.) And tracks like "Role Models", "Good Things", and "What It Do" work on the production side to create catchy, if not great, songs.

Unfortunately, Polow seems to forget one key thing: his protege isn't exactly talented or really different. It says volumes when the biggest moment on the album comes from Andre 3000's appearance on the "Throw Some D's" remix, managing to turn a song about Cadillacs and new money into a rags-to-riches life lesson. Too much of Rich Boy's style is playing up the same "gangsta shit" stereotypes and not really doing anything to distance his flow or his lack of profound or at least interesting rhyme from say anybody else's in the modern rap scene. And unfortunately, the Polow Show doesn't cover those flaws.

Rating: 5.5/10

Must Haves: "Boy Looka Here", "Throw Some D's", "Role Models"

[Ananas]

Plus, I just looked at your myspace with all the Rascal Flats fans. Jesus Christ! What a bunch of morons. Do any of them even understand the concept of a 'review'?

[ROC]

43. Evanescence - The Open Door

Release Date: October 3, 2006

Amy Lee's gothic rock group became fixtures of the mainstream when their major label debut Fallen became a 6x platinum selling album. Then came the exit of longtime member Ben Moody, to where he would move on to a career of constructing pop hits for other artists. And Lee tries to go for the jugular and show how much the band could do without Moody on The Open Door. However, the record Lee ends up constructing here shows the exact reason why they NEED Moody.

Admittedly, first single "Call Me When Your Sober" is the type of ferocious rock that works for the band. A good rock number mixed in with some nice biting lyrics and a pop hook. However, the album leans more towards the dull nature of the second single "Lithium". While yes, these laments pull up the power of Lee's voice, they serve to bog down the interest factor and thus the album as a whole. Lee's melodramatic style appears to repeat the same message, regardless of the songs intent, and only rarely does it seem Lee even tries to admit that maybe the band should pulsate the guitars and rock out a song. And by the time the record does this with "All That I'm Living For", it hardly seems interesting. Every song on here HAS to have the same downtrodden angsty nu metal style or the same melancholy orchestral backdrop. Yes, this is Evanescence's hook, but much like Fallen felt repetitive, The Open Door feels just as if not more. And ultimately, Lee's laments feel overwrought and sadly, just plain shitty.

Rating: 3/10

Must Haves: "Call Me When Your Sober"

[ROC]

44. Joss Stone - Introducing Joss Stone

Release Date: March 20, 2007

Joss Stone, an RnB titan in Britain who also has become popular with the "VH1 set" in the States brings her third album (but this is obviously really her first that she really wanted to make and say not have crappy White Stripes covers on the CD instead) to the world in an odd but interesting way. The CD is very random in itself, opening with an intro from footballer (UK soccer player) and actor Vinnie Jones referring to change. This leads into a solid track called "Girl They Won't Believe It", which sets a good tone for this soul throwback.

However, the album falls into a dull state of affairs shortly after that. "Headturner" is just sort of there, and "Tell Me 'Bout It", the first single, also is wholly uninteresting. From then on, Stone's diatribes about love and being in the arms of her baby feel almost too dated. When her contemporaries like Amy Winehouse prose the same questions, but with clever twists and forks in the road, it's not hard to figure out that Stone's wide-eyed nature just doesn't seem to cut it, especially with her sexed up image. It's not terrible for her to play to her innocent nature, and certainly it's something that those who don't prefer their British tarts to have potty mouths or drink a lot have embraced in droves. However, even for a throwback, you almost feel you've gotten the same repetition that made Stone's other two records so...uninteresting.

Rating: 5/10

Must Haves: "Changes (The Vinnie Jones Intro)", "Girl They Won't Believe It"

Edited July 30, 2007 by ROC

[ROC]

45. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank

Release Date: March 20, 2007

If there's one thing Modest Mouse can't be accused of on their first post-fame release We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank, it's going safe. Isaac Brock still has his unique shouty voice and the band, while going for catchy hooks, still manages to sound off-kilter and different in a good, refreshing way. Hell, Brock has already managed to make a strange song like "Dashboard" become the band's latest hit in the mainstream. And he creates a truly intriguing hour-long album with this release as well.

It does have a few low points, but give credit to Brock. It certainly doesn't stop being interesting throughout its entire runtime. And even when Brock busts out his rough falsetto, the tracks still have their fair share of hooks, like on "Florida", one of two cameos from Shins vocalist James Mercer. What is even more interesting is the amount of dark imagery on the release especially on "Parting of the Sensory". But it all seems to work. I can't really rave this enough. Great songs, great CD, solid band, and Johnny Marr being in the group is awesome. A-class all the way.

Rating: 8/10

Must Haves: "Dashboard", "Florida", "Parting of the Sensory", "Fly Trapped in a Jar", "Fire It Up", "Steam Engenius"

[YI]

No mention of "Education"? FOR SHAME!!!

It's a fucking brilliant album. Right up there with "The Moon & Antarctica", if not better (Depending on my mood).

It's a testament to the bands ability in that they can take somewhat 'strange' material (Especially for a 'popular' indie band) and make it so catchy and 'marketable'. Seriously, you just forget how fairly strange some of the material is, it's just so catchy.

Oh, and the vocal work on this album is AMAZING.

And I like the fact I now can get mates to check out Modest Mouse, as I can just go "Johnny Marr".

Edited July 31, 2007 by YI

[ROC]

No mention of "Education"? FOR SHAME!!!

[tristy]

so, what is it that we gather from all of this? that the "indie" releases this year like the Shins or Modest Mouse are superior to everything? and that country/pop/rap/etc. are blackholes of talent that constantly put out subpar releases? maybe i'm totally wrong here, or maybe it's the anger at my employers talking, but i think there's alittle genre bias going on here. chalk it up to personal opinion i guess, but i don't know...

[YI]

so, what is it that we gather from all of this? that the "indie" releases this year like the Shins or Modest Mouse are superior to everything? and that country/pop/rap/etc. are blackholes of talent that constantly put out subpar releases? maybe i'm totally wrong here, or maybe it's the anger at my employers talking, but i think there's alittle genre bias going on here. chalk it up to personal opinion i guess, but i don't know...

Edited August 1, 2007 by YI

[tristy]

How many of the other albums were rated 5 or better though? It seems like everything is rather shit that ROC reviews. Maybe it's a reflection of the current music scene, or... I don't know.

(FYI: I like Modest Mouse and The Shins, so it's not a "vendetta" against them)

[LittleDaniel]

Come on. Is it really that suprising that Modest Mouse(while I haven't heard this album, I have heard enough to like them) exceeds in a list that contains: Daughtry, Nickelback, Hannah Montana(who I know about through my little sister, damn her), Hinder, the soundtrack to Jump In(a Disney Channel original movie[see: Hannah Montana]), Evanescene, random mainstream country, and a Kidz Bop compilation. And, as for how many others have had a 5 or better, my count is 26 out of 45 thusfar. That's about 57%.

[ROC]

How many of the other albums were rated 5 or better though? It seems like everything is rather shit that ROC reviews. Maybe it's a reflection of the current music scene, or... I don't know.

(FYI: I like Modest Mouse and The Shins, so it's not a "vendetta" against them)

[ROC]

46. Kelly Clarkson - My December

Release Date: June 26, 2007

Well, after making the craftiest of pop hits and selling 6 million albums, Kelly Clarkson is back...and damn, she actually delivers with My December. If there's one thing that truly sets out this album in spades is how many different directions Clarkson really goes. There's a Pat Benatar-style scorn piece in "Haunted". There's a remorseful Alanis Morissette-style ("Perfect" Alanis, not WILL SHE GO DOWN ON YOU IN A THEEEEEEEATRE!? Alanis) song in "Sober". Even "Irvine" and "Be Still" are her cracks at the style of a stripped down act like Iron and Wine. (Yes, I just compared Kelly Clarkson to Sam Beam.) Hell, "Hole" sounds like what would've happened if Kelly was the vocalist for Muse on "Hyper Music".

Of all the tracks and the personal nature of the CD, I don't think any of it really comes off as overwrought at all. It does have the tendency to repeat itself, but it's hardly an album that gets boring. In fact, only "How I Feel" comes off as a track that should've been cut. This is a really gushing review, I'll admit, but this is the type of album that made 90s singer-songwriters so interesting. This is why America like Alanis in the first place. Yes, she was a woman scorned, but she was ultimately an interesting woman in her direction of music and the boundary between her angsty numbers and her "love me" numbers. Ultimately, Clarkson finds that balance as well and works it in spades.

Rating: 8/10

Must Haves: "Irvine", "Never Again", "Sober", "Haunted", "Maybe", "Can I Have A Kiss", "Be Still"

Edited August 1, 2007 by ROC