ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster's Top 20 albums of his insignificant life

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

7: SURRENDER by Chemical Brothers

Released in 1999.

...And here is my favourite electronic album of all time. Yeah I know it isn't particularly left of centre or "out there" but man it's a nigh on perfect album. As a Chemical brothers fan their output has gone as follows: Exit Planet Dust - great, Dig Your Own Hole - excellent, Surrender - amazing, everything after - ugh.

Every group has a pinnacle and for the Chems it's their third album.

The album starts with a most excellent opener - Music:Response. I had the chance to see the Chemical Brothers play live in Birmingham a few years ago and it was one of the best gigs I've ever been to. I'd not been a massive fan of Music:Response until then but they opened with it and it blew me away. It gets you in the mood for what's to come...And that's one "oh mah gawd" tune after another.

From the opening you head straight into the bowel-emptying bass of Under The Influence and from there seamlessly into Out Of Control (another live masterpiece) - one of the most perfect 1-2 punches in any album.

Orange Wedge brings some funky Propellorheads-style rhythm to the proceedings which continues with let Forever Be (with it's Michel Gondry brilliant video) then the summery chill out of The Sunshine Underground (another which live was mindshatteringly good) and the "slower" Asleep From Day (lovely vocals though)....THEN the horror of Got Glint which nearly ruins everything that went before it with it's black hole of mediocrity. Thankfully the earth-shattering Hey Boy Hey Girl kicks in after it and saves everyone. Surrender perfectly kicks it down a notch and then Dream On prepares you for life without the album playing.

The end.

HIGHLIGHTS: Hey Boy Hey Girl, Music: Response, Under The Influence, Out Of Control, Let Forever Be, Surrender

GRRR: Got Glint?

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

6: STORIES FROM THE CITY, STORIES FROM THE SEA

by PJ Harvey

Released in 2000.

Time for a change of mood. Time for a female artist. Time for some rock. Time for some Polly Jean.

PJ Harvey's been around for years now. She's worked with numerous artists and has a very healthy discography of her own but for me her 2000 release was her best. A bit more chart-friendly than her earlier work, Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea still has plenty of edge and shows off her brilliant voice and musical understanding.

I remember Good Fortune getting a lot of MTV2 play while I was at university and kinda liked it despite being a bit of an electro ponce at the time. With repeat listening it's fantastic and part of a top top quality album.

Big Exit is a vibrant explosion into the album, Good Fortune, great tune, great video (probably the sexiest video I've seen, even with her "playing" as a slightly drunk lass heading to a kebab shop).

Other really really really top quality highlights include the powerful Whores Hustle, Hustlers Whore, the downplayed duet with Thom Yorke in This Mess We're In, the rocky This Is Love and Kamikaze and the utterly beautiful We Float. My old manager at work had the biggest ever crush on PJ Harvey (not bad seeing that he was 24 and she's pushing 40) and claimed "We Float" to be the most beautiful track to fall asleep to (her voice in the chorus is perfect)....And he was in a death metal band

Better still, even the worst track, Beautiful Feeling isn't bad. Whoo.

HIGHLIGHTS: Good Fortune, We Float, Big Exit, Whores Hustle..., This Mess We're In, This Is Love, Kamikaze

GRRR: Beautiful Feeling

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=VotcHl-Jprg

A PJ Harvey interview. I think I love her.

Edited January 24, 2009 by ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster

[METALMAN]

For me this isn't their best album, despite being excellent in it's own right, purely because it nearly loses it's way sometimes....But then a Sigur Ros dropoff is better than most bands can hope for at their very best.

That's cause their best album is Takk...I am hoping you will agree with me.

[Drake Smashem]

What exactly is "GRRR"?

[METALMAN]

Songs that make him want to dance like a hungry tiger.

[gunnar hendershow]

Mezzanine is without a doubt one of my 3 favorite albums ever.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

True story. My second night of marital life my wife and I were asleep in bed when I suddenly wake up to this album playing. I think it's from next door BUT it's so amazing and I'm in a half-asleep haze where everything is epic that I actually lie there for half an hour just listening before finally getting up to bang on the wall or something.

Turns out it was from our stereo in the lounge and for some reason the stereo's alarm was set to 3am with this CD still in it from me listening to it during the day. >_

It's like the time I used to sleep with the radio on as a teenager and woke up one night to "One In A Lifetime" by Talking Heads playing. It was so amazing I stayed awake until the title was announced a few songs later, wrote it down and went out and brought the album the next day.

Anyway....

5: HOMOGENIC by Bjork

Released in 1997.

Most people on EWB know my love for Bjork. She's utterly compelling, musically talented to the max and has imagination and drive for invention that is something special. Every one of her albums is a self-contained unique experience, with her recreating herself whether with lo-fi lyrics to human beatbox backing (Medulla) or the haunting electronic/classical hybrid of Homogenic.

As an album it's critical acclaim is frightening but spot on. Due to her creative nature Bjork will every now and again his an off note but Homogenic is her most perfect album and musically sublime. Picking out high points is a nightmare because it flows so perfectly as a whole.

Hunter is beautiful delicacy ominous intentions (it was a staple in my listening habits while writing Battle Royale 2 and 3), Joga crashes together electronic riffs with haunting violin work, Unravel plays like the mind of a sleeping child, Bachelorette is as good as the hype, All Neon Like is stilted, warbling genius, 5 Years is perfect, Immature is the lowest point because it's only "good" and not great, Alarm Call is a bit of a flashback to her earlier work, Pluto is mentalist crunching and shouts - almost light industrial (and brilliant for it) and finally All Is Full Of Love is sex with your most beautiful woman in the world in song form.

So yeah, I salute Bjork for everything she's done and this album is the peak of her genius.

HIGHLIGHTS: Everything except Immature. The best videos are for All Is Full Of Love and Bachelorette.

GRRR: Immature

[METALMAN]

Death Cab covered All If Full of Love and it is a very good cover.

Also good album.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

4: ( ) by Sigur Rós

Released in 2002.

The winner of best album cover in the world ever (as far as I'm concerned), Sigur Ros' third full album ( ), known sometimes as "Svigaplatan" ("The Bracket Album") has no lyrics included, no credits, no nothing - just a plan booklet included with the CD on which you are encouraged to write your own meanings to the songs. Indeed, each song is "Untitled" although a few have some unofficial names.

Famously the lyrics are in "Hopelandic", a made up language, adding more to the feeling of the album meaning what you want it to mean.

It's a very thoughtful album, offering up sweeping panoramics one minute then focussing right in to a simple, repeating sound the next. It's a definite masterpiece and balances gentle beauty with brooding undertones to great effect.

Track 1 (known as Vaka) is one of the biggest highlights for me, the video so stunningly realised that it's a hypnotic experience to watch and listen at the same time. Track 4 (Njósnavélin) has a very special place for me as far as Sigur Ros goes cos it was the track that first introduced me to them, as the track playing at the end of Vanilla Sky. However, quite through design, the album is best taken as a whole and tracks would not work in a "best of" compilation. It takes you through peaks and troughs, moments of hope and despair and requires a complete listen through. Because of this I don't listen to it as much as I'd like to as I can't really dip into it on the way to work or while shopping or something. It's an album that deserves to be taken seriously.

Oh, and Track 3 (Samskeyti) is an immense instrumental. Amusingly folk on youtube are describing it as a "Heavenly orgasm" and I think I can see where they're coming from.

Part of the reason I love Sigur Ros is that they make everything you're doing seem so important and epic. If I'm washing the dishes while listening to the radio then I'm just washing the dishes but if I'm listening to Sigur Ros I'm WASHING THE DISHESSSSSSSSS! WOOAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! LIFE WAS MADE FOR THIS MOMENT!

HIGHLIGHTS: 1 "Vaka", 4 "Njósnavélin", 3 "Samskeyti".

GRRR: Nothing really....The lesser tracks are there to build to the grander ones.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

3 ENEMA OF THE STATE by Blink 182

Released in 1999.

WHA WHA WHAAAAAAAAAT?!

Yeah you heard me right. Enema Of The State is probably one of the most overlooked albums in music, truly a victim of it's own making. Not taken seriously, pushed off as the pop punk album for teenagers and randy young 20 somethings.

I have a few Blink albums (this, Dude Ranch, The Mark Tom and Travis Show (apparantly pretty rare these days) and Pants and Jacket). Enema is so so so far ahead of the other albums that I have to come to realise that this is just that special moment where everything was perfect in putting this album together. It's ridiculous. I'm still listening to this album 10 years after its release and I frequently belt out "What's My Age Again" at Karaoke. Fair enough that I was enjoying tracks about college, dating, parties and such like when I was a 18 year old uni student but I'm 28 with a wife of 5 years, a job and taxes. Perhaps it's just escapism back to my uni days and in that way it's perfect.

First up though I have to lay out the one huge downer. The one fly in the ointment. Adam's Song is horribly, horribly out of place (inbetween Dysentry Gary and All The Small Things!) and I'm sure it means a lot, and I know that it famously meant so much to one lad that he left it on repeat while he hanged himself) but seriously, the only way Adam's Song could move me to hang myself was if I was told that it was the only song I could ever listen to again in my whole life.

So anyway let's look at the album - the perfect genre album if I may add.

Basically you get 35 minutes of unapologetic balls-out-with-a-cheeky-grin pop punk, singing about girls, parties and whatever I mentioned earlier. It's not high concept, it's not a mature arthouse project but it doesn't pretend to be. (A look through the perfect CD insert will sum up the album visually). One of it's strengths is that it has two vocalists, each with a very different sound, sharing the singing duties which adds a nice extra vibe to such a frantic album. While I personally prefer Mark Hoppus' voice (always have done), Tom Delonge's voice at the time was the perfect foil.

"Dumpweed" kicks off the album leaving you in no doubt about what's going to follow.

"Don't Leave Me" and "Aliens Exist" keep it brilliant before Aliens Exist moves into "Going Away To College". Strangely this link between the two songs is my favourite on any album I have. Just perfect after Aliens Exist to strumming simply into my favourite Blink song. Man, I love Going Away To College.

From there we round out a perfect first six songs of the album with my karaoke favourite What's My Age Again and "Dysentry Gary" (with Mark's "Ease Away..." interlude which causes me to sing along every time whatever I'm doing)...

Adam's Song then gets skipped before heading into "All The Small Things", "The Party Song" (A song I've bottled out of singing for karaoke at least twice), the excellent "Mutt", the groovy "Wendy Clear" and finishing, just over half an hour after kicking off, with "Anthem" which is approximately, at last count, thirty times better than Anthem part 2.

So there we go. An album of songs about being young and doing the stuff that young people do and thinking the stuff that young people think.

One to take to my retirement party then.

HIGHLIGHTS: Eleven twelfths of the album.

GRRR: Adam's Song.

Edited January 27, 2009 by ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

2: THE KINKS ARE THE VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY by The Kinks

Released in 1968.

Winning the award for oldest album and longest album title on my top 20 list is this total classic penned by the greatest lyricist in the history of music - Ray Davies of The Kinks. VGPS is sometimes likened to Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys which was released two years before and took a similar route of a complete 180 turn on the popular sound of the time meaning that appreciation for it has only fully been realised over time.

The Kinks are generally best known by the casual fan for their early work (You Really Got Me and All Day And All Of The Night) during the "British Invasion" on the US musical charts between 64-67, or the "English" feel of Well-Respected Man, Dedicated Follower Of Fashion, Waterloo Sunset and Sunny Afternoon, which they released after they were banned from performing live in America for four years from 65.

They became a group who sang about English life - taxes, drinking beer, changing fashion trends and the ridiculous nature of keeping up with them, two ordinary people meeting eachother for a date after work...They even sang songs about cricket and about drinking tea (it cures insomnia and hepatitis!)

Still, it was a bit of a swerve when at the height of their success in 68 they released an album dwelling on traditional English Hamlet life. Most people weren't interested, however, being more interested in swinging, drugs and free love. Oh well. The album started to gain a cult following and is quite simply a sublime piece of work which, however, is far from being to everyone's taste. Still, if my father has left me with anything, it's a suspicious chirpyness towards folk rock music.

The album itself is a ridiculously big hug on a warm summer's day. Perfect for sitting in a village park with a cold pint of beer, watching folk walk dogs or kick a ball about or something. Singers such as Damon Albarn have frequently named Ray Davies as their number one lyrical influence.

In total truth you have to now assume that every single one of these songs is pretty much AMAZING and so I will post my favourite lyrics from each song instead of giving a quick synopsis.

1. Village Green Preservation Society: "We are the Office Block Persecution Affinity , God save little shops, china cups and virginity, We are the Skyscraper condemnation Affiliate, God save tudor houses, antique tables and billiards..."

2. Do You Remember Walter?: "Walter, you are just an echo of a world I knew so long ago,

If you saw me now you wouldn't even know my name. I bet you're fat and married and you're always home in bed by half-past eight. And if I talked about the old times you'd get bored and you'll have nothing more to say. Yes people often change, but memories of people can remain."

3. Picture Book: "A picture of you in your birthday suit, You sat in the sun on a hot afternoon. Picture book, your mama and your papa, and fat old Uncle Charlie out cruising with their friends. Picture book, a holiday in August, outside a bed and breakfast in sunny Southend."

4. Johnny Thunder: (Great track, lyrics not worth posting...)

5. Last Of The Steam-Powered Trains: "I'm the last of the good old renegades. All my friends are all middle class and grey, But I live in a museum, so I'm okay. I'm the last of the good old fashioned steam-powered trains."

6. Big Sky: "Big Sky looks down on all the people looking up at the Big Sky. Everybody pushing one another around, Big Sky feels sad when he sees the children scream and cry, But the Big Sky is too big to let it get him down."

7. Sitting By The Riverside: "Oh Love, keep me warm, keep me satisfied. Please keep me calm, keep me pacified. Now I'm content and my life is complete. I can close my eyes."

8. Animal Farm: "Girl, It's a hard, hard world, if it gets you down. Dreams often fade and die in a bad, bad world. I'll take you where real animals are playing. And people are real people not just playing."

9. Village Green: "And now all the houses, Are rare antiquities. American tourists flock to see the village green. They snap their photographs and say "Gawl darn it, Isn't it a pretty scene?" And Daisy's married Tom the grocer boy, And now he owns a grocery."

10. Starstruck: "Baby, watch out or else you'll be ruined, 'Cause once you're addicted to wine and champagne, It's gonna drive you insane, Because the world's not so tame."

11. Phenomenal Cat: (lyrics are just weird) "Once when he was thin, He had flown to old Hong Kong, And had learned the secret of life, And the sea and the sky beyond. So he gave up his diet and sat in a tree, And ate himself through eternity."

12. All Of My Friends Were There: "Days went by, I walked around dressed in a disguise. I wore a mustache and I parted my hair, And gave the impression that I did not care, But oh, the embarrassment, oh, the dispair. Came the day, helped with a few large glasses of gin, I nervously mounted the stage once again."

13. Wicked Annabella

14. Monica: "Under a lamp light Monica stands at midnight, And every guy think he can buy her love, But money can't buy sweet lovin' from Monica."

15. People Take Pictures Of Eachother: "People take pictures of the Summer, Just in case someone thought they had missed it, And to proved that it really existed. Fathers take pictures of the mothers, And the sisters take pictures of brothers, Just to show that they love one another."

So yeah, I LOVE The Kinks. This album is a true landmark and you should go listen. You may hate it but hey at lesat you gave it a chance huh!

HIGHLIGHTS: All Of My Friends Were There, Picture Book, Do You Remember Walter, Big Sky, Village Green Preservation Society, Johnny Thunder

GRRR: If anything....Starstruck.

Edited January 28, 2009 by ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster

[gunnar hendershow]

#2 was out of nowhere given all the other artists and albums on your list, but perfectly justified and in a lot of respects fits right in with the rest of the list.

[y2gudge08]

I have read back the thread and typical I catch up with the number 1 left - doh! A lot I do agree on like Muse, Radiohead & Blink 182 (perfectly summed up may I add) but it's given my impetus to listen to some Sigur Ros and catch back up with Blur & The Chemical Bros. I am waiting with baited breath for numero uno...

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

1: TAKK by Sigur Ros

Released in 2005.

So finally I get to my number 1 and unlike other albums on the list I feel this needs very little explanation. People know my love of Sigur Ros and this is the best of an excellent discography. My first contact with any songs from the album, like many others here in the UK, was from adverts for BBC's Planet Earth series which used Hoppipolla I believe. This was quickly followed up by seeing them perform on Jools Holland and I got the album very shortly afterwards.

Perhaps this album is less "fashionable" to proclaim as your favourite from Sigur Ros because it's the most mainstream. Both ( ) and Ágætis byrjun explore darker musical waters and are therefore "cooler" albums for musos but Takk for me is a perfect rolling saga of beauty, vibrancy and looking inward while surrounded by majestic fjords...or something.

Anyway what sets this album apart from any other I'm aware of is that there are no bad tracks, no lesser tracks...Every single piece is beautiful and fully deserving of separate play in its' own right...And when you put them together....The whole is even more than a sum of its parts.

So a quick run through then...."Takk" is a lovely ethereal entrance piece, welcoming you into the grand hall that is the album. "Glosoli" introduces Jonsi's beautiful vocals before it builds and builds more and more intensely before the ultimate crescendo - it's one of my favourite tracks of all time. "Hoppipola" is probably the most famous track from the album and it's a lovely song about jumping in puddles (!) and is possibly in danger of being over familiar but it's still great. "Meo Blodnasir" chills the vibe down after the last two monsters and yet is crafted to follow on from them so utterly perfectly in a musical sense. Like a natural continuation with beautiful rolling group vocals. "Se Lest" has music box simplicity and when you think you know how it will play out it crescendos into a stirring romantic movie finale.....and then....the brass band of dreams and brilliance. I love the brass band stuff.

I always forget that "Saeglopur" is on the album because no album deserves to have both Glosoli and Saeglopur on it. I'm not used to albums having such a consistently high quality. So when it starts up I ALWAYS mark out (and did just then) because it's beauty and love in raw musical form. It's perfect. Then, after such heart-wrenching majesty we roll into the ten minute monster of "Milano" which, as if understanding that you need a time out after Saeglopur, rolls around minimalistically for a couple of minutes before launching another full out assault on your emotions with Jonsi's no nonsense squealing. "Gong" has the darkest feel and even that is hardly slit your wrists darkness...There's plenty of hope here. "Andvari" brings in relaxing strings to prepare you for the album ending and for the rest of the day without Takk. It would be filler but it's far too intricate and full of classical beauty for that. "Svo Hljott" throws out more movie beauty and the haunting guitar bow work from Jonsi before a final crescendo of such craft and intricacy that it requires multiple listenings to fully appreciate. "Heysatan" finishes off the masterpiece with unforgivingly low-fi delicacy with plenty of silence which only serves to add to the track.

So there you are. You should listen to this album, nay you should own it and play it repeatedly and then you will have to apologise to the gods of music for your lack of past Sigur Ros faith.

HIGHLIGHTS: Everything.

GRRR: When I don't have enough time to listen to the entire album.

Thanks for reading folks and joining me on this most excellent adventure.

Party on.

[METALMAN]

A worthy winner! This is also my favourite Sigur Ros album. I'd agree about every track being brilliant.

I want to listen to it now. In fact I shall!

[9 to 5]

No Aqua? Fuck off.

On a more serious note, that was great read.