Re:MP's Best Of 00's Decade-End Wrap Up
Friday, December 18, 2009 7:32 PM
(
permalink)
I take back my previous post and decided to actually go through all my music and come up with a Top 20, because a Top 10 was impossible. Here's what I came up with, along w/ a tidbit on each:
1.) Transatlantic- Bridge Across Forever: One of my fave albums of all-time and a defining album for the genre of prog in general. Stranger In Your Soul will live in infamy amongst any fans of the genre as one of the greatest achievements in prog rock history.
2.) Spock's Beard- Snow: One of the epic prog concept albums of all-time and the defining moment of their career prior to Neal leaving the band. The last few minutes of "Wind at my Back" alone would earn the album a ranking this high.
3.) The Decemberists- The Hazards Of Love: It's been a long time since an album affected me this much and made me put aside all other music for as long as this one did. Brilliantly constructed epic tale, merging folk rock and prog? This album begs to be brought to the stage. Clearly one of the best albums of the past decade.
4.) Dream Theater- Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence: In my opinion, this is not only DT's best album of the past ten years, but is so by a wide margin. From the opening metal of "The Glass Prison" to the closing notes of the epic 45 minute progressive/symphonic title track, this is DT's best written and most focused effort of the last decade.
5.) Neal Morse- Testimony: Who says Neal Morse was quitting the music business after he left Spock's Beard? The lyrics are understandably difficult for some to deal with, and I'll also admit the jesus themes become overbearing at times, but the bottom line is that Neal was simply pouring his soul out on this album and sharing his personal life story with us all. For that, he should be commended, and musically, this is by far the most diverse of all the post-SB albums.
6.) Foo Fighters- In Your Honor: To date the best Foo Fighters album of all-time. This double album has everything- CD 1 containing high energy, classic FF material, and CD2 containing stripped down, sip a glass of wine, beautifully written acoustic songs. I saw them do an unplugged show during this tour and dare I say I enjoyed it even more than seeing their electric show.
7.) Porcupine Tree- In Absentia: It's because of this forum that I even know who this band is, and it's because of this album that I'm the huge PT fan I am today. Enough said.
8.) Transatlantic- SMPTe: I was unfamiliar with Marillion and Flower Kings prior to hearing this but I knew that anything involving MP and NM would be gold. I was right. All Of The Above is the defining song here and the "Innocence and Undying love" passage alone puts this album in my Top 10 of the decade.
9.) Wolfmother- S/T: Are they completely original? No. Are they extremely derivative? Yes, probably. Do you think you're basically listening to a combination of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple when you listen to this album? Pretty much. Does this album have KILLER songs and riffs, and basically kick you in the face everytime you hear it? You better believe it. The bottom line: This album has amazing songs that are perfectly executed and each song is catchy as hell. So what if they aren't that original? I sure as hell don't. This album still blows my face off, and the new one is just about as good.
10.) Neal Morse- ?: I absolutely love this album, as I do all of his prog albums, but what I think Neal achieved on this release is a more accessible recording for the masses, without compromising his progressive vision. Clocking in at around 55 minutes, it's by far his most concise prog album, but also contains incredible playing in addition to what I believe are in their totality the most memorable melodies of all his albums.
11.) Coldplay- Viva La Vida: I could easily have put X&Y on the list as well, but this is one of the best pop/rock albums of the past 10 years and contains some amazing melodies that don't leave your head soon after listening. As MP once stated, "These guys couldn't write a bad song if they tried..."
12.) Porcupine Tree- Deadwing: The follow up to the brilliant In Absentia was almost as good, and contains many memorable moments. Arriving Somewhere But Not Here and Open Car in particular are deep, thought provoking, songs, while Halo contains one of the most bone crushing hard rock riffs in recent memory. Throw in one of the most beautifully written piano ballads in years in "Lazarus", and you have a near perfect album in which the listener hears more depth in the music with each successive listen.
13.) Incubus- Morning View: This was the first album I ever heard by Incubus, and it's truly an outstanding album. It's successor "A Crow Left of the Murder" is just about as good as well. I think Incubus proved on this album that they were not just a Top 40 rock radio band, but that they were great songwriters and musicians whose music had a lot of depth. They also proved (to me, for the first time) that they are one of the tightest and most entertaining live bands in the world.
14.) Foo Fighters- Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace: This album basically solidified The Foo Fighters as one of the top few predominant popular modern rock bands in the world. Again, it's the songwriting that sets the Foo Fighters apart, as there are many absolutely brilliant songs on this release, in particular "Let It Die", "Come Alive", and "Summer's End".
15.) Fountains of Wayne- Welcome Interstate Managers: I will say it right now: This album is one of the greatest pop albums ever made. Every song is an absolute gem. The songs are quirky, fun, catchy, and interesting. Most people know "Stacy's Mom" which is a fun song, but there's so much more to this album to love. I can't think of another band who takes the most mundane thoughts about everyday life and turns them into a great 3 minute pop song. If you're not familiar with this album, go listen to "Bright Future In Sales", "Hackensack", and especially "No Better Place" immediately.
16.) Audioslave- S/T: I was never much of a RATM fan because the whole rap/rock thing doesn't do much for me, but clearly the musicians in the band are killer and when you combined them with one of the greatest voices in rock in Chris Cornell, the results were bound to be magical, and they were. This album is basically a lesson in riff-ology, care of Tom Morello, and Chris Cornell sings as well as he ever has before or since on this record. As for the songs, well let's me just say this- I challenge anyone to listen to "Show Me How To Live" or "Set It Off" in their car and not go less than 75 MPH.
17.) Pearl Jam- S/T: In my opinion, PJ's self-titled release in 2006 was their best album since "Vs.", and this is coming from someone who's liked every single PJ album. They are also, IMO, easily one of the Top Ten live bands ever, but that's a discussion for another day. There are a slew of amazing songs on this release that rank up high amongst some of their best, including the infectiously catchy "Marker in the Sand", "Life Wasted", "Army Reserve", and one of their best all-time album closers, "Come Back".
18.) Our Lady Peace- Spiritual Machines: This is probably my favorite album by one of my favorite mainstream rock bands ever. It's also the only OLP release with a concept theme, and it's executed brilliantly from start to finish. Great production and great songs. As I mentioned in a prior post somee days ago, they are performing both this album as well as 1997's "Clumsy" in their entirety on their upcoming Canadian spring tour. Road trip?
19.) Oasis- Dig Out Your Soul: Despite their endless feuding and constant whining, the bottom line is I have always loved this band for its music. A harder edged, modern version of the Beatles can't be all that bad, and this album IMO was their best since Morning Glory. Barring a reconciliation, this will also be the last time you hear any Noel Gallagher-penned songs for Oasis, as he has left the band to pursue a solo career. Look for Oasis 2.0 to put out a new album next summer. It should be interesting to see what type of songwriting skills Liam and his other bandmates will be able to show the world. Heck, if Spock's Beard can pull it off, maybe Oasis can, too.
20.) Iron Maiden- A Matter of Life And Death: I'm not the true metalhead that many of you on this board are, but the one band I will always love is Iron Maiden because they flat out write great songs with great melodies that you can really sing along to. I also give them major kudos for having the balls to support this release by playing the entire album live from start to finish on tour. I personally feel that this album stacks up well against any classic Maiden release from any era, and every song is a winner.
I just wanted to add that this was a completely exhausting exercise, and I could probably easily include another 50 AWESOME albums that were released in the past decade. If I made this list tomorrow, maybe it would be different, but regardless, these are definitely amongst my favorites of the past decade that have enduring quality will be near to me for years to come...