I'd ask if you missed me, but I'm probably the only one who ends up reading these anyway.
And yes, I have not won shit since the last "How to Lose Pro Line" post. In fact, I haven't even played since, and it's probably saved me money, time, and frustration.
Around this time of year, you see a lot of "Best/Worst of the year" type things. Since I have about an hour to kill I'll write one of my own.
So as you may know, I still avidly buy CDs from music stores.
I can already feel you shaking your head.
So naturally through purchasing all these albums, I get a taste of what I like and what I don't like.
More specifically, what I'm glad I picked up, and what I wished I would have kept on the shelf. I'll start with the ones I'm still listening to.
#1 - Kanye West - My Dark Beautiful Twisted Fantasy
No surprise here. I love Kanye (or Conway as George W. Bush calls him). However, I was really disappointed when he put out 808's and Heartbreak. I just wasn't feeling it. Graduation was good, but nothing amazing. Late Registration had some shining moments, but none of his albums came close to even touching the masterpiece that was College Dropout. That album is one of the rare ones that I can listen to all the way through without even thinking about touching the skip button. I'm THIS close to giving My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy the nod over it. It's absolutely incredible. I could write 9000 pages on why it is sex for your ears, so I'll cut it short and just tell you that you NEED to hear it. Not just one song, let it run all the way through. DO IT NOW.
#2 - Jimmy Eat World - Invented
Probably my favourite band. And just like above, close to being their very best album. If you're anything like me and are a sucker for anything acoustic (10 points to whoever gets that reference), I'd recommend the deluxe edition just for two of the four extra tracks, You & I and the acoustic version of Coffee & Cigarettes. They both feature Courtney Marie Andrews on vocals who has a killer voice.
#3 - Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns
I'm tired of all the "they're not as good as they used to be" or the "they should have never changed their style" comments I hear from fans of artists. Fuck you. Artists mature and refine their sound. If you don't like it, then just listen to their old shit. No one is forcing you to listen to the new stuff. Same thing goes for Linkin Park. Yes we all loved Hybrid Theory and Meteora, but that was years ago. Shit changes. A Thousand Suns is an incredible musical experience. The only knock I have on this album is it's not one that you can listen to song by song, you have to listen to the whole thing at once. But once you hit the last song, The Messenger (finally an acoustic LP song!), you'll agree with me.
#4 - Bedouin Soundclash - Light the Horizon
Root Fire was terrible, that's all I have to say about that. Sounding A Mosaic was a solid album, it was a good listen all the way through, but I felt like nothing really stood out on it. Street Gospels was one of those albums where the first half or so were all stand out songs, but the second half just fell off. So I had high hopes that Light the Horizon would combine what was good about the last two. No complaints from me. Easily their best album. What I like so much about this album are the highs and lows in terms of sound. A Chance of Rain is a song I can picture being played at a family barbecue (my family is Guyanese), while a song like No One Moves, No One Gets Hurt makes me feel like I got captured by some lunatic who wouldn't mind slitting my throat (yeah I'm fucked up, but you knew that). Go get it.
#5 - Jack Johnson - To The Sea
Ah, Mr. Jack Johnson. Here's a man who never disappoints. If you're a fan, I don't even have to convince you to pick this one up. Another great album by another great artist. This album was the soundtrack to all my bike rides along the lake (yes I exercise sometimes). I still can't believe I just didn't call in sick to work so I wouldn't have to sell my ticket to see him play at Molson Ampitheatre. If there's one thing you learn from wasting your time and reading my non-sensical ramblings that I call my blog, it's that lying will set you free.
Honourable mentions: Trapt - No Apologes, Damian Marley and Nas - Distant Relatives, MGMT - Congratulations
Now for my disappointments of 2010...
#1 Weezer - Hurley
I was pretty surprised when I heard that Weezer was releasing a new album not even a year since they put out Raditude. I hadn't even gotten my feet wet listening to that. I should have expected a pretty shitty album. It seems with any artist, that the longer the wait between albums, the better it sounds, and vice-versa. Other than a few songs like Ruling Me, Where's My Sex, and I Want to Be Something (Deluxe Edition only), the album was an actual piece of shit. So to the boys in Weezer (I know they read my blog regularly), just chill for a few years then put out something awesome like I expect from you. Maybe don't fuck for awhile again Rivers?
#2 - Bad Religion - The Dissent of Man
I'll be honest, I haven't listened to this one very much. But I guess it's for a reason, it's actually not a bad album, it's just nothing stands out to me. I had really high expectations for the dudes rocking the crossbuster but they didn't reach them.
#3 - Matt Costa - Mobile Chateau
All I have to say is: what the fuck happened Matt???
#4 - Finger Eleven - Life Turns Electric
I actually listened to this again this morning, it's not that bad, but it's also not that good. Falls into the "only listen to the first half" category. Meh
#5 Coheed and Cambria - Year of the Black Rainbow
This is a really good album. I'd still recommend you buy it. Far might be one of my favourite songs of all time. The reason it's on the list of disappointments is that all of their previous albums were incredible start to finish. This album has a few filler songs that constantly make me reach for the skip button. And another thing...just 54 minutes??? What happened to 12 minute epic finale that was on all the others? The last song on this album I can't even listen to, it's terrible. Take some time off and bang out another masterpiece that kicks my ass (they read the blog too).
Dishonourable mention: Avenged Sevenfold - Nightmare
So there you have it, my list of albums you should buy (who am I kidding, I'm the only one who still legally buys music) and list of ones you should avoid picking up (or wasting your time by illegally downloading) of 2010.
Hopefully the semi-hot, semi-hipster chick sitting to the left of me in Starbucks will think I'm writing a novel/movie script and will approach me with her phone number (UPDATE: Nope).
Enjoy Christmas and I'll see you in the New Year (maybe a few posts).
