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1.28.04
Yup, Haven't done one of these in awhile. I guess I use the message board more often when I want to get something off of my chest BUT, since I finally have a little break at work I thought I would give everyone one of those best of 2003 lists. No, nothing to do with running, since I don't have anything to do with indoor, I rather not talk about running during the Winter. Nope, today I'm going to bless everyone with...
J.B.'s Top Five Albums of 2003!!!!
I can sense your excitement. Normally I would have a top 10 list but I have to say that when it came to new releases last year I thought there were slim pickings. Let's face it, I'm 33 years old. I'm not much for rap music, I'm not into 50 Cent or some other rapper featuring Nate Dogg (does he ever do his own thing or does he just hang around the studios asking people if he can be on their song?) Nowadays, it seems that artists have a couple of good songs but lack when it comes to putting out an entire album. (note: are we still calling them albums or do we call them cd's now? Billboard Magazine still says album so that's what I'm calling them from here on in.)
Well, I'll stop harping on music of today compared to when I was a teen (heavy metal ruled the world!) and I'll just get into it. So here it is, my personal top five albums of 2003 and if you disagree then you're wrong and I'm right.
5.The Postal Service - Give Up
I've have this rep with my friends of being a big fan of bands before they hit it big. It started with Guns N' Roses when I saw them at the Palace Theater about 3 months before Appetite for Destruction came out. There was maybe 100 people there and I'm being generous with that number. Since then, about 1,000 people swear to God that they were there (if they were, ask them who the opening band was? It was EZO, a Japanese metal band with kabuki makeup on, they were the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked). There have been others like Barenaked Ladies, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and Moby, and I'm praised every time I go into a Hot Topic because I've actualy seen Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Husker Du, 7 Seconds, The Cramps, and The Misfits in concert back when punk music was, well, punk music. So where am I going with this? Well, I have this friend, and it seems to bug him that I have this "talent". So every so often he'll find some obscure band and try to get me to like them. Usually the band sucks and they don't ever make it. So it came to be that one day he asks me about The Postal Service. I had heard of them but never actually gotten around to listen to them. So he rips me, err I mean, he lets me borrow his cd to give it a listen, and low and behold I really like it, very mellow electronica, not quite techno, not quite dance. It's really good stuff. I actually bought the cd (yes kids, I buy the cd's of the music I like) and it has found a common spot in my cd player. One problem, now my friend keeps sticking it that he was the one that turned me one to it. It's so annoying. Almost makes me want to hate it and I make sure it's not around when he's in my car or over my house. Best Songs: "Brand New Colony" and "We Will Become Silhouettes".
4. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
Their first album was great and this one is even better. Seems like I'm in a dreary mood with my selections so far. They remind me the 80's band Joy Division with lyrics by The Smiths. At first I thought that maybe some members of Joy Division were in this band. They aren't but the group is obviously influenced by them. People keep grouping them with The Strokes because they both broke out of the New York scene at the same time, but that's where the similarities end with the two bands. Some great stuff to listen to. One downside, I got a speeding ticket while listening to them. Is anyone like me? When something like that happens you almost don't want to play that cd in your car ever again? Back when I was in high school I got into a car accident while listening to Father Figure by George Michael, never could listen to that song again. Probably a little too much sharing on my part but you get my point. Best Songs: "Untitled" and "Say Hello to the Angels".
3. Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Remember way back in the beginning of this I said that I didn't like rap? Well, okay there's a few things I like and unless you've been up in the Mars Rover you know that this album is much different than most rap albums that are out these days. To put it plainly, Andre 3000 is genius, he's gone from straight rapper to more of a funk/jazz theme and it sounds great. The Love Below is by far my favorite of the two discs and that doesn't even have to do with "Hey Ya". Personally, my favorites are "She Lives in my Lap." and "Take Off Your Cool" with Norah Jones. The problem I have is Big Boi, probably because it's more of a pimping/gangsta theme to his side which I've mentioned is the type of rap that I don't like. I give him a thumbs up for "Bowtie", it has a nice funk and 70's pimp feel to it, and also the fact that he's the one responsible for the whole rappers wearing retro jersey thing. Best Songs: "She Lives in My Lap" and "Bow Tie".
2. Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
Can you say "Duh?" I mean can these guys ever put out something that isn't genius? This album mysteriously wound up on my computer in February and when the cd came out in May I had to jump all over it (support your favorite artists, kids.) Quite an angry side of Thom Yorke in this one, I think the title says it all. What doesn't describe this album? It's warm, cold, distant, melodic, terrifying, and a few other adjectives that I can't come up with at the moment. What's different about this album compared to the other Radiohead albums is that there isn't one song that really stands out. Maybe "There, There" but that's only because it was released as a single. This one doesn't have a "Paranoid Android", "The National Anthem" or "Pyramid Song" but that's not entirely a bad thing. Even though every song is eclectic in it's own way, like the heavy "2+2=5", or the slow ones like "There, There" or the experimental like "Myxomatosis", they all seem to blend together into one beautiful sounding album that takes through just about every emotion possible. The only bummer is that Thom Yorke has said that this is the last Radiohead album that will sound like this (and the previous three albums) and that the next album will sound nothing like any Radiohead we've heard before. We were spoiled with their greatness but I'm sure they will come back in their next reincarnation with something just as amazing. Best Songs: Tough to pick but I'll go with "A Punchup at a Wedding" and "There, There".
So with Radiohead at two and Outkast at three, what could possible be at number one? Hmmmm? Place your bets because it's post time is here.....
1. Jane's Addiction - Strays
You want to know what my most prized possession is? You don't? You don't even wanna guess? Tough, start guessing. No, it's not my copy of Interview With A Vampire signed by Anne Rice (it's says "For Jonathan, From Anne Rice), No, it's not my Barenaked Ladies, Gordon cd that's signed by the whole band. My most prized possession is a bootleg video of the 1990 Jane's Addiction concert at the R.P.I. Fieldhouse, and I was right there on the floor for it. So holy it is that I still remember the fear in my brother's eyes when he asked if he could bring it back to Syracuse when he was in college (I actually let him but it stayed in his room and only came out for viewing.) In my opinion, Jane's Addiction is one of the most incredible bands to ever come around. The trademark voice of Perry Farrell, the incredible guitar of David Navarro (now married to Carmen Electra, wow!), and the you-can-tell-he-never-had-a-lesson drums of Stephen Perkins. Eric Avery's bass was incredible too but he didn't come back for this album, Chris Cheney replaces him. I was a little hesitant at first after that they put out Kettle Whistle in 1997 but I finally got it and I knew I was in for a treat when "True Nature" opens up with Perry starting off the album like he always does with an enthusiastic "Here we go!" From there it just gets better and better. While I don't think some of Perry's lyrics are as good as they used to be (maybe the heroin is finally catching up to him,) but it's still better than most of the stuff that's out there. Songs like "Price I Pay" show that he still has it and "To Match the Sun" brings me back to their Nothing's Shocking album with the melodic almost beachlike feel to it. For me though, the payoff comes in "The Riches", simply everything that I ever loved about Jane's Addiction wrapped into one song. The whining guitar, the brilliant lyrics ("Carry on, feeling mortal at the risk of getting hurt,") and then changing into a more mellow mood at the end. It's good to have my old friends back, hopefully this isn't a one time deal.
Now on a down note, my choice for most disappointing album of the year....
Barenaked Ladies - Everything to Everyone
I mean this brings me to the point of anger. This is such an incredible band and they put out this...this...this...crapfest! Basically what they did here was say, "Hey, our biggest hit is "One Week" so let's make a whole album that sounds like that." Well, I guess they forgot what got them to where they are. Intelligent lyrics, great music, and incredible singing talent from the whole group. For some reason, they just blew that whole thing off. Normally they're a type of band where you have to listen to the album a few times but after five or six times listening to this cd there still wasn't a single song I liked on it. Just incredibly disappointed.
So let me know what you think, post on the message board what you're five albums of the year are. Something for you guys to think about.
JB