BucketheadAhhh, alas. Another year gone. Musically, I believe it was one to remember.
My taste unarguably favored metal this year. And as a result, my listening habits reflected this. Discovering Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Anthrax, DevilDriver, Lamb of God and Machinehead, it was all a very hectic year.
However, I finally started to listen to electronica, which seems to be the go nowadays, mostly by pushing from my girlfriend. The Presets, AIR, PNAU, Cut Copy, Crystal Castles, Bag Raiders, amongst others. Initially, skeptical. But each of them has grown on me.
Albums released this year were pretty amazing on the whole. Slayer's World Painted Blood was simply mindblowingly heavy. Possibly seeing them live helped me to appreciate the music itself, but the band, almost in their 50's, succeeded in a simply mindblowingly fantastic show. Perhaps even better than the Muse concert I went to see back in '07.
Megadeth's Endgame was.. Well, there was something missing. It certainly wasn't the best album I've listened to this year. The title track is a letdown, but thankfully, Dave Mustaine's and Chris Broderick's shred-tastic opening track Dialectic Chaos was without a doubt my favourite solo released this year, and one of my favourite of all time. OF ALL TIME.
Kanye West is a total dildo.
Rammstein finally released their long awaited sixth studio album. LIEBE IST FuR ALLE DA was nothing short of typical Rammstein. Furious opening tracks, chunky, uncomplicated riffs with increasingly intricate and experimental song structures and styles. Amazing contrasts between songs such as the melodic ballad Freuhling in Paris and typical, aggressive Rammstein RAMMLIED really highlight their varying styles of metal.
Dethalbum II was easily, however, my favourite album of the year. A Metalocalypse fanboy, this album, essentially a soundtrack, but more importantly a seriously brutal album, was awe-inspiringly heavy all the way from Bloodlines to Volcano. Dethklok seemed to have evolved from the first album, which seemed, as aforementioned, simply a soundtrack to the show, Dethalbum II seemed more serious than it's predecessor.
It seems to have matured, with the vocal's increasingly brutal (Bloodlines), the guitar work increasingly hostile and heavy (Comet Song, Cyborg Slayers), and the furious blast beats (Notably in Laser Cannon Deth Sentence) all combining to make a simply astonishing metal album. The songs from Season 3 of Metalocalypse are already shaping up to provide another amazing album for Dethklok. I wait with baited breath to Dethalbum III, it will be simply mindblowing.
However, oppositely to metal, my indie tastes seemed to have decreased. This can be probably linked to the fact that, for the most part, it was a bad year for indie, alternative, and so forth.
Arctic Monkey's Humbug was just a massive letdown, plain and simple. Crying Lightning was the only saviour with that sheer brilliance coming from Nick O'Malley's bass. The rest of the album was lacklustre at best. Whatever People... seems an eon ago. The Arctic's style has evolved, but personally, I preferred the days of Turner's cheeky northern accent working well with the brilliant lyrics to make simple, yet catchy, brilliant music.
Muse's The Resistance was without a doubt, though, the biggest letdown of the year. I can't even begin to describe how much I loathe this album. I had a feeling in my gut that I knew, deep down, that it would be a massive letdown. I mean, after Origin of Symmetry and Absolution, it was unlikely to be equally brilliant. Matt stating that the album would be similar to 'Map of the Problematique' (the best song from Black Holes, without a question) sparked hope, and though Uprising is beginning to grow on me now, I die a little inside every time I hear United States of Eurasia, Undisclosed Desires, and I Belong to you.
It seems that Muse have gone off from a tangent from their old stuff. Expected, since they are modern prog-rock. However, completely ditching brilliance found in Origin of Symmetry spells disaster. I had hoped for another 8 minute epic in the form of Citizen Erased II, but the only epic I got was some space-rock twaddle that I drift off to if I pay too much attention to it.
And don't even get me started on the lyrics, or the message. Uprising? The Resistance? I mean, United States of Eurasia has an Orwellian echo, but the very vibe of this album is far too dystopian. It's far too.. Serious. It's too political. It's not subtle enough. Soldier's Poem, Exo-Politics and Assassin. Those, I believe, were enough in political message.
'It's time those fat-cats had a heart attack.' I facepalm everytime Bellamy says those words. And sadly, it's a reflection of the whole album.
Franz' new album, however, wasn't a complete letdown. It was quite catchy. Very poppy.
No You Girls gets you in the mood for singing along, Ulysses is good (without too many listens, that is) and the whole album, again very seperate from their previous works, is a slight let-down, but comparitively to Humbug and The Resistance, I'd easily take this one.
Buckethead's Slaughterhouse on the Prairie and Needle in a Slunk Stack. I couldn't even believe my ears. 'What the fuck has happened to Buckethead.' is all I could say. Depressing. Worst albums of the year. No competition. I can't even approach these with an open mind, they're simply offensive to my ears.
Finally, Animal Collective[/artist's] Merriweather Post Pavilion. Ex-Psycho got me onto this. This album took some getting into, but this is, without a doubt, the single trippiest album I have ever heard. Everything from the music to the artwork is pseudo-acid trip. It all blends together, listening to it places me into a trance. Freak-folk? Experimental? I don't know what the hell it is, and quite frankly I don't care. All I know is that if there were more albums like this, there wouldn't be drug-related crime, because we'd have this for tripping instead. This album is sheer brilliance. If you haven't yet heard it, you absolutely positively must must must listen to it. You may have a seizure listening to Brothersport or Lion In A Coma, but you can trust me when I say that this is the most fun album of the year.
In summary, then. Metal is now my favourite genre. Indie and Alternative seem increasingly elitist and pretentious. And freak-experimental-folk-trip-shit-what-the-fucking-shit-am-i-fucking-listening-to-hop is better than drugs and sex. Because listening to it will cause you to spasm, and undoubtedly cause eargasms. I gurantee it.
My taste unarguably favored metal this year. And as a result, my listening habits reflected this. Discovering Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Anthrax, DevilDriver, Lamb of God and Machinehead, it was all a very hectic year.
However, I finally started to listen to electronica, which seems to be the go nowadays, mostly by pushing from my girlfriend. The Presets, AIR, PNAU, Cut Copy, Crystal Castles, Bag Raiders, amongst others. Initially, skeptical. But each of them has grown on me.
Albums released this year were pretty amazing on the whole. Slayer's World Painted Blood was simply mindblowingly heavy. Possibly seeing them live helped me to appreciate the music itself, but the band, almost in their 50's, succeeded in a simply mindblowingly fantastic show. Perhaps even better than the Muse concert I went to see back in '07.
Megadeth's Endgame was.. Well, there was something missing. It certainly wasn't the best album I've listened to this year. The title track is a letdown, but thankfully, Dave Mustaine's and Chris Broderick's shred-tastic opening track Dialectic Chaos was without a doubt my favourite solo released this year, and one of my favourite of all time. OF ALL TIME.
Kanye West is a total dildo.
Rammstein finally released their long awaited sixth studio album. LIEBE IST FuR ALLE DA was nothing short of typical Rammstein. Furious opening tracks, chunky, uncomplicated riffs with increasingly intricate and experimental song structures and styles. Amazing contrasts between songs such as the melodic ballad Freuhling in Paris and typical, aggressive Rammstein RAMMLIED really highlight their varying styles of metal.
Dethalbum II was easily, however, my favourite album of the year. A Metalocalypse fanboy, this album, essentially a soundtrack, but more importantly a seriously brutal album, was awe-inspiringly heavy all the way from Bloodlines to Volcano. Dethklok seemed to have evolved from the first album, which seemed, as aforementioned, simply a soundtrack to the show, Dethalbum II seemed more serious than it's predecessor.
It seems to have matured, with the vocal's increasingly brutal (Bloodlines), the guitar work increasingly hostile and heavy (Comet Song, Cyborg Slayers), and the furious blast beats (Notably in Laser Cannon Deth Sentence) all combining to make a simply astonishing metal album. The songs from Season 3 of Metalocalypse are already shaping up to provide another amazing album for Dethklok. I wait with baited breath to Dethalbum III, it will be simply mindblowing.
However, oppositely to metal, my indie tastes seemed to have decreased. This can be probably linked to the fact that, for the most part, it was a bad year for indie, alternative, and so forth.
Arctic Monkey's Humbug was just a massive letdown, plain and simple. Crying Lightning was the only saviour with that sheer brilliance coming from Nick O'Malley's bass. The rest of the album was lacklustre at best. Whatever People... seems an eon ago. The Arctic's style has evolved, but personally, I preferred the days of Turner's cheeky northern accent working well with the brilliant lyrics to make simple, yet catchy, brilliant music.
Muse's The Resistance was without a doubt, though, the biggest letdown of the year. I can't even begin to describe how much I loathe this album. I had a feeling in my gut that I knew, deep down, that it would be a massive letdown. I mean, after Origin of Symmetry and Absolution, it was unlikely to be equally brilliant. Matt stating that the album would be similar to 'Map of the Problematique' (the best song from Black Holes, without a question) sparked hope, and though Uprising is beginning to grow on me now, I die a little inside every time I hear United States of Eurasia, Undisclosed Desires, and I Belong to you.
It seems that Muse have gone off from a tangent from their old stuff. Expected, since they are modern prog-rock. However, completely ditching brilliance found in Origin of Symmetry spells disaster. I had hoped for another 8 minute epic in the form of Citizen Erased II, but the only epic I got was some space-rock twaddle that I drift off to if I pay too much attention to it.
And don't even get me started on the lyrics, or the message. Uprising? The Resistance? I mean, United States of Eurasia has an Orwellian echo, but the very vibe of this album is far too dystopian. It's far too.. Serious. It's too political. It's not subtle enough. Soldier's Poem, Exo-Politics and Assassin. Those, I believe, were enough in political message.
'It's time those fat-cats had a heart attack.' I facepalm everytime Bellamy says those words. And sadly, it's a reflection of the whole album.
Franz' new album, however, wasn't a complete letdown. It was quite catchy. Very poppy.
No You Girls gets you in the mood for singing along, Ulysses is good (without too many listens, that is) and the whole album, again very seperate from their previous works, is a slight let-down, but comparitively to Humbug and The Resistance, I'd easily take this one.Buckethead's Slaughterhouse on the Prairie and Needle in a Slunk Stack. I couldn't even believe my ears. 'What the fuck has happened to Buckethead.' is all I could say. Depressing. Worst albums of the year. No competition. I can't even approach these with an open mind, they're simply offensive to my ears.
Finally, Animal Collective[/artist's] Merriweather Post Pavilion. Ex-Psycho got me onto this. This album took some getting into, but this is, without a doubt, the single trippiest album I have ever heard. Everything from the music to the artwork is pseudo-acid trip. It all blends together, listening to it places me into a trance. Freak-folk? Experimental? I don't know what the hell it is, and quite frankly I don't care. All I know is that if there were more albums like this, there wouldn't be drug-related crime, because we'd have this for tripping instead. This album is sheer brilliance. If you haven't yet heard it, you absolutely positively must must must listen to it. You may have a seizure listening to Brothersport or Lion In A Coma, but you can trust me when I say that this is the most fun album of the year.
In summary, then. Metal is now my favourite genre. Indie and Alternative seem increasingly elitist and pretentious. And freak-experimental-folk-trip-shit-what-the-fucking-shit-am-i-fucking-listening-to-hop is better than drugs and sex. Because listening to it will cause you to spasm, and undoubtedly cause eargasms. I gurantee it.
