 Users' Top 100 of 2008
by Trey Spencer
December 27th 2008 | 115 Comments
If one is to direct their line of sight slightly upwards to the spiffy looking satellite and title of this website, you will notice a sub-heading. Similarly, SputnikMusic should bare the additional comment of “Your Music Reviews, News, and Discussion” on your browser. While the final four capitalized words receive greater attention and attract the most interest, the first word – “Your” – should not be under-valued. SputnikMusic is indeed whatever a person wants it to be concerning music. Furthermore, no style of music is outlawed or specialized in… It’s all here. Never has that fact been more relevant and important than during this past year.
2008 was a year in which the boundaries of music were once more stretched beyond their previous limits. This was even the case amongst the mainstream populous, with acts such as MGMT and the Kings Of Leon being “discovered” and reaching the top of the charts. Just as telling, though, is the variety contained within many ‘Best Album’ lists of respected reviewers and publications. Often placed together were the pop of Britney, the metal of Cynic, the piano rock of Coldplay, the hardcore of Off Minor, the folk of Bon Iver, and the, well, everything of TV On The Radio.
How fitting it is then that SputnikMusic – YOUR music website – brings to you YOUR Top 100 Albums of 2008, as voted for by the site's users. Where else can you find one all-encompassing list that includes contributions from such varied opinions as European metal fans, American hip-hoppers, British Indie-Rockers and, last but definitely not least, Australian Craig David enthusiasts (seriously, who let that guy on here)? SputnikMusic, that’s where! So without further adieu, here they are folks; The Top 100 Albums of 2008 as determined by the users of SputnikMusic: - DaveyBoy, Contributing Reviewer
100 - 50 97. Brian Wilson – That Lucky Old Sun
93. Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I–IV
72. Paint it Black – New Lexicon 61. Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid 49 - 26 49. Becoming The Archetype - Dichotomy 48. Flying Lotus – Los Angeles 
47. Arsis – We Are the Nightmare 46. Kanye West – 808s and Heartbreak 
45. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes 44. Equilibrium - Sagas 
43. The Butterfly Effect – Final Conversations of Kings 42. The Roots – Rising Down 
41. Adebisi Shank – This is the Album of a Band Called Adebisi Shank 40. Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III 
39. Shugo Tokumaru – Exit 38. Anathema - Hindsight 
37. Erykah Badu – New Amerykah Pt. 1 (4th World War) 36. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend 
35. Son Lux – At War with Walls and Mazes 34. Kayo Dot – Blue Lambency Downward 
33. Mesa Verde – The Old Road 32. pg.lost – It’s Not Me, It’s You! 
31. Guns N’ Roses – Chinese Democracy 30. The Sound of Animals Fighting – The Ocean and the Sun 
29. Amon Amarth – Twilight of the Thunder God 28. The Drones – Havilah 
27. Blue Sky Black Death – Late Night Cinema 26. Lights Out Asia – Eyes Like Brontide 25 - 01 25. Deerhunter - Microcastle An interesting exercise in atmospheric indie-rock, Deerhunter attempts to maintain a creative focus on Microcastle. At times they are truly genuine, yet this also seems to conceal the simplistic nature of their compositions. While not glaringly obvious, Deerhunter would be better for maturation of a creative process. Make no mistake, there is potential for greatness here; it only needs proper channeling. - Kingsoby1
24. Burst – Lazarus Bird This will take you on a journey that, I can say with confidence, will feel new and vigorous every time you take it. Few albums I've heard put forth as much effort, emotion, precision, thoughtful progression of sound, and overall quality. A masterpiece. - AngelPhoenix 23. Anberlin – New Surrender This album isn't exactly revolutionary or groundbreaking, and though this might not be a contender for album of the year, it is definitely an extremely solid and highly enjoyable album from the Floridian quintet. The songs are all superbly written and the album never really drags or repeats itself. I guess what I'm trying to say is this...buy this album. I can almost guarantee you won't be disappointed. - Brent Stephenson 22. United Nations – United Nations F*cking insane grindcore meets Thursday meets Daryl Palumbo ripping his vocal chords to shreds over some insanely technical guitar riffs and insane drumming, with some killer melodies thrown in to make it sexy. Finally, a Daryl P. side project that doesn't suck ***. But yeah, this stuff rules. - StrizzMatik
21. The Flashbulb – Soundtrack to a Vacant Life In more ways than one, this record redefines moody, eclectic electronica. The atmosphere is so intense that listening to these thirty one tracks while lying on a beach, in the woods, or in your imagination will trigger you to think about that girl you care too much about or have your thoughts question things you've left undone, but it provides motivation and discouragement at the same time forcing you make your own decisions. Benn Jordan wants you to listen to this (for free, he put it up on torrents) and interpret these heavy sounds as you see fit. Once you start, the record won't let you stop, because its everflowing stream of numerous genre tones needs to tell you its story, and you will want to listen. This is music in all forms, arranged in its own unique way, painting its pallet and finding a way...so where are you? - Fireaboveicebelow
20. Portishead - Third The whole album...feels like a quick dive into a lake by moonlight. These and other such romantic images are frequently conjured and played with by Gibbons’ voice and thick sampled string sections; basically the whole album sounds like the act of lovemaking. I have no doubt that Portishead themselves intended for this album to reside permanently next to the stereo systems of chain smoking smooth talkers. Doubters need only listen to “Hunter,” which makes up in tunefulness what it lacks in subtlety. In short this is the best kind of make-out album: the kind that evokes mood as well as passion and, rather than growing old with repeat listens, will likely reveal deeper intrigue. Third was worth the wait for fans, and is a must listen for anybody interested. - DerMond 19. Between the Buried and Me – Colors _Live The recording quality is great, the set is close to perfect (no "All Bodies" is frowned upon) and the band has come back with improved their stage presence while still maintaining the tightest musical performance around. It’s a must-have package for a fan of the band and is also a good starting point for someone interested in BTBAM. - Kit Brown 18. In Mourning – Shrouded Devine In Mourning somehow manage to keep their formula fresh throughout the album, and each of their songs is memorable for completely different reasons. ‘In The Failing Hour’ for it’s emotional and thoroughly brilliant chorus, ‘By Others Considered’ for the beautiful melodic interlude that somehow weaves it’s way into the song, ‘The Art of a Mourning Kind’ impresses with it’s menacing atmosphere and ‘The Black Lodge’ shines with it’s inventive and melodic riff structure. Indeed, all of these songs are brilliant in their own right... In short, In Mourning are something different, something unique, and they sound damn good too. The Shrouded Divine is an album that both impresses on first listen, and then continues to develop and improve on further listens... - Crimson 17. Meshuggah - Obzen Being new to Meshuggah I was surprised how much I liked their highly technical music: the album is carried by a tight and virtuosic rhythm section almost on its own, though I don't deny the importance of both guitars and vocals summing up to an organic band sound. But at its core are the complex drum patterns that make it quite hard for the listener to keep up with. There's not much variation on "obZen", neither within the songs nor within the whole album - you might call it repetitive or monotonous, but surprisingly it doesn't get boring after various listens. Instead you constantly move deeper into the fascinating world Meshuggah have created with this record and there's a growing sensation that one day you might understand it. - Mendigo 16. Sigur Ros - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust  Now more than ever, vocalist Jonsi Birgisson is in truly exceptional form, effortlessly swaying from piercing falsetto to a low-key whisper in a fashion similar to Thom Yorke. Even after ten years making music, Birgisson still maintains one of the most distinct and powerful voices in music today, with a delivery that thrives on contrast, intensity and raw, impassioned beauty. One does not even need to under stand the language in which the language is sung (even when this is possible, for the first time ever, on the penetratingly introspective closer “All Alright”), for the language of music, combined with the brilliant display of emotions through the vocals, is indeed universal. His fellow musicians, bassist Georg Hólm, multi-instrumentalist Kjartan Sveinsson and drummer Orri Páll Dýrason, once again paint a thoroughly detailed and beautifully arranged backdrop, emphasised further by the simply unimpeachable horns and strings. Not a single foot is placed even slightly out of line here in terms of the music itself- certainly an impeccable feat considering there’s not a solo in sight. - David Young 15. Harvey Milk – Life… The Best Game in Town ASS: kicked. - Eliminator 14. Coldplay – Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends You would think that after making all that money and claiming all that fame Coldplay would just stick to what they were doing, yes? No! Instead they completely banned the piano from the writing process creating 10 brilliant songs, ranging from pre 1990 U2 like tunes (Lovers In Japan, Cemeteries of London) to the catchiest of tunes (Lost!, Yes) to, what this album thrives on, epic tracks like (Viva La Vida, Death and All His Friends) while stringing every song together as if they were chapters to a story. Even Chris Martin’s lyrical progression is surprising (“Those who are dead are not dead, they’re just living in my head. And since I fell for that spell I’ve been living there as well.” In 42) Creative, Catchy, Epic, I have nothing but good things to say about this album. - Brandon E.L. Magnuson
13. Sun Kil Moon - April  I will always remember that line a newspaper once wrote about one of my favorite movie-directors (the Austrian Ulrich Seidl), that goes something like: "it seems when he just looks at something ordinary long enough, it suddenly unfolds a striking beauty." - a beautiful saying, almost a philosophy for life, isn't it? The point is that the same applies for Sun Kil Moon's releases: Out of the constant repetition of certain patterns that maybe wouldn't be too great on their own, Mark Kozelek evolves something tense and beautiful, wonderful songs you can immerse yourself in. Next to top-notch songwriting, it might be both because of the mostly spare instrumentation and the comfortable voice or maybe because of something completely different and indefinable that "April" is one of the most touching and emotionally challenging albums of 2008. What it actually is that makes me love Sun Kil Moon's music so much remains a mystery to me, but I don't care at all once his voice fills my ears. - Mendigo 12. Underoath – Lost in the Sound of Separation Despite your opinion of the band or the album, it seems hard to distract yourself from the fact that the musical maturity this metalcore band has shown deserves a great deal of respect, and that this album is a culmination of what they have become over the course of six albums. In the midst of many imitators, Underoath shows unsurpassed quality that explains why they were imitated in the first place. - Ben Calegari 11. Arghoslent – Hornets of the Pogrom Pretty much everything about Hornets of the Pogrom is a vast improvement on Arghoslent's already winning formula they explored on their previous releases. The songwriting, riffs, vocals, lyrics, drumming, literally everything is completely flawless and top-notch. Instead of each song being simply a collection of riffs flowing through each other, essentially a 'riff salad' like on their other releases, the songs seem to be structured much more logically and with thematic continuity in mind. Hornets of the Pogrom is one of the best death metal albums I've heard and is among the top death metal albums released this decade. Arghoslent have proven to their politically correct detractors with Hornets of the Pogrom that despite their 'radical' ideologies ('gimmicks' as some say), they still write music that exceeds all previous standards of quality and stands completely on its own. - Nate B. 10. The Gaslight Anthem – The ’59 Sound The world conjured up by The Gaslight Anthem is one of living fast, dying young, grabbing hold of life with both hands not letting go. It's not hard to imagine vocalist Brian Fallon sitting on the hood of a classic convertible when he wrote these lyrics, listening to The Drifters' "There Goes My Baby" while looking down at the twinkling skyline of a city he's contemplating leaving forever; his refreshingly honest tales of unrequited love, riding ferris wheels at county fairs, and driving through the night are rendered in vivid colour by the iconic 50s imagery and Fallon's gritty, soulful delivery, so much so that after just one listen, you start telling yourself you'd gladly bear the load of the remorse and regret that drip from his lyrics, if it meant being able to live the life that his words paint throughout. - Dan Smith 09. Off Minor – Some Blood Remember last year when Hot Cross released Risk Revival, a collection of their most technical/least passionate songs to date? Well, I'm sure Off Minor took note of what had happened to their fallen comrades and decided it was best for them to stay true to themselves and not release anything to ambitious like a release topping 30 minutes. Some Blood keeps it short and sweet with 6 songs that add up to 22 minutes and one 8 minute track that could be considered the best song of Off Minor's career. If they do break up after this as many have speculated, at least they did it in style. - iarescientists 08. The Mars Volta – The Bedlam in Goliath To really experience why this is a classic album, listen to the entire length of the work with no interruptions. You experience textures and soundscapes that are incredible. Some parts of the work sound as if its melting. Some parts burst with so much energy, you're jolted upright. By the way, this band can ****ing jam. I mean, they can carry you for several minutes on some complex sounds in a way that can make you even want to..dance. But then you can't dance because cohesiveness is not the forte of The Mars Volta. Cohesiveness and rules in music are boring. BORING. I feel this band will be legendary. - truthliesverbs 07. Have a Nice Life - Deathconsciousness "Deathconsciousness" tells a tale packed on two discs and one 75-page booklet. A fascinating story of grief, passion, religion and most of all death, it is enthralling and haunting like a good book, and will definitely absorb a lot of your time if you let it. In a strange way the lo-fi production of the music that tangles somewhere in a foggy, electronic mist between shoegaze, industrial, post rock and drone provides the perfect backdrop for it to evolve, very bleak, dark and creepy, not a listen for a sunny day. The limitation to only a few hundred copies, as well as the fact that this is a complete home-made recording do only deepen the mystery of "Deathconsciousness" further. It is left to hope that the album will cause more talented bands to follow their lead, both in terms of completely turning their backs on exploitative music companies as well as having the nuts to record a conceptual album as brave as this. - Mendigo 06. TV on the Radio – Dear Science TV on the Radio's fourth studio effort shows remarkable progression from former works; creating a fun and eclectic mix of songs that won't fail to deliver. From the arty opener 'Halfway Home' through to album closer 'Lover's Day' this creative masterpiece will suck you in with it's charm and slightly off the wall genre blending (you'll hear elements of indie rock, soul, electronic and more). Q Magazine described this as 'art rock with a human face' ...whatever the fuck that means this is a record that the band can be proud of and is a delightful gift for music fans across the board. - Bleak123/Gaslightanthem 05. Opeth - Watershed  If you couldn't tell from my descr1ptions, Watershed is clearly not one of Opeth's heavier efforts, in fact it is probably one of their softest to date. While this will most likely send much of the group's older fan base reaching for the Kleenex, I also can see this being a huge draw to many other people. I have plenty of friends who love Opeth just for their clean and progressive parts, but virtually listen to none of their more metallic tunes. I don't really see this as being a concession on the band's behalf or their pandering to a mainstream audience (calling any of this stuff mainstream is like calling Frank Zappa pop) so much as it is just their pursuit of their own creative paths. They have certainly been around long enough to earn their artistic freedom, and even if Watershed won't really change the minds of the nay-sayers it will at least quiet many of their critics. People frequently complain of Opeth's sound never changing and their songs dragging onto oblivion; with Watershed all such grievances have been addressed, but on their own terms, which is really how it should be done. Watershed is a hard album to tackle and definitely takes an open mind to appreciate, but is entirely worth the effort. This will undoubtedly be a polarizing album, and while I cannot say for sure where it stands in relation to Opeth's many masterpieces, it is truly a great and different work that deserves a fair chance. A Watershed indeed. - TheDistantFuture 04. Thrice – The Alchemy Index Vols. III and IV  A more musically cohesive volume, the second part of The Alchemy Index may not represent its elements as well as the first, particularly Earth, but it does seem like a more natural area for the band to explore. Thrice have a knack for being good at several different styles, and the mostly acoustic, sometimes folk sound of Earth suits the band well with rare hiccups. A solid disc in the least, it also houses a sound that is perhaps the most comfortable match for Dustin Kensrue's voice. The more often than not calm acoustic, dry sound serves as perfect background music to Dustin's trademark throaty voice. The Air disc seems to put its focus more on the atmosphere and mood, and probably does the best job of any of the four discs in representing its element. It also boasts a few of the band's best songs like "Daedalus" and the breathtaking "Silver Wings". This disc makes the entire index worth the purchase price alone. My only complaints with the third and fourth volumes are the slight inconsistency in the Earth disc and both disc's tendency to get boring every once in awhile. - Sean Rizzo 03. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago  I first heard Bon Iver's masterpiece, For Emma, Forever Ago, all the way back in October in 07, where, at my cousin's house, we listened to the album around ten times. I posted a review of it here, where it got little attention. I listened to the album sporadically since then, but it wasn't until February until I manned up and bought this work, and I released how truly great this was. For Emma is the best album of both 2007 and 2008, to be honest, and I would've definitely put it on my top ten of 07 list if I had been exposed to this more. For Emma mostly consists of wintery, minimal folk with elements of soul ("Flume"), pop ("Skinny Love"), and even some gospel ("Lump Sum") to keep it from becoming stale. Iver's voice is high-pitched and beautiful, and complements the minimalism of the album beautifully. And when Iver plugs in ("Team", "Creature Love") and shows off some guitar prowess along with his songwriting skills, the results are nothing less than perfect. For Emma is a masterpiece. Get it. - Cam Wilson 02. Protest The Hero - Fortress ... I can already tell that this will be one of the year’s best albums. Protest the Hero exceeded many of the expectations I had and took their sound to a definite new high. The guitars absolutely rip, the bass smokes, and Rody’s vocals are just too cool to describe. If you’re looking for technical metal that can contend with Between the Buried and Me or Necrophagist, this is for you. If you’re a person who loves singing along to songs in the car, I’d suggest this too. And if you’re looking for both, you better have heard of these guys. This is Fortress, and everyone better listen up. - Kit Brown 01. Cynic – Traced in Air  I liked Focus very much, but wondered what all the fuss was about. Then I thought about how it was released in 1993 and was simply far ahead of it's time in many ways. I wondered if Cynic would be able to duplicate that kind of effect in 2008 when so much has already been done. Well they didn't duplicate it. They improved upon it, and created an album whose impact is, at least to me, greater than that of Focus, and indeed is one of the all around best metal albums I've ever had the pleasure of listening to about 30 times in less than a week. The entire album is a highlight really, but if I had to narrow it down, The Space for This, Integral Birth, Adam's Murmur, and King of Those Who Know are supremely spectacular. Also, the album's opener and closer are two of the most beautiful songs I've heard and are much like succinct summaries of the sound and feel that Cynic has poured their hearts and souls into producing. Can I give this more than a 5? No? Shucks. Get this now. - AngelPhoenix Looking Ahead to '09 Staging a revolution in the digital 2000s is no easy task; instant access to downloadable content makes for quite the flavor-of-the-day atmosphere. Although already fleeting, the reknown these artists of 2008 garner is still significant. For a composition to mean so much to someone as to prompt registration for a communal web-blog, be one of hundreds to emphatically vote for an annual top-five, and subsequently participate with in-depth discussion of the year to come, this means something. Just as the satellite accomplished almost half a century ago, its namesake interweb entity views humanity orbiting from the outside, impartially. The metal cancels out the alternative, negating the electro-prog-core-pop in sequence. This is not Sputnikhiphop, as much as it's not Sputnikdoomlegion; so without further genre fabrication, remember that there are some things Sputnikmusic looks forward to in 2009...
In rock, many are eagerly awaiting (for better but most likely for worse) dredg to finally off-load a brand new LP, a precariously similar position to Italian goth-rockers Lacuna Coil. Not to stray too far from the subject of artists-that-will-massively-undercut-their-potential, but the less distorted side of the 2009 gamut looks promising; Animal Collective, Jaga Jazzist, mewithoutyou, and the Decemberists all look to either begin or continue building upon their respective hype-locomotives. Can you feel it?
Punk-wise (subgenre inclusive), Circle Takes the Square most likely takes the cake with the in-progress Ritual of Names. Thousands of pre and post-pubescent conneissuers of fine emo are already chomping at the bit for the follow up to the highly lauded As the Roots Undo, so for the sake of avoiding simultaneous/communal cranial implosion, hopefully it drops in a timely fashion. Ditto for Glassjaw. For those that veer away from the "core's", the prospect of brand new Brand New and Say Anything records has excited many, [tasteful sexual metaphor].
Besides interest garnered in various upcoming metal releases (My Dying Bride, Samael, Converge, Wintersun, to name a few), this is probably the only thing that needs be known about metal in the new year. Implosion is for punk fans; maybe 2009 will yield some reverse-metallic-grammar-explosion?:
The story starts with a seed and it grows. It´s a multidemensional story. It starts on planet earth, it deals with astral travel, goes to outer space, you get lost and you go on into a wormhole and you start exploring all sorts of Stephen Hawkings theroies, space continium and all that, you go into the spirit realm, you get sucked into another wormhole that brings you into Tsarist Russia and you get put inside Rasputin´s body and Rasputin is assassinated and you fly off through the crack in the skye and back through outer space into the devil´s dominion, passed him, back into earth and into your body. It´s all real natural and it all kind of comes together. We like it. -Brann Dailor (Mastodon)
With impossible expectations, the follow up to the epic Deltron3030 only awaits the acid-coma-induced rhymes of Del tha Funkee Homosapien for completion. While ahead of its time in the very early 21st century, Black Milk and Madlib have made considerable headway. The Random Axe Project and Beat Konducta series show much potential as contenders with the old guard of the progressive. Meanwhile, Oktopus continues to break the mold with an early best-of-2009 candidate on Dalek's Gutter Tactics. Last but not least, Nick Greer's foray into trip hop soundscrapes, self aware shoegaze with aleatoric properties, aims to please.
Phew. The Sputnik user-base has quite a bit to look forward to, while approaching the latter part of this decade. Remember this term user-base well, as the concept of this wonderful community is based on that very communal perspective; it takes mild dedication and even-more-so of a collective effort to meet a successful year. Here's to continued growth and prosper in 2009. - Sobhi Abdul-Rakhman (Kingsoby1), Contributing Reviewer * Compiled and Created By Nick Butler (Iai) and Trey Spencer (WillieFisterbut)
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Comments
Thanks to Daveyboy and Kingsoby1 for taking the time to write the intro/outro during the holiday week. Also, thanks to Fireaboveicebelow, Kingsoby1, and Bleak123 for being cool enough to write soundoffs for the three albums that were missing any user input.
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Kudos to Trey and Iai and everyone else who participated in this, it looks bloody terrific.
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Its sad to see slipknot ahead of Transcending Bizarre, Enslaved, etc.
The page looks great though, congrats to all.
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nice work! feature is great. glad to see the gaslight anthem get in the top 10.
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It is sad to see that Slipknot over those bands, but that's what corporate backing can do. My only wish is that Anathema had placed higher.
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Lights Out Asia gets a correct amount of love =). Anyway, Silveri said it correctly. Everything looks great.
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The top 10 list sure is a surprise!
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yai, my review is on this, good to see In Mourning do well here
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Good to see Underoath high up.
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Excellent job with this everyone.
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i'm curious to know how many votes the number 100 spot received. Also, i'm very surprised Grouper didn't make it on here
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PTH #2 = Ugh
Solid list though
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This look really good, and it's a great list also! Nice job.
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A lot less metal in one calendar year. Whoa.
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this year was pretty bad for metal tbh
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i think a lot of people who were once like i love metal and only metal branched out a lot thanks in main to this site. well done willie and iai for putting this together
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grouper is too elite for the masses
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PS: seriously awesome work on this, guys.
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weezer? i mean i love them, but that album wasn't THAT great. haha good to see guns n roses.
sad not to see saints of los angeles, that was a great album.
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WOT!? No Craig David!? F'N DISGRACE... I call for a recount!!!
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Much better list than most.
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List turned out better than expected. I dislike PtH at #2 but w/e, the users voted.
Extremly happy at #1 and at Thrice making it to the top 5 and above Opeth.
Excellent list, excellent write-up. Kudos and Happy Holidays to all involved and to the whole community.
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no Equilibrium makes me =(. It was the 46th highest rated album this year.
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oh shit. I completely missed that. My bad
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when did we do write ups? I wanted to do a couple :(
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oh i see now. nevermind
I like how the list turned out
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wow, Kanye is higher than Flying Lotus
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There are too many lists on this site.
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"looks promising; Animal Collective, Jaga Jazzist, mewithoutyou,"
Holy shit.
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satisfied with exit, soundtrack to a vacant life, and april making decent to high placings.
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Thanks for including part of my review :)
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There aren't too many lists usually, just right now. Besides, this is the list that was voted on by all of the users, so this should be important; right???
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I'm aware that the fucking server with all the pictures just went down. As soon as I get home I'll transfer them somewhere else and update the links...
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torche should be in the top ten
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I just don't see the point in lists, Willie, especially ones that rank music. What does this list do?
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Pretty much ace list. Amon Amarth is a major dissapointment however. I don't see it.
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It prompts people to possibly investigate new music that they may not have paid attention to otherwise. I don't recognize your screen name so I don't know if you're new or not, but with this site especially, discovering new music that you wouldn't normally look into is one of the main points.
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no worries trey, troll's just trying to represent. i love lists, especially from this site when i first started using it... definitely introduced me to a ton of albums i really love.
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I don't think he's a troll. I think he really doesn't see the point in lists, and if you're not going to investigate further than there isn't a point.
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I understand this sites purpose and I have used it to discover new stuff, but lists never did that for me. I just think there are more useful ways to use the obvious talent in the programmers of the website other than catering to the average Sputnik user with top 50s, top 100s, top 10s, etc. I think the lists are entirely crafted by the users narrow view of musical quality. And I'm not trying to worry anybody, Soby, I can't be responsible for your uneducated judgment skills.
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Also, impressive shots of cover art and brief, massively opinionated summarizations of the music shouldn't be the gateway to discovering new music, that is the gateway to elitism and superficiality.
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It doesn't have to be. If you spend enough time here you learn who shares your tastes and who doesn't and then the lists start becoming useful when they're posted by those you know share your taste... this one is a community-collective list and is obviously a little more hit-and-miss.
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Then your placing the decisiveness in the hands of the users rather than the music itself, prompting users to search for the opinions of listeners who share their taste to an extent and make purchase/download decisions based on the opinions of others who do not necessarily share opinions to the full extent of the musical spectrum; basically the users looking for fellow opinions may experience fruitless attempts to force themselves into an album they know is wrong for them but is not wrong for their overall tastes. See, it is never about the people, it is always about the object in question. Lists cater to SOME people, SOME users, not all users, therefore they are futile and should be replaced with discussion forums.
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"prompting users to search for the opinions of listeners who share their taste to an extent and make purchase/download decisions based on the opinions of others who do not necessarily share opinions to the full extent of the musical spectrum;"
^ I have been using this site since 2005, and I've seen this happen more frequently than I breath in a day.
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Ha ha, it's not an exact science but it seems to work. Personally, I've found a lot of new music through lists, reviews as well as in the discussion forums. Everyone is going to have their own opinion based off of what works for them. At the end of the day it's better to have the lists be here for those that want them.
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All is well, but I'm sure the people who enjoy reading through tedious lists would also enjoy some old fashioned conversion with their peers who actually aspired to make these lists in the first place. What if the lists never were? What if...
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The question raised there is "Why can't they read through the tedious lists and then enjoy some conversation with the person who made the list as well as other readers?". Basically, why one or the other?
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Fact and fiction, good and bad, work and does not work. Lists don't work for everyone, therefore they are obsolete on a website that encourages musical fraternity and outreach to music enthusiasts who are oblivious to music they may enjoy extremely. These people do not have to read through tedious lists to find out what lesser-known and possibly transcendent material that was released this year. Both can be achieved through one on one, or a hundred on a hundred discussion, much more quickly and much more effectively in an informative sense.
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I don't think users here have a "narrow minded view of musical quality." Lists are helpful to some people in finding new music, but you don't have to if you don't want to. At the very least they are interesting to read and see what albums everyone favors best as a whole here.
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Yeah, that whole "it must work for everyone or not at all" mentality doesn't make sense. Nothing is going to work for everyone.
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I'm discussing this from an evolutionary point of view, as in these lists are obsolete because every reason I've been given for their existence can be used to back up the existence of message boards, discussion forums, chat rooms, etc. Age old tech in Internet years, but lackluster on several websites which prefer to rank everything based on a democratic system of vote and deliver us the results that most don't even agree with. I'm aware this voting is done on a separate forum that isn't associated with several Review Site users who don't bother to post there and are unfamiliar with the territory, which can be a major drawback for a message board and thats why I think there should be one on THIS particular web page, or even better a chat-room that is simple to access. And as for the narrow minded views of musical quality, its what most refer to as elitism, and if you don't think that elitism is a large player in the Sputnik ball game then you haven't been here that long or you are an elitist yourself.
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Discussions work for everyone in the sense that there is an immediate response to your inquiry, whereas in lists, there is a statement that is solidified and cannot be altered by the opposing and opinionated.
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Immediate AND live response, that can be further discussed itself.
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your point is void shut up
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I think you need to sit down in front of a dictionary and look up the definition of void, have a cup of coffee, perhaps a cigarette and then come back to talk.
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There's really nothing left to discuss on this topic. You have problems with lists, but it's a problem that not everyone shares. Use them or don't. Read them or don't. That's the beauty of it.
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some definitions of void: # Containing no matter; empty.
# Not occupied; unfilled.
# Completely lacking; devoid: void of understanding. See synonyms at empty.
# Ineffective; useless.
# Having no legal force or validity; null: a contract rendered void.
my point still stands. i would offer a productive argument like willie's but you will stubbornly continue to argue your ridiculous point and i have no intention of polluting the lists comment section. please stop
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Good list, I'm happy with it for the most part.
But everyone misses out Deftones new album in the 'looking ahead' parts!
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Its not stupid, its not unoccupied, its not unfilled, no lacking, devoid, its simple enough to understand...so I don't see how what you are arguing isn't as completely ridiculous as you think somebody with a different opinion is. These were just suggestions, you don't have to go ahead and miss the point of what I was saying and then base your argument around a lie you have conjured in your rather minute head.
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i will say this one more time -->
i would offer a productive argument like willie's but you will stubbornly continue to argue your ridiculous point and i have no intention of polluting the lists comment section. please stop
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holy shit, all of you, shut the fuck up.
if you don't like the list, don't read it, nobody cares about the reason for its existence from an evolutionary point of view. what the hell is this, philosophy 101?
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agreed^
great opening DaveyBoy
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You guys need better logic than that, I feel like I'm talking to a bunch of six year olds (Except for Willie).
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And gaslightanthem that is one of the saddest cop-outs I've ever seen in my life.
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hey guys great conversation about a list
everybody wins
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You don't have to downplay it and decide not to add periods to your statement for special internet effect. I'm using this list as a scapegoat for the business I disagree with on this site, its just discussion, something that isn't acknowledged enough here.
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Why do you feel so strongly about that?
Tell me more.
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Why do I have to feel strongly about an issue to bring it up in discussion? Strong feelings are feelings I reserve for subjects/objects of utmost importance in my life. Yet I do feel that when I see a flaw in something I should be allowed to talk about it.
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Its sad if you really need me to, so I won't, I've been having a rather gleeful day.
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But I was going to be interested in what you were going to say.
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Well there isn't anything else to say aside from me using the freedom of the internet to express opinion on its overall quality is apparently disheartening to several who use this website.
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oh
then why are you still pontificating on things you find fascinating but are ultimately unimportant
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Fascinating is a strong word, I'd use simply interested in my case. Ultimately the importance of the previous conversation is all an opinionated matter, so whether mine or yours prevails it will be only at that moment when we will know whose is preferred by the masses.
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okay cravinov
keep up the good work
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More like francesfarmer my little tumbleweed.
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But then again, whats in a name? Air, ink, lead...all common resources, no trouble there.
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10 year old w/ a thesaurus and a cause man
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Why are you always so condescending Soby? I don't touch thesauruses, I just read, probably a lot more than you do considering your impatient and childish attitude.
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Nah chill nicca, thats obviously Soulja's job.
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Great list. I need to check these out, I've been out almost all year :( College ftl?
And about the list "discussion", we have a message board. And you can comment on lists to further elaborate your point and compare. And people freely give out their AIM usernames or whatever to talk to people about music.
Iluvatar sent me Burn Piano Island Burn one time a long time ago.
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And spoon_of_grimbo, your write up for The Gaslight Anthem single handedly convinced me to check out that album. Extremely well written.
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thanks man! it was a pleasant surprise to see an excerpt of it on here too!
at least half of my favourite albums from this year are missing from this, but then again, i only discovered them through sheer chance myself, so i didn't really expect a lot of them to be well-known enough to be included. there's definitely a lot off here i need to check out though.
and well done to everyone who put together this page, it looks great!
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Great Feature. Reminds me of what i haven't listened to yet e.g in mourning, Enslaved and Burst.
Why is Slipknot on this list?
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Great list, I had a feeling Cynic and Protest the Hero would be 1 and 2.
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magictikkleCwicked = Lol.
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seconding ata, great great list for the most part. sooo happy to see thrice up so high. missing atmosphere and my epic (not surprisingly as no one will give them a listen)
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you know how in Schindler's List that one dude says "the list is life"
well this list is the opposite of that one :/
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Such a great list. So good to see PTH at #2, and Underoath so high up.
Good job guys.
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lol @ Origin making the list over dozens of better death metal albums
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lol this list is pretty bad
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I think sputnik has come of age; this is why I come back here. Thanks to all involved!
It was okay 5/5
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Epic failure for not having Sevendust on this list.
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Ha ha, Sevendust??? I think 2 or 3 people voted for them, tops.
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GNR in the top 50 and The Fathomless Mastery did not even chart. Such bullshit.
And #1 was good but not worthy of that spot.
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The images have stopped working :/
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Yeah, the site that was hosting them went down and it took me a while to notice, and a little while longer to actually upload them somewhere else and fix all the links here.
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How in the world did The Red album make it on the best of list for 08'?
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that stuff about CTTS and Glassjaw...
HA. FUCKING. HA.
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