2008's Best
No particular order after the top 5. The rest just rool fule. |
| 1 |  | Torche
Meanderthal
Heavy, catchy, and flawless. Album of the year, a must own for (almost) anyone. |
| 2 |  | Boris
Smile
Genre-defying, original, and all-encompassing. ALMOST as good as Pink. |
| 3 |  | Gojira
The Way of All Flesh
Brutal, precise, and complete (not easy for a metal album that clocks in over an hour). Singlehandedly
makes Meshuggah's ObZen less impressive (I only make that comment because they are both
rhythmically spectacular albums). |
| 4 |  | Black Mountain
In the Future
A fresh take on old sounds, multidimensional, and chill. This album has (at least) one song for everyone. |
| 5 |  | Cynic
Traced In Air
Sterile, beautiful, and moving. Pretty much sets the standard for anything progressive and heavy. |
| 6 |  | Disfear
Live the Storm
Fast, dirty, and reckless. Unfortunately, this album doesn't come with a radar detector. |
| 7 |  | Nine Inch Nails
The Slip
Old, different, and thus new. Reznor seemed to take everything he's ever done and let it have an voice on
this record - a step forward with a retrospective look back. |
| 8 | | Nachtmystium
Assassins: Black Meddle Pt.1
Black metal, psychedelic, and all at the same time. A really awesome and original idea that is well executed; this serves as an awesome stepping stone for anyone who isn't a black metal elitist/purist and has an open
mind. |
| 9 |  | Fuck Buttons
Street Horrrsing
Inorganic, haunting, and hypnotizing. A skillfully crafted journey through an electronic universe. |
| 10 |  | Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
Fun, fun, and fun. What's not to love about an uber-catchy (but not annoying!) pop album? |
| 11 |  | Burst
Lazarus Bird
Bludgeoning, complex, but caveman friendly. On the surface, an easily enjoyable metal album, after repeated
spins listeners find there is much more to meet the ear. |
| 12 |  | Girl Talk
Feed the Animals
Metallica + Lil Mama, LL Cool J + Faith No More, and it all = awesome? Yup, not to mention there's only
about a thousand more seemingly awkward mashups - a party must. |
| 13 |  | Opeth
Watershed
Not recycled, doesn't get stale, and pushes boundaries like the old Opeth used to. Maybe I'm a little harsh
on Ghost Reveries, but this is an awesome bounce back from a mediocre album. Not to mention they lost
2/5ths of their amazing lineup, but it seems to me like that's more of a good thing after releasing this
masterpiece. |
| 14 |  | The Mars Volta
The Bedlam in Goliath
Prog + [insert pretty much anything here], yet not overly ambitious, but where's the limit for these guys?!
Simply impressive, not their greatest work, but this pretty much drags all other prog-wannabes through the
ringer a few times. |
| 15 |  | Ihsahn
angL
Diverse, creative, and all from a dude from Emperor? Yeah... I was skeptical after hearing about this dude's
body of previous work (I'm no black metal maniac like some people out there), but this is near-Opeth quality
stuff. |
| 16 |  | Guns N Roses
Chinese Democracy
Experimental, a radio rock facet, and really well. This does to the Use Your Illusions what the UYIs did to
Appetite. |
| 17 |  | Misery Signals
Controller
Metalcore (people still doing this in 2008?), great song structures, and really interesting guitar work. So
yeah, people still are, and bands as good as Misery Signals SHOULD be. As over-saturated as the metalcore
scene is, these guys find ways to make it fresh and relevant. Thank you. |
| 18 |  | Protest the Hero
Fortress
Easy to abuse, thus easy to hate, but still undeniably great. I almost died from the awesomeness emitted
from this on my first listens, but then I got sick of the sometimes cheesy and the ADHD child-like "HEY!
LOOK WHAT I CAN DO!" (insert crazy arpeggios and other flamboyant guitar work) quality of the album,
but then I realized that it's not THAT annoying.... just sometimes. |
| 19 |  | Valient Thorr
Immortalizer
Should be titled "Appetite for Clutch", badass solos and harmonies, with a punk sensibility. Great tunes to
throw on when your gonna have some beers with your buddies or when you're changing your oil. |
| 20 |  | Fucked Up
The Chemistry of Common Life
Raw, like Fugazi meets something I can't put my finger on, and driven and powerful. Best "rock" album of the
year for lack of a better word. |
|
