Dave de Sylvia
Emeritus

Reviews 164
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Soundoffs 41
News Articles 4119
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Album Edits 717

Album Ratings 598
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Last Active 12-13-17 10:10 pm
Joined 10-14-01

Review Comments 35

 Lists
09.24.08 Muxtape05.05.08 My Mailbox: What To Review
04.23.08 Dream Band12.26.07 Mixtape
12.24.07 Top Sexy Men Of 200710.16.07 Over And Over And Over And Over
09.29.07 Best Party Rap09.27.07 Best Hip Hop
09.11.07 Bomb. Repeat. Bomb.06.21.07 Support Artists... Buy Used Cds
12.27.06 Reasons To Be Miserable, Pt. Deux12.25.06 Top 100 Albums Of 2006
10.04.06 Top Ten Glam09.07.06 Me Best Quarter Century
06.30.06 My Top 100 Bands

Top 100 Albums Of 2006

These results do not represent staff/official picks (stay tuned for these this week), but are rather the cumulative result of sitewide voting. Special thanks to Jom for counting hundreds of votes and the credited authors for their descriptions.

Without further ado, here are the best albums of 2006, as chosen by you.
1Tool
10,000 Days


It was always going to be hard for Tool to make this album. With previous records Lateralus and Aenima having been two of the greatest albums in modern rock history according to many fans, it was going to take something remarkable for expectations to be fulfilled. Tool's latest album sounds in many ways exactly like you would expect a Tool album to sound. The tribal drumming still exists, and Maynard Keenan's lyrics remain, for the most part, as enigmatic as ever. The big news behind the sound of 10,000 Days, however, is the fact that Adam Jones and Justin Chancellor have finally broken the constraints of their more frequently recognised bandmates to have the most memorable moments on this album. While 10,000 Days didn't move the band's sound forward as both their previous albums did, it does perhaps mark the moment at which Tool discovered the sound that they intend to stick with. Given the acclaim for the album, the decision is understandable. - Jonny Medopalis
2Red Hot Chili Peppers
Stadium Arcadium


A full four years after the release of By The Way, the Red Hot Chili Peppers returned with their most ambitious project to date: a double-disc album that was touted as drawing upon all their influences in their two decades as a band. While it certainly continues from where By The Way left off in terms of the melodies and song structures, on an album this long it was also inevitable that fans of their earlier music would be rewarded with more funk-infused songs. While the album doesn't mark a creative shift in the manner of By The Way, it represents a band at the peak of their powers and one that has finally found their niche. Highlights include Especially In Michigan, Stadium Arcadium and lead single Dani California. - Jonny Medopalis
3Converge
No Heroes


If the band name Converge doesn't bring up thoughts of a tough as nails band dropping a tougher than nails album every 2 years, there aren't any nails or Converge albums tough enough to chisel you out of your rock. 2006 marks the return of the group to recording and all this does is solidify themselves as a standout among many soundalikes in the genre of metalcore. Though some tracks are just meant to buildup to others and the introduction of "audible vocals" is made, it all works together and the feeling of being whipped around ferociously is still present. Not for the feint of heart. - Zach Powell
4Mastodon
Blood Mountain


Mastodon?s previous release, Leviathan, was hailed as one of the best pure metal recording of the decade, and Blood Mountain only seems to cement Mastodon as the leaders of today's popular metal scene. Continuing to mold extreme forms of metal with a more traditional progressive sound, what Mastodon does well it does fantastically. Brann Dailor is one of the most talented drummers in the business and even throws in hints of jazz influence into an already genre melding album. Arguably the best metal release of the year, the album is worth getting if only for the fantastic 'Sleeping Giant.' - John A. Hanson
5Iron Maiden
A Matter Of Life And Death


Iron Maiden's fourteenth studio album has signalled somewhat of a revival for the band, launching three moderately successful singles and topping a number of respected critics' year-end polls. The band have recently knuckled down and concentrated on recapturing the sound and spirit of their classic '80s releases, not as sonically perfect but free of the pristine production, radio-produced fare and gaudy keyboards which dominate much of their latter-day material. Lead single 'The Death of Benjamin Breeg' is as epic as anything from Seventh Son and captures exactly the main theme of the album, the humanity of war. - Dave de Sylvia
6Brand New
The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me


More than three years after the release of Brand New's promising sophomore effort, Deja Entendu, comes this much anticipated follow-up. Shedding the last vestiges of their middling pop-punk debut Your Favourite Weapon, The Devil and God... stands as a realisation of the potential showcased on their previous record. It features much thematic and musical maturation from the group, but is more an extension of Deja Entendu than an incongruous departure. Highlights include lead single "Sowing Season (Yeah)", "Jesus Christ", "Degausser" and "Handcuffs". - The Insufferable Amanda Murray
7Muse
Black Holes And Revelations


After hearing Supermassive Black Hole for the first time, Muse fans could be forgiven for wondering whether Matt Bellamy was seriously intending to be the man who went down in history for trying to make a multi-platinum progressive disco album. After listening to Black Holes and Revelations for the first time, however, it soon became apparent that it was in many ways the quintessential Muse album to date, combining bombastic song structures, piano breaks, and the famous Bellamy falsetto. Without breaking much new ground (although the disco option remains open), Muse have once again delivered one of the most popular rock albums of the year. - Jonny Medopalis
8 Mars Volta
Amputechture


The follow up to the critically acclaimed Frances the Mute, Amputechture picks up where that album left off. Continuing the expansive progressive leanings they had previously shown, it also harkens back to their earlier days, capturing a bit of At the Drive-In intensity (unsurprising considering one of the tracks was originally intended as one). While some may consider too close to more guitar driven King Crimson (does anybody remember Red?), The Mars Volta continue to impress with each record, and it could very well be their most accessible outing to date. - John A. Hanson
9Isis
In The Absence Of Truth


Every once in awhile a band comes along that constantly strives for evolution. Isis is a perfect example of this. Whether you stretch back to their early EP days or even note the difference between their last release Panopticon and their most recent "In the Absence of Truth". Isis embellishes on their post-rock influence greatly on their new LP and it makes their music even more tense and more texturally beautiful. While some traditional metal fans may not to be able to appreciate what Isis is doing while still being labeled under the genre "metal", I think it's amazing that something that was once used to label Black Sabbath has come so far. "In the Absence of Truth" is a worthwhile listen for anyone interested in music that pushes boundaries, because like always Isis is doing just that. - Jared W. Dillon
10Rise Against
The Sufferer And The Witness


The Sufferer And The Witness is a very consistent album, mainly because Rise Against has one main sound that they rely on, The Sufferer and the Witness takes fast, furious punk songs with excellent guitar work make this album immediately listenable and accessible. Their political messages are still promient; however, Tim McIlrath writes a few more relationship-based songs as well such as 'The Approaching Curve.' The album's first single, 'Ready to Fall,' displays the sound perfectly, with an uptempo verse that goes into a half-tempo chorus. 'Roadside' provides a slight bit of variety to the album, a softer track laced with a string section and female vocals. While not the best from Rise Against, The Sufferer and the Witness is a fantastic punk rock album. - Tyler Fisher
11John Mayer
Continuum


Three years after the release of Heavier Things comes Mayer's latest studio album Continuum, with the two studio records sandwiching 2005's live record Try!. While there were hints of Mayer's intended change of direction on both records and in improvisational live shows, Continuum furthers a shift to blues- and funk-influenced adult contemporary. Those familiar with early songs like "Covered in Rain" or even Heavier Things' "Come Back to Bed" will hardly be shocked by his latest effort - not in its musical style, nor in how good it is. Continuum is a soft record, to be sure, but hardly boring or lifeless. Mayer's guitar playing is always fitting to the situation, never flashy when it doesn't need to be. Bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Steve Jordan are to credit for their accomplished accompaniment, but Mayer is always the star. Justly so. Highlights include "Gravity", "Belief" and "Waiting on the World to Change". - Amanda Murray
12Gnarls Barkley
St. Elsewhere


Gnarls Barkley could have simply passed as everyone's sole guilty pleasure this year if it weren't for Justin Timberlake and the amiable critical folderol earned by St. Elsewhere. The brainchild of rapper-cum-soul machine Cee-lo Green and DJ Danger Mouse nestled neatly into ear canals with the year's crossover hit 'Crazy' and the Violent Femmes cover, 'Gone Daddy Gone.' But it was the consistent pop acumen that surrounded the duo, displayed as much by the album's zany promotion as Danger Mouse's astute production, that hooked diverse audiences and forced the limelight to linger longer. - Robert Crumbl
13The Decemberists
The Crane Wife


Oh, they're ambitious all right. The Decemberists brought their musical bombast to the majors in '06 with The Crane Wife. The band's fourth album remains imbued with the precious narrative charm that hooked your indie rock girlfriend, but this year's model adds a hint of extravagance and prog rock pretension into the mix which, coupled with other stylistic diversions, show a band less interested in reinvention than reinterpreting themselves. In the midst of the seeming self-indulgence though, The Crane Wife stands as the band's most artistically concise and creatively pointed album yet. Ambitious, indeed. - Robert Crumbl
14UnderOATH
Define The Great Line


After Underoath went popcore with They're Only Chasing Safety (and, to a lesser extent, The Changing of Times), Define the Great Line sees them returning to the metalcore of their first two EPs. While more in the vein of Norma Jean or Avenged Sevenfold than traditionally great metalcore like Converge or Botch, Underoath manage to take what they do and craft it to perfection. Spencer, inarguably a horrible singer, doesn't try to be the focus of the music and instead compliments all the excellent riffing and occasional breakdown with a myriad of "extreme" singing styles. One of the most surprising records of the year, and undoubtedly deserving of its ranking. - John A. Hanson
15Tom Waits
Orphans


It seems like Tom Waits drops out of the sky every few years with an abundance of new material and a release that demands far more attention than an album of its type should; but that's essentially what Tom Waits is about. Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards is a three-disc, fifty-four song collection that combines old and new, from a Ramones cover ('The Return of Jackie and Judy') to an affecting portrait of a suicide bomber ('Road to Peace'), while the experimental third disc sees him put the poems of Kerouac and Bukowksi to his own brand of anarchic jazz-based pop. Occasionally stunning, never predictable and 100% Waits, there's few records better placed to explain what all the fuss over Tom Waits is really about. - Dave de Sylvia
16Devin Townsend
Synchestra
17Agalloch
Ashes Against The Grain


Coming a full four years after The Mantle, Agalloch's third full-length has estalished them as America's premier black metal bands and, by implication, one of the leaders of the world scene. Shying away completely from the traditional Scandinavian sound, ditching the Opehtian acoustic guitars almost entirely and pushing singer John Haughm to vary his vocal delivery from the traditional rasp. Ashes Against The Grain is dominated by lengthy folk-infused ambient pieces that vary widely in their use of speed and volume dynamic and their use of instrumentation, as demonstrated by the nine-minute monster 'Not Unlike the Waves.' - Dave de Sylvia
18Audioslave
Revelations
19Into Eternity
The Scattering Of Ashes
20Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam


When you strip away the OTT political statements and the gout, Pearl Jam have always been a pretty good band. Pearl Jam (or 'The Avocado Album') is the band's first release in four years, their longest period of inactivity as a band, and sees the band return refreshed and at their most vibrant since 1998's Yield. Lead single 'World Wide Suicide' is a loose garage rocker that sees Vedder angry, defiant and self-righteous, basically, everything his doggish appearance suggests, while 'Gone' and 'Army Reserve' are more textured but no less immediate. Pearl Jam may not be held in the same light as Ten and Vitalogy, but the band do seem to have found their stride again. - Dave de Sylvia
21Deftones
Saturday Night Wrist
22Yo La Tengo
I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
23Unearth
III: In The Eyes of Fire
24Lamb Of God
Sacrament
25Arctic Monkeys
Whatever People Say I Am....
26Blind Guardian
A Twist In The Myth
27Mirrorthrone
Carriers of Dust
28Thursday
A City By The Light Divided
29In Flames
Come Clarity
30Thom Yorke
The Eraser
31My Chemical Romance
The Black Parade
32TV On The Radio
Return To Cookie Mountain
33Rx Bandits
...And The Battle Begun
34Joanna Newsom
Ys
35Les Claypool
Of Whales And Woe
36Alexisonfire
Crisis
37All That Remains
The Fall of Ideals
38Arsis
United In Regret
39DragonForce
Inhuman Rampage
40Dream Theater
Score
41Taking Back Sunday
Louder Now
42Cursive
Happy Hollow
43Beck
The Information
44Kayo Dot
Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue
45Killswitch Engage
As Daylight Dies
46Tenacious D
Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny
47AFI
Decemberunderground
48Amon Amarth
With Oden On Our Side
49Trivium
The Crusade
50BoySetsFire
The Misery Index: Notes from the Plague Years
51Breaking Benjamin
Phobia
52Ghostface Killah
Fishscale
53Foo Fighters
Skin And Bones
54Incubus
Light Grenades
55None More Black
This Is Satire
56Sikth
Death Of A Dead Day
57Mogwai
Mr. Beast
58Bob Dylan
Modern Times
59Bouncing Souls
The Gold Record
60Built To Spill
You In Reverse
61Damien Rice
9
62Joe Satriani
Super Colossal
63Johnny Cash
American V: A Hundred Highways
64Neil Young
Live At the Fillmore East
65Sonic Youth
Rather Ripped
66The Bronx
The Bronx (II)
67Califone
Roots And Crowns
68The Roots
Game Theory
69World/Inferno Friendship Society
Red-Eyed Soul
70This Will Destroy You
Young Mountain
71UneXpect
In A Flesh Aquarium
72Kalmah
The Black Waltz
73M. Ward
Post-War
74Melvins
A Senile Animal
75Butch Walker
The Rise And Fall Of Butch Walker...
76The Lawrence Arms
Oh! Calcutta!
77Two Gallants
What the Toll Tells
78The Strokes
First Impressions of Earth
79Katatonia
The Great Cold Distance
80The Format
Dog Problems
81Lupe Fiasco
Food & Liquor
82Rodrigo y Gabriela
Rodrigo y Gabriela
83The Fratellis
Costello Music
84 The Killers
Sam's Town
85Plus-44
When Your Heart Stops Beating
86Clipse
Hell Hath No Fury
87Cradle Of Filth
Thornography
88Scott Walker
The Drift
89Anti-Flag
For Blood And Empire
90Deicide
The Stench of Redemption
91Estradasphere
Palace Of Mirrors
92Machinae Supremacy
Redeemer (Underground Edition)
93Senses Fail
Still Searching
94Mission Of Burma
The Obliterati
95Motorhead
Kiss Of Death
96Belle and Sebastian
The Life Pursuit
97Regina Spektor
Begin To Hope
98Weird Al Yankovic
Straight Outta Lynwood
99Neil Young
Living With War
100The Blood Brothers
Young Machetes
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