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User
Reviews 2
Approval 100%
Album Ratings 149
Objectivity 78%
Last Active 12-23-11 1:19 am
Joined 12-21-11
Review Comments 23
| Top 10 Albums Of 2011
It is that time of year. Everyone is releasing their end of the year lists.
Here is mine. I don't profess these to be the best 10 albums of the
year, just my favorite. There should be a little something for everyone
in here. Enjoy. | | 1 |  | Defeater
Empty Days and Sleepless NIghts
A shocker to myself and probably anybody that mildly knows me. Somehow,
someway, this album was able to top Major/Minor. Empty Days is hardcore
music at its best. One part The Who's Tommy, one part pissed off late 90's
hardcore, Defeater's new album tells a story about two brothers in a post WW2
era New Jersey. The lyrics are so strong it is easy to get swept up in the story
in a very cinematic way. The ten song album also includes an extra 4 song ep
of sorts of strictly acoustic songs. These 4 songs are phenomenal. If you aren't
into hardcore at least check out the link below for Brothers. Did I mention they
put on a hell of a live show too? | | 2 |  | Thrice
Major/Minor
Most everyone that knows me is not surprised to see this album on my list,
however they are probably surprised its at #2. Major/Minor picks up where
Thrice left off with their last album Beggars. What they have added is more
layers and a slightly upgraded production. Major/Minor is a bit more dynamic
than its predecessor as well. This is an album I would feel comfortable
recommending to pretty much any one. | | 3 |  | Manchester Orchestra
Simple Math
Simple Math sports what is probably my favorite song of the year in its title
track. The album as a whole takes the listener on quite a journey. It is
definitely reminiscent of my favorite Brand New album, Deja Entendu, but with
more layers and a slicker production. Some reviews I read were not fans of the
string arrangements placed in some of the songs, but I actually was a big fan of
them. If you are looking for a good alternative rock album that is ready for the
radio but offers a bit more than what is being offered on the radio then this
album is perfect for you. | | 4 |  | Nick 13
Nick 13
This album is definitely the dark horse in my top 10. Nick 13 is usually heard as
the lead singer for Tiger Army, a punk/psychobilly band. On his first solo album,
Nick 13 offers an album full of country gems that would satisfy any fan of
Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, or Hank Williams Sr. What makes this album
stand out is his voice and the stellar backing band. I don't presume to know
anything about country music, but from what I have read, Nick 13 has
assembled a who's who of country backing musicians (peddle steal, drums,
fiddle) and it definitely shows. Anyone with an open mind would love this
album. It is a very timeless record and one I will be listening to for years to
come. | | 5 |  | Balance and Composure
Separation
Oh Separation, this album still confuses me. I can't decide if it is a rock album
with a hardcore edge, or a hardcore album on Xanax. At times Balance &
Composure remind me a lot of the late 90's "emo" acts like early Jimmy Eat
World, The Get Up Kids, and Texas Is the Reason. At other times though,
Balance & Composure channel their inner hardcore and put up some pretty
heavy rock tunes. There isn't any screaming per se, but it is heavy
nonetheless. I saw them a few months ago and all the songs sound just as
good, if not better, in a live setting. | | 6 |  | Touche Amore
Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me
Talk about emotion. Touche Amore gives probably the most emotionally
draining release of the year. At its heart, this album is essentially a punk rock
album. As far as I can tell, there is only one chorus in the whole album. One of
my favorite things about this album is that it is 13 songs, but the album length
is only a tad over 20 minutes. That means songs that are short and sweet. | | 7 |  | La Dispute
Wildlife
Wildlife might be the most unique album I listened to all year. The strange
thing is that it is vaguely familiar to material by one my favorite bands in At the
Drive In. Wildlife is a concept album where each song is essentially a short
story. This is one of the albums where you want to pay close attention to the
lyrics. The vocal delivery is a large part of the greatness of La Dispute.
Watching them open for Thrice was a treat. | | 8 |  | The Devil Wears Prada
Dead Throne
Heavy. Not for those with sensitive ears. The Devil Wears Prada have followed
up last years purely awesome Zombie EP with probably their best album. DWP
are doing their best to separate themselves from their peers in what has
become a watered-down joke of a metalcore scene. For those who like
themselves from metal, this is an album for you. Everyone else need not listen | | 9 |  | Make Do and Mend
Part and Parcel
Talk about your last minute inclusions. This was barely released at the end of
November. Part and Parcel is an acoustic EP consisting of acoustic versions of 4
previously released full band songs, a cover of a Touche Amore song, and one
new song. I had low expectations for this release for some reason. I guess I
didn't think they would pull it off. Boy was I wrong. MDAM's last album(End
Measured Mile) came out in December of 2010, but was not discovered by me
until January. If I was going to include December 2010 in this list, End
Measured Mile would have been #1. I am glad I loved Part and Parcel so much
because it gives me a reason to put them on this list anyway. | | 10 |  | Junius
Reports from the Threshold of Death
This album snuck up on me in 11th hour. I just came across it in the second
week of December. That will tell you how much I enjoy this album. Two ways
to describe this album. 1.) It sounds like The Smiths if they formed a metal
band. 2.) Kind of a cross between the Deftones and Isis. Either way, its slower,
its heavy, and its melodic. I like it. | |
Mewcopa0
12.22.11 | great idea | Snubbs
12.22.11 | Pretty original right? Nobody does these. | stere538
12.22.11 | Some good tips I'll have to track down. Junius would definitely be in my 'notable mentions' column for the year | FrankRedHot
12.22.11 | "Empty Days is hardcore music at its best"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I mean, it's like
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA | Snubbs
12.22.11 | Don't really see how you can argue that. Not saying it is the greatest hardcore album ever, just saying its really good. Show me a hardcore album that FAR surpasses it that isn't by Refused, Cave-In, or Botch. No Converge or DEP either. I doubt you can find one. | Satellite
12.22.11 | "Show me a hardcore album that FAR surpasses it that isn't by Refused, Cave-In, or Botch. No Converge or DEP either. I doubt you can find one."
lolololol | MO
12.22.11 | lol snubbs you're in for a world of hurt | Snubbs
12.22.11 | Still waiting for someone to give me some album titles. | iFghtffyrdmns
12.22.11 | "Show me a hardcore album that FAR surpasses it that isn't by Refused, Cave-In, or Botch. No Converge or DEP either. I doubt you can find one."
ahh poor kid.
run and hide little buddy frank's on his way to your place of residence with a flamethrower and a bottle of grain alcohol. | Snubbs
12.22.11 | Geez, i love how everyone is tearing my comment apart but won't give me any albums. | FrankRedHot
12.23.11 | "Show me a hardcore album that FAR surpasses it that isn't by Refused, Cave-In, or Botch. No Converge or DEP either. I doubt you can find one."
Besides Refused, you didn't name any other hardcore band. | ShadowRemains
12.23.11 | "Geez, i love how everyone is tearing my comment apart but won't give me any albums."
try something better than tdwp, i.e. pretty much everything | FrankRedHot
12.23.11 | There are at least 15-20 hardcore albums from 2011 that are better than 1.
And BTW, do you even know what hardcore is? | IAmHollywood
12.23.11 | ARHARHARHAR | climactic
12.23.11 | "Show me a hardcore album that FAR surpasses it that isn't by Refused, Cave-In, or Botch. No Converge or DEP either. I doubt you can find one."
what | patroneyes
12.23.11 | "1.) It sounds like The Smiths if they formed a metal band. 2.) Kind of a cross between the Deftones and Isis."
...what the fuck are you saying? | ShadowRemains
12.23.11 | haha partial birth abortion
| FearThyEvil
12.23.11 | 1 is still so overrated. It's rating should be a 3.5/3.6 but everyone wants to jizz over defeater. | FearThyEvil
12.23.11 | Actually, looking at it more should be a 3.2 or 3.3. Oh, Snubb's none of those bands you mentioned to surpass were hardcore except Refused. Converge has hardcore elements but are still predominantly metalcore. | Snubbs
12.23.11 | Well thanks for finally checking back in. Frank yes I know what hardcore is. Sorry I didn't differentiate between hardcore, metalcore, melodic hardcore, post hardcore, mathcore, blah blah blah. I didn't realize I had to name youth crew bands for you to consider them hardcore. I've never met anyone that would question me calling a band like Botch hardcore. I don't know why everyone needs to hate. So you didn't like defeater. I don't care. Go fuck yourself. Im sorry I left all the hipster bands off the list. No Trap Them. No This is Hell. Fuck what was I thinking? | patrickfannon
12.23.11 | Hey Snubbs, I enjoyed reading your list and really love Thrice, so don't let these grumpy Guses get you down. "Simple Math" and "Empty Days And Sleepless Nights" were both great as well. Take care, man. | FrankRedHot
12.23.11 | "Well thanks for finally checking back in. Frank yes I know what hardcore is. Sorry I didn't differentiate between hardcore, metalcore, melodic hardcore, post hardcore, mathcore, blah blah blah. I didn't realize I had to name youth crew bands for you to consider them hardcore."
Except there is a difference between metalcore, hardcore, and post-hardcore. And no, you don't need to name youth crew bands. Just don't name mediocre ones.
"I've never met anyone that would question me calling a band like Botch hardcore."
I highly doubt that.
"I don't know why everyone needs to hate. So you didn't like defeater. I don't care"
Apparently you do.
"Go fuck yourself. Im sorry I left all the hipster bands off the list. No Trap Them. No This is Hell. Fuck what was I thinking?"
Left what hipster bands off? Defeater's the ultimate hipster hardcore band.
| Snubbs
12.23.11 | "Except there is a difference between metalcore, hardcore, and post-hardcore. And no, you don't need to name youth crew bands. Just don't name mediocre ones."
Sorry I didn't specify which sub-sub-sub-sub genre i was talking about. Of course I can see a difference between a band like Strife and a band like Killswitch Engage. I didn't realize my comments were going to be broken down and examined with a fine tooth comb. To me, metalcore and post hardcore are just sub genres of the larger hardcore genre. Which is technically a sub genre of punk. Which is a subgenre of rock. I didn't realize that by using a term like hardcore to desribe a band I would be putting my self up to be crucified.
"Apparently you do."
I was just replying to YOUR comments. Am I not allowed to defend myself? I was referring to your initial comments when i said I didn't care. I didn't realize I had to roll over and not comment back in order to claim that I didn't care.
"I highly doubt that."
I've been referring to them as a hardcore band for the last 12 years to multiple people in multiple states. I have never been corrected. Probably because I don't associate with dumb fucks who hide behind a computer and troll all day long, at least until now.
"Left what hipster bands off? Defeater's the ultimate hipster hardcore band."
Ha! Wow. I don't understand how you would even call them that. Just because a band is getting some fans doesn't qualify them as a hipster band. I am referring to the bands that guys like you and other fucks on this site like that no one else has ever heard of as well as all the "hardcore" bands that are cool to like (I.E. Converge, Cave In, Modern Life is War, American Nightmare). I suppose you will once again laugh at my calling converge and cave in hardcore. The next list i come up with I promise to include them as well as a bunch of others that are on labels I have never heard of. | FrankRedHot
12.23.11 | "Sorry I didn't specify which sub-sub-sub-sub genre i was talking about. Of course I can see a difference between a band like Strife and a band like Killswitch Engage. I didn't realize my comments were going to be broken down and examined with a fine tooth comb. To me, metalcore and post hardcore are just sub genres of the larger hardcore genre. Which is technically a sub genre of punk. Which is a subgenre of rock. I didn't realize that by using a term like hardcore to desribe a band I would be putting my self up to be crucified."
Even though you are right, it would be ignorant to call a band like Botch hardcore when they have a lot of metal elements in their music.
"I was just replying to YOUR comments. Am I not allowed to defend myself? I was referring to your initial comments when i said I didn't care. I didn't realize I had to roll over and not comment back in order to claim that I didn't care."
Read your comment again and tell me why I shouldn't believe you care. If you're defending yourself, what in the hell does that mean?
"Ha! Wow. I don't understand how you would even call them that. Just because a band is getting some fans doesn't qualify them as a hipster band. I am referring to the bands that guys like you and other fucks on this site like that no one else has ever heard of as well as all the "hardcore" bands that are cool to like (I.E. Converge, Cave In, Modern Life is War, American Nightmare). I suppose you will once again laugh at my calling converge and cave in hardcore. The next list i come up with I promise to include them as well as a bunch of others that are on labels I have never heard of."
Read your comment again and tell me how any of that makes any sense.
| Snubbs
12.23.11 | I'm done. Until next time. | FrankRedHot
12.23.11 | You're done because I humiliated you? What a coward..... | FrankRedHot
12.23.11 | And what person that listen to hardcore hasn't heard of MLIW and American Nightmare? | mort
12.23.11 | 3 is incredible, one of the best of the year.
5 and 6 were good, but not as good as I wanted. | Snubbs
12.23.11 | "And what person that listen to hardcore hasn't heard of MLIW and American Nightmare?"
I didn't say they were obscure. I said they were bands that are cool to like.
"You're done because I humiliated you? What a coward....."
Yep. Can't stand the shame. | FrankRedHot
12.23.11 | "I didn't say they were obscure. I said they were bands that are cool to like. "
Sorry, reading your posts is like reading the ramblings of a Chinese mad man. What do the parentheses around hardcore mean, btw? Are you saying that MLIW isn't hardcore?
"Yep. Can't stand the shame."
Obviously. So I take it you're done caring? |
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