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User
Soundoffs 188
Album Ratings 208
Objectivity 68%
Last Active 06-18-11 2:19 pm
Joined 11-24-10
Review Comments 32
| Some Of The Best From The 200xs
Best things from the 1st Jan, 2000 to the 31st Dec, 2009. There are multiple albums for each band. No particular order. Will probably change as I cringe further and further at my past writings. | | 1 |  | Devin Townsend
Terria
Possibly my favourite from this time period. Terria has it all (as most DT releases do). Every track is a winner, most of them are absolute gold. Mountain, Earth Day, Nobody's Here - it seems futile to drop any of the tracks in, because as soon as I start, I know I'll have to quote them all to be fair. It's almost as if they're better than each other. What *really* seals the awesome into this is the flow of the album, particularly the latter half from The Fluke to Stagnant where the energy flows so naturally. | | 2 | | Bass Communion
Molotov And Haze
Not listed here, but my favourite ambient album from this era. Two noise tracks, two drone tracks. All very long, every moment worthwhile. The noise tracks have a great progression to them, and the drone ones are beautiful. | | 3 |  | Beardfish
Sleeping in Traffic, Pt 2
The only thing on this list which is "progressive rock" - how times have changed for me. But this is top form prog. Most of the tracks kick around between 5 and 8 minutes, and, excluding Cashflow, are great. The epic is so coherent and fun whilst still being powerful for the ending. All the musicians are very talented, and the vocals are great. | | 4 |  | The Mars Volta
Frances The Mute
The first of the two MV albums down here. Probably better than the other, though I'll never decide. Much harder to get into than the other. There are long, experimental ambient sections within some of their longest songs, but they are definitely their best. Cygnus is my favourite from them because it just encapsulates everything The Mars Volta is great at - addictive, heavy, energetic but subtle... rock? And the last epic is great, because it mas the sound of babies crying on aeroplanes very bearable. | | 5 |  | Agalloch
Ashes Against The Grain
Ah, The Mantle, or this, I could debate for ages, but I thought I'd cut to the chase and put one of them down, so I went for this one. Much more focused than The Mantle, but it maintained the atmosphere that Agalloch is so good at. Falling Snow is a real highlight. It's too hard to exactly define this band's music, especially here when it borders everything from black metal to folk, so I'll just leave it as "essential music". | | 6 |  | Strapping Young Lad
Alien
I picked this SYL album out, and I had not expected to list one, but this is the best. An almost unrelenting album, it's a real shitstorm of hilarious brutal death metal. The album's structure is, just like lots of other Devin things, a real highlight, where Two Weeks and Thalamus strike the right balance without tipping that half of the album into something like Ocean Machine. I cannot speak for Info Dump, but as as self confessed Devin fanatic, I'd probably love that too. | | 7 |  | The Mars Volta
De-Loused in the Comatorium
Here's that other MV album. This was their first, Frances The Mute being their second. On this one, tracks are shorter, a bit less crazy, and hence very focused. This is the one which will appeal to new listeners most. Sort tracks like Eriatarka or Telvators could be understood by the simplest rock fans, whereas Cicatriz Esp and Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of) will appeal to those after a more experimental, wild approach. And don't forget the last track, either. | | 8 |  | Opeth
Blackwater Park
Saw this in full at The Royal Albert Hall. Opeth only get one place here, so I had to make it this one. Mikael is an amazing vocalist, only pipped to the post by Devin in my view, but they do cover very different ranges. Opeth's "formula" is very intact here, with the standard 10 minute songs being very varied and dynamic. What makes this one better, though? Difficult question, since Ghost Reveries is almost as good to me. Consistency is the key, I think, since GR trails off during the slower tracks, whereas the acoustic parts on here are just as unstoppable as the death metal they enhance. | | 9 |  | SiKth
The Trees Are Dead and Dried Out
I recently got into this. This album is brilliantly structured. It starts and ends with a few "standard" technical metal songs featuring hilarious exchanges between the two vocalists and lightening fast playing from both guitars and the bass. In the middle, bookended by quick piano tracks, are the experimental songs, such as Tupelo, Can't We All Dream? and Peep Show, which reach even higher heights than the tech songs. By using this structure, the album becomes much more entertaining than a quick set standard tech songs, pushing SiKth above and beyond all others when it comes to the genre. | | 10 |  | Devin Townsend
Ziltoid The Omniscient
Last but not least, Devin returns as ZTO. Both hilarious and poignant, ZTO is as "concept album-y" as his stuff becomes, with the clear plot links between Ziltoid's universal exploits. Devin plays a host of funny characters without turning the album into a B-Movie soundtrack or a real joke - in fact, the whole thing carries lots of meaning about a colossal change in Devin's life. Of course, the structure is fantastic - The Greys finishes things off blissfully. And don't let the scare of an "electronic drumkit" fool you, only the truly bitchy could complain about these. | |
CrownOfMagnets
01.16.11 | Id probably favor 4 slightly over 7 but they're both pretty epic. | FearThyEvil
01.16.11 | I agree Crown by a lot. | Staker
04.10.11 | Yeah, I have no idea which is better really. I should add Relationship Of Command to this list... | taxidermist
04.10.11 | I prefer 4, but 7 is also very good. | Chrisjon89
04.10.11 | 4 and 7 are great.
I read an interview with Omar the other day where he says he hates 'Relationship of Command' because of the mix. Said it sounds so plastic and fake, and I understand where he's coming from, but it's one of my favourite albums. | witchxrapist
04.10.11 | lol |
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