| The Beach Boys The Smile Sessions | 5.0 |
| Fleet Foxes Helplessness Blues | 4.0 |
| Ramones Ramones | 3.5 |
| (The) Slowest Runner (In All The World) We, Burning Giraffes | 4.0 |
| Tigers on Trains Grandfather | 4.0 |
| Bob Dylan Blood on the Tracks | 4.5 |
| Talking Heads Remain in Light | 4.5 |
| The Gaslight Anthem Señor and the Queen | 4.0 |
| The Gaslight Anthem Sink or Swim | 4.0 |
| Mono Hymn to the Immortal Wind | 3.5 |
| Radiohead OK Computer | 4.5 |
| Mogwai Young Team | 4.0 |
| Boards of Canada Music Has the Right to Children | 4.0 |
| Queen A Night at the Opera | 4.0 |
| The Pogues Rum Sodomy & the Lash | 4.0 |
| Owl City All Things Bright And Beautiful | 1.5 |
| I can always count on Owl City to boost my objectivity! |
| Bon Iver Bon Iver, Bon Iver | 4.0 |
| La Dispute/Koji Never Come Undone | 3.5 |
| Touche Amore Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me | 4.0 |
| This is another excellent release from Touche Amore, featuring the same short, yet powerful songs and concise album length. And this time around, the guitars are more melodic and the production values overall are better. However, the lyrics haven't exactly improved, and the sense of energy and intensity that was so palpable in "...To The Beat" feels a bit lessened here. Regardless, this is still an extremely enjoyable album, and certainly among the best of the year so far. |
| Latterman No Matter Where We Go...! | 4.0 |
| Japandroids Post-Nothing | 3.5 |
| Talk Talk Laughing Stock | 4.5 |
| Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin IV | 4.0 |
| Vessels Helioscope | 1.0 |
| Fugazi Repeater | 4.0 |
| Mumford and Sons Sigh No More | 2.5 |
| Defeater Empty Days and Sleepless Nights | 3.5 |
| mewithoutYou Catch For Us the Foxes | 3.5 |
| Hopesfall No Wings To Speak Of | 4.5 |
| Slint Spiderland | 4.5 |
| Nick Drake Pink Moon | 4.5 |
| Amia Venera Landscape The Long Procession | 3.5 |
| Kesha Cannibal | 1.0 |
| Kesha Animal | 1.0 |
| Silver Jews American Water | 4.5 |
| Frightened Rabbit The Midnight Organ Fight | 4.5 |
| The Hold Steady Boys and Girls in America | 4.0 |
| Hopesfall The Satellite Years | 4.5 |
| My Bloody Valentine Loveless | 4.0 |
| Frank Turner Love, Ire & Song | 3.5 |
| The Replacements Let It Be | 4.5 |
| Dinosaur Jr. You're Living All Over Me | 4.0 |
| Maybeshewill Sing The Word Hope In Four-Part Harmony | 3.5 |
| The Strokes Angles | 3.5 |
| Pyotr Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 | 4.5 |
| Muse Black Holes & Revelations | 3.0 |
| The beginning of the end for Muse. |
| Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 | 4.5 |
| Michelle Branch The Spirit Room | 4.0 |
| So this is pretty awesome. |
| The Knife Tomorrow, In a Year | 3.5 |
| I don't even know. |
| Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) What It Takes to Move Forward | 4.0 |
| Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 | 4.0 |
| Beethoven often referred to this piece as "one of [his] best works." And who are we to dispute that? |
| The Dismemberment Plan Emergency & I | 4.0 |
| Radiohead The King of Limbs | 3.5 |
| Spokes Everyone I Ever Met | 4.5 |
| EVERYONE NEEDS TO LISTEN TO THIS RIGHT NOW. |
| A Sunny Day in Glasgow Ashes Grammar | 3.0 |
| Pavement Slanted and Enchanted | 4.0 |
| pg.99 Document #8 | 4.5 |
| Max Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26 | 4.0 |
| Cynic Focus | 4.0 |
| Destroyer Kaputt | 3.5 |
| Death Symbolic | 4.0 |
| The National Alligator | 5.0 |
| Oh, The National, trying so hard to make Boxer pristine and airtight when they had a perfect album under their belt the entire time. |
| 2Pac All Eyez on Me | 3.0 |
| The Weakerthans Reconstruction Site | 4.0 |
| Burial Untrue | 4.0 |
| Gustav Holst The Planets, Op. 32 | 4.5 |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 | 4.0 |
| Variation 18, man. Powerful stuff. |
| The Go! Team Rolling Blackouts | 3.5 |
| James Blake James Blake | 4.5 |
| Prussian Blue The Path We Chose | 1.0 |
| Prussian Blue Fragment Of The Future | 1.0 |
| Mos Def Black on Both Sides | 3.5 |
| The Notorious B.I.G. Ready to Die | 4.0 |
| The Notorious B.I.G. Life After Death | 3.5 |
| BATS Red In Tooth and Claw | 4.0 |
| La Dispute Vancouver | 3.5 |
| La Dispute Untitled | 3.5 |
| Wolf Parade Apologies to the Queen Mary | 4.5 |
| Glassjaw Worship and Tribute | 4.0 |
| Rosetta The Galilean Satellites | 4.0 |
| Daft Punk Tron: Legacy | 3.5 |
| Thrice The Alchemy Index Vols. III & IV | 3.5 |
| The Tallest Man on Earth Shallow Grave | 4.0 |
| Kvelertak Kvelertak | 3.5 |
| The Decemberists The King Is Dead | 4.0 |
| The latest Decemberists release goes down easy. While they did change their sound up, they seem more confident and comfortable than ever, and this shows and the music. The music is energetic but never feels rushed or hurried. And speaking of their new sound, it sounds as if The Decemberists had been playing this style for their entire career. It's a very nice fit. This is also definitely the most accessible Decemberists album. The songs are definitely more pop influenced this time around, and it's much shorter than their previous albums. While some might miss the 11 minute long song epics from, say, The Crane Wife, the songs on this album are good enough that you'll forgive them for it. The King is Dead is another excellent addition to the Decemberist's very consistent discography. |
| George Gershwin Concerto in F | 3.5 |
| Daft Punk Discovery | 3.5 |
| Dangers Messy, Isn't It? | 4.0 |
| My Disco Little Joy | 3.0 |
| Pyotr Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 in B♭ Minor, Op. 23 | 4.5 |
| Explain my rating? Uh, it's fucking TCHAIKOVSKY. What more could you want? |
| The State Lottery When the Night Comes | 4.0 |
| DAT SAX |
| Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 | 4.0 |
| Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart "Haffner" Symphony No. 35 in D major, K. 385 | 4.0 |
| Felix Mendelssohn String Symphony XI in F major, MWVN11 | 3.5 |
| Antonio Vivaldi The Four Seasons | 4.0 |
| Johann Sebastian Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048 | 4.0 |
| Johann Sebastian Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049 | 4.0 |
| Johann Sebastian Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047 | 4.0 |
| Johann Sebastian Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F major, BWV 1046 | 4.0 |
| Pyotr Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings in C major, Op. 48 | 4.5 |
| Dmitri Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110 | 4.0 |
| Women Public Strain | 3.0 |
| The Saddest Landscape You Will Not Survive | 3.5 |
| Anathema We're Here Because We're Here | 4.0 |
| Girls Broken Dreams Club | 3.0 |
| Touche Amore/La Dispute Searching for a Pulse/The Worth of the World | 4.5 |
| Sufjan Stevens The Age of Adz | 4.0 |
| Cloudkicker Beacons | 3.5 |
| Bruce Springsteen The Promise | 3.5 |
| Broken Social Scene You Forgot It in People | 3.0 |
| Intronaut Valley of Smoke | 3.0 |
| Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon | 4.0 |
| Mae (e)vening | 3.5 |
| The incredible Seasons suite and some other stuff. |
| United Nations Never Mind the Bombings, Here's Your Six Figures | 4.0 |
| Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy | 4.0 |
| Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted 10-point-fucking-0 from Pitchfork Media. |
| Sed Non Satiata Sed Non Satiata | 4.0 |
| Young Heretics We Are The Lost Loves | 3.0 |
| letlive. Fake History | 3.5 |
| Liars Sisterworld | 3.0 |
| Six Gallery Breakthroughs in Modern Art | 3.5 |
| Interpol Turn on the Bright Lights | 3.5 |
| S. Carey All We Grow | 3.0 |
| Trophy Scars Darkness, Oh Hell | 4.0 |
| Marnie Stern Marnie Stern | 3.0 |
| Kylesa Spiral Shadow | 3.5 |
| MGMT Congratulations | 2.5 |
| Pianos Become the Teeth Old Pride | 4.0 |
| Defeater Lost Ground | 4.0 |
| The Ocean Anthropocentric | 3.5 |
| This band would have been so much better off if after they had released Precambrian they had just slowly faded into obscurity. |
| Defeater Travels | 4.0 |
| La Dispute Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair | 4.0 |
| Touche Amore ...To the Beat of a Dead Horse | 4.5 |
| Guys how the balls are the only two sound-offs 3s? That's total bullshit, but I'm here to change all that. |
| ISIS Oceanic | 4.0 |
| Sufjan Stevens Illinois | 4.0 |
| Somebody should get Sufjan Stevens a good editor. |
| Monogrim / Slow Dreams 1300+ Miles of Sound | 3.5 |
| Scale the Summit Carving Desert Canyons | 3.5 |
| American Football American Football | 4.0 |
| Sonic Youth Daydream Nation | 4.5 |
| Tokyo Police Club Champ | 3.5 |
| Menomena Mines | 2.5 |
| Modest Mouse The Moon & Antarctica | 4.5 |
| Wild Nothing Gemini | 3.0 |
| Bruce Springsteen Darkness on the Edge of Town | 4.0 |
| Twin Shadow Forget | 3.0 |
| Beach House Teen Dream | 3.5 |
| The National Boxer | 4.5 |
| Yeah, I'm pretty sure you all know why this is so great by now. |
| Volbeat Beyond Hell/Above Heaven | 3.5 |
| How to Dress Well Love Remains | 3.5 |
| Deerhunter Halcyon Digest | 3.5 |
| fun. Aim and Ignite | 4.0 |
| "I can't help but remember James Dean. See, we are part of the few who agree that hey, he lived life fast, but he died. Me, I'm going to live forever!" |
| Lone Wolf The Devil and I | 3.5 |
| The Graduate Only Every Time | 3.0 |
| The Tallest Man on Earth Sometimes The Blues Is Just A Passing Bird | 3.5 |
| The Tallest Man on Earth can do absolutely no wrong. |
| The Walkmen Lisbon | 4.5 |
| Dangers Anger | 4.0 |
| Refused The Shape Of Punk To Come | 4.5 |
| ceo White Magic | 3.0 |
| The Sword Warp Riders | 3.5 |
| Sergei Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 | 4.5 |
| This is an absolutely beautiful composition. This is one of Rachmaninoff's most emotional and haunting composition. The melodic lines are are both graceful and extremely powerful, the harmonies are gorgeous; this concerto is simply incredible. It's hard to capture just how much emotion Rachmaninoff manages to coax out of the piano and orchestra. This is definitely one of the best compositions of the late Romantic era. |
| Thrice The Alchemy Index Vols. I & II | 3.5 |
| Birds Of Tokyo Universes | 3.5 |
| Big Boi Sir Lucious Left Foot | 4.0 |
| Titus Andronicus The Airing of Grievances | 4.5 |
| Life sucks. Feels good, man. |
| Hans Zimmer Inception | 3.0 |
| Wavves King of the Beach | 2.0 |
| Thrice Vheissu | 4.0 |
| Jack Johnson To the Sea | 1.5 |
| Sky Sailing An Airplane Carried Me to Bed | 1.5 |
| Washed Out Life of Leisure | 3.0 |
| Air France No Way Down | 3.0 |
| Arcade Fire The Suburbs | 4.5 |
| Another great album from the seemingly can-do-no-wrong Indie band, Arcade Fire. The Suburbs is sprawling, grand album, but never retreads too much of the same ground of their previous albums. They also draw in more 70s and 80s influences, ranging from classic rock to Depeche Mode and even some Blondie. Wrapped up in their usual use of strings and brass, this creates a rather unique sound. Arcade Fire also treads new lyrical ground, eschewing the angst and introspection of Funeral and the dramatic finger-pointing of Neon Bible and instead focuses on the loneliness and nostalgia of the suburbs. My main complaint with this album is its length. While no song is especially awful, some could have been safely cut from the album, and others shortened. For the most part, Arcade Fire keeps it interesting enough, but the album verges on feeling bloated in some parts. Overall, this is another excellent release from Arcade Fire. |
| Down NOLA | 4.0 |
| This is manly as fuck. |
| The Gathering if_then_else | 4.0 |
| Muse The Resistance | 3.0 |
| Dead Kennedys Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables | 4.0 |
| 65daysofstatic We Were Exploding Anyway | 3.5 |
| The Gaslight Anthem The '59 Sound | 4.0 |
| The Notwist Neon Golden | 4.5 |
| The Ocean Heliocentric | 3.0 |
| The Menzingers Chamberlain Waits | 4.0 |
| Parades Foreign Tapes | 3.0 |
| My Chemical Romance The Black Parade | 3.0 |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Option Paralysis | 4.0 |
| Drake Thank Me Later | 2.0 |
| Unfortunately, given his curious success, Drake is the sad, sad future of rap. |
| Deftones Diamond Eyes | 3.0 |
| Jack Johnson Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for Curious George | 1.5 |
| The Gaslight Anthem American Slang | 4.0 |
| Muse Absolution | 3.5 |
| Eminem Recovery | 3.0 |
| Rosetta A Determinism of Morality | 4.0 |
| The Tallest Man on Earth The Wild Hunt | 4.5 |
| It's hard for me to say what's just so perfect about The Wild Hunt. There's something endlessly refreshing to hear something as simple as this. The Tallest Man on Earth, armed only with his acoustic guitar and distinctive voice, he needs no production flourish or layers of instrumentation to make his music good. The songs are amazingly expressive, and the album covers a whole range of emotions. There's the spry and humorous "King of Spain," the plaintive and reflective "Burden of Tomorrow," the direct and affecting "You're Going Back" - the list goes on and on. I can say with confidence that The Wild Hunt is the best album I've listened to this year. |
| Janelle Monae The ArchAndroid | 4.0 |
| So, basically, if you don't like this, you're an idiot. |
| ISIS Panopticon | 4.0 |
| The Antlers Hospice | 4.0 |
| I respect any album that can make my cry like a little girl. |
| Flying Lotus Cosmogramma | 3.5 |
| Surfer Blood Astro Coast | 3.0 |
| A fun, if forgettable, summer album. However, while the magic lasts you'll be lost amidst its catchy guitar riffs, excellent vocals, and catchy drumming. |
| Owl City Maybe I'm Dreaming | 2.0 |
| Sleigh Bells Treats | 4.0 |
| The Avalanches Since I Left You | 4.0 |
| The perfect summer record. The Avalanches are sampling wizards, taking weird and obscure pieces of music and speech and somehow pulling them all together to make incredibly catchy and danceable tracks. One of the best examples of their sampling skills is on the track "Frontier Psychiatrist", where they layer sample upon sample, matching the theme of the song (insanity) perfectly. While the length may seem off-putting, no second is wasting. You'll be bombarded (in a good way) with beats and creative samples the entire time. It's a fun, ecstatic listen and is worth every second. |
| Jeff Buckley Grace | 3.5 |
| Mastodon Leviathan | 4.0 |
| The Ocean Precambrian | 4.0 |
| Coheed and Cambria No World for Tomorrow | 3.5 |
| Soulja Boy Unsigned & Still Major | 1.0 |
| Soulja Boy Dat Piff | 1.0 |
| brokeNCYDE BC 13 | 1.0 |
| brokeNCYDE The Broken | 1.0 |
| The National High Violet | 4.5 |
| The National is an indie band like no other. After two masterful albums, other bands may have faltered in coming up with another. The National did not. High Violet builds upon the band's past successes beautifully, and is another powerful addition to their extremely powerful discography. High Violet is immediately wonderful, but is still a slow-burner in the sense that each song will continue to grow on you every time you listen to the album. You'll hear little touches of brilliance you may have missed during each spin of the album. Each song is immaculately constructed, and not even so much as a single misstep can be found. The National really can't do any wrong. |
| The Clash London Calling | 4.0 |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven | 5.0 |
| Muse Origin of Symmetry | 3.5 |
| The Radio Dept. Clinging to a Scheme | 3.5 |
| While the observations & complaints about "Clinging to a Scheme" and The Radio Dept. being unassuming are definitely true, they craft such beautiful and exquisite pop songs that it's easy to ignore. The reverb and fuzz keep the songs pleasantly dreamy and distant. The best example of this is one the track "Heaven's on Fire", which also happens to be the best song on the album. So while the extremely calm and laid-back nature of this album may be a turn-off for some, it's hard to deny that The Radio Dept. are very good at making pretty pop tunes. |
| Coheed and Cambria Year of the Black Rainbow | 3.5 |
| B.o.B The Adventures of Bobby Ray | 3.0 |
| Los Campesinos! Hold On Now, Youngster... | 4.0 |
| Delorean Subiza | 3.0 |
| Titus Andronicus The Monitor | 5.0 |
| If you haven't already, listen to this album. Listen to it over and over again. You'll fall in love with it immediately. If you don't, well, then there's not much hope for you. The Monitor is pure musical awesomeness. It's energetic, it's catchy and it's just so much fun. From its well-placed historical quotes ("A More Perfect ", "The Battle of Hampton Roads", etc.) to its stadium-filling climaxes ("A Pot In Which To Piss"), the album never ceases to amaze. It uses lyrics from Cheers and borrows from the great Bruce Springsteen ("Tramps like us, baby we were born to die!") It even has a fucking bagpipe solo in "The Battle of Hampton Roads". A bagpipe solo. Music doesn't get much better than this. This album is angry, angsty (without being whiny), and completley awesome. However, some people may be turned off by it's rather indulgent length, but it's hardly a problem as the tracks are mostly energetic enough to make you ignore their length and simply enjoy the ride. Titus Andronicus Forever. |
| MGMT Oracular Spectacular | 2.5 |
| Yeah, this is pretty bad. Don't know what else to say. |
| Radiohead Pablo Honey | 3.0 |
| Adam Lambert For Your Entertainment | 2.0 |
| The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | 4.0 |
| Foals Antidotes | 3.0 |
| Explosions in the Sky The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place | 3.5 |
| Coheed and Cambria From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness | 3.5 |
| Jonsi Go | 3.5 |
SO MUCH FUCKING HAPPINESS
Apparently this sound-off is too short.
Now it isn't. |
| Dntel Life is Full of Possibilities | 3.0 |
| Jack Johnson In Between Dreams | 2.0 |
| Bruce Springsteen Born to Run | 5.0 |
| What exactly is there to say about Bruce Springsteen that hasn't already been said by hundreds of music publications, adoring fans, and even casual music listeners? Bruce Springsteen is definitely one of the best rock artists, well, ever. He could actually rock, without trying too hard and without any pretensions. The band he assembled could really play, and there are not enough adjectives to describe Clarence Clemons masterful skill at the saxophone. And Born to Run is Springsteen's opus. His defining moment. The album that all of his other releases would be inevitably compared to, in one way or another. Here the band is at its strongest and the songwriting at its best. There is never a bad, or mediocre, or even merely good moment on this album. Every song is amazing. From the classic opener "Thunder Road" to the epic and emotional "Jungleland," there are really no missteps or misfires. I know I sound like a fanboy, but I really can't help it. Bruce Springsteen is one of my favorite musical artists, and Born to Run one of my favorite albums. |
| Vampire Weekend Contra | 3.0 |
| Port Blue The Albatross | 3.0 |
| Port Blue The Airship | 3.5 |
| The Morning Benders Big Echo | 3.0 |
| Brand New The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me | 4.0 |
Well. This album is pretty fucking good.
That is all.
Eventually I will write a proper sound-off, but right now I'd like to say that "The Archers Bows Are Broken" is a badass song. |
| Radiohead Amnesiac | 4.0 |
| Rogue Wave Permalight | 3.0 |
| U2 The Joshua Tree | 3.0 |
| Battles Mirrored | 3.5 |
| Elliott Smith Either/Or | 4.0 |
| Radiohead Hail to the Thief | 3.5 |
| This album seems to take influence from pretty much all of their previous ones. Their The Bends/Ok Computer guitars from make an appearance here, but there is certainly still a lot of Kid A/Amnesiac-esque sounds to be heard. It seems like the band is pulling from the two "extremes" of their sound to create this one. The result is a very solid album. I don't think it's quite as memorable as OK Computer or Kid A, but it still has some soaring high points. It also, unfortunately has some low points, but it's not enough to detract from the overall experience. Hail to the Thief is another great album in Radiohead's catalogue, and while it may not be as amazing or innovative as earlier ones, it's still worth many, many listens. |
| Coheed and Cambria In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 | 4.0 |
| Eric Hutchinson Sounds Like This | 2.5 |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada | 4.5 |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor for dummies. That having been said, this is no less complex or masterful than their previous releases. With Slow Riot For New Zero Canada, GY!BE has simply taken what made F#A#? so great and has condensed it down into a thirty minute EP. It has a similarly dark atmosphere, and equally haunting spoken word parts. And yes, it is still pretentious, but the music is good enough that you won't really care. The trademark buildups and releases are here, complete with the gloomy strings, guitars, and drums. Slow Riot is another powerful entry into Godspeed's amazing discography. |
| brokeNCYDE I'm Not a Fan, but the Kids Like It! | 1.0 |
| Megadeth Rust in Peace | 4.0 |
| Bon Iver Blood Bank | 3.5 |
| DJ Shadow Endtroducing..... | 4.5 |
| DJ Shadow is a painfully talented at what he does. The turntable wizard has a certain innate skill with music. For him, there is no sample too strange or too outlandish, it somehow all fits. Endtroducing... is a testament to this skill, and is such a cohesive and simply perfect piece of work that I was shocked that it was created from samples of other music. The atmosphere he creates is never broken, and as I said earlier, everything simply works. Endtroducing... is simply one of the greatest albums of the '90s. |
| Neutral Milk Hotel In the Aeroplane Over the Sea | 4.5 |
| What can I really say? Excellent lyrics and interesting instrumentation all come together to form one of the most concise and intriguing albums of the 90s. |
| Coheed and Cambria The Second Stage Turbine Blade | 4.0 |
| Cut Copy In Ghost Colours | 3.5 |
| Metallica Master of Puppets | 4.0 |
| Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot | 4.0 |
| The Knife Silent Shout | 4.0 |
| Fang Island Fang Island | 4.0 |
| If I could, I would have Fang Island soundtrack my every high-five, hug, clap-on-the-back; every time I got an A, every time I finished a Lego model, every time I beat a video game, etc. The list could go on and on. What I'm trying to say is that Fang Island manages to capture, in music, that feeling you get every time you do something awesome. While it's by no means perfect, every "whoa-oh" and handclap is just so infectious that you'll listen to it over and over again. |
| Dirty Projectors Ascending Melody | 3.5 |
| Soulja Boy iSouljaBoyTellEm | 1.0 |
| Soulja Boy Souljaboytellem.com | 1.0 |
| The Beach Boys Pet Sounds | 5.0 |
| What can really be said about this album that hasn't already? This is without a doubt the best pop album ever made. Brian Wilson was a musical genius of unparalleled skill and talent, and it really shows. Pet Sounds is the product of Brian's skill, struggle, and pain, and it is truly a beautiful thing to behold. It's truly perfect. |
| The New Pornographers Twin Cinema | 3.0 |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor F♯ A♯ ∞ | 4.5 |
| This album is subtle yet epic, a post-rock masterpiece. It's all incredible; from every slow start to the eventual crescendo and dramatic climax. It's almost hard to explain how incredible this album is. It's amazingly good at painting a picture of a bleary apocalyptic world. It will draw you in, breaking your heart and taking your breath away. There seems to be no part of this album that isn't perfect. From every note the strings play to every beat of the percussion, it feels airtight without being forced and robotic, an almost organic creation. This is the kind of music that you'll remember; the kind that really stays with you. This is a true masterpiece, something that will stay out of the mainstream forever but the ones who do listen to it will treasure it. It's not often that an album like this comes out. |
| Them Crooked Vultures Them Crooked Vultures | 3.0 |
| Despite the incredible lineup of this supergroup, it still suffers from many of the same flaws that pretty much every supergroup does. Namely, most of the songs are bloated and overlong, probably a result of the massive egos at play. However, it's still a good rock album and does have its high points. |
| Queens of the Stone Age Songs for the Deaf | 3.5 |
| The Rolling Stones Exile on Main St. | 4.0 |
| The Beatles Abbey Road | 4.5 |
| The Raconteurs Consolers of the Lonely | 3.0 |
| The Go! Team Thunder, Lightning, Strike [US Reissue] | 4.5 |
| This is pure energy bundled up into even more amazing tracks. |
| Talib Kweli Liberation | 3.5 |
| This is one of my favorite Talib Kweli albums. Why? Most of it has to do with one Mr. Otis Jackson Jr., better known as Madlib. Other Tailb Kweli solo albums have faltered from occasionally iffy production. Madlib, being one of the greatest producers of this decade, completely eliminates that problem. Madlib's incredible beats combined with, well, Talib Kweli is like a match made in heaven. Really, the only problem with Liberation is that it doesn't last longer. |
| Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend | 3.5 |
| Jay-Z The Black Album | 3.0 |
| Jay-Z The Blueprint 3 | 2.0 |
| Spoon Kill the Moonlight | 3.5 |
| The Killers Sam's Town | 3.0 |
| The xx xx | 2.5 |
| Swimming With Dolphins Ambient Blue | 2.0 |
| This isn't that bad, but it really isn't that good, either. The beats never stray too far from what Adam Young is best at, but I do prefer them to the ones that are found on Ocean Eyes. The lyrics aren't as laughably bad as they are on Adam Young's songs, but that's not saying much. Overall, it really isn't much different than Ocean Eyes. It's a collection of stupidly bright and overly cheery songs with decent beats and dumb lyrics. However, the beats and lyrics are a little better than Adam Young's previous efforts, but they're still not great. I wouldn't suggest listening to this unless you really like Owl City. |
| Arcade Fire The Arcade Fire | 3.5 |
| This is their worst release, but it's still better than what some bands will do throughout their entire existence. |
| Coldplay X&Y | 3.5 |
| Coldplay Live 2003 | 3.5 |
| Owl City Of June | 1.5 |
| LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver | 3.0 |
| Passion Pit Manners | 4.0 |
| It's definitely top-heavy, but the first four songs that make it top-heavy are simply incredible. Make Light will have you air-drumming, Little Secrets will be stuck in your head for weeks, Moth's Wings will have you frantically searching for a lighter to wave in the air, and The Reeling's chorus will definitely have you singing along. This is a very fun synth-pop album, and it, or at least its first four tracks, should be played over and over again. |
| Animal Collective Fall Be Kind | 3.5 |
| Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits | 2.5 |
| R.E.M. Automatic for the People | 4.0 |
| The Decemberists Picaresque | 4.0 |
| Phoenix (FRA) It's Never Been Like That | 4.0 |
| Panda Bear Person Pitch | 3.5 |
| Radiohead Kid A | 4.5 |
| Talib Kweli Eardrum | 3.0 |
| This album certainly isn't bad. I mean, it's Talib Kweli. However, compared to all of his other albums, it's nothing remarkable. It's overlong, it suffers from the use of multiple producers, and even the lyrical content isn't as good as his previous albums. There are definitely great songs on this album, but as a whole it's just a solid album. |
| Little Brother The Minstrel Show | 3.0 |
| Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes | 4.5 |
| Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca | 4.0 |
| Nickelback All the Right Reasons | 1.0 |
| Does anyone actually LIKE Nickelback? And if they do, WHY? |
| Nickelback Dark Horse | 1.0 |
| Again, does anyone actually LIKE Nickelback? And if they do, WHY? |
| The Killers Day & Age | 3.0 |
| The White Stripes White Blood Cells | 3.5 |
| The Shins Chutes Too Narrow | 3.0 |
| Radiohead The Bends | 3.5 |
| Probably their second worst album. |
| Radiohead In Rainbows | 4.5 |
| Phoenix (FRA) Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix | 5.0 |
| Phoenix has created an interesting album with Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. At first listen it's easy to dismiss it as overproduced and too polished, sticking too firmly to pretty guitar chords and pop-influenced drum beats. But listen to it a couple more times, and the emotion and energy that Phoenix possess becomes apparent. Even with their music's electronic flair and polished pop sound, it's definitely not lifeless. In fact, Phoenix created one of the most fun albums of 2009 with Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, especially with the two exemplary songs that kick the album off. However, they don't stick only to slick pop songs like Lisztomania or 1901, they also make a quite successful foray into electronic ambiance with "Love Like a Sunset", which is one of the most expansive and beautiful moments on the album. I can say with much confidence that Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is the best album of 2009, and one of the greatest pop albums released in recent memory. |
| Madvillain Madvillainy | 4.0 |
| Jay-Z American Gangster | 3.0 |
| The Go! Team Thunder, Lightning, Strike | 4.5 |
| This is pure energy bundled up into 11 amazing tracks. |
| The Strokes Is This It | 4.0 |
| Are The Strokes really the saviors of Rock & Roll? Well, Nickelback is still selling, like, a million albums a year while Julian Casablancas has already moved on to a (failed) solo project. But, I do know that they released one hell of a debut album. They injected some life into a bloated genre with their fun, energetic, and very catchy release, Is This It. While it's certainly not perfect, there are definitely more high points than low points and requires repeat listens. |
| Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand | 3.0 |
| Eminem The Eminem Show | 3.0 |
| Eminem Relapse | 1.5 |
| Why Eminem? What happened? You were so good, spitting clever rhymes and pure venom on your tracks. You were interesting, you were engaging, you were funny (at times), and you were good. But now you've turned into some pathetic self-parody. Yes, we know you hate your mother and your girlfriend. Isn't it time to start rapping about something else? You lyrics were once so intelligent, now they're just stupid. Hopefully your next record won't suck so much. |
| Coldplay Parachutes | 4.0 |
| Grizzly Bear Veckatimest | 3.5 |
| Bon Iver For Emma, Forever Ago | 4.5 |
| I didn't really know anything about Indie music or folk music when I went into this album. So, I was kind of bored by it. Who could get excited over some acoustic guitars and a guy who sings in falsetto? But with all of the rave review it got, I decided to listen to it again. And again. And finally, it clicked. I could finally understand why everyone was so obsessed with this album. I was drawn in by his intimate lyrics, his delicate use of acoustic guitars. Everything song on this album feels isolated, alone; you can really tell that he spent 3 months in a cabin coming up with these songs. And it is a beautiful result of his self-imposed exile. |
| Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion | 3.5 |
| Death Cab for Cutie Narrow Stairs | 3.5 |
| Death Cab for Cutie Plans | 3.5 |
| Death Cab for Cutie Transatlanticism | 4.0 |
| You have to be a cruel, heartless bastard to dislike this album. |
| A Tribe Called Quest The Low End Theory | 4.0 |
| Lupe Fiasco The Cool | 3.0 |
| An ambitious album that's dragged down by iffy production and it's rather ridiculous length. |
| Lupe Fiasco Food & Liquor | 3.5 |
| I find this album to be overlong but there are some amazing tracks to be found. Kick, Push, Daydreamin', I Gotcha, and The Instrumental are all great, catchy songs, but the album never really builds up enough steam to match its early-album push. |
| Talib Kweli Quality | 3.5 |
| Quality is a great album. Talib Kweli is very intelligent, and this really shows in all of his lyrics and rhymes. The production is good, sometimes great, much more than it isn't. However, if you don't have the time to listen to the entire album, just listen to "Get By". It's by far the best song on the album (which is saying something) and your ears will thank you. |
| Nas Illmatic | 5.0 |
| I don't listen to a whole lot of hip-hop. I do, however, listen to Illmatic. A lot. I'm not sure exactly why I love Illmatic so much. Perhaps its Nas's flow, complex yet smooth and easygoing. Or maybe it's his excellent lyricism, his ability to paint vivid pictures with just his words. Or it could be the production. Nas got together a hell of a great production team for Illmatic, and it shows. Whatever it is that makes it so great, Illmatic may be one of the finest hip-hop albums ever released. |
| The Decemberists Castaways and Cutouts | 4.0 |
| This is a great debut album from The Decemberists, but it suffers from inconsistency. While many of the songs are great, nearly classics in their quality, others take a good start and drag them out too far, stretching a good idea thin. For example, many of the songs in the middle of the album are nice to listen to but slightly overlong. With songs like "July, July!" and "Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect", it's clear that The Decemberists are capable of creating some very beautiful songs. Also, the album does start and end very strongly. The beautiful, sprawling, and epic finishing song, "California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade" will almost make you forget about the unfortunate middle of the album, but not quite. Overall, this album features many great songs, some good songs, and, unfortunately, a few forgettable songs. |
| The Decemberists The Crane Wife | 4.5 |
| The Killers Hot Fuss | 3.5 |
| Coldplay A Rush of Blood to the Head | 4.0 |
| Coldplay LeftRightLeftRightLeft | 3.5 |
| Coldplay Prospekt's March | 3.5 |
| Why oh why, Coldplay did you not include some of these songs on Viva la Vida? Life in Technicolor ii is an amazing song. Glass of Water rocks out pretty hard (for Coldplay). And finally, Rainy Day introduces an interesting electronic touch to Coldplay's sound. If you liked Viva la Vida, you will definitely enjoy Prospekt's March. |
| Coldplay Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends | 4.5 |
| The Postal Service Give Up | 4.0 |
| Arcade Fire Neon Bible | 4.0 |
| Neon Bible is a completely different beast than Arcade Fire's much lauded debut album, Funeral. While Funeral was introspective and deeply personal, Neon Bible looks out into the world with the same energy, emotion, and bombast that has become one of Arcade Fire's calling cards. And in doing so, they've expanded their already grand sound. While this does lead to beautifully lush orchestrations, they, at times, feel almost too overblown and huge. However, it's easy to overlook this minor weakness as songs like "Antichrist Television Blues" and "No Cars Go" will have you singing, and wailing, along. |
| Arcade Fire Funeral | 5.0 |
| Funeral is an unforgettable classic from the 2000s. Arcade Fire rode onto the scene on an unrelenting wave of hype, which they lived up to, and are here to stay. Funeral is basically everything that people say it is. It's deeply personal and emotional, with a true, sincere heart beating at its core, wrapped up in a grand and sprawling baroque pop sound. While many bands have tried to copy Arcade Fire's brilliant combination of orchestra instruments and traditional rock band instruments, none do it quite as well as Arcade Fire does. I have no complaints about this album. Arcade Fire hits all the right notes with their debut release, and I think that many people will be very surprised if they ever top it. In fact, there may not be an album quite like Funeral for many, many years to come. |
| The Walkmen Bows + Arrows | 4.0 |
| A cool name? Check. Vintage instrumentation? Check. A lead singer with an...interesting voice? Check. Yup, it's The Walkmen. And with Bows + Arrows, they use all of these things (except for the cool name) to create a very, very good album. The instruments are slick and never too loud and the lead singer has a unique but interesting voice. |
| The Walkmen You & Me | 5.0 |
| I can't describe how perfect this album is. Maybe it's the beautiful instrumentation, mixing upright pianos with horns. Or maybe it's the lyrics, simple yet wistful. It could even be Leithauser's broken croon, each scratchy note and yelp adding such emotional depth to each song. Maybe it's the way they manage to be so captivating while still being laidback and calm. Whatever it is, every single thing that makes The Walkmen, well, The Walkmen is brought together so beautifully and organically on this album. The Walkmen make no missteps on this album, no stumbles. This is, without a doubt, their magnum opus, their grand, crowning achievement. |
| Owl City Ocean Eyes | 2.0 |
| There's one song I kind of like from this album (Fireflies). A couple songs I can tolerate (Hello Seattle, Cave In). However, everything else I completely dislike. It's so full of pandering, over-sentimental bullshit that it becomes painful to listen to. The entire album just falls apart into a big, sickeningly sugary mess. However, in small doses, Owl City isn't bad. It's certainly not as good as the group it's always compared to, Postal Service, but it's better than some mainstream music. |
