2008 Albums
I love music. I used to live it. Hopefully I'll get back into doing so this year. Anyway, 2008 was a busy music-listening year. As usual I would listen to each album thrice before deciding what tracks to keep and what to discard. Here are all the ones I listened to for the first time this year in order (read left to right and up to down).
I listened to 126 new albums this year. Last year I listened to 83 albums.
![Midnight Juggernauts - Dystopia (2008) [2 CDs]](album_good2.jpg "Midnight Juggernauts - Dystopia (2008) [2 CDs]")
BEST: Midnight Juggernauts - Dystopia (2008) [2 CDs]When I tire of listening to Howard Stern during the work day (or whenever he's on his extended vacations) I'll flip to the Chill station on Sirius - a collection of "downtempo electronica and rock" - that's sort of a modern day smooth jazz. One day I found myself really digging "Dystopia" from some Australian band called Midnight Juggernauts on this channel and decided to check out the album of the same name. Holy shit, I was not prepared for this gem. Sure it's rock mixed (quite heavily, actually) with electronica, but it's no Kraftwerk tinkering around (though I love them, too). Nay, this is melodic, songcrafty chord changes merged with Coldplay- or U2-esque "breathing" song structure. Even better it completely inspired me - here was a modern band creating music that was 1) cool 2) well-written 3) rocking and 4) relevant! Thank you, Australia!
RUNNER-UP: Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique (1989)I'm going to admit this right off the bat: I actually had heard this album way back in 2000 on a trip to Virginia Tech. But I really wasn't paying much attention to it as I was catching up with an old friend, so I still counted this as a first listen. And it's a good thing, too. I'd always heard that this was the Beastie Boys fans' favorite album but I scoffed when I saw the tracklist - hell I was underwhelemed listening to "Boutique" on that VT trip. And, I was half right: take any of the songs individually and you have just an ok old school hip hop song. But, like the famous White Album, "Boutique" is so much more than the sum of its parts. The Boys freely experiment with crazy samples, mashing up of genres, silly lyrics, time signatures ... hell it's all over the place. It's the perfect sonic description of a Brooklyn knick-knack store. And a damn good album.
WORST: George Harrison - Wonderwall Music (1968)Take a quick look at the gigantic list below and you'll see some strange shit down there. There was no real rhyme or reason as to the selection of these albums: some I had always wanted to listen to, some I had heard so much about but never actually experienced, some were popular before I was involved in music. Whatever the reason, yes, you can find some complete turds there: Phish, Atreyu, hell ... I'm listening to Mariah Carey records! But never (let me say that again with emphasis: never) gave up on any album no matter how difficult it was. Nope, every one on this list I gave the required three-listens to before tossing away forever. Oh, except one. Harrison's "Wonderwall Music" was so bad - a 70's experimental, instrumental soundtrack that was so dated and dull - that I'm not even sure I made it through all the way once.
RUNNER-UP: Bullet For My Valentine - The Poison (2006)I joined a hard/modern rock band at the beginning of the year and the singer gave us listening assignments as if he were our teacher. It's one thing to hand me music you love and ask me what I think of it. It's an entirely different matter altogether when you just hand me whatever is popular and order me to incorporate it into my sound. Maybe I was a little biased during this listen but I took exceptional offense when this required music was absolute garbage. I'm actually not so sure how popular "Bullet For My Valentine" is but I know there are way better bands than this today. This album is a mash up of juvenile screaming; the same, tired, "scary" chord progressions Marilyn Manson's been using for a decade-and-a-half; and a double bass drum that never quits. This one didn't make the grade at all when it came to keeping. Coincidentally, neither did my band.
| Artist - Album Name (Year of Release) | Artist - Album Name (Year of Release) |
| Michael Buble - Michael Buble (2003) | Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz (1980) |
| Sheryl Crow - Tuesday Night Music Club (1993) | David Bowie - Space Oddity (1972) |
| Elliott Smith - New Moon (2007) [2 CDs] | Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle (1973) |
| George Harrison - Wonderwall Music (1968) | Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle (1993) |
| Missy Elliot - Supa Dupa Fly (1997) | David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World (1970) |
| Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique (1989) | Michael Jackson - Off The Wall (1979) |
| Metallica - Ride The Lightning (1984) | Mariah Carey - Mariah Carey (1990) |
| Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt (1996) | Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero (2007) |
| ZZ Top - ZZ Top's First Album (1970) | Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonnna Go My Way (1993) |
| Travis - The Invisible Band (2001) | Madonna - You Can Dance (1987) |
| Stevie Wonder - The Jazz Soul Of Little Stevie (1962) | The Smashing Pumpkins - Adore Demos (1997) |
| Beastie Boys - Check Your Head (1992) | KT Tunstall - Eye To The Telescope (2004) |
| Stevie Wonder - Uptight (1966) | Pink Floyd - More (1969) |
| Atreyu - Lead Sails Paper Anchor (2007) | Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP (2000) |
| Ozzy Osbourne - Diary Of A Madman (1981) | Amy Winehouse - Frank (2003) |
| No Doubt - Rock Steady (2001) | The Killers - Hot Fuss (2004) |
| Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill (1998) | Green Day - Warning (2000) |
| Everything but the Girl – Adapt Or Die: Ten Years of Remixes (2005) | Metallica – Master of Puppets (1986) |
| The Rolling Stones – 12x5 (1964) | Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded (1996) |
| Velvet Revolver – Libertad (2007) | Bullet for My Valentine – The Poison (2006) |
| Queen – A Night at the Opera (1975) | Paramore – All We Know is Falling (2005) |
| AFI – Sing the Sorrow (2003) | Fall Out Boy – Infinity on High (2007) |
| Bob Dylan – Bringing It All Back Home (1965) | Beck – Stereopathetic Soulmanure (1994) |
| Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run (1975) | M.I.A. – Arular (2004) |
| Pearl Jam – Vs. (1993) | Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles (1999) |
| REM – Reckoning (1984) | David Bowie – Hunky Dori (1971) |
| Primus – Sailing the Seas of Cheese (1991) | The Smashing Pumpkins – MACHINA/The Machines of God (2000) |
| Beck – One Foot in the Grave (1994) | U2 – October (1981) |
| Weezer – Weezer (Red Album) (2008) | Mark Ronson – Here Comes the Fuzz (2003) |
| Nikka Costa – Everybody Got Their Something (2001) | Mark Ronson – Version (2007) |
| Collective Soul – Dosage (1999) | Cake – Motorcade of Generosity (1994) |
| Depeche Mode – Speak & Spell (1981) | The Cure – Seventeen Seconds (1980) |
| Motley Crue – Theatre of Pain (1985) | Oasis – Heathen Chemistry (2002) |
| Modest Mouse – The Lonesome Crowdest West (1997) | Paul McCartney – Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (2005) |
| Depeche Mode – A Broken Frame (1982) | Kraftwerk – Kraftwerk (1970) |
| Kraftwerk – Kraftwerk 2 (1972) | Mariah Carey – Emotions (1991) |
| Madonna – Like a Prayer (1989) | Weird Al Yankovic – “Weird Al” Yankovic (1983) |
| The Rolling Stones – The Rolling Stones, Now! (1965) | Bruce Springsteen – Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) |
| U2 – War (1983) | Pearl Jam – Vitalogy (1994) |
| Robert Plant – The Principle of Moments (1983) | The Submarines – Declare a New State! (2006) |
| Phish – Junta (1989) | Sheryl Crow – Sheryl Crow (1996) |
| Sheryl Crow – Sheryl Crow: Signature Tour Edition (1997) | Robert Palmer – Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley (1974) |
| REM – Fables of the Reconstruction (1992) | Red Hot Chili Peppers – The Red Hot Chili Peppers (1984) |
| Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited (1965) | Midnight Juggernauts – Dystopia (2007) [2 CDs] |
| Simon & Garfunkel – Wednesday Morning, 3AM (1964) | Sheryl Crow – The Globe Sessions (1999) |
| Bruce Springsteen – The River (1980) | Cake – Fashion Nugget (1996) |
| The Rolling Stones – Out Of Our Heads (1965) | Tool – Undertow (1993) |
| Beck – Mutations (1998) | Everything But The Girl – Eden (1984) |
| Def Leppard – Hysteria (1987) | Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard – Batman Begins Score (2005) |
| The Rolling Stones – December’s Children (And Everybody’s) (1965) | Cheap Trick – One on One (1982) |
| David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972) | Hanoi Rocks – Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shocks, Hanoi Rocks (1981) |
| The Beach Boys – Surfin’ Safari (1962) | The Beach Boys – Surfin’ USA (1963) |
| The Rolling Stones – Aftermath (1966) | Ozzy Osbourne – Bark at the Moon (1983) |
| Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On (1971) | The Rolling Stones – Give Live If You Want It! (1966) |
| The Beach Boys – Surfer Girl (1963) | The Who – My Generation (1965) |
| Def Leppard – On Through the Night (1980) | The Rolling Stones – Between the Buttons (1967) |
| Paul Simon – The Paul Simon Song Book (1965) | The Rolling Stones – Flowers (1967) |
| Stevie Wonder – Where I’m Coming From (1971) | Britney Spears – Blackout (2007) |
| Guns N’ Roses – Chinese Democracy (2008) | Depeche Mode – Construction Time Again (1983) |
| Sloan – Navy Blues (1998) | Everything But The Girl – Love Not Money (1985) |
| Billy Preston – The Ultimate Collection (2000) | The Rolling Stones – Their Satanic Masties Request (1967) |
| Robert Palmer – Pressure Drop (1975) | Matthew Sweet – Altered Beast (1993) |
| Ray Charles – The Very Best of Ray Charles (1994) | Mariah Carey – Music Box (1993) |