Best Album of 2004

[Weeping_Guitar]

RockySigman said:

At this point, I really love every song on the album with the exception of "Company On My Back" (which strangely seems to be a favorite among lots of fans of the album) and "I'm a Wheel", if only because I would have rather they'd put "Kicking Television" in its place rather than delegating it to the import version.

"Company on My Back" is perfection, Sigman, as I must remind you again. It's the best album of the year, I'm puzzled how I once couldn't totally connect with it. Lay down in the dark and let that musicianship float all over you, it's really pretty spectacular throughout, outside the buzzes on "Less Than You Think". "Kicking Television" shoudl be on there, certainly.

[Kensterberg]

Just for Rocky, I'll give A Ghost is Born another shot (it's been a while since I put it on) ... but I don't think it's gonna resonate with me this time around, either. I do think Hummingbird and some of the other tracks are aces (and especially The Late Greats, still the best song on it IMHO), but its just soooooo self-indulgent in so many places.

And (like Tunes) I really haven't bought enough 2004 releases to put together any kind of meaningful list for the year. I haven't bought the Libertines last LP yet! Though seeing how Mick Jones got Q's producer of the year nod for it, it's definitely on my list of things to pick up. Right now, I'd have to say that U2 made the best record this year that I've heard, with an honorable mention to Brian Wilson for Smile. Los Lonely Boys had the most enjoyable debut I've heard in several years, and for anything more than that , I'll have to go spend some money (or at least take a hard look at iTunes to see whay I've actually got from this year!).

[JesusLooksLikeMe]

bowiglou said:

what do you all think of the Libertines (2004)?......I'm almost finished with my first complete listen, and it has some rather intiguing sonics, though some of the lyrics are rudimentary sex/drugs/rock and roll theme......

I think it's lazy, unfinished, sloppy (all things that were a virtue on the debut, yet somehow irritate me second time around)... but worst of all it's horribly self-aggrandizing. The most egotistical of rap-artists would struggle to match this sort of self-mythologising, and they'd certainly do it with more humour.
They managed to turn an interesting little rock n' roll story into a tedious and introspective narrative about how much Carl and Pete love/hate each other, their scene, and their drug taking, with themselves cast as flawed, tragic anti-heroes in some non-existent Shakespearean tragedy. Though naturally, on a more epic scale than anything Macbeth or Lear could have aspired to. Big fucking deal. Delusional cunts. It's only your second album guys! You are not Lou fucking Reed!

Having said that, there's some very strong tunes buried in an uneven playlist, and in (too few) places it approaches the brilliance of Up the Bracket.

But nothing to justify the hype, or the unthinking, mawkish, and slighty deranged adulation of hipster chicks across Britain.

[JesusLooksLikeMe]

My top five for 2004 is now final:-

5. Muse - Absolution
I'm cheating, since this came out in 2003 in the UK. But we go on US release dates on these boards, and this album, whilst blown away by its predecessor (Origin of Symmetry), is good enough to count in two year end lists as far as I'm concerned.

4. Franz Ferdinand
As Skvor said, the media have managed to turn this into DSOTM in less than 12 months, and I don't need to ever hear it again. But it's still superb.

3. The Killers - Hot Fuss
I don't care if this is disposable pop. It's the best album Duran Duran never made. Perfect in all parts, except for the hideous and unwelcome insertion of "Glamorous indie rock n' roll" on the UK version. What it lacks in ambition and innovation it recovers in the form of irresistable tunes.

2. Razorlight - Up All Night
This is what I was expecting from the Libs. But Johnny Borrell, despite the ego and the "I'm better than Dylan" protestations, has yet to dissappear up his own arse. This is by far the best Britain came up with in 2004.

1. Interpol - Antics
I share Skvor's suspicion of octaving disco-lite bass-lines, but hey, I even love "Slow Hands". And that famous one by The Stills. So maybe I'm more forgiving.
Anyway, the rest of this album is as perfect as the debut, and a natural progression from TOTBL, rather than the revolution I was fearing. One more album as perfect as this and people will finally be comparing Joy Division to Interpol, rather than the other way round. And really, I can think of no higher praise.

[JesusLooksLikeMe]

Biggest disappointment of 2004:-

PJ Harvey - Uh Huh Her
There's nothing wrong with this album. It's okay. Really. But since when has that been good enough for Her Sexiness?

Best comeback of 2004:-

Morrissey - You Are The Quarry
His best since Vauhall & I.

NME/indie "I don't get the hype" moment:-

Snow Patrol - Final Straw
If only the other tracks matched the magnificent "Run".

Most overrated album of 2004:-

The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free
Someone should start KillMikeSkinner.com.
They can provide a link to my own work in progress: MSkinnerIsACunt.com

[riley]

Yeah. I don't get The Streets thing at all.

[Dr. Drum]

Worse than Dexys Midnight Runners?

Dexys put out a record this year??

Since you bring ‘em up, though, ace pop band. Haven’t ever heard Don’t Stand Me Down but both Searching for the Young Soul Rebels and Too-Rye-Aye are classics.

But we go on US release dates on these boards

I go by the date the record was released in its country of origin. Though I thought Riley’s idea yesterday (released in 2003/broke in 2004) was a good way to catch stuff that otherwise might fall through the cracks.

'Comeback of 2004' if we’re talking return to form vs. merely returning to the fray would have to be Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

[ScottsyII]

I know this a blatant stealing of your categories Jesus... but I found them quite compelling, so I thought I'd give it a go myself... I hope you didn't mind!

Biggest disappointment of 2004:- Auf Der Maur - Melissa Auf De Maur... just seemed too contrived, too austere, trying hard to be dark? Sexy? It just plain didn't work for me. I tried to like it.

Best comeback of 2004:- Air - Talkie Walkie... I didn't go much for 10,000Hz Legend, they lost some of their refinement, those wistful sprawling, atmospheric tones... but they brought it back on this, without completely throwing out the good things acehieved on 10,000Hz Legend... a great return to form.

NME/indie "I don't get the hype" moment:- Jet... need I say more... why doesn't someone just tell them it's all been done before...

Most overrated album of 2004:- Franz Ferdinand... maybe I'm just too serious for all this stuff, but it just seemed to be sort of thing that after five or listens it would just die out and my interest would be elsewhere... really kinda just ended up bugging after a while.

[Ampage]

Dr. said:

Sorry, man, I liked Hole, too, up to and including Celebrity Skin but that record was a train wreck and an enervated, soulless one at that. Worst. Record. Of. The. Year.

Oh okay, so you like Lindsay Lohans better? Now I get it.

[ScottsyII]

ok, so here goes my top five for the year, as it currently stands...

5) Panopticon - Isis Equal turns brutal, equal turns gentle and atmospheric, all of the time engaging and wonderful.

4)Beside Yourself - The Church - Technically a B - Sides and rarities disc of recordings around last year's Forget Yourself, but man, what a set of songs... you can virtually touch the atmosphere created by "Crash / Ride" and "Jazz" and then it takes you into the amazing and mesmerising "Cantilever".

3) Antics - Interpol Loved this from the first listen, its a little less sprawling than Trun on the Bright Lights, maybe even slightly less "weighty" but man it works so darn well.

2) Dear Friends and Enemies - Big Heavy Stuff Another incredibly classy album from a band that continues to impress, broody melancholic, but also tinged with a sense of joy, this a great late night album.

1) The Goodbye Girl - Epicure An amazing third album by this not so well known act, the hidden track on this is an absolute beauty... just a gently strummed guitar and a plaintive, beautiful vocal... the rest of the album is spotlessly engaging, shimmering, but also lyrically dark and thought provoking.. basically all things I would be looking for in an album. :-)

[riley]

From one of Canada's cooler indie rags. The Arcade Fire in their proper place of course.

www.exclaim.ca/index.asp?layid=22&csid1=3171

[Reservoir]

as soon as the libs are unfairly attacked on boards, i come swooping in to defend them as one of - if not the single - most brilliant young bands working in britain.

firstly, the influence they've had on british music (yeah, fair enough, mostly the london scene, but hey, london's a rather large part of the brit market after all) cannot be understated.

secondly, the s/t is definitely not as good as the debut, which i would class as at the top of it's game...a near perfect, sleazy gem. this album was never going to be up the bracket. it couldnt possibly...UTB was released two years ago, and a lot has happened, very publicly, to the libertines since then. they're a different band in a different situation, with different things to say.

thirdly, yes, its sloppy, unpolished and messy. that's half the charm of the libs! their mythology is weaved into their songs, it cant be separated from them. if that irritates you, fine, but it was weaved just as much into "death on the stairs" or "the good old days". they are just little rock n roll urchins running around london speaking to people and mucking around.

fourthly: "what katie did". "cant stand me now". "narcissist". "campaign of hate". "the ha ha wall". "tomblands". "arbeit mach frei". all songs worth the hype, or the unthinking, mawkish, and slighty deranged adulation of hipster chicks across Britain.

fifthly: grown men openly wept during "what katie did" when i saw babyshambles (doherty's new band). that the libs can inspire so much passion in intelligent, literate people surely says that there's something in there. they're not a band that people dont care about. if you know their music well you either love them or hate them, which is often the mark of something truly special.

its a fabulous, if uncomfortable album, and definitely my favourite of the year.

[pissin2]

This year's best album - FAR BEYOND DRIVEN.

[Galactus]

Biggest disappointment of 2004: REM- Around The Sun. Man, this album just sucks.

Best comeback of 2004: Brian Wilson- Smile. I really can't over how great it is.

NME/indie "I don't get the hype" moment: (sorry Riley) The Arcade Fire. It's good but I'm not hearing the brilliance.

Most overrated album of 2004: Right...see the last question.


bonus catagories-

Album I didn't expect to like but was quite pleased to be wrong Interpol- Antics. The first didn't move me in the least but this has become a must for top ten of the year.

Worst new band name Dogs Die In Hot Cars. Ugh.

most unwarranted hype- British rap. The Streets and Dizzee Rascal...really not that good. I know you guys are happy to have rappers that don't suck but there is really no need to elevate half assed to to fore front. Yes, yes I know Mike Skinner isn't really a rapper but other than that and "boring" I can't think of anything else to call him.

Achievment award for actually getting worse when that seemed impossible New country/ Nelly (tie)

Also I would like to point that this year the lowest moment in human history occured. On VH1's Big 2004 awards show Brigette Neilson and Flava Flav presented Anna Nicole Smith with the "make over of the year" award. I considered suicide but then realised that it can't get any worse...unless someone decides to put a show on TV where people actually swap wives. HAHAHAHA what a silly thought...oh shit. We are lost.

[Reservoir]

comeback of the year

neds atomic dustbin are touring! its a far cry from this time last year when one of their members cornered myself and a friend on the tube to tell us that he "was in a successful band in the nineties". we laughed for weeks.

NME/indie hype i just dont get

fucking morrissey. i hate him i hate him i hate him i hate him. ok, so NME weren't his favourite people for a decade or so (that cover was funny! lighten up you dour bastard) , but now they're back to sucking him off. the smiths suck, morrisey sucks, id rather listen to fucking keane. there is no darker insult.

overrated album of the year

the concretes - s/t. one of the worst albums of the year. plus the HORRENDOUS singer claims she has a talking cat who tells her fortune. yeauch. sounds like vomit.

worst new band name of the year

i dont think i can top DED's. shite band too.

most undeserved hype

greenday. call that a protest?

managed to get worse when you didnt think that possible

lostprophets. i think they might just be bigger, but thats still worse for mankind.