The best albums of 2005 are...

[pattentank24]

luke said:

Weezer made such a huge fall from grace. Those first two albums were perfect, the next two albums had me living in denial, and now I realize that Pinkerton was the last great thing they did. It's hard to let your favorite band just die on you like that. I still own three Weezer shirts, man, all from the seventh and eighth grade.

EXACTLY how I feel Weezer has been downhill on album and live folowing Green it seems forced and phoned-in
Their appears to be NO EVOLUTION in the future

[Thorngrub]

albums I fondly recall from this year include porcupine tree's deadwing (such rollicking hardcore progressive beauty w/Mikhael on that song "Arriving Somewhere But Not Here") . . . and of course Opeth's Ghost Reveries (the perfect album for the person looking for something heavy/progressive) is just such a beautifully, classically constructed piece of work . . .

Eno's "Another Day On Earth" I believe is a quite notable addition to the pantheon of recordings attributable to this ambient pioneer and altogether lovely human being ... the album is a sonic re-introduction to his entire catalogue & wouldn't blink an eye in surprise were I to find out that indeed his entire recorded canon was reprocessed into the compost of this album . . . nope, wouldn't be surprised at all . . .

and then there's the mind shattering, freakishly over-the-top pseudo-psychedelia of the Mars Volta's Frances The Mute, an album that does not require repeat listenings to secure for itself a legendary brilliance in the annals of rock recordings . . . *go mars volta, go mars volta* . . .

the always overlooked & under-appreciated california "lovecore" band boy hits car released (what is quite possibly) their last album ever The Passage (available only through their site online), and it is a fitting capstone to their hyperkinetic legacy of in-yer-face lovecore live shows . . . (their "Final Live Show" last April 24th @the Whiskey a-GoGo remains vividly impressed upon my mind as having been among the Top 5 most intense live shows ever: I caught Cregg from his 20-foot stage dive bulls-eye center!) . . .

and then we had fucking dredg's new album Catch Without Arms, a recording capable quite easily all by itself of securing a legendary cult status for the band despite it being their 3rd commercial release, this album is 100% pure distilled earth dreams channeled through the talent of the four most laid back & intense musicians I've ever met . . . dredg is secretly nestled closer to my heart than 99% of the remaining bands alive, and I ever look forward to continuing attending their emotive, stellar live shows, & Gavin has one of the most sincere vocals in rock, more than enuff to carry their ship of dreams as far as they wanna take it (stay tuned for more dredg in the future) . . .

Then of course we got the intense one-two punch of System Of A Down's mezmerize/hypnotize, two seperate albums that manage to each stand on their own merits, yet when combined into the double album they're intended to create, manage to (almost unfairly) out-do most every other contendor's albums for "Best Of The Year" . . . maybe it's just me & my penchant for hard rock music, but SOAD have reached many souls in 2005 and the rollicking, inventive guitar riffs combined with Serj's harrowing & richly detailed vocal attack makes for some heady, heavy commercial stuff the airwaves could stand more of in my humble opinion. . .

I never even got Green Day's American Idiot but I listened to some of it while driving w/a friend, and I know a talented band w/something positive to say when I hear one, more power to Green Day & all their fans . . .

2005 was even a killer year for deathmetal when Canada's infamous Crowned Kings of the genre in CryptopsY saw a near-original reunion of their lineup (minus one original guitarist) plus the reintroduction of their mandatory lead vocalist, "Lord Worm" (college professor by day) and his inhuman cacophony of shrieking leading the most insanely progressive deathmetal you're likely to hear this side of the emerging underground in their latest album Once Was Not, a lyrical dose of lethal reality enriched by Lord Worm's literally terrifying prose.

[Thorngrub]

...but none of these, to my ears at least, manage to quite match the devastating intensity, the focus of purpose, the alarming creativity, urgency, musical innovation, preservation of integrity, surprising degree of relevance, and the overall gestalt of greatness that is the new korn album See You On The Other Side, you either get em or you don't, love em or despise them, the overwhelming consensus generated by the remaining four members of this bakersfield california band -- and more importantly, their evergrowing legion of devoted fans -- is that they certainly are here to stay despite the departure of their formerly integral cofounder & mentor, the always inspirational Brian "Head" Welch, who has dubiously stepped down to pursue a richly rewarding life devoted to Christ, and we all wish him the best for it. Meanwhile, the new four-piece korn have dropped what I consider to be an album every bit as intense & relevant as any of the previous six albums they've released on an unsuspecting world during their first decade as hard rock's most notoriously inventive band ever.

It definitely gets "Best Album Of The Year" from this devoted freak . . . and that's saying something in a year that included all that dope ass shit I listed above.

[pattentank24]

#40-#36



#40
British Sea Power- Open Season

The softer side of BSP sometimes sacrafices the punk inspired energy that made Decline such a favorite
However this is a strong album despite the lack of energetic anthems
Larsen B is their best pop song yet.
While repeated listens reveal meditations on lost love and I would venture to say this album falls in line with The Veils quite nicely in terms of theme and sound
The guitars still do ring on It Ended on An Oily Stage,Please Stand Up
One of the best live shows you can see for under $20
Wait till they find a bridge between albums
Look Out Doves

Standout-"Larsen B" the best ATTEMPT at a B-side to Pet Sounds this year


#39
Common- Be

Common Sense I still refer to the least appreciated MC
by the name I grew up praising.
Hell I bought a "12" inch with the name Common Sense on it only to find out it was a DANCE HALL RECORD
Boy was I pissed during my Dj days
Resurrection is the best HIP-HOP album of 94 (NOT BIGGIE/OUTKAST/GANGSTARR/OR EVEN CRAIG MACK)
Sure he misfired on One Day/Electric Circus
but what rapper doesn't?
the double 00 decade has been good Common
and now he's found his DRE- Kanye West
It's about time he got his props/album sales

Standout- "GO" One of the best songs of the year ......


#38
Garbage- Bleed Like Me

The Swan Song is a nice summary of why you cared when Shirley Manson and the boys put new material out.
They were never trailblazers nor trendsetters.
But Never a BAD ALBUM in the 4 this might be my favorite.
Not a dud among a few songs that should have been Killer Singles
Bad Boyfriend sets it off, your girlfriend should want to strip for you to this
the first 5 tracks are strong as any Garbage album
and when you close with "Happy Home" the fade of a slowdive make you realize this the end
Well until one hell of a singles collection comes out with **new tracks** YAYYYY

Standout-"Run Baby Run" What they do best driving production and Shirley pleading for you to leave town with her quinesstenial Garbage

#37
The Decemberists- Picaresque

LOL I can't believe this didn't make my Top 20
I don't know where to start
The consistant excellent work this band puts out each and every time
The puppet themed live concerts
The symbolic characters trapped in peril and the insaine detail in description by Collin is nearly beyond poetry.
Wes Anderson's favorite band or it should be
So why Again I ask did this not make my Top 20?
Maybe it's the fact I Just discovered this band this year and listening to all the albums has put Picaresque
a bit below some others I guess.
I'll bet this is higher on the best of decade list though..

Standout "Engine Driver" Just a Heartbreaking song.


#36
Trail of Dead- Worlds Apart

The list of albums you listen to and stop is endless.
It sits on your shelf and every now and then you throw it on and you go
"DAMN" why haven't I played this more often"
Worlds Apart is that album this year for me
Source Tags is a masterpiece of passion and fury
Taking At-The Drive In's throne and running away with it.
Where World's Apart is an attempt to shed the emo tag and become one of the best bands walking American Soil
Trail of Dead may become Wilco as far as I can see
"Will You Smile For Me" is an sweeping epic that would make Axel Rose piss his pants to make
The Title Track is a Big F--- You to mainstream radio and Mtv.
Live Organs/Chellos build the atmosphere to have their breathing room smashed to pieces by an explosion of distortion
There is more depth than you can go into detail
a) A fitting tribute to a dead relationship
b) The battle for control of his own brain
I can't wait to see what they do next....

Standout- "And The Rest Will Follow" a blend of Armagedon drums meets seagull sound effects and one of their best melodies yet

[skvorisdeadsorta]

My vote for Album of the Year, even though most people I know are sick of hearing it is Antony and the Johnson's "I Am A Bird Now". Sorry, it just stomps the shit out of everyone else.

[skvorisdeadsorta]

Uh.....while the new Trail of Dead has grown on me, I'd hardly agree with you that they have the passion and immediacy of At The Drive In. There will NEVER be another At The Drive In and I think that most bands fall horribly short or even coming close. As a Texan I am very proud of both, and especially Spoon who had a great year as well.

You will be happy to know that Trail of Dead is already hard at work on the follow up to "Worlds Apart".

[skvorisdeadsorta]

Was Weezer, with the exception of fleeting moments on their first two records really ever any good?

[rockysigman]

Weezer's second album is, top to bottom, fantastic. But they haven't really done anything good since then. "We Are All On Drugs" is quite possibly the worst song I've ever heard by a band that was ever any good.

Keep on preaching Antony & the Johnsons, Skvor. Don't relent until everyone listens! That album is great.

[skvorisdeadsorta]

Well, I got into it by reading some blogs from some of the members of Coil, Nurse With Wound, and Current 93. If you pick up the the new Magnet magazine, there is a stunning interview with him that I have read twice now.

Second best record of the year is Coil-"The Ape of Naples" Man, I'm going to miss Jhon Balance.

[madmike4]

I was late in my Weezer indulgence. I have never been particularly fond of Blue, aside from perhaps a couple of songs.

I skipped Pinkerton due to my distaste for Blue. Did not hear Pinkerton until perhaps 6 years after it's release. After getting it, it has become my favorite.

I became a fan with Green. A very short, near perfect, pop record. Well crafted, insanely catchy songs (Island In The Sun, Knock-Down Drag-Out, Oh Girlfriend).

Maldroit is Weezer doing heavy metal. This one is a little uneven, but has many moments of brilliance on it (Dope Nose, Take Control, Slob, Slave, Fall Together).

Make Believe has 2 or 3 klunkers out of the 12 tracks but also a couple of the best songs they have ever done (Perfect Situation, The Damage In Your Heart, Peace). Overall quite good.

I find all the Weezer cds worth having, with Pinkerton probably the best and perhaps Blue my least favorite.

[RocDoc]

So thorn, where the hell is Coheed & Cambria on yer list, eh?
They had prawduct this year, din't they?

~

The Decemberists previous albums can possibly be BETTER than Picaresque??
I'm veryvery impressed with Picaresque...

Has anyone rated what I consider quite an excellent disc by Chicago's Redwalls anywhere? I actually pasted in Picaresque's first six tracks at the end of my copy....nice run-through.

[Rit]

there are three albums for me that are indisputable memoirs of this year (well, there's many more, but these three are the best of them in an all round way):

Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene (self-titled)
Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs
Wolf Parade - Apologies To The Queen Mary

[pattentank24]

skvorisdeadsorta said:

My vote for Album of the Year, even though most people I know are sick of hearing it is Antony and the Johnson's "I Am A Bird Now". Sorry, it just stomps the shit out of everyone else.

I heard it, NOT ON MY LIST
It's Ok I think there are some really amazing songs but as a complete album, Sorry

[Dr. Drum]

patten – meant to mention that I’ve been enjoying your countdown. I’d definitely pick the same standouts as you from those BSP and Decemberists records; just love "Oh Larsen B" and "The Engine Driver"!

Surprised to hear you say that Antony’s record won’t make your list, though. No doubt it’ll be in my top 5 when I get around to finalizing a list for the year.

[skvorisdeadsorta]

Wolf Parade? Yuck.