So the year is drawing to a close, so I thought I'd just talk about what music I really liked this year. Pretty brief, and in no specific order or anything.
Coheed and Cambria - No World For Tommorow.
This year saw the release of the final chapter in the multi-album concept saga concocted in the mind of frontman Claudio Sanchez. If you don't follow the storyline don't worry, this album will still satisfy. For a band constantly shifting styles, this one doesn't stray too far from the last release, Good Apollo, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Considering this is part two of the Good Apollo album, the similarities in sound are understandable.
In terms of mood this album is fairly dark and filled with tension. Since it's about the end of the story, the final battles and what not, it's fairly bleak in terms of lyrics and music, excluding the song Feathers, which is pretty upbeat.
I'm not going to go into a detalied critique of all of these, as I'd be here all day. So I'll just say that it's got great musicianship from the band, and I think it's one of, if not their best release.
Great Tracks: Mother Superior, Gravemakers and Gunslingers, No World For Tommorow
Joel Plaskett Emergency - Ashtray Rock
Some good old rock and roll, nothing more, nothing less. Plaskett has a great voice, coupled with some great songwriting on this one. It gives off a real straight up bar band sound, which is what he was going for I think. Really fun to listen to, and I'm glad I got to see him this year, he puts on a great show.
Great Tracks: Face of the Earth, Soundtrack for the Night, Fashionable People
In Rainbows - Radiohead
This album comes 4 years after Radiohead's last album, and it was well worth the wait. This might be the happiest Radiohead album ever , with plenty upbeat music and even some love songs. It's fairly stripped down compared to the last few releases, which saw the band in a more electronic style. This album has fairly sparse arrangements. Overall there's plenty of goodness in here, and it only gets better with repeated listenings.
Great Tracks: Nude, Faust Arp, Videotape
Matthew Good - Hospital Music
Wow, this one is a doozy. Definitely the most depressing album on this list (and that's saying something when Radiohead is on it!), this one hits hard. The opening track "Champions of Nothing" is nine and a half minutes of spine tingling greatness. The content of this album is influenced by Good's overdose, bad divorce, and his dealings with his bipolar disorder, and it certainly shows. There are also two covers, including a folky version of Dead Kennedys' "Moon Over Marin".
Great Tracks: Champions of Nothing, Born Losers, The Devil's in Your Details
Dethklok - Dethalbum
This might seem like a joke, but this album is really great. Brendon Small shows off his amazing guitar skills, as well as truly brutal vocals. The songs are mostly all satire on death metal, in terms of lyrics, but they work great. I really want to find more bands that sound like Dethklok now, because it's such a great combination of death vocals and brutal riffs with some great harmonies on top.
Great Tracks: Murmaider, Thunderhorse, Detharmonic
Honourable Mentions also go to:
Rush - Snakes and Arrows The White Stripes - Icky Thump Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour
Hope you enjoy, and I hope you check these great records out, even if my reviews are pretty shitty.
Well, not that much to say I guess I'll get to the good stuff..
Guitar-wise I've been trying to learn more jazz style chords and work on my soloing abilities. I've met someone to jam with and he's really skilled at basically everything, so I'm trying to improve, so I don't look like a knob when we play. Unfortunately I have very little time, due to University work and what not.
On the piano side of things it's basically the same. I've got access to a piano, but again, no time to use it. I hope to get tons of work done, or maybe work out a schedule, but I'm so bad at organization.
Other than that, I've been writing a lot lately, which does make me feel better about the lack of playing time. Hopefully some of these ramblings I've written have merit as actual songs...
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rush4life's blogs, last updated : December 11, 2007
