Best Of

30 Dec

2006: The Year Of…?

Sean McCarthyBest Of
Ghostface Killah proved that rap is not exclusively a young players' game. The weirder Tom Waits gets, the more popular he becomes. And Cee-Lo, a person whose career was as commercially dead as K-Fed (but for all the wrong reasons), is now set for a long time with “Crazy,” perhaps the only shoo-in for “Top Ten Songs of the Decade” in a year that saw virtually no shoo-ins for “Best Albums of the Decade” – even though there was a ton of great stuff out there. Bob Dylan achieved “instant classic” status again with Modern Times, though some fans began…
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12 Jul

Cream Of The Crop And Cream Of The Slop 2005

Chris HarlowBest Of
2005 was the year of the unexpected. Generally speaking, it was the new artists I discovered and found myself listening to that genuinely impressed me, while some of the old guard are finding themselves perilously close to being replaced. Nevertheless, these tales contribute to what is known as the magical world of rock. The top five releases of 2005, in my opinion, were:   5. Backyard Babies -- Live Live in Paris By reinventing the overproduced studio hits from the Backyard Babies two previous albums into a sound more signature and representative of them, the BMG label gives true meaning…
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12 Jul

2005: A Year In Review

Sean McCarthyBest Of
Well, we have crossed the halfway point of this decade. Usually, the middle of a decade comes around the same time popular music experiences an identity crisis. In the '70s, it was nearing the end of Led Zeppelin's reign and punk and disco were emerging from the underground. 1985 wasn't a particularly good year for music, as I can remember. And in 1995, we saw grunge die and alternative/college rock beginning to give way to stuff like Hootie and the Blowfish and, eventually, boy bands. But for 2005, we really didn't see any genre 'die.' The popular indie bands of…
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31 Dec

Looking Sideways at 2005

dvadminBest Of
Musically, Jeff describes 2005 as "not bad," and it's hard to argue with such ambivalent praise. Personally, my favorite musical experiences this year generally involved discovering neglected nuggets from years past, or picking through my mailbox to find the diamonds hidden in the indie rough. There were some excellent albums made by name artists, to be sure (Death Cab For Cutie, Ben Folds, Bright Eyes), and some big names returned to the headlines (the Stones, McCartney, Pink Floyd) this year, but nothing in the mainstream absolutely knocked me out. That said, here goes my annual cavalcade of entirely arbitrary awards… Most…
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25 Dec

2005: Not Bad!

Jeff ClutterbuckBest Of
Last year was the first year I was given the opportunity to compile a best-of list, and it was a good one. As a result, my expectations were tempered going into this year. I doubted that this year's list would be as good as last year's, and it turns out I was right. There were some good efforts to be found, but nothing on the scale of 2004. Here goes my take on music in 2005:Sound Of The YearIf you put a gun to my head and asked what the music of '05 sounded like, I would say stripped-down. The…
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25 Dec

Top Ten Favortie Albums of 2005

Melanie LoveBest Of
Welcome to the year that brought me out of my classic rock funk and moved me towards debuts from new bands and follow-ups from old favorites...10. Franz Ferdinand -- You Could Have It So Much BetterTheir first self-titled album stormed the airwaves for ages, and the Glasgow rockers are back and better than ever, perfecting the art of uplifting and impossibly catchy lyrics. You Could Have It So Much Better will have you shamelessly singing along by the second track.9. The Darkness -- One Way Ticket To Hell And BackMouthful of a title aside, The Darkness' follow up to the…
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06 Dec

2004: Cream Of The Crop And Cream Of The Slop

Chris HarlowBest Of
Realizing award lists should only be given to truly worthy albums -- err, CDs in today's terms -- I'm going to list the five releases from this year that have truly made a positive impact on me. I'll also grant other albums certain awards of note based off of my perception after giving them the necessary spins to warrant an opinion.5. Silver -- White Diary The only thing Silver did not do right in 2004 was to let their Scandinavian love-metaller neighbors H.I.M. get to the Hot Topic shelves first -- in an effort to generate the same major label…
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06 Dec

2004: The End

Paul HansonBest Of
Were there great releases in 2004? Certainly. I got acquainted with acronym bands LAW (Lazy American Workers) and MDC (Magnus Dominus Corpus) and I liked those releases a lot. I've been thinking about the concept that a great CD is one that lives in your CD player for months. It's one thing to say, "Led Zeppelin's IV release -- that's a great CD." It's another to live with that release in your CD changer for months on end. That's why this article only addresses a few official 2004 releases and then dips into the past. I'm basing this list solely…
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06 Dec

2004: A Year In Review

Sean McCarthyBest Of
This10. Maroon 5 -- Songs about JaneGee, the first album and I'm already off to a bad start. Technically Songs About Jane came out in 2003, but this year led to the band being recognized. It's a great, funky pop album with a bit of an edge to it. I have high expectations for their next CD. 9. Elton John -- Peachtree RoadThis is an indulgence on my part. Elton John is one of my favorite artists, so I was naturally delighted when I heard Peachtree was going to be a country/gospel/rock type album reminiscent of his early 70's work.…
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06 Dec

2003: The Year That Was

Sean McCarthyBest Of
Clear Channel, the Internet and the continued specialization of radio stations have done a great job of fracturing the music world. With the exception of 50 Cent's inescapable "In da Club," listeners could likely retreat into their own cocoons. This isolated specialization resulted in a good year in music. A very good year. But not spectacular. There were no jaw-dropping standard-setters like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Stankonia or OK Computer to take popular music in a new direction. Looking at the selections for 2003 was like trying to ascertain who were the better teams: Yankees or the Spurs? Brett Favre or…
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