15 Great Albums of the Year :2003
Submitted by dcstar on Tue, 12/23/2003 - 02:38
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- 15) Youth & Young Manhood/ Kings of Leon: A mix of urban sound and southern goodness.
- 14) Her Majesty/ The Decemberists: Talented album.
- 13) So Much for the City/ The Thrills: Dublin rocks.
- 12) Shootenany!/Eels: Great lyrics, relaxing melody.
- 11) Electric Version/ The New Pornographers: Exciting debut. Awesome music.
- 10) De-loused in the Comatorium/ The Mars Volta: Raucous and imaginative.
- 9) Give Up/ The Postal Service: Been called Electro-Indie. I guess that'll do. Brave and intense. Own this.
- 8) Permission to Land/ The Darkness: Are you kidding me? This is way too much fun for hair rock.
- 7) Echoes/ The Rapture: Holy cow bell, these guys rock.
- 6) Hail to the Thief/ Radiohead: Good songs, beautiful sound, but for Radiohead, short of greatness.
- 5) Room on Fire/ The Strokes: So glad they didn't try anything toooo new.
- 4) Speakerboxxx...The Love Below/ Outkast: Epic. Epic. Epic.
- 3) It Still Moves/ My Morning Jacket: Long, eclectic, and meaningful (reminds me alot of 'Exile on Main Street' too).
- 2) Chutes Too Narrow/ The Shins: Surprise of the year. Maybe the best sophomore album I've ever heard.
- 1) Elephant/ The White Stripes: Breakthtaking from the first second to the last. Jolly, well crafted, and will hold up for years.
Great List! More or less all the music I can't stop listening to right now. I can't say enough about The Shins new album. Also great to see The Mars Volta in there. If I were to make this list, it would just about be the same. My Morning Jacket was also a great addition. The Rapture right now for me is like a drug addiction, not that I would know anything about that(?) WoW! Just a great list.
Maybe the best sophomore album you've ever heard?
A good album, but may I suggest Elvis Costello's This Year's Model, The Band's The Band, Dylan's Freewheelin', or Pavement's Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain?
A great list. I can't warm up to the Darkness - I suffered through the years of hair metal too long, and I don't go in for camp too often - but I'm thrilled to see Elephant and OutKast on here.
Have you heard Cat Power's You Are Free?
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I'm looking forward to hearing the release from Cat Power. I really should have by now...
Sophomore albums rarely acheive greatness, I guess I was just swept away with the spectacle of the Shins.
I own all the suggestions, except 'The Band'. I would love to hear that. What is it about those guys that you enjoy so much?
(By the way, before now, I thought R.E.M.'s 'Reckoning' was the best sophomore album.)
Funny you should mention REM; lately, I've been thinking a bit how much the early versions of both that band and The Band remind me of each other.
They both take roots music and twist it into their own. To listen to either Murmur or The Band, you're sure you've heard that music before, or at least something in the same style, but when you try to put your finger on what type of sounds they are copying, you end up at a loss. The trick is that they aren't copying anything. They are combining various strands of music into a mixture that sounds so natural and timeless, you swear its been around for decades.
The Band manages to mingle mystery with dusty folk music. They create incredibly evocative music, calling up memories of moments you've never actually experienced. They create ragged harmonies out of voices that refuse to blend together. Also like REM, they can write songs that are impossibly powerful emotionally, even when your brain hasn't the faintest idea what the tunes are actually about.
I guess that last paragraph seems loaded with paradoxes, but that's what amazes.
Yep, I'm thinking the two bands mined much of the same ground. Different decades, different scenes, different results, but surely the same spirit.
I like REM's second album, but the love most folks my age have for it in my case is reserved for the less conventional, more murky debut.
I'm rambling, but I hope I got somewhere near giving you a decent answer! :)
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Hell yes for the Shins, The New Pornographers, and My Morning Jacket. Was surprised not to see Belle and Sebastian. I don't think Elephant would have been so high on my list.
Electric Version was the NPs second album. Their first was in 2001, it was called Mass Romantic. It's even better than Electric Version.
Yeah I realized that shortly after posting the list. I would like to hear that first disc.