Ryan’s Top 10 Albums of 2008. (As if you care)
I know that top ten lists are a little passe. Especially at the end of the year. But I don’t care. No one makes you read this. Unless you’re in a Somali prison with a gun to your head and being made to read this. If that’s the case, I offer my condolences. Maybe I’ll put up pictures of boobs later to help you out.
1. Kings of Leon - Only By the Night. Just simply awesome. The vocals are really cool and haunting and it just plain rocks. It was on loop in my car for nearly 2 months straight. I suggest tracks 3,4,8, & 10.
2. The Gaslight Anthem - The ‘59 Sound. Basically punk rock and Bruce Springsteen had a baby. Although I did notice heavy use of women’s names in the songs. Like every single one. Oh well. I basically like every track on the album. But 1, 2, 11, and 12 are awesome.
3. Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs. Any of these first three could have been #1. Death Cab has some of the best songwriting I’ve ever heard and constantly reminds me that I don’t have the natural talent to be a rock star. Sure it borders on emo, but it does so without wallowing in self-pity. Track 2,4,7, and 9 are all gems.
4. Weezer - Weezer (The Red Album). Weezer always kicks ass and even got a little weird on this one. (Just listen to “Greatest Man That Ever Lived). They know how to be eccentric without becoming Frank Zappa or something. It’s just a really fun album. 1,2,3, and 5 are my favorites.
5. The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely. Jack White is a genius. Every piece of music the guy makes is just awesome. (And I realize I’m not telling you anything that some dude in a vintage concert tee hasn’t already told you). If you didn’t know any better, you would have thought this album was made in 1970. Lot of blues guitar and heavy riffs in it. I really don’t have a favorite track on this one. Although “Salute Your Solution” is the one that people know.
6. Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. This one took awhile to grow on me and only after seeing their concert at Sprint Center did I start to enjoy it a bit more. There are some really good tracks in there. It’s just sometimes Chris Martin tends to try and go a little too “Bono” with his music. I just felt that some of the music feels like they’re trying way too hard. 3,5,7, and 8 are the ones you’ll know.
7. The Killers - Day and Age. Sigh. While unfair, I keep waiting for a second Hot Fuss to come out. And for the second time, they didn’t deliver. The more I listen to this, the more I like it. And I’ve gotten over the stupidity of the lyrics to “Human”. It’s a good album. But every album that they put out they’re trying to go in a new direction. Yet they fail to realize that their fans really liked their old direction. But they are really channelling some Duran Duran in this one. 3 and 5 are the tracks I like right now.
8. Foxboro Hot Tubs - Stop Drop and Roll!!! Green Day’s side project. It’s basically 60s/70s surfer music. Think more Iggy and the Stooges than Beach Boys. But it’s pretty good and really catchy. I can’t wait for Green Day’s next album. I like 2,3, and 8.
9. The Kooks - Konk. The follow up to their deliciously awesome Inside In/Inside Out album. Good, but not great. Some of the songs are pretty forgettable. In fact, I’ve forgotten a lot of them right now. 2,7, and 9 are solid.
10. Guns N’ Roses - Chinese Democracy. Ok, I haven’t actually listened to this album. Even though I’ve heard half the songs as they’ve been leaked over the past 10 years. But that fact that Axl actually got his shit together and made it means that it deserves the final spot in the countdown. No longer will his musical legacy be the awfulness that was The Spaghetti Incident. Now it’ll be dreadlocks and insanity. I suggest tracks…..actually I suggest you go out and buy Appetite For Destruction and just listen to that instead.
