Top 100 Albums of the 00s – Clive vs NME

February 4th, 2010 § 1

Some time back, perhaps December or so, I happened across a link to NME magazine’s top 100 albums of the decade, spanning release dates from January 2000 to December 2009. Unsurprisingly if you know me, I found little to cheer about in this list. My taste in music is not what you would call particularly NME-friendly. But seeing it made me start to think about what my top 100 albums would be from that period. The earlier years were when hard rock started to re-emerge from it’s dormant post-grunge state, and though unbeknownst to me at the time, the mid-00s bore a whole new genre – one that has since captured my imagination in a way that no genre has before – Folk Metal.

I don’t claim to have a wide musical taste. No, really. It’s about 60% hard rock, 25% metal (folk and otherwise), 5% acoustic, 5% ambient/chillout, and 5% classical, according to a recent poll I just took of myself.

So I have spent the last 6 weeks or so compiling my own list. And you know what? I’m going to post it, 10 at a time, with very tiny reviews. Why? It’s my blog and I’ll cry if I want to.

Only 6 albums appear on both my list and NME’s, and those are:

  • Muse – Black Holes and Revelations
  • Green Day – American Idiot
  • Muse – Absolution
  • The Coral – The Coral
  • Queens of the Stone Age – Songs for the Deaf
  • Radiohead – In Rainbows

But where do they appear? And what do I think of them? And what will be in the top 10? Well the answers to all these questions and less are on their way soon for whoever gives a monkey’s.

–c.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_metal

Gaming state

January 20th, 2010 § 2

  • Dragon Age: Origins – completed
  • Half Life 2: currently playing, I’m on chapter 11 of 14
  • Mass Effect: евтини мебелиcompleted
  • Bioshock: queued
  • Halo 3: queued
  • Dead Space: queued
  • GTA IV: currently playing, I just got to second smaller island
  • Assassin’s Creed: bought
  • Crackdown: bought

Yeah, I loves me some Xbox. It may be noted that many of the games listed are pretty old, with newer versions out or imminent. Well, I tend to play a couple of years behind the trend, which means I get the same gaming experience as everyone else, for about a quarter of the price – a strategy independently featured on XKCD. :-)

My gamer tag is Tommi Starr, by the way.

–c.

Sigh No More

January 15th, 2010 § 1

Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More

Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More

In about 2000 or so, my then girlfriend (now fiancée) moved to London a few months behind me in order to go to South Bank University. She was in halls, and occasionally – despite the smallest single bed in the world – I would go and stay over. She had a little micro stereo bought special to take away to uni, and one of the CDs we would frequently play on it was David Gray’s White Ladder, an album which I still unashamedly love to this day. I always remember a quote which was affixed to the case from some reviewer said something like: “…an album that makes you feel better simply by knowing it exists.”

I’ve always felt that was certainly true of White Ladder, but that feeling is totally eclipsed by the peace and warmth exuded by Mumford & Sons’ Sigh No More. This is an absolutely exquisite album from start to finish, and every single note gives me the feeling that I’m sitting round a pub fireplace somewhere in the Cotswolds surrounded by my nearest and dearest, feeling utterly loved and at peace with all the world. From the opening title track to the closing refrains of “After The Storm” there’s not a note out of place, and I challenge even the meanest-spirited of you to listen to songs like “Roll Away Your Stone”, “Winter Winds” and the epic “Dust Bowl Dance” and not feel uplifted. This is without question my album of 2009. (The only question there is whether The Last Vegas tie for the #1 spot…)

If you don’t like this, you don’t like music, and you have no soul.
–c.

Time to wind it up?

December 30th, 2009 § 7

Well, Rocktober was intended to try and get me blogging again, but it just turned into a chore by the end of it. I hope some of you enjoyed it and maybe even checked out some new music. But what it’s pointed out to me is that perhaps I just don’t need a blog any more.

I’ve been doing this since 1997 or so. Since before the word “blog” was coined – it was an “online journal” then. But now I have less free time, more to do offline, and more forms of entertainment jostling for my attention. Also Twitter has moved in and taken up at least a small part of that need to self-publish, even if it is just announcing what I had for lunch or what so-and-so said in the pub.

I’ve been compiling my top 100 albums of the 2000s ready for another post, or series of posts, and have come to the conclusion that there’s really very little point. I’ll probably still post it – I bothered to compile it after all – but after that I may well wrap this whole thing up. My archive goes back to 2003 here at cm.com, purely because before that I was doing it manually, and from that point on I was using a blog engine which let me move my archive from place to place. I hope it’s been enjoyable to some, perhaps even occasionally informative or amusing.

But I think it may be time to hang up the keyboard officially.

Yell if this displeases you – I do still read the comments – but unless life changes wildly in the coming months I can’t see me feeling like updating this thing very much more.

One thing I can say – my top 100 albums of the 00s will feature a lot less Jack White than NME’s chart.

–c.

Rocktober – Listen again

November 2nd, 2009 § 1

So there you have it, 31 albums that I like. Who cares? Dunno really, but if we spent our time asking that question, people wouldn’t have blogs. Anyway, on the offchance that any of those albums sound interesting and you’d like to give them a listen, here are all the Spotify links I can find for them. Not all of them are online at the time of writing though.

I hope it was of some use or interest to some. :-)

  1. Blue In The Face – DoubleDrive
  2. Tonight The Stars Revolt! – Powerman 5000
  3. Confessions – Dweezil Zappa
  4. Chickenfoot – Chickenfoot
  5. The Resistance – Muse
  6. Awake – Dream Theater
  7. Wheatus – Wheatus
  8. Beyond The Common Ground – Jan Cyrka
  9. Whatever Gets You Off – The Last Vegas
  10. A Twist In The Myth – Blind Guardian
  11. Empire – Queensrÿche
  12. Hardcore Superstar – Hardcore Superstar
  13. Runnin’ Wild – Airbourne
  14. Hi-Fi Serious – A
  15. Americal Pearl – American Pearl
  16. Sound Of White Noise – Anthrax
  17. Skyforger – Amorphis
  18. Rest In Sleaze – Crashdïet
  19. Infinity – Devin Townsend
  20. You Made Me – Josh Todd
  21. Inhuman Rampage – DragonForce
  22. Youthanasia – Megadeth
  23. Making Enemies Is Good – Backyard Babies
  24. Karkelo – Korpiklaani
  25. Waking The Dead – LA Guns
  26. Saigon Kick – Saigon Kick
  27. Native Tongue – Poison
  28. Thickskin – Skid Row
  29. The Return Of The Great Gildersleeves – Danger Danger
  30. Slam – Dan Reed Network
  31. Ragnarok – Týr

Thanks for playing.

–c.

Rocktober – Day 31

October 31st, 2009 § 0

And to bring Rocktober to a fitting close, please welcome…

Ragnarok – Týr (2006)

Týr - Ragnarok

Týr - Ragnarok

Yep, we’re ending with more Folk Metal – specifically Viking Metal. Out of all my recent discoveries in this genre and those around it, these guys from the Faroe Islands are still my favourites. Equal parts riffing, shredding, and tale-telling all with what are known in death metal circles as “clean” vocals (i.e. no cookie monster growling), these guys can easily prog it up alongside Dream Theater but without the annoying existential navel-gazing that DT seem to go in for these days. These guys are awesome musicians, and  Terji Skibenæs  (or Terry Skibbens, as some call him) in particular can fucking wail, which always helps. As with many of the bands I’m discovering, Týr like to sing in their native language but they don’t do so exclusivley – and even when they do sing in Farese, Danish or Icelandic, it feels like you’re sitting round a fire being told tales of derring-do upon which great nations were built. In fact a lot of the time you are, since Týr draw from Norse mythology a lot, hence the term Viking Metal. I love all Týr’s albums, and I deliberated for a while over which one to include here. I finally settled on Ragnarok (one of only two they have released NOT to feature the splendid song “Hail To The Hammer”) firstly because it’s 16 tracks long (18 if you get the digipak version, but I hate digipaks), secondly because it features more lyrics in English than 2008’s Land, and lastly because it feels to me like a more cohesive journey of an album than 2009’s By The Light Of The Northern Star. It’s excellent throughout – pour a flagon of ale and crank it up loud.

Standout tracks: Brother’s Bane, The Ride To Hel, The Hammer Of Thor
You’ll like this if you like: Turisas, Iron Maiden, Dream Theater

Rocktober – Day 30

October 30th, 2009 § 0

Finally caught up! Epic win!

Slam – Dan Reed Network (1989)

Dan Reed Network - Slam

Dan Reed Network - Slam

Dan Reed Network were one of those bands who on paper should have been much much bigger than they were, but as was so often the case, the record company didn’t give them the support they deserved. If anything the 1991 followup The Heat is perhaps a more cohesive album but this was the one that opened the door for funky rock as far as I was concerned way back when. Produced by Nile Rodgers, and as slick as you would expect, this is a fantastic collection of funk-rock tunes all strung together with Dan’s silky voice and Brion James’ highly melodic lead playing that does sound a little dated now, but certainly for me, can’t be beaten in terms of epic nostalgia. Cracking.

Standout tracks: Tiger In A Dress, Rainbow Child, Slam
You’ll like this if you like: Bon Jovi, Prince, Gun

Rocktober – Day 29

October 30th, 2009 § 0

Nearly there…

The Return Of The Great Gildersleeves – Danger Danger (2000)

Danger Danger - The Return Of The Great Gildersleeves

Danger Danger - The Return Of The Great Gildersleeves

I had no idea that Danger Danger even kept going after the frankly wonderful Screw It! from 1991, but it turns out they did. They parted ways with singer Ted Poley and guitarist Andy Timmons, and the two original founding members Bruno Ravel and Steve West recruited a new singer and got on with writing new material. They released Dawn in 1995, Four The Hard Way in 1998 and The Return Of The Great Gildersleeves in 2000. In actual fact, they had recorded a 3rd album with the original lineup for release in 1993 entitled Cockroach, when for reasons unknown to me, they fired singer Ted Poley, who then took legal action to stop that album being released.This in fact was when they hired new singer Paul Laine, who re-recorded the vocals only to have the record company shelve the record. Cockroach eventually saw the light of day in 2001 when after talking to the record company, they released it as a double album – one with Poley singing, one with Laine. That’s some pretty wacked out shit right there. Anyway, The Return Of The Great Gildersleeves is an absolutely splendid rock album, and just what you’d want to hear from Danger Danger, including guest guitar solos from Andy Timmons here and there.

Standout tracks: When She’s Good She’s Good, Grind, Dead Drunk & Wasted
You’ll like this if you like: Enuff Z’Nuff, Poison, Mötley Crüe

Rocktober – Day 29

The Return Of The Great Gildersleeves – Danger Danger (2000)
I had no idea that Danger Danger even kept going after the frankly wonderful Screw It! from 1991, but it turns out they did. They parted ways with singer Ted Poley and guitarist Andy Timmons, and the two original founding members Bruno Ravel and Steve West recruited a new singer and got on with writing new material. They released Dawn in 1995, Four The Hard Way in 1998 and The Return Of The Great Gildersleeves in 2000. In actual fact, they had recorded a 3rd album with the original lineup for release in 1993 entitled Cockroach, when for reasons unknown to me, they fired singer Ted Poley, who then took legal action to stop that album being released.This in fact was when they hired new singer Paul Laine, who re-recorded the vocals only to have the record company shelve the record. Cockroach eventually saw the light of day in 2001 when after talking to the record company, they released it as a double album – one with Poley singing, one with Laine. That’s some pretty wacked out shit right there. Anyway, The Return Of The Great Gildersleeves is an absolutely splendid rock album, and just what you’d want to hear from Danger Danger, including guest guitar solos from Andy Timmons here and there.
Standout tracks: When She’s Good She’s Good, Grind, Dead Drunk & Wasted
You’ll like this if you like: Enuff Z’Nuff, Poison, Mötley Crüe

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