Halfway, you say? Might get to number 1 by June then!
#060. Foo Fighters – In Your Honor (2005) [spotify]
Foo Fighters - In Your Honor
Who ordered Grohl? Honestly, there’s loads of it to go around. Practically drowning in Grohl, we are. Grohl, anyone? Go on, it’s tasty!
One of the hardest working men in rock, the guy who used to be “the drummer in Nirvana” has certainly stepped out from under that massive shadow. His ties to acts like Tenacious D, Queens of the Stone Age and recent supergroup Them Crooked Vultures aside, just the work he’s put into Foo Fighters alone speaks volumes. This album is a bit of a departure from previous in that it’s a game of two halves – one disc of 10 rock tracks and one disc of 10 mellower acoustic tracks, but unlike the somewhat patchy predecessor One By One, they got it right here. It’s literally all good.
Fact Box: Dave likes his coffee fresh. For reals.
TOP TRACK: #3 “Best of You”.
#059. Chickenfoot – Chickenfoot (2009) [spotify]
Chickenfoot - Chickenfoot
Did someone say supergroup? A marketing dream. This is how I heard it went…:
“OK, so who are we gonna get on vocals? Um… oh hey, here’s an idea – now that Van Halen have reformed with DLR, Sammy Hagar is definitely free. He rocks, let’s get him! Yeah cool, great idea. Oh and hey, you know they got Eddie’s son on bass, right? I know, fucked. Totally. But that means Michael Anthony is free, and his backing vocals are awesome. Great, so we got a singer and a bassist, from one of the biggest bands in rock! Awesome, great start! OK, what about drummer? Um… fuck, dunno. Oh hey, you know who’s awesomely solid, and sings too, and can handle any shit you throw at him? That guy out of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers! And they’re on a break, right? See if he’s free. He is? Fucking nice! This is going really well. OK, so now we need a guitarist. Um… can’t be just any guitarist, obviously. I mean, we have Van Halen meets Red Hot Chilli Peppers already. Yeah, I know, pinch me! OK, so who do we get on guitar…? Got to be a big name. Not someone who wants to get any lead vocal limelight though, Sammy’s got that covered. OK, so that rules a few out. EVH? No, fuck him, we’ve already got two members of Van Halen, plus he totally jumped the shark a couple years ago. Um… hey, you know what, it would be totally awesome if we could get… nah, he’s too huge. And probably busy. Mind you he did do that Deep Purple thing a few years back. Hmmm. OK, stay with me here. See if you can get Joe Satriani on the phone. Yeah, I know, but try. Just pick up the phone, what we got to lose? Try him now, Stargate is on, and he’s addicted to that show, so he’ll be at home. No, really. It’s like a ritual with him. Always with the Stargate marathons and endless bags of cheesy poofs. I know, drives his wife nuts. Try him, dude, get dialling. He said WHAT? No no, tell me again, I dropped my lite beer. He said…? Wow. Fuck me sideways.”
Allegedly.
Brilliant album too.
TOP TRACK: #3 “Sexy Little Thing”.
#058. The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die (2009) [spotify]
The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die
This is a long fucking way from “Charly Says”, let me tell you. Srsly. The Prodigy, as ever, don’t fuck about and once the bass buildup and intro riff of track 1, the title track, have gone round a few times a muted voice says “We are… The Prodigy” and then your brain gets kicked in the fucking face. Hard.
From that point on it gets a bit mental. In fact, it kicks off, it what it does. This is a superbly heavy dance album that always sounds 100% like The Prodigy, even though iconic spike-barnetted gurning microphone-botherer Keith Flint’s vocals are only featured on a small number of the tracks (I can’t verify exactly how many right now – 3 or 4 I think). Don’t worry though – this really is proper Prodigy, and most of this album makes Fat of the Land sound like Celine fucking Dion.
TOP TRACK: #2 “Omen”.
#057. Angels & Airwaves – We Don’t Need to Whisper (2006) [spotify]
Angels & Airwaves - We Don't Need to Whisper
I’d never heard of these chaps, until a friend bade me listen to them one evening, following which I was still pretty unimpressed. He assured me it was “great smoking music”, but since I haven’t toked the weed in many years this was not such interesting news to me. A few weeks later I found myself in the house alone, a shade drunk, and casting about for something newish to listen to, and so I popped this album on again and this time it properly hit home. A&A are the brainchild of Blink 182 singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge, and the band came about when Blink 182 went on hiatus in 2005. The music is far more laid back than anything Blink ever did, and the lyrics tend towards the introspective rather than the expectorative, and you know what? It’s bloody great.
TOP TRACK: #10 “Start the Machine”.
#056. Korpiklaani – Karkelo (2009) [spotify]
Korpiklaani - Karkelo
Well folk me sideways, we’re folking again! The lead single from this album – “Vodka” – was one of the gateway tracks that first led me down the folk metal path, and I still challenge any of you to listen to it and not at least raise a smile, perhaps even a shot glass. My folk metal research at the time told me that while many folk metallers have been metal musicians/bands beforehand and then decided to go down a folk-ish road, Korpiklaani did it the other way round. They used to be a full-on folk band called Shaman, but changed the name to Korpiklaani (which means “Forest Clan”, by the way) when they went metal. These guys are Finnish, and that means they drink a lot. No, really. Only two songs on this album are in English, and those are “Vodka” and “Bring Us Pints of Beer (If You Don’t Drink, You Can Leave)”, though two of the Finnish tracks are booze related too: “Juodaan Viinaa” apparently translates to “Let’s Drink Booze”, and the slightly sombre closing track “Kohmelo” means “Hangover”. I happen to have all of Korpiklaani’s albums, and I can assure you that this is not a new development – a quick squizz at the discography reveals such wonders as “Let’s Drink”, “Happy Little Boozer”, “Beer Beer”, “Ryyppäjäiset” (which means “Booze-Up”), and “Wooden Pints”. Much of their stuff is in Finnish, and as with other folk metal bands I have found this to matter not one jot. If you like your metal to be good-natured and jolly throughout, and to contain accordions, Korpiklaani are the band for you.
Anyone fancy a pint?
TOP TRACK: #1 “Vodka”.
#055. Damien Rice – O (2003) [spotify]
Damien Rice - O
Now then.
Allmusic win the hyperbole award for Charles Spano’s review of O, calling it “nothing less than a work of genius”. Now while we know “genius” to be one of the most overused words in music, Damien Rice’s debut album comes at least very close to deserving it. This could quite easily have been an album of simple acoustic songs, well written with heartbreaking lyrics and heartfelt delivery, and it would have been no less than great. But it’s in the instrumentations and arrangements that O kicks down the front door of your soul and occupies every part of your attention until it’s had its way with you and departs, leaving you lying emotionally spent and broken on the couch, yet also strangely uplifted at the same time.
Yeah. Really. No guff, Chet. This is a hell of an album, and no mistake. The reason it’s not higher in the chart is I just don’t listen to it that often, for the simple reason that I don’t always want to make the emotional investment and have to go through musical rehab afterwards. Though as I say this, I’m humming “Volcano” in my head. Hmmm. Maybe I will give it a listen. I’m not doing anything tomorrow that can’t be cancelled.
TOP TRACK: Very hard to pick, but I’ll go with #3 “The Blower’s Daughter”.
#054. Flight of the Conchords – Flight of the Conchords (2008) [spotify]
Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords
It’s the album of the TV show, and it contains all the best tunes therein. If you watched series 1 of FotC then you’ll already be acquainted with such wondertunes as “Business Time”, “Robots”, “Mutha’uckas”, “Leggy Blonde” and the utterly awesome Pet Shop Boys homage “Inner City Pressure”. Get it, listen to it, relive Jermaine’s excellent dancing from that bit with the party, get a bit wistful about New Zealand and maybe even think about watching Lord of the Rings again.
It’s business… it’s business time.
Fact Box: I share Jermaine’s birthday.
TOP TRACK: #2 “Inner City Pressure”.
#053. Josh Todd – You Made Me (2003) [spotify]
Josh Todd - You Made Me
It’s no secret, I loves me some Buckcherry. Mmmm! Yum! In fact there’s only one act with more entries in this chart than Buckcherry (not counting this solo effort), and you’ll have to wait until near the end to find out who that is. But back to the illustrated man, Todd. Buckcherry were riding pretty high after their awesome second album Time Bomb in 2001 yet the band broke up not long after. They reformed to great success in 2005, but in between Todd released this solo album, and very different it is in musical style to any of Buckcherry’s stuff. The riffs are heavier, the production is crisper, the overall sound is nearer to Korn and the Deftones than the L.A. strip sound that Buckcherry carried out so well. And Todd’s lyrics are less about getting wasted and partying, and show a more introspective side to a man who clearly either has a lot of issues to purge, or who just watches too much TV. Either way, he’s on absolutely top form here. Superb.
TOP TRACK: #4 “Flowers & Cages”.
#052. Scissor Sisters – Scissor Sisters (2004) [spotify]
Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters
I get the feeling I might lose the room with this one, but I am unashamed. I love this album. From the opening bars of “Laura” to the closing piano parts of the excellent “Return To Oz”, it just makes me grin. The big (nay HUGE) single was of course “Take Your Mama”, which is to this day one of best dancey disco tunes made since the 70s, and the audacious and splendid cover of Pink Floyd‘s “Comfortably Numb” proves, if proof be need be, that the whole thing is done with tongue firmly in cheek. Might be best not to think about which cheek perhaps, but there you go. There are a couple of duddos – “Filthy/Gorgeous” and “Music Is The Victim” spring to mind – but overall it’s wonderful. Track 10 “It Can’t Come Quickly Enough” is a particular highlight.
TOP TRACK: #2 “Take Your Mama”.
#051. Peter Gabriel – Up (2002)
Peter Gabriel - Up
The mighty mighty Peter Gabriel continues his minimalistically titled album theme into the 2000s with Up (following 1986′s So and 1992′s Us), and a cracker it is too. Never afraid to experiment or venture into new sonic territory, Gabs gives us a bit of an emotional runaround on this album – from the abrasive opener “Darkness” through the reflective “I Grieve” and “No Way Out” and the frankly beautiful “Sky Blue” to the classic Gabriel-style pop tunes “Growing Up”, “More Than This” and the epic “The Barry Williams Show”, there’s not a bad tune on here and like the earlier albums, I recommend it be consumed as a whole. It’s a musical journey worth taking every now and then.
TOP TRACK: #3 “Sky Blue”.