Table of Contents:
- Animal Collective – Sung Tongs
- Arcade Fire – Funeral
- Beastie Boys – To the 5 Boroughs
- Guns N’ Roses – Greatest Hits
- Kanye West – The College Dropout
- The Killers – Hot Fuss
- Madvillain – Mavillainy
- Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus
- Pearl Jam – Rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991-2003)
- Radiohead – COM LAG (2plus2isfive)
- U2 – How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
- Velvet Revolver – Contraband
Animal Collective – Sung Tongs
Animal Collective go freak folk.
Animal Collective’s first album, Here Comes the Indian (although Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished has retroactively become an AnCo album) was experimental, but ultimately not very memorable, nor was it particularly enjoyable; in fact, it was quite a slog to sit through. That album was absent of any pop moments, and it didn’t have much replay value, if any at all.
Sung Tongs on the other hand, sees the band balance the childlike explorations of Here Comes the Indian, along with the more palatable moments of Spirit. It is no means a “pop” album, but it is a far more interesting than the preceding album and doesn’t just pass through one ear and out the other.
The album feels like a better written and higher fidelity take on 2003’s Campfire Songs (another retroactive AnCo album), an album where two friends walk into the forest with nothing but two guitars, a drum, their voices and some blotters of acid.
Incredibly strange, but refreshingly whimsical.
8/10
Artwork: 5/5
Arcade Fire – Funeral
A Canadian band changes the indie landscape forever.
Named after the fact that the band had lost several family members during the recording of the album and the subsequent funerals that resulted from the deaths, Funeral is rooted in sincere and genuine emotion, and never feels contrived or melodramatic for even one second of its runtime.
The first track, Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) is one of the greatest pieces of music from the 21st century yet — it’s a cathartic, powerful track about love in the face of uncertainty and has one of the best guitar riffs in the indie rock sphere, as well as some of the most impassioned vocals I’ve ever heard, courtesy of vocalist Win Butler. Neighborhood #2 (Laïka) marches along with its sleigh bells and accordion. Une année sans lumière (French for “a year without light”) sees the band slow things down and incorporate their native French into the lyrics (although members Win and Will Butler are originally from Texas). Neighborhood #3 (Lights Out) sees a return of the post-punk tendencies of the previous Neighborhood songs, before Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles) hits the brakes again, giving the listener a moment to breathe after the sonic chaos of the last track.
Crown of Love and its violins are absolutely devastating, pulling on the heartstrings until your heart is ripped straight out of your chest, still beating and still yearning. The song builds up to a climax that segues into a disco-influenced ending. Wake Up is the song that every indie rock band for the next decade will try to emulate, but will fail at recapturing the majestic beauty and impact of it. Haïti sees Régine Chassagne flex her vocal abilities, singing of the country in which her parents originated from; the song juxtaposes sweet music married to tragic lyrics that explore the dictatorship in which her family had narrowly escaped. Rebellion (Lies) brings in optimism and a fighting spirit, allowing the band to escape from the perils of tragedy and reach up into the skies of hope. We then get to In the Backseat, the final track, in which Chassagne takes over vocal duties once more and where the band has one last opportunity to break you down and make you cry once more.
The album blends together some of sounds of past indie rock bands like Neutral Milk Hotel and their 1998 masterpiece, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, along with the chugging guitars and melancholy of post-punk, and creates something wholly fresh with it. There is a smorgasbord of sounds, timbres and instruments, never wasting the talents of any of its seven members.
Funeral is the perfect album to discover whether or not somebody is or isn’t a psychopath — if they listen to this entire album without feeling anything, than they simply aren’t human. This is quite possibly the greatest modern Canadian album of all time and one of the greatest, most fully-formed debuts ever recorded. An absolute powerhouse of raw emotion and passion. I can’t say enough about how flawless and important Funeral is.
10/10
Beastie Boys – To the 5 Boroughs
Beastie Boys go back to an old school hip-hop sound.
After exploring the alternative music sphere throughout the 1990s, Beastie Boys have returned to a simple, beat-driven hop-hop sound, similar to the music on their debut album, Licensed to Ill, albeit less sophomoric and more mature.
The tastefully-retro Ch-Check It Out is one of the Beasties’ b-best tracks ever. Triple Trouble samples the ever-famous Rapper’s Delight by Sugarhill Gang, and while its a bit of a sampling cliché, it’s still a good track. An Open Letter to NYC is a post-911 ode to the titular city and its diverse people. The harpsichord-driven Right Right Now Now is another highlight.
Its Beastie Boys’ most straightforward release and lacks the experimentation that has permeated much of their work, but it’s still a solid album all the same.
7.5/10
Guns N’ Roses – Greatest Hits
G N’ R releases a compilation of all their singles.
After a decade of still waiting for Axl Rose to finish the perpetually-delayed Chinese Democracy, it seemed that the band’s record label Geffen was getting impatient and antsy, which resulted in them commissioning a greatest hits album without the vocalist’s consent. This led to the Axl Rose filing a lawsuit against his own label, which former members Slash and Duff McKagan even backed him up on, though the effort had ultimately failed.
G N’ R’s Greatest Hits captures all of the band’s singles, including venerable classics like Welcome to the Jungle, Sweet Child o’ Mine, Paradise City, Patience, You Could Be Mine and November Rain, as well as their covers of Bob Dylan’s Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, Wings’ Live and Let Die and The Rolling Stones’ Sympathy for the Devil. There are also two songs from their cover album The Spaghetti Incident, bringing the total of cover songs up to five (or about one third of the album). The saturation of cover songs normally wouldn’t be an issue, but Geffen could have squeezed in some more originals, like Mr. Brownstone, It’s So Easy, Nightrain and Estranged. If you look at this as a singles collection though, then it’s hard to fault the tracklist for being what it is and is a near-perfect distillation of the band’s radio hits.
For a band like Guns N’ Roses that only has five albums, you’re better off just buying them all, but if you are a more casual fan, then you really can do no wrong with Greatest Hits. That artwork is iconic too.
8.5/10
Kanye West – The College Dropout
Kanye West’s long awaited debut finally gets released after several years in the making.
The making of The College Dropout, is the thing of legends. Kanye West had become an in-demand producer in the late 90s and early aughts and eventually ended up producing much of JAY-Z’s The Blueprint, which displayed Kanye West’s now trademark chipmunk soul style. But, despite his success as a producer, nobody was willing to take him seriously as a rapper.
After surviving a near-fatal car accident in 2002, Kanye West suffered a broken jaw, which resulted in his mouth being wired shut. This incident led to the Chaka Khan sampling Through the Wire, Kanye’s first major hit as a solo artist, literally rapped through the wire — finally, people were starting to see the potential of Kanye West.
After half a decade in production, 2004 finally saw the release of one of the most hotly anticipated hip-hop albums of all time, but was Kanye’s ego too big for his own good? The answer: a resounding no.
Based around a school theme, The College Dropout is not only essential listening, but conceptual genius. No rapper before has put so much effort into crafting their own rap opera like this. The entire theme holds up across the album, glued together with skits and songs that grapple with being part of a rigid system of oppression and breaking free from it. The College Dropout is about believing in yourself when no one else will.
We Don’t Care is a defiant song about the type of life that many black Americans grow up in, incorporating the use of a choir of children singing its refrain of “drug-dealing just to get by, grab that money til it gets sky high, we weren’t supposed to make it past 25, jokes on you, we’re still alive”. All Falls Down is a poignant critique of materialism, and features Syleena Johnson re-recording a Lauryn Hill sample. Spaceship is a soulful assessment on working as a wage-slave and wanting to fly away from a life of poverty and self-pity. On Jesus Walks, Kanye points out how rappers can touch upon sex and violence without condemnation, but the moment Jesus Christ is brought up, that’s where the line is drawn. Never Let Me Down features Kanye’s mentor JAY-Z, returning the favour after Kanye’s production helped him thrive in the 2000s with The Blueprint.
Get Em High is a banger, tailor-made for clubs and smoke sessions. Slow Jamz is a sensual groove with a feature from actor/rapper Jamie Foxx and features one of the funniest rap bars of all time (“she got a light-skinned friend look like Michael Jackson, got a dark-skinned friend look like Michael Jackson”). Two Words features another rapper/actor, this time Mos Def. The New Workout Plan is feminist kryptonite, and an absolute jam. Family Business is a sweet and tender song, which shows a more vulnerable side of artistry that few rappers before Kanye would dare to ever show. Last Call ends the album with a nearly 13 minute freestyle from Kanye, where the rapper goes on about the obstacles and roadblocks he had to fight past to get the album made.
Not only was The College Dropout an absolute breath of fresh air that breathed life into a genre that was losing its identity in a post 90s gangsta rap world, but. it proved that not every rapper needed to glamourize the criminal life and use it as an artistic crutch. Kanye didn’t dress like other rappers, didn’t glorify violence, had a loving relationship with his mother and loved his religion.
One of the most important hip-hop albums ever made and an easy choice for the best hip-hop album of all time between the genre’s inception and The College Dropout‘s release.
10/10
Trivia: The College Dropout won Best Rap Album at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards.
The Killers – Hot Fuss
The hot new British Las Vegas band.
The Killers initially come off as a group of U.K. new wave rockers (so much so that many people thought they were British), but instead, hail from Sin City, although this group is anything but a band of sinners, seeing as lead singer Brandon Flowers is a Mormon and all around nice guy.
Musically, The Killers’ debut is new wave / post-punk revival, but compared to bands that came before, like The Strokes or Interpol, they add a pop edge, being comparable to bands like Duran Duran more than Joy Division.
Jenny Was a Friend of Mine leads the album off with a memorable bass line and is one of the band’s heavier tunes. Mr. Brightside is a pop smash that went on to become one of the most defining songs not just of the decade, but of the millennium. Somebody Told Me is a modern dancefloor classic, with a nonsensical chorus about sex changes (or something). Smile Like You Mean It is a gloomy post-punk revival gem. All These Things That I’ve Done is good enough to elevate it’s refrain of “I’ve got soul, but I’m not a soldier” from cheesy to empowering.
Admittedly, the second half of the album is quite weak compared to the first half, (which had all the singles), but that’s not to say they are throwaway either. However, Hot Fuss is still an overwhelming success of a first album and a killer way for this Las Vegas band to have made their debut.
8/10
Madvillain – Mavillainy
MF Doom and Madlib form a one-time duo.
With a concept revolving around a supervillain, the one-time collaboration between MF Doom and Madlib has resulted in one of the most celebrated hip-hop albums of all time.
Having already released Operation Doomsday in 1999, MF Doom was already legendary by the recording of Madvillainy, but teaming up with producer Madlib took both artists straight into the stratosphere of hip-hop.
Most of the songs on the album are under two minutes, so the album plays best as an entire experience, although you can still cherry-pick any of these songs on their own all the same… Accordion, Meat Grinder, Raid, Rainbows, Money Folder, Figaro, All Caps, Rhinestone Cowboy — instant classics, one after the other.
I’m not the biggest fan of old-school hip-hop (outside of a handful of classics), but Madvillainy is a more modern album with old school tendencies that I can find myself returning to time after time.
Some noteworthy samples include Sleeping in a Jar by The Mothers of Invention (Frank Zappa) and Funny Ways by 1970s prog rock band Gentle Giant.
10/10
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds release a double album.
Coming only one year after Nocturama (an underwhelming release by the Bad Seeds’ standards and the only misstep the band has ever taken), Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus sees Nick Cave and his troupe of outcasts quickly return to top form.
Where Nocturama was inoffensive at best and milquetoast at worst, this album is exciting and explorative, bringing together a hybrid of more traditional rock n roll music, acoustic rock and gospel.
Opener Get Ready for Love is the heaviest and most exhilarated that the band has sounded since Let Love In a decade prior. Songs like Cannibal’s Hymn and Hiding All Away bring in that devilish groove that made the Bad Seeds such a standout band in the first place in the 1980s. O Children is a gospel masterwork, and one of Nick Cave’s defining moments as a son of God and a man of faith.
A fantastic work that more than made up for the uncharacteristically dull Nocturama.
8.5/10
Pearl Jam – Rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991-2003)
Pearl Jam releases a two disc career retrospective.
After a little over a decade of Pearl Jam, the band had released 7 studio albums and a plethora of b-sides and non-album tracks, so a greatest hits compilation was justifiable.
The first disc of Rearviewmirror focuses on the bands harder songs, with songs like, Alive, Even Flow, Jeremy, Once, Animal, Go, Rearviewmirror, Spin the Black Circle, Not for You, Corduroy, Hail Hail, Do the Evolution — all bangers. There’s also State of Love and Trust from the Singles soundtrack and I Got Id (or I Got Shit) from the Neil Young collaboration EP, Merkin Ball.
The second disc of Rearviewmirror focuses on the band’s acoustic songs and ballads, including the heart-wrenching Black and other tracks like Daughter, Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town, Better Man, Nothingman, Who You Are, Off He Goes and Given to Fly. Breath (also from the Singles soundtrack) is also here, as well as the band’s cover of Last Kiss and Yellow Ledbetter from the Jeremy single.
This is pretty much as perfect of a snapshot of Pearl Jam you can get. Some deep cuts, like Porch or Glorified G may be absent, but you really can’t complain with this selection either, and the way the collection is split into two themes was a wise choice. A masterclass in what a greatest hits can be.
10/10
Radiohead – COM LAG (2plus2isfive)
Radiohead compiles all of the Hail To The Thief b-sides.
Consisting of the b-sides from There ,There, Go to Sleep and 2 + 2 = 5, along with a new live version of the latter track recorded in Earls Court, COM LAG shows how prolific and experimental the band was during the Hail to the Thief sessions.
Remyxomatosis is a Cristian Vogel remix of Myxomatosis that mostly works. There’s an alternate version of the Hail to the Thief track, I Will. The Beatles-referencing Paperbag Writer almost feels like it could be the beat to a hip-hop song. I Am a Wicked Child is a bluesy song with harmonica. I Am Citizen Insane and Where Bluebirds Fly are both Aphex Twin-like electronic experiments. Gagging Order is just Thom Yorke and an acoustic guitar (and is as sublime as you’d expect). Fog (Again) is a live take of the Amnesiac b-side. I’ve never been too keen on remixes, but Remyxomatosis (the remix of Myxomatosis by Cristian Vogel) and the Skttrbrain remix by Four Tet are fairly good and add some new dimensions to the songs.
Considering it’s a compilation of b-sides, there’s not much cohesion, but there is a lot of assortment on COM LAG, which is part of the appeal. There may not be any all time great Radiohead songs on here, but there’s still plenty to sink your teeth into if you’ve listened to all of the albums and want more.
7.5/10
U2 – How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
More whimper than bang.
After several albums produced by a mix of Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois and Flood, U2 reunites with Steve Lillywhite, who had produced the bands first three albums (Boy, October and War). Lillywhite arrives after unsuccessful recording sessions with veteran producer Chris Thomas, though his efforts aren’t enough to salvage the project. With How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, the band continues with the more guitar-centric sound that they had returned to on All That You Can’t Leave Behind, though it only ends up feeling like a weaker version of that album.
The partially Spanish opening track Vertigo was the first single and while it’s a bit of a nothing burger lyrically-speaking, it’s still one of the band’s biggest singles of the 2000s and provides some big dumb fun and Edge guitar goodness. Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own is a sincere ballad akin to something like With or Without You or Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of. The Coldplay-like City of Blinding Lights is also decent. Adam Clayton’s bass guitar gives A Man and a Woman some urgency and groove. The rest of the album is fine, if not a little by-the-numbers for the once innovative U2.
Rattle and Hum may have been bloated and self-indulgent, but it was at least ambitious, and Pop was misguided, but sounded like U2 was at least having some fun — How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is just a bit monochromatic and has nothing too new or exciting to offer. There’s no need to dismantle this atomic bomb, as it was a bit of a dud all along.
6/10
Trivia: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb won Album of the Year and Best Rock Album at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards.
Velvet Revolver – Contraband
Stone Temple Pilots x Guns N’ Roses.
With Audioslave having paved the way for commercially-viable supergroups in the 2000s, Velvet Revolver sounded like a great idea in theory. Consisting of Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots, Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum of Guns N’ Roses, and Dave Kushner of Wasted Youth, Velvet Revolver has an unquestionably stacked lineup.
Sucker Train Blues delivers on the expectation of the band sounding like Guns N Roses mashed up with Stone Temple Pilots. Fall to Pieces was a huge radio hit (in North America at least) and is one of the most well-known songs here. Slither (another single) is easily the other best and most memorable song on Contraband, with one of Slash’s greatest riffs. Illegal I Song and Headspace are quality rockers worth a listen.
Contraband isn’t as good as Core, Purple, Appetite for Destruction or either of the Use Your Illusion albums, but it’s still one of the more interesting projects in the discographies of the musicians involved.
7.5/10
FIN
Brett Nippard
