#14
2009 - Red - Out From Under
Album: Innocence & Instinct
Red had a great start in terms of making waves on the countdown, but they've cooled significantly since their last entry in 2011. At the time of the countdown in 2009, "Out From Under" was absolutely the song that I loved the most, but by the next year I was jamming harder to "Mystery of You" than any Red song other than "Breathe Into Me". Innocence & Instinct is a pretty solid record with tracks like "Death of Me", "Shadows", and their cover of "Ordinary World". The band is constantly trying to "re-invent" themselves despite sounding pretty similar from their third album forward. They're still good, it's just kind of tiring anymore. I still play their first record quite a bit, though.
2010 - Nevermore - Moonrise (Through Mirrors of Death)
Album: The Obsidian Conspiracy
It's an absolute shame that this was the last Nevermore record. The boys were still at the top of their game, but in-fighting and ego ended up splintering them and just last year Warrel Dane passed away suddenly, making it certain that Nevermore was finally done. Fortunately they went out with a true metal classic, with other hit songs being "The Termination Proclamation" and "Without Morals". "Moonrise" featured one of my all-time favorite lines - "is this soliloqy or psychosis... or self-hypnosis?" as well as one of Jeff Loomis' signature solos piercing the night. Sadly, his talent is wasted on Arch Enemy, but he and Dane left an eternal stamp on the world of metal music in Nevermore.
2011 - Crystal Castles - Not In Love (ft Robert Smith)
Album: (II)
This one is all sorts of weird. "Not In Love" of course was originally recorded by Platinum Blonde in the 80s, and was rather dully covered by Crystal Castles for their sophmore record. Somewhere along the line the band enlisted the help of the legendary Robert Smith (who has been known to give his voice to many interesting styles of music outside of the gothic scene) and amped the song up to another level. In 2011 I was fully invested in a relationship with my future wife, and therefor was very much in love, in spite of how much we BOTH listened to this song. I've never actually asked her about it but I always figured she would listen to it to try and seperate her mind from her ex who she had been dating since high school (they had broken up the year before).
Regardless of all of the back-story, a good sad song can always find its way into your hearts, even when you are happy. I think it's because we just always anticipate sadness and have to have something at the ready. So, "Not In Love" is here at #14. I think the only reason it wasn't any higher (because I still LOVE this song and have it in most rotations) is because I WAS trying to be in love. Haha. Also probably because Crystal Castles are just a bizarre group, on the fringe of what I like in electronica.
2012 - Metric - Clone
Album: Synthetica
It's weird to think that there was a time where I wasn't a HUGE Metric fan. In fact, they were barely on my radar until somewhere in 2010 or 2011 when "Gimme Sympathy" hit me in the right spot and I became obsessed with the album Fantasies. The first single off of Synthetica was "Youth Without Youth", which isn't a terrible song but it's not even one of the 5 best songs on the record. I picked up the album just the same and "Clone" immediately stood out and wedged its way inside of me. Looking back, I'm kind of surprised it wasn't "Breathing Underwater", but that song was slow building for me and took over for "Clone" in 2013 and beyond. Metric has made their way onto the countdown again since then and, like I said before, I'm hoping that they can rebound and give us at least one more terrific record.
2013 - Atlas Genius - If So
Album: When It Was Now
Speaking of bands I really don't enjoy, Atlas Genius set the alternative world on fire with their debut disc and with the single "Trojans". It was boring, slow, whiny, and honestly caught me surprise that I kept hearing it over and over again. I really had no intention of picking up this record until I heard the upbeat, catchy opening riff of "If So", and the rest as they say is history. In listening to the record, I didn't find much else to my liking, and everything else they've released since then has tried to capture the colorless formula of "Trojans" (which works, btw). But "If So" is a great bouncer to get your mood rolling in the right direction, and deserving of the spot it landed in back in 2013.
2014 - "Weird Al" Yankovic - A)Foil; B)Handy
Album: Mandatory Fun
The fact that Weird Al made it into one of my countdowns was absolutely joyous for me. I mean, the fact that Weird Al was accepted as good, worthwhile mainstream music in 2014 still sort of bugs me... the whole things I was picked on for liking as a kid are popular now thing... but it was still pretty great. Mandatory Fun is nothing but good songs, a rarity for someone who makes their living off of doing parodies. Weird Al was on fire with releasing videos off this record, and I found myself falling in love with two different parodies - "Foil" (Lorde's "Royals") and "Handy" (Iggy Azalea's "Fancy"). The amusing thing about those two is that "Royals" is a song I greatly enjoyed, while I cannot stand anything Iggy Azalea's voice touches. Both videos are top notch, and even in looking back there really isn't anything that sets either of the songs apart in terms of excellence.
At the time of this release, Weird Al said that this was probably going to be his last traditional record, as his material is immediately dated once he writes it and he has to scramble to put a record together when he has enough songs to make it click. He said he would probably just do online singles and EPs going forward, but since then he's just released one silly polka. He's been touring for the last year or so, and I hope that once he's done with all that he'll release some more great songs. Until then... Mandatory Fun!
2015 - Spoon - New York Kiss
Album: They Want Your Soul
Back in 2015, I kind of thought that Spoon, a band that I barely tolerated, was going to make the transition based off of this record into a band I would enjoy. Something like Airborne Toxic Event, or something like that. This record had a few tracks that I enjoyed, including "Rainy Taxi" and "Knock Knock Knock", but it was still just a little too strange to be taken as one of my absolute favorites. "New York Kiss" was one that I kept hearing driving to work in the morning that had just the right mellow driving beat to kick me where it counts. Well, surprise, they're back to making odd-ball alternative music, except that they've essentially eliminated guitars and catchy hooks from their music... hey, kind of like Airborne Toxic Event! Fancy that. That's music though, right?
2016 - Chvrches - Leave a Trace
Album: Every Open Eye
The first two songs on Every Open Eye) are so good that you'd swear you were going to have a riot on your hands. Unfortunately, the Chvrches train starts to derail there and they really haven't picked themselves off the ground since then. The newest record that came out this year as not hitting any spots for me, and honestly Lauren Mayberry's always play the victim schtick is tired and worn out as much as pop contemporary Taylor Swift. "Leave a Trace" is good enough musically and lyrically to keep the ball rolling, and this album has some catchy musical tunes, I've just reached the point where it's too much of the same. They do sound pretty good live, though.
2017 - DREAMCAR - Kill For Candy
Album: DREAMCAR
I'm still kind of surprised that the union of AFI singer Davey Havok and the rest of the group No Doubt worked, but "Kill For Candy" is a legitimate smash and shows that given time and good production, the band could have a decent future for themselves. I'm grateful that the guys in No Doubt were actually able to put their talents to good use again, since their former band was essentially a backing band for Gwen Stefani for their last two records. And any time Davey Havok is singing, I am definitely listening. DREAMCAR is less strange and more upbeat than his other side projects, and definitely a far cry from AFI, which is why I think it worked out like it did.
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