The Gaslight Anthem's The '59 Sound won 2008. Let's see who wins 2009. Billboard chart-topping albums of 2009: Taylor Swift - Fearless (cont. from 2008) Bruce Springsteen - Working on a Dream The Fray - The Fray U2 - No Line on the Horizon Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted Various Artists - Now! That's What I Call Music Vol. 30 Keith Urban - Defying Gravity Rascal Flatts - Unstoppable Miley Cyrus - Hannah Montana The Movie Rick Ross - Deeper than Rap Bob Dylan - Together Through Life Chrisette Michele - Epiphany Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown Eminem - Relapse Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King The Black Eyed Peas - The END Jonas Brothers - Lines, Vines and Trying Times Various Artists - Now! That's What I Call Music Vol. 31 Maxwell - Blacksummers'night Daughtry - Leave This Town Demi Lovato - Here We Go Again Fabulous - Loso's Way Sugarland - Live on the Inside George Strait - Twang Reba - Keep On Loving You Colbie Caillat - Breakthrough Whitney Houston - I Look to You Jay Z - The Blueprint 3 Pearl Jam - Backspacer Barbra Streisand - Love is the Answer Michael Buble - Crazy Love Soundtrack - Twilight: New Moon Michael Jackson - This is It Carrie Underwood - Play On Bon Jovi - The Circle John Mayer - Battle Studies Susan Boyle - I Dreamed a Dream Billboard chart-topping singles of 2009: Beyonce - Single Ladies (cont. from 2008) Lady Gaga - Just Dance Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You Eminem - Crack a Bottle Flo Rida - Right Round Lady Gaga - Poker Face The Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow The Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling Jay Sean - Down Britney Spears - 3 Owl City - Fireflies Jason Derulo - Whatcha Say Jay Z - Empire State of Mind What are your top three albums for 2009? We will keep a running tally and eventually have some sort of bracket. For me it would be: 1. Arctic Monkeys - Humbug 2. Mastodon - Crack the Skye 3. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix What are some of the forgotten gems from the year? What is overrated? What did you discover at a young age and what did you discover later? YEARS IN MUSIC • forum.chorus.fm
remaining top 12: 4. Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures 5. Converge - Axe to Fall 6. Robert Francis - Before Nightfall 7. Wilco - Wilco 8. Dinosaur Jr. - Farm 9. Baroness - Blue 10. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest 11. The Antlers - Hospice 12. Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect honorable mentions: Alexisonfire - Old Crows / Young Cardinals Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way to Blue Animals as Leaders - Animals as Leaders As Cities Burn - Hell or High Water The Chariot - Wars and Rumors of Wars Chevelle - Sci-Fi Crimes Clipse - Til the Casket Drops Conor Oberst - Outer South Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid David Bazan - Curse Your Branches The Dead Weather - Horehound Doomriders - Darkness Come Alive Every Time I Die - New Junk Aesthetic Gallows - Grey Britain Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown Isis - Wavering Radiant Japandroids - Post-Nothing Kevin Devine - Brother’s Blood Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything to Nothing The Mars Volta - Octahedron Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk Pearl Jam - Backspacer Pelican - What We All Come to Need Russian Circles - Geneva Silversun Pickups - Swoon Sonic Youth - The Eternal Thursday - Common Existence U2 - No Line on the Horizon We Were Promised Jetpacks - These Four Walls The xx - xx The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It’s Blitz! stuff to check out: 311 - Uplifter Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion Behemoth - Evangelion Bonnie Prince Billy - Beware John Frusciante - The Empyrean Lamb of God - Wrath MF Doom - Born Like This Miranda Lambert - Revolution Wolves in the Throne Room - Black Cascade
1. Animal Collective - MPP 2. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest 3. manchester orchestra - mean everything to nothing edit: swapped the xx for MO. forgot that was when METN came out.
1. Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything to Nothing 2. Touché Amoré – ...To the Beat of a Dead Horse 3. Dance Gavin Dance – Happiness 4. The Antlers – Hospice 5. Defeater – Lost Ground 6. Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) – What It Takes to Move Forward 7. Converge – Axe to Fall 8. The Swellers – Ups and Downsizing 9. Every Time I Die – New Junk Aesthetic 10. The Dangerous Summer – Reach for the Sun 11. Emery – ...In Shallow Seas We Sail 12. Japandroids – Post-Nothing 13. Thursday – Common Existence 14. Paramore – Brand New Eyes 15. Tyler, the Creator – Bastard
Gotta assume you meant Converge in your #5 spot, Pat. Although the Chevelle album from this year is solid as well.
1. fun. - Aim & Ignite 2. Mae - (m)orning 3. There Will Be Fireworks - There Will Be Fireworks This was the year I joined AP and really started following music as it was coming out and making end of year lists. Still have the same top two for the year. Aim & Ignite was my first Nate Ruess album and I was completely obsessed that year, I still think it's a pretty perfect album with some of my favourite songwriting ever. Despite being just a pretty fleshed out EP, (m)orning is easily my favourite Mae release. The sound and songwriting just hits so perfectly for me, they really did a great job at hitting that morning vibe and "The Fisherman Song" is by far my favourite song by the band. There Will Be Fireworks is just a phenomenal album, I love their sound so much. They're fantastic at super soft and delicate songs as well as the super noisy, aggressive moments too. The vocals are fantastic and the lyrics are great too. It's an album that I love more every time I listen to it and I hope they finish their new album soon. Honourable mentions; 4. Fightstar - Be Human; It feels bad not ranking a Fightstar album but There Will Be Fireworks just edged it out. I really love this record though, they experiment a lot with their sound and while it's probably my least favourite of theirs, it's one I appreciate for how unique it is for them. 5. Relient K - Forget and Not Slow Down; This is where Relient K perfected their sound and wrote the best album of their career. I love pretty much everything about this album. 6. Deas Vail - Birds and Cages; These guys leveled up here as well, writing stronger, more interesting songs. They have such a great sound and I love the vocals so much. 7. Imogen Heap - Ellipse; I've always found this a bit inconsistent but it has some incredible songs and most of it is fantastic. Even on the songs I don't love, she's still doing interesting things musically. 8. Morrissey - Years of Refusal; I think this is my favourite solo Morrissey record, just a great bunch of songs. The most interesting thing I've heard from him musically and lyrically since he left The Smiths. 9. John Mayer - Battle Studies; A bit of a step down from the incredible Continuum but this is still a great record. Other than the kinda pointless "Crossroads", this is really great. 10. Enter Shikari - Common Dreads; Super fun album, great energy and aggression. Love the way they mix post-hardcore with electronics and there's always tons of personality in their songwriting. 11. Ling Tosite Sigure - just A moment; Another fantastic album from this band, I probably like it a little more than their debut but its pretty similar. Tons of energy and sick guitars with both vocalists killing it. 12. Dance Gavin Dance - Happiness; Probably my favourite Dance Gavin Dance album and I really wish they'd stuck with that line-up for longer. They had such a great vibe going. 13. Epica - Design Your Universe; This was a huge disappointment at the time but I've really come around to it recently. There's still a few moments I don't care for but most of it is fantastic. "Tides of Time" in particular is incredible. 14. Paramore - Brand New Eyes; I still think this is the most consistent Paramore album, some really great stuff on here, especially the first four songs. 15. Thirty Seconds to Mars - This is War; I've always had a lot of fun with this one, the vocals are fantastic and they do a great job at making their music more anthemic without losing the energy, unlike their later material. 16. Emery - ...In Shallow Seas We Sail; I got really into this in 2009 and then pretty much never listened to Emery again lol. Revisiting it this week though its so good, really love how they layer their vocal melodies. 17. Regina Spektor - Far; Some really wonderful songs on here, she's got such a great voice and her lyrics are always interesting. 18. Say Anything - Say Anything; Like IDOTG this has some of my favourite songs of the year, some I don't like much at all and everything in between. "Cemetery" and "Ahh... Men" alone make it worth listening to though. 19. The Dangerous Summer - Reach for the Sun; I love most of this but it really falls off for me towards the end. 20. The Used - Artwork; This was another huge disappointment for me in 2009 but its slowly grown on me over time. I really like it these days. 21. Thrice - Beggars; I still really like this but it's a little less appealing to me after going back and spending time with Illusion and Artist. Still my favourite of their post-Vhiessu stuff. 22. Cartel - Cycles; This is mostly carried by having a really great first four songs and a fantastic closer. A step down from their first two for me. 23. Frank Turner - Poetry of the Deed; I think this is easily the weakest of Frank's first six albums. It's got probably an EP worth of really great songs and then the rest ranges from good to mediocre. I've never liked The Road. 24. Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything to Nothing; Like Virgin, I like this a fair bit but nowhere near as much as most people on here/AP seemed to. "Shake it Out" and "I Can Feel a Hot One" are much better than the rest for me. 25. mewithoutYou - It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright; This was another big disappointment for me but I'm slowly coming around on it. Its still easily my least favourite by the band but it has some really fantastic moments. Since this was the first year I was really looking forward to new releases there's a lot of memorable disappointments for me this year. Along with the ones I've already mentioned, Saosin, Silverstein, Eminem and Boys Like Girls all put out disappointing records.
Also, getting twitchy looking at those chart-topping singles and remembering the hellish reign of terror Black Eyed Peas enjoyed that summer.
1. manchester orchestra - mean everything to nothing 2. kevin devine - brothers blood 3. mewithoutYou - its all crazy! its all false! its all a dream! it's alright animal collective - mpp the antlers - hospice casiotone for the painfully alone - vs children as cities burn - hell or high water conor oberst and the mystic valley band - outer south grizzly bear - veckatimest rx bandits - mandala candy claws - in the dream of the sea life title fight - the last thing you forget thrice - beggars david bazan - curse your branches freelance whales - weathervanes monsters of folk - s/t small black - s/t ex wife - everything was beautiful person l - the positives
1. Say Anything - Cemetery 2. Mae - The Fisherman Song (We All Need Love) 3. Epica - Tides of Time 4. fun. - Be Calm 5. Fightstar - Give Me the Sky 6. Relient K - I Don't Need a Soul 7. There Will Be Fireworks - We Sleep Through the Bombs 8. Imogen Heap - Half Life 9. Ling Tosite Sigure - Hakai Yono Yume 10. Deas Vail - Birds 11. Morrissey - When I Last Spoke to Carol 12. The Dangerous Summer - Where I Want to Be 13. Emery - Dear Death, Part 2 14. John Mayer - Edge of Desire 15. Regina Spektor - The Calculation 16. The Used - Sold My Soul 17. Cartel - Retrograde 18. Dance Gavin Dance - Carl Barker 19. Thirty Seconds to Mars - Night of the Hunter 20. Paramore - Careful 21. mewithoutYou - The Fox, the Crow, and the Cookie 22. Enter Shikari - Juggernauts 23. Manchester Orchestra - Shake It Out 24. Frank Turner - Live Fast Die Old 25. Tegan and Sara - The Ocean Favourite songs.
2009 1. Relient K – Forget and Not Slow Down 2. As Cities Burn – Hell or High Water 3. The Elms – The Great American Midrange 4. Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything to Nothing 5. Thrice - Beggars 6. Sherwood - QU 7. fun – Aim and Ignite 8. mewithoutYou – It’s All Crazy… 9. Mae – Morning EP 10. Needtobreathe – The Outsiders 11. Gasoline Heart – Nostalgia Ain’t What It Used to Be 12. Silversun Pickups – Swoon 13. Switchfoot – Hello Hurricane 14. Say Anything – S/T 15. Bon Iver – Blood Bank EP
I always think of this year and being just completely obsessed with what "the other site" considered good around that time. Trying to convince myself that the Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, and The XX albums were the best things to ever exist, but never REALLY connected with any of them, except maybe Grizzly Bear and a few tracks on Animal Collective. Other faves of theirs like Phoenix and Passion Pit were better IMO, but still.... a weird year. It's crazy how the people you associate with around a certain time can influence your listening habits so much. I'd like to think I've gotten better at that and 2009 was certainly a low point for "thinking for myself".
I remember I tried all of those out too and immediately decided they were not for me lol. I do kinda want to give them another try at some point to see if I get more out of them now.
i don't think either of the crazy big AP.net albums or the crazy big pitchfork albums have held up well at all, with the exception of Phoenix. the Antlers album would have won this year for me up until about 2014
Yep, I remember trying and failing to like that Animal Collective album so many times. Not for me. Will always remember @phaynes12 listening to that Dirty Projectors LP for MWE one year and just absolutely tearing it to shreds, lol
If you get around to this - try to also check out the b-sides/outtakes from this era - all available on streaming on their "Archive" collection. In many fans' opinions, Uplifter suffered from sequencing/song selection issues. "Sun Come Through" particularly is a fan favorite among their best.
1. Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon: The End of Day 2. Say Anything - Say Anything 3. Taking Back Sunday - New Again ALSO Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything To Nothing MF DOOM - BORN LIKE THIS Lil Wayne - No Ceilings Drake - So Far Gone Bomb the Music Industry! - SCRAMBLES Paramore - Brand New Eyes Young Money - We Are Young Money A Day To Remember - Homesick Brand New - Daisy Portugal. The Man - The Satanic Satanist Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix The Antlers - Hospice Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillon The XX - xx Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. 11 The Dangerous Summer - Reach for the Sun Every Time I Die - New Junk Aesthetic Converge - Axe to Fall Thursday - Common Existence Enter Shikari - Common Dreads Set Your Goals - This Will Be the Death Of Us New Found Glory - Not Without A Fight John Mayer - Battle Studies Third Eye Blind - Ursa Major All Time Low - Nothing Personal Thrice - Beggars Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3 Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures As Tall As Lions - You Can't Take It With You
1. Thrice - Beggars 2. As Tall as Lions - You Can't Take It with You 3. Alexisonfire - Old Crows/Young Cardinals Super underwhelming year for me.
Y’all are nuts. MPP and Bitte Orca are both incredible. Both bands fell off a cliff shortly after, but those two albums hold up perfectly imo. obligatory this is not my list post
1. Iron Age - The Sleeping Eye (maybe my favorite hc/metal album of all time. Rip wade) 2. Power Trip - Armageddon Blues (RIP Riley) 3. Raekwon - OB4CLII