Back to 2008 (Re-Ranking the Best of Lists) • Page 3

Also, read this whole post this morning, @Jason Tate, and man, I'm shuddering remembering that McDonald's ad from 2012/13 or so. Wasn't it like an alien spaceship hamburger or something? And if you scrolled over the ad, it started making this eerie noise and floating around your screen? What a nightmare that thing was.

 

“shock of the lightning” was pretty big, but not the same level, yeah. falling down and get off your high horse are my two faves

 

Very top heavy for me.

Gaslight.
Jacks.
Valencia.
the Maine - CTWS
Senses - Waiting Room
Butch Walker.
Death Cab.

This is also the year I started following AbsolutePunk, so there is that as well.

 

On a quarantine-related whim a few weeks back, I actually listened to Razia’s Shadow for the first time in probably eight years. I gotta say, I still really enjoy it.

It is 100% messy plot-wise and the dialogue of the Narrator sounds like Thomas wrote a script and then used the Microsoft Thesaurus to replace most of the words, but I always respected its ambition. As a theatre kid (or college student) then and a theatre lover still, I appreciate the storytelling of it. It was more immediately palatable over some of the loosely plotted concept albums that were more prominent around that time. Also, Thomas picked some really fun guests (Shawn Harris killed it).

It is an album I wish had gotten more attention then and, deep down, I wish had some more legacy attached to it now. It really is fun.

 

The neon era of pop punk is perhaps where every band I dislike the most from that genre originated. It became too watered down (in an already pretty watered down genre if I am totally honest with myself), and the songs just never held up.

To this day i do not understand the appeal of a band like Cute Is What We Aim For.

Also, about 6/7 years later the neon era birthed Waterparks and nothing will ever make that okay.

 

Paper Rival and Apes and Androids are missing!!!

 

F**king hell, I've loved this series so far, but writing in the conclusion on this one is fantastic.

Don't remember the exact year I stated visiting AP, but it had to be around this time. I remember seeing this top 10 & initially being slightly confused by the sounds it represented. Ironically enough, it was The 59 Sound that opened me up. It was after this AP wasn't just the place to discover new pop punk bands, but a place to comfortably expand my listening into new sounds. It would be front & center again years later when pop worked it's way into my rotation. Good times indeed!

 

I think Lydia was my #1 back then, still a good album... Also I don't think Bon Iver and Kanye West made my list

1. Copeland - You Are My Sunshine
   
2. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
3. Lydia - Illuminate
   
4. Coldplay - Viva la Vida, Or Death and All His Friends
5. The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
6. Valencia - We All Need a Reason to Believe
7. Jack's Mannequin - The Glass Passenger
8. Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
9. Panic At The Disco - Pretty. Odd.
10. The Reign of Kindo - Rhythm, Chord & Melody
11. E for Explosion - Reinventing the Heartbeat
12. City and Colour - Bring Me Your Love
13. Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreak
14. Hit the Lights - Skip School, Start Fights
15. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive

 

ugh i love this band - thank goodness for el obo but it doesn't quite scratch the same itch that full colour revolt did. i wish these guys got huge

 

No mention of either of these albums by anyone so far?

 

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreaks
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
Wale - Mixtape About Nothing
Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
Reks - Grey Hairs
Kid Cudi - A Kid Named Cudi
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Off With Their Heads - From the Bottom
The Gaslight Anthem - The 59 Sound

 

2008 was the year I joined AP. Of course it was the year the winds began blowing in different, better directions!

 

This made me laugh out loud this morning. So thank you.

 

1. The Silver Cord – The Classic Crime
2. The End Is Not The End - House of Heroes
3. You Are My Sunshine – Copeland
4. Lost in the Sound of Separation - Underoath
5. For Emma, Forever Ago - Bon Iver
6. Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends - Coldplay
7. Resurrection Letters, Vol. 2 – Andrew Peterson
8. Narrow Stairs – Death Cab for Cutie
9. New Surrender - Anberlin
10. The Alchemy Index Vol. 3 & 4: Air & Earth – Thrice

About to go through The Gaslight Anthem's discography for the first time (!!!) so I feel sure The '59 Sound would be on here otherwise. Also, it's a shame to me how under-the-radar Classic Crime's The Silver Cord is for people. I feel like it could have been hailed alongside Cities and The Everglow if the rest of their discography was near that caliber.

 

So weird, I had "For Emma, Forever Ago" as a 2007 release.

 

It was self-released in 2007 but Jagjaguwar put it out in 08

 

ohhh that makes sense. I was going by wikipedia's original release

 

In some loose order: Coldplay, Raconteurs, Kings of Leon, NERD, Gaslight, Underoath, Fall Out Boy, Death Cab, Metallica, Black Keys

Albums I really enjoyed but don't feel like making a proper ranking: Jeezy, Ludacris, The Killers, Shwayze, The Game, The Ting Tings, Lady Gaga, Bon Iver, Vampire Weekend

Brings me back to a very specific time: 3OH3

 

Shit I forgot about The Game's album from that year. TI's Paper Trail was also good.
Still pissed he cut this track:

 

Oh that's a good one. Paper Trail had some real big songs on it.

 

So happy to see Girl Talk – Feed The Animals on your list. I don't know whether I actually discovered it in 2008 or later, but that album is so good. Listening to it always puts me in a good mood.

 

Listening to Feed the Animals for the first time in forever. It's so good

 

Forgot that I'd made playlists with my top 20 songs from each year a few months back. This is 2008.

 

I'd share having the greatest of expectations and uhh, it didn't turn out so well. Also started to hate the more neon bands back then. I didn't rank anything up until a few years later, but my fav would probably be Alchemy Index, as it's a perfect blend of many journeys I had. Also I still have Lydia, Copeland and a few gems on my old mp3 player, and that would be in my TOP 10 for sure. So many meaningful albums, now I'm in the middle of Jason's spotify list - it's really cool! I was still soooo into FOB as well, I could sing along to every word on the album.

I turned to bands like DCFC or Frigthened Rabbit later (discovered Bon Iver only with BI, BI, too!) and probably listen to them a lot more than let's say FOB. But for the time being it was different, and obviously it feels very nostalgic again, I need to get back to a few of these I haven't revisited in a long time, for example Cars by Now, Now (Every Children hmm), and give some second chances to those albums by The Matches or Astronautalis.

Also, having Glass Passenger out there was such a beautiful feeling of victory, it was pure joy. Loved Razia's Shadow so much as well, it was such a huge concept and lots of cool guest spots, which is sometghing I was always attracted to, I guess.

 

I'm finishing the list on spotify and it feels great - woah how much stuff like My Favorite Highway was such a great guilty pleasure for me. I had absolutely nobody around here back then that would listen to this soft and pretty version of pop punk. Later I got some friends into Cartel etc., and I wouldn't stop to pitch these kinds of bands to them hahh.