I'd love to hear what you think after you get a chance to listen. In my opinion, he's one of the most creative forces in music right now and his voice is unreal. Criminally underrated.
It's also incredible. Album got me through some personal shit, so I probably hold it in higher regard. But I think it's nearly as good as Anxiety.
i loved loved loved anxiety (saw him live that year too, hah) but just could not get into the new one at all
That's too bad. It definitely skews away from the accessible pop sensibilities of Anxiety a bit, but I think there's so much incredible experimentation on that one. I really like how stripped it is in comparison. His live show I saw in 2015 is the best show I've ever seen.
Fireworks - Gospel Balance and Composure - Separation Coheed and Cambria - The Afterman: Ascension and Descension The Wonder Years - The Greatest Generation Joyce Manor - Never Hungover Again Turnover - Peripheral Vision Tame Impala - Currents Pianos Become the Teeth - Keep You Pinegrove - Cardinal*** Polyphia - Renaissance
I made this before looking at anyone else's so I couldn't be influenced. 1. fun. - Some Nights 2. Motion City Soundtrack - My Dinosaur Life (just makes the 2010s by like 3 weeks) 3. Paramore - After Laughter 4. Say Anything - Hebrews 5. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 6. Bleachers - Strange Desire 7. The Front Bottoms - Talon of the Hawk 8. Modern Baseball - You're Gonna Miss It All 9. Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence 10. Lorde - Melodrama Because I have to make everything difficult, here are the runner ups: The Maine: Pioneer, Paramore: Self Titled, Miley Cyrus: Bangerz (@ me I don't care), All Time Low: Dirty Work (@ me again), Against Me!: Transgender Dysphoria Blues, The Maine: Lovely Little Lonely, David Bowie: Blackstar, Mistki: Puberty 2, Kacey Musgraves: Same Trailer Different Park, Alabama Shakes: Boys & Girls, Lana Del Rey: Born to Die, All Time Low: Last Young Renegade
Menzingers - On the Impossible Past NF - Therapy Session Julien Baker - Sprained Ankle Circa Survive - Blue Sky Noise Every Time I Die - Ex Lives Manchester Orchestra - Cope/Hope Pinegrove - Cardinal Animal Flag – Lp Highly Suspect - Mister Asylum Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten
This was a lot harder than I thought and I'm sure I'm forgetting some. No particular order... Kanye - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy I consider this album a masterpiece Kendrick Lamar - Section 80 This is still my favorite Kendrick album. Twenty One Pilots - Regional at Best I feel bias toward this band just because they're from Columbus and a lot of my good friends knew them or their crew when they were starting to blow up (I mean, I like their music too). It was really fun in the 2011-2012 era watching this band go from playing dive bars to being grammy-winning superstars. The Front Bottoms - Self-Titled I always wrestle back and forth between this and Talon as their best album, but I really love the raw feel of this album and it's what got me into them. Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math Sometimes, I consider this their best work. Sometimes. Weezer - The White Album Such a great return to form for this band, still going strong in my rotation. Right Away, Great Captain - The Church and the Good Thief An amazing finish to a fantastic trilogy. Sorority Noise - Joy, Departed Didn't know much about the band until I saw them live in 2016 - opening for Bayside and I was blown away. Went straight to their merch table and bought this on vinyl. Astronautalis - Cut the Body Loose I've always been a big fan of Astronautalis but this is his first record that I really, really love front to back. Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music One of my favorite rap albums of the last decade. Honorable mention: Bayside - Killing Time, Fun. - Some Nights, Taking Back Sunday - Tidal Wave, Bad Books - I or II, Panic! at the Disco - Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die, The Lumineers - Self Titled, Nas - Life is Good. The Early November - In Currents
Similar to what other people have done, I kinda narrowed it by doing favorites that had personal impacts on me, and wrote for the most part more about their impact in the short description than what they are objectively. hope thats cool. Against Me - Transgender Dysphoria Blues This was my introduction to against me. At the time I was struggling with my own gender issues, so the lyrics hit hard. Camp Cope - Camp Cope Really convinced me to start making my own music, and I think every one of these songs has been my favorite song on the album or in general at some point. Cayetana - New Kind Of Normal Cayetana is an important band for me in general, I saw them at riot fest and it opened a whole door into that music community. I was stuck between this and Nervous Like Me, but I return to this more. Eisley - The Valley I just love the sound, the story telling, the perfect mix of whimsical and heart breaking feeling on this record. Jeff Rosenstock - Worry I was late listening to this, but this is one of the records that once I listen to one song casually, I immediately want to sit down and listen to the whole thing in full Lorde - Melodrama This came out around the time of my first ever real breakup, and being only a bit younger than her in general, felt like it incapsulated a lot of what I was going through that I felt alone in. Paramore - Paramore It's a whole reinvention while still a progression, if that makes any sense, and was a soundtrack to a good period of time for me Sorority Noise - Joy, Departed At the time I had been struggling with developing mental illness when it came out, and I strongly related to the message and lyric content of this, needed songs like using for motivation, throughout that time Taking Back Sunday - Tidal Wave Know it's not everyones cup of tea, but this has some of my absolute favorite taking back sunday songs on it. In addition, this was the touring cycle I started traveling more for shows to see, and led to a lot of adventures, friends, and rebuilding. The Wonder Years - Suburbia, I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing Probably my oldest favorite album, and perfect for the winter/seasonal depression. One of the first albums/bands I really found and listened to and loved on my own (meaning, without my older sibling introducing it to me) so I feel it closely with developing a sense of self.
Thanks, haha. That is the closing part to this little thing I wrote for my year end list. Here is what came before it originally: "On 4:44, the best rapper alive - a man we thought could do no wrong – works through the fact that he failed his family. While doing so, he lays out his vision to not only better himself, but also to uplift his family, the people around him, future generations and everybody that has been left behind. No I.D.’s consistently beautiful sample beats are the perfect backdrop for Jay’s heart wrenching reflections and hopeful musings, playing their part in making this one of Jay’s most consistent and, yes, best albums."
Shoot me a link to your list? I dig your writing. I've been working on write-ups for my top ten for like 3 months on and off, haha. I'm at like 3000 words and only halfway done.
Thanks. I make these year end lists for my company blog, just to put up something, haha. I wrote mini reviews for some of them. 1520 BLOG: 1520'S TOP 25 ALBUMS OF 2017 I also wrote about some 90s rap albums for this project that I have put on hold but will get back to at some point. One of those reviews has some sentences in it that I... recycled.. for the Wiki part from my year end list, haha. The Boomin' System
Shucky darns. I totally missed Circa Survive (Blue Sky Noise) and twenty one pilots (Vessel) on my list. Those would be somewhere.
this was fun! Banks - Goddess Perfectly crafted late night jams that make you wanna cry, go swimming, and make out with someone, among other things Ellie Goulding - Halcyon The modern queen of electropop covers the whole emotional spectrum on her most dynamic musical output to date Every Time I Die - From Parts Unknown The usual Every Time I Die aggression, but with Kurt Ballou's iconic brand of destructiveness attached Haste the Day - Attack of the Wolf King An extremely melodic, aggressive, and evocative concept album to sign off the career of one of the most underrated metalcore bands of all time Hiatus Kaiyote - Choose Your Weapon A vibrant, sunny, funky, and extremely diverse neo-soul album that might actually be impossible to not enjoy in some capacity Kanye West - Yeezus The most iconic and controversial music icon of the 21st century goes in a dark, off the wall, and industrial-sounding direction that works out better than anyone could have asked for Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly Equal parts politically outraged and emotionally reflective, Kendrick made what will certainly go down as one of the most important rap albums of all time letlive. - Fake History An adrenaline shot into a post hardcore genre that was dead in the water, letlive. captivated an audience with raw, loud, aggressive songs in an era that was running the opposite way Night Verses - Into the Vanishing Light The definition of the right album at the wrong time The Smith Street Band - Throw Me In The River A yelly Australian man teaches you it's OK to be sad, be mad, swear, hate, and love, sometimes all at once