The Best Albums of the Whatever Decade
I've been seeing tons of crappy "best of the decade" music lists everywhere, so I decided to create my own. So without further ado, behold the best music of the last ten years!
Oh, and it's alphabetical, not by any sort of rank.
Abby Ahmad - The Rearview
Discovered via an iTunes search for the word Halloween. Solo artist from New York City who goes into heavy rotation on the iPod starting in the fall. Great acoustic stuff.
Agalloch - The Mantle , Ashes Against The Grain
Kick-ass band from Portland, Oregon. They're huge in Europe, but not many people around these parts seem to be fans. I'd say they're some sort of Metal, but really the only way I can describe them is “Agalloch”. Discovered on aversionline.com
The Berzerker - The Reawakening
Australian industrial grindcore, discovered on the Internets tubes. Requires listening at maximum volume. There riffing is the best I've ever heard in a grindcore band, and the crazy drum machine adds that certain something.
Bif Naked -
purge
Discovered via Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Bif’s third album which featured a video of her driving a tank through Vancouver. Awesome.
Bohren & Der Club of Gore
Discovered at a Barnes & Noble in the Renton area. Decided to give it a try based on the record label (Ipecac) and the awesome artwork and song titles. Is it dark jazz? Doom jazz? Jazz jazz? Who cares, it's sublime.
Celtic Frost - Monotheist
The reunion album from the legendary Swiss band that all but invented the black metal and doom genres. I listened to some of their stuff back in High School, but it wasn't until this album that they really found their voice as a band (in my opinion, at least). They broke up for good shortly after it's release.
The Crown - Possessed 13
The Swedish band’s last album before breaking up. Arguably one of the best metal albums ever recorded. This album I bought based solely upon the cover art, which is a woman in a nightgown cowering by a tombstone, which can be seen here: http://www.answers.com/topic/possessed-13
Curse of the Golden Vampire - Mass Destruction
One of many side projects from Justin Broadrick. It’s the heaviest album he’s ever recorded, and it also requires listening at maximum volume. Slightly reminiscent of his old Napalm Death days, but far superior. Another gem from Ipecac.
Danzig - 777: I Luciferi, The Lost Tracks of Danzig
Both albums are among the best that Glenn Danzig has ever recorded. I Luciferi is perhaps my favorite from beginning to end (no skipping songs on this one), and T.L.T.O.D. has awesome never-before released tracks spanning recording sessions of all eight Danzig studio albums. They make my brain tingly.
Destroy All Humans! Soundtrack
The greatest video game soundtrack ever assembled, for one of the best video games ever made.
Edge of Sanity - Crimson II
Dan Swano’s return to Death Metal for perhaps the last time ever. The result was epic beyond belief. Like the first Crimson, this one clocks in at just over 40 minutes and is designed to be listened to in one sitting.
Entombed - Unreal Estate, Inferno/Averno
Unreal Estate was a live album that was recorded during a series of shows the band did with the Swedish National Ballet Company. That’s right, a professional ballet company dancing to awesome Swedish Death Metal. One day I hope they release the DVD of the show. Their cover of “Night of the Vampire” is quite cool.
Inferno/Averno is a gigantic bag of kick ass. Some of my all-time favorite Entombed tracks are on this album.
Fall of the Leafe - Vantage
Fantastic band that I discovered through Aversionline.com. They’re from Finland and recorded far too few albums before breaking up. A great album regardless of time of year. This thing just makes things good.
Funeral - From These Wounds
One of the greatest Doom albums ever recorded, and the only one I know of with clean vocals all the way through. Two years before this album was recorded, their bass player committed suicide, and shortly after this was released, one of their guitarists died. I don't know if the deaths had anything to do with how the album came out, but no one can possibly question the bleak-as-fuck tone of the album. In winter, this is mandatory.
Garbage - Beautiful Garbage
An album that for me is synonymous with October. My personal favorite Garbage album. “Parade” is one of the best songs ever recorded by any band ever. That is not open for debate.
The Gathering - Sleepy Buildings
A one-time, semi-acoustic show that The Gathering did. I love live albums, and this is one of the finest ever put out by any band. A fantastic take on so many of their songs.
Glenn Danzig - Black Aria II
His follow-up to 1992’s Black Aria, this one has more of a middle-eastern vibe than the first. It's the story of Lilith and, like the first, is very different from any of his other projects. A great mood album for late at night. Great for summer listening.
Hanin Elias - No Games No Fun
The former Atari Teenage Riot singer’s second solo album. On this one she collaborated with tons of different musicians, and the result is an album that everyone should know but no one seems to know. She folded her record label a few years back, but I've been hearing rumblings on the Internets tubes that she's been working on new material. Here's hoping.
Hank Williams III - Straight To Hell
The best all-around album that Hank 3 has put out. Country music as it should be.
Iron Maiden - Dance of Death
This was the second album they put out after Bruce and Adrian re-joined the band, and they really hit their stride with this one. Without a doubt one of the best Maiden albums ever recorded (the best, I think, since Seventh Son of a Seventh Son).
Jesu - Pale Sketches
Another Justin Broadrick project. This album was limited to 1000 copies and put out through his own record label (Avalanche Inc). It’s a collection of material from various Jesu recording sessions, but it’s the most beautiful music he’s ever recorded. A complete polar opposite from the aforementioned Curse of the Golden Vampire album.
Justin Sullivan & Friends - Tales of the Road
The main man from New Model Army recorded a live album comprising of his solo material as well as some great NMA tracks. This tour was the first time I saw them live, and the set up was fantastic. If memory serves, it was Justin on acoustic guitar and vocals along with a guitarist/keyboardist and drummer (names escape me at the moment). The drummer played the whole set on hand drums, and it was absolutely mesmerizing to watch. It’s not on the album unfortunately, but their live version of The Attack is forever burned into my brain as one of the most awe-inspiring concert moments ever.
Lily Allen - It’s Not Me, It’s You
Carolyn got me hooked on Lily Allen through Youtube, and this is one of the finest Brit-Pop recordings of all time. This album just makes me groove.
Moonspell - The Antidote
I refuse to use the term Goth Metal under any circumstances, but I know many refer to Moonspell that way. This album was conceived as a companion piece of a book by the same name (O Antidoto in Portuguese) by Jose Luis Peixoto. The book’s never been translated into English unfortunately, but it’s a fascinating concept that I hope to read some day. I discovered them through some random Internet radio station, and I've been hooked ever since. Moonspell for me is mandatory sunshine music.
New Model Army - Eight
An excellent collection of songs, and some of the heaviest material that they’ve ever recorded. A perfect example of how easily they can drift between acoustic folk-ballad type songs and intense, guitar-driven crushingly heavy stuff. “Flying Through the Smoke” is crazy awesome.
Pretty Girls Make Graves - Good Health
One of the best bands to ever come out of Seattle, and unfortunately they only recorded three full-length albums before breaking up. This was their first, and remains my personal favorite. I discovered them through a former co-worker.
Repo! The Genetic Opera - Soundtrack
One of the best musicals ever made, and I find myself singing this stuff far too often. Zydrate comes in a little glass vial...SING WITH ME, DAMMIT!
Samael - Above
This band is ridiculously prolific, so it's hard to pick out the best of the best. But there's just something about their return to the ultra heavy roots that gets my blood pumping harder than the others.
Sing Sing - The Joy of Sing Sing
Formed by Emma Anderson after the demise of Lush, they flew well under the radar for the entire span of the band. We were lucky to see them at their one and only Seattle show, and while it was depressing that there were only a handful of people there, it was awesome to see them in all their poppy, shoe-gazey glory (ok, they probably don't qualify as a shoe-gazing band, but whatever).
Sneaker Pimps - Bloodsports
While not as good as they were with Kelli Ali, this album was still very kick ass. It's one that I tend to binge on periodically.
Social Distortion - Sex, Love & Rock ‘n Roll
What can be said about their only release of the decade other than FUCKING AWESOME?
Thine - In Therapy
Another aversionline.com find. One review described it as a suicide note put to music. The band started out as some sort of crazy black metal band, but this album is about as far from metal as one can get. It's sort of pop-ish, but not really. A difficult album to describe, but fantastic nonetheless.
Ulver - Shadows of the Sun
I discovered Ulver after their singer Garm did a solo with Anneke Van Giersbergen on The Gathering's album Souvenirs. This one is another mandatory winter album, but radically different from...well, everything.
Venus Hum - Big Beautiful Sky
I discovered them when they opened up for Sing Sing. A great bouncy Electronica band that is excellent for road trips.
The Vincent Black Shadow - Fear’s In The Water
I first heard them when they opened up for Bif Naked at The Crocodile Cafe in Seattle. Punky Ska-ish alterno-goodness. I keep forgetting to order their second album, which is odd considering how much I love the first one. The singer, Cassandra Ford, is an awesome artist and those of you who have visited our home surely know the art as it is hanging at the top of our stairs.
Zoe Keating - One Cello x 16: Natoma
I bought this cd at a Rasputina show when Zoe was still in the band. Radically different from Rasputina, but fantastically awesome all the same. Great mood music. I keep hoping for more of her music, but nothing seems to ever come.
Oh, and it's alphabetical, not by any sort of rank.
Abby Ahmad - The Rearview
Discovered via an iTunes search for the word Halloween. Solo artist from New York City who goes into heavy rotation on the iPod starting in the fall. Great acoustic stuff.
Agalloch - The Mantle , Ashes Against The Grain
Kick-ass band from Portland, Oregon. They're huge in Europe, but not many people around these parts seem to be fans. I'd say they're some sort of Metal, but really the only way I can describe them is “Agalloch”. Discovered on aversionline.com
The Berzerker - The Reawakening
Australian industrial grindcore, discovered on the Internets tubes. Requires listening at maximum volume. There riffing is the best I've ever heard in a grindcore band, and the crazy drum machine adds that certain something.
Bif Naked -
purge
Discovered via Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Bif’s third album which featured a video of her driving a tank through Vancouver. Awesome.
Bohren & Der Club of Gore
Discovered at a Barnes & Noble in the Renton area. Decided to give it a try based on the record label (Ipecac) and the awesome artwork and song titles. Is it dark jazz? Doom jazz? Jazz jazz? Who cares, it's sublime.
Celtic Frost - Monotheist
The reunion album from the legendary Swiss band that all but invented the black metal and doom genres. I listened to some of their stuff back in High School, but it wasn't until this album that they really found their voice as a band (in my opinion, at least). They broke up for good shortly after it's release.
The Crown - Possessed 13
The Swedish band’s last album before breaking up. Arguably one of the best metal albums ever recorded. This album I bought based solely upon the cover art, which is a woman in a nightgown cowering by a tombstone, which can be seen here: http://www.answers.com/topic/possessed-13
Curse of the Golden Vampire - Mass Destruction
One of many side projects from Justin Broadrick. It’s the heaviest album he’s ever recorded, and it also requires listening at maximum volume. Slightly reminiscent of his old Napalm Death days, but far superior. Another gem from Ipecac.
Danzig - 777: I Luciferi, The Lost Tracks of Danzig
Both albums are among the best that Glenn Danzig has ever recorded. I Luciferi is perhaps my favorite from beginning to end (no skipping songs on this one), and T.L.T.O.D. has awesome never-before released tracks spanning recording sessions of all eight Danzig studio albums. They make my brain tingly.
Destroy All Humans! Soundtrack
The greatest video game soundtrack ever assembled, for one of the best video games ever made.
Edge of Sanity - Crimson II
Dan Swano’s return to Death Metal for perhaps the last time ever. The result was epic beyond belief. Like the first Crimson, this one clocks in at just over 40 minutes and is designed to be listened to in one sitting.
Entombed - Unreal Estate, Inferno/Averno
Unreal Estate was a live album that was recorded during a series of shows the band did with the Swedish National Ballet Company. That’s right, a professional ballet company dancing to awesome Swedish Death Metal. One day I hope they release the DVD of the show. Their cover of “Night of the Vampire” is quite cool.
Inferno/Averno is a gigantic bag of kick ass. Some of my all-time favorite Entombed tracks are on this album.
Fall of the Leafe - Vantage
Fantastic band that I discovered through Aversionline.com. They’re from Finland and recorded far too few albums before breaking up. A great album regardless of time of year. This thing just makes things good.
Funeral - From These Wounds
One of the greatest Doom albums ever recorded, and the only one I know of with clean vocals all the way through. Two years before this album was recorded, their bass player committed suicide, and shortly after this was released, one of their guitarists died. I don't know if the deaths had anything to do with how the album came out, but no one can possibly question the bleak-as-fuck tone of the album. In winter, this is mandatory.
Garbage - Beautiful Garbage
An album that for me is synonymous with October. My personal favorite Garbage album. “Parade” is one of the best songs ever recorded by any band ever. That is not open for debate.
The Gathering - Sleepy Buildings
A one-time, semi-acoustic show that The Gathering did. I love live albums, and this is one of the finest ever put out by any band. A fantastic take on so many of their songs.
Glenn Danzig - Black Aria II
His follow-up to 1992’s Black Aria, this one has more of a middle-eastern vibe than the first. It's the story of Lilith and, like the first, is very different from any of his other projects. A great mood album for late at night. Great for summer listening.
Hanin Elias - No Games No Fun
The former Atari Teenage Riot singer’s second solo album. On this one she collaborated with tons of different musicians, and the result is an album that everyone should know but no one seems to know. She folded her record label a few years back, but I've been hearing rumblings on the Internets tubes that she's been working on new material. Here's hoping.
Hank Williams III - Straight To Hell
The best all-around album that Hank 3 has put out. Country music as it should be.
Iron Maiden - Dance of Death
This was the second album they put out after Bruce and Adrian re-joined the band, and they really hit their stride with this one. Without a doubt one of the best Maiden albums ever recorded (the best, I think, since Seventh Son of a Seventh Son).
Jesu - Pale Sketches
Another Justin Broadrick project. This album was limited to 1000 copies and put out through his own record label (Avalanche Inc). It’s a collection of material from various Jesu recording sessions, but it’s the most beautiful music he’s ever recorded. A complete polar opposite from the aforementioned Curse of the Golden Vampire album.
Justin Sullivan & Friends - Tales of the Road
The main man from New Model Army recorded a live album comprising of his solo material as well as some great NMA tracks. This tour was the first time I saw them live, and the set up was fantastic. If memory serves, it was Justin on acoustic guitar and vocals along with a guitarist/keyboardist and drummer (names escape me at the moment). The drummer played the whole set on hand drums, and it was absolutely mesmerizing to watch. It’s not on the album unfortunately, but their live version of The Attack is forever burned into my brain as one of the most awe-inspiring concert moments ever.
Lily Allen - It’s Not Me, It’s You
Carolyn got me hooked on Lily Allen through Youtube, and this is one of the finest Brit-Pop recordings of all time. This album just makes me groove.
Moonspell - The Antidote
I refuse to use the term Goth Metal under any circumstances, but I know many refer to Moonspell that way. This album was conceived as a companion piece of a book by the same name (O Antidoto in Portuguese) by Jose Luis Peixoto. The book’s never been translated into English unfortunately, but it’s a fascinating concept that I hope to read some day. I discovered them through some random Internet radio station, and I've been hooked ever since. Moonspell for me is mandatory sunshine music.
New Model Army - Eight
An excellent collection of songs, and some of the heaviest material that they’ve ever recorded. A perfect example of how easily they can drift between acoustic folk-ballad type songs and intense, guitar-driven crushingly heavy stuff. “Flying Through the Smoke” is crazy awesome.
Pretty Girls Make Graves - Good Health
One of the best bands to ever come out of Seattle, and unfortunately they only recorded three full-length albums before breaking up. This was their first, and remains my personal favorite. I discovered them through a former co-worker.
Repo! The Genetic Opera - Soundtrack
One of the best musicals ever made, and I find myself singing this stuff far too often. Zydrate comes in a little glass vial...SING WITH ME, DAMMIT!
Samael - Above
This band is ridiculously prolific, so it's hard to pick out the best of the best. But there's just something about their return to the ultra heavy roots that gets my blood pumping harder than the others.
Sing Sing - The Joy of Sing Sing
Formed by Emma Anderson after the demise of Lush, they flew well under the radar for the entire span of the band. We were lucky to see them at their one and only Seattle show, and while it was depressing that there were only a handful of people there, it was awesome to see them in all their poppy, shoe-gazey glory (ok, they probably don't qualify as a shoe-gazing band, but whatever).
Sneaker Pimps - Bloodsports
While not as good as they were with Kelli Ali, this album was still very kick ass. It's one that I tend to binge on periodically.
Social Distortion - Sex, Love & Rock ‘n Roll
What can be said about their only release of the decade other than FUCKING AWESOME?
Thine - In Therapy
Another aversionline.com find. One review described it as a suicide note put to music. The band started out as some sort of crazy black metal band, but this album is about as far from metal as one can get. It's sort of pop-ish, but not really. A difficult album to describe, but fantastic nonetheless.
Ulver - Shadows of the Sun
I discovered Ulver after their singer Garm did a solo with Anneke Van Giersbergen on The Gathering's album Souvenirs. This one is another mandatory winter album, but radically different from...well, everything.
Venus Hum - Big Beautiful Sky
I discovered them when they opened up for Sing Sing. A great bouncy Electronica band that is excellent for road trips.
The Vincent Black Shadow - Fear’s In The Water
I first heard them when they opened up for Bif Naked at The Crocodile Cafe in Seattle. Punky Ska-ish alterno-goodness. I keep forgetting to order their second album, which is odd considering how much I love the first one. The singer, Cassandra Ford, is an awesome artist and those of you who have visited our home surely know the art as it is hanging at the top of our stairs.
Zoe Keating - One Cello x 16: Natoma
I bought this cd at a Rasputina show when Zoe was still in the band. Radically different from Rasputina, but fantastically awesome all the same. Great mood music. I keep hoping for more of her music, but nothing seems to ever come.