Favorite Albums of 2008, Part 3: Loving it, but wishing it was so much more.
Now that the year is officially over, on with the pointless list!
07) Weezer "Weezer (Red Album) [Deluxe Edition]"
[stream the album]
There are two types of Weezer fans, those who think they haven't released any good material since Pinkerton and those who think those people are crazy. I'm in the latter group, which means every time Rivers and the guys get set to drop a new record I can't help but hope that it might live up to their first two albums, and while this one doesn't, I couldn't get the thought out of my head that it could have!
Which brings me to why I specifically listed the Deluxe Edition of the record: if they would've switched out the 3 really lame tracks on the standard edition with the 3 really good bonus tracks (Pig, King and Miss Sweeney) it could have been their best work since Pinkerton. But the good stuff is there, if only in a really weird order.
Key Tracks: Automatic - Pig - The Greatest Man That Ever Lived
06) Kanye West "808s and Heartbreak"
[stream the album]
There comes a time in your life when you hear a record by an artist you like that you just want to hate. You want to make it through that first listen and think "I have survived that which I would not wish on anybody" and go around finding which of your friends feel the same way so you can talk about how much you both hate this piece.
This is how I felt going into this album, I kept giving myself excuses to hate it... the Autotune, the depressing tone, the really terrible freestyle at the end... but, well, it just grew on me. I got over the fact that he used Autotune rather quickly, since what he does here is actually really creative... unlike everything T-Pain has done to completely bitter everyone's opinion on the use of it. The depressing lyrics make sense in context, since the album was clearly written after he broke up with his girlfriend and lost his mom. The freestyle is still terrible though.
Key Tracks: Love Lockdown - See You in My Nightmares - RoboCop
05) Flight of the Conchords "Flight of the Conchords"
[stream not available]
...and now for the token comedy album!
If for some reason you haven't caught these guys' program on HBO, do yourself a favor and either check out the DVD or nab this record. It features most of the best tracks from the series, while a few gems are missing, most of the meaty goodness is right here. Easily the best acoustic-based-comedy-duo since Tenacious D.
Key Tracks: The Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room) - Business Time - Robots - Bowie
Plan is to wrap this up next post, see you then ;)
07) Weezer "Weezer (Red Album) [Deluxe Edition]"
[stream the album]
There are two types of Weezer fans, those who think they haven't released any good material since Pinkerton and those who think those people are crazy. I'm in the latter group, which means every time Rivers and the guys get set to drop a new record I can't help but hope that it might live up to their first two albums, and while this one doesn't, I couldn't get the thought out of my head that it could have!
Which brings me to why I specifically listed the Deluxe Edition of the record: if they would've switched out the 3 really lame tracks on the standard edition with the 3 really good bonus tracks (Pig, King and Miss Sweeney) it could have been their best work since Pinkerton. But the good stuff is there, if only in a really weird order.
Key Tracks: Automatic - Pig - The Greatest Man That Ever Lived
06) Kanye West "808s and Heartbreak"
[stream the album]
There comes a time in your life when you hear a record by an artist you like that you just want to hate. You want to make it through that first listen and think "I have survived that which I would not wish on anybody" and go around finding which of your friends feel the same way so you can talk about how much you both hate this piece.
This is how I felt going into this album, I kept giving myself excuses to hate it... the Autotune, the depressing tone, the really terrible freestyle at the end... but, well, it just grew on me. I got over the fact that he used Autotune rather quickly, since what he does here is actually really creative... unlike everything T-Pain has done to completely bitter everyone's opinion on the use of it. The depressing lyrics make sense in context, since the album was clearly written after he broke up with his girlfriend and lost his mom. The freestyle is still terrible though.
Key Tracks: Love Lockdown - See You in My Nightmares - RoboCop
05) Flight of the Conchords "Flight of the Conchords"
[stream not available]
...and now for the token comedy album!
If for some reason you haven't caught these guys' program on HBO, do yourself a favor and either check out the DVD or nab this record. It features most of the best tracks from the series, while a few gems are missing, most of the meaty goodness is right here. Easily the best acoustic-based-comedy-duo since Tenacious D.
Key Tracks: The Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room) - Business Time - Robots - Bowie
Plan is to wrap this up next post, see you then ;)