Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Donald's Top 10 Albums of All Time

Greetings, friends. After a brief yet memorable stint over at propertyofzack.com, an opportunity I will forever be grateful for, the prodigal son has returned. In a move I can only see as punishment for leaving, Craig and Madison have doted upon me this dubious task of listing and talking about my favorite 10 albums of all time. This list is essentially impossible and practically pointless to make. What I mean by that is this: music is always evolving and changing. Therefore, if the music itself changes, the way we listen to it changes, the way we interpret it changes. Bands come and go, albums fade in and out of our lives at certain times, and we even forget about how great some of them are at times. That being said, the ten albums that comprise the list you are about to (hopefully) sift through have each provided a spark or emotion in me that few things in life (let alone other albums) ever have. It's a testament to the power of music, and the individuality that we bring in to the listening experience. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it; here are the 10 best albums of all-time, according to this one person.

10. Coheed & Cambria - Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Vol. 1: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness: Coheed & Cambria are a band that I accidentally fell in love with. After hearing Claudio Sanchez's high-pitched delivery in "A Favor House Atlantic," my middle school self was a little too proud to give the band a fair chance. And then the band released "Welcome Home," the six-minute epic that took the band's career from clubs to arenas, and I realized the mistakes of my past. What makes Good Apollo 1 so great, however, is how consistent the album remains after its monster single. Tracks like "Ten Speed (Of God's Blood and Burial)" and "The Suffering" were excellent choices for follow-up singles, while the deeper cuts like "Crossing the Frame" and "Mother May I" have become gems I keep coming back to after all these years. Throw in the Willing Well series, a four-song set at the end of the album, with every song clocking in over seven minutes long, and it becomes clear by the end of this album that Coheed & Cambria are some of the most intelligent, talented, and forward-thinking bands in rock music.


9. The Dangerous Summer - Reach for the Sun: While the debate can certainly be had that this isn't even The Dangerous Summer's best albums (and it could very well be their worst), Reach for the Sun secures a spot here thanks to AJ Perdomo's youthful energy, mixed with his introspective lyrics and the fabulous drumming by Tyler Minsberg. Leadoff track "Where I Want to Be" and ender "Never Feel Alone" bookend the album perfectly, but it's the gripping, powerful tracks like "Surfaced," "Northern Lights," and "Weathered" that set Reach for the Sun far above so many other albums.

8. Motion City Soundtrack - Commit This to Memory: They were quirky, catchy, unique, and relatable. In other words, Motion City Soundtrack were just too easy to like. With such huge choruses like the ones found on "Everything is Alright," "When 'You're' Around," or "Resolution" mixed in with the dark, self-loathing lyrics on "Time Turned Fragile," "L.G. Fuad," and "Hold Me Down," the band set themselves up for a long and rewarding career, but the highs they reached on Commit This to Memory have yet to be topped.

7. Underoath - Define the Great Line: Screamo music nearly reached the mainstream in the early 2000s, thanks in large part to the melody and sheer force behind Underoath's (They're Only Chasing Safety). But when the band came back with Define the Great Line, they went from the next big thing in the scene to its undisputed champion. Now fully immersed in the songwriting process, Spencer Chamberlain wears his demons on his sleeve, and it pays huge dividends in "You're Ever So Inviting" and "In Regards to Myself." Aaron Gillespie's clean vocals supplement Chamberlain's screams stupendously, especially seen on lead single "Writing on the Walls" and "There Could be Nothing After This." After synths powered many of the Chasing Safety tracks, Chris Dudley opted for a more subtle effect on the tracks, providing atmospheric tones for the evolution of lead guitarist Tim McTague to take the spotlight. This album was the perfect storm for Underoath, catapulting them from the Main Stage of Warped Tour to a top 5 debut and gold-selling album that still is yet to be topped in metalcore (except maybe by Underoath's other albums, of course).

6. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: In 2010, Kanye West's popularity was still reeling over the whole Taylor Swift "I'mma let you finish..." fiasco. So what did Kanye West do about it? What Kanye West always does about it: use his turmoil with critics, paparazzi, and the American public to fuel his passionate drive towards hip-hop perfection. On Twisted Fantasy, he gave us what may ultimately end up being his most revered masterpiece of his illustrious and controversial career. An album whose lead single is a full 9 minutes long, features a comedy bit from an over-the-hill Chris Rock, and features that include RZA, La Roux, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, and a rap verse from Fergie (I'm still trying to wrap my head around that), and it all comes together masterfully thanks to the mad scientist behind it. I've always been a fan of hip-hop and headcases, and no one person puts both of those things together as spectacularly as Kanye West.

5. Transit - Listen and Forgive: The pop-punk Renaissance that occurred in 2011 was no small feat: it gave us albums from bands like Fireworks, The Wonder Years, and Into It. Over It. that changed the way everyone saw the genre and shattered any pre-conceived notions about how powerful the songs could be. That buzz swelled into a perfect storm for Transit, who used their early 2000s emo leanings to create Listen & Forgive, an emotional force that created an immense amount of buzz around the band. Paced by catchy single "Long Lost Friends" and cemented in fans' hearts with soul-crushers like "Skipping Stone" and "Over Your Head," Listen and Forgive has cemented itself as an album with lasting impact for years to come.

4. Jimmy Eat World - Futures: Jimmy Eat World had literally just saved their career with Bleed American, thanks to the unexpected success of "The Middle." So what did they do for a follow-up? Make their best album ever, of course! While there is a legitimate argument to be made for Clarity, Futures makes this list for me because it took the energy and emotion from Clarity, and combined it with a stellar piece of production by the acclaimed Gil Norton. Plain and simple: on Futures, Jimmy Eat World sounded like the biggest and best rock band in the world, and they had the talent, drive, and creativity to pull it off. Don't believe me? Take a listen to "23" and try to tell me that song isn't perfect.

3. The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten: Coming off of a bit of a letdown in terms of how American Slang was received, The Gaslight Anthem recorded with Brendan O' Brien, and ended up at least starting the conversation amongst fans as to which album was better: The '59 Sound or Handwritten. Obviously, you know which side I'm on by now. To me, Handwritten was chosen because of the gigantic, arena-ready feel to the album. With so many anthemic choruses (like the ones on "45," "Handrwitten," "Mulhollan Drive," and "Mae") and just enough allusions to the band's sweaty basement show roots (the dynamic 1-2 punch of "Howl" and "Biloxi Parish"), there's something for every Gaslight Anthem fan here, and maybe even more. On The '59 Sound, we saw how big The Gaslight Anthem had the potential to become, and on Handwritten, they became that band.

2. Circa Survive - Blue Sky Noise: Circa Survive have been my favorite band since I was 16 years old, and this is my favorite album from them. The major-label jump they made on Blue Sky Noise added a certain flair to the songs, and the progressive-minded band benefitted greatly from adding a little more structure to their sound, which allowed frontman Anthony Green to shine while his bandmates created the band's most talented effort to date. Thanks to the chaos of "Get Out" and Glass Arrows," the melodic excellence of "Imaginary Enemy" and "Through the Desert Alone," and the pure unadulterated creativity of "Fever Dreams" and the instrumental track "Compendium," Circa Survive put it all together for an effort that only a band with their unique set of skills could create.

1. Brand New - The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me: From the time we heard about the scrapped Fight Off Your Demons demos, we knew Brand New was onto something big. But somehow, the band found a way to shatter any and all expectations, and exceed them in unimaginable ways. Dark, heavy, and profound, The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me is the rare album that followed up a classic (Deja Entendu) and was so good it makes the classic that came before it seem like a child made it. Jesse Lacey was revered before The Devil and God, but after this album came out, he was officially a cult hero. But when you pen a track like "Sowing Season (Yeah)," that's to be expected. What's more impressive, however, is how the album carries you through its long-ish runtime effortlessly. Tracks like "Degausser," "Jesus," "Luca," and "You Won't Know" all cross the 5-minute threshold, but the songs take such a hold over you that it feels like no time has passed at all. Throw in the 7-minute epic "Limousine" and the fast-paced "Not the Sun" and "Archers," and you have an album the spans a spectrum very few other bands would even dare to attempt, but Brand New were able to perfect. It simply doesn't get any better than The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me, and I have serious doubts anything will ever top it in my lifetime.

And in a flash, my Top 10 Albums of All-Time is complete. This list is so difficult to make, and there are so many albums that could have been here, and I'm sure there are even ones I've forgotten about. What did I leave off? What did I rate too high or too low? Leave your thoughts in the comments, and let's get a conversation going.

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