Favorite Albums of 2004
 

There were a LOT of fantastic albums released last year, one would think that there is some hope for the msuic industry after all. :laugh: What were your favorites?

Prince- Musicology: Not only a great album, but one of his best. I can listen to it without skipping a song.

Loretta Lynn- Van Lear Rose: I'm not a country fan, but I loved this. Like Romy said, Jack White should team up with Stevie. :laugh:

Juliette and the Licks- ...Like A Bolt of Lightning: They're awesome, period. Great lyrics, fab music, and her voice is a killer. She was born to a rock star, IMO. Got Love To Kill is a perfect song.

Blondie- The Curse of Blondie: One of my favorite Blondie albums. Love the production, it showcases Deb's voice fantastically. Good Boys must be one of their best singles ever.

Franz Ferdinand- Franz Ferdinand: Love it! :xoxo: to Sparks for telling me to get the album. They remind me of a mix of Bowie and Blondie. Alex Kapranos has such a sexy voice. GREAT band.

Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News

Vanessa Carlton - Harmonium

Gwen Stefani - Love, Angel, Music, Baby

Toby Lightman - Little Things (too bad hardly anyone knows she exists)

I'm missing a lot but these particular albums are sitting in front of my face right now.

The Curse Of Blondie
The Scissor Sisters

:thumbsup: Yes. I love "It Can't Come Quickly Enough"

I bought that when it came out because I like Gwen, but I can't get into it at all for some reason. I'd die if she let Moby produce an album for her. :nod:

I couldn't get into it either.

I had to go buy it after I saw them on SNL. I love the whole thing. :blob1:

U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

Amazing album. Certain songs on here echo the sound that U2 had on their first three albums, Boy, October, and War, and I can hear a slight Joshua Tree/Achtung, Baby sound on other songs. Four years was a long wait for new U2, but it was well worth it. Too bad Apple had to go and ruin Vertigo, though. -_-

Gwen Stefani - Love, Angel, Music, Baby

GWEN<33333 As soon as I heard What You Waiting For?, I knew I'd love this album. There isn't one song on here I don't like. She experimented with different sounds and collaborated with all kinds of people, which I think is great. It doesn't sound anything like her work with No Doubt, but it fits her perfectly. Gwen is awesome.

Green Day - American Idiot

Amazing album. Each song flows into the next perfectly. Green Day is awesome, and this is some of their best work yet. And Boulevard of Broken Dreams may have to be one of the greatest songs of all time.

Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand

Could this album be any more fun? I agree with Diss, Alex Kapranos has a very sexy voice. The band has a unique sound, and they remind me of Blondie and the early Pretenders in many ways.

Velvet Revolver - Contraband

Best "supergroup" ever. Scott Weiland's vocal talent and Slash's guitar-playing? dp[oisp]da;sla. Amazing.

There just seems to be a certain energy missing from it. I love Gwen, but it seems to me that on some songs, she sounds uninterested. Some of them are great songs, but I just can't get into the album as a whole. Love the artwork, though. :laugh:

My friend Vanessa got me hooked. She saw them not too long ago in Miami and met them after the show. She has some amazing pictures and wrote a kickass review for the show and had it published :thumbsup:

I forgot:

-The Killers
-Interpol

I think the only album I got in 2004 *from* 2004 was The Killers'. And Gwen. So, uh. Those two? *shrug*

It should be a crime to be so f*cking good. The live bootlegs are even better than the damn album and that says something. His voice could sing the phone book and he'd sound sexy as hell.

Michael, in particular, reminds of early Bowie, with the whole homoerotic vibe to it. I can just picture Bowie recording it in the future.

I was waiting for you to gush over the U2 <3 I'm so glad so many people love Franz because they are an amazing little band.

I need to get that Franz album, yo. I've been meaning to for a while, but since I don't have a car or anything I have to wait for when Mom wants to go to the mall. And when I ask her if we can go, she always finds an excuse. :rolleyes:

My picks...
 

Shadow's Fall-"The War Within"

A breath of fresh metal without the typical lameness of rock/rap lyrics & vocals. Overly heavy on killer guitar parts and definitely surpassed the hype.

DamagePlan-"New Found Power"

Most people compared it to the Abbott brothers former band Pantera, But when not compared it was a solid metal release. Features the great self-explanatory track "F**k you"

Megadeth-"The System Has Failed"

Actually this was a Dave Mustaine solo album, which happened to use the Megadeth name to fulfill a record contract obligation. Give Dave credit though, Whereas other bands "sold-out" and created utter crap as of late (ie-Metallica) Dave decided to make a heavier than epected release.

U2-"How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb"

A better than expected release from the Irish rockers of U2. The lead single "Vertigo" was a rocking treat, But the song "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" is a lyrical masterpiece IMHO. I cannot wait for the tour ates to be announced within the month, Should be interesting to see how the song translate live when compared to the studio version.

Keith Urban-"Be Here"

His followup to the great "Golden Road". A very solid effort from Mr.Urban. It may be considered a "country" release but even a fan of rock will find this album very enjoyable.


Brian j.

They just released an expanded version of it with a second disc of b-sides and remixes. It's only a buck more than the older release at Best Buy. :woohoo:

Patti Scialfa's 23rd Street Lullaby, to name but one.

Holy ****.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Fever To Tell, to name another.

Wowie kazowie.

The Scissor Sisters album rocks. My fave on the album is "Lovers in the Backseat". I got the UK version, which has a couple of great bonus tracks.

Oh yeah, and lest we forget, this album
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Obviously, Franz Ferdinand was THE album of the year. It's so good. For some reason, I haven't been able to get into 'How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb' yet. I like the old U2 so much more....

I haven't liked U2 since the 80s, honestly. And I'm just so sick of seeing them all over the place. Their new music just doesn't grab me like their old stuff. But I'm not a huge fan to begin with, so...

It came out in September of 2003 in the rest of the world, us US fans had to wait until April of 2004 to hear it because they didn't have a US label to release it. :xoxo:

It was supposed to be out in early '03, but the producer stole their tapes and wouldn't give them up. :eek:

Ah, I didn't include it because I could have sworn it was a 2003 release. I'm hereby adding Curse to my list. Thus bringing it to Killers, Gwen, Curse. Woot.

There was a lot of good music in 2004, my list is long!

Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose

Franz Ferdinand

Scissor Sisters

Jimmy Eat World - Futures

Elliot Smith - From A Basement On The Hill

Nancy Sinatra

Modest Mouse - Good News...

Interpol - Antics

Drive By Truckers - The Dirty South

U2 - How To Dismantle...

Green Day - American Idiot

The Killers - Hot Fuss

You can say that again. :xoxo: :thumbsup:

I believe they have a two-record deal with Sanctuary, though. From what I've heard, Debbie is releasing a solo album with Blow Up (I believe 15 songs have already been done) and another Blondie album on Sanctuary. They've already recorded Bounce Along and that's supposed to be released as a single pretty soon. :thumbsup:

Oy, I forgot that one! I love it! :wavey:

Ryan Cabrera - Take It All Away

....love acoustic sounding albums. Not a song that I dislike on this CD.


Jay Z/ Linkin Park- Collison Course


Only 6 songs, but it came with the concert DVD. The best collaberation record EVER!

let me go to my record collection for this one..
 

if I really loved it, I probably bought it..

My top recordsfor 2004 are:

U2 "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" - for "its you when i look in the mirror.. and its you when I don't pick up the phone.." I look forward to their 2005 tour!

Patty Scialfa's "23rd Street Lullaby". I use to think she just played in the E street band because she was married to its leader.. then I heard this record, and her beautiful "Spanish Dancer" from her first album. She should tour..alone. I still my scratch my head that she didn't have a set during the Vote for Change concert last October.. she deserved one..

Ray Charles ""Genius Loves Company" - hopefully grammy bound..I love this record!

Queen Latifah "The Dana Owens Album" - took the standards to a new level with her beautiful, beautiful voice..

Courtney Love "America's Sweetheart" - self destruction with a rock beat.. at least I got it.. and "well they say that rock is dead.."

Loretta Lynn "Van Lear Rose" - good stories with an alternative country rock beat.. who would of thought it..?? Mrs. Leroy Brown!

and, last but definitely not least..

Patti Griffin "Impossible Dream" - no other record touched me as much as this one.. i thank Hayley for introducing me to Patty.. she continues to amaze me..

and that is my 2004 in music...

let's hope 2005 in much better than 2004.. we can't do much worse.

*squeeeeeeee* They can't release that fast enough, IMO.

Saw the Scissor Sisters on Regis and Kelly and I thought they were great, otherwise I'd only heard of them here. It was funny because Reg said "I only see one sister" to the female member of the band and she said, "You'd be surprised!" It was charming and very funny. :laugh: :lol: :laugh:

Oh wow...I forgot that one somehow. I can't put In the Meantime down. I can honestly say there is not one song on the album that I don't like. I hope she decides to record more in the future.

Keith, I love that you love 23rd Street Lullaby. "Spanish Dancer" off Rumble Doll is one of my favorite songs of all time... last night my best friend and I were listening to it while getting sloshed and melancholy, as a matter of fact.

Anyhow. My favorites of the year.

Top Three:

Sam Phillips- A Boot and a Shoe (Keith, Sam is someone I think you would absolutely love if you haven't ever checked her out. Really.)

Magnetic Fields- I

Neko Case- The Tigers Have Spoken

The others:

Patty Griffin- Impossible Dream
Loretta Lynn- Van Lear Rose
U2- How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (and I actually only really love three songs on here, but what's good is SO good it hurts. I love Vertigo, Sometimes You Just Can't Make it On Your Own, and Crumbs from Your Table)
Nancy Sinatra
Morrissey- You Are the Quarry
The Libertines
Franz Ferdinand
Modest Mouse- Good News for People Who Love Bad News
Snow Patrol- Final Straw
Patti Scialfa- 23rd Street Lullaby
Elliott Smith- From a Basement on the Hill
Twilight Singers- She Loves You
Arcade Fire- Funeral
Brian Wilson- Smile
Joanna Newsom- Milk-Eyed Mender
Rilo Kiley- More Adventurous
Guided by Voices- Half Smiles of the Decomposed
Sondre Lerche- Two-Way Monologue
Puffy Ami Yumi- Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi soundtrack

Great album. Love her stuff!

My favorites are If You Knew, Hex, Train from Kansas City, & The Tigers Have Spoken... I don't think I've allowed that disc to stop spinning since I got it. I think it's a classic.

I forgot one for my list... Ron Sexsmith's Retriever.

Here are some of my favorites from 2004 (in no particular order):

1. Loretta Lynn Van Lear Rose

2. Courtney Love America's Sweetheart---This album didn't get the recognition it deserved, due to the mess Courtney's life is in right now. Therefore, I think the album got panned because of that. :rolleyes:

3. Prince Musicology

4. Brian Wilson Smile

5. Lenny Kravitz Baptism

6. Dido Life for Rent

7. Black Eyed Peas Elephunk

No surprise that these are my faves too, sharon.

But I HAVE too add some big ones that are TOTALLY overlooked:

Giant Sand: It's all over.... the map
Camper van Beethoven: New Roman Times
Bill Janovitz (buffalo tom) & Crown Victoria: Fireworks on TV
Kevn Kinney's Sun Tangled Angel Revival
Bobby Bare Jr. : From the End Of Your Leash


Give'em a try!

gerald

I would do a spontaneous backfip (and I can't even do a cartwheel or hula hoop!) if Patti were to tour. But I think she chooses to stick close to home because of their kids.:shrug: (Though they must be bringing the kids out with E Street, so who knows?!) Have you seen the incredible concert she did for Direct TV last year?

Just for the record, Patti joined the band in 1984 when Bruce was still married to his frist wife. Around 1987 their relationship began to blossom.:)

I'm adding Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway to my list. It's the perfect pop album. :thumbsup:

Last week I played a lot of Camper van Beethoven-new roman times. And now I'm addicted, what a masterpiece!