By Anthony Kuzminski
Music lives inside all of us and it’s terribly personal. You would be safer telling someone they have an ugly child instead of expressing your disdain for one of their favorite artists. One person’s trash is another treasure and there is often no rhyme or reason why we love certain songs and throw a cold shoulder at others. Some music is easily digestible and others need multiple listens for a full reveal. Sometimes these multi-listen albums prove to be the truly timeless and the music that often accompanies us on our life journey. It’s December and it’s that time of year again when we sharpen our pencils and attempt to break down the best in the year’s music. Many of my friends are forgoing Best Album lists in lieu of singles, which isn’t a bad idea but I still love the idea of an album and how it can tell you a thematic story. I believe the following collections of songs below are cinematic in their scope revealing widescreen stories and harmonies that are best served in 45-minute installments. Now, as I look over my list, I’m surprised to not see more indie titles. I listened to a lot of music in the last year and while certain songs and artists may have awoken an interest, their overall albums didn’t impress. What you will read below are albums (top to bottom affairs) that I listened to regularly and without interruption (for the most part) over the course of 2008. I paid no attention to what’s cool or hip, I merely broke down a few dozen albums that spoke to my soul continually over the last twelve months. I can only hope that one of you find a few treasures in the list below. So without further adieu, I give you the twenty-five best albums of the last twelve months.
Number Twenty-Five: Def Leppard-Songs From The Sparkle Lounge
Def Leppard’s 11th studio album of original material and right from the opening guitar acrobatics of “Go” the band erupts and assails your senses with a sensational barrage of guitars that never relent. Songs From The Sparkle Lounge doesn’t follow trends or previous glories, but finds the band comfortably within their skin churning out radio ready four-minute wonders that are definitively Def Leppard even if the gloss and sheen isn’t as bright. The album is the most organic affair of new material they have committed to tape since their debut On Through The Night and elevates its potential with each listen revealing its true colors. {Full Album review at this link}"Tomorrow"
Number Twenty-Four: Whitesnake-Good To Be Bad
Who would have thunk it that David Coverdale still had the goods to deliver not just an album hell bent on nostalgia, but with enough aggressiveness to demonstrate that this is not just a band riding the nostalgia train but one that is vital and alive. The songs bridge the gap between their rock and blues influences and wouldn’t have been out of place on some of the band’s earliest works (“Best Years” & “Lay Down Your Love”) against the arena rock roars of their peak commercial years (“All I Want All I Need” & “Summer Rain”). Ironically the fact that Coverdale and his backing band (lead by guitarist Doug Aldrich) don’t try to be anything other than a hybrid metal-blues band works to their advantage. The final result is an album that is fresh, original and one that will not sound dated in a year or even a decade from now."Good To Be Bad"
Number Twenty-Three: Fall Out Boy- Folie à Deux
Chicago EMO band expands their boundaries on their least personal, but most daring record to date. Say what you want to about Fall Out Boy, but being this good isn’t easy and there’s a reason they stand atop the EMO mountain with their power-pop hooks and memorable ringers that should not be confined to any genre. Look no further than the soulful and sprinting “(Coffee’s For Closers)” with a wondrous guest vocal by Elvis Costello who surprisingly melds perfectly with their brand of ebullient power pop; that in itself speaks volumes. {Live review at this link}"I Don't Care"
Number Twenty-Two: Buddy Guy-Skin Deep
I caught a Buddy Guy show last January during his legendary month long stand in Chicago and as I left, I shook my head in disbelief that anyone could be that good at anything. It’s almost criminal the way he plays the guitar. I’d seen him open for the Stones, jam with the Stones, plays blues festivals, but there was nothing like watching him slay the sold out audience with his guitar theatrics. I’m happy to say that the same intimacy unfurls on his best album in almost two-decades, Skin Deep. His first album of all original material isn’t perfect, but it doesn’t have to be when one can play the guitar as well as Guy. “Out In The Woods” and “Hammer and Nail” are nothing short of revelations with sizzling six-string theatrics that will make you rethink about every other music that you have ever heard."Skin Deep" on Letterman
Number Twenty-One: B.B. King- One Kind Favor
God bless T Bone Burnett. B.B. King is a legend any way you look at it, but this collection is a no frills affair that could have been recorded in the 50’s or 60’s. An album deeply embedded in a core blues sound. Not one made for radio or latter day blues fans, but for those who grew up on Robert Johnson. His fingers speak volumes and show that even at 82-years old, King still has a few tricks up his sleeve and can show everyone how great blues music should sound."Sitting On Top of the World"
Number Twenty: Farkus-Thought You Should Know
This Chicago four-some made a bright and surprisingly excellent EP in 2007 and now they return with a fleshed out album, Thought You Should Know. What makes this collection of songs so stunning is the fact that all four musicians do this part time and pooled their money to work with producer Dave Rieley to create an all too short album chock full of razor edged electric guitars, a turbo charged rhythm section and rapt and tender vocals that warrant repeat listens. Tempos surge, guitars storm and the band plays their hearts out on a collection of songs whose music jumps out of its skin. One wonders how many more great songs would be created if this was their full time gig. {Original EP review here}Number Nineteen: Rolling Stones-Shine A Light
After decades of releasing a slew of good (but not great) live albums (Stripped aside) the band delivers a document of why they are still the baddest and best rock band on the planet. The soundtrack to the Martin Scorsese film shines a light (pun intended) on old warhorses that still sound vital (“Jumpin’ Jack Flash”), a few forgotten gems (“Faraway Eyes” & “She Was Hot”) and a few unearthed gems with distinguished guests (“Champagne and Reefer” with Buddy Guy & “Loving Cup” with Jack White). Listening to this band in an intimate setting made me recognize just how damn good these guys are at what they do. Bands half of their age don’t sound this good. {Full movie review at this link}Film Trailer
Number Eighteen: The Fireman (Paul McCartney)-Electric Arguments
McCartney’s two previous Fireman recordings did not utilize his vocals, but this one finds McCartney pushing his boundaries like never before. Beneath Youth’s electrical tones is that voice that changed a generation. For an experimental record, this one oozes gorgeous melodies and beats that find harmony together. Macca should have released this under his own name as it deserves to be hear by many more than have heard it to date."Sing The Changes"
Number Seventeen: Black Crowes-Warpaint
Overlooked by many, but those who held it close were rewarded on multiple listens. This isn’t just a fun record, but it’s the best damn record the band has made post Southern Harmony. The angelic “Locust Street” was made for Rod Stewart and the Faces to cover while “Wounded Bird” gives one a glimpse of what the Rolling Stones would sound like today is Mick Taylor was still in the band. Ultimately, Warpaint downright nasty blues return to form that would make Buddy Guy smile with approval."Wounded Bird"
Number Sixteen: The Black Keys-Attack & Release
I loved the first two records and then Rubber Factory just disappointed (even on multiple listens) and Magic Potion was missing the magic. The Akron, OH twosome once again finds their juju here on a collection originally deemed as a comeback record for Ike Turner before his death. The band partnered with Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley) and have created their most expansive and involving record to date. For a band that prides itself on simplicity (drums, vocal guitars) they find a way to rip through all of the nonsense you are accustomed to and break rock n’ roll down to its most primal and best form here. Bridging a gap between slithering distorted riffs and back porch blues, the Black Keys have made their most complex and ironically commercial record to date. "Lies"
Number Fifteen: Neil Diamond-Home Before Dark
Let’s be honest shall we? Neil Diamond’s first collaboration with Rick Rubin was a bit of a disappointment with only a few truly career revitalizing sonnets that made you stand up and take notice. The same can’t be said about this one, Diamond’s first number-one album in his career. Commencing with the insular seven-minute “If I Don’t See You Again” the stage is set for Diamond’s most revelatory and revealing record ever. “Don’t Go There” showcases a song that could have been drenched in syrup, but Rubin’s restraint production allows his voice to be heard while “Pretty Amazing Grace” finds just enough breathing room for band and man to exist. Then there’s a gorgeous duet with the Dixie Chicks Natalie Maines on “Another Day (That Time Forgot)” showcasing a haunting vocal by Diamond. The sing-a-long arena anthems may be absent but if you listen closely Rubin was right to leave the layered production behind because all Diamond needs is a notebook, guitar and his voice to send emotional shivers through your soul. "If I Don't See You Again"
Number Fourteen: Duffy-Rockferry
Showcasing a voice that could bring men and women to their knees pleading for mercy, Duffy doesn’t just deliver on arguably the single of the year, “Mercy”, but on the entire ten-song affair. Her voice crawls under your skin and won’t leave until you’ve given it at least a dozen chances. Evoking nostalgic soul, rock and blues, Duffy has created a record that will continue to grow for years to come and I have a feeling future releases will equally impress leaving us all begging for “Mercy”."Mercy" live
Number Thirteen: Sharon Little-Perfect Time For A Breakdown
Over the course of eleven scrupulously organic songs Sharon Little channels the blues, pop, country, soul, rock n’ roll and every other musical landscape imaginable with raw gusto and a storming vocals on her CBS debut Perfect Time For A Breakdown. The lead-off track, “Follow That Sound” builds until her smoky-sweet voice singes your ear drums with a performance that is sexual and searing simultaneously. She evokes sex with confident voice better than any half dressed woman; that’s what I call talent. The rest of the album is a sedate yet transfixing listening experience as I felt as if I was being seduced by a beautiful woman from across the room. Each of the songs has a crafty blend of melancholy longing and wistfulness that are laced with sunny melodies.This is something no one can be taught and can only come from looking inward and throwing your life experiences into the song. Little began writing songs at the age of sixteen as a way to deal with the unexpected death of one of her friends and it is reflected with an emotive depth not found on most records today. She lives these songs. The years of struggle and heartache have served her well as she isn’t just a new pop princess or a flash in the pan, but an artist…and one you should keep your eye on…very closely.{Full album review at this link}"What Gets In The Way"
Number Twelve: Nada Surf-Lucky
Chock full of aural melodies that are nothing short of fixating, the introspective band finds their groove on a record that is as easy on the ears as anything on the radio today. If this was 1993, this would have been a triple-platinum record. An undercurrent of heartache matched with effortless and beautifying lyrics Lucky is a feast for anyone and everyone who loves a good melody. I had rarely listened to this band before this album, but they have pulled me in deep here. “I Like What You Say” is flirting while “From Now On” spirals like a rollercoaster as the band delivers perfectly textured harmonies. This is a wonderfully pensive record that will leave you in a blissful and magical state of mind and if you’re still not sold, listen to “Beautiful Beat” and tell me your life is not better off for hearing it."Whose Authority"
Number Eleven: Los Campesinos! - Hold on Now, Youngster...
If there was a skit on Saturday Night Live showing this band in the studio, Christopher Walken would stop the session and demand “More glockenspiel!” No matter where I am when a song from this record pops on my iPod, it never fails to elicit a smile with its full speed ahead with romantic abandon…with a dash of glockenspiel tossed in for good measure. I don’t think any artist has utilized the glockenspiel this well since Bruce Springsteen. It’s featured magnanimously on “Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Backbeats” and numerous other songs with just titles just as tongue twisting. Interlocking vocals, a concentrated rhythm section and chiming guitars give the band an almost cartoonish aura, but the music is so wildly contagious, it’s impossible to not smile and shake you head when listening to it. I can’t think of any act in the world that sounds as wholly original or who can distill as much energy on record as Los Campesinos!. I can offer no higher compliment. "You! Me! Dancing!"
Number Ten: Guns N’ Roses-Chinese Democracy
Let’s leave the behind-the-scenes drama in the past. When you break this album down to its core, it mines one’s psyche as they want acceptance, but feel as if love has slipped through its fingers one too many times. This is a collection of songs drenched in vulnerability. Axl Rose has made a career of being a recluse, but ultimately, he has the last laugh, as everything you ever wanted to know about Axl is right here for the listener to discern. Few artists take chances like Rose to appear as vulnerable as he does here (“Street of Dreams”) and in the hope of a better (pun intended) tomorrow. Repressed emotions unfurl in a dazzling array of guitar hero theatrics partnered with blood screeching wails and heavy heartache. Ultimately, we are left with an album that is more than just years in the making but one that finds an artist at a true emotional crossroads and ultimately as the album unfolds itself in front of you, you’ll find that what is here is pure magic…if you listen close enough and don’t prejudge. {2006 Live review at this link}"Better" live from 2006
Number Nine: R.E.M. - Accelerate
What happens when rock writers and critics cry wolf one too many times? Ever since 1994’s Monster every R.E.M. record has been deemed a “return to form” and while the last fifteen years have had its share of highlights from R.E.M., all of their albums have had a alienating feeling where they are attempting to be something they are not. On Accelerate’s raucous opening of “Living Well Is the Best Revenge”, its immediately evident the monster is reborn. Over a brief and roaring 36-minutes, R.E.M. proves to be a lean and mean fighting machine as they wail back with vengeance. Accelerate is everything a R.E.M. record should be; rocking, revealing and resounding. It’s a shame that so many writers overshot the so-called return to form over the last fifteen-years and sadly most fans have heard this story one too many times and opted out of what truly is R.E.M.’s best post Automatic record. Instead of trying to be different for the sake of being different or forcing what they thought was their classic sound, they looked inward, became spontaneous and made a truly classic R.E.M record. Full album snippets
Number Eight: Ryan Adams & The Cardinals-Cardinology
It easily could have been titled Ryan Adams Grows Up. Adams has always had a penchant for being a poetic and epic songwriter and over the course of his last two discs (including last year’s superb Easy Tiger) he has finally hit his stride. Post-2003, while his output has always been stellar, it hasn’t been as focused as his last two albums (Note: Love Is Hell has the focus I’m referring to but was recorded in October 2002). On Cardinology Adams strives for the fences with a collection of songs ready made for arena arms-to-the-air swaying. These aren’t the most audacious of his career (and it does lose some steam towards the end) but as a whole it’s a rather stellar and consistent affair. Instead of a distant third person narrative, Adams draws from within and gives us a record that feels like a return to his early career where we feel these stories gliding off his tongue with ease and excitement. Instead of knocking out everything that inspired him, it feels like he spent more time crafting these and it shows. {Link to 2007 article/live review at this link}"Crossed Out Name"
Number Seven: Soraia-Shed The Skin
Soraia is a five piece rock band from Philadelphia who has risen like a phoenix from personal calamities only to turn their tragedy into triumph. Of the upwards of one-hundred indie discs sent my way in the last year, this was the one that knocked me emotionally to the floor. Shed the Skin is a cohesive collection of songs and warrants an in depth listen that is ambitious and affecting without being overly sentimental. We live in a day and age of exhaustive overexposure of music where the end product often does not live up to the hype. Soraia’s Shed the Skin delivers a broad stream of influences which cajole an earnest reaction that leaves you yearning for more after just one listen with songs that are not just invigorating but whose songs collectively were unyielding, gut wrenching and gloriously elegiac. Soraia are not hopping on any bandwagons, they merely check vintage classic rock riffs and find a way to swathe them into a package that is intoxicating and enthralling as on “Long Time” and “Little Cat”. There is a profound depth to the lyrics which are enhanced by the layered roars of guitars that make you yearn for a time where albums and artists ruled the landscape. The entire album yields a windfall of truthfulness that carefully wields soul-searching lyrics that ring true especially on the title-track. Producer Obie O’Brien’s instinctive, enlivening and revitalizing production does the material justice and significantly brightens the album to A-grade levels, but always keeping the vibe organic and elegiac. O’Brien has been Bon Jovi’s in house engineer for a few decades and one listen to this record wonders why the band doesn’t utilize him to produce. If they did, their recordings would have a more timeless feel and would ensure their legacy. As impressive as the sonic framework may be, the real star is Mansour’s cooing vocals paired with the elliptical lyrics which combined make Shed The Skin a harrowing, endearing and essential album. {Full album review at this link}"Not The Woman"
Number Six: Metallica-Death Magnetic
Death Magnetic is about the struggle of life, where at every turn we are tempted and tortured. But beneath the darkness and metallic fury is a band that has truly unearthed their inner selves. The band we almost saw self destruct during Some Kind of Monster is turning the other cheek. While they buried thoughts, feelings and difficult emotions in the past, they have excavated them on Death Magnetic. If you listen closely enough, they’re opening up a dialogue on these weighty subjects and hopefully, as a result, impart some sort of wisdom upon us. Everything that has come before now, including St. Anger has made Metallica into the band that could create Death Magnetic. Without those twists and turns, this album would not have been possible. With the aid of Rick Rubin, they took an intense look back on their past, embraced it and found ways to flourish and fly once again. Metallica’s wings are spread open to rule not just the metal landscape, but the entire music world once again as they proudly wear their scars as survivors of not just heavy metal but life as well. {Full album review at this link}"The Day That Never Comes"
Number Five: Bob Dylan-Tell Tale Signs
This album very easily could have stood atop this list as it’s unlikely any release in 2008 (or 2000-2010) will hold as many musical treasures as this one and it’s an archive set! Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series is a treasure trove of outtakes and live songs and each installment has anchored Dylan’s legacy a bit further, but this three-disc set is a masterpiece I believe that will continue to be dissected decades and even centuries from now. Focusing exclusively on 1989 to the present, it throws Dylan’s legacy on its head and spins it. Dylan has arguably made four masterpieces since 1989 (Oh Mercy, Time Out of Mind, Love and Theft and Modern Times) and this collection features alternate takes, live tracks and soundtrack offerings that aren’t merely outtakes but versions that stand head and shoulders with their released counterparts. What makes Dylan one of the defining artists ever is his ability to have this many alternate takes that stand shoulder to shoulder with his best work, and once again, this only covers the last twenty-years of his career. Some careers are defined by a few early classics. Dylan continues to elevate his mystique and persona by showing you that his flipsides and alternates are better than most artists A material."Most of the Time"
Number Four: Michael Franti-All Rebel Rockers
Over the last decade, Franti and his band Spearhead have continued to evolve and distinguish themselves by creating weighty music that matters in a forlornly world that embodies darkness at every corner. The world has proven to be full of seismic horrors many of us never knew possible, and while All Rebel Rockers is a politically potent record, each composition has a staggering silver lining. The album’s duality is a delicacy- socially charged lyrics paired with rupturing backbeats that wrap around your brain but captivates you like provocative pop. All Rebel Rockers is the soundtrack to accompany you on your leap of faith; a collection of essential hymn’s disguised as swiveling anthems for the ages whose lyrics strike a profound chord in here and now. {Live review at this link and full album review at this link}"Say Hey (I Love You)"
Number Three: John Mellencamp-Life, Love, Death and Freedom
Life, Love, Death and Freedom is Mellencamp’s best album in a decade and a half as its themes, lyrics and arrangements cut right through your soul. Even at fourteen-songs, Mellencamp has crafted a lean and reflective album with some of his most ingenuous and illuminating lyrics ever committed to tape. More importantly, he’s found a way to properly present them thanks to the guided hand of producer T-Bone Burnett. The poignancy of his lyrics hasn’t been this compelling in eons. One listen to “Longest Days” will leave you emotionally drained as his reedy voice reveals layers and elevates what is already magnificent poetry to art that is relevant to the here and now. These songs ring true to Mellencamp’s ideologies and the themes in his larger body of work. T Bone Burnett’s subtle production pulls you in and doesn’t let go. The entire album is chock full of divine lyrics which find a common ground of redemption. There’s a lot of life in these songs yet one can still see the same determination in Mellencamp from a quarter of a century back, he’s still full of piss and vinegar. {Live concert review here}EPK for album
"My Sweet Love"
Number Two: Butch Walker-Sycamore Meadows
Walker’s life has been on a topsy-turvy ride in the last twelve months and the doubt, anguish and desperation he has experienced has been crafted into his most mature and enduring work to date, Sycamore Meadows. Titled after the street where his house resided before a fire destroyed it (and everything he owned) last November, it’s a somber, philosophical and ultimately invigorating record. “Going Back/Going Home” was written at the urging of his manager in the wake of the fire and it may be the best thing Walker has ever written. The discreet life-affirming reflective song where he offers up insight into his entire life and career but at the end it becomes apparent that he indeed is in tune with himself and where he needs to go. It’s true, you have to go home and acknowledge your past in order to go on with the future. The entire album is full of bedroom intensity and intimacy not heard on record since Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska. For an artist who has made a career of creating rich melodic records made for radio, Walker finds the perfect fit for each of these tracks never overreaching and never under delivering; Walker always finds the perfect medium that showcases the song in the best light possible. Sycamore Meadows is a dreamy and raw vista full of insurrectionary rage finding a fine balance between innocence and experience and features an artist at a crossroads with his foot on the gas pedal full speed ahead towards redemption with a unified and assertive collection of songs.{Full album review at this link and live review at this link}"Ships In A Bottle"
"The Weight of Her"
Number-One: James-Hey Ma
This is the one album I have returned to time and time again as it delicately balances the beauty and bleakness that life has to offer; Hey Ma from the Manchester band James is a immense masterpiece finding middle ground between relevant themes and sonic landscapes that simultaneously elicit tears of happiness and sorrow. It’s almost unheard of for a group to reunite after an extended hiatus to create a work of art on par with their best offerings, but James has gone one step further by creating a biting, boiling and blissful collection of songs that align like the stars in the sky. James has made an album that lies somewhere between mainstream programming and indie fanaticism. They haven’t just made a great reunion record; they’ve made the best album of their career. Not since U2 released All That You Can’t Leave Behind has there been a collection of potent and powerful hymns as stalwart as Hey Ma. James provides an admission of emotional vulnerability and has proven to be raw and dangerously alive. The lofty topics of Hey Ma are drowned in pop sensibilities that would invigorate any FM dial. No topic goes unturned; God, war, self-loathing, desperation, dislocation, separation, temptation and most importantly revelation are all here. With each intoxicating listen, I’m drawn into the reverberating music, the ebullient melodies and the world weary lyrics. The depth of the subjects found on Hey Ma prove to be socially provocative; war (“Hey Ma” & “72”), awakening (“Bubbles” “Waterfall” and “I Wanna Go Home”) and ultimately life and love (“Oh My Heart” and “Upside”). For the first time in a while, I feel an artist has created a complete album that speaks to me in the here and now while simultaneously enrapturing my ear drums with ambient pop and soulful sounds. Not since Bruce Springsteen’s Born In The U.S.A. has an artist so effortlessly converged pop melodies with lofty, weighty and biting topics. James sound like a band with an insatiable hunger willing to do anything to make their mark. Their lack of innocence gives way to experience, knowledge and wisdom. James hasn’t just mined a victorious reunion album with Hey Ma they’ve created the best album of 2008. {Live concert review at this link and the full album review is at this link}Hey Ma EPK
"Hey Ma" live
"Whiteboy" acoustic
"Whiteboy" studio
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network and his daily writings can be read at The Screen Door and can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com.
