The Top Albums of the Decade [2000-2009]

[ultimifier]

[edit by hipmonlee] - first posts removed cause I want you to make sure you include an explanation.

I'm just gonna go with my favourite because I'm too lazy to think of a top 5:

Avalanche - Matthew Good. (hopefully you have heard of him firestorm)

After Breaking up matthew good band matthew good decided to start a solo career. Instead of making songs that would be popular because they are catchy and appeal to the masses he made music that he felt was deeper and more emotional. The result was a fantastic album which has many of his best songs.

The songs here are not all radio friendly, in fact of the three best songs on the album only one of them was a single, which was nominated for numerous awards in Canada. The three songs I am talking about are Weapon (single), Avalanhe, and Near fantastica.

For those of you who do not know these songs, let alone even know who matthew good is I suggest you youtube him and listen to a couple of his songs. If you do not like his music, I am sorry for wasting a couple minutes of your day, but if you do like his music, you will be addicted and will wonder how you have gone your entire life without hearing these songs).

 

[Altmer]

Albums of the decade?

Porcupine Tree - In Absentia

For my money, this album has it all. The songs, the riffs, the melodies, the weird parts, the atmospheres. This is my pick for album of the 2000s.

Anathema - A Natural Disaster

I'd rather Judgement but that's from 1999. I need my Anathema fix.

Opeth - Blackwater Park

Just... fuck me sideways. Prog metal don't get better.

Brand New - The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me

Lacey is a sad sack. But a sad sack that grew up and wrote some of the most amazing shit ever.

Kamelot - The Black Halo

Concept album power metal with a really good singer. Kamelot just didn't write better songs ever than they did here.

Sonata Arctica - Reckoning Night

One of my first metal loves.

Pain of Salvation - The Perfect Element, Part 1

I'm a sucker for prog metal. I'm a sucker for this guy's concepts. And his voice.

Thursday - War All The Time

When post-hardcore meets awesome.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Yr Skinny Fists

Post rock deluxe.

God Is An Astronaut - All Is Violent, All Is Bright

Post rock double deluxe.

Katatonia - Last Fair Deal Gone Down

I wanna die after hearing this everytime.

Clint Mansell - Requiem For a Dream OST

Haunting.

Rammstein - Mutter

Stomp + melodies + industrial = bounce Altmer bounce.

that's it for now i'll add if i think of something

 

[Max Fightmaster]

1.Madvillian - Madvilliany

Madvilliany brought a new fomula to the table, instead of the normal way people did songs, the duo decided to use a unique way of creating an album, short songs, no choruses, and abstract lyricism. The whole album does this extremely well and it feels like songs don't overstay their welcome (In a sense) and MF's rapping is on point as usual.

2. Common - Like Water For Chocolate

My favorite part of the album is how it just doesn't seem like just another hip hop album. J Dilla and The Soulquarians painted an amazing array of sounds for Common to rap over, and in my opinion, this album has some of Common's most powerful and moving songs (A Song For Assata Comes to mind). Its also creative from the point of the album where Mos Def and Common ask a series of questions (with some funny adlibs) to when he and MC Lyte rapped from the perspectives of a Pimp and a girl he's trying to get to work for him.

3. Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury

These guys might not be the pioneers of Coke-rap but they sure as hell mastered it. Pusha T and Malice were always talented but this is the album where they really shined, especially when backed by The Neptune's great production. From start to finish its just tracks full of insane wordplay and great beats (Some of their best beats in fact, even though some are pretty minimalistic).

4. Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele

I've always liked Ghostface's ability to rap about anything from drug dealing to picking roaches out his cereal box and he always stood out from the other Wu-Tang members. His first album was great but this album is outstanding. Ghostface gives us 21 of his best tracks, especially Malcolm which is his best work since his stuff on Only Built For Cuban Linx. Other than that there are tracks like Child's Play were he raps about his school experiences and Apollo Kids which is the one of the fiercest songs I've ever heard. The only thing I hate about this about are RZA's guest appearences

5. Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor

Never was really into hip-hop until this album. Lupe Fiasco is extremely talented and this debut showed it. Whether rapping about a dead drug dealer or a bunch of misfits who find hope in skating, he always came with some outstanding metaphors. Part of the appeal of this album was Lupe's knack for hiding the real meaning behind what he was actually saying, like some of the stuff on the song American Terrorist or Hurt Me Soul.

 

[gene]

10. Arghoslent - Hornets of the Pogrom

"riff salad" done right. death metal that is melodic without falling into the stigma of melodeath.

9. Esoteric - The Maniacal Vale

powerful, heavy wall-of-sound funeral doom. a 2 hour bone-liquefying dirge.

8. Moonsorrow - Verisakeet

powerful wintry atmosphere. folk metal that isn't completely cheese-laden and bad.

7. Averse Sefira - Tetragrammatical Astygmata

averse sefira are one of the only late 90s/00s black metal bands worth giving a shit about. blistering, aggressive black metal without compromises.

6. Hail - Inheritance of Evilness

a black metal one-man project clearly inspired by greek black metal and beherit. ritualistic, meandering black metal with a genuinely evil sound.

5. Venetian Snares - Rossz csillag alatt szuletett

breakcore/modern classical hybrid. engaging and atmospheric, probably my second favorite electronic release behind aphex twin's saw 85-92.

4. The Chasm - Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm

underground death metal kings. mostly instrumental death metal that doesn't at any point sound like meaningless wankery, but rather like fluid compositions.

3. Arghoslent - Incorrigible Bigotry

fairly similar to other arghoslent works but the most proficient of all. sports clearer production than "galloping through the battle ruins" and more fluid than "hornets of the pogrom". melodic without being just there for catchy hooks.

2. 65daysofstatic - One Time for All Time

post-rock/electronic that completely changed my view on similar music. blasting this on a car drive on an empty highway in the middle of the night was a sublime experience.

1. Arcade Fire - Funeral

a huge leap above the masses of overly sentimental throwaway releases that plague this genre.

 

[Not Scicky]

10. Between the Buried and Me - Colours
While The Great Misdirect is a wonderfully natural yet heavy album, Colours
is a HEAVY METAL ROBOT throwing 1000 bricks at you each second. With
what are easily some of the best guitar riffs I've ever heard, BTBAM's Colours
starts off the list of the best albums of the past decade.

9. Billy Talent - Billy Talent II
Billy Talent III blows. Badly. I hate it I hate it I hate it. This on the other
hand... The ska-punk genre itself imbeds this album with incredible energy,
backed up by the angst that comes from being a modern youth, heartbreak and
frustration releases itself in a moment in this angry, angry album.

8. Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect
With amazing prog-metal technicality, outrageous weight and powerful
guitar solos, Between the Buried and Me has produced one of the most
natural, incredible metal albums of all-time. If I ever need to burn 20 minutes
I just listen to Swim to the Moon.

7. HORSE the Band - Desperate Living

More proggy and skillful than their previous albums but, having already
lost a lot of their pent up ADD angst, have they lost their touch? Definitely
not, while it doesn't top The Mechanical Hand, Desperate Living delivers
a different brand of anger and frustration. Discarding their previously more
"silly" image with song names like "Birdo" and "Cutsman", their sound now
reflects a broader range of emotions, and it's noticeable.

6. Say Anything - ...Is a Real Boy

The greatest pop-punk album ever recorded I do believe. With some of the
catchiest lyrics I've ever heard and a theme I can definitely relate to, it's
formula for success has the perfect mix of pop-tune and punk sensibility.

5. Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice

With the downright most soothing guitar riffs I have ever heard, Minus
the Bear taps out the very sound of mellow. Though they're not afraid
to speed things up a little, Minus the Bear's sound continues to be
caring, soft and rhythmic.

4. HORSE the band - The Mechanical Hand

That's right, HORSE the band makes it on here twice, with their second
album, they may be weird, but they make up for their unconventional sound
with incredible heaviness and emotion. What seems like a silly joke-band
with a silly-joke name proves that they're so much more. A tale of angst
with a fun twist.

3. Maximum the Hormone - Buikiikaesu!!

Japanese nu-metal band Maximum the Hormone offers up insane amounts
of energy, funk, and just plain weirdness. Heavy metal and pop-punk smash
together in a frenzy of tunage in their latest, and probably heaviest, album to date.

2. Protest the Hero - Kezia

Though I really can't say for sure, I picked canadian prog-metal masters
Protest the Hero's debut full-length album. Tonnes of emotion is jam packed
into every second of this prog-metal masterpiece, flowing together
excellently in a manner that's compelling, heavy and beautiful.

1. Enter Shikari - Take to the Skies

Enter Shikari has this hardcore poetic style that I just can't help but love,
Rou's sometimes freakish vocals combine with energetic yet melodic
instrumentals to produce some of the best music I've ever heard. Spastic
keyboarding with amazing rhythm, post-hardcore at it's best.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

God though, I'm not even sure if that's in the right order, or even the right
albums and there's still music from this decade I need to scratch.

Ahhh, the wonderful world of music.

 

[Dexterity]

10. Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People

I always find myself in a good mood whenever You Forgot It In People is running. Particularly Cause = Time, which simply brings a smile to my face.

9. Off Minor - Some Blood

Jazz-influenced screamo with seriously some of the most intelligent lyrics I've ever seen.

8. Sweet Trip - Velocity : Design : Comfort

Sweet Trip blends shoegaze with IDM perfectly.

7. The Dismemberment Plan - Change

Pretty underrated, although Emergency & I still sits on top. The Plan's unique style does not falter one bit in their final effort.

6. The Fall of Troy - The Fall of Troy

The Fall of Troy makes very hit-or-miss albums. My personal pick would be The Fall of Troy's self-titled, their most honest record while retaining all of their technicality.

5. Avey Tare and Panda Bear - Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished

The soundtrack playing in my dreams. This album brings major ear damage, but in a good way.

4. Converge - Jane Doe

How Jacob creates those screams is beyond me.

3. Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You

Leaves Turn Inside You is by far Unwound's most ambitious album. It's a shame they disbanded, but at least they ended in a bang.

2. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights

Turn on the Bright Lights is probably my most played album on my mp3 player. Incredibly atmospheric record with flawless songwriting that their later records unfortunately could never match.

1. Radiohead - Kid A

Kid A is such a cliché pick but I believe it's completely understandable why.

 

[Hipmonlee]

4. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
This album to me reminds me why I like my friends so much. I mean, this is an easy album to criticise. It's trying way, way, way too hard, but thats its charm. It's a smart dude trying to sound smarter but it's like he trusts you to not hate him for it.

I feel like I am condemning this album with faint praise, which is wrong because it is fantastic. But it's the lack of the false sense of effortlessness people spend so much time trying to perfect that makes me love this album.

1. Radiohead - In Rainbows
This is better than all the other 00s Radiohead albums because it is musical before it is anything else. Cleverness or avant-gardeness is just wasted effort if it isnt tied to something else. There is no value in breaking ground unless the ground you break is going to be put to some use.

The songs here are good songs and I understand them, which I cant say about half of Kid A and I know I'm a smart man. So either I'm just not the demographic or those songs suck.

I guess I should say something good about the album itself, not just comparing it to others. Just beautiful soundworlds. You get things you dont expect from music from radiohead.

3. Nomo - New Tones
No stupid lyrics to ruin it. Just funk.

2. The National - Boxer
I'm finding it hard to put into words what I like about this. I think I'll come back to this later.

Yeah I am sticking with those 4, because they really stand out above anything else. There is a lot of great music I'd love to mention (The Decemberists, The Shins, probably heaps of other things that I cant think of because my music collection got stolen) but no other albums that are by themselves of similar quality to these 4 IMO...

I realised I could add in the numbers after writing it all, I am too lazy to rearrange.

Have a nice day.

 

[Jackal]

Seeing as we have come to the end of the decade I think this is appropriate! If you feel like doing more than 10 by all means go ahead. This was really fun to do! Tried to keep the comments short to not bore anyone.

Number 10:

Radiohead - Kid A [2000]

No guitars, no problem. Changed every expectation everyone had on the band and proved that they could do pretty much anything.

"I'm not here /
This isn't happening"

Number 9:

Explosions In the Sky - The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place [2003]

An emotional roller coaster with sweeping crescendos, huge climaxes and emptiness. Post Rock at its finest. "Your Hand In Mine" seriously touches my soul every time.

~no lyrics available xD~

Number 8:

Daft Punk - Alive 2007 [2007]

A live album like no other. The way they seamlessly integrate their own music keeps it so fresh and while some tracks are kind of weak, the highlight ones are so good that it more than makes up for it.

"Work it harder, make it better /
Do it faster, makes us stronger"

Number 7:

Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? [2007]

Gotta love (BAN ME PLEASE) pop. An album full of dance and frolicking and colour with a fucking monster of a track sandwhiched in the middle, "The Past Is A Grotesque Animal", a 12 minute epic about everything wrong with love. Seriously the track of the decade.

"Somehow you've red-rovered /
The Gestapo circling my heart"

Number 6:

OutKast - Stankonia [2000]

So fresh and so clean accurately describes this. While the skits are often really shit, the pure brilliance of the singles and the spectacle that is B.O.B make this a must have, even for people who never listen to hip hop.

"Make a business for yourself boy, set some goals /
Make a fat diamond out of dusty coals"

Number 5:

Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People [2002]

If pop could ever be perfect, this would be it. The album interchanges between instrumental tracks and mood setters to flat out catchy pop songs that make you want to hug your friends, driven by insane percussion and every instrument you can think of. "Anthems..." is a must hear.

"Park that car, drop that phone /
Sleep on the floor, dream about me"

Number 4:

Arcade Fire - Funeral [2004]

Who hasn't heard everything about this album already? Well all these years later its still that good. Just get it if you dont have it by now.

"And the power's out in the heart of man /
Take it from your heart, put it in your hand"

Number 3:

Radiohead - In Rainbows [2007]

I honestly feel this is the best record Radiohead put out this decade, and possibly ever. All 10 tracks are wonderful, which I usually dont say about Radiohead albums, and there are beautiful moments (Nude, All I Need, Videotape) that just cannot be ignored. Also the way it was distributed was truly revolutionary.

"No matter what happens now, I won't be afraid /
Because I know today has been the most perfect day I have ever seen"

Number Two:

Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights [2002]

Brilliance and swagger just ooze out of this album, with Banks' borderline monotone voice teasing you at just how cool he really is. Joy Division 2.0 my ass this is the real deal, and it flows so superbly as an album it is hard to ignore. The essence of NYC recorded onto an album for us all to experience.

"My best friend's a butcher, he has sixteen knives /
He carries them all over the town, at least he tries. Oh look, it stopped snowing"

Number 1:

Modest Mouse - The Moon And Antarctica [2000]

The album that changed my life. There is seriously so much going on in this album (it's an hour long) that its hard to even write a blurb about it. Every piece of lyric is quotable and immediately recognizable. The insights Isaac Brock makes about life, death and the world have never been better, and this clearly represents the songwriting peak of Modest Mouse's career. They sacrificed much of their "raw" sound from previous efforts to focus more on production and ambiance, and my god it worked.

"Everything that keeps me together is falling apart /
I've got this thing that I consider my only art of fucking people over"


Honourable Mentions:
The Dismemberment Plan - Change
Against Me! - Reinventing Axl Rose
God Is An Astronaut - All is Violent, All is Bright
Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
Holy Fuck - Holy Fuck
Eminem - Marshall Mathers LP
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

now yours.

 

[cantab]

I'm not gonna make any ranking or list, because I don't really have enough albums for it to be fair. And of what albums I do have, much of what I obtained in the last decade wasn't actually produced in said decade - I get music I like, without paying heed to when it was made.

However, I shall give a mention to something really rather good

The Black Mages self-titled debut album.

The Black Mages are a Japanese instrumental rock band formed by acclaimed video game composer Nobuo Uemtasu. The album features instrumental prog rock/metal arrangements of themes from the Final Fantasy series.
As one would expect, compositionally the music is excellent. I will admit, if you've never played Final Fantasy you may not get what all the thus is about. Then again, I enjoy even the tracks based on games I've never played, indicating you don't HAVE to have played Final Fantasy to enjoy The Black Mages. Of course, if you don't generally enjoy rock or metal, this probably isn't going to change it.
The highlight - or lowlight, for this song does seem to be very much love-hate - of the album is the epic Dancing Mad. Twelve minutes of guitar and synth-organ epicness. Very much a song to be actively listened to - let your mind wander and you will lose the flow. I'll admit to not liking it (or the game original) on first hearing; it is one that grew on me.

The later albums added more good tracks, including some excellent ones with guest vocalists. But the first album is what started it all off, and still contains IMHO the majority of the band's best work. Ironically though, the band's BEST song isn't even on any of their albums! It is Sairin: Kata Tsubasa no Tenshi (Advent: One Winged Angel), on the FFVII: Advent Children soundtrack. Mediocre movie, great soundtrack.

You will have trouble finding their albums in shops, and when you do it will be extortionately priced. So you may need to obtain the album by alternative means.

Sample song: J-E-N-O-V-A, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ay1-ra1A3PA&fmt=18

 

[Metal Gods]

10. The Mayfield Four - Second Skin

I've become a pretty big fan of Myles Kennedy and I have to say I liked The Mayfield Four. Sure only released two studio albums and they never really charted, whatever this is a good album.

09. Celtic Frost - Monotheist

You would think a band making a comeback album would try to go back to their roots right? Well either way this was a pretty okay release from the pioneering band Celtic Frost.

08. Alter Bridge - Blackbird

Say what you want about Creed, the three former band members have some talent especially the lead guitarist Mark Tremonti. Alter Bridge is a Hard Rock band fronted by former Mayfield Four / Citizen Swing lead vocalist / lead guitarist Myles Kennedy. The result a great album and one of my newer favorite bands. Blackbird is Alter Bridge's best album at the moment anyway, however these guys have a lot of potential and can make that album you won't forget in due time.

07. Megadeth - The System Has Failed

This album surprised me how solid the material on here was considering the previous three studio albums the band released. This was originally suppose to be Mustaine's first solo album but he had to release one more album uder the Megadeth name due to some copyright issues with his label.

06. Motörhead - Motörizer

Motörhead haven't changed much over the years, their sound can be told apart their albums sometimes can't. This might be the only band that I know that I can like and still listen to an album that might have sounded like a previous one. Motörhead didn't break any new ground with this album but they did release a solid album.

05. Heaven and Hell - The Devil You Know

Known to the world formerly as Black Sabbath (Dio Years) this album didn't disappoint. Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Vinny Appice do not let down on their instruments, however the album's main selling point is Ronnie James Dio. Dio even at his age can still sing his ass off with the best of them.

04. Megadeth - Endgame

I really liked this album a lot and it is some of Megadave... um... Megadeth's best effort. The solos on this album are really good. Endgame is actually my fourth favorite Megadeth album; 1. Rust in Peace, 2. Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?, 3. Countdown to Extinction, 5. Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!

03. Iron Maiden - Brave New World

After the albums with Blaze Baylay, Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith come back and join the band for their next studio album. The result? Iron Maiden still can put out an album. Speaking of Iron Maiden I can't wait for their new album in 2010. ^_^

02. Bruce Springsteen - The Rising

Hold on Megadeth90 is a Bruce Springsteen fan? Who else can make an album inspired by the events of 9/11 that is this good and not look like he is just cashing in? (I'm looking at you Toby Keith) This is a really good album.

01. Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way to Blue

Why this album? Alice in Chains happens to be my favorite band and it's been a good long wait for a new album by them, 14 years to be exact. With or without Layne Staley this was a really good album by the band, this album proved Alice in Chains still has their Alice in Chains sound even with Layne gone. That's the special thing about this album their amazing lead singer Layne Staley is no longer with the band. Black Gives Way to Blue is my second favorite studio album from Alice in Chains, first being Dirt.
​

 

[John Mellor]

I apologize for the bump, but I have a list.

I'm currently writing an article featuring the top one hundred albums of the decade, and this is my tentative top ten.

10. The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem

In unquestionably the best era of rap so far, I put my favorite rap album at number ten. Songs like "Who Knew", "Criminal", and "Kill You" explain to mothers exactly why they're retarded for blaming Eminem for any perceived corruption of their children, while numbers like "Kim" and, euch, "Ken Kaniff" ensure that mothers will be even madder. Numerous times I've heard people my age say that The Marshall Mathers LP was the first album they bought with their own money, and Eminem's music perfectly embodies the reincarnation of youthful rebellion in music last seen in 1977.

9. OOOH! (Out Of Our Heads) - Mekons

Sleater-Kinney's One Beat and Bruce Springsteen's The Rising did very nice jobs of responding to the events of September eleventh, but these first-wave punk rocking, alt-country inventing wackjobs blew them out of the water, with Jon Langford and company incorporating low-fidelity world music to look at the philosophical implications of the major event of the decade.

8. Kala - M.I.A.

Now that she's a superstar, I doubt that M.I.A.'s Visa gets denied very often, but the world's perception of common immigrants is taken down in "Paper Planes", the gigantic single that I'm not sure everyone fully understands. Though M.I.A. establishes a presence like few others can, half of the story is who she tries to embody. She wants us to look at her like Jonathan Richman, Black Francis, or Joe Strummer. I'm sure that she'll join those ranks after Kala.

7. Sound Of Silver - LCD Soundsystem

James Murphy gets back his edge with this one, in which he constructs glorious compositions about coming of age that follow brilliantly-worded tales of coming to terms with the death of a loved one. We don't know what we really want, but James Murphy knows.

6. Up The Bracket - The Libertines

Punk rock might be pretty much dead, but The Libertines can try. Mick Jones produces this rawer approach to The Strokes' brand of new-wave, and while frontmen Pete Doherty and Carl Barat are busy sharing needles after a hard days work of dual guitars and screaming clever nothings, you can't help but find peace of mind from all of the chaos.

5. You Forgot It In People - Broken Social Scene

Kid A can kiss it. When it comes to dark, angst-filled soundscapes, You Forgot It In People is king.

4. Funeral - Arcade Fire

After the band faced three family deaths, they created maybe the most optimistic album that I've ever heard. "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" is especially remarkable, with its piano and xylophone attack set to a story of forgetting the outside world and focusing on love. Was there any success story more inspiring in the past ten years?

3. Decoration Day - Drive-By Truckers

Decoration Day hit me so hard on the first listen and I still feel surprised at how potent their brand of country rock is. The album entices us with stories about incest, feuds, and Patterson Hood's divorce. It's as relentless in its consistency as Exile On Main St. and as merciless in its power as The Clash.

2. Dear Science - TV On The Radio

TV On The Radio accomplished the unthinkable here: they crafted both the perfect pop album and the perfect indie album. Of course the radio didn't play "Dancing Choose" incessantly, that's not how this works, but throughout the album, popular sensibility and fine intellectualism meet both lyrically and musically. "This is beginning to feel like the dawn of the luz of forever", as they say.

1. Boys And Girls In America - The Hold Steady

In the end, nothing defined the ethos of youth better than The Hold Steady, whose lyrics are unparalleled among today's musicians. One song after another, The Hold Steady go out to prove their thesis statement: boys and girls in America have such a sad time together. Despite some massive nights, The Hold Steady prove their point while dishing out so many incredible lyrics. From "lost in fog and love and faithless fear/I've had kisses that make Judas seem sincere" to the repeated "when they kiss they spit white noise", they hold steady for eleven glorious songs.

 

[John Mellor]

Your first list is actually pretty normal barring the middle two.

 

[zorbees]

No love for Muse makes me sadface. I'd probably say that Black Holes and Revelations is their best album.

 

[JimBob]

Kind of strange that I would post here because I haven't listened to very much music from this decade at all, but there have been a few albums that have made an imprint on me

3. Widespread Panic - Earth to America
Most of Widespread Panic's albums are good because they put in a lot of jamming, but the songs on this album would still be completely solid without any of the jamming.

2. Electric Wizard - Dopethrone
Each song just seems to push the bounds of how much more distorted it can be than the last one. The last track has ten minutes of silence after the song ends, which I need for my mind to recover after such an experience.

1. The Atomic Bitchwax - The Atomic Bitchwax II
The album just punishes with riff after riff, all of which seem to flow into each other perfectly, and it doesn't matter which instrument takes the lead, the riff is cursed to be mind-blowing. I'll admit that the leads do get a little boring after a while, but I don't listen to this album for the leads, because the song structure is so intricate that as soon as I put the CD in, all the songs are gonna seize me and take me where they want to go, and I always want to go with them.


Then again I'm probably still in my stage where I'm gaining knowledge about music; I know more than all my friends do, but probably nowhere near as much as a lot of you guys.

 

[Altmer]

Absolution is better than Black Holes (with regards to Muse)

 

[moot]

I have to agree with Altmer, Black Holes is godawful in contrast with Absolution. It doesn't... flow. It feels like a 'best-of' compilation with only like three good tracks.

 

[zorbees]

Meh, whatever, I'm not really a music expert or anything, but my preference is Black Holes (not by a lot though). They're both really good imo.

 

[John Mellor]

Muse isn't spectacular or anything (not horrible, either, like some hipsters seem to say), but yeah, Absolution kills Black Holes. Origins might be their best, though.