Favorite Artists

[talonmalon333]

I do tend to favor the era when their music had ska influences. But as far as individual songs so, my favorites might be "Stuck in a Movie" and Hi-Five City", both from Charge!!.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I would rate their albums as such:

Fury of the Aquabats!
Charge!!
The Aquabats Vs. The Floating Eye of Death!
The Return of the Aquabats!
Myths, Legends, & Other Amazing Adventures, Vol.2!
Hi-Five Soup!

Though I prefer their ska/surf stuff by a mile, Charge is an awesome album with some excellent songwriting like Nerd Alert!, Waterslides!, and Awesome Forces! even if it's a bit more mature than earlier stuff. None of them top Fury, even though Floating Eye and Return have some incredible songs (Ska Robot Army!, CD Repo Man!, It's Crazy, Man!, Giant Robot Bird-Head!, Lovers of Loving Love!, Hello, Goodnight!, are particularly great) they are not as consistently great as Fury. The last album was a real disappointment, though.

[Avaitor]

NPR is streaming the new Faith No More, and it's bad. Not St. Anger or Risk bad, but just megaboring bad. It definitely sounds like a cash-in rather than the necessary return to form the band deserves.

But my local record shop is throwing a listening party for it next week, and if I have that night off, I might go. Because hey, free(ish?) pizza. And it might even grow on me by then!

[Nel_Annette]

Admittedly, I haven't liked any of the singles coming out for this one, but this was still one of my most anticipated releases this year. 

Fuck it, I'll just listen to The Real Thing, Angel Dust and King For A Day on repeat.

[Avaitor]

I'm looking at my Aerosmith rankings from before, and some things would be done a little differently. Nine Lives should be higher, for one. That has some pretty good stuff on it, more than I gave it credit for. Also, Honkin' on Bobo is pretty decent (Nel's right, "The Grind" is great), and the last one is a little better than I remember, but still pretty disjointed. I also forgot about the Carrie Underwood duet- that makes Steven Tyler's country turn all the less surprising, huh?

Now I'm gonna do another discography rate- this time, for Type O Negative

1- October Rust
2- Bloody Kisses
3- Life is Killing Me
4- World Coming Down
5- Dead Again
6- Slow Deep and Hard
7- The Origin of the Feces

Bloody Kisses is the iconic album, and for the longest time it was my favorite, but in the past few years, I've been listening to a LOT of the band. In that time, I do think that its follow-up is stronger. Not a bad song in the bunch, but if I have a problem with it, it's that there might be too many songs, since I usually like my albums a little shorter. But if that's the biggest complaint I can come up with, it's pretty great. And at least half of it is among the smartest and heaviest material the band has dished out. But Bloody Kisses does have "Black No. 1" and "Christian Woman", two of the genre's all-time greats. And it's not like it's lacking in gems beyond them, but I think the problem is that the original version of the album doesn't flow all that well, and that's the one I own. The version they put out a few years later, with all the ambient tracks removed, the order changed a little, and a bonus track added, fits stronger. That probably ties with October Rust.

Life is Killing Me is a little underrated. Deeper fans recognize its greatness, but the previous 3 albums were more successful, and the next has more notoriety, being their last. But Pete has a lot of fun on this one, and some of his most irreverent and jamming tracks are here. I think that OR and BK have more notable tracks, but it might flow the best of all of their works.

World Coming Down was the first Type O album that I actually owned, and its random purchase helped me to really get into the band. That said, the production is off here. Despite some greatness abound, this somehow feels too clean AND too murky at once. On top of that, the Beatles medley is pretty disappointing, and the ambient tracks are mostly unpleasant. But "Everything Dies" is something everyone should hear.

And despite Dead Again being their very last LP, it's sadly pretty disappointing. Well, the performances are fine. It was around this time that Pete reunited with his original band, Carnivore, and he did help find the thrashy intensity that was present in their first 3 albums, but was being streamlined for a smoother doom sound during Bloody Kisses. That's actually kind of refreshing to here, but most of the album isn't all that impressive. I'd even go as far to say that one of the highlights for it would be the single edit for "The Profit of Doom". When I single out an edit, that's not a great sign. But the production isn't bad, and Pete's charm is still there. I'd just call it the weakest of the good LPs.

Although I do think that the first album has its merits, but it's too rough around the edges and coy for me. I did like Type O better when Pete dropped most of his Carnivore remains, since they're not really my thing (even if I agree with you, I can't really get into an act that literally screams their politics at me). It's better than Origin of the Feces, though- that's just unpleasant, no matter who you are. That is the intent, though.

I think the next band I'll do this for might be Van Halen. Maybe I can also try for Sabbath, Priest, or any of the big 4, as well.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I'll try one for Urge Overkill:

1. Exit the Dragon
2. Saturation
3. Rock & Roll Submarine
4. The Supersonic Storybook
5. The Stull EP
6. Early stuff


Exit the Dragon is one of the best albums I've heard that rails against the excesses of the RnR lifestyle while at the same time having a deep sense of soul and keeping the hard rock edge they were known for. The album is still probably their least popular, but man is it underrated. About the only track I could do without is Take Me-- everything from Jaywalkin' to Digital Black Epilogue is mesmerizing stuff. My personal favorites being Need Some Air, Honesty Files, Monopoly, and And You'll Say. They were one of the last mainstream bands I remember that understood the sound without having to subscribe to the attitude of the Rolling Stones. Personally, I like this album better than any of the Stones albums. Probably because this is more genuine than any of them.

Saturation is their most popular album, and it's their best pure rock n roll album. It skewers both the rock n roll lifestyle while embracing the big sound that originally put them as Cheap Trick's successors (they remind me more of early Big Star, though, plus I like them better than CT) and memorable hooks. Sister Havana, Positive Bleeding, and Dropout are easily some of the best rock songs of the decade. It deserved every bit of success it had, though it doesn't have near the depth of EtD. In the end, it's one of my favorite albums of the '90s.

Rock n Roll Submarine came out 16 years after Exit the Dragon, and it shows. In a good way. The band is clearly older and more experienced, which helps with their sound and lyrics as they manage to balance their rock n roll sound with deeper lyrics. The only thing that holds this album back to me is that it feels a bit like they wanted to prove themselves more than just write good songs. I mean, She's My Ride is a loud rocker, but there's nothing to it-- it's B-side material at best. Quiet Person is a slower song, but it doesn't work anywhere near as anything on EtD since the lyrics are so shallow, nor does it work as well as the final track, Touched to a Cut, which works far better. However, unlike EtD, this album brings back some of the humor of Saturation, which is highly welcome. Mason/Dixon, the title track, and The Valiant, my three favorite tracks, are great rock n roll as is the rest of the album. It was glad to see them back.

The Supersonic Storybook was the album where they came into their own and locked down their style. About the only problems I have are the couple of forgettable songs in the back half and that its missing the production that gives their sound such a kick. It's pretty thin here. But the album is still well worth hearing, which is more than I can say for their early stuff. The Candidate and Emmaline in particular showed what they were really capable of before they probably even knew.

The Stull EP only suffers because it's an EP. The handful of songs are easily better than TSS and almost to par with Saturation, but there are only a handful of them, and two of them are covers. That said, it's essential to any UO fan for a reason.

The early stuff includes their first two albums and a noise punk EP. It's typical smirking indie stuff without any real cleverness, hooks, or genuine emotion. This stuff didn't age well when I first heard it, I can't imagine how well it aged to people who heard it when it came out. They got much better with maturity and adulthood, and I don't see any real reason to go back to any of this. As for quality, well, they got better with each release, but not to any real important extent. They only got to worth remembering with TSS.

[Avaitor]

Cool! I actually found Saturation at a local place here for really cheap. I should get it before I head home tomorrow.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Pretty sure you'd dig it. It's usually pretty cheap, too.

[Avaitor]

Let's try something here. I haven't done a music list in a while, so how about my favorite albums from the MTV age. That means from the early 80's-mid aughts, each with a couple of songs with serious video recognition, that are as fun to listen to mow as they were new. And yeah, I'm mostly sticking to big releases, but I'll try to add a couple of familiar curveballs in as well.

Thriller/Bad- You guys should all know the impact and quality of Thriller. How it helped to give black artists more play on MTV, caught virtually everyone alive in awe with its tight production and songwriting. That it was able to get some of Eddie Van Halen's sickest work in one take, and that Michael could jab with one of the biggest names in music ever completely naturally (okay, "The Girl Is Mine" is in hindsight pretty cheesy, but their spoken parts feel genuine). The scope of the title track's video. Then Bad came and equaled Thriller in some ways, even surpassing it in enough to make it stand on its own. Michael will still have some solid stuff in his last few albums (less so Invincible, though), but nothing after could top his 80's work.

She's So Unusual- Obviously Madonna had a much longer period of success, but she was never able to make an album nearly as consistent as Lauper's debut. Nearly every song on here is a well-made blast, even down to its slower moments. It took off right away with the 80's-tastic "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", but that's only the tip of the iceberg.

1984- It really is a shame that videos weren't as much of a thing during Dave's earlier days with the band. They were able to score some success before his infamous split with the act, most notably with this landmark. A lot of people consider 1984 a sellout move that signaled the band's end, but I mean, have you listened to it lately? It's great rocking stuff, and even "Jump" is a hell of a pop song.

Kick- Kick is one of those albums that tries a dozen different things out, and totally succeeding at each experiment. It's at once sexy, sleazy, demoniac, relaxed, energetic, and elated, sometimes switching its emotive status right next to each other with no issue. And if there's one thing you could say about this Michael, it's that the camera loved him.

Pump- Of Aerosmith's comeback albums, there is no doubt that this is their best, and I'd go as far as to call it among the best hard rocks. It just feels so big, with even the throwaway songs having this larger than life attitude to them. The rockers like "Love in an Elevator" and the linked track are sharper and more exciting than almost any other rock songs you'd hear on the radio at the same time, while "What It Takes" and "Janie's Got a Gun" feel more sincere and breaking than most other ballads, from then or even the band's later material. The latter, especially made a rightfully big splash in how it tastefully tackled its subject.

Full Moon Fever- What can I say, Tom's my guy, and he's another artist that the camera loves. Literally since the channel's first day, he remained a presence, which more or less peaked with his biggest album. Despite being a solo release, most of the Heartbreakers are here, as Petty delivers his typically personal lyrics on top of a heavy touch to his music. I actually prefer his next solo album, 94's Wildflowers, but there's something magical about Full Moon Fever that also requires a place in everyone's collection.

The Real Thing- Okay, so "Epic" was the most well-known track on here, by a crazy notion. But "Falling to Pieces", which does have a cooler video, is the one that took home VMAs, and is still fairly recognizable in its own way. In truth, Faith No More's breakthrough had a few hits, and while I wouldn't call it their best, there's enough of the band's eclectic style throughout to qualify it as their first complete success in every meaning of the word. If you can handle a little heaviness in between some believable funk, rap, and a little jazz, you need to hear this all the way through.

Empire- You know that there are videos for the majority of songs on Mindcrime? But I believe that was for the tape, and that you wouldn't see "Eyes of a Stranger" or "I Don't Believe in Love" that often on TV. "Silent Lucidity", though? Empire doesn't totally match the previous album in terms of quality, but it's still Queensryche at their prime, smart and tight as hell, but heavy enough for those wanting more. And the album's handful of hits had gorgeously-shot videos that received various levels of attention. Enough to make it on here.

Weezer (Blue)- Nostalgia? Yeah, kind of, but this really did, and still does feel like a change of pace from rock at the time, almost seeming like a good halfway point between Pearl Jam and Pantera. Rivers became an unlikely face in the same era of Cobain, Corgan, and Cornell as he switched the tables from tired angst to his nerdy pleasures, and enough relatable anxiety to still feel relevant to the day's audience. And the band's dorky exterior did help to make them stand out. Just check out how they mesh with the blue screen here, for instance.

CrazySexyCool- Their first album got the ball rolling, and FanMail is probably more notable to slightly younger fans, but to my tastes, TLC got it down in the second LP, still the best girl group album ever made. It's a silky smooth R&B album, heavy on aesthetic and heart that made it a perfect compliment to the mid-90's. Another disc where just about every element works.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill- As great as the Fugees are, I think Hill's first, and to date, only solo album is the best thing she's associated with. She brilliantly sings and raps throughout with a tenderness and edge that keeps it totally real, and the production perfectly compliments her. I'd place it among the best hip-hop LPs of them all.

Stankonia/Speakerboxxx/The Love Below- Their first couple of albums are more experimental and just as smart, but Outkast didn't officially mark their name to legendary status until Stankonia hit, which kept their integrity with massive success that is still felt. And while the end was nigh with their follow up, to the point that 3000 and Big Boi split their sides up, its impact was undeniable. Dre still had some more things to say before going on his own, while Boi showed that his genius was equal, going for a successful funk sound that can't be forgotten. It's one of the last Diamond-certified albums released for a reason.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Very good choices. They pretty much epitomize the era they were made in. I'd probably add Morning Glory for Britpop: only Parklife comes close to how much it epitomizes a movement.

I think Infinite Sadness, Nevermind, and the Black Album were probably up there influence-wise, but I just don't like them. Some people would argue Ten or Dookie, but they were radio albums, their videos were not very big or influential. I'm also of the mind that a lot of Pantera's popularity is revisionism: they were not big even at their peak. But if we're talking stuff we liked from that era, then your choices are much better for it.

Also, I like individual tracks from Outkast, but I've never been able to sit through a whole album.

[Avaitor]

Yeah, if we're talking icon status, all of those would require a mention, and honestly, Mellon Collie could make it on my favorites depending on the day of the week. Today, meh.

Again, I kind of cheated with a couple of my choices, but if I was to make a list of the most iconic albums from that era, I think that you should keep the MJ's, 1984, Pump + Get a Grip, and CrazySexyCool would all deserve to be there.

I do want to note that if I was to pick any grunge album on here, it would either be Dirt or Superunknown. And as someone who has listened to a lot of the black album, I couldn't tell you a thing about any of the videos from it.

Oh, and I almost put Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway on here, but it kind of crosses that line from where music videos weren't becoming as noticed, when MTV was increasingly finding less room for them, and Vevo still wasn't a thing yet. But I remember seeing the title track's video a lot in between school, so I think even that could have fit.

[Avaitor]

I went to two concerts this weekend, and had a pretty good time at both.

On Saturday, I finally got the chance to see Ghost, and holy shit, is this an experience. There really is more to the band than the gimmick- they care about their music, and every thing adds to a great time. Papa is an insanely talented singer, and the Ghouls do a good job of holding their own to his charisma. The lighting is some of the best that I've seen at a show, too, perfectly fitting whatever is playing. Like when Papa changes costumes, it gives him a transparent look that adds to the effect. And then there's "Monstrance Clock", which is just a perfect closer.

If I have one problem, it's that this seems to be a shorter show than a lot of their other shows from this tour. But I still feel like they did mostly everything that I wanted to hear, so I can't complain. This was also super heavy on the latter two albums, with only a couple of Opus Eponymous tracks, and of course "If You Have Ghosts". But I actually do prefer their more recent stuff (Infestissumam has a pretty mixed reception from what I notice, but it's probably still my favorite), so I didn't mind.

And the opening act, Purson, was pretty cool. They clearly reach for a 70's aesthetic, which is presented well in not just the music, but their look- the bass player could easily fit in with Blue Oyster Cult on his beard alone, and the frontwoman/guitarist rocked a pair of bell bottoms. Their set also had a bit of a 70's feel with some obvious tech issues, but the band seemed strong enough to make it work anyway.

Also, some of my friends in our group got to meet both bands after their sets. INCLUDING Ghost without their masks. They have a very strict no pictures rule, but the guys autographed their tickets to prove that this happened. If I had known that they were sticking around for that reason, I would have stayed. Damn.

Then I went to Failure, Hum, and Torche's show last night. I saw Torche earlier this year, just before their new album came out. I really liked their live presentation and dug the album enough to go out of my way to see them again, and they sound as good as ever. Except for some horrible technical difficulties plaguing the band. Their amps were constantly acting up, and the lightning and acoustics were off, but the band remained professionals throughout and played their set as is. This wasn't their best day, but they still put out a solid show, mostly sticking to the two most recent albums and nailing it.

Things were running better for Hum, although the PA system was blasting "2112" when they were just about to come out, and not just the Overture- by the time the band was out and ready to play, the song was about halfway through. But they did a great show as well, sticking to the best of their material. Of course "Stars" (their unexpected hit back in the day) was a big showstopper, but the audience seemed to be happy to hear everything, even getting a request out. It really felt like they were away for too long, since the reception to them were great.

I had to miss Failure due to an emergency, but I bought their newest album as a compromise and will try to see them the next time they come back here. I mainly went for Torche, anyway. I do hope that they can get the rights to their classic albums back, though, since the label isn't interested.

Next up, I'm going to an autograph signing event for the Winery Dogs on Saturday. They're doing a show later that night, but I have to miss it. I mainly just want a chance to meet them, primarily Kotzen. And I'm trying to agree on the best seats to see Maiden in my price range with another group of friends, but that show isn't until February (first concert of the tour, holla).

[Spark Of Spirit]

Best Urge Overkill songs:

1. Nite and Grey - To me this sums up their whole sound and purpose as a band. Though they didn't start off as what they became, and I'm not sure how much of this song was originally written to be serious, it certainly became serious as the band went through exactly what they weren't supposed to by chasing the fame drug and falling into darkness themselves. Not to mention the actual drugs. Not to mention the bluesy riff, my favorite guitar solo (perfectly thematic, builds, drops, and falls apart, at the right times) and pitch perfect vocals. This is their best song, even though it's fairly unknown.

2. Digital Black Epilogue - An 8 minute song hat never gets old. This is the finale on their best album, Exit the Dragon, and it remains their crowning achievement as a band. A song about death but full of wonder and excitement without irony, it always gets me pumped when listening to it. Not to mention, there's a theme throughout Exit the Dragon of random feedback bursts between songs that sound as terrifying as they are beautiful that sound out of place until they return at the end of this song to close out the album. Wrapping it into the theme of death it makes perfect sense of those earlier static bursts (taking place after songs about honesty, in the middle of a song about repeating mistakes, and the second to last song about truth) which give those songs extra kick.

3. Positive Bleeding - In my mind, this song should have been a big hit. Exciting, catchy, and with hilarious lyrics, this song takes Cheap Trick down at their own game. This song also has a cascade of feedback at the end, despite being on their earlier album, Saturation, which makes me wondr if this was meant to tie into the next album more than they originally thought it would. Anyway, who can resist singing along to a lyric like "I can bleed when I want to bleed"?

4. Back On Me - This is probably their most inspiring song on Saturation about believing in dreams despite tremendous pressure against you, but it also has a surprising solo to close the song out that really sells the song. I'm kind of surprised this wasn't big on alternative radio back in the day, but that's probably because it isn't whiny or 2edgy4u.

5. Monopoly - An acoustic pop song about treating life as a game, it's one of the catchiest and most fun songs they ever made. Soaring chorus, light touches of piano, it manages to be the only song on Exit the Dragon that manages to fit the heavier themes while keeping a lighter sound. And for that it's one of their best.

6. The Break - This was the first single from Exit the Dragon, and it's hard to see why it was chosen. Despite the Stones-ish riff, it's a pretty dark song about falling into darkness and trying to find a way out. It's near the beginning of the album so it's not quite as hopeful as other songs that come later, but it certainly epitomizes their mix of 90s alternative, classic rock, and weightier material. I just don't think it should have been the lead single. I would have personally went with "Need Some Air" instead.

7. Honesty Files - A song about stumbling to the light from the darkness and finding honesty where you would never expect it, this song is always the one I think of when I think of Exit the Dragon. The main riff is amazing, as is the ending, not to mention the burst of feedback at the end (as mentioned in Digital Black Epilogue) perfectly caps it off.

8. Bottle of Fur - First of all, that opening and that riff. Does that not scream Rock n Roll? Second of all, that solo. So exciting. This might be one of their more straightforward songs about falling into depression after losing a girl, but it's one of the most exciting on Saturation. The constant mood shifts are perfectly constructed and placed, too.

9. The Valiant - I know this list has been concentrated on their two best albums but, well, they're their two best albums for a reason. This song, on their most recent album, however, is one of their best. As the title states, the song is about staying valiant in the face of overwhelming odds and how things are not as bad as they seem. This could only have been written by a band that has been through the wringer, which gives it a lot of honesty and power.

10. Stull, Part 1 - The title track on their EP probably freaks these guys out nowadays. You see, this was constructed to be like an old Blues song about meeting and accepting death while being fairly tongue and cheek like they were before Exit the Dragon. However, listening to it after everything that happened since they released this EP makes this hard to swallow as a joke song anymore. It's kind of creepy as it is, but age and experience has only made it creepier and a bit more wondrous in the process. I wonder if they still play this song, since it has to be hard to do without playing it straight.


Honorable mentions:

Sister Havana
Need Some Air
The Mistake
Goodbye to Guyville
The Candidate

[Avaitor]

Look at this relic that I just dug up!

How much of this do I still agree with? Well, let's see.

Amesoeurs- I was actually listening to some of this earlier today! I do really like what Neige has done with Alcest since he dedicated his full time to them, as well as his one album with Lantlos, but this is still his best work to my tastes. Yet, I don't want him to get the band back for another album. What they did together was perfect and isn't likely to be matched. But I wouldn't mind if he got Audrey Sylvain on stage for a song or two.

Ashes Against the Grain- Yeah, okay. Agalloch is still one of my favorite bands, even if their most recent album was a disappointment- that was a solid B album for an A+ band. I think that I prefer the album in between that and Ashes, but I don't mind that I went with this one.

Bloody Kisses- I wrote about Type O here not long ago, and I stated that while my appreciation for the band has only increased in recent years, I think that I prefer their breakthrough's follow-up. But it's hard to argue that Bloody Kisses had a surprisingly big impact on the scene at the time, and that it deserved every accolade it received. It must have been insane to see "Black No. 1" appear on MTV, and to feel the reaction it received.

De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas- Undeniably an important album, not just for metal, but music in general. But I don't really listen to black metal all that much anymore, and I would easily swap this out for something else today.

Dopesmoker- Holy Mountain is easily a better album to give to get someone into Sleep, but whenever I feel the challenge of dedicating an hour of my time to Dopesmoker? It's still worth it. I don't regret putting this on here, since there still isn't really anything else like it.

Focus- I'm not sure if you guys know this, but this is my favorite album not made by Iron Maiden. Every time that I listen to it, I pick up something new. And while I love the band's sophisticated integration of death metal with jazz and latin, I don't regret their later day descent into straight fusion at all. The only thing that disappoints me is their recent break up.

Here We Go Again- Demi has released 3 albums since this, and while I think she's released better songs than most of what HWGA contains ("Skyscraper" and "Cool for the Summer" have got to be her best singles) and she has only grown as a vocalist, she hasn't come close to making a stronger album than this. The general lack of studio hack collaborators helps to make HWGA feel genuine, just as the contributions from John Mayer and the non-legendary John McLaughlin fit well with her style. I'm not ashamed to say that this is one of my favorite pop albums.

Houdini- This is probably still their strongest album, but I won't lie, I'd probably trade the Melvins out with a more modern, sludgey release if I had my say today. I still have a lot of respect and admiration for Buzz and the boys, but I just haven't listened to them as much lately.

I Get Wet- Fair enough, but my admiration for AWK comes more from his persona than his music.

Ill Communication- Not the Beasties' best, but their strongest made since I was born. I can live with it.

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea- This is a good album, but I honestly just don't listen to it at all anymore. I heard a little bit of it at a bagel shop about a year ago, and I still recognized it as well-made, but I didn't feel a strong desire to hit up my collection again. That's my general reaction to NMH at this point.

Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating Into Space- This one, I can still get behind, though. I just dig Jason Pierce's style a lot, but most else of what he's done hasn't resonated with me nearly as much as this has.

Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven- Beautiful, beautiful music, but GY!BE's lengthy, layered tracks are not easy to listen to on a regular basis.

Love Comes Close- Cool, but I haven't really thought about them, or this kind of music in years. The last I checked, they pulled out a b-side collection, but haven't done another album. Ah well.

Loveless- Is this really from my generation if I wasn't even a month old when it came out? lol, but this is still a dynamite album, and more or less ties with Souvlaki as the best shoegaze has to offer. I still pull it out decently regularly, too.

The Marshall Mathers LP- No one's going to deny that Slim is an insanely talented rapper, because they would be dead wrong to do so. But considering how rotten he can be as a person, I get a bit ashamed to call myself an Eminem fan nowadays. This is still his best, and among the best that hip-hop has to offer in the past 15-20 years, but I'd probably switch this out for another artist today, Probably someone slightly less misogynistic, like Gambino.

A Matter of Life and Death- I'll come out and admit it- The Book of Souls is my favorite Iron Maiden album. And probably my favorite album period, at this point. But that didn't exist yet, and Matter was by far their best material in recent years at that point. Since it wouldn't be fair to have them both on here, I'd swap it out for Book of Souls, but if there was room for both, I would be happy.

Ocean Beach- I actually had the chance to pick this up for cheap a while back. But I still passed, and I only kind of regret it.

Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)- No problem here. This is still among my favorite hip-hop LPs.

Sea Change- I know of one person who wasn't happy with this one's inclusion, but okay, while I admit that Odelay is a better representation of Beck's ouevre, I still like Sea Change better. Although I recently put Morning Phase on again, and I think that it might be my new favorite of his.

The Sunset Tree- As you can tell, I've been falliing out of indie acts lately, but I do really still like the Mountain Goats. I just dig John Darnielle's style a lot. That said, Tallahassee is my favorite of theirs, and I would have included it here if I wasn't going to do one of my album reviews for it. So I went for my next favorite at the time, which was this. I think that they've been on a major roll with their last few, though (check how Beat the Champ made my top 10 this year for proof), so I severely doubt that this would be my representation for Darnielle's act.

Swoon- I like SSPU's following album more, their first about the same, but maybe a little less, and their first EP the best, but I actually haven't heard their newest yet. I am getting it for Christmas, though, and I might get to finally see them live about a month later. And I'll always have a lot of love for the band behind "Panic Switch", no matter where my musical tastes otherwise venture.

Toxicity- I still stand by this, but yeah, if I made this today, I'd probably switch it out for either of Ghost's more recent LPs if I couldn't find room for both. This is still one of the most important releases from my time, though.

Tragic Kingdom- Let me say this- yes.

Weezer- Pinkerton was a masterwork of angst, and their latest was as close to a 5-star album as they've pulled out in a long time, but something still remains as special for the band's first album. Rivers' uncompromising nerdiness in his lyrics, the band's excellent range of musical influences, the timeless production, it all just fits. As inconsistent as his mid-period material may be, I'm proud to be alive since Rivers Cuomo made his impact in the music industry.

So yeah, I still like and stand by a lot of my inclusions, but I'd definitely do things differently today. Albums I would like to find room for:

-Faith No More Angel's Dust or Mr. Bungle's California (if not both)
-Childish Gambino's Because the Internet
-Tom Petty's Wildflowers (WHY WASN'T THIS HERE ALREADY?)
-Opeth's Blackwater Park
-Deafheaven's Sunbather
-Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

[Avaitor]

It's official- Neil Peart is retiring.

I feel bad because I never got the chance to see Rush, but it seems like he's happy to do this, so I can't really blame him. It's sad, but if Neil's happy, good for him.

Oh, and I also forgot to post about Scott Weiland's death. I feel a little bad about that, but at the same time, I was never really a fan of his music, and I'm sure that you all have heard about it. But it is really sad.