Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2006 22:28:23 GMT -5
Hey people! I also made a short list of my favorite albums this year, so if you are already reading this, just check my chart for the best 10 albums.
10.- Garth Brooks - The lost sessions
Having listened this cd a few times, I still don't consider it among Garth's best efforts, but you just have to wade through it to find some really good gems. The first single left me completely cold, and that hasn't changed. The good news are that the rest of the tracks are better than that one, I still don't know how he could release "Good ride cowboy"... oh well. I still need to listen to it many more times before all the goodness sink in, but so far I'm happy with it and consider it one of the best 10 albums released this year.
Best song - For a minute there
9.- Yann Tiersen - Les retrouvailles
Ahhh, this album left me with a great taste in my mouth, only good songs. Maybe at this point, I am a little bit too excited about it, even if only for one of the greatest instrumentals ever made: "La boulange". I can't stop playing that one! The rest of the songs are also very good, most of them being instrumentals. And even when I liked every song, I think I am more inclined to the instrumentals than to those with vocals; Not to say those are bad, just not so great. This is my second experience with Yann Tiersen, the first one being "Le valse d'Amelie", so I really have no ground to comapre it to the rest of his works.
Best song - La boulange
8.- Mike Oldfield - Light + Shade
This album is something good. It's divided in two cds, the first one, "Light", features mostly new age songs, slow and soft songs, nothing very dramatic, but really beautiful. The second cd, "Shade", is much more electronic or progressive rock and it gives a contrasting part to the first cd. There's nothing here that emulates his past pop hits like "Moonlight shadow", "Fives miles out" or "Man in the rain". This is more focused on artistry than commerciality. I have to admit it, the album reaches some boring peaks at times, but being a double cd, it was hard for that not to happen.
Best song - Romance
7.- El Canto Del Loco - Zapatillas
This is their new album, however, they decided to conquer the american market with an old album with songs from their previous cds. The song that make me realize they existed was "Puede ser" which is not here!! But this album has its fair share of wonderful songs. Some people call them spanish pop, but they can do more than that. I would say this is a mix of pop and rock and, in my opinion, it pays off. Their lyrics can be a little obtuse or not clear enough at times ("Tal como eres") or just plain and completely common ("Zapatillas"). I'm glad I know them.
Best song - Tal como eres
6.- Ai Otsuka - LOVE COOK
What's up with Ai Otsuka? her three albums begin with the word LOVE (punch, jam and cook)... oh well, that's not important. This is easily not her best album to date, that honor goes to "Love jam", released last year. Here, I find two types of songs: the ones that are so so extremely good to the point that you can't believe how good they are, and the other group that encapsules those songs that, while are pretty good, do not touch the others. Too bad she only released 4 songs as singles. And well, besides "SMILY", the other 3 songs were not fast nor slow, so something like "Ramen 3 minute cooking" or "U-Boat" would have made great singles.
Best song - Neko ni fuusen
5.- Roch Voisine - Sauf si l'amour
After listening to "Je te serai fidèle", I had high hopes for this album. And I was really surprised when I heard this one. Roch really created a wonderful album that I have been playing constantly. Pop and ballads, but with a high quality. My first taste was the song "Une femme (parle avec son coeur)" and I must say it sounded to me like a poor attempt to recreate "Tant pis", but after several listens... I was wrong. It's not as great as "Tant pis" but it's a solid track. The rest of the songs on the album might be better, so I really doubt he will release enough great songs to radio, considering only 3 or 4 songs will be singles. For now, I'm happy to know that *I* know them.
Best song - Ne viens pas
4.- Tori Amos - The Beekeeper
Tori, Tori, Tori. I must confess that this is an album that contains a big amount of songs, and that little fact, caused some songs to suffer. Tori over produced the songs and this is Tori's first album where I don't like some songs. However, it's a pretty good album, it has stronger tracks than her last studio album, and after all, it's all a matter of taste. This album is (once again) showing Tori's softer side, so it's not a surprise to find many sweet and sugary songs next to other more interesting tracks such as "Barons of Suburbia" or "Marys of the sea"
Best song - The Beekeeper
3.- Ayumi Hamasaki - (miss) understood
Wow, this album is supposed to be released the first of January 2006, but I put my hands on it before that jajajaja. Ayumi set a high standard with her last album, and man, she really shines brighter here! Songs like "Bold & delicious" and "Will" are different from what Ayumi usually sings, so it's nice to know she's still trying something new on her music. One of my main likes is that she combines pop and rock and the results speak for themselves. Great ballads, great rythmic songs, easily her best effort to date, superb!
Best song - HEAVEN
2.- Patrick Wolf - Wind in the wires
Patrick continues the same route he started in first album ("Lycanthropy") and even when there is no obvious growth, he is still delivering really strong tracks. If a difference has to be made, I would say this album is a little more mellow. Patrick covers his songs in an electronic wrap to create songs such as "Tristan". The songs tend to grow on you, so it took me a little while to fully appreciate some of the tracks here, but once it happened, bam! I was hit with the brilliance.
Best song - Wind in the wires
1.- Emiliana Torrini - Fisherman's woman
It surely took Emiliana a long time to release her sophomore effort, but the wait has been worth it. In "Fisherman's woman", Emiliana leaves behind most of the sounds and technology she used in her debut, leaving the songs almost bare naked, only with a few instrumentation, really subtle. The album begins with "Nothing brings me down" a slow song, and from there on, the rest are songs with different tunes, but the same feel. Lonely, sad, almost depressing at times. It's a miracle that in these days, there are still people willing to take the most uncommercial route, sacrificing possible success with the masses. Emiliana did it this time.
Best song - Lifesaver
Honorable mentions go to Omar Naber, Nami Tamaki, Francoise Hardy, L'Arc~en~Ciel. Johnny Hallyday, Westlife, Chevelle.
10.- Garth Brooks - The lost sessions
Having listened this cd a few times, I still don't consider it among Garth's best efforts, but you just have to wade through it to find some really good gems. The first single left me completely cold, and that hasn't changed. The good news are that the rest of the tracks are better than that one, I still don't know how he could release "Good ride cowboy"... oh well. I still need to listen to it many more times before all the goodness sink in, but so far I'm happy with it and consider it one of the best 10 albums released this year.
Best song - For a minute there
9.- Yann Tiersen - Les retrouvailles
Ahhh, this album left me with a great taste in my mouth, only good songs. Maybe at this point, I am a little bit too excited about it, even if only for one of the greatest instrumentals ever made: "La boulange". I can't stop playing that one! The rest of the songs are also very good, most of them being instrumentals. And even when I liked every song, I think I am more inclined to the instrumentals than to those with vocals; Not to say those are bad, just not so great. This is my second experience with Yann Tiersen, the first one being "Le valse d'Amelie", so I really have no ground to comapre it to the rest of his works.
Best song - La boulange
8.- Mike Oldfield - Light + Shade
This album is something good. It's divided in two cds, the first one, "Light", features mostly new age songs, slow and soft songs, nothing very dramatic, but really beautiful. The second cd, "Shade", is much more electronic or progressive rock and it gives a contrasting part to the first cd. There's nothing here that emulates his past pop hits like "Moonlight shadow", "Fives miles out" or "Man in the rain". This is more focused on artistry than commerciality. I have to admit it, the album reaches some boring peaks at times, but being a double cd, it was hard for that not to happen.
Best song - Romance
7.- El Canto Del Loco - Zapatillas
This is their new album, however, they decided to conquer the american market with an old album with songs from their previous cds. The song that make me realize they existed was "Puede ser" which is not here!! But this album has its fair share of wonderful songs. Some people call them spanish pop, but they can do more than that. I would say this is a mix of pop and rock and, in my opinion, it pays off. Their lyrics can be a little obtuse or not clear enough at times ("Tal como eres") or just plain and completely common ("Zapatillas"). I'm glad I know them.
Best song - Tal como eres
6.- Ai Otsuka - LOVE COOK
What's up with Ai Otsuka? her three albums begin with the word LOVE (punch, jam and cook)... oh well, that's not important. This is easily not her best album to date, that honor goes to "Love jam", released last year. Here, I find two types of songs: the ones that are so so extremely good to the point that you can't believe how good they are, and the other group that encapsules those songs that, while are pretty good, do not touch the others. Too bad she only released 4 songs as singles. And well, besides "SMILY", the other 3 songs were not fast nor slow, so something like "Ramen 3 minute cooking" or "U-Boat" would have made great singles.
Best song - Neko ni fuusen
5.- Roch Voisine - Sauf si l'amour
After listening to "Je te serai fidèle", I had high hopes for this album. And I was really surprised when I heard this one. Roch really created a wonderful album that I have been playing constantly. Pop and ballads, but with a high quality. My first taste was the song "Une femme (parle avec son coeur)" and I must say it sounded to me like a poor attempt to recreate "Tant pis", but after several listens... I was wrong. It's not as great as "Tant pis" but it's a solid track. The rest of the songs on the album might be better, so I really doubt he will release enough great songs to radio, considering only 3 or 4 songs will be singles. For now, I'm happy to know that *I* know them.
Best song - Ne viens pas
4.- Tori Amos - The Beekeeper
Tori, Tori, Tori. I must confess that this is an album that contains a big amount of songs, and that little fact, caused some songs to suffer. Tori over produced the songs and this is Tori's first album where I don't like some songs. However, it's a pretty good album, it has stronger tracks than her last studio album, and after all, it's all a matter of taste. This album is (once again) showing Tori's softer side, so it's not a surprise to find many sweet and sugary songs next to other more interesting tracks such as "Barons of Suburbia" or "Marys of the sea"
Best song - The Beekeeper
3.- Ayumi Hamasaki - (miss) understood
Wow, this album is supposed to be released the first of January 2006, but I put my hands on it before that jajajaja. Ayumi set a high standard with her last album, and man, she really shines brighter here! Songs like "Bold & delicious" and "Will" are different from what Ayumi usually sings, so it's nice to know she's still trying something new on her music. One of my main likes is that she combines pop and rock and the results speak for themselves. Great ballads, great rythmic songs, easily her best effort to date, superb!
Best song - HEAVEN
2.- Patrick Wolf - Wind in the wires
Patrick continues the same route he started in first album ("Lycanthropy") and even when there is no obvious growth, he is still delivering really strong tracks. If a difference has to be made, I would say this album is a little more mellow. Patrick covers his songs in an electronic wrap to create songs such as "Tristan". The songs tend to grow on you, so it took me a little while to fully appreciate some of the tracks here, but once it happened, bam! I was hit with the brilliance.
Best song - Wind in the wires
1.- Emiliana Torrini - Fisherman's woman
It surely took Emiliana a long time to release her sophomore effort, but the wait has been worth it. In "Fisherman's woman", Emiliana leaves behind most of the sounds and technology she used in her debut, leaving the songs almost bare naked, only with a few instrumentation, really subtle. The album begins with "Nothing brings me down" a slow song, and from there on, the rest are songs with different tunes, but the same feel. Lonely, sad, almost depressing at times. It's a miracle that in these days, there are still people willing to take the most uncommercial route, sacrificing possible success with the masses. Emiliana did it this time.
Best song - Lifesaver
Honorable mentions go to Omar Naber, Nami Tamaki, Francoise Hardy, L'Arc~en~Ciel. Johnny Hallyday, Westlife, Chevelle.