Open Your Textbooks To Page Eleven...
To get an idea of the scale of my musical development it is essential you know that I started playing guitar at age 11. Which was in 1998. The two records that kicked it all off were "Performance and Cocktails" by Stereophonics and "Americana" by The Offspring. All of my musical development came from being an axeman. The reason this list was so hard was that I pretty much spent all my time up until 2003-2004 trying to catch up with everything that had gone before (something I have still not accomplished and probably will not...)
I'm going to have a mahoosiv countdown of the albums with a little bit of blurb about every album, how I stumbled upon it and why I dig it so much. Maybe pictures too. Afterwards, I feel morally obliged to add a section of epic records that just fell short. Guttog.
To the ears of a 13 year old, this record is a stunner. Even to my 22 year old ears it's still insanely good. It managed to marry the fart-humour of the pop-punk stuff that was waltzing around at the time with legitimate political messages (and graphic lesbian imagery naturally.) Also NOFX were and still are impressive musicians. For me, discovering a punk band that had guitar solos instead of the 'one-finger-one-string' jobbies was a revelation.
While this album has never reached the cult status that other NOFX records have achieved it's still rediculously good. The production values still stand up and even 10 years on, it still smashes its competition.
Keywords:
Goofy,
Energetic,
Funny.
Stand-Out Tracks:
What's The Matter With Parents Today?
Dinosaurs Will Die
Louise
9. Every Time I Die - The Big Dirty
...we discovered 'The Big Dirty.' [Note: This system has rarely failed me. It works with bands, authors and directors.] There was a two-month deficit between this system being implimented The Big Dirty coming out, but the previous two ETID records seemed to tickle my fancy a tad. Granted that punky metalcore shizz wasn't (isn't) my bag, but it had potential. When this album came out the band were streaming it all on their Myspace. I spun the album and instantly balked at its aggression, its pace and its mighty riffery.
With this record the band seemed to drop the gimmicky tech ideas that many bands within this genre use and opted to just have nice, crushing riffage. It's been a long time since I have been so impressed with a vocalist as I was with Keith Buckley. His lyrics are also quite wordy which adds a certain credibility to the album and to the band in general.
I hammered this album into oblivion and it still hasn't got old for me. Plus, once a few years have passed I am going to fully pinch the breakdown from the end of "Cities and Years" for one of my tunes. Shhhhh...
Keywords:
Brutal,
Aggressive,
Mosh.
Stand-Out Tracks:
Cities and Years
INRIhab
Pigs Is Pigs
"I got my arms that flip, flop, flip, flop, flip!"
A blog entry that I have on the horizon is a "Bands I Used To Hate But Now Love" piece. Nine Inch Nails (from now on; NIN) fall into this catagory. This album also wins the award for strangest discovery in this list. I was in a mates car and we were listening to some general tunes. The first track was a somewhat spacey euphoric number. Something that could easily have been assembled in a bedroom and found on some dance compilation. The second track however was pure rage. Frighteningly so. You know when you find a mate is listening to something very unusual and it makes you wonder "how the fuck did they find this before me?" I enquired as to who was creating this glorious racket and he replied, "Nine Inch Nails ini'." Suddenly I'm hoofed onto my back foot thinking: "Fuck. I fucking hate Nine Inch Nails." But I couldn't help but be absorbed by this album.
The album is bit of a rollercoaster of genres that takes you every which way. I learned to embrace this quality from Trent Reznor and found the album very engaging as a result. It's one of the only albums in this list that isn't even moderately guitar-driven, which goes some way to prove I'm not just some drooling Guthrie Govan mouthbreathing fanboy. Ish. The album has a general malaise that makes it's harsher moments all the more... well, harsh. The live drums on the album were also provided by a Mr. Dave Grohl, so if that prospect hasn't made you cower under your mothers apron, nothing will.
Despite it's rocky genre-spanning peaks and troughs this record is relentlessly brilliant. An absolute essential if you want your mind expanded a touch.
Keywords:Vast,
Strange,
Harsh.
Stand-Out Tracks:
All The Love In The World
You Know What You Are?
Every Day Is Exactly The Same
"Come a litter closer honey, I won't bite ya..."
This is another record on this list that I can't for the life of me remember how it crossed my path. I do recall a mate doing a spot of light illegal downloading and stumbling on a few Clutch numbers, but as for this whole album? Unknown. Regardless, this album is a romper-stomper. Clutch have a very unimitable style that appears to be everything but. Many bands utilize a somewhat clichéd 'old-school, gruff, beer-swilling riffage' vibe; but not a one amongst them can hold a candle to Clutch. This album is grunting, sleazy and quite, quite fabulous.
The album lurches along like a crazy drunkard looking for fag-ends and errant £20 notes. No questions - just answers. Neil Fallons vocal performance is nothing short of remarkable whilst the rest of the band smash ten bells of shit out of the instruments around them. Whilst the tracks pose as mindless riffery many of these riffs find themselves in odd time signitures which display supreme musicianship on behalf of these hairy legends. This album also marked the addition of a keyboard player into the bands roster, so there's plenty of gratuitous usage of a fuzzy hammond organ in the mix.
"A Sword of Fire and an Axe of Gold..."
I discovered this band while they were supporting Clutch in TJ's Newport. Not only were they one of the loudest bands I've ever heard, their particular brand of Sabbath-esque Swords n' Sorcery Metal was just too astonishing to ignore. The album just exudes a very convincing old-school vibe even down to the guitar tones and production values (in fact when I played this record to a mate of mine, XIA's very own Matt Peters he disdainfully enquired, "is this the
pre-production of the album?") This album evokes a similar reaction within my soul as it does when I listen to Clutch; with the whole beer chugging, hot motor-city mama thing going on. But this album puts more of a "Quaffing Ale and Buxom Wenches" spin on things.
The band have so much groove it really isn't funny. The songs are little more than 4-5 minute collages of filthy, filthy (FILTHY!) riffage with an occasional bluesy solo or jizzery Thin Lizzy guitar harmonies. Also they make stunning usage of the heavy metal staple: The "Chug." You know that Iron-Maideny "chug-chugga-chug-chugga" horse galloping effect? This band use it in a very functional way. It pisses on any other bands usage of this principle. I also like to think of this album as a concept album, even though the lyrics are somewhat vague at points. Subsequently over the 3 or so years I've championing this record I've sort of made up my own concept for it. I may give this it's own blog so I'll just blow past it:
Tyrannical King > Alchemist Wizard > Epic Teenage Witch > Shadow Wolves > Mountain Goddess > Awesome Orc Things.
Or something like that. Regardless, It's amazing. Granted all of this albums ideas are thoroughly tried and tested but as a result it fits very comfortably from the first listen. Don't fight the urge to adore this band; they'll mount your head on a bloody spear outside your house. What will the neighbours say?
Keywords:
Mighty,
Wonderful,
Chug.
Stand-Out Tracks:
Freya
The Horned Goddess
Iron Swan
5. Alaska - Between The Buried And Me
(September 2005)
"We are just mortal souls left to die..."
This album found it's way into my hands around the beginning of 2008. Between The Buried And Me (BTBAM...) were a band that I had heard of, but never heard and never really interested me by all accounts. The whole insane tech-death-jazz-easy-listening-core mash up was definately not my bag. But after the insistance of a friend (Rhys "Rex" King) he made me have a listen to a few tunes from the bands back catalogue. I found this insanity to be quite palettable considering, and I quickly and quietly pilfered their tunes off him for further research.
At the time I had a very low-tech MP3 player that was violently malfunctioning in as much as it would only playing albums in alphabetical order and sometimes entire track listings in alphabetical order [Note: As a result, many of my favourite albums are albums with an alphabetical track list. Try "As The Palaces Burn" by Lamb Of God alphabetically; it's much better.] In this case it was playing albums in order, and while this album isn't their first album my MP3 opted to play it first; purely because it starts with an 'A.'
I like this album more than other BTBAM records merely because I heard it first. The album juggles all of the aforementioned genres with devastating ease. The whole bands musicianship is of the highest level to be found on this list. Crushing technical death metal meets and beheads ambient progressive ramblings. Beautifulness. The first listen of this album is a major culture shock if you're not into "this-sort-of-thing," and you'll definately get questioning looks from your mates if they get wind of you listening to it; "you actually like this stuff?"
This band destroys any band I've heard within this field and judging by their newest record (2009's 'The Great Misdirect') they will continue to do so. This band will take you low...
Keywords:
Beautiful,
Brusing,
Maths.
Stand-Out Tracks:
Roboturner
Selkies: The Endless Obssession
Medicine Wheel
4. In Nothing We Trust - Reuben
(June 2007)
"We're All Going Home In A Fucking Ambulance!"
Here we have it: the elusive number four I name-dropped earlier on. One of the tracks on this record gives a quick shout-out to ETID, which inspired my research... Cheers, Reuben. By the time this record came out I was a fully fledged Reuben fanboy despite the fact I got into them insanely late; circa 2006. I had heard little bits of stuff on MTV2 around 2000-2001 which I was moderately impressed with but then promptly forgot all about. It wasn't until 5-6 years later on that, once again, I was spinning around in a mates car (Rhodri "28 Inch" Evans) and we were just listening to arbitrary tunes. I found the album was "Racecar Is Racecar Backwards," Reuben's first album from June 2004. The track that caught my attention was "Our Song." A nasty little tune that's about 15 different kinds of harsh. It spun my around considering that they posed as an alt-rocky band on telly...
This album was one of the highlights of 2007 for me. By the time that this album came out, the band had been violently sodomised by a number of record labels so their gloves we're well and truly off. They had moved on from friendly bitter alt-metal stuff to a more prog tinged sound. The album was nicely polished without being given the full pro-tools treatment. The track lengths had started to creep up around the 7-8 minute mark and their virtuoso drummer Guy Davis seemed to be leading the band a lot more. Erratic noise based sections were now implimented as opposed to traditional middle 8 sections. However, the album still reeks of the bands trademark goofy cynicism.
A bit of a departure for the Surrey boys but a very intense and engaging listen.
Keywords:
Shouty,
British,
Inciteful.
Stand-Out Tracks:
We're All Going Home In An Ambulance
Suffocation Of The Soul
Blood, Bunny, Larkhall
3. Deloused In The Comatorium - The Mars Volta
(June 2003)
"Transient Jet Lag Ecto Mimed Bison."
This is yet another record that I discovered years late. It was until '05-'06 ish did I first try to get into the Volta. They important word there: Try. Generally if you have to try to get into a band they just aren't for you. Bit with the Volta I felt the need to push myself to understand it; as if something amazing was going on and I'd be missing something really special if I didn't get my head around it. A few of my friends bought the bands previous album (2005's bonkers prog mammoth "Frances The Mute") on the strength of the single "The Widow." Upon finding that the rest of the album was not as easily digested as the single, the album was promptly dismissed.
I had heard 'Frances,' shat myself in the process and immediate ran and hid from the Volta. But somehow they found me. I decided to give their first record a spin to see if I could make head or tail of the band first, then potentially head back to 'Frances' to see if it still frightened me (yes, it does.) I found "Deloused In The Comatorium" to be a very abrasive but encompassing listen that pulled me in as opposed to push me away. I became fascinated with the bands ethos, concepts, themes and delivery. This album has it all: swirling soundscapes, sing-a-long choruses, proto punk noise, latin vibes, jazz vibes and furious percussion; all woven into delicate avant garde storyline. Whereas BTBAM is musically insane, The Mars Volta are a more genuine kind of insane. Bat-Shit Mental just doesn't cover it.
Everyone needs a bit of Volta in their life. Mine has been infinately enrichened by it.
Keywords:
Expansive,
Intelligent,
Straight-Jackets.
Stand-Out Tracks:
Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)
Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt
Cicatriz ESP
2. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not - Arctic Monkeys
(January 2006)
"How Come It's Already Two-Pound Fifty? We've Only Gone About A Yard..."
The hardest choice I had to make within this list was whether or not to put this bad boy at number one or not. Cereal. It's that good. This record came out in January 2006 and my life was at a weird crossroads. I had major New Years blues due to the fact that 2005 was without question the best year of my life, and it had just ended. In '05 I turned 18 and saw Black Sabbath in the same summer. Unbelievable. However 2006 was looking up as I had just entered my first major relationship with an actual female and the September before I had started my Music degree; the real upside there being that I promptly bought a shiny Marshall half stack with my student loan. This hype for this album blocked out the sun and when it came out it knocked me right on my arse.
The day it came out I must have spun it 5-6 time in a row - completely shellshocked. This album was punchy, concise and strangely... for me... Indie. I had abandoned Indie very quickly after picking up a guitar due to the fact I wanted to play well. This album has a number of the traits that I look for in Metal etc. as it has solos, a great drummer and storyline. This album is without a shadow of doubt the best concept album I have ever heard. Read that sentence again. I'm serious.
The question on your lips now is; "Why?" It's because I've lived this album. The album deals with a storyline of a guy popping off to town with his mates and attempting to get into nightclubs. Having a little dance trying to pull girls. Getting cockblocked by roiders. Queuing with spackers for a taxi. Waking up and regretting the whole thing. The whole album is frank and honest. Alex Turners inciteful lyricism and witty observations are a joy. Plus the songwriting values on this album are just perfect. And their drummer is really creative. And they pull off that punky-pop thing really well. And I'm babbling.
It's one of the only albums I've ever heard that makes me think: "Damn. I wish I'd written this." Flawless.
Keywords:
Funny,
Catchy,
The Parade in Neath on a weekend.
Stand-Out Tracks:
Riot Van
Dancing Shoes
Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But...
1. Leviathan - Mastodon
(August 2004)
"Vast The Head, Body And Tail..."
Anybody who knows me moderately well must have been thinking; "Alright then King, when's 'Don gonna be in here?" Here it is m'lovelies, my favourite album of the last ten years. It is simply particle. It has everything that makes me puke / cry / defaecate / cower in one concise package. And that's just the artwork.
The album entered my circle of friends when a track off the record (Iron Tusk?) was on a Metal Hammer teaser CD in December 2004. The album won about a bajillion 'Album of the Year' awards in magazines on both sides of the Atlantic and yet it wasn't a 'hype machine' buzz. It was a legitimate fan based frenzy. Upon hearing the track 'Iron Tusk' I was very indifferent. It wasn't the sort of thing I was into at the time. I felt more of an affinity with Lamb Of God at the time but it wasn't until June 2005 did I rethink this particular stance.
Remember I said that 2005 was the best year of my life? It's principally due the fact I went to Download that year. I saw scores of epic bands and was generally wasted for 4-5 days. I was dragged to see 'Don by one of the boys on the Saturday afternoon and I missed their opening number (Iron Tusk as it happens) because I was having a piss / eating chips. I ambled into the tent to prepare for a 40 minute drudge through a metal band I didn't know. The horror. Within that 40 minutes Mastodon chewed me up and spat me out. I remember actively keeping a tenner back in my tent so I could immediately nip out to by this album as soon as I got home. Which I did.
Holy Mary Mother Of God.
Riffage. Jizzery harmonies. Gruff-ass vocals. Shredding Drummer. Progressive as ten bears. No, twenty bears. It was a turning point in my life. As a guitarist. As a musician. As a metalhead. As a human being.
Add all those things together and you have one bad-assed record. But, it's also a concept album. All of the pieces of my perfect metal Fibonacci Sequence rolled together into one disc. The concept is that of Herman Melville's sea-faring classic "Moby Dick." So they're singing about sea monsters and stuff. Epic. This album is literally a brute from top-to-bottom, front-to-back, inside-and-outside, upside-down and downside-up. It has to be. It's the breakthrough record by the planets most intelligent metal band.
Every once in a while I dig it out and give it a listen. But I always make sure I nip to the shop to get some Kleenex first. Outstanding.
Keywords:
Gruff,
Low,
Whalecore.
Stand-Out Tracks:
Fucking all of the them, idiot.
Honourable Mentions
Here is a list of the albums that a really, really loved other this last decade that either just fell short of being in this list or I've only discovered quite recently and so I haven't digested enough for them to warrant being included. Go!
A given few albums that aren't in this section are the back catalogues of the bands that made the list. Every one of those bands have a devastating backlogue of tunes for you to find.
- The Red Album - Baroness
- Old Crows, Young Cardinals - Alexisonfire
- Orchestera Of Wolves - Gallows
- decemberunderground - AFI
- In Rainbows - Radiohead
- To The 5 Boroughs - Beastie Boys
- For Emma, Forever Ago - Bon Iver
- Relationship Of Command - At The Drive-In
- Wavering Radiant - Isis
- Curses & Travels With Myself And Another - Future Of The Left
- Kezia & Fortress - Protest The Hero
- Good News For People That Like Bad News - Modest Mouse
- Mirrored - Battles
- Broken Boy Soldiers - The Raconteurs
- Black Gives Way To Blue - Alice In Chains
- The Hazards Of Love - The Decemberists
- Source Tags & Codes - ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead...
- A Sun That Never Sets - Neurosis
- Opeth - Everything really...
Phew.
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