Believe it or not, albums that came out in the last year are still finding my inbox, mailbox and CD player. You could say 2008 is the year that keeps on giving us great music. But with the first quarter of 2009 about to close, at some point you have to come to an end point on the year that was if the intention is to make a list of your favorites. For me, now is that point.
And what a year for music 2008 was, rock and roll especially. January started out with releases from alternative rock staples Radiohead (the official release of In Rainbows on XL Recordings), Smashing Pumpkins (the overlooked American Gothic EP), and new rock by the likes of Athens, Georgia-based The Whigs. By the time this January came around, I was still discovering new and great music – the Gaslight Anthem being the highlight of this bunch.
In my opinion, 2008 was a heck of year for Southern rock bands (including The Whigs), with the reemergence of that other Athens band (R.E.M.), pleasant discoveries of newer groups such as North Carolina’s The Sammies, and new albums from veterans My Morning Jacket and Kings Of Leon (who also won a Grammy this year for the hit single “Sex On Fire”). Read on to see which of these bands made my favorites list.
The metal world saw veterans take over, with killer releases by everyone from Metallica and Yngwie Malmsteen to Nevermore’s Jeff Loomis, but newer acts like Torche impressed me as well. Though Judas Priest came back with an ambitious and to critics, a “mixed” effort with the double LP Nostradamus, more impressive to my eyes and ears was the Halford Live At Rock In Rio III DVD/CD package, which featured a remastered Halford solo CD Resurrection together with an hour-long concert from the 2000-2001 “Resurrection World Tour,” a lengthy documentary of it featuring Rob Halford in studio with Bruce Dickinson, and much more. This package largely summed up the best material Halford did outside of his Priest work and is no doubt my favorite non-Judas Priest release.
Other favorite music DVDs that came out late last year include the Radiohead-heavy and Nigel Godrich-produced From The Basement – Various Artists live performance DVD (which was released again in March), and the legendary pre-synthesizer-era The Who shows of 1977 and 1969 – featuring the band’s raw and first ever performance of rock opera Tommy - as captured on Live At Kilburn: 1977, a must-have for any The Who fan.
Article comments
1 - Tom Johnson
That's an intriguingly eclectic list, Charlie. I'm holding onto my right to make a list until even later, too . . . like you said, last year has invaded this year and I'm not convinced the best has been settled yet.
If you want the whole of Radiohead's In The Basement performance, it can be had on Itunes. It's a video deal, but it'll play back on regular Ipods as audio-only. Fantastic set, too.
2 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
The Jeff Loomis release was pretty damn good. He touches upon a lot of different flavors. Plus, it includes the out-of-this-world,phenomenal Bass work of Michael Manring(but)only on one song*sniff*
[Sorry, I'm dying to hear Mr.Manring release another heavy/fusion type CD]
I thought the new Radiohead was off the charts! Unfortunately, that got considerably overlooked due to the original distribution method...
Yup...We all know how I feel about Metallica's latest release.(*Ugh*)It's definitely not Thrash![see:Kreator] As for And Justice, I don't believe the production was "tinny", It was just missing Newstead's Bass work[if he did any(?)]. There isn't one bass line on the entire album...You think they could've let him do the opening to "One".