7. Death Cab For Cutie – Narrow Stairs
To say that a band like Death Cab has “grown” as a band over its decade-plus years of existence would be an insult. They have been great songwriters since its inception, starting with the garage-esque-produced Something About Airplanes 1998 debut.
With Narrow Stairs, its sixth album and second for a major label (Atlantic, after spending its formative years with Barsuk Records), you see the band trying its hand at prog rock-ish material (“I Will Possess Your Heart”) and exotic/tribal beats and loops (“Pity And Fear”). Then there’s the romantic violins that carry “Your New Twin Sized Bed,” literary references to Jack Kerouac (“Bixby Canon Bridge”) and one of the best singles of 2008, “Cath.” Simply put, DCFC is just a great band that finds new ways to get even better than you thought they could be.
6. The Gaslight Anthem – The ‘59 Sound
These Jersey boys don’t need absurdly loud guitars or a nine-piece band to make a great record. With lyrical prose and storytelling that is Springsteen-esque and a Replacements-like punkish aura throughout the band’s second record, The ‘59 Sound is filled with one rockin’ or catchy winner after another, its celebratory title track included.
5. The Sammies – Sandwich
Sometimes, you discover great new music. Other times, new music discovers you. Such is the case here. After doing a Blogcritics review of The Whigs - Mission Control album, a PR rep from The Sammies tracked me down to offer up this album for review, since the two bands not only share southern rock roots but are good friends with one another. I took a chance on them and it surely paid off. A little bit of retro, cool ‘80s rock (in the vein of Echo & The Bunnymen), blues-influenced ‘70s rock and modern rock, it’s a consistently enjoyable and varied record. A great discovery, indeed.
4. Metallica – Death Magnetic
This magnificently back-to-basics thrash metal release is a great album, but also one of the most aggravating ones to come out in some time. Songwriting wise, Metallica has remastered the long and the heavy, the type that made them a household name in the metal world in the 1980s. And though some fans still complain about the thin mix of And Justice For All, the digital distortion you likely experienced listening to this album means Death Magnetic takes the cake for Worst. Production. Ever. It’s not enough to make you want to stop listening altogether, but does make for a disturbing/unsettling listening experience at times.
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".