The Top 20 Albums of 2008 - Page 3

15. Lucinda Williams - Little Honey: After using the misery-fuelled West album to work through the grief of her mother's death and the pain of a breakup, Williams returned this year with an album with a little more pep. It's also one of the most balanced Lucinda Williams albums in years, showing off her versatility with cheeky songs like "Honey Bee" and the Elvis Costello duet "Jailhouse Tears", and higher energy tracks like rocking opener "Real Love". But even with the happy tone to the album, my favourite track is still the most depressing in "Little Rock Star". What can I say? I like my Lucinda with a heavy dose of misery.

14. Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer: If I have one criticism of The Dresden Dolls' frontwoman Amanda Palmer's solo effort is that it doesn't sound much like a solo album at all. I realize that the album was produced in large part by Ben Folds instead of Dolls' partner Brian Viglione, but Folds was tailoring his production to Palmer's patented cabaret punk style, and thus sounds like it could've easily been done by Vigilione.

Of course, as a fan of The Dresden Dolls, I have no problem listening to another album that sounds like theirs (particularly since no one else sounds like them). Plus, as Palmer herself says, the majority of tracks here are slower ballads that would've unnecessarily slowed down a Dolls album. So it has a reason to exist! More importantly, it's pretty awesome.

13. The Kills - Midnight Boom: I'm convinced that The Kills will never be a great band: they're too manufactured and their two-piece, drum-machine created sound is a little too slight.

But, if they can never be great, I'll take consistent  goodness. With Midnight Boom they threw off some of the polished veneer that made their music a bit distant, with an album that's more fun. Since No Wow was plenty fun to begin with, I'm happy with more.

12. Kathleen Edwards - Asking for Flowers: Edwards' 2003 album Failer is one of my favourites of the decade, and with her two subsequent releases, she's proven dependable without reaching the same heights of her debut. It's probably for the best, since what made Failer so compelling is the overarching feeling of despair that emanated from the album, and who wants to live life carrying that around?

Article Author: Andy Sayers

Andy Sayers is a technical writer from Canada, which automatically makes him funnier than people from other countries. When not writing about pop culture, he is consuming it alongside his loving wife.

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