« Now Something Not Photo Related: My Favorite Albums of 2011 »

Every year I throw a list together of the albums I listened to and enjoyed for that particular year. It's not really to gather the opinions of anyone else, it's more of a documented record of what I liked, and in a few years I can look back and wonder why the hell I was listening to some of these. 

This year wasn't slammed with amazing albums to salivate over. This can be both a good and bad thing. The good: It allows you to absorb more of the good albums, and to find a greater appreciation for them. The bad: well, you tend to burn out of the albums at a lot quicker pace then normal. Luckily that hasn't happened to me this year, and I'm quite content on this list. Ask me 2-3 years from now and I'll probably laugh at it. But until then, let's roll through this list. Oh and real quick, these aren't in any order, but if they were this one would be at the top of my list:

Foo Fighters - Wasting Light: This album is rock and roll, by a band that just gets it. An onslaught of verse, chorus, verse and loud, quite, loud. From the opening riff of "Bridge Burning" to the closing of "Walk", Dave Grohl and Co prove that quality rock albums can still be made in the day of Lady Gaga and LMFAO. It's been a little while since the Foo's have had a solid album, and to me, 1997's The Colour And The Shape is the benchmark for their catalog. But Wasting Light is right behind it, and easily my most listened to album of 2011. I can only wish for the future to hold more solid rock like this!

 Burning Hotels - Burning Hotels - So let's pretend I'm John Hughs and I'm directing/producing a movie with about 4-5 pubescent teenagers that are learning to cope with the problems of early adult life, and I need a band for the score that plays during that one stand out iconic scene. Cue Fort Worth's own Burning Hotels, a band that not only grabs and emulates the sound of the mid 80's, they feel like they were taken from then. But don't dismiss them as 'just another throwback band', Chance Morgan and Matt Mooty apply their craft with style that is true to form and all their own. And with this record they have exceeded my expectations, and gotten every thing right. This is, by far and away, my favorite local album of 2011.

Russian Circles - Empros - Russian Circles are an instrumental trio that hails out of Chicago, and their latest release Empros is chaos wrapped in a sea of climactic grace. The full gamut of light to dark, heavy back to light is covered over the span of just 6 songs, and the trip is amazing. Perfect for a road trip through the desert with nothing on the horizon but wide open space.

Mastodon - The Hunter - In 2009, Mastodon released Crack the Skye, a colossal concept album that pushed them into another realm musically, embracing elements of prog-rock, country, and Rasputin. It was my favorite album of 2009 and possibly my favorite album of the decade. The Hunter on the other hand doesn't return Mastodon to my #1 favorite position. It's a great album that takes a turn down the non-concept path, which makes more songs stand out on their own instead of being a part of the whole. It's an excellent progression for the band, and even at times has a catchy groove to it that was missing on some of their previous releases. But There is still a bit of epicness missing and that's what keeps The Hunter from dominating.

In Flames - Sounds of a Playground Fading - Ah, my favorite Swedish band returns, pummels, mauls, then leaves. And the sad thing is, you never saw them coming. This is their 10th studio album, and if you don't get them by now, then I don't advise listening to them any more.

Atari Teenage Riot - Is This Hyperreal? - The first album by ATR since their disband in 2000. Is This Hyperreal? is a stab at the Google/Facebook age and is an electronic assault of blast beating zeros and ones. ATR is, and always will be a little bit abrasive for the 'soy latte soccer mom crowd',  but perfect for the rebelling cyber teenager. It's good to hear Alex and Nic create again what once was, and have them do it in a pleasantly violent nature.

Adele - 21 and Live at The Royal Albert Hall - What? These albums don't have blazing guitars or keyboards sounding as if they are having digital intercourse! Well, your right. Adele doesn't need these things on her sophomore effort. Beautiful indepth song writing wrapped up in her amazing voice, it leads me to fade out and forget what is around me. Add to that her recent live release, Live at The Royal Albert Hall, and you can truly hear and feel the rawness and emotion she sinks into every song.

 

Excision - X-Rated - 2011 seemed to be the year that the rest of the world finally caught up with the dubstep sound that England has been putting out for at least a decade. Yay, good job America. But Excision took dubstep and pushed it a little bit further, making it a brutally insane orgy of guitars and electronics. Listening to this album you begin to feel dirty, like the filth of blasting beats is starting to build up on your skin and you need to be sprayed off in a containment shower. Epic in style this album will leave you wondering if you should dance or punch the person next to you in the face.

 

 Red Fang - Murder the Mountains - Stoner sludge rock that is perfect for a swampy air boat ride through the everglades to hide a body. This album is continually moving forward, annihilating everything in it's path with a slowly churning of molasses metal. The only thing that would make this better is if I had some biscuits to soak up this sweetness with.

That about sums up what I was really digging in 2011. Now how about some disappointments? 

Jay-Z and Kanye West - The Throne - I expected a lot more from two of the biggest names in hip hop, but it turns out that the name of this album is almost to fitting. 60+ minutes of pure braggadocio, "my weenie is bigger then yours" and a bunch of rhymes that were written by a first grader. If I was the CEO of rap, I'd be ashamed to have my name on this pile of crap, and if I could flush digital copies down the throne, then that's where these would go.

Radiohead - The King of Limbs - Dear Radiohead, we all understand that you guys think on a different level then the rest of the world, we also realize that your music will be deconstructed by scholars for years to come, but what the hell is this crap? Seriously? Stop cutting and pasting loops in odd time signatures and expecting everything to magically flow in a rhythmic pattern. Did you guys listen to this before you released to the world?

Okay I'm really done now. Later 2011, don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya.