Originally posted on 31/12/09
Again, i've not heard every single album this decade, and while there are a few which would probably make this list had I heard them, they're here now. And sorry for the delay, a combination of laziness and Indecisiveness have contributed to this being so behind schedule.
50. When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up - Snow Patrol - 2001
Snow Patrols second album did not chart well (#129) but this was merely unappreciation of brilliance in the making. WIAOWSHTCU is a spacey affair at parts, and it certainly has its down points, but overall, its good songs make up for the bad ones. Stuff like An Olive Grove Facing the Sea set the basis for songs they're now better known for such as Run and Chasing Cars, and this along with the rest of this album and their debut Songs for Polar Bears shows the development of the band into the established favourites they are today.
49. Hand Built by Robots - Newton Faulkner - 2007
A man with ginger dreadlocks who isn't completely laughable, Newton's debut came in perfectly formed and sounded as if he'd been around for years. A remarkably talented guitarist and musician in general, Hand Built by Robots was an album which took you in and just made you feel happy listening to it. It showed the versatility of Faulkner as a musician too with a cover of Massive Attack's Teardrop which didn't sound out of place on the album or bad, it sounded natural. While i've not heard the 09 follow-up, i'm sure he carried on showcasing the talent he has in his own unique way.
48. Puzzle - Biffy Clyro - 2007
The album that made Biffy more people friendly would be seen as most as a sell-out, a change in musical direction in order to win more casual fans, but they done it by making better music. Puzzle has its quiet points, like closer Machines, but it's a damn good tune rather than watered down tripe, so they won in those stakes. Filled with material for both singles and classic album tracks alike, Puzzle was the bands tour de force, a shining piece of excellence which showcased their talented in their purest form, and showing just what they were capable of as a band.
47. Cookies - 1990s - 2007
The debut album from Glaswegian 3-piece 1990s will only be recognised by one person reading this (probably), and like various other bands I champion and no-one pays attention to, this obscurity is undeserved. It's a simple album, but the acclaim it gets from magazines like Rolling Stone is by no means mis-placed. Cookies is a cheerful record from start to finish, and while it probably holds more sway from me because the stuff it talks about actually happens where I live, it's still based on well-written music and deserves acknowledgement here.
46. Intimacy - Bloc Party - 2008
Not their best album by a mile but still possessing elements of the talents that made them such an important band this decade, Intimacy is a strange album, It fluctuates between fast-paced stuff which seems to suit them more like Talons and Ion Square, yet they still decided to include the weird stuff like Zephyrus which, while being good doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the songs on the album. It also seems like they would have been better served sticking to what they know, and that the changes they tried to embrace would have been better confined to their jamming sessions. Still, the highlights make up for it so overwhelmingly it should be on this list.
45. Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires - 2008
Another debut here, one of the best in recent years. 10 songs, well put together with good lyrics and music. Nothing much more to say really, it just works.
44. Origin of Symmetry - Muse - 2001
After a debut that was completely in your face, Origin of Symmetry took the early buzz from Showbiz and went in completely the opposite direction. Emulating Pink Floyd is a hard enough task, but for a band to do it in their second album is something else. With elements of every kind of rock there is, with songs like the epic Citizen Erased (check out the live version from the Hullabaloo Soundtrack i'm listening to right now) to the radio-friendly yet air-guitar inspiring Plug In Baby, from the 3rd best intro in music of New Born to the cover of Feeling Good which was Faulkner-eqsue in their ability to take something from a completely different genre to their own and make it superb, Origin of Symmetry is under-appreciated as a Muse album, and undeservedly so.
43. Final Straw - Snow Patrol - 2003
Fun fact about this album that I wish wasn't true, this along with Employment by Kaiser Chiefs was one of the first CDs I bought. Snow Patrols moment when they burst into the limelight and more than 6 people got to listen to them was well deserved, as Final Straw was the most complete album from them to date, and showed exactly what they were capable of. Leading with the obvious standout Run, Final Straw won them a new legion of fans who, while completely unaware of the bands first two albums, gave them the recognition they deserved after years in the wilderness.
42. Stars of CCTV - Hard-Fi - 2005
Another debut, this time from a bunch of common folk from some scummy place in England. That such a horrid place (the name of which escapes me) can produce a band that can make an opening record of this quality is astounding, as from start to finish it's gritty, deals with stuff that affects the band and is catchy and makes you sing along. It sounds like the direction that Kasabian should've went in after their first album, blending dark lyrics with catchy beats and something that you can listen to at any time, particularly if you're drinking Carling and watching birds fly about.
41. An End Has a Start - Editors - 2007
Of all the albums I own, this probably took the longest to grow on me. From the first two tracks you think you're in the presence of genius, and then it falls for the next 8. Add on another year or so and this just obliterates anything else you can listen to. It's a build on their first album, which geared them towards playing bigger crowds and festivals, which was well deserved. While the band are fairly posh and the singer thinks he's Ian Curtis, the guitar-based stuff mixed with solid drums and the usual mind-bending lyrics made this an album that i'm glad I took the time to end up liking, because it's well worth it.
40. A Weekend in the City - Bloc Party - 2005
An album that should have been top ten, because after hearing the first 4 or 5 tracks you think you're on to something. The erratic, raw creativity present on Silent Alarm has been focused into something even more powerful, creating a spell-binding opening to an album. Unfortunately it falls on its arse after this, with the next 4 songs sounding exactly the same. Fortunately, I Still Remember and SRXT (which is their best song) near the end, plus the re-release with Flux which moved them in a new (wrong) direction helped provide something of a saving grace for the album. This is an album which should have been more, but still provided a good framework for the bands future.
39. Hail to the Thief - Radiohead - 2003
My least favourite album from Radiohead, and probably their weakest throughout. That their weakest ends up in this position shows just how good a band they are. After Kid A and Amnesiac being so weird, they needed something that got them right back on track making good music. Opener 2 + 2 = 5 (listen to it live at Glastonbury '03) features all three guitarists battering you over the face, and you know they're back. The weird parts were still there in some songs, and while not as fitting as they were in the two records that preceded HTTF, it still works. Where I End and You Begin is the kind of song Muse should have started making around 2008, something which is also beautiful and ridiculously good it's just 4 minutes of showing off, yet it never gets old. This album also laid a nice foundation for the follow-up, which is to come a wee bit higher up...
38. Sunny Side Up - Paolo Nutini - 2009
Well I done this last week, so it's lovely. Shamelessly cheerful yet still heartfelt, much improved on his debut, etc.
37. Take to the Skies - Enter Shikari - 2007
Any band with a Craig Gordon look-alike on drums is obviously going to go far, and while a complete rabble, Enter Shikari managed to bury some talent behind all the shouting and mental synths. While something of a concept album and while having lyrics that sound like they were written by a four year old (apart from No Sssweat, obviously) there was something irritatingly catchy about the album for the most part. It wasn't all stuff that makes your parents screw up their faces however, songs like Adieu and, to a point, Jonny Sniper, showed that they have some ability to sing and play their instruments properly. Go and see them live if you can, I hear it's a hoot!
36. Those the Brokes - The Magic Numbers - 2007
Another one of the "follow up on the debuts," except this album done it better than most. Something which retained the quiet beauty which made them so popular after their debut yet kept it in amongst the more up-beat stuff which had its seeds laid by Love Me Like You in the first album, this was what made it such a success. This is a band which needs to get their next record out pretty sharpish, otherwise they risk losing out on building upon the fan base that this album got them.
35. Our Earthly Pleasures - Max�mo Park - 2007
Max�mo have always been an under-rated band, and this is their most under-rated album. Our Earthly Pleasures barrels along from start to finish, and while there's less of the new-band-starting-who're-unsure-of-what-they're-capable-of that was prevalent in A Certain Trigger, it's been replaced with confidence that they can write a good song. Granted, while the lyrics are brilliant there's some utter rubbish put in, but that they can use words like dialectical (which I don't think is a word anyway) and get away with it shows where they've went. I really should get the next one and see where they went from this... Also, Parisian Skies is beautiful.
34. Through the Windowpane - Guillemots - 2006
Through the Windowpane is a debut that does what happens oh so very rarely, it takes the raw ability of a band and while sounding like a rabble at parts, focuses it into something wonderful. Here is a mixture of so many different instruments, objects used as instruments laced with a powerful voice that shows, in a decade where everything Indie had to be an Arctic Monkeys rip-off otherwise it was crap, what music this decade should have been about. Making music the way you want to, regardless of what anyone else says or thinks. The closer Sao Paulo, coming in at just under 12 minutes, is the perfect example. More music should be like this.
33. In This Light and On This Evening - Editors - 2009
Big album for this year, there's a full review of it floating about somewhere. Brilliant new direction for the band they should carry on with, even if Tom Smith thinks he's Ian Curtis.
32. Language. Sex. Violence. Other? - Stereophonics - 2005
From a band which had seemingly lost their way to one of the most overplayed songs in history, Stereophonics done well this year, deservedly. L.S.V.O? was what the band do best, simple, straightforward songs that made a new generation of fans fall in love with them all over again.
31. Black Holes and Revelations - Muse - 2006
Muse's 4th album was a switch to something that was vaguely more radio-friendly, and while this just sounded more ridiculous that anything they'd done before it was in a good way, blending their eccentricities that have been evident on previous albums with a newfound need to make brilliant, instantly popular stuff like Starlight, or the R'n'B-fused Supermassive Black Hole. That you can leave something like Knights of Cydonia, 6 and a bit minutes of sheer epic-ness (and the song that made me not hate Muse) till the end just shows how big a band they are, and they deserve every credit they get.
30. In the Cold Wind We Smile - The Xcerts - 2009
Oh go and buy it already.
29. Sam Sparro - Sam Sparro - 2008
The biggest thing to happen to dance music since Calvin Harris starting putting on funny specs that don't work, this album showed us what can be done when dance music doesn't take itself seriously. With so many well-crafted songs both lyrically and musically, this was a strong debut both for its genre and of its own accord. It had everything, from obvious, clear cut hits to more experimental stuff which still didn't sound out of place when paired with the Black and Golds of the album.
28. Neon Bible - Arcade Fire - 2007
An album which continually reminds me I need to buy Funeral, Neon Bible is up there with Through the Windowpane in terms of what indie music should be. Not bad for something made by Canadians in a church, Neon Bible uses just about every instrument there is, drawing on just about every influence there is to make an album which is so breathtakingly beautiful you have to sit in silence for a while after hearing it. Haunting musical effects and lyrics make sure you do this as well, as the themes dealt with simply add to the depth and emphasise how important an album it is in today?s world. Their cover of Age of Consent however can crawl up its own arse thank you very much.
27. American Idiot - Green Day - 2004
Why I give this any recognition is beyond me now, I absolutely hate this album. Or maybe i'm more repulsed how at one point I believed the shite that's spouted during it, but anyway. An important album for the worlds blandest punks in denial who're 2 steps away from being emo. The two 5 part, 9 minute songs are both ridiculous but manage to work, and the clear highlight is closer Whatsername which manages to be top 3 Green Day songs ever, and easily. If you're listening to it, be in a frame of mind of merely enjoying yourself rather than getting any sort of deep meaning, because you wont find any, but you can enjoy yourself whilst your brain goes to pot.
26. Beyond the Neighbourhood - Athlete - 2007
Album of the year for 2007 if I recall. Going from the relatively low-key, slightly repetitive sound of Tourist that made them so huge would have been hard enough had they been bigger than they actually are, but what this band done with Beyond the Neighbourhood was unprecedented. They created a work of sheer genius, upbeat stuff which puts a smile on your face from beginning to end, not letting up once. This is an album which, whilst peaking at #5, was not nearly well publicised enough, and remains one of the decades best kept secrets. What a shame the follow-up was so bloody awful.
25. A Beautiful Lie - 30 Seconds to Mars - 2005
Proof again that Jared Leto should pack his acting career in and carry on doing what he's best at already, making brilliant music. Rocks best Henrik Zetterberg look-alike was still on the eyeliner at this point, which was reflected in the bands work, with lots of overworked guitars and big drums in the background. The grandiose that they attempted to find in this record however was not only reached but devastated, becoming the sole basis of the album which is what made it so great. It's still eerie how he can sing so violently and not move by the way.
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