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Colm

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    Edited by Colm

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    1 Muse - Black Holes and Revelations

     

    Black Holes and Revelations is the fourth studio album by English alternative rock band Muse, released on 3 July 2006 in the United Kingdom. It gets its title from a line in the song "Starlight", which is the second track on the album. Recording was split between New York and France, and it was the first time Muse had taken a more active role in the album's production. The album was a change in style from Muse's previous albums, and the band cited influences that included Depeche Mode, Millionaire, Lightning Bolt, Sly and the Family Stone, and music from southern Italy.

     

    Black Holes and Revelations was placed at number 34 in a public vote conducted by Q Magazine for "The Best British Albums of all time" in February 2008.

     

     

    Like their two previous albums, Black Holes and Revelations has political and science-fiction undertones, with the lyrics covering topics as varied as political corruption, alien invasion, revolution and New World Order conspiracies as well as more conventional love songs.

     

    Muse's previous album, Absolution, was released in 2003 to critical acclaim. Absolution had brought the band mainstream exposure in the United States for the first time.

     

    The band retired to an old château in France to write for a new album. Lead singer Matthew Bellamy said that this was because the band wanted to be free from distractions so that they could "concentrate, spend time and be surrounded by different musical influences".The album was partially recorded in the same studio in France as Pink Floyd's album The Wall, of which fact bassist Chris Wolstenholme said it was a "great feeling to know that something big had been done [there]".However, the band found recording there very slow and had difficulties deciding which songs to include on the album. They traveled to New York to finish the recording.

     

    Wolstenholme considered writing and recording for Black Holes and Revelations more relaxed than it had been for previous albums, as the band did not have a deadline to work to. It was the first time they had learned about the technology in the studio, having previously left the use of it to the sound engineers.Bellamy said that this was the first time Muse made an album without being concerned about how they would play it live.

     

    "Soldier's Poem", stood out as being "quite unlike anything [they'd] ever done before".Drummer Dominic Howard said they were originally going to record it with a "massive, epic" approach, but then decided to strip it down and record it in a small studio with vintage equipment and a few microphones. Muse were pleased with the result and Howard described it as a "real highlight", describing the vocals as "some of the most amazing vocals I've ever heard Matt do".

     

     

    As Rabbit Fur Coat predicted, we have a Lungs, High Violet, Black Holes top 3.

     

    In 2006 it seemed as if Muse had achieved as much as they could with their arpeggiated Bach-metal formula, after two astonishingly dramatic and impressively bombastic albums. What they did next is try out some new genres and blow the pants of everyone in the process.

     

    The Maralyn Manson/Britney mash-up of lead single Supermassive Blackhole announced that things weren't as they once were. Each track on this album tackles a different subgenre of rock.

     

    Exo-Politics takes a stab at a White Stripes-simple riff. City of Delusion tries out a System of a Down quiet/loud approach. Starlight is a Keane inspired love song with several more dimensions than it needs, and is all the better for it.

    Map of the Problematique is a Depeche Mode song given Transformers steroids and injection fuel for breakfast. And the Queen/Horslips mania of mammoth closing Knights of Cydonia is so gargantuan it can be seen from outside the Solar system.

     

    Some thought they had lost their darkness but they were just showing they had interests outside metal riff masturbatory posturing.

     

    A shockingly consistent follow up to two shockingly consistent 2nd and 3rd albums.

     

    We could have done without Soldier's Poem.

     

    ___________________________________________

     

     

    Thanks to everyone who contributed and commented. It always makes things easier when people chip in with their opinions, remarks and predictions.

     

    Till the next time....

     

    Over and out.

     

    Colm

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    High Violet is the fifth studio album by The National, which was released on May 10, 2010 in Europe and on May 11, 2010 in North America via 4AD. The band produced the album themselves assisted by Peter Katis with whom they worked on their previous albums Alligator and Boxer at their own studio in Brooklyn, New York, and at Katis' Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The sculpture on the album cover was created by artist Mark Fox, and is called The Binding Force.

     

    An expanded edition of High Violet was released through 4AD on November 22, 2010. The reissue includes the standard 11-track album along with a new bonus disc, featuring the unreleased tracks "You Were a Kindness" and "Wake Up Your Saints" as well as alternate versions, B-sides, and live recordings.

     

    High Violet was released to wide critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 based on reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received a "universal acclaim" score of 85, based on 36 reviews. Sputnikmusic awarded High Violet 5 out of 5, stating that the album "is another batch of cement to further supplement The National's already unshakable concrete career," also calling the album "their third masterpiece in a row." Drowned in Sound gave the album a 9 out of 10 rating, and the BBC hailed the album as "the New Yorkers' finest disc to date" and "a potential album of the year." Pitchfork Media's review stated that High Violet is "the sound of a band taking a mandate to be a meaningful rock band seriously," and gave the album a score of 8.7 out of 10.

     

    A friend of mine who I made though our love of indie/alternative music sat me down one day near the end of 2010 and played me Runaway. It blew me away. I hadn't a clue who it was. I thought it was one of the various American male singer song writers that the likes of Mojo or Uncut loved.

     

    When he told me who it was I was so annoyed with myself that I had never investigated the band before, even though I had heard they were great. Later that day I downloaded the album and fell in love with it. There's no poor songs on the album.

     

    Conversation 16 ended up being the highlight.

     

     

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    Edited by Colm

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    Lungs is the debut studio album by English indie rock band Florence and the Machine, released on 3 July 2009 by Island Records. The album debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart for five weeks after its release. In January 2010, the album reached a new peak position of number one for two consecutive weeks. Lungs was eventually certified five-times platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. The album also peaked at number two for six weeks on the Irish Albums Chart.

     

    Upon release, Lungs received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised lead singer Florence Welch's vocals and the album's instrumentation. The album was shortlisted for the 2009 Mercury Prize, and won the MasterCard British Album award at the 2010 Brit Awards. Lungs has sold more than three million copies worldwide.

     

    Lungs received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 79, based on 22 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".James Christopher Monger of AllMusic praised it as "one of the most musically mature and emotionally mesmerizing albums of 2009" and stated, "With an arsenal of weaponry that included the daring musicality of Kate Bush, the fearless delivery of Sinéad O'Connor, and the dark, unhinged vulnerability of Fiona Apple, the London native crafted a debut that not only lived up to the machine-gun spray of buzz that heralded her arrival, but easily surpassed it." Ryan Dombal wrote for Pitchfork Media that Florence Welch "bursts mouth wide wide over garage rock, epic soul, pint-tipping Britbeat, and—best of all—a mystic brand of pop that's part Annie Lennox, Grace Slick, and Joanna Newsom." Entertainment Weekly's Joseph Brannigan Lynch opined that Welch's "immaculately constructed indie pop recalls Regina Spektor, but without the studied artiness: Welch is more concerned with raw emotional release."

     

    I'm probably not the best person to comment on Lungs as I've always found it a very over-wrought proposition. Rabbit Heart and Cosmic Love are the only songs that do anything for me. It's strange because she has all the factors that I like. She's hugely charismatic. She's dramatic. She's influenced by Kate Bush. She uses the harp. I think all those things have been covered more subtly by Bat for Lashes and Joanna Newsom.

     

    I tried. I really tried. I even re-sequenced the album in the order than Dandy* suggested. It was not different.

     

    Some things are just not meant to be.

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    The Suburbs is the third studio album by the Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released in August 2010. Coinciding with the announcement the band released a limited edition 12-inch single containing two tracks from the album, "The Suburbs" and "Month of May". The album debuted at No. 1 on the Irish Albums Chart, the UK Albums Chart, the US Billboard 200 chart, and the Canadian Albums Chart. It won Album of the Year at the 2011 Grammy Awards, Best International Album at the 2011 BRIT Awards, Album of the Year at the 2011 Juno Awards, and the 2011 Polaris Music Prize for best Canadian album. Two weeks after winning Grammy's Album of the Year, the album jumped from No. 52 to No. 12 on the Billboard 200, the album's highest ranking since August 2010.

     

    Arcade Fire released a deluxe edition CD/DVD of The Suburbs on June 27, 2011 (everywhere except the U.S. and Canada). The American and Canadian versions were released on August 2, 2011, to coincide with the original album's anniversary. The new version included two brand new tracks recorded during The Suburbs album sessions ("Culture War" and "Speaking in Tongues" featuring David Byrne), an extended version of album track "Wasted Hours", Spike Jonze's short film, Scenes From The Suburbs, and an 80-page booklet as well as other exclusive content.

     

     

    Was this their chill-wave album? I seem to remember thinking that at the time.

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    Edited by Colm

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    It's Blitz! is the third studio album by American indie rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, released on March 6, 2009 by Interscope Records. It was originally set for release on April 13, 2009. However, after being leaked to the Internet on February 22, the release date was pushed forward to March 9 for the digital version and March 31 for the physical version.

     

    The album was produced by Nick Launay (Nick Cave, Arcade Fire, Talking Heads, Public Image Ltd), along with TV on the Radio's David Andrew Sitek. It spawned three singles: "Zero", "Heads Will Roll", and "Skeletons". It's Blitz! was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 2010 Grammy Awards.

     

    It's Blitz! received universal acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 82, based on 36 reviews.The Guardian's Caroline Sullivan commended the band's more dance-oriented sound, writing their "glittery new disco sound suits them very well. It's all cool, brittle catchiness, with a debt owed to Eat to the Beat-era Blondie". Emily Mackay of the NME wrote that "It's Blitz!'s heartfelt love letter to the transcendent possibilities of the dancefloor is an unexpectedly emphatic reassertion of why Yeah Yeah Yeahs are one of the most exciting bands of this decade", while Spin's Charles Aaron said that it is "the alternative pop album of the decade—one that imbues The Killers' Hot Fuss and MGMT's Oracular Spectacular with a remarkable emotional depth and finesse". Theon Weber of The Village Voice said that Karen O "isn't revealed to us through the record's lyrics, which are as gnomic as ever, but through attitudes, tones, put-on sneers, and audible grins." Mojo gave it a score of four stars out of five and wrote that the band has "managed to mix the human and the electronic, the emotional and the artsy, the fashion-forward and the oddly retro."

     

    Heads Will Roll :wub:

     

    I probably need to listen to this in full.

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    Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not is the debut studio album by the English rock band Arctic Monkeys, released on 23 January 2006 by Domino. The album surpassed Elastica's self-titled album to become the fastest selling debut album in British music history, shifting over 360,000 copies in its first week, and remains the fastest selling debut album by a band. It has since gone quintuple platinum in the UK.

     

    The album includes both tracks from the band's original EP, Five Minutes with Arctic Monkeys, as well as their first two singles and UK number ones, "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" and "When the Sun Goes Down". It has since appeared in several critics' publications, and is often cited as one of the best rock albums of the decade. It received the 2006 Mercury Prize for Best Album. It was ranked number 371 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2013 Rolling Stone ranked it the 30th greatest debut album of all time. In October 2013, music magazine NME ranked the album at number 19 in their poll of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

     

    Great lyricist but a band that have only ever been good, as opposed to amazing, for me. Their follow up album was better for me.

     

     

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    The Black Parade is the third studio album by American rock band My Chemical Romance. Released on October 23, 2006 through Reprise Records, it was produced by Rob Cavallo, known for having produced multiple albums for Goo Goo Dolls and Green Day. It is a rock opera centering on a dying character with cancer known as "The Patient". The album tells the story of his apparent death, experiences in the afterlife, and subsequent reflections on his life.

     

    Four singles were released from the album: "Welcome to the Black Parade", "Famous Last Words", "I Don't Love You", and "Teenagers". The Black Parade has received generally favorable reviews, and the band achieved its first Number 1 single in the UK with "Welcome to the Black Parade". The album debuted at number two on both the Billboard 200 and the UK Albums Chart and is also certified as platinum by the RIAA, as well as a Platinum certification in the UK and a Gold certification in Argentina by the CAPIF and in Chile by the IFPI Chile. The Black Parade was given the Platinum Europe Award by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry for 1 million sales in Europe. The limited edition boxed set also earned My Chemical Romance a Grammy Award nomination. In the video game Guitar Hero II (Xbox 360 version), the song "Dead!" was added to the game's track list prior to the earlier PS2 version, and the three songs "Teenagers," "Famous Last Words" and "This Is How I Disappear" are available for download. The Black Parade has sold 1,610,000 copies in the US as of October 2010, and has sold 3,000,000 copies worldwide.

     

    Second shock of the Top 10. Although this album challenged for the top spot early on I had never really predicted that it would be remembered or voted for in such numbers as to be Top 10.

     

    Obvo, the title track is a magnificent Bohemian Rhapsody via Green Day. I can't say I've heard anything else from the album.

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    The Family Jewels is the debut studio album by Welsh singer Marina Diamandis, professionally known as Marina and the Diamonds. It was released on 15 February 2010 by 679 Recordings and Atlantic Records. Diamandis collaborated with producers including Pascal Gabriel, Liam Howe, Greg Kurstin, Richard "Biff" Stannard, and Starsmith during its recording. Their efforts resulted in a primarily indie pop and new wave record, with lyrical themes that Diamandis identifies as "the seduction of commercialism, modern social values, family and female sexuality."

     

    Contemporary music critics spoke favourably of The Family Jewels, and welcomed its diverse production. The record debuted at number five on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 27,618 copies. The album was eventually certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry and has sold 195,358 units in the United Kingdom. The Family Jewels performed moderately on international record charts; it peaked at number 138 on the Billboard 200 in the United States.

     

    The first opus from Marina and still her best. By no means perfect - in fact some of it is terrible (Hermit the Frog and Girls are incredibly mannered and willfully idiosyncratic) but when it is good it is genius - Mowgli's Road, Obsession, and the un-overplayable Oh No!

     

     

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    In Rainbows is the seventh studio album by the English alternative rock band Radiohead. It was self-released on 10 October 2007 as a pay-what-you-want download, followed by a retail CD release in most countries in the last week of 2007. The album was released in the United States on 1 January 2008 on TBD Records. In Rainbows was Radiohead's first release after the end of their contract with EMI.

     

    Recording with longtime producer Nigel Godrich, Radiohead worked on In Rainbows for more than two years, beginning in early 2005. Between recording, the band toured Europe and North America for three months in mid-2006, performing many new songs. The songwriting on In Rainbows was more personal than other Radiohead albums, with singer Thom Yorke describing most tracks as his versions of "seduction songs".[4] Radiohead incorporated a variety of musical styles and instruments, using electronic music, string arrangements, pianos, celestes, and the ondes Martenot.

     

    Second rainbow themed art work in a row.

     

    An album that really baffles me. I still get nothing out of it at all. :(

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    Froot is the third studio album by Welsh singer and songwriter Marina Diamandis, professionally known as Marina and the Diamonds. It was originally scheduled to be released on 3 April 2015 by Neon Gold Records and Atlantic Records, although it was ultimately released on 13 March 2015 in reaction to unauthorised Internet leaks. Diamandis wrote all 12 tracks featured on the record by herself, and collaborated with producer David Kosten for their production.

     

    Music critics commended the album's cohesive production; they further applauded Diamandis for her vocal delivery. As a critical success, it appeared on several critics' year end lists in late 2015. The record debuted at number 10 on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 10,411 copies, and became her first top-10 album on the US Billboard 200 after charting at number eight with 46,000 album-equivalent units. The "Froot of the Month" campaign saw six songs ("Froot", "Happy", "Immortal", "I'm a Ruin", "Forget" and "Gold") released on a monthly basis in anticipation of the record. Froot has been promoted through a series of festival performances during the spring and summer; Diamandis is currently touring internationally with the accompanying Neon Nature Tour, with performances scheduled in North America and Europe from October 2015 to March 2016.

     

    First shock of the Top 10. The popiest album in the whole chart and was only eligible on a technicality - her threads are always in this forum and that's probably just because of her first album being not exactly run of the mill pop. Neither is this - in truth. It is a rich work of varying quality. Many songs feature multiple middle-8s and bridges.

     

    A wonderful return to form after the mostly generic and anonymous Electra Heart.

     

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    Born to Die is the second studio album and major-label debut by American singer and songwriter Lana Del Rey. It was released on January 27, 2012 by Interscope Records, Polydor Records, and Stranger Records. Del Rey collaborated with producers including Patrik Berger, Jeff Bhasker, Chris Braide, Emile Haynie, Justin Parker, Rick Nowels, Robopop, and Al Shux to achieve her desired sound. Their efforts resulted in a primarily baroque pop record, which sees additional influences from alternative hip hop, indie pop and trip hop music.

     

    Contemporary music critics gave Born to Die mixed reviews; some commended its distinctive production, while its repetitiveness and melodramatic tendencies were a recurring complaint. The record debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 77,000 copies; it was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) after moving one million units. Born to Die reached the peak position on eleven international record charts, and has sold 8.5 million copies worldwide as of May 2015.

     

     

    Some will be glad that this is outside the top 10 as there was a chance she would be much higher. I've seen this album as a disappointment since the first time I heard it. I suppose I expected the rest of the album to be sumptuously classy like the title track. I would have to wait for the second album for that to happen.

     

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    The Seldom Seen Kid is the fourth studio album by the English alternative rock band Elbow. It was released by Fiction Records on 17 March 2008 in the United Kingdom and was released by Geffen Records on 22 April 2008 in the United States. The album debuted at number five on the UK Albums Chart and won the Mercury Prize in 2008.

     

    The album was recorded at Blueprint Studios in Manchester, and is the first Elbow album to be entirely self-produced, mixed and recorded without any outside help. The bulk of the record was written and performed by the band, aside from a guest appearance from singer-songwriter Richard Hawley, who contributes guest vocals, lead guitar and co-songwriting on "The Fix". The Seldom Seen Kid also incorporated dynamic range and made note of this in its packaging, by promoting Turn Me Up! in the album's packaging.

     

    The title of the album is taken from one of the characters who appears in US author Damon Runyon's humorous, idiosyncratic tales of gangster life on New York's Broadway in the 1920s. In addition to appearing as a lyric within the album's first single, "Grounds for Divorce", The Seldom Seen Kid is also a nickname, given by Guy Garvey's father, to Bryan Glancy, a fellow Mancunian musician and friend of the band who died suddenly in 2006. The closing track, "Friend of Ours", as well as the liner notes of the album, are dedicated in his memory.

     

    Oh, I miscounted. There's 4 Mercury winners in this chart. This is the third

     

    I purchased this last year for 50c in an Oxfam shop. I still haven't listened to it.

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    Neon Bible is the second studio album by the Canadian rock band Arcade Fire, released in March 2007 on Merge Records. Originally announced on December 16, 2006 through the band's website, the majority of the album was recorded at a church the band bought and renovated in Farnham, Quebec. The album is the first to feature drummer Jeremy Gara, and the first to include violinist Sarah Neufeld among the band's core line-up.

     

    Neon Bible became Arcade Fire's highest charting album at the time, debuting on the Billboard 200 at number two, selling 92,000 copies in its first week and more than 400,000 to date.[3] Being released within a month of similarly successful releases by The Shins (Wincing the Night Away) and Modest Mouse (We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank), Neon Bible was cited as an example of the popularization of indie rock.Critics offered the self-produced Neon Bible mostly favorable reviews, although with division over the album's sound. Publications like NME and IGN praised the album for its grandiose nature, while Rolling Stone and Uncut said that it resulted in a distant and overblown sound.

     

    The job of following up one of the most acclaimed albums of the decade is not an easy one. Neon Bible gave it a spirited go. Ocean of Noise and No Cars Go were favourites of mine.

     

    I must listened to this again soon - it may well have improved with time.

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    Let England Shake is the eighth studio album by English singer-songwriter and musician PJ Harvey, released on 14 February 2011 by Island Records. Production began around the time of White Chalk's release in 2007, though it is a departure from the piano-driven introspection of that album. Let England Shake was written over a two-and-a-half year period, and recorded in five-weeks at a church in Dorset during April and May 2010.

     

    Upon release, the album received numerous accolades. It was placed 2011 "Album of the Year" by 16 publications and in September 2011 won the coveted Mercury Prize. It was PJ Harvey's fourth nomination overall (including another win in 2001), making her the most successful artist in the prize's history. The album also won the Uncut Music Award in November 2011, as well as Album of the Year in the 2012 Ivor Novello Awards.

     

    An album of the most universal acclaim that I think it garnered more "album of the year" accolades than either Is This It? or OK Computer. And yet didn't get the Brit Award for best album (hi Adele)

     

    Our second of three Mercury winners. On Battleship Hill is a highlight for me.

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    Riot! is the second studio album by the American rock band Paramore. It was released in the United States on June 12, 2007 through Fueled by Ramen as a follow-up to their debut album, All We Know Is Falling (2005). The album was produced by David Bendeth and written by band members Hayley Williams and Josh Farro, with Bendeth, and fellow members Zac Farro and Taylor York co-writing on select tracks. The album is said to explore a "diverse range of styles," while not straying far from the "signature sound" of their debut album, with several critics comparing it to likes of Kelly Clarkson and Avril Lavigne. The cover of the album also resembles the cover artwork of No Doubt's Rock Steady.

     

    Riot! received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised its sound, and noted its "crossover potential". The album was successful in the United States, reaching number fifteen on the Billboard 200 and being certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on July 11, 2008. It was also certified platinum in the United Kingdom by the British Phonographic Industry, and gold in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. The lead single, "Misery Business", reached top-thirty and forty positions in the US and is considered the band's "breakthrough" hit; credited with introducing the band to a mainstream audience. The third and fourth singles, "crushcrushcrush", and "That's What You Get", were also successful with both achieving a gold certification by the RIAA.

     

    A band I know nothing about. That's not going to change. :D