Sunday, January 23, 2005

Best albums of 2004 (in no particular order):

Green Day - American Idiot. I'm sick to death of the first two singles, but this is their best work to date.

U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. Every few years, The Edge remembers he can play guitar.

Gwen Stefani - Love, Angel, Music, Baby. I alternate between digging this album, and not liking it very much at all. Today, I'm liking it.

Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand. As my buddy Mike says, "Are they gay? Or are they just Scottish?"

Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News. Starting to get overplayed, but still good. "Catchy" doesn't have to mean "sucky".

AC Newman - The Slow Wonder. More perfect pop from Canada's best songwriter.

The Streets - A Grand Don't Come for Free. I don't have anything to add here.

Nirvana - With the Lights Out. Not the place to start your Nirvana education, but a treat for long time fans. Nevermind came out when I was 16. I was never the same after that.

Pavement - Crooked Rain Crooked Rain: L.A.'s Desert Origins (reissue). Again, for fans only. But some of the best b-sides and rarities ever.

Albums I expected more from:

Elliott Smith - from a basement on the hill
PJ Harvey - Uh Huh Her
The Hives - Tyrannosaurus Hives
REM - Around the Sun

1 comment:

CraniumBoy said...

I think Neil Peart might disagree with your take on Canada's best songwriter. I've only heard a few of those albums, so I don't feel quite qualified to comment at length. (Yeah, I know - when has that ever stopped me before?) I didn't buy too much in the way of new stuff this year, but I did enjoy "Absent Friends" by the Divine Comedy. And "Love Songs for Patriots" by American Music Club was very good, too.