pants the terrible
Smash Cadet
20. Nightmare (Avenged Sevenfold): To start this list, lets have an old friend return with my favorite album of theirs: nightmare! it has elements of a concept album, but never really states it is so. Its more of a tribute to their passed on drummer, Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, who I would consider one of my more favorite drummers in history, who was replaced in recording for this album by none other than one of his favorite drummers (and mine), Mike Portnoy, who about steals the album. The drumming is so precise and amazing that sometimes the bass work and vocals fall under it and the guitars, which are both masterfully written and performed. The music as a whole has a flavor for the macabre, the depths of eternity, the uncertainty of death, and the desire to be in a better existence. From the intro to the incredible closer, I love this thing, even if it doesn't have a full focus on what the album wants to be as a whole. I love it from beginning to end.
19. In Your Honor (Foo Fighters): I'm not sure if I should say "only cd 1" or "the full release", so i'll just leave it as the entire thing, since you are bound to hear the whole album. The reason I say this is because the first cd is so masterfully designed and told in every aspect of its writing, song choice, direction, and overall sound that the second cd, while gorgeous, feels like B-sides that aren't really a part of the album. They could have released them separately and made it easier for me, but they did what they did, and either way, I love it. Its a cohesive album with hard edge rocking riffs, post-grunge power, wonderfully meaningful vocals and lyrics, and some wonderful guitar work from Dave Grohl and company (including Josh Homme on some tracks). Its a really great listen, especially if you split the listen up between the cd's. Cd 1 is definitely the showpiece though.
18. Mean Everything to Nothing (Manchester Orchestra): This is one of those albums that sincerely wants to be a concept album of some kind, but isn't sure where to tell the story from or why. It has songs that are powerful and poignant as anything else on this list, but it then has some moments where it loses focus on its meaningful tale of a self deprecating character who has to deal with his problems and adoptive empathetic issues. Its structure is there and wonderful, but its focus gets lost on occasion. Definitely a wonderful release no matter the slight loss of focus. Its more than worth the effort to listen to every time you do.
17. Aenima (Tool): This used to be my all-time favorite tool album, but it hasn't aged as precisely well as I had pictured. Its an amazing album that no fan of rock should miss, but I will admit a few of the center songs can drag sometimes. The majority will have you humming along and listening deeply into the high concept lyrics and imagery detailed in this fairly lengthy release, and I definitely recommend it, though an edited down version wouldn't be too bad to try either, haha.
16. California (Mr. Bungle): Mr. Bungle's last album as far as i'm aware, and my lord it is a patchwork of love. From the leading man Mike Patton who presents vocals unlike anyone else in this world, to a band that has some of the most skilled performers of their craft. From crazy and defined guitar work to gorgeous keyboards and masterful percussion work, there's something in here that any lover of music will enjoy. Its a wonderful album from start to finish, even without an overall story of concept.
15. Core (Stone Temple Pilots): I love stone temple. This is their first album. Its everything I want to hear when I hear stone temple. Its hard. Its blunt. Its fun. Its weird. Its hard as nails in a bowl of solid cement. Its got a bit of everything stone temple. I don't know what else to say besides if you like stone temple, give it a listen all the way through if you haven't already, though if you have never given stone temple pilots a listen before, i'd recommend their self titled album or "shangri la dee da" to begin with them.
14. The Mollusk (Ween): This is a fairly obscure album from a band that needs more attention. This album is one for just about anyone. It takes place throughout several different sounds that all correspond to the nautical, the unlucky, the unprepared, and the moving on. The sounds and tones from each song is unique in its telling. Its sometimes happy to hear, sometimes sad. No matter what you get out of it, it will give you an emotional reaction to the songs presented. Its a highly, highly re-playable album that will catch you by surprise.
13. Songs for the Deaf (Queens of the Stone Age): This is one of those albums that has stuck on this list ever since I first heard it. Its a concept album that takes you through the depths of desert radio stations that all coincidentally play songs from the same band. The tracks reach depths of beauty, harshness, dismal, and even insane qualities that tell the tales of the concepts and people within. They wrote this album for a love and passion for the desert, the grunge, the things they don't want to be, the things that may be, and the things that are. Its worth a listen for just about anyone, though it will turn some of you off when it reaches its harsher tracks. For me, its a go-to driving album any day.
12. 10,000 days (Tool): Minus the last song being obnoxiously quiet and fairly pointless (unless you look into what you can do with it in editing) the rest of the songs are pieces of a patchwork of passion. These guys know how to perform and write truly beautiful and thought-provoking music. However you take it, if its offensive, if its conceptually enlightening, or if its just not your thing, its still something you most likely have a hard time playing or following. Its not an easy album to get into fully, but I have, and I do love it.
11. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (Neutral Milk Hotel): Have you heard an album so compelling from start to finish but you didn't know why you were compelled? this is that one for me. I have learned about every song on this album, performed them several, several times, and I still to this day do not get why the songs are so compelling. Its just abstract enough with enough clarity and motif-telling that it keeps the listener intrigued. There's something mystical about the simplicity and structure of this folk-post-prog-experimental rock that I can't quite wrap my mind around, but its there. It tells a story of some kind about anne frank, sexual exploration, parental feuds, dystopia, love, hauntings, and I still have no idea why. Its just so magically told in such a perfectly strange yet completely understood way that I love it from start to finish every time. Even when a few songs have a dragging point here or there.
10. ...Like Clockwork (Queens of the Stone Age): This is by far the newest album on this list. Just being released in 2013, i've listened to it probably 100 times already. Its 10 amazing songs that don't feel their length. They each have a flavor of their own. They each pull you to a different state of mind. They each have just as much power and grace as the band ever had, if not moreso with songs like "the vampyre of time and memory", "kalopsia", "my god is the sun", and well... All the rest for that matter! though it isn't a cohesive concept album, it feels like an album of really finely tuned ideas and concepts turned into sounds that accurately reflect the tones. Its just a wonderful album with not much more good I can say about it!
9. Images and Words (Dream Theater): This album is what I like to call "an album of circumstances". It has so many songs I adore, and a few forgettable songs in the center. The reason I say circumstance is that some songs on here are SO good that they outshine those forgettable songs almost entirely, seeing how little of the album the forgettable songs take up. Metropolis pt 1 and learning to live are 2 of my all time favorite songs, and they hold up today as well as when I first heard them. For 80% of the album being unbelievable, and those 20% not dragging down the album much, I would have to say I love it as an experience. It leaves me begging to reach those moments where the magic really happens. And when it happens, its unforgettable.
8. Dark Side of The Moon (Pink Floyd): This used to be my favorite pink floyd album, and it still remains one of them. Its a truly beautiful work that spans many of the things that define humanity in its aspirations, wants, and needs. It opens with heartbeats, begins with breathing, proceeds to locomotion, time, greed, understanding others, mental states, and finally the disconnect from society. Its all very zen in its delivery and wonderful to listen to. It definitely isn't all focused at times, but the management of the majority is still wonderful. It plays out just as well as it did upon release. Give it a listen sometime.
7. Hemispheres (Rush): This is the first of my 2 favorite rush albums. Its the latter of the 2 in structure (beginning with cygnus part 2) and follows through with 4 of the most well-defined songs by the band. It screams rush in every way and loves being what it is. Its just a perfect ending to its predecessor album. I completely recommend it along with...
6. A Farewell to Kings (Rush): This one! its my favorite rush album! what more is there to say? rush has such a grasp on musical craft, album writing, performance, and overall sound, how could you go wrong with this 6 song masterpiece? its a bit short, but with a wonderful opening, unbelievable center, and an ending that leaves you begging for more! good thing for the hemispheres album adding to it, huh? anyway, its just perfect rush. You probably know its good if you know who rush is.
5. Mr. Bungle (Mr. Bungle): This one came to my attention a little late in my musical adventuring, and I feel a little bad it did. I've known about mr. Bungle for quite some time and i've been apprehensive to give this a listen until just recently. From bottle-smash one, I was compelled and sucked into this life and death of a depraved sex-addicted, violent clown. The telling of his feelings, wants, self appraisal, downfall, and lusts are portrayed through masterful vocals and musicianship by Mike Patton and company. The kaliopy piano and guitars driving you into almost a state of madness with the character, the insane guitar riffs alongside equally insane and sometimes silly lyrics (and by silly I mean horribly disgusting and self aware comedic silly) just make me get goosebumps. The whole concept of the album is so intriguing to me, and it could not have been done better. Song for song it feels meticulously crafted and I would not change anything in this horrifically magnificent album. If not for being a bit too much to handle at times, I would put this higher on the list. Its that good.
4. Demon Days (Gorillaz): Demon Days is a masterpiece of both recording audio, performance, and writing. Everything it does it does with pride and delivers its genre splitting music as gracefully and as collectively as it can. It has solid structure, wonderful performance from every collaborator in the album, and I love it. Even though it has its sisteren albums to compete with, this one is the most cohesive in my opinion and has the most conveyed tones of any other gorillaz work. A truly master work.
3. Animals (Pink Floyd): Yeah, this one jumped way up here over the years. I've grown to truly appreciate this album more and more upon each listen. Its poignant message, its brisk yet compellingly lengthy conceptual journey through the possible outcome of human behavior and suggestion for a brighter future is just beautiful as it is powerful. Its not often I can say 5 songs can have a powerful message alone, but these collectively do, and collectively tell of something greater than their running time. Give it a listen if you can.
2. Lullabies to Paralyze (Queens of the Stone Age): This album is my favorite concept album through and through. It sets itself up as a dream and all the adventures a wandering, distraught, and possibly distressed or confused mind takes at night. It takes you through dark, foreboding forests, lost love, the sins of the seemingly innocent, the addiction to any number of things, the nightly campfires in a lonely desert, and the slow return to the waking world. Its really a clever and thought provoking journey of song-writing, composition, and tone. Not much more I can say besides a masterful piece of art by musicians who truly care about imagery and tone.
1. Pretty. Odd. (Panic at the Disco): You ever have one of those albums that absolutely refuses to leave you? for years, i've been looking for something to rightfully top this album for me. Its just never moving for me. This is the happiest, most heart-felt, lovely, fascinatingly infectious album i've ever listened to. Its so smile-inducing, witty, and thoroughly all encompassingly enjoyable that I cannot rightly give it justice. I would recommend it to anyone, for any occasion or reason. Its purely gorgeous. Odd or not, its certainly my favorite audio experience on a disc.
If you enjoy any of these, have any criticism for my decisions, or even have your own list, please feel free to post it here!!!
19. In Your Honor (Foo Fighters): I'm not sure if I should say "only cd 1" or "the full release", so i'll just leave it as the entire thing, since you are bound to hear the whole album. The reason I say this is because the first cd is so masterfully designed and told in every aspect of its writing, song choice, direction, and overall sound that the second cd, while gorgeous, feels like B-sides that aren't really a part of the album. They could have released them separately and made it easier for me, but they did what they did, and either way, I love it. Its a cohesive album with hard edge rocking riffs, post-grunge power, wonderfully meaningful vocals and lyrics, and some wonderful guitar work from Dave Grohl and company (including Josh Homme on some tracks). Its a really great listen, especially if you split the listen up between the cd's. Cd 1 is definitely the showpiece though.
18. Mean Everything to Nothing (Manchester Orchestra): This is one of those albums that sincerely wants to be a concept album of some kind, but isn't sure where to tell the story from or why. It has songs that are powerful and poignant as anything else on this list, but it then has some moments where it loses focus on its meaningful tale of a self deprecating character who has to deal with his problems and adoptive empathetic issues. Its structure is there and wonderful, but its focus gets lost on occasion. Definitely a wonderful release no matter the slight loss of focus. Its more than worth the effort to listen to every time you do.
17. Aenima (Tool): This used to be my all-time favorite tool album, but it hasn't aged as precisely well as I had pictured. Its an amazing album that no fan of rock should miss, but I will admit a few of the center songs can drag sometimes. The majority will have you humming along and listening deeply into the high concept lyrics and imagery detailed in this fairly lengthy release, and I definitely recommend it, though an edited down version wouldn't be too bad to try either, haha.
16. California (Mr. Bungle): Mr. Bungle's last album as far as i'm aware, and my lord it is a patchwork of love. From the leading man Mike Patton who presents vocals unlike anyone else in this world, to a band that has some of the most skilled performers of their craft. From crazy and defined guitar work to gorgeous keyboards and masterful percussion work, there's something in here that any lover of music will enjoy. Its a wonderful album from start to finish, even without an overall story of concept.
15. Core (Stone Temple Pilots): I love stone temple. This is their first album. Its everything I want to hear when I hear stone temple. Its hard. Its blunt. Its fun. Its weird. Its hard as nails in a bowl of solid cement. Its got a bit of everything stone temple. I don't know what else to say besides if you like stone temple, give it a listen all the way through if you haven't already, though if you have never given stone temple pilots a listen before, i'd recommend their self titled album or "shangri la dee da" to begin with them.
14. The Mollusk (Ween): This is a fairly obscure album from a band that needs more attention. This album is one for just about anyone. It takes place throughout several different sounds that all correspond to the nautical, the unlucky, the unprepared, and the moving on. The sounds and tones from each song is unique in its telling. Its sometimes happy to hear, sometimes sad. No matter what you get out of it, it will give you an emotional reaction to the songs presented. Its a highly, highly re-playable album that will catch you by surprise.
13. Songs for the Deaf (Queens of the Stone Age): This is one of those albums that has stuck on this list ever since I first heard it. Its a concept album that takes you through the depths of desert radio stations that all coincidentally play songs from the same band. The tracks reach depths of beauty, harshness, dismal, and even insane qualities that tell the tales of the concepts and people within. They wrote this album for a love and passion for the desert, the grunge, the things they don't want to be, the things that may be, and the things that are. Its worth a listen for just about anyone, though it will turn some of you off when it reaches its harsher tracks. For me, its a go-to driving album any day.
12. 10,000 days (Tool): Minus the last song being obnoxiously quiet and fairly pointless (unless you look into what you can do with it in editing) the rest of the songs are pieces of a patchwork of passion. These guys know how to perform and write truly beautiful and thought-provoking music. However you take it, if its offensive, if its conceptually enlightening, or if its just not your thing, its still something you most likely have a hard time playing or following. Its not an easy album to get into fully, but I have, and I do love it.
11. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (Neutral Milk Hotel): Have you heard an album so compelling from start to finish but you didn't know why you were compelled? this is that one for me. I have learned about every song on this album, performed them several, several times, and I still to this day do not get why the songs are so compelling. Its just abstract enough with enough clarity and motif-telling that it keeps the listener intrigued. There's something mystical about the simplicity and structure of this folk-post-prog-experimental rock that I can't quite wrap my mind around, but its there. It tells a story of some kind about anne frank, sexual exploration, parental feuds, dystopia, love, hauntings, and I still have no idea why. Its just so magically told in such a perfectly strange yet completely understood way that I love it from start to finish every time. Even when a few songs have a dragging point here or there.
10. ...Like Clockwork (Queens of the Stone Age): This is by far the newest album on this list. Just being released in 2013, i've listened to it probably 100 times already. Its 10 amazing songs that don't feel their length. They each have a flavor of their own. They each pull you to a different state of mind. They each have just as much power and grace as the band ever had, if not moreso with songs like "the vampyre of time and memory", "kalopsia", "my god is the sun", and well... All the rest for that matter! though it isn't a cohesive concept album, it feels like an album of really finely tuned ideas and concepts turned into sounds that accurately reflect the tones. Its just a wonderful album with not much more good I can say about it!
9. Images and Words (Dream Theater): This album is what I like to call "an album of circumstances". It has so many songs I adore, and a few forgettable songs in the center. The reason I say circumstance is that some songs on here are SO good that they outshine those forgettable songs almost entirely, seeing how little of the album the forgettable songs take up. Metropolis pt 1 and learning to live are 2 of my all time favorite songs, and they hold up today as well as when I first heard them. For 80% of the album being unbelievable, and those 20% not dragging down the album much, I would have to say I love it as an experience. It leaves me begging to reach those moments where the magic really happens. And when it happens, its unforgettable.
8. Dark Side of The Moon (Pink Floyd): This used to be my favorite pink floyd album, and it still remains one of them. Its a truly beautiful work that spans many of the things that define humanity in its aspirations, wants, and needs. It opens with heartbeats, begins with breathing, proceeds to locomotion, time, greed, understanding others, mental states, and finally the disconnect from society. Its all very zen in its delivery and wonderful to listen to. It definitely isn't all focused at times, but the management of the majority is still wonderful. It plays out just as well as it did upon release. Give it a listen sometime.
7. Hemispheres (Rush): This is the first of my 2 favorite rush albums. Its the latter of the 2 in structure (beginning with cygnus part 2) and follows through with 4 of the most well-defined songs by the band. It screams rush in every way and loves being what it is. Its just a perfect ending to its predecessor album. I completely recommend it along with...
6. A Farewell to Kings (Rush): This one! its my favorite rush album! what more is there to say? rush has such a grasp on musical craft, album writing, performance, and overall sound, how could you go wrong with this 6 song masterpiece? its a bit short, but with a wonderful opening, unbelievable center, and an ending that leaves you begging for more! good thing for the hemispheres album adding to it, huh? anyway, its just perfect rush. You probably know its good if you know who rush is.
5. Mr. Bungle (Mr. Bungle): This one came to my attention a little late in my musical adventuring, and I feel a little bad it did. I've known about mr. Bungle for quite some time and i've been apprehensive to give this a listen until just recently. From bottle-smash one, I was compelled and sucked into this life and death of a depraved sex-addicted, violent clown. The telling of his feelings, wants, self appraisal, downfall, and lusts are portrayed through masterful vocals and musicianship by Mike Patton and company. The kaliopy piano and guitars driving you into almost a state of madness with the character, the insane guitar riffs alongside equally insane and sometimes silly lyrics (and by silly I mean horribly disgusting and self aware comedic silly) just make me get goosebumps. The whole concept of the album is so intriguing to me, and it could not have been done better. Song for song it feels meticulously crafted and I would not change anything in this horrifically magnificent album. If not for being a bit too much to handle at times, I would put this higher on the list. Its that good.
4. Demon Days (Gorillaz): Demon Days is a masterpiece of both recording audio, performance, and writing. Everything it does it does with pride and delivers its genre splitting music as gracefully and as collectively as it can. It has solid structure, wonderful performance from every collaborator in the album, and I love it. Even though it has its sisteren albums to compete with, this one is the most cohesive in my opinion and has the most conveyed tones of any other gorillaz work. A truly master work.
3. Animals (Pink Floyd): Yeah, this one jumped way up here over the years. I've grown to truly appreciate this album more and more upon each listen. Its poignant message, its brisk yet compellingly lengthy conceptual journey through the possible outcome of human behavior and suggestion for a brighter future is just beautiful as it is powerful. Its not often I can say 5 songs can have a powerful message alone, but these collectively do, and collectively tell of something greater than their running time. Give it a listen if you can.
2. Lullabies to Paralyze (Queens of the Stone Age): This album is my favorite concept album through and through. It sets itself up as a dream and all the adventures a wandering, distraught, and possibly distressed or confused mind takes at night. It takes you through dark, foreboding forests, lost love, the sins of the seemingly innocent, the addiction to any number of things, the nightly campfires in a lonely desert, and the slow return to the waking world. Its really a clever and thought provoking journey of song-writing, composition, and tone. Not much more I can say besides a masterful piece of art by musicians who truly care about imagery and tone.
1. Pretty. Odd. (Panic at the Disco): You ever have one of those albums that absolutely refuses to leave you? for years, i've been looking for something to rightfully top this album for me. Its just never moving for me. This is the happiest, most heart-felt, lovely, fascinatingly infectious album i've ever listened to. Its so smile-inducing, witty, and thoroughly all encompassingly enjoyable that I cannot rightly give it justice. I would recommend it to anyone, for any occasion or reason. Its purely gorgeous. Odd or not, its certainly my favorite audio experience on a disc.
If you enjoy any of these, have any criticism for my decisions, or even have your own list, please feel free to post it here!!!
