NMC: THE BEST ALBUM EVER (read page 5)

[J@3]

They definitely don't here, SLTS barely even gets played anymore... still, like I said airplay doesn't mean it's not filler.

[Lamrock]

Its all subjective obviously, but the four singles (SLTS, Come As You Are, Lithium and In Bloom), along with "Polly" are classics in my opinion and my perception of the general public. And the other six tracks aren't classics, but far from filler. But everyone has different tastes. Its impossible to objectively judge art.

thierryhenry50, Glad you like Sound of Silver. I used LastFM, but for most albums they only have samples. I would recommend doing what Jae did by indirectly linking to a download link. I don't know if its allowed here, but on other forums, people but the download link in code tags, and modify them slightly, i.e. "Med!afire".

[J@3]

Re: linking to downloads... to be honest I use to be against it, but after seeing the ungodly mess that is the patching section people are posting links to music for people to download and put into NBA Live, which I'm fairly sure isn't legal so I'm not bothered anymore. If people want to post links go for it, just try not to make it too obvious.

[Lamrock]

Okay, thanks. That's good to know, and will make things a lot more convenient.

[kibaxx7]

Then it's easier PM'd you the recommendation, Jae. Should I post the download link here?

[J@3]

Yep go for it, your album review period starts on Friday.

[kibaxx7]

Then here it is

Code: Select all

http://www.mediafir*.com/?mo4njinzmmw

[Lamrock]

Nice choice with the Passion Pit. Have you ever listened to Cut Copy? I think you'd like them.

[kibaxx7]

Nice choice with the Passion Pit. Have you ever listened to Cut Copy? I think you'd like them.

Passion Pit, Cut Copy, The Presets, Sneaky Sound System, Empire of the Sun... lot of them to choose.

[Doobie]

I guess I'll suspend myself from this for a while. I don't know if I'll be welcome to rejoin in the future but I really am having trouble listenin to these albums. I'm out most of the time...

[J@3]

We'll just skip you when your time comes, when I can be bothered I'll change the dates in the above list.

[shadowgrin]

Syncope Threshold - Tale of the Complex Circuit

Prelude - decent opening for the album. Nothing much.

Definitive Behavior - Nothing special about this one except for the first 20 seconds. After hearing this I decided for the whole album to ignore the lyrics and just treat the vocals as if it was another instrument.

Sunflower Avenue - I can appreciate a good growling as singing in some songs, except with this one. Remove the growling parts and it's decent, could even be part of my playlist if that's the case.

The Day I Died - good instrumentals, can't stand the vocals.

Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace - okay . Liked the first 30 seconds, hoping it was something different, then it becomes annoying after that. 2:26 until the end is good though, the vocals fits in nicely with the instrumentals.

My Dear Inertia - the minute long intro, that's the only thing good in this song that I liked.

The Conchoid of Truth - for having a fancy title, good thing it's not as bad as I initially expected. The rocking parts makes me want to grab a table leg and bash someone like vinceair or MikeMan (which I think is a good thing) while the slow parts reminds me not to because they are also god's creatures. All figuratively speaking of course.

Alone in the Addict - same reaction as Sunflower Avenue, decent song if the growling is removed. I was enjoying listening to it until the growls kicked in at the middle part of the song even though that part was about 'only' 30 seconds.

Listened to the Harlequin songs consecutively, assuming it was a 'story' type at least with the tempo of the songs, since I decided to ignore the lyrics early on.

Exodus - ugh, what a bad start.

Our Unfolding - wow, no growling. Not bad, not great either but it's better than Exodus.

Dissolution - Not a bad way to close the 'story' or the album itself. I was expecting more of a bang though.

I give it a below average 6 out 8-Hype.

[shadowgrin]

Fucking Joe. Half of the album:

This video is not available in your country due to copyright restrictions.

Thank jeebus for Wiki and Google.
At least it's not like that bitch Doobie's link where none are playable and me not having the urge to find a download.

Live - Throwing Copper

Dam at Otter Creek- meh. This song upholds how I view Live. I think they want to rock your ears off, they know how to rock but they're not quite there on some songs, which is to rock.

Selling the Drama - meh again. It's not like I'm desensitized to this song (it played endlessly on a music channel I watched then, screw MTV), I never liked it then and I still don't like it now.

I Alone - about fucking time this album rocked, afraid I was about to go to sleep while listening. I like how the slow tempo is a preparation in blowing your ears off.

Iris - decent. I don't like that stop-go parts in the first half of the song. The last half is nice, when that shite I mentioned is gone.

Lightning Crashes - the album version isn't bad but it blows in comparison to some of Live's live versions I heard, which is capable of ear-blowing numbness.

Top - decent, for a 'laid back' song of theirs.

All Over You- Nothing special. Sounds like run of the mill alternative' song in the 90's.

Shit Towne - I'm surprised I like it. Even though it sounds like I Alone lite in tempo and pretty much repetitive, my ears still dig it.

T.B.D - well, that was a waste of 4 minutes.

Stage - this song is good, if you remove every part except the bass.

Waitress - same with T.B.D.

Pillar of Davidson - Gawd damn, 7 minutes of ear-numbing boredom. That's 4 straight songs of shite, starting with T.B.D. They are past the strike limit.

White - the 'heavy' parts of the song sound mostly like noise to me, can't stand listening to it.

Horse - can't be bothered to search for a hidden track. Can't be bothered to download the whole album either. Screw YouTube, Screw Joe.

The album goes downhill starting with T.B.D. I give it a below average 6 out of 8-Hype.

[Lamrock]

Thread title's a little out of date now.

[benji]

I'll review both things suggested so far this weekend, but skipping around Live, why did some people tell me this was grunge? It sounds like Matchbox 20 (not matchbox twenty) although I no longer can recognize genre distinctions it seems.

Throwing Copper will probably be my favorite thing since I was in the club though. Not that that is saying much...

...

...

Yes, it's the rest of yours fault.

I listened to Passion Pit on their MySpace, hopefully the album is better. It was pretty messy.

You're all still wanting me to find something that'll rape you or you'll ignore.

[shadowgrin]

Rape please.
I thought I never could stand Jae's recommendation but I still managed to finish listening to all of it.

[Joe']

Fucking Joe. Half of the album:

This video is not available in your country due to copyright restrictions.

Hey, it's not my fault you live in freaking Pinoy-land. Usually if any kind of online content is available in Europe, it's available everywhere.

Anyway, here's the download link if any of you are having trouble with YouTube.

Code: Select all

http://www.med!afire.com/?0dixmxj2zjt

what's odd? i love every single track on nevermind. Nirvana knows who they are. Not every song is epic, but every song is undeniably them and it works as an album. This album just wasnt a cohesive effort.

Nirvana knows who they are? Nirvana changed their style according to Cobain's mood, for Christ's sake! It's the reason Everman left after just a few months, it's the reason Nirvana had like 254 drummers before settling on Grohl in 1990, and it's the reason Grohl went solo in '93.

Have you ever listened to Bleach or Incesticide? Those albums sound nothing like Nevermind or In Utero. And what's a song like Polly doing on Nevermind?

Also, despite being a big Nirvana fan, I agree with Jae: half of Nevermind is filler. I had never heard any song on Nevermind except for Smells Like Teen Spirit, Come as You Are and Lithium until I got the CD. Even In Bloom and Polly, which were released as singles, were completely unknown to me. But the whole grunge movement never really made it to Europe so that may have something to do with it, who knows.

Also, I've always though In Utero was much better than Nevermind, which sounds just like any other band trying to achieve commercial success.

Pearl Jam and Nirvana were the only "great" bands to come out of the grunge era. Then there were mediocre followers Live

1. Nirvana never "came out" of the grunge era. They never had a chance to.
2. Pearl Jam hasn't released a decent album since Vitalogy and No Code in the mid-90s. And their best work remain their two grunge albums Ten and Vs. Also, just for the fact that they changed their music style from grunge to alternative because their label and the market asked them to, they shouldn't be considered a "great" band. I consider them to be nothing but mercenaries. And the fact that they had the nerve to cover The Who's Reign O'er Me, with an awful effort to say the least, makes me hate them even more.
3. Live isn't a "follower." They are not a grunge band and they never were. Post-grunge is a very different genre from grunge. In fact their main influences aren't grunge bands.

...but skipping around Live, why did some people tell me this was grunge? It sounds like Matchbox 20 (not matchbox twenty) although I no longer can recognize genre distinctions it seems.

Again, Live was never grunge. Their breakthrough was 1994, grunge was dead by then. And it sounds like Matchbox 20 because both of them are post-grunge.


Anyway, I can't seem to understand if, according to the new rules, I should review my own recommendation.

[Moz]

Nirvana and Pearl Jam are the most overrated bands who came out of the Seattle scene. Soundgarden and Alice in Chains should be on the pedestal... and yeh on the new rules, is there some sort of immunity onto that someone who's recommending the featured album?

[Joe']

Nirvana and Pearl Jam are the most overrated bands who came out of the Seattle scene. Soundgarden and Alice in Chains should be on the pedestal...

You are my new best friend.

[Lamrock]

Nirvana and Alice In Chains are the most overrated bands who came out of the Seattle scene. Soundgarden and Pearl Jam should be on the pedestal...

I could agree with that. Can't believe I didn't know that Alice In Chains was a local band!

[J@3]

Alice In Chains were great... I know they're still around but it's not the same.

Anyway, I can't seem to understand if, according to the new rules, I should review my own recommendation.

You can if you want but I won't penalize you if you don't.

[Lamrock]

PASSION PIT - MANNERS (2009)

I've spent most of this year listening to releases I missed out on earlier in the decade, and this album flew under my radar. Despite being Pitchfork reading, hipster scum, I never quite had the desire to check it out. Thankfully, thierryhenry50 brought it to my attention. Though it may have been better suited as a pair of EP's, "Manners" is one of the best electronic albums I've heard all year.

Passion Pit is not a techno band. "Manners" is a pop album where the band traded in their guitars for synthesizers. The best comparison I could make is last year's "In Ghost Colours" by Cut Copy. This isn't as good as that, but outside of me and thierry, I doubt anyone here has heard it. With lead singer Michael Angelakos' falsetto voice over synths, drums, piano and occasionally a children's choir, Passion Pit have made one of the catchiest albums of the year.

I wouldn't be surprised if Passion Pit becomes a singles band. While pretty much every track on this LP is good, the songs do start to sound a bit similar and the band almost wears out their welcome. Fortunately, late in the album, back-to-back singles "To Kingdom Come" and "Sleepyhead" make up the best 2-song sequence of the album. Simply put, Michael Angelakos' Klaxons-esque vocals get old after a while. As an album, it feels almost more like a compilation than a fully-formed LP.

The albums three singles ("The Reeling", and the aforementioned "To Kingdom Come" and "Sleepyhead") are excellent, as are the rest of the songs. The best track on the album is surprisingly not a single however. "Little Secrets" uses a catchy-synth hook and a Hot Chip-esque beat, along with a children's choir to make one of the best songs of the year. If you hear one track off "Manners", make it this one.

Overall, "Manners" is a solid debut. Its hard to say what the band's ceiling is. They could deteriorate into irrelevance like many of their other electropop contemporaries, or they could make one of the best indie rock albums of all time, like LCD Soundsystem did with "Sound of Silver". My prediction is somewhere in between there.

Rating: 8/10
Track Highlights: "Little Secrets", "To Kingdom Come", "Sleepyhead"

[J@3]

Still five days to review Throwing Copper, here's an updated list of those who haven't:


JaoSming
Lamrock
Pdub
ratrac
Mayerhendrix
Ben
Nick
TheOriginalCandyMan
DoobieKnicks (out)

Obviously if you're skipping just go onto Passion Pit.

[kibaxx7]

Copying your layout, Lamrock, hope you don't mind.

LIVE - THROWING COPPER (1994)

• "Dam at Otter Creek" and "Selling Drama", I didn't like them much, slow start for the album
• "I Alone" it also started slow but then the song went uphill from there...
• "Iris", I didn't like the stop parts, but the other parts are ok...
• "Lightning Crashes", the video was nice...
• "Top", I thought it was a pop song, dunno...
• "All Over You" was the song I liked the most...
• "Shit Towne" was the 2nd best song of the album IMO...
• "T.B.D" 4 mins thrown to the garbage can...
• "Stage", the bass sucked...
• "Waitress", also a waste of time...
• "Pillar of Davidson", I read in Wikipedia that Michael Stipe from R.E.M. sang a part of the lyrics, interesting... but I didn't like it, lol.
• "White", at almost the half I had to close the YouTube window.
• "Horse", YouTube said that is not available over here because of copyright restrictions

Rating: 6/10
Track Highlights: "All Over You", "I Alone", "Shit Towne"

[kibaxx7]

PASSION PIT - MANNERS (2009)

• "Make Light", it makes me remember another song, I can't remember it now, but I like it.
• "Little Secrets", I really like the beat at the start of the song... also the lyrics... imo the 2nd best song of the record.
• "Moth's Wings", Maybe the song I liked the least... maybe because it's the slowest, lol.
• "The Reeling", I LOVE this song, especially the first 40 seconds, the intro... hands down the best song of the album, imo, also the most known song of the band I think...
• "To Kingdom Come", Like the lyrics and nice background music...
• "Swimming In The Flood", Didn't like the start... around the half I liked it more.
• "Folds In Your Hands", Nice start and effects as well...
• "Eyes As Candles", I didn't like it much, dunno why.
• "Sleepyhead", really nice... loved the intro and liked the squirrel-like voices at the beginning
• "Let Your Love Grow Tall", sounds to me like "the indie rock song of the album", all the other looked more electronic and/or alternative...
• "Seaweed Song", loved it. Enuff said.

Rating: 9/10
Track Highlights: The truth is I liked them all, but the best were "The Reeling", "Little Secrets", "Seaweed Song", "Sleepyhead", "To Kingdom Come".
Compared the band to: The Presets, Sneaky Sound System, Empire of the Sun, Cut Copy, maybe Friendly Fires?